Little Cup. It was once a desolate land over which the Brave Bird Queen reigned with an iron fist, making opposition in the form of Knights and Rocky Ruins crumble all the same to her combination of fire spells and combat prowess. Against that rising threat, resistance soon formed. This Resistance, despite its humble and slow beginnings, found more and more followers over time. Their ultimate ambition: to dethrone the Queen and restore peace by bringing their own King to the throne. The first battle for the Throne was fought valiantly, but the King’s Partisans suffered a crushing defeat. After a period of uncertainty, as the Queen’s regime spread even more suffering throughout the land each day, it was decided that another act of belligerency would be led against the oppressing forces. The Resistance returned to the front, stronger and more determined than ever. This time, they would successfully carry their King to the Throne, and after a long, grueling battle, the Resistance could finally welcome their Lord as the new King.
The new King pledged to restore the land’s former glory. However, his intentions were revealed to be dubious, for the King soon established a monopoly over the tier. He would only joust with vassals that couldn’t compete with his sheer power and resistance, even ensuring an impressive pedigree of winning half of the time against the strongest of them. Some would object to the King’s unfairness, only for their opinions to be discarded. The King had created a perfect little Kingdom for himself, and he would not budge. After all, if those ungrateful peasants were not content with what he had done to the land, they shouldn’t have borne him to the Throne! A new era of anger and betrayal had followed.
As for now, the scene seems set for the Resistance to form once again. Only this once, against all odds, they have set aside their differences with the Queen, and want to undertake her restoration to the throne. The future of the tier is once again unpredictable, and in the hands of everyone.
As to here, before everyone, one of the many acts of resistance against the King will be featured. For this is a squad where, for once, the King will not take his rightful place…
Introducing…
Mania.
(click for the importable)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Teambuilding Process
In-Depth Analysis
Replays
Shoutouts
Outro
Introduction
Mania, n: An excessive enthusiasm or desire; an obsession.
In my case, an obsession with featuring bad teams built around questionable ideas.
After all, it has been a while since my last RMT, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fast, where I presented a pretty dubious Flying-spam team all things considered. But ever since my first notable RMT, La Cour des Grands, I have been presenting dubious teams experimenting with underdog stuff. This RMT will be no different as, if you expect to see the best Fighting-type of the tier, Mienfoo, once again, you’ll be fairly disappointed. Here, the star of the show is his dandy but a bit helpless step-cousin Croagunk!
Disclaimer: This RMT is made with the fact that Mienfoo is indeed superior to every other Fighting-type in the tier in mind. I just wanted to experiment with a Fighting-type that is often said to be subpar, because it’s funny.
Teambuilding Process
While looking for a fun Pokémon to build around on the Viability Rankings, I stumbled around Croagunk. I wanted to build around it for a couple of reasons: with the rise of threats such as Carvanha, Croagunk is one of the only Pokémon in Little Cup that are able to deny Flip Turn thanks to Dry Skin while being able to force chip onto Carvanha thanks to Vacuum Wave, severely limiting its offensive capabilities throughout the game. Croagunk is also part Poison-type, which I find interesting as it can soft-check Fighting-types as well as Grookey and Mareanie, which is ideal if you don’t want chip damage to be forced onto your Poison-type early. It can also still check Steel-types, albeit less effectively than Mienfoo or Timburr.
However, as it is part Poison-type, Croagunk tends to invite trappers into the terrain to dispatch him. Trace Porygon is a great counter-trapper and was the obvious choice. It patches Croagunk’s weaknesses to some of the popular Psychic-types thanks to its raw bulk, while being able to sap all momentum from Frillish and provide speed control thanks to Thunder Wave, helping the slow Croagunk check the Steel- and Fighting-types that Porygon invites in more easily.
This is where I got an eccentric idea. Since Croagunk baits trappers in for Porygon to dispatch, pairing strong Pokémon that are weak to trappers seemed like a great angle of approach! As such, Tyrunt and Wood Hammer Grookey were added. The first one gives extra insurance against Ponyta and Koffing when coupled with Porygon, and the second one gives us another priority to handle the likes of Carvanha, Abra, Scarfed Porygon, or just to clean games.
Koffing and Pawniard were added to round up the team. Since Croagunk is not a sturdy Mienfoo and Grookey check, Koffing’s presence is welcome! Thanks to Neutralizing Gas, Koffing can temporarily block Regenerator from Mienfoo and some Poison-types. Koffing also participates in the trapper-baiting effort and is quite effective at it since it packs Will-O-Wisp. Having Will-O-Wisp + Pain Split and being coupled with Croagunk on top also does wonders for Koffing’s longevity, as keeping it healthy is not really an arduous task with this team.
Pawniard was added because every good team needs Stealth Rocks and priorities to handle a myriad of threats. It also gave extra insurance against Psychic-types, could swap into Carvanha in a pinch, and could aid in the chipping effort against Mienfoo.
I soon noticed some pretty big weaknesses in that I lacked another possible Pawniard check since Croagunk is not great survivability-wise, especially when you use it to bait Ground-type trappers in and end up without a Fighting-type. Moreover, opposing Mienfoo could come on Porygon, unboosted Tyrunt or Pawniard and start wreaking havoc with strong High Jump Kicks and Knock Offs whittling down my checks. I experimented around with Tirtouga at some point due to it being another soft check to Carvanha which could set rocks up against Natu teams and handle Ponyta well, but ultimately, I settled for a Pokémon that still retained Ponyta soft-checking capabilities, while being a soft answer to the aforementioned concerns: Mudbray.
My team still lacked a detrimental thing: speed, as my fastest member was Grookey and while it has a strong priority, capping at 17 speed is not really that impressive in this tier. I experimented with Ponyta over Pawniard for a little while so that I could have another Grookey check as well, giving rocks to Mudbray, but the Psychic weakness of the team ended up not being worth it, and I had enough Grookey-checks. I swapped Ponyta’s slot back to Pawniard, but chose to use a Choice Scarf set this time. Scarfed Pawniard gives my team more immediate speed control. Furthermore, it can be a surprising set for the opponent, outspeeding opposing Mienfoo, checking lead Abra under a Substitute thanks to Beat Up and being noteworthy as a way to overall soften enemies up.
Obviously, I shuffled it a bit because why not?
As one can see, this team is built so that it can have several checks to many top-tier threats, which is important considering Mienfoo’s soft-checking capabilities are absent from it. It can notably still work fairly well even without Croagunk, as it was built under the assumption that Croagunk could be removed early in a game. As such, one can play less sparingly with some of the Pokémon that are needed to win, since there always are backup checks. Moreover, the team is built in a way that the menacing Tyrunt can’t set up on any of the members freely.
My friend Lokifan played an alternate version of the team for LCPL. Here is the paste. This version features BJ Pawniard and Ponyta for more offensive presence and a better Psychic-type immunity. However, it ends up being weaker to opposing Pawniard (though it can somewhat limit it coming in) and Ponyta. This version of the team won’t be featured in the RMT, but it is equally as interesting!
In-Depth Analysis
The new King pledged to restore the land’s former glory. However, his intentions were revealed to be dubious, for the King soon established a monopoly over the tier. He would only joust with vassals that couldn’t compete with his sheer power and resistance, even ensuring an impressive pedigree of winning half of the time against the strongest of them. Some would object to the King’s unfairness, only for their opinions to be discarded. The King had created a perfect little Kingdom for himself, and he would not budge. After all, if those ungrateful peasants were not content with what he had done to the land, they shouldn’t have borne him to the Throne! A new era of anger and betrayal had followed.
As for now, the scene seems set for the Resistance to form once again. Only this once, against all odds, they have set aside their differences with the Queen, and want to undertake her restoration to the throne. The future of the tier is once again unpredictable, and in the hands of everyone.
As to here, before everyone, one of the many acts of resistance against the King will be featured. For this is a squad where, for once, the King will not take his rightful place…
Introducing…
Mania.
(click for the importable)
Table of Contents
Introduction
Teambuilding Process
In-Depth Analysis
Replays
Shoutouts
Outro
Introduction
Mania, n: An excessive enthusiasm or desire; an obsession.
In my case, an obsession with featuring bad teams built around questionable ideas.
After all, it has been a while since my last RMT, I Can’t Believe It’s Not Fast, where I presented a pretty dubious Flying-spam team all things considered. But ever since my first notable RMT, La Cour des Grands, I have been presenting dubious teams experimenting with underdog stuff. This RMT will be no different as, if you expect to see the best Fighting-type of the tier, Mienfoo, once again, you’ll be fairly disappointed. Here, the star of the show is his dandy but a bit helpless step-cousin Croagunk!
Disclaimer: This RMT is made with the fact that Mienfoo is indeed superior to every other Fighting-type in the tier in mind. I just wanted to experiment with a Fighting-type that is often said to be subpar, because it’s funny.
Teambuilding Process
While looking for a fun Pokémon to build around on the Viability Rankings, I stumbled around Croagunk. I wanted to build around it for a couple of reasons: with the rise of threats such as Carvanha, Croagunk is one of the only Pokémon in Little Cup that are able to deny Flip Turn thanks to Dry Skin while being able to force chip onto Carvanha thanks to Vacuum Wave, severely limiting its offensive capabilities throughout the game. Croagunk is also part Poison-type, which I find interesting as it can soft-check Fighting-types as well as Grookey and Mareanie, which is ideal if you don’t want chip damage to be forced onto your Poison-type early. It can also still check Steel-types, albeit less effectively than Mienfoo or Timburr.
However, as it is part Poison-type, Croagunk tends to invite trappers into the terrain to dispatch him. Trace Porygon is a great counter-trapper and was the obvious choice. It patches Croagunk’s weaknesses to some of the popular Psychic-types thanks to its raw bulk, while being able to sap all momentum from Frillish and provide speed control thanks to Thunder Wave, helping the slow Croagunk check the Steel- and Fighting-types that Porygon invites in more easily.
This is where I got an eccentric idea. Since Croagunk baits trappers in for Porygon to dispatch, pairing strong Pokémon that are weak to trappers seemed like a great angle of approach! As such, Tyrunt and Wood Hammer Grookey were added. The first one gives extra insurance against Ponyta and Koffing when coupled with Porygon, and the second one gives us another priority to handle the likes of Carvanha, Abra, Scarfed Porygon, or just to clean games.
Koffing and Pawniard were added to round up the team. Since Croagunk is not a sturdy Mienfoo and Grookey check, Koffing’s presence is welcome! Thanks to Neutralizing Gas, Koffing can temporarily block Regenerator from Mienfoo and some Poison-types. Koffing also participates in the trapper-baiting effort and is quite effective at it since it packs Will-O-Wisp. Having Will-O-Wisp + Pain Split and being coupled with Croagunk on top also does wonders for Koffing’s longevity, as keeping it healthy is not really an arduous task with this team.
Pawniard was added because every good team needs Stealth Rocks and priorities to handle a myriad of threats. It also gave extra insurance against Psychic-types, could swap into Carvanha in a pinch, and could aid in the chipping effort against Mienfoo.
I soon noticed some pretty big weaknesses in that I lacked another possible Pawniard check since Croagunk is not great survivability-wise, especially when you use it to bait Ground-type trappers in and end up without a Fighting-type. Moreover, opposing Mienfoo could come on Porygon, unboosted Tyrunt or Pawniard and start wreaking havoc with strong High Jump Kicks and Knock Offs whittling down my checks. I experimented around with Tirtouga at some point due to it being another soft check to Carvanha which could set rocks up against Natu teams and handle Ponyta well, but ultimately, I settled for a Pokémon that still retained Ponyta soft-checking capabilities, while being a soft answer to the aforementioned concerns: Mudbray.
My team still lacked a detrimental thing: speed, as my fastest member was Grookey and while it has a strong priority, capping at 17 speed is not really that impressive in this tier. I experimented with Ponyta over Pawniard for a little while so that I could have another Grookey check as well, giving rocks to Mudbray, but the Psychic weakness of the team ended up not being worth it, and I had enough Grookey-checks. I swapped Ponyta’s slot back to Pawniard, but chose to use a Choice Scarf set this time. Scarfed Pawniard gives my team more immediate speed control. Furthermore, it can be a surprising set for the opponent, outspeeding opposing Mienfoo, checking lead Abra under a Substitute thanks to Beat Up and being noteworthy as a way to overall soften enemies up.
Obviously, I shuffled it a bit because why not?
As one can see, this team is built so that it can have several checks to many top-tier threats, which is important considering Mienfoo’s soft-checking capabilities are absent from it. It can notably still work fairly well even without Croagunk, as it was built under the assumption that Croagunk could be removed early in a game. As such, one can play less sparingly with some of the Pokémon that are needed to win, since there always are backup checks. Moreover, the team is built in a way that the menacing Tyrunt can’t set up on any of the members freely.
My friend Lokifan played an alternate version of the team for LCPL. Here is the paste. This version features BJ Pawniard and Ponyta for more offensive presence and a better Psychic-type immunity. However, it ends up being weaker to opposing Pawniard (though it can somewhat limit it coming in) and Ponyta. This version of the team won’t be featured in the RMT, but it is equally as interesting!
In-Depth Analysis
Metallic Madness (Pawniard) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Beat Up
- Knock Off
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Beat Up
- Knock Off
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
Role/Tips: Scarfed Pawniard is the speed control of the team. It can also serve as a cleaner and as a soft check to anything it can stomach a hit from generally. It is also one of the Psychic-types and Porygon checks of the team. It is not advised to switch it directly into Pokémon such as Abra, unless you are sure they won’t click their Fighting-type moves. Pawniard shares some of Grookey’s soft-checks, namely Fighting-types and Mareanie. As such, Pawniard’s main goal should be to chip them in tandem with Koffing and Croagunk. Pawniard also tends to bring Trapinch in, which is pretty nice for Wood Hammer Grookey as it allows Porygon to counter-trap it.
Item: Choice Scarf makes Pawniard hit 24 Speed, notably outspeeding Tyrunt after a Dragon Dance, as well as Scarfed Porygon. It is a pretty surprising item on Pawniard, catching the likes of Pokémon hitting 17 Speed and higher off-guard. Such examples that are notable are the 17-speed Natu, Mienfoo and Grookey, as well as the 19-speed Abra and Ponyta-Galar.
EVs/Nature: Pawniard’s investment ensures it has maximum speed so that it can outspeed Pokémon that hit up to 22 Speed. This set hits 18 Attack, giving Pawniard better rolls against a plethora of opponents, including most notably opposing Fighting-types.
Moves: Beat Up is Pawniard’s way of dealing with Pokémon such as Abra. It is otherwise outperformed by Knock Off and the most replaceable move on this set. Knock Off is Pawniard’s main STAB, removing Eviolites from opposing Pokémon to soften them up for teammates such as Grookey or for itself. Iron Head is primarily used for its strong damage output against knocked-off Fighting-types, while Brick Break is a safe move to threaten opposing Steel- and Dark-types while still retaining a bit of power against most other foes.
Other Options: Sucker Punch can be used over Beat Up or Brick Break, allowing for another priority option against Carvanha. However, being locked into Sucker Punch is often uncomfortable. Psycho Cut is an alternative to Iron Head which immediately threatens opposing Fighting- and Psychic-types, but it is less safe to click than Iron Head.
Flying Battery (Porygon) @ Eviolite
Ability: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Recover
- Thunder Wave / Ice Beam
- Teleport
Ability: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tri Attack
- Recover
- Thunder Wave / Ice Beam
- Teleport
Role/Tips: Porygon is one of the glue Pokémon of the team. It serves as a blanket check to the likes of Flash Fire Ponyta, Staryu, Abra, Ponyta-Galar, Carvanha, opposing Porygon, Frillish, Mudbray, Koffing and Natu. It can directly switch in on most of them and check them comfortably thanks to Thunder Wave and Recover. As such, Porygon also acts as a way to provide speed control for the team. Halving the speed of Pokémon such as Pawniard helps Croagunk tremendously in its job. But the most important reason for Porygon's presence on the team lies in its Trace Ability. Thanks to Trace, Porygon can counter trap opposing Diglett and Trapinch which lets many members of the team go ham.
Item: Porygon’s Eviolite is its bulk. You do not normally want to stay in on Knock Offs.
EVs/Nature: Porygon benefits from solid mixed defenses thanks to this spread, which helps it check most Pokémon. The Calm Nature on top of this investment denies opposing Porygon’s Special Attack boost and makes rolls against Koffing and Natu more comfortable.
Moves: Tri Attack is Porygon’s main attacking move, which hits neutral targets quite hard and comes with a handy chance to inflict one of three great statuses. Recover and Thunder Wave make Porygon effective at its role, allowing it to repeatedly stomach hits and to cripple opposing Pokémon. Thunder Wave strongly cripples Analytic Staryu, non-Natu Psychic-types, Pawniard and non-burnt Fighting-types. Teleport is a pretty funky move which was put on the set so that Porygon could pivot into Frillish and bring Pawniard or Grookey in safely against it. Teleport also helps to bring Pawniard checks such as Mudbray and Croagunk in freely.
Other Options: Porygon can run Ice Beam over Thunder Wave. It allows Porygon to dispatch Natu and Ground types more effectively, which is great on complicated matchups such as RestTalk Mudbray. It also allows Porygon to strike Ferroseed. Thunderbolt can be used over Teleport to have a reliable way to chip Frillish and Pawniard. Do not use both Ice Beam and Thunderbolt as Porygon will need one of Thunder Wave and Teleport.
Wildstyle Pistol (Croagunk) @ Eviolite
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 52 HP / 188 Atk / 116 Def / 28 SpA / 116 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Vacuum Wave
- Drain Punch
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 52 HP / 188 Atk / 116 Def / 28 SpA / 116 Spe
Naughty Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Vacuum Wave
- Drain Punch
Role/Tips: This is not the Nasty Plot set, as it is bad in my opinion. Croagunk is the main Steel-type check of the team, coming with an useful and unique array of resistances to boot. As such, it can act as a glue, soft-checking Pokémon such as Fighting-types, Mareanie, Grass-types and Carvanha, using these matchups to spread Knock Off and make progress while keeping Koffing healthy. Thanks to its priorities, Croagunk can aid in chipping fast Pokémon to make them easier to handle. However, since its priority is pretty weak, Croagunk can almost never revenge-kill Pokémon by itself. Croagunk can soften up Psychic- and Poison-type Pokémon it tends to invite in such as Natu, Koffing or Mareanie, luring the latter two which Grookey and Pawniard appreciate. Depending on your gameplan, Croagunk can be used as a lead to bait trappers in and remove them with Porygon. Lastly, but more importantly, it scores style points over Mienfoo and Timburr, and it is less known by the community so its set can catch some off-guard. On Foongus matchups, Croagunk is often the Sleep absorber of choice, as the team can function without it. I used to lead with it, but it doesn't fare well as a lead against stronger opponents.
Item: Croagunk’s Eviolite patches its low bulk, allowing Croagunk to stomach some attacks and act as another glue-ish Pokémon in the team.
EVs/Nature: Croagunk’s EV spread lets it hit 13 Speed, outspeeding Pokémon hitting the 12 Speed-tier, including most Koffing. Its Attack investment lets Croagunk almost always defeat Koffing and Mareanie with Knock Off followed by Earthquake. The rest is dumped in physical bulk to allow Croagunk to better switch into opposing Mienfoo for instance. A Special Defense-lowering spread is used because Croagunk already loses to most special attackers in the tier, so lowering it isn’t a big deal. Since Croagunk is a weird case EV-wise, a useless point in Special Attack is present, since it can’t be invested elsewhere due to its Nature. Using a Special Attack-lowering nature is out of question since it makes Vacuum Wave damage against Carvanha pitiful.
Moves: Knock Off is Croagunk’s principal move: it will be used to make progress against the opposing team, normally removing the items of two or three Pokémon early in the game. Earthquake allows Croagunk to pick off knocked-off Poison-type opponents. However, one has to keep in mind that Earthquake’s power is halved under Grookey’s Grassy Terrain, so this attack should only be used when Grassy Terrain is not set up. Croagunk uses its priority Vacuum Wave to chip down Pokémon such as Carvanha, Speed-boosted Porygon, Speed-boosted Tyrunt, Sandshrew-Alola under Hail or Diglett (to break a possible Focus Sash), but one has to keep in mind Vacuum Wave is pretty weak and will need support from other teammates to truly handle some enemies. Drain Punch allows Croagunk to potentially switch in on more Pokémon, as it is its main means of recovery.
Other Options: A Shed Shell can be used as Croagunk’s Item, allowing Croagunk to be swapped out of trappers and retain its utility after baiting trappers in. However, this comes at the cost of a tremendous drop in bulk and Croagunk must be played more warily to avoid Knock Off. Moving EV points to attain 15 Special Attack lets Croagunk deal 18 damage points to Carvanha with Vacuum Wave, letting it trade with Carvanha more effectively, but it comes with a cost in Croagunk’s performance elsewhere.
Mean Bean Machine (Koffing) @ Eviolite
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Def / 116 SpA / 76 SpD / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Def / 116 SpA / 76 SpD / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
Role/Tips: Koffing does Koffing stuff. It denies Regenerator from Pokémon such as Mienfoo so that other members can plow through it more easily. It is the main Fighting- and Grookey-check of the team, being able to punish greddy Knock Off plays with a burn followed by a free use of Pain Split. In spite of its defensive usefulness, Koffing is pretty hard to switch into, so it likes Knock Off support from Pawniard, Croagunk and Grookey. If it isn’t weakened, it can act as an emergency Ponyta check. Koffing often is my lead in important games due to being able to circumvent losing the Eviolite to Knock Off users with Will-o-Wisp and Pain Split.
Item: Oh my God, Koffing packs an Eviolite, can you believe it? Similarly to other members, Koffing’s Eviolite helps bolster its bulk to help it perform better at its role.
EVs/Nature: Koffing’s EV spread hits the 18 Defense benchmark which offers it better rolls against stuff it checks. It hits 12 Speed, outspeeding Mareanie and Timburr which it can annoy. A maximal investment in Special Attack makes Koffing pretty hard to switch into.
Moves: Koffing’s STAB Sludge Bomb hits neutral targets reasonably hard and comes with a hefty chance to Poison opponents. Pain Split gives Koffing great recovery, allowing it to check Mienfoo and Grookey long-term more easily and to inevitably chip a switchin. Will-O-Wisp is a pretty surprising slot, punishing Knock Off from Fighting-types and Grookey and Ground-type switchins alike. Thunderbolt is chosen over Fire Blast as Koffing’s coverage due to its usefulness against Natu, Mareanie, Staryu and Frillish switchins while Fire Blast only really hits Ferroseed, since Ground-type switchins and Pawniard are handled by a burn.
Other Options: Fire Blast can still be used over Thunderbolt or Will-O-Wisp if you’re uncomfortable missing its coverage. This move helps greatly against opposing Steel- and Ground-types.
Skyway Octane (Mudbray) @ Eviolite
Ability: Stamina
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- High Horsepower
- Rock Tomb
- Close Combat
Ability: Stamina
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 76 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- High Horsepower
- Rock Tomb
- Close Combat
Role/Tips: Mudbray is another one of the team’s dedicated glues. Its aim is to handle opposing Ponyta and to serve as a secondary check to Pokémon such as Koffing or Tyrunt. Mudbray is also reasonably bulky, so doubling it in often comes with minimal risks. It can use this bulk to soft-check Pokémon such as Fighting-types or Special Attackers if it doesn’t have a Ponyta to handle. Mudbray is the team’s dedicated Stealth Rocker, using Rock Tomb to scare Natu which would normally want to come in on Mudbray and deflect Stealth Rocks. However, this Mudbray struggles against unknocked Natu, which avoids the 2HKO from Rock Tomb, so Knocking Natu off with Croagunk can be necessary to ensure Rocks are set.
Item: Mudbray once again uses an Eviolite to be one of the bulkiest Pokémon in the tier as long as it has it so that it can act as a great physical blanket check.
EVs/Nature: Mudbray takes up on a specially-defensive spread to deny opposing Porygon’s Special Attack Download boost and to soft-check the likes of Abra and Koffing better. Thanks to its great mixed bulk, Mudbray can as such soft-check a myriad of Pokémon such as Fire- and Rock-types notably. Its minimal investment in Speed allows it to outpace Mareanie and tie Koffing and fast variants of Timburr at 12 Speed.
Moves: High Horsepower is Mudbray’s STAB and main attack. Unlike Earthquake, its damage stays consistent under Grookey’s Grassy Terrain. Rock Tomb allows Mudbray to lower the speed of many Pokémon that would want to scout its moves, including Mienfoo, Natu, Staryu or Grookey. Close Combat is Mudbray’s 100% accurate move and its answer against Ferroseed and predicted Grookey switchins. Stealth Rock is Stealth Rock. It helps other members tremendously by weakening their switchins.
Other Options: Rock Slide can be used over Rock Tomb to have a stronger option against Natu. Similarly, Heavy Slam can be used to make prediction between Fighting-types and Natu easier. However, both moves lack the speed-lowering utility of Rock Tomb. Using the RestTalk Mudbray set with High Horsepower over Earthquake can give Mudbray more staying power, allowing it to notably better check Ponyta, but Sleep Talk rolls are very luck-reliant which can be game-deciding.
Blossom Haze (Grookey) @ Life Orb
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Wood Hammer
Ability: Grassy Surge
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Wood Hammer
Role/Tips: Grookey is the team’s main wallbreaker or cleaner, depending on the opposing team. It helps soften up opposing forces thanks to its raw damage. Grookey is one of the team’s main revenge killers, making great use of its strong Grassy Glide priority against Choice Scarfers, Speed-boosted Pokémon and Pokémon over 17 Speed. With Croagunk’s support in luring Koffing or Natu early, Grookey can fire these Grassy Glides off in near impunity, heavily damaging anything switching in. As such, it acts as another element of speed control in the team. Even when using a Life Orb, Grookey is reasonably bulky and can withstand a hit from opposing Carvanha, Staryu (barring Ice Beam) and Ground-types to help the team check them. Grookey’s Grassy Terrain also helps teammates defensively, allowing them to stomach opposing Earthquakes more easily and giving them some recovery which can be great in some scenarios. As such, Grookey is the main switchin to Pokémon such as opposing Diglett when they are not burnt or Porygon is threatened by Final Gambit.
Item: Grookey’s Life Orb bolsters its damage output, making it a headache to switch into, especially thanks to the other team members’ softening options.
EVs/Nature: Grookey runs maximal Attack and Speed investment to further its breaking power. It notably can outspeed and stomach a hit from opposing Sucker Punch from Pawniard, scoring the KO back thanks to Drain Punch. Thanks to max Attack and Life Orb coupled with Grookey’s Grassy Surge Ability, it can very easily nuke opponents with its STABs.
Moves: Grassy Glide is the primary reason to use Grookey. Under the Grassy Terrain which Grookey summons upon entering the field, Grassy Glide becomes a strong Terrain-boosted priority, limiting offensive and defensive counterplay alike. It notably strikes fast Pokémon such as Abra, Staryu and Speed-boosted Pokémon, but also avoids having to tie with Pokémon such as Mienfoo. Wood Hammer complements Grookey’s breaking power: it acts as a nuke button which can even annihilate resists such as Koffing after they have been knocked off and had to come in on another attack. Wood Hammer also scores the KO on a myriad of other bulky stuff, non-exhaustively including opposing Timburr, Mareanie, non-Scarfed Porygon or opposing Mienfoo (be wary of the tie). Knock Off is Grookey’s option to soften up its checks, as removing their Eviolite and chipping them helps Grookey score kills thanks to its two STABs. Moreover, it is able to hit opposing Natu super effectively. Drain Punch is Grookey’s way to handle an opposing Ferroseed or Pawniard. Its recovery can also be needed to be able to switch in more often when rocks are set up on your side and to fire off more attacks.
Other Options: No, thank you. Protect over Wood Hammer defeats the purpose of this team, which is to lure trappers such as Trapinch to counter-trap it, although it could be nice to be able to play around Mienfoo’s Fake Out. You'd much rather have your nuke Attack in a wide majority of cases, though.
Replays
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Shoutouts
Lokifan, for spreading the word of the Gunker up to a tournament as prestigious as LCPL. Thanks for believing in me and my 6s as much as I believe in you.
PMD RP Gang (French server joking around Croagunk after my performance against Freezai)
The Hither Gang (altho they won't see that)
LC Community, I love you all! (These shoutouts are made in two minutes flat, and I'm too lazy to write specific names as well so you are most likely in that one.)
Everyone on the planet. (You are likely in that one if I was wrong earlier.)
The presentation is greatly inspired from Pinkacross' RMTs, which I am a big fan of despite not knowing much about OU. I won't ping him because I don't want to bother him in an LC RMT.
Outro
During the RMT, you may have asked yourself, and fairly so, “Why doesn’t this team use Mienfoo instead of Croagunk? It can also pick off Koffing and gives you great utility! It allows you to counter-trap some Pokémon more effectively because U-turn is great! It has better Speed and checks Steel-types better! It doesn’t instantly lose to any Ground-type in the tier! What have you been smoking to think about using this team?”. Yes, people have been doubtful about Croagunk for a while, their feelings showing when I brought this team.
(Well, I’m glad you asked!)
I find it pretty stupid and infuriating how people will go on about the metagame being stale then disregard any other option that is widely regarded as less viable than the top. But we are all guilty of this, myself included.
By showcasing Mania, I wanted to show off to the world a surprising team full of uncommon but great options that work very well in tandem with each other, even taking or coming short of taking big players. For the most part, it appears to me that I have succeeded.
I hope that more people can change their minds and try things that are widely seen as subpar, as there can be very great surprises which can bring a breath of fresh air to the meta, even for a scarce second. One such example is the recent Morelull development as another answer to Fighting-types and Carvanha.
However, do not take my ted talk as an excuse to annoy people or to use stuff that won’t help the metagame develop: you need to be able to at least show why the Pokémon could be an interesting pick in the metagame.
After all, playing new things you like instead of absolutely sticking to what is meta is what makes Pokémon, in my opinion, a great game. Enjoying a game is the first step towards becoming successful at it.
So, no, even though Mienfoo would perhaps be a better choice over Croagunk, I am not changing this little fella, which carries style points, specific quirks and surprise factor alike.
During the RMT, you may have asked yourself, and fairly so, “Why doesn’t this team use Mienfoo instead of Croagunk? It can also pick off Koffing and gives you great utility! It allows you to counter-trap some Pokémon more effectively because U-turn is great! It has better Speed and checks Steel-types better! It doesn’t instantly lose to any Ground-type in the tier! What have you been smoking to think about using this team?”. Yes, people have been doubtful about Croagunk for a while, their feelings showing when I brought this team.
(Well, I’m glad you asked!)
I find it pretty stupid and infuriating how people will go on about the metagame being stale then disregard any other option that is widely regarded as less viable than the top. But we are all guilty of this, myself included.
By showcasing Mania, I wanted to show off to the world a surprising team full of uncommon but great options that work very well in tandem with each other, even taking or coming short of taking big players. For the most part, it appears to me that I have succeeded.
I hope that more people can change their minds and try things that are widely seen as subpar, as there can be very great surprises which can bring a breath of fresh air to the meta, even for a scarce second. One such example is the recent Morelull development as another answer to Fighting-types and Carvanha.
However, do not take my ted talk as an excuse to annoy people or to use stuff that won’t help the metagame develop: you need to be able to at least show why the Pokémon could be an interesting pick in the metagame.
After all, playing new things you like instead of absolutely sticking to what is meta is what makes Pokémon, in my opinion, a great game. Enjoying a game is the first step towards becoming successful at it.
So, no, even though Mienfoo would perhaps be a better choice over Croagunk, I am not changing this little fella, which carries style points, specific quirks and surprise factor alike.
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