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New/Creative movesets — Little Cup edition!
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Have you tested any of these sets? because it seems like you're just posting them here for the sake of posting. Also maybe explain the set a bit, its moveset / item / evs / etc. I've got no idea what the point of that set is tbh, and I'm sure im not the only one
Sandile @ Eviolite
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 36 HP / 184 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Crunch / Pursuit
- Toxic / Fire Fang
Rather than the lategame Moxie cleaner approach that Sandile is known for, this set acts more as a bulky attacker. Intimidate and Eviolite allow Sandile to take physical attacks surprisingly well. Earthquake and Crunch are Sandile's main attacking options and get great coverage together. Pursuit can be used over Crunch to hit fleeing Ghost- and Psychic-types, most of which are going to switch out on sight. Taunt is useful for stopping Substitute, hazards, Will-O-Wisp, you name it. Toxic is always good and gives Sandile some leverage against Hippopotas. Fire Fang can be used to hit Ferroseed or Snover, who can be annoying otherwise.
As a side note, this set works fantastic with Croagunk, since they cover each other's weaknesses and counters very well.
Name: Sub-Boost Mienfoo
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 36 HP/236 SAtk/236 Spe
Nature: Timid
-Calm Mind
-Aura Sphere
-Hidden Power Ghost
-Substitute/U-Turn
HP Ghost gives you perfect coverage while Aura Sphere is a nice STAB. This set lures Ghosts in so you can set up CMs. After 2 CMs, you hit 30 Special Attack, which is good enough to sweep a lot of teams. Can also be used as a Special Tank.
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 36 HP/236 SAtk/236 Spe
Nature: Timid
-Calm Mind
-Aura Sphere
-Hidden Power Ghost
-Substitute/U-Turn
HP Ghost gives you perfect coverage while Aura Sphere is a nice STAB. This set lures Ghosts in so you can set up CMs. After 2 CMs, you hit 30 Special Attack, which is good enough to sweep a lot of teams. Can also be used as a Special Tank.
Name: Sub smoochum
Move 1: substitute
Move 2: blizzard / ice beam
Move 3: psyshock
Move 4: hp fire / nasty plot
Item: life orb
Ability: forewarn
Nature(s): timid
EVs: 240 spe / 240 spa (rest of evs don't make any stat boosts)
Ivs: 0 hp (19 hp)
Ok, smoochums attacking power is huge and it causes switches... If this hasn't screamed sub to you yet you should stop reading. Well the idea is to scare something out that you can revenge, sub up, and watch as the revenge killer gets OHKOed. With this thing being hard to revenge (17 speed is Pretty good) it can pretty much sweep from there. Lo + blizzard + stab ohkoes stuff like scraggy after rocks barring odd sets and this thing reaches great coverage with hp fire psyshock and ice move of choice. Nasty plot transforms you into a wall breaker and pretty much let's you ohko everything barring slowpoke. Sing can be used over plot but accuracy is sad.
Move 1: substitute
Move 2: blizzard / ice beam
Move 3: psyshock
Move 4: hp fire / nasty plot
Item: life orb
Ability: forewarn
Nature(s): timid
EVs: 240 spe / 240 spa (rest of evs don't make any stat boosts)
Ivs: 0 hp (19 hp)
Ok, smoochums attacking power is huge and it causes switches... If this hasn't screamed sub to you yet you should stop reading. Well the idea is to scare something out that you can revenge, sub up, and watch as the revenge killer gets OHKOed. With this thing being hard to revenge (17 speed is Pretty good) it can pretty much sweep from there. Lo + blizzard + stab ohkoes stuff like scraggy after rocks barring odd sets and this thing reaches great coverage with hp fire psyshock and ice move of choice. Nasty plot transforms you into a wall breaker and pretty much let's you ohko everything barring slowpoke. Sing can be used over plot but accuracy is sad.
Non-scarf snover, scraggy yet to dd, mienfoo if you can bluff scarf, hippo, timburr, ferroseed, drilbir in hail, croagunk (sub on sucker punch), natu, acrofloon (cant have used flight gem yet and predict around sucker punch) and probably more stuff that I cant recall :(. Keep in mind that if the stuff stays in you can OHKO it anyway.
The word you're looking for is "largest" iss, though i agree the set isnt very uesful because it's 80% outclassed by Abra; And I will show you why:
Smoochum has shittier typing, and shit for abilities.
Smoochum has 3 higher stats than abra, HP, Attack, and Special Defense. Attack is obviously useless on a special attacker, so its struck from the list. Since you're running LO, you'll want 0 HP IV's to put smoochum to 19,minimizing recoil (especially important w/ Subs) and abra's minimum is 19, so you can cross HP off the list as well. Lastly, smoochum has 1 more uninvested Spec D than Abra. So its got that.
Move wise; Smoochum does get access to Nasty Plot and STAB Blizzard; both of which abra would looove. And while access to NP does redeem the set a lot; there's not a lot Smoochum can come in on and force out to get its sub up to allow it to NP like ISS said.
Abra is faster, stronger, and doesnt have much worse defenses while still maintaining strong offensive presence and perfect coverage.
Basically: Nasty plot is really all it has over Abra, and while it does provide it with the power to *wreck* teams; getting it up against competent players (like not me) will be a chore, and, while its 17 speed is fast, it's still easily revenged.
Responding to above post: Ferroseed walls the set pretty hard (with its high Spec D and resistance to Psychic) and can break the subs with STAB SE Gyroballs, or STAB bullet seeds (which will probably kill). Jolly Drilbur also his 17 speed, even in hail; so at best you'd be speed tying. I can't really speak for anything else; though croagunk probably wouldnt stay in unless it's faking out (which will hurt like a mother; courtesy of 15 defense)
Smoochum has shittier typing, and shit for abilities.
Smoochum has 3 higher stats than abra, HP, Attack, and Special Defense. Attack is obviously useless on a special attacker, so its struck from the list. Since you're running LO, you'll want 0 HP IV's to put smoochum to 19,minimizing recoil (especially important w/ Subs) and abra's minimum is 19, so you can cross HP off the list as well. Lastly, smoochum has 1 more uninvested Spec D than Abra. So its got that.
Move wise; Smoochum does get access to Nasty Plot and STAB Blizzard; both of which abra would looove. And while access to NP does redeem the set a lot; there's not a lot Smoochum can come in on and force out to get its sub up to allow it to NP like ISS said.
Abra is faster, stronger, and doesnt have much worse defenses while still maintaining strong offensive presence and perfect coverage.
Basically: Nasty plot is really all it has over Abra, and while it does provide it with the power to *wreck* teams; getting it up against competent players (like not me) will be a chore, and, while its 17 speed is fast, it's still easily revenged.
Responding to above post: Ferroseed walls the set pretty hard (with its high Spec D and resistance to Psychic) and can break the subs with STAB SE Gyroballs, or STAB bullet seeds (which will probably kill). Jolly Drilbur also his 17 speed, even in hail; so at best you'd be speed tying. I can't really speak for anything else; though croagunk probably wouldnt stay in unless it's faking out (which will hurt like a mother; courtesy of 15 defense)
After testing hail somewhat extensively, I can say that one point being neglected by the above post is that Smoochum is a hail sweeper whereas Abra is something pretty different. The name of the game is Blizzspam, which provides important coverage with Psyshock or Psychic (Psychic's better overall since Timburr has higher Defense than Special Defense [Mienfoo possesses equal defensive stats] but the Nasty Plot set can't afford being walled so Psyshock sees use there). Hate to break it to ya, but Ferroseed does not wall Substitute Smoochum. Try taking a few Blizzards then get back to me...
In any case, Ferroseed is a good example of how to play this set. Let's take a look why.
I send out Smoochum to revenge, let's say, Natu, at an opportune moment early game. There's not a whole lot Smoochum can force out; then again, there's not that much Drilbur yet to set up can force out either. I Substitute, and Ferroseed, seeming like a decent switch-in to the average passerby (as Methmite so casually demonstrated) comes in on the opponent's team. I go for a Blizzard, crippling it greatly while it a.) breaks my sub or b.) sets up hazards predicting a switch. If a.) the user is greatly concerned as to losing Ferroseed, a Poke who's only recovery is Leech Seed early game, and I can sub again hoping they switch and worse case just lose 25% more on a fragile mon. If b.) they're really in trouble. Either way, what my opponent just thought of as their best answer to Smoochum is now in trouble, and if I keep my sub up, priority is not a worry. Actually, Protect can even merit a spot on this set instead of Nasty Plot if you are afraid of Mienfoo / Croagunk.
Either way, the set's not "lol completely outclassed," it's just an alternative to Scarf Smoochum, that if bluffed correctly, can cause trouble for the opponent.
In any case, Ferroseed is a good example of how to play this set. Let's take a look why.
I send out Smoochum to revenge, let's say, Natu, at an opportune moment early game. There's not a whole lot Smoochum can force out; then again, there's not that much Drilbur yet to set up can force out either. I Substitute, and Ferroseed, seeming like a decent switch-in to the average passerby (as Methmite so casually demonstrated) comes in on the opponent's team. I go for a Blizzard, crippling it greatly while it a.) breaks my sub or b.) sets up hazards predicting a switch. If a.) the user is greatly concerned as to losing Ferroseed, a Poke who's only recovery is Leech Seed early game, and I can sub again hoping they switch and worse case just lose 25% more on a fragile mon. If b.) they're really in trouble. Either way, what my opponent just thought of as their best answer to Smoochum is now in trouble, and if I keep my sub up, priority is not a worry. Actually, Protect can even merit a spot on this set instead of Nasty Plot if you are afraid of Mienfoo / Croagunk.
Either way, the set's not "lol completely outclassed," it's just an alternative to Scarf Smoochum, that if bluffed correctly, can cause trouble for the opponent.
Draco Yoshi's set got ignored: And i wanna comment on it.
I love sandile; but it just cannot perform that job (bulky attacker) effectively. It's typing makes it weak to 4 really important types: Water and Fighting being the big ones. and then you have the whole "50/35/35 defenses" thing without *any* investment bar one point into health. While a 17 speed stat is impressive, its not fast enough as its tied with mienfoo, staryu outspeeds, etc etc.
I get it's not supposed to stay in on those mons for obvious reasons; but 22/15/15 (with eviolite) defenses are just....sad; i hardly concider that bulky at all.
I'm not saying the set can't work. I'm saying it's outclassed by other bulkier threats. Timburr is the first thing to mind. Though even eviolite Drilbur is bulkier; and at least that can set up and do something.
In short: unless theirs something on the set that no one else can do, and I'm just not seeing it, it's hardly a competitively viable option. Least thats my two sense.
I love sandile; but it just cannot perform that job (bulky attacker) effectively. It's typing makes it weak to 4 really important types: Water and Fighting being the big ones. and then you have the whole "50/35/35 defenses" thing without *any* investment bar one point into health. While a 17 speed stat is impressive, its not fast enough as its tied with mienfoo, staryu outspeeds, etc etc.
I get it's not supposed to stay in on those mons for obvious reasons; but 22/15/15 (with eviolite) defenses are just....sad; i hardly concider that bulky at all.
I'm not saying the set can't work. I'm saying it's outclassed by other bulkier threats. Timburr is the first thing to mind. Though even eviolite Drilbur is bulkier; and at least that can set up and do something.
In short: unless theirs something on the set that no one else can do, and I'm just not seeing it, it's hardly a competitively viable option. Least thats my two sense.
Missed this thread. Apologies who had to lock my earlier thread (I suck at finding threads). Anyway, here's the set I put there.
Cubone the Tank @Thick Club
EVs: 236 def, 36 HP, 36 atk, 40 sp. def, 160 spd
Impish
Earthquake/Bonemerang
Knock Off
Fire Punch
Rest
I don't know why Cubone isn't used as a very defensive threat myself. 20 base defense and a decent HP stat isn't 2HKOed by a lot of things, especially seeing as Cubone has no common physical weakness. Some may say that he's easily out-classed by other walls as he lacks eviolite, but where other walls fail and are often set-up bait or free hazards, Cubone suceeds so not taking many physical hits isn't really so much of a disadvantage, as he needs very little time to cause huge amounts of damage. Even with a tiny attack investment, Cubone has an extremely high attack stat and is immediately threatening, capable of OHKOing nearly every grounded sweeper around. This can make him very tough to switch in as well as damage once levitators and fliers are out of the way. Earthquake, as mentioned, hits very hard on buckets of stuff. Knock off is very handy for things switching in like drifloon or bronzong. Fire punch lets him break opposing stall such as bronzong and ferroseed.
Cubone the Tank @Thick Club
EVs: 236 def, 36 HP, 36 atk, 40 sp. def, 160 spd
Impish
Earthquake/Bonemerang
Knock Off
Fire Punch
Rest
I don't know why Cubone isn't used as a very defensive threat myself. 20 base defense and a decent HP stat isn't 2HKOed by a lot of things, especially seeing as Cubone has no common physical weakness. Some may say that he's easily out-classed by other walls as he lacks eviolite, but where other walls fail and are often set-up bait or free hazards, Cubone suceeds so not taking many physical hits isn't really so much of a disadvantage, as he needs very little time to cause huge amounts of damage. Even with a tiny attack investment, Cubone has an extremely high attack stat and is immediately threatening, capable of OHKOing nearly every grounded sweeper around. This can make him very tough to switch in as well as damage once levitators and fliers are out of the way. Earthquake, as mentioned, hits very hard on buckets of stuff. Knock off is very handy for things switching in like drifloon or bronzong. Fire punch lets him break opposing stall such as bronzong and ferroseed.
The cynic in me instantly goes to say its outclassed by Gligar. Its just that gligar's traits make it more prone to a set like this. What this set does have over others is the immediate power boost from thick club. Hitting 28 attack stat with no set up is nothing to scoff at. With Rest for recovery; this is a set I would've considered using before Gligar was unbanned.
The best way to use this set would be with a Chinchou, imo. Chinchou has good synergy statwise, and can use volt switch / Heal bell to get him in on something that can't do much and remove rest Count downs.
Again; I really feel like this is something Gligar can do better.
Yeah, I deliberately posted this before Gligar was officially un-banned. Thus Gligar has replaced him on my team.... But out of the big four, I think murkrow will be banned, Gligar probably will, misdreavus probably not, and I think carvanha will stick around.
Carvanha is still banned :P
Oh, haha. Didn't realise that :P. I'm not sure why though. It's not really much tougher to beat I imagine than the other three (just sneeze priority other than fake out and it will probably die). Croagunk and Ferroseed also make hard counters presuming it dosen't carry HP fire (which I can't imagine many will).
bumpers (with emma's permission)
Ponyta (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Def / 76 SDef / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Return
As we all know, Ponyta is an amazing Pokemon and can pretty much run any set very well. After fiddling around a bit with stall, I found this set to be really effective and anti-metagame. With Gligar gone, Bronzor is also less popular, which means Snover and Mienfoo will become even more popular. Pure Fire typing means Ponyta resists all of common Snover's attacks and can OHKO it with STAB Flare Blitz. With Flame Body, Ponyta has a good chance to burn Mienfoo trying to hit it with Fake Out of U-turn. I don't really find Flash Fire necessary because Ponyta already takes Fire-type hits really well, and the advantage isn't nearly as good as a 30% chance to burn upon contact. Having a fast user of Will-O-Wisp is really useful to leave Mienfoo and other physical attacks useless, so Ponyta works really well on stall teams, and it can even help teammates set up. I happened to just pick Return over Wild Charge because it is stronger and doesn't come with recoil, and it hits Chinchou, but if you want to hit Staryu harder on the switch, Wild Charge is great! Ponyta works well with Shroomish and Staryu to keep Chinchou and Stealth Rock away, but it's good by itself too (just keep Stealth Rock off your side of the field).
Ponyta (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Def / 76 SDef / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Morning Sun
- Will-O-Wisp
- Flare Blitz
- Return
As we all know, Ponyta is an amazing Pokemon and can pretty much run any set very well. After fiddling around a bit with stall, I found this set to be really effective and anti-metagame. With Gligar gone, Bronzor is also less popular, which means Snover and Mienfoo will become even more popular. Pure Fire typing means Ponyta resists all of common Snover's attacks and can OHKO it with STAB Flare Blitz. With Flame Body, Ponyta has a good chance to burn Mienfoo trying to hit it with Fake Out of U-turn. I don't really find Flash Fire necessary because Ponyta already takes Fire-type hits really well, and the advantage isn't nearly as good as a 30% chance to burn upon contact. Having a fast user of Will-O-Wisp is really useful to leave Mienfoo and other physical attacks useless, so Ponyta works really well on stall teams, and it can even help teammates set up. I happened to just pick Return over Wild Charge because it is stronger and doesn't come with recoil, and it hits Chinchou, but if you want to hit Staryu harder on the switch, Wild Charge is great! Ponyta works well with Shroomish and Staryu to keep Chinchou and Stealth Rock away, but it's good by itself too (just keep Stealth Rock off your side of the field).
On a more positive note, I've been fiddling with my Larvesta spread and set and some people told me they were curious what I've been using:
Larvesta (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Def / 36 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
Basically I ditched almost all of the Speed that the on-site spread has, this one has enough speed to beat nigh all Croagunk while underspeeding all Mienfoo bar 0 Speed Mienfoo. I've found this useful since Mienfoo with lower Speed will sometimes try to U-turn thinking that you will U-turn out first. The trade off (more defense investment) is definitely worth it. Also, I haven't been using WoW since Wild Charge is a nasty surprise for Staryu, and I've found most teams that use Staryu are really dependent on it spinning multiple times per game. Some good teammates are thus obviously Croagunk and Lileep...
Not the most inventive set, but still pretty different than "standard" and something a lot of people have asked me about.
Larvesta (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Flame Body
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Def / 36 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Morning Sun
- Wild Charge
Basically I ditched almost all of the Speed that the on-site spread has, this one has enough speed to beat nigh all Croagunk while underspeeding all Mienfoo bar 0 Speed Mienfoo. I've found this useful since Mienfoo with lower Speed will sometimes try to U-turn thinking that you will U-turn out first. The trade off (more defense investment) is definitely worth it. Also, I haven't been using WoW since Wild Charge is a nasty surprise for Staryu, and I've found most teams that use Staryu are really dependent on it spinning multiple times per game. Some good teammates are thus obviously Croagunk and Lileep...
Not the most inventive set, but still pretty different than "standard" and something a lot of people have asked me about.
So I'm double posting because this thread is very pertinent and you guys need to start posting again!
Budew (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 36 SAtk / 36 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore
This is a set I've been messing around with for a while and I kinda like it. The basic concept is that you mess with the ubiquity of Chinchou, since it really does nothing to you with Budew's naturally decent Special Defense. Furthermore, with status such a big issue in this meta, you have Natural Cure + Rest, which is pretty awesome, especially considering how often Budew switches out. Basically how I've been playing this is to bring out my own Murkrow, then do some damage until they bring in Chinchou, at which point I bring out Budew and start setting up some Spikes. Murkrow + Spikes is unreal, considering Life Orb HP Grass does like 40% to Specially Defensive Chinchou, so with LO and Super Luck and 3 layers of Spikes you're beating everything except Choice Scarf users or unfortunate Speed ties. Thoughts? Other sets?
Budew (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 196 HP / 236 Def / 36 SAtk / 36 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Rest
- Spikes
- Giga Drain
- Stun Spore
This is a set I've been messing around with for a while and I kinda like it. The basic concept is that you mess with the ubiquity of Chinchou, since it really does nothing to you with Budew's naturally decent Special Defense. Furthermore, with status such a big issue in this meta, you have Natural Cure + Rest, which is pretty awesome, especially considering how often Budew switches out. Basically how I've been playing this is to bring out my own Murkrow, then do some damage until they bring in Chinchou, at which point I bring out Budew and start setting up some Spikes. Murkrow + Spikes is unreal, considering Life Orb HP Grass does like 40% to Specially Defensive Chinchou, so with LO and Super Luck and 3 layers of Spikes you're beating everything except Choice Scarf users or unfortunate Speed ties. Thoughts? Other sets?
This is a set i love and it gets so many sweeps once ghost types are gone(when they are there they still wont be happy about coming in) that isnt not funny any more, it was meant as a revenge killer and something to troll DD scraggy as it sets up one DD and tries to sweep(i switch to this once i see a scraggy and who just outright attacks with scraggy, anyway?-bar scarf-)
Mankey (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake/Seed Bomb
- U-turn
- Assurance/Seed Bomb
- Close Combat
with given EVs, nature yada yada it ties with max speed scarf mienfoo and from my experience outspeeds most scarf chinchou(people use modest on that dont they?)
Plan here is close combat everything in sight(amazingly effective) unless there is a ghost type or notable resist(no, abra doesnt count(2HKOed)!) as it even scores 2-3HKOs on things like bronzor, u turn is nice for a choiced mon while assurance hits things switching into SR for double damage which punishes ghost/psychics(suck on that mienfoo) while seed bomb and earth quake are good moves in general, seed bomb hitting slowpoke consistently(STAB close combat hits harder than super effective seed bomb asuming close combat isnt resisted and grass weakness is x2) while EQ hits chinchou(OHKO on scarf and maybe some eviolite variants) and croagunk(2HKO on bulky variants)(not much else that i can think of that is common)
Assurance could be removed for one of the moves if you have a ghost trapper but u turn spamming also works to wear down ghosts bar frillish(who uses that anyways?) or ones with recover/roost or something(anything except frillish that has that?)
a partner to sponge fake outs is nice
This thing also saved me from a few tight spots, it outspeeds and swiftly OHKOs all the DD users i can think of at +1 while shell smash tirtouga is still outsped even after shell smash, non max speed omanyte and clamperl are outsped too (not sure if it can OHKO clamperl with close combat)
Why not mienfoo? All mienfoo has is regenerator which i dont find would help this mankey as it often stays at full health from my experience(outspeeding stuff and spamming attacks seems to be a viable strategy as long as you mind what and when you spam), just switch out of anything that threatens you and then switch back in when you need to, eventually wearing down the counter with repeated hits. Also, this thing has a movepool mienfoo would die for.
Mankey (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Vital Spirit
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake/Seed Bomb
- U-turn
- Assurance/Seed Bomb
- Close Combat
with given EVs, nature yada yada it ties with max speed scarf mienfoo and from my experience outspeeds most scarf chinchou(people use modest on that dont they?)
Plan here is close combat everything in sight(amazingly effective) unless there is a ghost type or notable resist(no, abra doesnt count(2HKOed)!) as it even scores 2-3HKOs on things like bronzor, u turn is nice for a choiced mon while assurance hits things switching into SR for double damage which punishes ghost/psychics(suck on that mienfoo) while seed bomb and earth quake are good moves in general, seed bomb hitting slowpoke consistently(STAB close combat hits harder than super effective seed bomb asuming close combat isnt resisted and grass weakness is x2) while EQ hits chinchou(OHKO on scarf and maybe some eviolite variants) and croagunk(2HKO on bulky variants)(not much else that i can think of that is common)
Assurance could be removed for one of the moves if you have a ghost trapper but u turn spamming also works to wear down ghosts bar frillish(who uses that anyways?) or ones with recover/roost or something(anything except frillish that has that?)
a partner to sponge fake outs is nice
This thing also saved me from a few tight spots, it outspeeds and swiftly OHKOs all the DD users i can think of at +1 while shell smash tirtouga is still outsped even after shell smash, non max speed omanyte and clamperl are outsped too (not sure if it can OHKO clamperl with close combat)
Why not mienfoo? All mienfoo has is regenerator which i dont find would help this mankey as it often stays at full health from my experience(outspeeding stuff and spamming attacks seems to be a viable strategy as long as you mind what and when you spam), just switch out of anything that threatens you and then switch back in when you need to, eventually wearing down the counter with repeated hits. Also, this thing has a movepool mienfoo would die for.
The problem with mankey is that he's so unflexible compared to mienfoo. All he can really do is choice scarf, and even mienfoo out-classes him sometimes in that respect, being much more able to switch in due to better bulk and regenerator and then mienfoo has a lot more other tricks up his sleeve like a bulky eviolite set, sub-pass, etc. and doesn't care about mankey's movepool as he gets great coverage with two moves anyway.
Anyway, here's the set I've been using in sand to surprisingly good effect.
Aron @eviolite
EVs:196 HP, 196 atk, 116 sp. def
Adamant, Rock Head
-Substitute
-Head Smash
-Iron Head
-Superpower
This counters murkrow so well which is mostly why it went on to my team but it's actually proven to be useful outside of beating murkrow and vullaby. The EVs let it easily take stuff like life orb murkrow's heatwave, taking barely 25% in the sand. Head smash seriously hurts everything that dares underestimate aron, making it very easy to predict a double switch seeing as the opponent will rarely have more than one thing that can take it. Iron head covers head smash quite well, hitting hippo and mienfoo neutrally, and superpower lets him pick off things like ferroseed or a weakened bronzor. Substitute is mostly a filler seeing as eq is pretty redundant though I may switch it out for magnet rise so he can try and stall out hippo and can't be revenged by drilbur.
Anyway, here's the set I've been using in sand to surprisingly good effect.
Aron @eviolite
EVs:196 HP, 196 atk, 116 sp. def
Adamant, Rock Head
-Substitute
-Head Smash
-Iron Head
-Superpower
This counters murkrow so well which is mostly why it went on to my team but it's actually proven to be useful outside of beating murkrow and vullaby. The EVs let it easily take stuff like life orb murkrow's heatwave, taking barely 25% in the sand. Head smash seriously hurts everything that dares underestimate aron, making it very easy to predict a double switch seeing as the opponent will rarely have more than one thing that can take it. Iron head covers head smash quite well, hitting hippo and mienfoo neutrally, and superpower lets him pick off things like ferroseed or a weakened bronzor. Substitute is mostly a filler seeing as eq is pretty redundant though I may switch it out for magnet rise so he can try and stall out hippo and can't be revenged by drilbur.
so ive been hyping this up a lot but never actually posted it here but i think i should do that now so lets get it
Scraggy (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch / Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Hi Jump Kick
basically this thing is what ive been using a lot lately. it is a fucking monster. it has literally nothing that can switch into it (max defense mienfoo takes 96% minimum from hjk at +1). this thing is a wall breaker and a sweeper. it drestoys all common defensive cores as everything is slower than it, and it can use drain punch to gain health back. i could use moxie but i always like the ability to get burned by a larvesta and then shake it off later. there is a noticable drop in bulk, but honestly the power is worth it imo. being able to beat the most used pokemon in the meta, most of its usage coming from its ability to beat scraggy, is fucking great. it beats defensive teams into the ground and can sweep offensive teams easily if they dont have a scarfer (unlikely i know but its not hard to get rid of it) or priority (croagunk is a bitch but its pretty easy to get rid of). watch out for fake out though because it always bites me in the ass :(
Scraggy (M) @ Life Orb Trait: Shed Skin
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Drain Punch / Dragon Dance
- Crunch
- Stone Edge
- Hi Jump Kick
basically this thing is what ive been using a lot lately. it is a fucking monster. it has literally nothing that can switch into it (max defense mienfoo takes 96% minimum from hjk at +1). this thing is a wall breaker and a sweeper. it drestoys all common defensive cores as everything is slower than it, and it can use drain punch to gain health back. i could use moxie but i always like the ability to get burned by a larvesta and then shake it off later. there is a noticable drop in bulk, but honestly the power is worth it imo. being able to beat the most used pokemon in the meta, most of its usage coming from its ability to beat scraggy, is fucking great. it beats defensive teams into the ground and can sweep offensive teams easily if they dont have a scarfer (unlikely i know but its not hard to get rid of it) or priority (croagunk is a bitch but its pretty easy to get rid of). watch out for fake out though because it always bites me in the ass :(
Houndour (F) @ Eviolite Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 160 HP / 196 Atk / 36 SAtk / 116 SDef
Gentle Nature (+SDef, -Def)
- Flamethrower
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
This looks weird and admitedly is but its been working for me. The Special defensive EVs and nature are to take HP fightings from missy and abra for a 3HKO while i crunch, pursuit or sucker punch, flame thrower over fire blast is because i have accuracy issues, sucker punch off the given EVs hits amazingly hard which makes him a good revenge killer, pursuit traps fleeing ghosts and psychics while all the dark STABs hit every ghost/psychic i can think of on the weaker defense.
EVs: 160 HP / 196 Atk / 36 SAtk / 116 SDef
Gentle Nature (+SDef, -Def)
- Flamethrower
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
This looks weird and admitedly is but its been working for me. The Special defensive EVs and nature are to take HP fightings from missy and abra for a 3HKO while i crunch, pursuit or sucker punch, flame thrower over fire blast is because i have accuracy issues, sucker punch off the given EVs hits amazingly hard which makes him a good revenge killer, pursuit traps fleeing ghosts and psychics while all the dark STABs hit every ghost/psychic i can think of on the weaker defense.