Thanks Electrolyte (A Stalling/Annoying LC team)

[TCZaro]

Hello Smogon, TCZaro here with my LC team whose purpose is to stall/annoy the opposing team into submission. I have just started playing competitively about 3 months ago, and just got into LC a couple of weeks ago. Since then I have found that LC is the tier where I can perform best, with my rating reaching 1800ish without much trouble (yes that is high for me). This team started out when I copied Electrolyte's Attack of the Pranksters team, but has evolved much past that. I really have to thank Electrolyte because without a basis to build off of, my team would be nowhere as good as it is now. I might have even given up on LC if not for this team. That's enough about me, let's see the team, shall we?



TCZaro's LC Team



Thanks Electrolyte


Sorry for the odd Team Building Process look, I can only post a thread with a max of 20 images :(

Team Building Process

Here it is, Electrolyte's team, I copied it exactly, and went on from there. The first member I got rid of was Drilbur, I did not find it effective, and hate the pokemon, there were so many pokemon that I felt could perform better than Drilbur, and did not want to waste a team spot on a pokemon I didn't enjoy using. I tried many different pokemon in its place, but the one that stayed there for the longest was Abra.

I heard great things about Abra, and its hyper powerfuloffensive. As I kept playing with this team I found myself using Abra less and less, it didn't really fit into my stallish team, so I decided to replace it with a more defensive, but still quite offensively threatening poke, Koffing.

This team was rolling pretty well, however I found that I needed a better lead to set up spikes, and decided to chose Omaynte. I replaced Tirtouga which saw increasingly less playtime with my new Omaynte.

As I got deeper into the realms of LC, I found another improvement to my team. Shroomish just wasn't cutting it, but its role was still useful. I decided to use Foongus instead, whose most valued improvement is its great ability regenerator.

Since this team depends on entry hazards, I knew I had to find a replacement for the common threat weak Omaynte, but still wanted a water type. The obvious choice was Tentacool.

Thus I ended up with my current team. Now for an more in depth look
In Depth Look

Tentacool @ Oran Berry
Trait: Liquid Ooze
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 116 SDef / 196 HP
Calm Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Protect
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam

Possibly the best Toxic Spiker in all of LC, but Tentacool's usefulness goes beyond just that. It can take down common Ground threats, and can survive quite a beating. The two attacks are the only things that are not necessary, so any improvements on these will be useful.

Murkrow @ Eviolite
Trait: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 184 SDef
Careful Nature
- Confuse Ray
- Heat Wave
- Brave Bird
- Roost

This guy has to be one of the most annoying Pokemon in all of LC. It comes in to any poke that can't hit it SE, and confuses it. While the opponent is hitting itself Murkrow slowly wears it down with Brave Bird and Heat Wave. Along with the poison that most non-flyers have, opposing pokes go down quickly. This is a basic set, but instead of thunder wave, I put Heat Wave for two reasons. One is that most poke are already poisoned, so paralysis is useless, and I also needed a fire type coverage move.

Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Pain Split
- Psychic

There is no other Pokemon quite like Misdreavus. It can deal out amazing amount of damage, but isn't just a glass cannon. I do not use Will-O-Wisp, because most Pokemon are already poisoned. I might consider changing Psychic out for a Nasty Plot. I can usually switch Misdreavus I mid-late game when most of the opposing team has been worn down, and just keep KO'ing everything.

Riolu @ Eviolite
Trait: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 SDef / 196 HP / 196 Def
Impish Nature
- Roar
- Drain Punch
- Copycat
- Protect

Possibly the most OP LC Pokemon, but is many times overlooked because of Mienfoo. I can switch Riolu into anything that's not SE, Drain Punch them, then Copycat. Anyone who is not familiar with this strategy: Riolu has Prankster which gives priority to any non damage dealing moves. Copy cat allows Riolu to give priority to any move it wants. If I was able to get more than one entry hazard up I can Roar the opposing team until their whole team is around 75% health.

Foongus @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 SAtk / 124 HP / 76 SDef / 156 Def / 76 Spd
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Electric]

This little guy is basically a late game cleaner-upper for me. I can Spore switch-ins then either Giga Drain myself to full health, or knock the other Pokemon out with Sludge Bomb or HP . I do not use Stun Spore because most Pokemon are already poisoned, and the ones who aren't are just better off asleep. HP Electric can come in handy at times if Misdreavus is eliminated, however it can be replaced.

Koffing @ Eviolite
Trait: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 236 SDef / 196 HP / 76 Def
Bold Nature
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
This is your basic Koffing set, and it has served me well. Koffing is both defensive enough to take hits, and powerful enough to deal them out. Rest/Sleep Talk is an ungodly combo, and really is hard to get rid of. Clear smog was not very useful for me, so instead I have both Sludge Bomb and Fire Blast.

Conclusion

Here I will just go through some threats, and issues I encounter with this team, hopefully some improvements can be made to alleviate the issues.

Lileep :Lileep can get really annoying at times, especially with Suction Cups. Riolu can usually Drain Punch it to death, but since Riolu gets KO'ed relatively early on in the game, Lileep can become a problem.
Misdreavus :On my team it's great, but when other people use it its horrible. My Misdreavus goes into a speed tie with it, and I hope I can knock it out, if not my team will struggle with it. Adding a type coverage on any of my poke would be useful.

An obvious weakness of this team is that without Toxic Spikes, this team is severely crippled. 18/20 times I can get up Toxic Spikes, and keep them there, because for some reason few people carry Rapid Spin, and there are only 2-3 common poison types.

Overall my team has been doing pretty well in my eyes, but I know that there is always room for improvement. Them only absolutely necessary pokemon I have are : 1. A Toxic Spiker 2. Misdreavus 3. Murkrow 4. Riolu. The others can be interchanged without too much of a problem.

Thanks for reading this RMT, and I hope you enjoyed it, once again






Thanks Electrolyte

 

[Shouting]

I'd really hate for a LC RMT to go by without at least some sort of feedback, so I'm going to have a crack at this - it's really nice to see new people playing LC because it's one of the best tiers to play in my opinion. This is a pretty decent team, but I'm not exactly sure how viable a stalling team like this is in the current metagame, especially because I see some glaring flaws in it right now at it's current state.

Some minor changes: Put Crunch instead of protect on Riolu. Mono Fighting type is really a bad idea since Nasty Plot Missy is your biggest weakness and Riolu is the biggest set up fodder you have for it. Your current set is hard countered by really anything that resists or is immune to fighting, but with crunch you can at least touch ghost and psychic types for decent damage, and I believe you can 2HKO Nasty Plot Missy with it. Next, I'm really not sure what Hidden Power Electric is doing for you right now on Foongus. I really think Toxic is the best move here, since foongus lures in things that are immune to toxic spikes like crazy, such as Murkrow and it also screws up Lileeps that think they have a free switch in. If you must have another move there, Hidden Power Fire hits Ferroseed and Magnemite which are very common switch ins to Foongus, and it will let you at least scratch Bronzor. Hidden Power Flying hits Croagunk, which can be pretty annoying for your team right now. Payback is an interesting option because sometimes in my experience Missy will try to set up on Foongus after sleep clause is activated, and does a very good amount to offensive sets, just be sure to use a Relaxed Nature if you decide to go with this. Regardless of what you choose, all of them are pretty much more useful than Hidden Power Electric. I would also try Hidden Power Fighting over something on Misdreavus because your set loses to Porygon, Lickitung, and Muchlax. Considering you have no other normal resist, this can be a big problem. With Hidden Power Fighting you can at least dent these normal types. If you decide to not use it, there is no reason to use the 240 / 240 spread on Misdreavus - use 236 / 236 and you'll have 36 to put in HP to increase it by one point.

Now for bigger changes. I'm confused as to why you have both Foongus and Koffing on the same team because they have heavily overlapping roles and are very similar. There is no reason to use both of them on the same team, especially when you also have Tentacool. Since you lack Stealth Rock, a Murkrow check, and Fire types such as Ponyta, Larvesta, and Houndour can have their way with this team, I suggest eviolite Archen over Koffing. It provides Stealth Rock support, checks fire types nicely, and can check if not counter any Murkrow you'll come across. It makes you weaker to Stealth Rock , so try fitting Rapid Spin on Tentacool. Archen can also take on Earthquake / X-scissor / Shadow Claw Drilbur, which is steadily becoming more popular. I also suggest trying a different Murkow set. Sub Toxic Murkrow is one of the best stallers in LC, and it easily beats normal Murkrow checks like Lileep, Hippo, and Porygon, so try Toxic / Roost / Substitue / Brave Bird (or Dark Pulse).

You're still pretty weak to Magnemite with these changes, Hidden Power Fire on Foongus will make it slightly better but it's still a big problem, and I can't find anywhere I could fix it without changing the members you asked not to change.

 

[Pen Ink]

You've just thrown in so many constants that can't be changed. I can understand that Murkrow and Misdreavous are good Pokemon, but there are obvious flaws that can only be fixed by taking out Mukrow/and or Misdreavous. For instance, I find that Toxic Spikes are kind of underwhelming in Little Cup; I think it's easier to use your own Toxic move and rack up residual damage. Ever so, I'll try to rate your team as best as I can. I totally agree with what Shouting has said, though, and I fully support the switch to Archen. I'd also support Hidden Power Fire on Foongus. I'd honestly suggest running a more defensively balanced team, that can function off a core of Archen/Amoongus/Tentacool while maintaining an offensive presence with Misdreavous, Murkrow, and Riolu. The move set is kind of lacking on Tentacool. Tentacool doesn't really hit that hard in general, and is better off being a utility Pokemon. I'd suggest running Rapid Spin / Toxic Spikes / Knock Off / Hydro Pump, which will give Tentacool more utility to the team and provide a good Rapid Spinner for Archen and Murkrow. I'd also change the EV's to 196 HP / 76 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe, which would make Tentacool more bulky and let it take hits easier on the defensive side. I would also overhaul Misdreavous's move set, too. I'd run a more offensive set of Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting / Substitute. Substitute lets Misdreavous beat Murkrow, so if you feel that you need some offensive presence towards the beginning of the match Murkrow won't slow you down. On Murkrow, I'd change Confuse Ray >>> Sucker Punch and Heat Wave >>> Substitute, making Murkrow a bigger offensive threat with SubRoost Mukrow. Confuse Ray just seems like a gimmick to me.
---
Going back to my original point, I'd like to point out some other suggestions even though you might be against it. I'd suggest Riolu >>> Mienfoo, providing a good offensive pivot that can hit hard with Drain Punch. Moreover, Mienfoo takes care of Lileep and Magnemite. Even though you claim that Riolu is overlooked because of Mienfoo, Mienfoo provides a more suitable fighting type that has more bulk and is a good pivot with U-Turn and Regenerator. I really hate Tentacool. Not only does it lose to the most common Rapid Spinners, Drilbur and Staryu, but it only has a 6.25% chance to OHKO 36 HP / 0 SpD Mold Breaker Drilbur, which is almost laughable. Besides that, Drilbur can simply switch in on the Toxic Spikes and Tentacool is going to be forced out since Earthquake OHKO's. I'd suggest Tentacool >>> Staryu, who provides a good Rapid Spinner that can beat Drilbur. The Toxic on Mienfoo and Staryu below are more for if you change out Tentacool for Staryu, which would provide more status after the lacking of Toxic Spikes. It's all up to personal preference, though. To summarize:

• Koffing >>> Archen
• Hidden Power Electric >>> Hidden Power Fire on Foongus
• Rapid Spin / Toxic Spikes / Knock Off / Hydro Pump on Tentacool
• 196 HP / 76 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe on Tentacool
• Thunderbolt / Shadow Ball / Hidden Power Fighting / Substitute on Misdreavous
• Confuse Ray >>> Sucker Punch and Heat Wave >>> Substitute on Murkrow
• Riolu >>> Mienfoo
• Tentacool >>> Staryu

@ Eviolite
Trait: Defeatist
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 100 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Acrobatics
- U-turn
- Roost

@ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 Atk / 156 HP / 76 Spd
Impish Nature
- Drain Punch
- Fake Out/Toxic
- Knock Off
- U-turn

@ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
Level: 5
EVs: 196 SAtk / 240 Spd / 36 HP
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt/Toxic
- Hydro Pump
- Rapid Spin
- Recover

 

[TCZaro]

Thank you all very much for helping me with my team. I have made some major renovations with the substitutions of archen for koffing, and staryu for tentacool. I have also tried out the new suggested movesets, and EV's. Although I am reluctant to try meinfoo, after I get a good feel for this new team I will definitely try it.