The Contenders (First LC Team)

[PTJon7]

I decided to try out the Little Cup tier today for the first time. I had pretty basic knowledge of the tier, but I was well aware of the massive use Misdreavus, Mienfoo, and Murkrow get. I decided to do my best to make a team with them, or any S-Rank pokemon in the tier.

The Team

Axew

Axew @ Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 220 Spd / 68 HP / 220 Atk
Jolly Nature

• Outrage
• Superpower
• Taunt
• Dragon Dance

Standard Dragon Dance Axew is a big threat to most teams. With awesome resistances and nice bulk thanks to Eviolite Axew can set up relatively easily. I really enjoy having Taunt over Protect as it shuts down a lot of walls and greatly aids Axew in setting up (especially against such things as Ferrothorn). Superpower over Dragon Claw to have an easier time versus Steel types. I don't know if Dragon Claw would be a better choice over Outrage however, as locking Axew into it can be risky at times.

Dwebble

Dwebble @ Custap Berry
Trait: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 252 Spd / 252 Atk
Lonely Nature
IVs: 0 HP / 0 Def / 0 SDef

• X-Scissor
• Rock Blast
• Earthquake
• Stealth Rock

While this may seem gimmicky, it actually is extremely reliable and useful in the majority of games I played. Get knocked down to Sturdy (which is almost guarenteed due to my IVs and nautre), set up Stealth Rocks/attack, then activate my Custap Berry next turn and do the same thing. If I manage to keep entry hazards off the field Dwebble is a great way to deal with the loads of set up sweepers in LC, but if not then I can atleast get up Stealth Rocks and do some damage.

Timburr

Timburr @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 76 SDef / 236 HP
Adamant Nature

• Focus Punch
• Mach Punch
• Knock Off
• Substitute

I've always had a love for Sub-Punchers, so I decided to try out the tactic in LC. Timburr seemed like the best option, and I think it works pretty well. I chose Knock Off over Payback for general utility, but I may end up changing it. This spot was originally a Swords Dance Pawniard which I liked a whole lot, I'm wondering if I'm better off just using that instead. I just think I need atleast one thing with a priority attack, to better deal with faster threats.

Gastly

Gastly @ Choice Specs
Trait: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 200 Spd / 200 SAtk / 68 HP / 40 Def
Timid Nature

• Shadow Ball
• Hidden Power [Fighting]
• Thunderbolt
• Trick

Gastly serves multiple roles for this team. Primarily its my most powerful special attacker, but it also give me some very important immunities. Gastly is one of the most powerful special attackers in the tier, and Choice Specs seriously boost its Special Attack. Trick is very useful, as the majority of the time its against walls with Eviolite, so I'm still gaining something even after losing my Specs. Thunderbolt is just there for coverage but I almost never use it, I'm wondering if there's a better option instead.

Larvesta

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Larvesta @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 236 Atk / 76 HP
Jolly Nature

• Flare Blitz
• Zen Headbutt
• Wild Charge
• U-turn

Larvesta serves as my always important revenge killer and scouter. Thanks to Natu and overall offensive pressure I manage to keep Stealth Rocks off the field the majority of the time. Flareblitz is incredibly powerful coming from Larvesta's base 85 Atk stat and U-Turn is great for taking out Abras and doing general scouting. Wild Charge is great for dealing with bulky Waters, but Zen Headbutt is almost never used, considering a neutral Flare Blitz is more powerful than a super effective Zen Headbutt.

Natu

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Natu @ Eviolite
Trait: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 192 SAtk / 200 HP / 80 Def / 36 Spd
Modest Nature

• Psyshock
• Shadow Ball
• Giga Drain
• Heat Wave

Natu is one of my more interesting team members, and I like it a whole lot. Not only does it have the excellent ability Magic Bounce, it packs a good punch with great coverage moves. Natu can easily deal with any Ground type Stealth Rockers with Giga Drain and any Steel types with Heatwave. Shadow Ball is to hit Ghosts and other Psychic types. I initially had Roost as one of its moves, but I found I didn't use it enough for it to be worth while.


At the end of today I finished with a record of 22 & 9, rank 1640. I never found this team to be severely threatened by any one pokemon, unless it had set up on me. Larvesta and Ghastly could handle the 3 M's relatively easily and Drilbur never was a serious threat either. I'd love to get some input on the team before I use it more seriously. Thanks!

 

[Garchomp for president]

uh, ghastly with specs is kinda bad. If you want SpA use sash magic gaurd abra with phychic, HP fighting, shadow ball, and energy ball. Also a scarfed mienfoo is a lot, trust me, a lot better than a sub punch set and your true scarfer, and a lanturn would great for your team keeping electric types at bay while natu walls setters. Also axew is an oddball in your team so I would recommend ethier a slowbro or a magneite both giving a either a solid volt-turn core or a regenerater core. Let me know how they work out

 

[PTJon7]

I'll try Abra as it has great offensive stats, but I do think that Ghost typing is really useful for my team. I'll see atleast. I'd really prefer to not use Mienfoo, just due to my general mindset of staying away from the S-Tier pokemon of LC. I assume you mean Slowpoke and Chinchou, and Slowpoke seems quite appealing as I love Slowbro in UU.

Thanks for the quick rate!

 

[dcae]

Hey there! I'm on my phone so I cannot give a complete rate. I understand that you want to avoid using S rankers. My first piece of recommendation is dropping Specs on Ghastly. Specs and Band are generally subpar items to use in LC, and I suggest trying out Scarfed Ghastly instead. The ghost hits a nice speed tier and with excellent special attack, smacking stuff hard with Sludge Bomb STAB and Shadow Ball.

My next recommendation is to drop the Scarf on Larvesta and instead run a Bulky Larvesta in order to check the common Fighting types in the tier. The set should be found onsite, and deals with stuff well, just watch out for a random Stone Edge.

An overlook of your team shows a decent sized weakness to Sand, which can tear you apart relatively easily. To deal with Sand I think the best option is to implement a Snover over Dwebble. The reason behind this is that Hail will break your Dwebble's Sturdy anyways, while Dwebble is not bringing much else to the table, being weak without a Shell Smash boost. Considering you have Natu, you can reflect Stealth Rock anyways, and it helps considerably. The set I suggest is the Choice Scarf set, which allows you to run dual Scarf. This helps a lot when dealing with teams running Murkrow and faster pokemon in general.

Timburr is a huge threat, but the SubPunch set does not really bring out his complete aspects. I suggest running the standard BU set, which is deadly when played correctly. Timburr has surprising special bulk, and increasing physical bulk can be dangerous. The onsite set should once again do the trick. Also, running Guts is an option to deal with status. Hope I helped, and I like seeing the lack of the 3 M's! Good luck!

I will add images and sets tomorrow.

 

[Garchomp for president]

Me too! :) as in I'm on my phone

 

[PTJon7]

You're right DCae, I actually just got stomped by a Sand team.

I find it interesting you recommended Snover; I know its highly used in the tier but why would I just throw it on a team that would otherwise kind of hate the presence of Hail? I', not ruling it out as it seems a common thing, I'm just wondering.

This may seem pretty gimmicky, but what would you think of a Rain Dance user? Kabutops or Horsea could both fit onto this team decently and it could be a way to deal with weather without Hail. This is all just hypothetical, I just want some opinions of people who actually know what they're doing.

 

[apt-get]

I'm sure Horsea and Kabuto are both OHKOed by earthquake, so it's not a good option. Also, they're both walled by Lileep, a common pokémon on sand teams.

Your team seems like it would die to balanced ones, due to not a single one of your pokémon having reliable recovery. Mold Breaker Drilbur just eliminates you, as he OHKOes Gastly through levitate and can always setup stealth rock even against natu.

The bulk up timburr suggestion is pretty nice, and like he said, I would suggest bulkylarvesta. Eviolite Deerling might be a good suggestion over Dwebble, as its access to synthesis, Seed Bomb, sap sipper, great speed and attack makes it a good bulky attacker and sand counter. It also gives you an additional counter to grass-types, as Sap Sipper will boost its attack if it switches in Spore, giga drain, stun spore or something else. Baton Pass is an interesting tool too, as you can then pass that boost to Axew or Larvesta (the former can setup a dragon dance and sweep at +2 while the latter can beat Deerling's main counters, fighting- and bug-types). It also doesn't give any hail, and doesn't decreases Morning Sun's and Synthesis' healing.

Deerling @ Eviolite
Trait: Sap Sipper
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SDef / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Seed Bomb
- Synthesis
- Baton Pass

I'd recommend something to beat murkrow because you can't beat it at all for now, but I don't see anything to replace without changing your team too much...

 

[PTJon7]

I figure Horsea atleast would be able to take an EQ atleast with Eviolite, but I'll see. I want to stleast test it myself before moving on. Lileep would definitely put a stop to any rain shenaningans I would want to be using but I could atleast start setting up on it once it switches in (with Timburr and Axew).

Deerling sounds like an awesome idea actually, thanks I'll be sure to try it out.

 

[dcae]

So regarding Snover, the reason I recommended it is because it is the hands down best counter to sand in LC. Despite harmful Hail (my own team runs one and doesn't enjoy Hail damage either), it has several benefits over other Sand counters. 1 is that it also kills Lileep, very common on Sand teams. The Hail also breaks Sashes and Sturdy, which can prove very useful for your sweepers. The problem with Rain is that generally they can't deal with Lileep, and they tend to be rather frail. It is quite a unique idea, but since your team is so weak to Sand, I feel Scarf Snover should really be the best option.

 

[Electrolyte]

I'm not so sure simply slapping on Snover is the best idea. Your team isn't weak to Sand; it's weak to Rock-type attacks, which many Sand teams carry but are not just restricted to Sand teams. Snover will do little to help against Rock type opponents such as Shell Smash Dwebble, Tirtouga, or Anorith. Even likeep can do a fair amount of damage to your pokemon by luring in Natu, taking it out with Ancient Power, and then setting up rocks which will fuck with Larvesta and Dwebble. You need a pokemon that can handle Rock-types well enough so that Sand is not as much of an issue. Now, I would recommend Drilbur, but you don't want to use any S-tier pokemon (which is cool) so Dual Screens Baltoy instead of Dwebble would definitely work. Althoug not as offensive, Baltoy does bring a lot of useful bulk to the team, and provides extremely important Spinning and Stealth Rock support. It also walls Rock-types easily, and because of its immunity to Ground, can also handle Sand relatively easily. It also carries Dual Screens, which will boost the bulk of your setup sweepers and make sweeps easier and more likely. It checks Fighting types too, which is an added bonus. This should be enough to cover a majority of your defensive issues.

However, a well played Murkrow / Misdreavus can still definitely give this team problems. There is nothing on your team that can survive more than two LO Brave Birds- and Larvesta is a shaky counter because it can get worn down by Stealth Rock easily. The addition of Baltoy makes Natu's job less necessary- so I suggest that you try Bulky Chinchou instead of Natu. Chinchou walls Krow and Missy easily, and provides you with further Volt Switching support to pair with Larvesta. Chinchou also handles Bulky Water types such as Frillish, Staryu, Slowpoke, or other Chinchou fairly well- helping Larvesta and your other physical attackers rip holes with more ease.

Also, I agree with the above suggestions- Timburr should be a Bulk Up Timburr, which pairs quite well with Baltoy, and can use its massive bulk to sponge hits and reply with backbreaking power. Larvesta should be Bulky Eviolite Larvesta, so that it can wall Scraggy and other Payback Fighting types, as well as Snover. Larvesta needs to be able to switch moves so that it can tackle and take down Grass types such as Shroomish or Foongus that you can no longer use Natu to cover. Gastly should be Substitute Gastly, as it is most effective at checking walls and other opponents that it forces out. Substitute also lets it block status and scout for resisted attacks.


Cool team!