Wake Up the Sun

[I Abuse Smeargles]

Welcome to my Little Cup RMT! The teams name was based around a song off Haste the Day's new Album, Attack of the Wolf King. I think the name fits quite well. ;)

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I have been playing in the Little Cup environment for about a week. This team has been tested a couple of times, and has provided decent results. However, I am curious if it is possible to achieve better success with a "Sun" based team in Little Cup. The team centralizes around getting a sweep with Bellsprout, but doesn't really achieve it all that well... I am very interested in making the absolute best Sunny Day team I can. Right now, I think I have most of my threats covered; but you are the judge of that.

Preview of the Team:


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In Depth:​

Aipom @

Nature: Jolly
Evs: 72 Health, 196 Attack, 236 Speed
Moveset:
~Brick Break
~Return
~Sunny Day
~Fake Out

Analysis:
After Diglett failed me miserably, I gave Aipom a try; and now I know why this monkeys older brother is one of the top leads in UU. He is absolutely AMAZING at doing his job! Decent bulk, great priority to chip away at health, and sets up Sunny Day without any issues whatsoever! I am absolutely loving this lead. ^^ I chose Brick Break to hit Munchlax harder, and Return for a general STAB.

Willing to Change?:
Nope! Best lead ever! ;D




Bellsprout @
Ability: Chlorophyll
Nature: Mild
Evs: 76 Att, 76 Def, 116 Spe, 200 SpA, 36 SpDef
Moveset:
~Solarbeam
~Weather Ball
~Hidden Power: Electric
~Sucker Punch

Analysis:
The main sweeper on the team, and when he actually gets a sweep, it goes brilliantly. His unique attack in Weather Ball allows him to by-pass Hidden Power Fire, and use Hidden Power Electric to destory Mantyke with. Solarbeam is general STAB, and is an absolute powerhouse in Little Cup. Sucker Punch lets me kill the Digletts who think they can just Sucker Punch me, but little do they know they will get Sucker Punched right back! Honestly, Grass / Fire / Electric has decent coverage in Little Cup. While it's not perfect, it does alright. I could certainly use something to hit the common Houndour with, however.

Willing to Change?:
Yes, for another Sunny Day sweeper, if you can find one that does the job better. :)




Machop @
Ability: No Guard
Nature: Jolly
Evs: 36 HP, 196 Att, 236 Speed
Moveset:
~Dynamicpunch
~Ice Punch
~Bullet Punch
~Payback

Analysis:
Standard Scarf Machop. I found him to be the exact same thing as my old Mankey.... just with a harder hitting STAB move, that has confusion. He has less speed, but a bit higher attack, so he has been working out alright. ^^ Hasn't done anything brilliant yet, but his main job is to kill Houndour and Munchlax, if I ever happen to need them killed. (Which surprisingly, has yet to happen.... >.> )

Willing to Change?:
Yes, I still am willing to change him. If there is a better scarfer out there! ;)




Munchlax @
Ability: Thick Fat
Evs: 76 HP, 156 Att, 36 Def, 236 SpD
Moveset:
~Return
~Fire Punch
~Protect
~Pursuit

Analysis:
Oh Munchlax.... how I love you so.... Gets rid of those SUPER freaking annoying ghost types. Gastly, is a bitch. End of story. Like, I literally ran Munchlax JUST to get rid of it. Fire Punch gets powered up in the sun, which is really neat. Return for a general STAB, and Protect to get Leftover recovery. I considered Oran Berry on him, but I think Leftovers will do me better in the long run.

Willing to Change?:
NO. You tell me ONE pokemon besides like... freaking Stunky, that can kill Gastly like this beast can. ( But if you find one, that you think would be better for my team, let me know! :3 )




Koffing @
Ability: Levitate
Nature: Impish
Evs: 196 HP, 156 Def, 156 SpD
Moveset:
~Sunny Day
~Explosion
~Thunderbolt
~Will-o-wisp

Analysis:
Koffing has actually earned its spot on my team! I love having him, and hes actually greatly under-rated. He sets up Sunny Day very well, and then Explodes to kill whatever the heck is in currently! Nothing more to it then that! Thunderbolt and Will-o-wisp are fillers; TB for the likes of Mantyke, and Will-o-wisp because its there.... >.> ( Considering Fire Blast? )

Willing to Change?:
Yes! I am completely willing to change Koffing to something who can do the job of setting up Sunny Day, and always carrying that threat of "When is he going to Explode?"



Houndour @
Ability: Flash Fire
Nature: Timid
Evs: 200 Spe, 200 SpA, 40 SpD
Moveset:
~Fire Blast
~Dark Pulse
~Hidden Power Ice
~Solarbeam

Analysis:
Scarf Houndour, with a twist, as it runs Solarbeam. ;) Solarbeam doesn't hit anything in specific.... but lets it nuke Chinchou for Super Effective Damage. I'd probably be better off running Sucker Punch, to revenge the Agility Variants, but Solarbeam will do for now. Houndour replaced my old Magby, and has been doing much better in it's place. The only thing I miss about Magby, is the ability to Mach Punch Houndour into nothing. That was always helpful.

Willing to Change?:
Perhaps. Is there a better ScarfedFire Type? Ponyta perhaps? Any ideas?

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Conclusion:

Little Cup has been an absolute blast to play, first off. The tier is very fast paced, and I love that there is virtually ZERO stall teams in the tier! Makes it SO much more fun. Normally I am a stall freak, but I am loving Little Cup, stall-less, and extremely Heavy Offense. You may steal and test my team as much as you'd like, I won't mind! I hope you had fun reading my Little Cup RMT, and I hope you consider joining the tier soon! ;D
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[StealthX]

Hi there! Nice team you have there. I to am a fan of LC, and in particular; weather teams. (Though I use rain teams instead)

You mentioned that Diglett wasn't working for you, and I think that the Aipom you have been considering would be a very good idea. May I suggest this?

@ Heat Rock
EVs: 72 HP/ 196 Atk/ 236 Spe
Jolly (+Spe, -Sp. Atk )

-Fake Out
-Sunny Day
-Return
-U-Turn/Brick Break/Seed Bomb

Aipom has enough bulk that it doesn't need Focus Sash, but also enough attack to do some damage, making him very good for a Sunny Day team.
Next, I think that Replacing Magby with a houndour would be useful for your team (you could even run Solar Beam :)).

@ Choice Scarf
EVs: 200 Sp. Atk/ 40 SpD/ 200 Spe
Timid (+Spe, -Atk)

-Fire Blast
-Dark Pulse
-Hidden Power [GROUND]
-Overheat/Solar Beam

Can still take advantage of Sun, but has greater variety, especially a second STAB. (Solar Beam can be run instead of Overheat, if you think you can keep the sun up most of the battle. If you DO want to use Magby, I would recommend the Mixed attacker set)

I think you should certanly test Choice Scarf machop over Mankey, as it does have greater bulk, and with its Dynamic Punch, can sweep easily after Munchlax has removed ghosts from battle

Good luck with your team, and I hope I helped!

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

Most certainly helped me!

I have been running MixDour in the testing currently, and he's working great! I am going to try the ScarfSet you gave me, along with Aipom. :)

I will edit this post with the outcome. ;D

Edit: After testing Aipom, he has been OUTSTANDING, and Houndour has been very underwhelming (in comparison.) Machop hasn't been doing all that well, but then again, neither did Mankey. I am going to take all the suggestions above, as I can tell my team is significantly better.

Sunny Day is making a comeback!

Still feel free to RMT, I will appreciate all rates!

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

24 Hour Bump
No more rates for my Sunny Day team? :o

 

[Aqueos]

Return hits munchlax just as hard as brick break thanks to stab.

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

Return hits munchlax just as hard as brick break thanks to stab.

Hmph... I was unaware of that detail.

Brick Break does hit Aron harder though. What would you suggest in place of Brick Break? U-turn? I was thinking of running Double Hit or something like that.... would smash those annoying Substitute users.

 

[saur123]

You are looking for another sunny day user that can explode??

Magnemite
Nosepass
Seedot
Drifloon
Geodude
Grimer
Gastly
Onix
Exeggcute
Pineco
Gulpin
Stunky
Bonsly

These guys can all sunny day and explode.

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

You are looking for another sunny day user that can explode??

Magnemite
Nosepass
Seedot
Drifloon
Geodude
Grimer
Gastly
Onix
Exeggcute
Pineco
Gulpin
Stunky
Bonsly

These guys can all sunny day and explode.

Not exactly looking for a replacement for Koffing.... as I have found him to be EXTREMELY helpful in countering the annoying Caravana. However, I appreciate the list. ;) I actually considered using Exeggcute as a sweeper.

I will look into them. Thank you. ;)

Please continue to rate my team!

 

[Seanut Butter]

You have a very solid team, it can handle many common threats but however, I do see some problems with it.


1: You only have 2 Sunny Day users, which is never really a problem, except that one ofthem is a lead that usually dies in the early stages, and so in the mid game you will have probably only one sunny dayer, koffing, and although his general bulkiness is



enough for him to switch in and sunny day again, but at the cost of his life or a lot of hp, so I just reccomend you to have another sunny dayer.

2: Your team Is very weak to LO Bulk up buizel with rain dance support. This Is another reason you should have 3 sunny dayers, to re apply if a sandstorm, hail, and especially rain dance teams.

Swift swim+priority move+strong stab+ bulk up+return = death so don't allow other theme teams o set up

 

[Zari]

Glad to see there being some LC RMTs being put out there :)

Now overall, this team is solid, but there's something I'd like to point out:

You have three fighting weak pokemon on your team, which, while you DO have two resists, you don't have anything capable of stopping scarf mankey from coming and netting at least one kill in your team (scarfdour ties speed at best).

I have a simple suggestion to fix this; run scarf ponyta over scarfdour.

Ponyta@CS
Jolly Nature
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 196 Spe
Flare Blitz / Double Kick / [Return/Double-Edge] / Iron Tail

With those EVs and a jolly nature, you reach 28 Speed, enough to outspeed both scarf mankey AND scarf gastly, so you have another check there.

If you get concerned about not having enough sunny day users, you can always have munchlax run sunny day over protect, while swapping leftovers for oran berry (your current EVs are not optimal for leftovers; you need to run 156 EVs to gain 2 hp per turn; otherwise its a waste of an item slot).

And speaking of sunny day users, I would suggest running bronzor over koffing, for the gas balloon does not beat carvanha at all. Almost any vanha that isn't scarf will run zen headbutt 100% of the time for croagunk. If it isn't a OHKO on koffing, it's sure going to be close to one, and you don't want to have a slow mon like koffing sitting there with only a small amount of HP, waiting to be set-up bait.

Overall it's a solid team, but like the above poster I think having another sunny day user would prove very beneficial to this team's success :)

 

[Sledge]

Okay, after looking over your team I have a few suggestions:

First off, you only have 2 pokemon that actively abuse sun (houndour and bellsprout) sun teams are about completely overwhelming the opposition with sun abusing sweepers.

So I think that you should swap Machop for Oddish. Why? Because having another scarfer is redundant when you have houndour and choice in weather should be avoided when possible. Oddish is also one of the best sun sweepers out there and will fit best with the team. I recommend the following set:
Oddish @ Life Orb
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
IVs: 0 HP
Timid
-Solarbeam
-Sludge Bomb
-Hidden Power Fire
-Sunny Day
This set will be putting out a lot of damage and generally make good use of those 8 precious sun turns you have. Life Orb is good for getting out as much damage as possible as quickly as possible and 0 HP ivs is to hit 19, ideal for life orb.

So with this you now have 3 special sun sweepers and no physical. This is not a healthy mix especially with Munchlax everywhere. So i suggest changing Bellsprout to an SD variant.
Bellsprout @ Life Orb
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 196 Spe / 36 SpD
Jolly
-Swords Dance
-Sleep Powder
-Sucker Punch
-Seed Bomb
This is one of the deadliest sun sweepers around. It can give itself a free turn to SD with a simple sleep powder then it just SDs up and rapes.

Onto Munchlax. 3 suggestions: change lefties to Oran berry, it's the better option generally, especially on a very offensively oriented team. Second change protect to sunny day. You DO NOT want to be wasting turns protecting when you could be sweeping under sunny day. And third, move the HP evs over into Attack. Once again, it just suits your team better.

I don't think koffing should be your next sunny day sweeper, but i cant think of one right now and I am very tired, so that will have to wait until another day.

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

Wow! I love all of your suggestions! ;D

I am currently looking into running an Exeggcute over Koffing, and will test that today to see how it works.

I will test the Oddish and Bellsprout sets; but I see a huge issue with the Bellsprout set, and it's simply a lack of survival. I will probably run Oran Berry on it, like I do currently.

Also, while testing the other suggestions, I will try out the new Munchlax as well. :)

Thank so you much! I will test my team later today when I get back!

 

[Seanut Butter]

Looking at your team again, I see another fault, and that is running HP electric on belesprout. Although this let's you hit mantyke and flyings, I reccomend giving him hidden power ice to hit dragons with which otherwise wall this entire set completely.

Even If you are switching to exxecute, hidden power ice would be a better idea.

 

[I Abuse Smeargles]

Looking at your team again, I see another fault, and that is running HP electric on belesprout. Although this let's you hit mantyke and flyings, I reccomend giving him hidden power ice to hit dragons with which otherwise wall this entire set completely.

Even If you are switching to exxecute, hidden power ice would be a better idea.

And then I turn into Mantyke set up bait.

I'd rather loose to dragons, then lose to Mantyke.

Just my opinion.

 

[Seanut Butter]

Now that I re look at your team, you do have Ice Beam on houndoor, so that settles things.

Also Bellesprout is very frail and has the same Sp Attack as many other Sunny Day special sweepers, and I will be sending you a pm with many different pokes and sets you can use.

^_^

 

[Rolf]

If you're looking for something to beat on Houndour with, Hidden Power Rock does the job well. SolarBeam does 72.7% - 95.5% to standard Agility Mantyke, so with just a little bit of damage SolarBeam OHKOs or if it switches in on SolarBeam, SB + sucker punch KOs. HP Rock can then do 85.7% - 104.8% to scarf Houndour.

In order to nab some of those KOs, I would suggest putting Stealth Rock on one of your Pokemon. One example would be to replace Koffing with Bronzor. Bronzor can set up Sunny Day well with its great defenses and typing while also getting up the rocks. Hope that helped!

 

[sunkirby]

I'd definitely go with U-Turn over Brick Break on Aipom. U-Turn allows you to scout when you swap in your next poke, and you can decide whether or not to swap in a sweeper or what. This is especially useful if they swap in something with a weather move, as you can swap in the best pokemon to destroy them before they screw up your weather.

I agree with Oddish>Machop, and make Bellsprout Sleep Powder/SD. Oddish can't go physical as effectively, so Oddish should be the Solarbeam abuser. Instead of Koffing, I would go with...uh...actually I dunno. I'll edit it in if I think of something...I'll give the basic idea of what im thinking if someone wants to try to figure out a poke.

Koffing's replacement must:
1)counter/check Carvanha (i dunno, he said he wanted that...)
2)have sunny day (obviously)
3)have booooom.

so yeah that's all. sorry i can't think of something atm.

although you may want to give up boom, there aren't many Sunny Dayers with a good speed for booming.

Good luck.

 

[StealthX]

I'd definitely go with U-Turn over Brick Break on Aipom. U-Turn allows you to scout when you swap in your next poke, and you can decide whether or not to swap in a sweeper or what. This is especially useful if they swap in something with a weather move, as you can swap in the best pokemon to destroy them before they screw up your weather.

I agree with Oddish>Machop, and make Bellsprout Sleep Powder/SD. Oddish can't go physical as effectively, so Oddish should be the Solarbeam abuser. Instead of Koffing, I would go with...uh...actually I dunno. I'll edit it in if I think of something...I'll give the basic idea of what im thinking if someone wants to try to figure out a poke.

Koffing's replacement must:
1)counter/check Carvanha (i dunno, he said he wanted that...)
2)have sunny day (obviously)
3)have booooom.

so yeah that's all. sorry i can't think of something atm.

although you may want to give up boom, there aren't many Sunny Dayers with a good speed for booming.

Good luck.

Well, Stunky sorta fills those jobs. Resists Crunch, is immune to Zen Headbutt, and I doute that it is beaten by Aqua Jet, especially considering that Sunny Day may be active. It also has decent speed, and can learn Sunny Day and Explosion. I don't know if it's amazing, but it has the listed qualitys.

 

[Shnoogle]

You say that Munchy is used to take out Ghosts... Well, if you drop Machop and Muchlax you can add Scarf Stunky to the mix because it can do both the job of Ghost Killer and Scarfer. Then, you can use that free spot to get another sweeper, Sunny Day set-up Pokémon etc...

 

[Sledge]

I will test the Oddish and Bellsprout sets; but I see a huge issue with the Bellsprout set, and it's simply a lack of survival. I will probably run Oran Berry on it, like I do currently.

Sun teams shouldn't really care about survivability very much, they are about getting as much damage in as possible in your 5 or 8 turns of sun. Because of this life orb is the superior option and Bellsprout will really like having its seed bombs and sucker punches boosted even more.

 

[irkkk]

I have never played your team yet so i dont know how good it is but it looks solid :D