ORAS LC It's the little things that count, right?

[burnanator9]

Hi everyone, here's a Little Cup team I've been working with for a little bit. LC is a tier I used to play frequently in 5th gen, then I kinda got out of it for a while, and now I'm trying to get back into it. This is the team I've used most recently. It's gimmicky, but I generally like what I can do with this team. Let me know what you guys think!

Tirtouga @ Eviolite
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Atk / 60 Def / 236 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off

Tirtouga fits the role of "obligatory Stealth Rock Pokemon," and he's decent at his job. I lead with Tirtouga to get up the Stealth Rock, then, in combination with a decent defensive spread, Solid Rock, and the Eviolite, soak up a hit and dish out whatever I can. Aqua Jet's the last-ditch move in case he's brought down to really low HP, so I can get a little something off before he goes down. Stone Edge is the strong STAB move, and Knock Off is there to do what it's been doing since its buff when 6th gen happened. I usually let him stay in till he dies, but if I feel he can be saved for later, I do that.

Zorua @ Focus Sash
Ability: Illusion
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpA / 72 SpD / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

This is where the gimmicks start, and I friggin love this thing. Zorua really works well in tandem with Gastly, who we'll see later on in this post, because Zorua can absorb any Psychic attacks aimed at Gastly, and Gastly could potentially absorb any Fighting attack aimed at Zorua. With the Sash, Zorua is generally able to either get some hits on the opponent or set up a Nasty Plot and wreck. Extrasensory and HP Fighting are there as the coverage moves, since Zorua doesn't get Flamethrower or Focus Blast like his evolution. This strategy generally works, unless the foe is packing Sucker Punch.

Drilbur @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 236 Atk / 32 Def / 236 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- Brick Break

Spinners are always nice to have, and Drilbur's one of the better offensive spinners in the LC game. Mold Breaker Earthquake is always nice to have for those Levitate foes, and can usually score a few KOs. Shadow Claw and Brick Break are what I chose to coverage moves, and they work pretty well. There's not really a whole lot else to say about Drilbur. What you see is what you pretty much expect.

Fletchling @ Berry Juice
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 132 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Flame Charge
- Swords Dance
- Roost

I chose a bit of a different option for Fletchling. I generally try to set up on Fletchling with Swords Dance, then wait for the foe to bring Fletch down to his Berry Juice so he can heal HP and trigger the power boost to Acrobatics. With Gale Wings, both Acrobatics and Roost gain priority, so Fletchling benefits from the ability offensively and defensively. Flame Charge is there for a little extra coverage and the Speed boost (in the event that the foe is carrying a Yamask).

Magnemite @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 32 Def / 240 SpA / 236 SpD
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recycle

Magnemite's set is also a little gimmicky, and it can be the devil if you're unprepared. Sturdy + Berry Juice + Recycle can make Magnemite almost unkillable if used in the right circumstances (i.e. Mag is faster than the foe). Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon are the predictable STAB moves, and HP Fire is there for extra coverage, which is especially helpful against the likes of Ferroseed. I'm pretty sure I've seen this set on a gimmick team in Ubers before, and it's deceptive if you don't have a response to it.

Gastly @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 SpA / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Trick

The other true gimmick set, and as mentioned before, a really good Pokemon for Zorua to disguise itself as. Gastly is basically what you'd expect at base value: something really fast that will Trick its Choice Scarf over to slower or unsuspecting Pokemon. Of course, Gastly can use the Scarf to his own advantage, and get off really fast Shadow Balls or Sludge Bombs on the foe. That last attacking move slot really could've gone to a number of things, but I chose Giga Drain because it can aid in keeping Gastly alive, if need be.

And this is what I've been running in LC lately. If anyone wants to make a suggestion, feel free to, and I'll read it and likely understand it. Thanks!

Importable

Tirtouga @ Eviolite
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Atk / 60 Def / 236 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Aqua Jet
- Stone Edge
- Knock Off

Zorua @ Focus Sash
Ability: Illusion
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 56 Def / 200 SpA / 72 SpD / 176 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Extrasensory
- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Drilbur @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 236 Atk / 32 Def / 236 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Earthquake
- Shadow Claw
- Brick Break

Fletchling @ Berry Juice
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 132 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Flame Charge
- Swords Dance
- Roost

Magnemite @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 32 Def / 240 SpA / 236 SpD
Modest Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recycle

Gastly @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 SpA / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Trick

 

[Corporal Levi]

Hello burnanator9,
Welcome back to LC! You picked a good time to return, because the metagame is lots of fun right now. You've got a pretty cool team there - Sash Zorua + Scarf Gastly could definitely mess with the opponent a bit. I'd like to offer a few suggestions, but I won't replace any Pokemon to keep the overall feel of the team intact.

Firstly, your team struggles greatly against Chinchou. As it is, Chinchou completely walls both Fletchling and Magnemite, and can heavily threaten the team with its STAB moves, so I'll suggest a few minor changes to help with this. I think that you should run U-turn over Roost on Fletchling; Berry Juice will usually be enough to keep Fletchling up and running, and this allows Fletchling to pivot out of Chinchou into a more favourable match-up. However, as it is, none of your Pokemon actually have an advantage over Chinchou; for this reason, an offensive Drilbur spread of 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spe with a Jolly nature would be ideal. This allows Drilbur to outspeed the standard bulky Berry Juice Chinchou variant and hit it with Earthquake; 17 speed is usually a nice number to hit regardless. Drilbur won't be able to deal with Scarf Chinchou, though, and Gastly's Giga Drain doesn't OHKO Chinchou, while Hydro Pump has a pretty solid chance to. Giga Drain's healing isn't all that useful anyways because Gastly is unlikely to live an attack in the first place, so I think that Energy Ball over Giga Drain is a better choice. This still leaves playing vs Chinchou a risky game if Chinchou comes in on Magnemite, as we still don't have anything to switch into it. One option would be to replace a Pokemon with something that can switch into Chinchou, but that would leave the team with holes to other threats; using Hidden Power Ground over Hidden Power Fire on Magnemite would help to alleviate this, because now there is nothing on the team that Chinchou can safely switch into.

Other than that, a few adjustments to make the team a bit more efficient:
Your Tirtouga spread isn't entirely optimal, because 60 Def nets the same boost as 12 Def. A spread of 4 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 236 SpD / 20 Spe will net you an extra HP and Speed point for free.
Running a spread of 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe on Zorua will cause Porygon's Download to increase its Attack, which is helpful for the rest of your team, as a +1 SpA Porygon is extremely difficult to switch into. In addition, I think that Timid would be the superior nature here, as 17 Speed is an important Speed tier to hit to tie with a lot of important Pokemon, like Archen and fast Mienfoo.
Flame Charge isn't very good for coverage on Fletchling, simply due to its awful base power, and Yamask is quite uncommon (besides, Flame Charge won't do nearly enough to KO Yamask, so Yamask could just burn you). Overheat over Flame Charge lets Fletchling do more immediate damage, hitting threats like Magnemite and Pawniard on the switch. The EV spread should be 196 Atk / 92 Def / 36 SpA / 180 Spe with a Naughty nature to accommodate for the mixed attacking. I think that Naughty is a better nature than Naive in this case, because Acrobatics already has priority, and Adamant nets some pretty important KOs, like the OHKO on Croagunk.
It would be best if Magnemite was faster than standard Fletchling, which is either 12 or 13 speed, to be able to hit it with Volt Switch before Fletchling can use U-turn or Overheat. The spread to accomplish this is 240 SpA / 240 Spe; Sturdy will usually cover for the lack of bulk.
Finally, since your Fletchling is a Berry Juice variant, its Acrobatics lacks immediate power. This makes Dragon Dance Scraggy quite threatening, as it can set up on most of your team. With that being said, it looks like Trick on Gastly is your main means of beating Bulk Up Timburr, and you need Energy Ball for scarf Chinchou. Dazzling Gleam over Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball would get rid of +1 Scraggy, but would make it harder for Gastly to pull off a late-game sweep. Alternatively, if you don't mind a gamble where Scraggy might set up a second Dragon Dance instead, using Destiny Bond over Trick will let Gastly check either Timburr or Scraggy.

That's it for now. Good luck!

 

[burnanator9]

Hello burnanator9,
Welcome back to LC! You picked a good time to return, because the metagame is lots of fun right now. You've got a pretty cool team there - Sash Zorua + Scarf Gastly could definitely mess with the opponent a bit. I'd like to offer a few suggestions, but I won't replace any Pokemon to keep the overall feel of the team intact.

Firstly, your team struggles greatly against Chinchou. As it is, Chinchou completely walls both Fletchling and Magnemite, and can heavily threaten the team with its STAB moves, so I'll suggest a few minor changes to help with this. I think that you should run U-turn over Roost on Fletchling; Berry Juice will usually be enough to keep Fletchling up and running, and this allows Fletchling to pivot out of Chinchou into a more favourable match-up. However, as it is, none of your Pokemon actually have an advantage over Chinchou; for this reason, an offensive Drilbur spread of 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spe with a Jolly nature would be ideal. This allows Drilbur to outspeed the standard bulky Berry Juice Chinchou variant and hit it with Earthquake; 17 speed is usually a nice number to hit regardless. Drilbur won't be able to deal with Scarf Chinchou, though, and Gastly's Giga Drain doesn't OHKO Chinchou, while Hydro Pump has a pretty solid chance to. Giga Drain's healing isn't all that useful anyways because Gastly is unlikely to live an attack in the first place, so I think that Energy Ball over Giga Drain is a better choice. This still leaves playing vs Chinchou a risky game if Chinchou comes in on Magnemite, as we still don't have anything to switch into it. One option would be to replace a Pokemon with something that can switch into Chinchou, but that would leave the team with holes to other threats; using Hidden Power Ground over Hidden Power Fire on Magnemite would help to alleviate this, because now there is nothing on the team that Chinchou can safely switch into.

Other than that, a few adjustments to make the team a bit more efficient:
Your Tirtouga spread isn't entirely optimal, because 60 Def nets the same boost as 12 Def. A spread of 4 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 236 SpD / 20 Spe will net you an extra HP and Speed point for free.
Running a spread of 200 SpA / 40 SpD / 240 Spe on Zorua will cause Porygon's Download to increase its Attack, which is helpful for the rest of your team, as a +1 SpA Porygon is extremely difficult to switch into. In addition, I think that Timid would be the superior nature here, as 17 Speed is an important Speed tier to hit to tie with a lot of important Pokemon, like Archen and fast Mienfoo.
Flame Charge isn't very good for coverage on Fletchling, simply due to its awful base power, and Yamask is quite uncommon (besides, Flame Charge won't do nearly enough to KO Yamask, so Yamask could just burn you). Overheat over Flame Charge lets Fletchling do more immediate damage, hitting threats like Magnemite and Pawniard on the switch. The EV spread should be 196 Atk / 92 Def / 36 SpA / 180 Spe with a Naughty nature to accommodate for the mixed attacking. I think that Naughty is a better nature than Naive in this case, because Acrobatics already has priority, and Adamant nets some pretty important KOs, like the OHKO on Croagunk.
It would be best if Magnemite was faster than standard Fletchling, which is either 12 or 13 speed, to be able to hit it with Volt Switch before Fletchling can use U-turn or Overheat. The spread to accomplish this is 240 SpA / 240 Spe; Sturdy will usually cover for the lack of bulk.
Finally, since your Fletchling is a Berry Juice variant, its Acrobatics lacks immediate power. This makes Dragon Dance Scraggy quite threatening, as it can set up on most of your team. With that being said, it looks like Trick on Gastly is your main means of beating Bulk Up Timburr, and you need Energy Ball for scarf Chinchou. Dazzling Gleam over Sludge Bomb or Shadow Ball would get rid of +1 Scraggy, but would make it harder for Gastly to pull off a late-game sweep. Alternatively, if you don't mind a gamble where Scraggy might set up a second Dragon Dance instead, using Destiny Bond over Trick will let Gastly check either Timburr or Scraggy.

That's it for now. Good luck!

Hey, thanks for your suggestion! I implemented all of the changes you suggested (except for Destiny Bond), and they seem to be working out great! I haven't been able to battle a Chinchou yet with the changes, but I have a feeling they'll be just fine. Thanks again!

 

[Fiend]

I agree with all of the suggestions Corporal Levi has given you. However I would add to them a few smaller changes to your team.

Rock Slide > Brick Break on Drilbur provides meaningful coverage; Flying types now can no longer switch into Drilbur near fearlessly which pressures every team so much more now.

Volt Switch > Thunderbolt on Magnemite, while weaker, prevents Magnemite from being a momentum sink and perform the role of a pivot. Generally, Volt Switch hits hard enough anyway, and in the event that it does not you can send in Scarf Gastly afterwards to finish them off.

Lastly, I would run 116 Def / 196 SpA / 196 Spe with a Timid Nature on Gastly as this lives several more things, such as plus +2 Tirtouga's Aqua Jet after SR as well as Knock Off from Timburr after a Trick (making Trick deal with Bulk Up varieties somewhat well). You also now switch into +0 Zigzagoon's Thief allowing you to Trick that as well, as you can struggle versus it if you let Tirtouga die.

Cheers!