Xayah
San Bwanna
Introduction
Okay so before I start with the actual RMT, I would like to note that this will be written in sort of a story style, based on League of Legends. Don't worry, I will make sure the explanations are clear and that it is completely obvious what the Pokemon do for me. I'd also like to make clear that the team was made first, and the story after, so it's not like this is some kind of meme-y story team. In stead, it was a team meant to win a significantly important game in LCPL.
If you do not know LoL lore and would like to understand the story a bit more, I'd like to send you right here, as you'll be able to find most of the lore right there. For any other questions, feel free to contact me via Discord or Smogon Forums.
So without further ado, let's begin.
Recruitment Process
My first choice was, of course, my husband, who took the form of Taillow. Taillow is very much an antimeta mon right now, as many teams rely on Onix and Kabuto as their bird checks, which simply go down to Boomburst into Hidden Power Grass. For this reason, I believed Rakan would be a good choice to lead the charge in this infiltration.
Thanks to advice from a close friend, Serene's Grace, I added Cassiopeia, who showed herself as a Snivy. Specifically, Normalium Z Snivy was very effective against Kaori, as he tended to rely on one of Foongus and Vullaby to combat Snivy, which this version could easily break through. As such, Cassiopeia would likely be able to blast her way through any opponent.
Zilean the Abra was next. Abra is simply an absolutely amazing Pokemon right now, and a Focus Sash variant would be able to give me an almost guaranteed way to take out any set up sweeper. It also synergised really well with the other two members, as they formed a terrifying wallbreaking core.
The team needed some support, so I recruited Alistar the Snubbull, which gave me a reliable way of dealing with Fighting-types, which was very important, as despite Rakan and Zilean revenge killing them reliably, a Scarf Mienfoo or similar would be able to run all over my offensive core. As such, Alistar was a valuable teammate.
...And then I realized I needed WAY too much defensive utility in the last two slots, as well as offensive utility like a Choice Scarfer. So I decided to revise the organization completely. Since I only wanted to infiltrate with seven people maximum, out of fear of being noticed otherwise, I had to send away Cassiopeia and Alistar, and replaced them with Mordekaiser the Pawniard, Maokai the Pumpkaboo-Super, Malphite the Onix, and Elise the Surskit, changing the team into an extremely offensive Sticky Web team. Surskit is invaluable on these teams, as it is by far the most reliable setter. Pawniard is a strong wallbreaker on Webs and scared people out of Defogging Webs away. Pumpkaboo-Super is in my opinion the best spinblocker as it is capable of taking two Ice Beams from Staryu while also checking Ground-types like Drilbur and Mudbray. Lastly, Onix was my defense against Flying-types.
The Team
Rakan (Taillow) @ Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 18 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Brave Bird
I am like 99% sure Rakan, the Charmer, really doesn't care about the mission but is in simply to have fun and be with me. Honestly, I'm not even sure if he knows or understands what's going on. However, he's incredible to have around and he's never failed to keep me alive. And of course, I'm not leaving without my trusty bird man.Rakan (Taillow) @ Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 18 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Brave Bird
Personally, I believe Taillow is absolutely incredible right now, and quite possibly the second best Webs abuser. While it has low offenses, only hitting 12 on both sides, its STAB moves have insane BP, meaning it still does extremely significant damage. Just an example:
196 SpA Life Orb Taillow Boomburst vs. 36 HP / 116 SpD Snubbull: 21-25 (91.3 - 108.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
240 SpA Life Orb Abra Psychic vs. 36 HP / 116 SpD Snubbull: 21-27 (91.3 - 117.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Taillow's Boomburst is about as powerful as Abra's Psychic, which is the most powerful special attacker in the tier. This just shows its incredible strength and the reason it's on the team.
But now you're probably asking 'why this over any other bird, like Doduo?'. Well, a big reason is its 19 Speed, which allows it to outspeed that same Doduo, while also taking out Gastly thanks to Scrappy. In addition, its ability to use Heat Wave and HP Grass thanks to its Special Attack investment means that classic Normal and Flying switch-ins like Ferroseed and Onix can't actually switch in, as they both die to Boomburst into the appropriate coverage move. And thanks to the fact that you'll usually be using them on 4x weak targets, their low BP compared to STAB moves doesn't even really matter.
The major matchup Taillow helps against is the Sticky Web mirror matchup; due to not being affected by Webs and having natural 19 Speed, it can easily outspeed and KO many common Pokemon on Webs, such as Pawniard (Boomburst -> Heat Wave), Abra (Boomburst passes through Sub), Onix (Boomburst -> HP Grass), and Pumpkaboo (two Boombursts thanks to Scrappy, or Brave Bird), simply by spamming Boomburst.
Mordekaiser (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
Outside of being my personal favourite Pokemon in LC, Pawniard is also invaluable on Webs, and especially this variant. Thanks to not being forced to run Stealth Rock due to Onix having it, it had space for Brick Break, which helped an inmense amount in the matchup against opposing Pawniard, which is otherwise a pretty big threat to Webs teams. This essentially meant that I could switch in 100% of the time without fear (Brick Break on Pawn is rare, so I can safely assume they don't have it), and surprise them with a 4x effective move.
Of course, the main reason to use Pawniard on Sticky Web teams is its ability Defiant, which deters the opponent from using Defog. It should be obvious why this is so invaluable.
Lastly, Pawniard also functioned as a check to Foongus, a priority user, and a Knock Off user, which were all important to this team.
Zilean (Abra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Substitute
No Webs team is complete without Abra. It is one of the absolute best Pokemon in the tier right now, and nowhere is this shown as much as on Webs. The combination of it and Taillow is also nearly impossible to switch into (granted that is just Abra in general, but it's even harder with Taillow).
So what makes Abra so good? Well first off, it has the highest Special Attack in the tier, maxing out at 20. This in combination with its 19 Speed and most Pokemon in Little Cup being more physically defensive makes it a terrifying wallbreaker. Next, it has an incredible coverage option in Dazzling Gleam, allowing it to target Dark-types, most notably Vullaby, which are practically the only things that switch into it. Magic Guard is also an incredible boon, as it allows it to not give a shit about hazards and LO damage, leaving it consistently at full HP. Lastly, the fact that Psychic and Dazzling Gleam have practically perfect coverage allowes Abra to run 'extra' moves as the last two. I personally went with HP Ground to 2HKO or OHKO all Alolan Grimer sets except 14 SpDef Berry Juice, and Substitute to avoid Sucker Punch and have an even easier time sweeping.
I'd love to talk about specific matchups Abra is amazing in, but it's amazing in every single one, so that feels kinda redundant. No matter the team, Abra is an invaluable teammember and can in absolutely no way be replaced.
Maokai (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
Pumpkaboo-Super has two major roles in the team. The first is that it is supposed to spinblock, which it is in my opinion the most consistent at. In the worst case scenario it is capable of taking two Ice Beams from Staryu, the most common Spinner, and will easily take hits from Kabuto and Drilbur. Speaking of Drilbur, the second major role of Pump is to be a reliable answer to it and other Ground-types like Mudbray. Admittedly, this is not the most important thing in the world for this team since I have ways of easily revenge killing any Ground type with Abra and Taillow's incredible strength.
Despite the special set being more common than physical right now, I actually really like the latter. This set is capable of functioning as a somewhat reliable Abra check, as was also seen in the battle against Kaori, thanks to both priority and a multi-hit move. I preferred this over being a better check to Mudbray since burning a Mudbray was enough to invalidate it completely against this team.
One more specific matchup Pumpkaboo helps in significantly is Scarf Mienfoo, as its mere existenece means it is not really able to click High Jump Kick, which is obviously what it wants to do.
This Pokemon could potentially be replaced by Frillish, but I've been enjoying its ability to spinblock Staryu even in worse case scenario consistently, while Frillish fails to do so.
Malphite (Onix) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Weak Armor Onix is quite common on Webs builds, as it is a very consistent counter to the Flying-types that are immune to Sticky Web. However, this is not Weak Armor Onix. It was for a while, but eventually I decided that SturdyJuice was better as a last line of defense against set up sweepers like Omanyte and Scraggy, which can take advantage of a choice-locked Surskit. In addition, SturdyJuice Onix is still a solid answer for the birds that threaten the team, as Scarf Doduo can't really break it and BJ sets get outsped by Abra and Taillow, both of which take a Quick Attack and OHKO back. Vullaby is also not much of an issue since this set outspeeds.
Elise (Surskit) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 36 HP / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Haze
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
What is Webs without Webs. Surskit is by far the most reliable setter thanks to its high Speed and interesting movepool. With a Choice Scarf, Surskit is capable of setting up against all common leads Especially on this set the moves are very interesting, but they're all needed. Haze is my counterplay against Scraggy; Choice Scarf Haze allows me to outspeed and remove boosts from even +1 Scraggy (if it switches in as I set up Webs it can get that for example). Other set up sweepers like +1 Shellder and other smashers (after Webs) can also be prevented from running over my team thanks to this. Ice Beam is an incredible tool against opponents that lead Doduo in order to KO or set up a Sub/SD before Surskit can set up Webs. However, it's important to consider the possibility of Scarf. In addition to this though, it's also my main counterplay against Nasty Plot Vullaby, as Surskit is capable of outspeeding and severely damaging it easily. Giga Drain is incredible for those that lead Shellder or Omanyte and think they'll set up easily. In general, this moveset gives Surskit some much-needed offensive presence to prevent foes from setting up on it while being very reliable in setting up Webs.
Threatlist
Set Up Sweepers
These are by far the biggest threats to this team. If they switch in as I set up Sticky Web with Surskit, thus not getting Speed dropped AND having me locked into Sticky Web, they'll get an easy opportunity to set up. Shellder is especially terrifying, as even Sturdy Onix will not prevent it from sweeping (while it can take 5 +2 Icicle Spears, it won't if Shellder gets even a single crit of high roll, which is a near 50% chance). Any others are possible to deal with the combination of Sturdy Onix and Haze Scarf Surskit, though they are still very scary.
Snivy
The only real way of dealing with Snivy is not setting up Webs, which is obviously really bad for a Webs team, as it will give Snivy's fast teammates a field day with this team. Hope you can take this out with Taillow, Abra, or Scarf Surskit, or you'll be in trouble.
Conclusion
In total, the mission and the recruitment were a huge succes. Rakan put in a lot of work, taking out both Abra and Larvitar, while weakening Snubbull so that Zilean could finish it off. The latter was also incredibly big, as it managed to take out Foongus and Snubbull while swiftly dodging some pollen (quite a feat for someone at that age). Mordekaiser might appear to have been asleep throughout the entire mission, but this meant that the opposing Foongus could not put anyone else to sleep, which was very important. Eventually, he also sacrificed himself to give Rakan one final Grand Entrance, allowing us to complete the mission. Maokai's contribution was also huge; he prevented the opposing Staryu from removing Elise's Sticky Web, thus greatly improving our chances at success. In addition, he weakened the opposing Abra significantly, allowing Rakan to pick up the KO. Elise may have gone down early on, but her control of the wild magic allowed the rest of the Vastayan Rebellion to complete the mission. And lastly, Malphite stayed in hiding for almost the entire mission but ended up as the last man standing, taking out the last line of defense and bringing me directly to Kaori. We managed to free some of the wild magic they stole, purifying Ionia slightly once more
All in all, this group works together very well. I am very content with how my recruitment meant, as it is capable of taking adavantage of Sticky Web very well, while usually preventing typical threats to Webs from running all over it.
And seriously guys, use Taillow.
Shoutouts
There are not a lot of shoutouts I wanna do since I did quite a few last time, so I'm only gonna shoutout the few people that had a significant impact on how this team turned out.
Serene's Grace Thanks for the Taillow set my dude! Your set inspired me to make this and I think it worked out quite well. I tested this a lot with you and constantly lost to a really bad matchup, but eventually managed to fix the hole and finally won one.
Fille Goddamn dude. You were the single biggest factor in building this team outside of myself. I spent hours testing this team with you and making changes, despite you not even being on my team. Thanks you so much!
Corporal Levi Sken You guys together helped me take on some threats Webs teams are typically weak too and Levi especially encouraged me to keep going after dissappointing testing results with the original version, and I am incredibly thankful for all that.
Rakan (Taillow) @ Life Orb
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 18 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Brave Bird
Mordekaiser (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
Zilean (Abra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Substitute
Maokai (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
Malphite (Onix) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Elise (Surskit) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Haze
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
Ability: Scrappy
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 200 SpA / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Naive Nature
IVs: 18 HP / 30 Atk / 30 SpA
- Boomburst
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Brave Bird
Mordekaiser (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
Zilean (Abra) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Substitute
Maokai (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
Malphite (Onix) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Explosion
Elise (Surskit) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Swift Swim
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 SpA / 20 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sticky Web
- Haze
- Ice Beam
- Giga Drain
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