Semi-stall Team

[(makeup)]

​

★★★★★★★

Hey guys, Charmander here with a new RMT. I haven't made a LC RMT in a very long time, and I feel that this team is one of the best I have made, so I decided I'd write this up! The idea for this team came from a chat in #littlecup one day about how annoying a Regenerator stall team would be. After Solosis was released with Regen, I knew I had to try it, but I later determined that Solosis kind of sucks so I only included Foongus, Mienfoo, and Slowpoke.

★★★★★★★

Teambuilding
I knew I wanted to start with Foongus, Mienfoo, and Slowpoke as a Regenerator core, so I automatically included those in the start of my team.

That core already covered a lot of threats, but I Murkrow and Misdreavus both could do a lot of damage to it, so I decided to include Porygon, who could handle them very well.

Even with Porygon, however, Murkrow was still a threat, especially Life Orb variants. I added on Archen for extra Murkrow support and Stealth Rock! And of course, with Archen, I had to use a Spinner. Staryu is the most reliable Rapid Spinner and provides me with another Blizzard resist, so it was a no-brainer.

After playing around with the team a bit, Archen felt like dead weight. I eventually decided that replacing Archen with Magnemite would provide me with a better answer to Bronzor and Snover, and it was still a good answer to Murkrow. I paired Magnemite with Drilbur over Staryu because it gave me Stealth Rock and a strong physical attacker. This turned out to be the final team!

★★★★★★★

In-Depth Analysis

Foongus @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 124 HP / 156 Def / 156 SDef
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Spore
- Stun Spore

Foongus is awesome and always gets the job done, simply put. The role of Foongus on my team is to keep out Water-types such as Chinchou and Staryu, who would otherwise be very hard to defeat. Foongus's dual typing also gives it a valuable Fighting resistance, making it a great switch-in to most Mienfoo and Timburr. Giga Drain and Regenerator together actually do a fantastic job of keeping Foongus healthy, identical to how Drain Punch and Regenerator work to make Mienfoo so annoying. Clear Smog is another important move for my team because stall teams are generally setup bait for Pokemon such as Timburr, Scraggy, and Porygon, but Foongus makes sure that they are unable to set up. Spore is arguably the best move in the game and can shift the momentum of the game to the user's side easily if played correctly; the only problem with Spore is that Pokemon such as Insomnia Murkrow can get a free switch in, which is why I run Stun Spore in the last slot. Natu is really the only Pokemon who can always come in for free.

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Def / 116 SDef
Careful Nature
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Taunt

This is a twist on the standard defensive Mienfoo set with a few important tweaks, which I made with heavy influence on the sets users Artemisa and Danilo introduced to me. Mienfoo still plays the same role of a bulky pivot who can cripple the opponent's team with Knock Off, but it has some surprise elements too. Firstly, Taunt plays a massive part in shutting down Bronzor and Foongus, who would normally defeat Mienfoo 1v1. After Taunt, Foongus and Bronzor are forced into only using weak attacking moves, which is where Mienfoo can knock off their item and dip. The second surprise factor of this set is its mixed defensive distribution. Mienfoo's Defense and Special Defense stats are both 14, which allows it to take some hefty hits such as Abra's Psychic and almost always survive. Additionally, Mienfoo can take two Snover Blizzards with hail and two layers of Spikes as well as Stealth Rock 99.3% of the time, making it a great switch-in. The rest of the set is fairly standard; I opted not to use Fake Out because I believe the four moves on this set are all more useful in general.

Slowpoke @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
EVs: 196 HP / 156 Def / 116 SDef
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Aqua Tail
- Zen Headbutt

Slowpoke! I really love this thing. Psychic is one of the best types in the current metagame because it resists Fighting and is also super effective on most Fighting-types, and Slowpoke's fantastic defensive stats make it one of the best Psychic-types in Little Cup. Slowpoke is my main physical wall and switchin to Fighting-types. Slowpoke also has an important job of checking Drilbur, who otherwise does a ton of damage to my team if it sets up. Slowpoke completes the Regenerator core with some key resistances to types like Fire and Ice, and it also spreads around paralysis with Thunder Wave. Spreading status is one of the most important aspects to defensive teams, especially slow teams like mine, and Slowpoke does this very well with Regenerator to keep it healthy throughout the whole match.

Drilbur @ Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Drilbur does quite a few things for my team. Since this team is based off of Regenerator, I will inevitably be forced to switch many, many times, which will force my opponent to switch often as well. Even though none of my team members are weak to Stealth Rock (half of them resist it in fact), the extra damage done after each switch still can rack up unfavorably, and due to the slow nature of stall matches, opposing teams with Spikes will have no difficulty setting up against Slowpoke, Porygon, and others, so it is important that all hazards are cleared from my side of the field. On the other hand, my own hazards will have a huge impact on the game because the nature of this team is to force many switches, so Stealth Rock is almost necessary to make this team function. Hazards aside, Drilbur makes Bronzor and Koffing much more manageable, and it even does well against Misdreavus in a pinch. Earthquake and Rock Slide provide unresisted coverage in Little Cup with Mold Breaker, so Drilbur can even finish off weakened teams with its strong attacks.

Magnemite @ Eviolite
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Magnet Rise

One of these things is not like the other, and it's definitely Magnemite. Magnemite actually doesn't provide any benefit to my team on paper, since Murkrow and Snover are already covered by Porygon and Drilbur beats Steel-types, but Magnemite is like another layer of support. Magnet Pull and Hidden Power Fire can even trap and kill Bronzor with Magnet Rise to aid against Earthquake variants, and even opposing Magnemite, especially Scarf versions, can fall prey to Mag if they are unable to Volt Switch out. Another cool benefit of Magnemite is it can sometimes check sand if it gets Magnet Rise up before Drilbur comes in. In fact, it can take resisted or immune hits from Lileep, Hippopotas, and Drilbur with ease while under Magnet Rise and do heavy damage with Flash Cannon. Volt Switch carries on the switching theme of this team by letting Magnemite pivot out against Pokemon like Choice Scarf Snover and Murkrow.

Porygon @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SDef
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave

Porygon is a catchall for basically everything else that my team fails to cover tightly. Murkrow, Snover, Misdreavus, Tirtouga, Drifloon, and much more all fall victim to Thunder Wave and Porygon's insane bulk. Porygon's 26 / 24 / 24 defenses with Eviolite make it basically impossible to OHKO without a boost, and Recover can make it seem almost invincible versus any non-Fighting-type. Trace plays a big role in making Porygon the huge douchebag that it is by giving it immunities such as Electric against Chinchou, Water against Frillish, and Fire against Ponyta and Houndour. Trace also grants Porygon annoying tools such as Prankster Recover against Murkrow, Magnet Pull against Magnemite who can't use Volt Switch, Magic Mirror against Natu, and Regenerator against Mienfoo should you dare switch in. I decided to run Shadow Ball as a coverage to make Misdreavus much more manageable, but Ice Beam also came to mind to help against Murkrow, Foongus, and Drilbur.

★★★★★★★

Importable

Foongus @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 124 HP / 156 Def / 156 SDef
Bold Nature
- Giga Drain
- Clear Smog
- Spore
- Stun Spore

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Def / 116 SDef
Careful Nature
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Taunt

Slowpoke @ Eviolite
Trait: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 156 Def / 116 SDef
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Thunder Wave
- Aqua Tail
- Zen Headbutt

Drilbur @ Eviolite
Trait: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 212 Spd
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin

Magnemite @ Eviolite
Trait: Magnet Pull
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Magnet Rise

Porygon @ Eviolite
Trait: Trace
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SDef
Calm Nature
- Recover
- Tri Attack
- Shadow Ball
- Thunder Wave

★★★★★★★

Thanks for reading! Please rate if you have a chance ^.^

★★★★★★★

 

[dcae]

Hey Charmander. This is really a very solid defensive team you've composed here, using a Regenerator core that sports a very underused and underrated mon in Slowpoke. Since LC is a tier primarily focused around bulky offense, these type teams have a harder time succeeding. A first glance shows top notch synergy, which should be expected at this level of play. Regenerator cores are generally annoying af to play against, and you've paired it with the the invincible Porygon, so thus the focus of the team becomes clear. Through status support, your Regen core regains health consistently while wearing down the opponent's. Since this is clearly more of a display than a team that really needs work, most of my suggestions won't be too major.

Now, I can see that your team has a few weaknesses that a good player can exploit. One of these is LO Abra. Although this set is quite rare in comparison to the Sash Abra set we all see, LO Abra manages to be very problematic for your team, due to fast speed coupled with strong Psychic attacks. Atm, Abra can take out Foongus and Mienfoo while being able to deal massive damage to Magnemite and Slowpoke with its coverage moves. Psychic can also KO Drilbur that takes a bit of side damage. Now, tbh, there really isn't much you can do about this threat without modifying your team exponentially, but I am just pointing out this relatively rare threat. Now, less scary than LO Abra but infinitely more common is MixKrow. MixKrow is arguably the greatest attacker in Little Cup and is one of the reasons defensive teams are hard to pull off. You've done well to minimize the threat of MixKrow, but a well played one can still deal massive damage to your team, 2HKOing all your members if it is running Brave Bird. To lessen this threat even further, you can opt to run Stun Spore > Hidden Power Ice to eliminate the MixKrow threat, otherwise Insomnia variants can switch on an expected Spore, and HP Ice just doesn't deal enough. You can also give Porygon a Bold nature in order to avert the 2HKO from Brave Bird, and thus then paralyze it and essentially render it useless.

Considering this is a defensive team, it has another major flaw: Eviolite. All your mons depend on Eviolite to be able to take the hits they do. Due to this, a well played Mienfoo with Knock Off will tear your defensive core to shreds. This is not a fixable weakness either, because this is an inherent flaw with any balanced or defensive LC team. This is once again a mention to be careful around Knock Off. Out of personal experience, I once beat Superpowerdude's team in a mirror match just because I used Mienfoo to just go around Knocking Off all the Eviolites and then just powering through.

Overall, this is an exemplary LC semi-stall team despite the name :P Hope I helped, good luck!

 

[(makeup)]

@Dcae thanks for the good rate and feedback! People have been telling me to use Stun Spore on Foongus, so I'll probably try that out; I don't really like 75% accuracy but I'll give it a go. I haven't seen LO Abra before actually, but it does seem like a legitimate threat, and Mixkrow is covered pretty well I think with prediction but it is always a threat. Maybe I can run Scarfoo, who can revenge them both (and come in on a non-stab move probably), although I like the defensive set on this team to help with Foongus/Bronzor/Koffing. Knock Off was less of a problem when I had Acrobatics Archen but yeah it's always annoying -__- usually I just sac my own Mienfoo's Eviolite and Knock Off theirs and it works out, idk. I probably want to keep Calm on Porygon cause Misdreavus, Snover, and Abra are more threatening to the rest of my team than Krow (who Slowpoke and Mag can handle more or less)

So I guess things I'll try are Stun Spore on Foongus and Scarfoo. Thanks for the suggestions ^_^

edit: ok @Dcae Stun Spore on Foongus has been working out much better than I expected actually so I'll stick with that, but Scarfoo wasn't really that helpful. Playing around Abra is my best bet basically

 

[Rowan]

Hey Charmander, as dcae said, there's not really much to say about this team as it is really solid in general, with the core of Regen+Porygon being really hard to break down. I just wanted to point out that you have Slowpoke with a Bold nature, which lowers attack, making your STAB moves less powerful. On the subject of Slowpoke, it should be noted that you can go special with Scald + Psychic with 36 Sp.Atk EVs. Personally, I'd prefer this due to because Scald's burn rate is really clutch but I can understand if you don't want to ruin Thunder Wave. Psychic will also deal more damage to Mienfoo as most only invest in Defense. Zen Headbutt is more powerful in general though, so you could even use a Relaxed nature with Scald+Zen Headbutt if you want the burn rate.

I have a feeling you won't like Scald though. So basically, just change your nature to Impish.

 

[(makeup)]

@Corkscrew derp......should be Impish lol
@Kingler12345 I actually like that suggestion a lot so I'll definitely test that out

thanks ^_^