Resource SS LC Sample Teams

Colin

formerly BeardedDrakon
is a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
Most Meta defining teams in my opinion:

:tyrunt: :grookey: :mienfoo: :koffing: :diglett: :pawniard:: This is similar to my sample team, but it plays differently. It may lack a bulky water, but it instead uses memento Diglett, which allows Tyrunt to setup on foes you wouldn't expect it to be able to, such as Mienfoo. Many of the specifics, such as equipping thunder fang on Tyrunt, SD on Grookey, rock slide on Diglett, and thief on Koffing are used to improve specific matchups, and can be changed depending on which foes you expect to face. Thunder fang allows Tyrunt to KO offensive Staryu after a boost, as well as to hit frillish, while maintaining its ability to hit Natu. SD Grookey can take advantage of memento Diglett to sweep, thief improves longevity on Koffing at the price of not being able to beat Mareanie, and rock slide is used to trap Larvesta, which would otherwise wall Grookey and Mienfoo. Notable options for Tyrunt include fire fang over CC to beat Ferroseed and Eviolite Grookey from full while avoiding defense drops at the expense of beating Porygon, Adamant (unfortunately for the ranges this is mandatory, also the new speed tier is yikes) Ice Fang to OHKO all Trapinch after SR and DD up to max defense no nature no HP investment, and the standard rock blast to beat Larvesta should you drop rock slide on Diglett.

:carvanha: :porygon: :mienfoo: :koffing: :ferroseed: :trapinch:: This team, as well as Eric's week 5 LPL team are considered the standard Carvanha BO builds. They try to have Ferroseed, Pawniard, or Grookey trapped, and then utilize Carvanha as a potent cleaner and breaker, also with the support of Koffing to wear down Mienfoo. The Porygon team is better at forcing damage onto Ferroseed (independently of trapping), and Mienfoo but struggles vs bulky ground types, especially Drilbur, while the Natu team is more reliable vs Grookey and can deny hazards, but is far more likely to have to 50 50 opposing Tyrunt and be dead in the water if an offensive threat dies. Its also worth mentioning that although the Porygon team is more flexible in its trapping and more offensively potent, its switching and pivoting sequences are more exploitable to double switches and possible hazard stack, since Porygon cannot pivot itself and is forced to recover often.

:porygon: :natu: :trapinch: :mienfoo: :mareanie: :ferroseed:: This is the standard scarf pory + Trapinch build, and its incredibly consistent vs bulky offense, but can be exploitable against certain styles such as screens and crit me not Shellos. Pory + Natu is a very solid overwhelm core vs Pawniard, and against Ferroseed ensures that your Porygon gets openings and the turns it provides to Ferroseed are not detrimental. Mareanie seed's progress is a lot more significant when on SpA offense because their knocks cannot safely be absorbed by the steel type anymore, and using Natu can lose to a well played double switch. Trapinch is important because it can trap the steels, as well as defensively handle Tyrunt.

:staryu: :natu: :diglett: :magby: :grookey: :tyrunt:: Ah yes, screens. This is the most defining matchup fish archetype, and is very annoying to account for in the builder. Magby prevents you from taking a KO with anything that cannot deny it setup under screens or memento for most teams, and unless you have diglett your only way to beat it is to sack half your team and fake out it to death or win a speed tie with something. If you do run Diglett, good luck with tyrunt, because that means you don't have a Trapinch so therefore have very few options to beat Thunder fang Tyrunt, especially if full HP ferro and Grookey are also stopped by Fire fang. Natu is near impossible to take down under screens without a crit, unless you use Tyrunt or Carvanha, and Acro Grookey is often going to force in your Koffing, which is fodder for the rest of your team. !@#$@!#$!@$!@#$@$!@!!@#$!#@$!@.

Honorable mention: Larvesta is very good into the meta rn, but I do not know of any specific builds that are ubiquitous.

EDIT: none of these teams are my builds; they are just what I find most often when lurking and watching high level games.
 

Drifting

in my glo stance smokin' dope
is a Tiering Contributor
LEGENDARY LCPL DRIFTING GODSQUAD TEAM-DUMP!!!

Now that my team, the Kohli's, has been eliminated in the playoffs of LCPL, I can finally share some of my very epic teams that we used to get there. Thanks to DOOR MONEY for being the main pilot of these all time classics.

***

WEEK ONE: DOOR MONEY VS NINJADOG
:mienfoo: :grookey: :koffing: :ferroseed: :larvesta: :staryu:
Classical Scarvesta Godsquad

This team is called the Classical because it was one of my early builds as a fledgling LC teambuilder, and can be appreciated like you would an early Van Gogh portrait. Also like Van Gogh, this team was not appreciated in its time by critics and it's genius will likely only be realised after my death.

At this point I was still mostly stealing from and ripping off the LC GOATS Pap and Ace, and I really liked scarf Larvesta for some reason (I don't like it anymore). I also liked running dogshit Staryu's like this one which is for some reason offensive natural cure scald, and bottom 5 set of all time Seed Grookey (the team really needed a win-con was my reasoning). Yea this team is kinda doggy dookie, though the fact that I was using the same Koffing even back then is funny.

That being said though, DOOR did really well with it and almost beat third best Australian LC Player (behind Damien the Genius and I) Ninjadog, so maybe there is some value to this. I'd still probably tweak maybe the Grookey and especially the Star if I were to use this today though.

***

WEEK THREE: DRIFTING VS PARAPLEGIC
:mudbray: :mienfoo: :trapinch: :frillish: :koffing: :ferroseed:
Slow Groundspam Godsquad

I don't know what I was thinking y'all but this team is not it. I have had some success with this team on ladder, and I could have actually won this match if I hadn't played badly, but it is what it is. (Pro-Tip: Don't stay up for 30 hours, sleep for 2 and then play your match as soon as you wake up, and maybe you won't switch out your +6 Mudbray against a Grookey for no reason.)

I think this team is just kinda fundamentally flawed. I think rest-talk Mudbray is SUPER underrated and good, and this team definitely has some potential, so try it out if you want, but I think the critics were right on this one.

***

WEEK THREE: DOOR MONEY VS DRUD
:mienfoo: :grookey: :morelull: :pawniard: :natu: :frillish:
Anti-Drud Technology Godsquad

This team is one I'm quite proud of because of the work that went into it, as well as being the team that set off DOOR's winstreak. It also has quite a backstory behind it.

Drud (shoutouts to him) had recently beaten me in Round 8 of LC Open, and at the time I played a lot of sparring matches against him to practice. I really wanted to get back at him in tournament, and I saw this as the perfect opportunity to hardcore C-Team him, so I designed this team around a lot of the things I know he likes to bring such as Pawniard Fightspam and a lot of Ferroseed teams. I was also really inspired by testing an Acehunter team that used Frillish-Morelull-Natu as a defensive core, and really enjoyed it. I had also recently used a different Morelull team against Drud and he said "wtf is that thing", so I knew he would not be prepared.

Then Drud did exactly what I didn't expect and brought a really old psychic-spam team from 1952, but Door still managed to overwhelm him. Was very nice to watch.

***

WEEK FOUR: DOOR MONEY VS DANNY
:mienfoo: :koffing: :pawniard: :trapinch: :ponyta: :shellos:
Based Shellonyta Godsquad

After the week 3 win I think door was more willing to trust and test my teams. We tested a lot of teams to use, but none of them really felt right until we tried this one I had in storage.

Standard mienfoo, koffing, pawniard is always good obv, and while shellos is a cringe cheese mon it does work well here. The mon I really like on this team is Ponyta, which is using a defensive set taken from Ace's Monoblue team (I steal from Ace a lot). This set is really underrated I think, being the single best grookey counter in the tier, being fast with healing, and burning literally everything to enable your other mons (a concept I like to play with a lot as you'll see later). Trapinch is also pretty fun.

That being said there isn't too much to say about this team. It's mostly standard with a couple cool things to make it more interesting. It won though, so that's all you need sometimes.

***

WEEK FIVE: DOOR MONEY VS KYTHR
:mienfoo: :pawniard: :larvesta: :magby: :natu: :staryu:
Poisoned Pawniard Godsquad

I got the idea for this team from chess, of all things.

In chess, there's a term known as the "Poisoned Pawn", where you set intentionally put your pawn in an unsafe position as a trap where taking it harms your opponent. On this team, the same concept applies, but instead of a Pawn, it's a Pawn-iard (get it).

Will-o-Wisp Larvesta is a burning machine, and has the main target of Mienfoo (though other targets can easily work). If you burn Mienfoo, that allows you to freely "hang" your Pawniard into it. Your opponent cannot kill Pawniard with HJK because that puts them in a burned foo vs magby situation, which is essentially GG. This means that Pawniard literally has infinite momentum, which is insane. The best part is that it's not really a gimmick, the tactics are entirely simple, and simple tactics are way harder to work around than crazy gimmicks.

The other team slots are Foo, because obviously, and Natu + Spinner which I think is generally mandatory for Larvesta teams. The Staryu is thunderbolt so it can cover up this team's slight weakness to enemy Staryu's. People also assume one of them is screens because of Magby, so it really catches people off-guard.

This is the team I'm most proud of, not only because of the concept, but of course for getting a win over a top player like Kythr. If you're gonna use any of these teams, make it this one.

***

WEEK SEVEN: DRIFTING VS DUGOAT
:pawniard: :mienfoo: :larvesta: :natu: :zorua: :staryu:
Brad Pitt Brain Destroyer Godsquad

My team had already won at this point, and we had already qualified so I decided to just bring something funny. This replay obviously didn't show this team shine, but this one against DOOR MONEY really shows how this team can shine.

Zorua is a really cool mon in general. At +2 it OHKO's basically everything, and on this team can viably be disguised as Larvesta, Natu and Mienfoo. The general concept was that people wouldn't want to fake out a Zorua disguised as Larvesta because of flame body, but it turns out a lot of people expect that so I sometimes literally just lead normal Larvesta and burn their Mienfoo for free. Disguisng as Mienfoo and sending it out against Pawniard is the easiest way to set up from my experience, as when they switch into Koffing, they now are against a +2 Zorua who ohko's with extrasensory.

Natu and Staryu just make sense for a team so hazards weak, as Larvesta obviously hates them and they reveal a hidden Zorua. This team is really fun and I recommend using it.

****

HONOURABLE MENTIONS

:mienfoo: :tyrunt: :pawniard: :koffing: :abra: :porygon:
Tyrunt Abra Godsquad

This is what I wanted Door to bring against Collette in semi-finals before he brought a Scottie team instead, kinda unfortunate because a lot of Coll's teams are weak to Tyrunt including the one that ended up getting used, but it is what it is. Mostly standard, I really like Shed Shell Abra combined with Defensive Porygon to completely obliterate any over-eager Arena Trappers.

:carvanha: :diglett: :mienfoo: :koffing: :pawniard: :golett:
Golett Carv Godsquad

This is what I would have had Door bring in the finals, another mostly safe team with Foo-Koff-Pawn, Carv + Sash Dig is one of the best offensive cores in the meta rn and Scarf Golett can be really really good (another shoutout to Ace). I've beaten Door in tests with this team before, it's fun and pretty good imo.

:mienfoo: :koffing: :ferroseed: :carvanha: :porygon: :drilbur:
Porygon Drilbur Godsquad

I sent Freezai this team and he said "looks good, I'll use it" and then he never did, so take that as you may. This team is epic though it beat Pap.

:elekid: :porygon: :mienfoo: :koffing: :grookey: :pawniard:
Shed Shelekid Godsquad

This team is funny and I considered using it, I like to completely bait trappers with Shed Shell Elekid and Defensive Porygon, rest of it is standard.

:mienfoo: :pawniard: :grookey: :koffing: :tyrunt: :axew:
Double Dragon One Trillion Dollar Godsquad

Similar story to Shed Shelekid. Dance-Spam is funny. I don't know if it's that good but I like it.

***

Enjoy the teams, which like Prometheus bringing fire to humanity, I have brought down to the LC Playerbase.

Jokes aside though, I enjoyed LCPL very much and would like to thank Freezai for drafting me and Door for continuously trusting my bullshit. Hope to enjoy more GODSQUAD DESTRUCTION #DriftingSweeps in SCL LPL.
 
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:xy/vulpix: :xy/charmander: :xy/ponyta: :xy/diglett: :xy/timburr: :xy/natu:

Just dumping Standard Sun idea since I noticed there were no (currently useable) Sun samples.

Vulpix is the setter, Charmander and Ponyta are abusers, the other three Pokemon are support for the abusers and setter. Charmander can run Ancient Power or Dragon Pulse for Ponyta or Tyrunt respectively. Ponyta is using Flame Body to help vs Fake Out and to bowl Trace Porygon right over. Defog Timburr, Standard Natu, and Eviolite Diglett are used here for Hazard Removal/Prevention and Trapping respectively. Eviolite Diglett also eats +6 Magby Mach Punch from full so that's cool too.

Nothing else much to say, it's just a standard Sun Team.

P.S: Shou Dui, dump your sun team here RIGHT NOW!!
 
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goated trick room team
:xy/inkay: :xy/porygon: :xy/spritzee: :xy/koffing: :xy/timburr: :xy/mudbray:

Inkay, spritzee and porygon are the trick room setters.

This porygon is similiar to agility porygon, get a spATK boost from download, speed control from trick room and you're ready to blow holes in the enemy team

Spritzee's nasty plot allows to function similar to a double dance sweeper, being able to OHKO a large portion of the meta after a NP

Inkay can set trick room and thanks to contrary superpower gets an atk and defense boost every time it attacks, nothing resists fighting, dark and psychic at the same time so it's sure to do a lot of damage to anything on the field or anything that decides to switch in, just gotta watch out for the 4x u-turn weakness
koffing is the physical tank of the team, I mean it's the best physical tank in LC rn, why would you not use, you could try other poisons I guess, but koffing is best.

Timburr is the best fighting type to use on trick room I've found, this one in particular is a bulk up sweeper, but it doesn't need to be, you can make it whatever you want.
Mudbray is hard hitting ground type that also functions as a physical tank, it sets stealth rock which is nice, I don't think you need stealth rock with this team but it's nice to have. Other ground types you might want to try, trapinch with arena trap. Cubone with thick club, highest attack stat in LC that isn't banded krabby or huge power banded bunnelby. Thick Club cubone has the same attack stat as banded mudbray and isn't locked into moves.

I'd say inkay, spritzee, porygon are the most important mons in the team, you can switch it up a bit to your liking. I tried inkay, spritzee, porygon, koffing + 2 other mons a lot and it seemed to work fine.

Honorable mentions: Solosis, phantump, and frillish, good setters, but just not as good as the others. Munchlax, slowest mon, good attack stat and a special tank. foongus and mareanie, the other two meta poison types. dewpider, because I ran out of mons worth mentioning. (never tried azurill because reasons).
 
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https://pokepast.es/0f31eb86326c56dd

I'm generally new to teambuilding but i tried this on the ladder and im really loving this team so I figured I might as well share this so other people could tell me what they think.
The general idea of the team is leading with Dwebble and setting up hazards and maybe knocking off a Mienfoo. The hazards make it a lot easier to win because as strong as Carvanha is it can't OHK everything and hazards help put pressure on enemy teams(plus its handy to keep Larvesta from doing to much). Grookey and Abra are there to help shore up Carvanha's weaknesses, Grookey handles water types and can help break Pawniard and Ferrothorn with drain punch, Abra handles water types and is some faster support if you need the speed more imminently. Mienfoo is a great pivot (and quite frankly this teams best pivot) this is especially important considering this team's lack of bulk. And Diglett can help clear bulkier threats like Koffing and Mareanie(since Carvanha can't OHK them) and after you're done with that you can final gambit it away for a safe switch in to Carvanha. Overall I really like this team, it hits the ground running and after the first few turns you can really overwhelm your opponent, it's biggest weakness is that it can be predict heavy so I wouldn't recommend it to new players, but if you're willing to take use it I promise it'll pay dividends
 
The thread is not locked yet? Great, I'll take advantage of what little time I have left to post some of my teams!

Carvanha + LO Natu + Foongus


The story of this team is a bit interesting. It is based off of a build around Corphish that I made due to wanting to test the fella. I used a more standard Natu, as well as Foul Play Foongus to capitalize off of Ferroseed, letting it chip down what would normally be a switchin by itself, and it being a nice way to lure Magby. The team, however, ended up quite slow and I had problems with a lot of stuff, which simply using Carvanha solved. Foul Play Foongus remained around due to letting Carvanha 2HKO Ferroseed with Crunch, but also due to chipping down Tyrunt easily. I added Thunder Wave on Pawniard and Weak Armor on Onix for futher speed control, the first blowing through Foo after a para and a Knock Off, while the second still let me have rocks, chip Carvanha's counters further, and check stuff like Ponyta. LO Natu helps to prevent Pawniard's rocks early: I generally like to lead it and just get out if it's Mienfoo on the other side, or hard Heat Wave if it's Koffing.

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Surprise HO (feat. Lokifan).


What if you
Faced a standard balance 6
But God said
1669216526257.png

(I strongly believe Loki and God are two iterations of the same being.)

This team was first built by Lokifan, then I edited my own versions out of it: first rough drafts, such as the one I used against freezai and that made the concept more known), then the final version you have here. It mainly revolves around surprise effect by slowly revealing to your opponent that they are not playing against a balance, but an HO. To do so, you first lead Mienfoo, and hard SD on an opposing unsuspecting Mienfoo's Fake Out. Your opponent might therefore think they have to play something like balance + an Inner Focus set of Mienfoo or even have a hunch about it being HO, but a boosted Mienfoo mainly equals for too late. It can very easily lure through or weaken a Grookey counter to set it up for a sweep. The rest of the team does a nice job at concealing the true nature of the team.

You can use a Rock-type move over Substitute on Mienfoo.


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Grassy Bullets.


This is a team which I used an earlier version of in LCSL a few months back, but I sadly had to face a Ponyta and had Mudbray instead of Onix for some reason. This team is mainly based around how strong Ferroseed's Bullet Seed is under Grassy Terrain, hurting the likes of Mienfoo (in tandem with Koffing) and Natu (while trying to Roost the damage off) very much. Onix and Abra felt like obvious teammates for this Grass Spam: the first checks Ponyta and Koffing pretty efficiently, while the second doesn't mind soft-checking Koffing as well, and brings some stuff that my Grass Pokémon can abuse.

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Kouamé FWG


This team was built by a friend named Kouamé, who specially created it to play in a small tournament. It originally consisted of a 6 including a SpDef Staryu over Frillish, and an Eviolite SD Grookey. I reworked this already solid team, especially for someone who never built nor played in LC before and only looked extensively at resources to do so, and here we are! I honestly default to this whenever I don't know what to play, and it is great as a team, though nothing of note can really be said, aside from Porygon also being a viable choice over Frillish.

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Oh right, I forgot about this... Because of SCL, I've been pushing back sharing more teams for far too long... I'll just pick some of my favorite teams from BLT, LCPL and SCL (and some others). Some are quite old, but might be still relevant, since they could be from before Magby rose in popularity, which would be a similar meta to now, when Magby is banned. So here's to the last of SS LC :)

BLT IX Week 5 vs bdov : Scarf Mudbray Ground Spam
:sm/diglett: :sm/natu: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/pawniard: :sm/mudbray: :sm/morelull:
https://pokepast.es/ea49241651604533

This team is quite old now, but it's been an old reliable. The team is built around Life Orb Diglett and Choice Scarf Mudbray wearing down their common switch-ins. I really like this Diglett set, with Life Orb and Rock Slide + Sludge Bomb, because it is extremely hard to switch into. It also has Substitute to ease prediction on the switches it forces, such as against Koffing. Pawniard is there to set Stealth Rock to wear down Natu for the Grounds, and Natu covers Foongus for Morelull.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1604987753-u2k9sgnw39juhg4n7w7rma3b76yii5tpw
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LCPL XI Week 4 vs Paraplegic : Life Orb Onix
:sm/diglett: :sm/onix: :sm/larvesta: :sm/sandshrew-alola: :sm/timburr: :sm/slowpoke:
https://pokepast.es/e6d3e31f0eb097cf
This team is one of the teams that I am the most proud of. I built this team with my LCPL teammates, along with wesh papillon. The team is built around Life Orb Onix, which was a really cool idea that received a lot of hate and skepticism. It is another Ground spam team with it paired with Life Orb Diglett, but unlike Scarf Mudbray, Onix doesn't have to worry about Natu switching into it. Life Orb Onix is very cool because with Substitute, it can abuse Koffing, which can't touch it, and especially Pawniard defensive cores. The rest of the team was put together to cover the defensive holes the core leaves. Larvesta is used as a slow pivot and a solid check to Grookey. Timburr and Sandshrew-Alola act as hazard control for Larvesta. Sandshrew-Alola has been, in my opinion, a very underrated Pokemon, as a Steel type that has removal, can check Abra and Porygon better than Pawniard, and can also hit Mienfoo for more damage. Slowpoke was added to have a solid switch-in to Natu, and to send in Onix safely. However, Slowpoke with Thunder Wave didn't have a good way of beating Natu since we wanted Psychic and Teleport. Therefore, we replaced Thunder Wave with Zap Cannon, which allows Slowpoke to paralyze Natu despite Magic Bounce. This way, it allows the rest of the team to outspeed Natu, while still retaining the possibility to paralyze other threats. I think the matchup I got in LCPL allowed for a great showcase of the more unusual team members.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1618744609-kldco7k06ltcg704wbxocegf6hvxhsupw
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Life Orb Trapinch Hyper-Offense
:sm/elekid: :sm/abra: :sm/natu: :sm/carvanha: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/trapinch:
https://pokepast.es/9d9d1e83c83ca125
This is one of my favorite teams. It's quite hard in SS to build classic hyper-offense teams (those that are not setup spam) aside from sun. This team was initially built for Drifting's teambuilding competition. The team is basically many offensive threats that wear down their common checks, and slow Mienfoo as a bulky pivot. Life Orb Trapinch holds the team together: it OHKOes Grassy Seed and Eviolite Grookey with First Impression, can 2HKO Carvanha with Feint through Protect, can trap Ferroseed with very little chip damage, and can also use First Impression to revenge-kill various threats after some chip damage, such as Tyrunt after a Dragon Dance. The team initially had a Choice Scarf Frillish instead of the Carvanha, but Carvanha is better since Magby got banned. It uses Special Carvanha instead of the usual physical, because it matches better into Pawniard, hits harder with Hydro Pump, and Flip Turn's pivot isn't as useful since there isn't much to pivot into and Carvanha is meant to act as a late-game sweeper rather than a constant offensive presence. The team is super fun to play with, especially for me since I love hyper-offense teams. I have used it in individual tournaments, and I gave it to some other players who used it in LPL with great success.
Replays:
LC Last Chance Round 2 vs Leru: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-659524
LPL9 Semifinals Potatochan vs dragonitenb: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-660335
LPL9 Finals Daruma vs TheKingKarp: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1715349725-vwc4flgvbgyobwsip4reqnkunqva22kpw
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LCPL XI Finals Tiebreak vs LilyAC : Frillish Status Spam
:sm/staryu: :sm/natu: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/larvesta: :sm/frillish: :sm/ferroseed:
https://pokepast.es/5410443513fa1c09
This team is built around Frillish's Hex, which can deal huge damage to statused targets. I think Frillish is extremely good, and can be used both defensively and somewhat offensively. The team has two Thunder Wave users, and Larvesta and Frillish can spread burns. Thunder Wave allows Frillish to outspeed some opposing Pokemon to threaten to KO them with Hex. Status is also good support for Calm Mind Natu, which can set up more easily and worry less about being outsped. Unfortunately, I had a very bad matchup during my tournament match, but I think the team is still very good.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1651378739-pn17g0mix9zpyyl7h3nz30femno0zpvpw d
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Corphish Offense
:sm/natu: :sm/carvanha: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/magnemite: :sm/corphish: :sm/foongus:
Magnemite version: https://pokepast.es/c85ee404cbc833c1
Porygon version: https://pokepast.es/bacaefa6276e168f
These are two versions of the same team, that I built around Corphish. The goal is to break through Ferroseed , the most common check to Corphish, with either Carvanha + Magnemite or Porygon + Diglett. I had Foul Play Foongus on one of the versions, which also helps wear down Ferroseed, but was mostly there to prevent Magby from using Belly Drum on Foongus.
Replays:
LC Fall Seasonals Round 2 vs KSG: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1670815510-cqr9s1o3g3eogc7s723ftr72wakgotqpw
FCL X Week 3 vs CMDoge: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1674985868-21xgwfplv1ldzbl1tp0o0kf5xz42pvwpw
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Knock-less Ghost Spam v2
:sm/carvanha: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/pumpkaboo-small: :sm/porygon: :sm/golett: :sm/koffing:
https://pokepast.es/b7837ca7d51d4852
This is an updated version of my previous Pumpkaboo-Golett team. This time, it has a Carvanha, and more importantly, Life Orb on Pumpkaboo-Small. Carvanha benefits from Koffing's Neutralizing Gas the same way the Ghost-types do, and together, they do an even better job of wearing down Regenerator Pokemon like Mienfoo. Carvanha can also lure in Ferroseed for Pumpkaboo-Small. Pumpkaboo-Small with a Life Orb is very cool, and almost impossible to switch into. Flame Charge + Poltergeist kills Mienfoo most of the time. Poltergeist followed by Flame Charge kills Pawniard without popping its Berry Juice, and Pumpkaboo can outspeed Pawniard and use Substitute to dodge Sucker Punch. Poltergeist can also OHKO other threats such as Berry Juice Ponyta. Bullet Seed does a lot of damage to bulky Normal-types such as Porygon and Munchlax. Stone Edge Mienfoo is the solution to Larvesta, and it has Knock Off, but usually doesn't click it until the end game, when Poltergeist isn't the most important.
Replays:
LC Fall Seasonals Round 2 vs KSG: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1670825770-4zvrvydjftg32t18k8tcyb6jbvljbykpw
LC Fall Seasonals Round 7 vs TaoTDW: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1698571923-qgm4ns9wkzad832qgbw9zlll38uym2bpw
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SCL II Week 2 vs kythr: Carvanha + Ponyta Offense
:sm/diglett: :sm/ponyta: :sm/carvanha: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/pawniard: :sm/koffing:
https://pokepast.es/a4809160204102d2
For once a pretty basic team! It's built around Carvanha and Ponyta as the offensive threats, and slow Mienfoo + Diglett to beat Mareanie. Pretty standard otherwise, but very reliable and effective.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-648078
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SCL II Week 3 vs Welli0u: Mienfoo-less Special Spam
:sm/staryu: :sm/natu: :sm/pawniard: :sm/mareanie: :sm/porygon: :sm/trapinch:
https://pokepast.es/7a8552a4c320a23c
This team is probably the team that I am the most proud of. One of the things that I dislike the most about SS LC is the lack of variety in teams. Mienfoo being almost mandatory on every balance team is kind of annoying, since it mandates Poison-types to check it and so on. This team was an experiment to build a balance team without a Fighting-type, which could make the opposing Fighting-type check almost useless. Usually, teams without Fighting-types are only screens setup spam teams. It's apparent that Fighting-types are very required to be able to switch into Pawniard. The team I built uses Mareanie as a Fighting-type check, which naturally does pretty well against Pawniard. It can also use Knock Off, which compensates for lacking Mienfoo to do so. Expending the Mienfoo team slot allows me to fit in one more special attacker, to better break their common checks. Trapinch is there to help do that, as well as trapping Pawniard if need be. Mareanie can also sometimes help lure in Ferroseed to knock it. Life Orb Staryu and Agility Porygon are the main offensive threats. This team had a great matchup in my SCL match, and despite the match being kinda scuffed, I won in the end.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-649852
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SCL II Week 5 vs ninjadog: Choice Scarf Mienfoo Balance
:sm/diglett: :sm/natu: :sm/grookey: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/mareanie: :sm/ferroseed:
https://pokepast.es/ed81c553f69a94b0
This team has roughly the same idea as the previous one. It uses Choice Scarf Mienfoo to be a check to Tyrunt and Magby, while doubling as a great offensive threat with Grookey to wear down their common checks. Choice Scarf Mienfoo can also be a very good surprise weapon, since the team structure doesn't suggest it at all. The team also uses a Mareanie defensive core to compensate for Mienfoo not being able to switch into Pawniard. In my SCL game, it was unfortunate that Choice Scarf Mienfoo got countered by a Wynaut of all things, but I think that it's still a very cool and solid team.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-653691
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FCL X Round 6 vs Elfuseon: Carvanha + Life Orb Trapinch Offense
:sm/natu: :sm/carvanha: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/pawniard: :sm/koffing: :sm/trapinch:
https://pokepast.es/65d625297926e12f
Another Life Orb Trapinch team, this time on a more balanced team. The goal is to clear Ferroseed and Grookey with Trapinch so that Carvanha can sweep. Carvanha's Flip Turn into Trapinch removes Ferroseed. The Natu plays a purely defensive role. It has Thunder Wave to cripple Tyrunt (and Magby before) and other threats, has more defenses to switch into Poison-types and Ferroseed better, and has Teleport to give Trapinch a free switch into Ferroseed without allowing it to set hazards or hit the Trapinch.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1693107107-3qej36tc4l5a0bpsypbfoxctmlj5v1mpw
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Choice Scarf Karrablast + Sandshrew-Alola
:sm/diglett: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/karrablast: :sm/frillish: :sm/sandshrew-alola: :sm/koffing:
https://pokepast.es/6623ee96932c51ad
I used this team to get reqs for the Magby suspect test. The idea behind Karrablast is that with a Choice Scarf, it outspeeds both Tyrunt and Magby, and can revenge-kill them both with Drill Run after a Dragon Dance or a Belly Drum respectively. It also resists Magby's Mach Punch, which is why it is so effective against Magby. Sandshrew-Alola is used as the Steel-type because Frillish covers Natu, and hazard removal, while not essential for the team, is very useful for Karrablast's longevity. This team never really left the ladder, but it performed very well during the suspect test, and was a proof of concept for the next team.
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SCL II Week 9 vs august: Karrablast "Fightspam" + Metronome Munchlax
:sm/natu: :sm/grookey: :sm/mienfoo: :sm/karrablast: :sm/koffing: :sm/munchlax:
https://pokepast.es/3ee77aeca29c036c
While being a great check to Magby and Tyrunt, Karrablast also has a very strong Megahorn. This can be very cool with a Fightspam core of Mienfoo + Grookey, since the Pokemon that resist Bug are mostly Poison-types and Fighting-types. Both Steel-types in Pawniard and Ferroseed don't resist Bug. Therefore, Karrablast can also be used to help wear down Poison-types and Fighting-types, and potentially sweep with Megahorn once they are weakened. Koffing is here to deny Regenerator, Grookey + Mienfoo help wear down Poison-types, and Diglett traps Mareanie and Fire-types like Larvesta and Ponyta. The Munchlax is glue against special attackers, and obviously doesn't have to be Metronome, but it was cool in an SCL context. The set's concept is to fish for Body Slam paralysis, and then use Substitute to wait for paralysis. Then, Metronome is theoretically coverage for everything, including Pawniard, Ferroseed and Frillish. So yeah. Karrablast got a great showing in the SCL game below, and it was very cool.
Replay: https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lc-659778

There... Those are the main teams I wanted to share. There isn't much of SS LC left, with only the circuit before it becomes an oldgen for good. It wasn't the best generation in terms of meta, but because it's LC, it was fun nevertheless, and it was super fun to build and to try to innovate in the static (and sometimes quite unpleasant) meta. This is kind of my swan song for SS LC. Despite everything, it was the meta in which I reached my peak on Showdown, in which I met so many new friends, and I will definitely miss it. Thanks for all the good times and memories, bye-bye :)
:blobwizard:
 
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Here's a few teams I made

Dark Spam + Trapinch
:xy/carvanha: :xy/pawniard: :xy/trapinch: :xy/koffing: :xy/natu: :xy/mienfoo:

The main idea is to overwhelm traditional Dark Type checks such as Mienfoo and Timburr with constant pressure from Carvanha and Pawniard. Stone Edge Foo is used because of a troublesome Larvesta matchup, and has helped vs ladder. They're backed up by the usual suspects: Ferroseed, Koffing, and Natu.

Scarf Mudbray + LO Abra Bulky Offense
:xy/mienfoo: :xy/ferroseed: :xy/mudbray: :xy/abra: :xy/koffing: :xy/frillish:

Mudbray + Abra work well as they attack shared checks such as Ferroseed and can attack things the other cannot hit. Frill + Ferro + Koffing and Foo finishes off the team to provide defensive synergy and help for Mudbray and Abra.

Tyrunt Balance
:xy/mienfoo: :xy/tyrunt: :xy/mareanie: :xy/ferroseed::xy/natu: :xy/diglett:

A standard balance that uses Memento Eviolite Diglett and Dragon Dance Tyrunt as lategame wincons. It's a case of wearing down the enemy for one of your Pokemon to win. The other Pokemon help the cause, with Knock Off, Spikes and Longevity to ultimately help Tyrunt win in the end.

Double Life Orb FightSpam
:ss/farfetch :xy/mienfoo: :xy/ferroseed: :sm/mareanie: :xy/diglett: :xy/porygon:

Life Orb Galarian Farfetch'd is an incredibly strong wallbreaker that pairs well with teammates that take advantage of walls that it can break down. (See: Scarf Mienfoo) Life Orb Diglett can also help with any other mons that can be annoying with the right play. Teleport Porygon lets the wallbreakers in easily to wreak havoc.

PrioritySpam Spike Stack Offense
:xy/dwebble: :xy/corphish: :ss/grookey: :xy/timburr: :xy/stunky: :xy/ponyta:

I wanted to build Corphish spikes. So, I went all in with priority, with 4/5ths of the attacking crew containing priority. This allows me to do well things such as Tyrunt, and other speed-boosting threats. Thunder Punch Timburr is used to hit Mareanie while also doing well into Staryu and Natu as a neutral coverage attack.

That is all.
 
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