ORAS LC Brat Pack (Double Sturdy-Smash) -- Peaked #4

[Christoph]

Hey folks! I'm here with a LC team that I've had a surprising amount of success with. Fitting the its name, the Brat Pack was originally an attempt to make an especially annoying team -- the fact that it performed well competitively was a nice bonus. While testing and climbing the ladder, I made some adjustments, replacing some (but not all) of the purely "annoying" aspects to make it stronger overall. I'm not an especially skilled player, so the fact I made it as high as I did speaks volumes for this team. Maybe some players better than me can have even more fun with the Brat Pack.


Overview

What began as a Regenerator core with Mienfoo and Foongus quickly spiraled out of control when I asked myself, "how can I make this even more annoying?" I figured Sturdy-Juice-Smash pokemon could be frustrating to deal with, so why not include two?

The Pack

Mienfoo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

The Frank Sinatra of the team, Mienfoo has flown more than a few opponents to the moon. He's my go-to lead for most games. I started out with a Life Orb build, but found it lacking. Namely, it lost to Aipom and got completely shut down by Abra and Gastly. This set is standard all the way. I originally ran Drain Punch in addition to HJK for more accuracy, but Stone Edge gives Scarfoo better coverage. It's especially helpful against Larvesta, since it isn't a contact move, and every once in a while on a predicted Fletchling switch. As always, it's crucial to keep him alive as he is deadly revenge killer and late-game cleaner. Beware of Fletchling, Cottonee, Spritzee, Croagunk, Foongus, and Spritzee, as they can all switch into Mienfoo and force it out. Not that you want to keep him on the field long most of the time, anyway.

Foongus @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 124 HP / 160 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Foongus forms a nice Regenerator core with Mienfoo. I originally ran a dual-powder set, but rarely used Stun Spore -- most opponents would already be switching in a Vullaby or Grass type. HP Fire replaced it, allowing Foongus to handle opposing Foongus, Ferroseed, and Pawniard. It also provides a solid switch-in against fairy types and fighting types, though be careful of knock-off and ice punch, the former of which is annoying and the latter of which feels pretty rare but can hurt a lot. Regenerator gives him great survivability, which is crucial because the ability to Spore late-game threats has saved me multiple times. Beware of strong fire types that can OHKO him, as well as flying types. Vullaby especially, as you can't even Spore on a predicted switch. Ferroseed and Pawniard used to be annoying before HP Fire.

Dwebble @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Substitute

What's more annoying than a Regenerator core? Why, a boosting sweeper that you need to kill three times. Dwebble has fewer switch-in opportunities than its partner (see below), but clears through sash and sturdy pokemon with relative ease. Send Dwebble out after a faint or against a pokemon that doesn't resist its attacks, can't break through Sturdy, and doesn't have a combination of Knock-off and Vacuum Wave/Mach Punch (which narrows the field a lot, I know), Shell Smash, and go to town. Substitute does two main things. It blocks status moves and, if your sturdy is broken and you can't reliably OHKO the target, it can be used to activate Berry Juice. It's usually not worth using Sub on a predicted switch turn, since it'll almost always be more worthwhile to Shell Smash or attack. Dwebble usually, but not always, comes out later in the game than Tirtuoga.

Beware of entry hazards, as they can cripple Dwebble to the point where he can only come in safely after a KO against a slower opponent (at which point, use Sub twice to activate berry juice). Timburr can be trouble as well, especially if you've already used up Berry Juice. His main challenge is setting up safely, but once you do there aren't many (any?) hard counters.

Tirtouga @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 212 Atk / 92 Def / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Zen Headbutt

What's more annoying than a Sturdy-Juice-Smasher? Two of them! Most good teams have ways of dealing with a sturdy-juice-smash pokemon, but few can reliably deal with two -- their checks/counters are usually KO'd or severely weakened after shutting down the first.

As Sturdy-Juice-Smasher number two, Tirtuoga plays differently than his partner. First, he can switch in against Fletchling and set up, especially if you don't have to worry about priority fighting attacks (these can finish off a slightly damaged Tirt with a good damage roll). For moves, Waterfall and Stone Edge provide the standard STAB offense. I opted for Zen Headbutt over Aqua Jet because the ability to hit Timburr and Foongus hard was more valuable than priority.

Beware of entry hazards, priority fighting attacks (especially Vacuum wave), status ailments, and bulky grass types (some can still be KO'd or severely hurt by Stone Edge or Zen Headbutt). Chinchou can be OHKO'd by Stone Edge, but Scarf'd Chinchou ties for speed and can OHKO with Volt Switch. Any speed 17 or higher Scarf users will outspeed boosted Tirt. Scarf Mold-Breaker Drilbur is especially problematic.

Diglett @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock

What's more annoying than trapping? Diglett is an excellent revenge killer and takes out a few of the main threats to my team that way -- especially Croagunk, Sash Abra (with the help of suckerpunch), Pawniard, Chinchou, and others. Taking out hazard setters is also valuable. He can also switch into any non-scarf, priority-lacking pokemon that he can OHKO, though this isn't typically ideal. Beware of entry hazards, as they break his sash and make him far less potent. Also, avoid Timburr unless he's weak enough to finish off in one hit. His moves allow him to 1v1 a wide variety of pokemon, and Stealth Rocks is a nice way to go out after a job well done. I've thought about using a different fourth move, so please post any suggestions.

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 116 HP / 76 Atk / 236 Def / 76 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- Defog

Vullaby is my compromise to decent, non-annoying team building. She's unlikely to drive my opponents insane, but she patches up some of the Brat Pack's holes. First and most importantly, entry hazards hurt my team fiercely, crippling half of my pokemon. Thus, defogging is a must -- if you allow Vullaby to get KO'd while hazards remain on the field, your chances of winning will drop dramatically. Beyond Defog, Vullaby also covers Mienfoo's psychic weakness (just be careful for Dazzling Gleam) and counters Foongus. It's usually okay to sacrifice her to remove hazards if you're not worried about future hazards. Beware of Pawniard, as he likes to get a stat boost from Defog. Also make sure that you send her out against a pokemon that can't OHKO after Stealth Rocks damage.

Threatlist

Abra:
He isn't impossible to deal with, but I usually have to either make good predictions or revenge kill it. Dwebble can do in a pinch if there aren't entry hazards.

Timburr:
If he gets a free turn to bulk-up, I will have a very difficult time dealing with it. Foongus can help if he's still alive.

Scarf Drilbur:

He outspeeds boosted Tirt and ignores sturdy.

Croagunk:
Him on a team with Fletchling causes some havoc, making it difficult for me to set up my sweepers. He's one of my main targets for Diglett.

In general, very physically bulky pokemon can give me a hard time, as I lack a good special attacker. On the flip side, teams abnormally heavy in special attackers can cause some pain, though if I keep hazards at bay I never get swept by them.

Conclusion:

Overall, this team was a blast to play. It will clear through the lower ladder with ease and provide some tactically demanding matches at high ladder. It is competitively viable, for sure. Two sturdy pokemon and one focus sash make it nearly impervious to most sweeps, and the two Sturdy-Juice-Smashers can turn a slow loss into a fast win, capitalizing on any mistake. Overall, this team sits at 52 wins, 10 losses. Of those losses, four resulted from specific play blunders I made, three from bad luck against skilled opponents, and the last three from actual team disadvantages.

Exportable

Mienfoo (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- U-turn

Foongus (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 124 HP / 160 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Spore
- Giga Drain
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 76 Atk / 236 Def / 76 SpD
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- Defog

Dwebble (M) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
- Substitute

Tirtouga (F) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Atk / 92 Def / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Stone Edge
- Zen Headbutt

Diglett @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock

Ladder Proof

​

 

[sam-testings]

Hey there, nice rmt =)

A couple of suggestions. Substitute is pretty useless most of the time, and Dwebble really wants reliable STAB. Replacing it with X-Scissor would make Dwebble sweep more consistently. Another possible replacement could be Aerial Ace over Earthquake. You already have Diglett trapping things and killing them off with earthquake, and Aerial Ace lets you pick off Fighting types that would otherwise stop a Dwebble sweep easily.

One major change that I would do would be to change one of the smashers to either Shellder or Omanyte. Dwebble and Tirtouga are considered to be worse than these two for many reasons, mostly because they are much easier to stop than the other two. I would personally replace Dwebble because it is not all that good in the current meta, being easily stopped by most fightings and a lot of fat mons such as Spritzee, Porygon, and Pumpkaboo. Shellder and Omanyte are both really strong and hard to stop once they get going, and are by far better than Dwebble. Also, Icicle spear doesn't miss =)

Another change that could be made would be replacing scarf foo with your a bulky slow foo. This way you could pivot out to Diglett easier and also pivot out to your smashers to set up. This also allows you to check Pawniard much easier, which your team is somewhat weak to. #Slowfoomasterrace

One final change that is up to you would be replacing Stealth rock on Diglett to Memento. This would allow easier set up opportunities with your two smashers and lead to an easier game. Of course Stealth Rock also weakens mons too and breaks sashes, but as I said this choice is up to you.

Overall, a pretty good team. Hope you stick around =)

 

[noobism]

Hey Christoph, I really like the concept of this RMT and think you've done a great job with it.

This is overall a pretty great team but if I were to leave any suggestion it would be to replace one of your shell smash mons. One is enough and I feel it would make your Vullaby's job much less troublesome as you wouldn't constantly have the need to get rocks off the field just for the sake of double sturdy smash.

If I were to suggest a replacement for either of your smashers it would be Shellder, as it has priority in ice shard and a good multi-hit ice type attack that hits very hard with skill link that could prove useful to your team. If you want to couple this with Tirtouga you would have two shell smash mons with priority to help out against a previously mentioned threat in Drilbur, and when coupled with Dwebble it gives you priority that your team would otherwise lack without it.

That being said, very solid RMT with a great concept, hope to see another one of your teams soon :)

 

[Lepros]

Hello cristoph, fun RMT you got there! I don't notice any galring weaknesses , ut i have some suggestions to makethe taem even more solid!

First of all the team you showcase us have a lot of problems with entry haards. Keeping 3 sturdies up (the one is the sash obv) and vullaby not beeing the most relable remover , cause he gets 25 % dmg from rocks , may give you a hard time.
Therefore I suggest replacing Drilbur/Archen >Vullaby .Drilbur provides stealth rock and rapid spin support and can deal with Magnemites that give you really a hard a time , with your scarf foo (where the only choice it to knock off ) and with your two shells smashers, which if they lost even 1% of their health they cant beat it. Using drilbur also gives you a free Memento slot on Diglett, which you SSs really appreciate. Archen on the other side is a fast defogger with BJ recovery , and one of the most solid fletchling check in the game. I think drilburr fits better on your team though.

Drilbur Set

Drilbur @ Berry Juice
Level: 5
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 36 HP / 76 Atk / 36 Def / 76 SpD / 212 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

Archen set

Archen @ Berry Juice
Level: 5
Ability: Defeatist
EVs: 76 HP / 20 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake/knock off

I think knock off is more prefered for your team.

 

[Christoph]

Hey everyone, thanks for the feedback! For Brat Pack 2.0, I made the following changes:

-Memento instead of Stealth Rock on Diglett. This saved my butt a couple times, even when it didn't allow me to set up a sweeper -- during a LC Room Tour battle, it weakened a sun sweeping bellsprout enough for me to survive the sun and turn the game around.

-Omanyte in place of Tirtuoga. I considered both of my shell smashers, and decided I didn't want to double up on Water-Rock. I also wanted Dwebble as my sweeper who can take on Slowpoke and other slow T-wave/status move users, and also he is able to break sturdy and sash with Rock Blast. I opted for Omanyte over Shellder so that I'd still have a solid check for Fletchling. Also, I wanted to have a special sweeper rather than two physicals. All in all, he's a good choice that doesn't change the nature of the team at all. He appreciates Memento support much more, and can outspeed most scarf users, unlike Tirt. I opted for a Shell Smash, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, and HP Grass set. With eviolite, he's surprisingly survivable and packs a nasty punch.

-Drilbur instead of Vullaby. This change will require more testing, but it's been effective so far. My main concern is losing a solid Foongus counter, but so far I can play around opposing Foongus with mine. We'll see how it holds up. I enjoy having another sturdy-breaker, and indeed checking Magnemite is useful.


The following things I've opted to keep the same:

-Dwebble with Sub. Rock Blast allows me to blast through Substitutes, sashes, etc. Running sub itself lets him beat Foongus, T-wave Slowpoke, and other slower status abusers. I haven't tested Acrobatics yet, but I will try it out to see how it works, since now I'll have two other EQ users.

-Scarfoo. Bulky Foo is good, but I've found that Scarfoo is much harder to deal with, as even its usual checks and counters (save Fletchling) can really just minimize the damage, rather than forcing it out entirely.


So far, the updated team is performing well on ladder, and won a LC Room Tour. More testing will be needed before I update the original post, but I think we've got a great team.

 

[Fiend]

I've been putting off rating this as, unfortunately, it's really hard to rate. You state your intent has been to annoy, which often makes a team non-optimal as 'annoying' generally removes synergy from the team. The point of rating a team is to help it achieve its goal, despite the goal potentially being flawed. Because of this, the team is awkward to add to without trying to make it less "annoying".

I'll address the rates above; you all leave him without a real switchin for Pawniard; with just SR up, Scarf Pawn will sweep. There are other issues, such as Download Porygon and Scarf Drilbur and Hidden Power Grass Fletchling. The team is also dual Ground, which is generally subpar without a great way to deal with Smashers.

I feel that generally speaking, these rates and how they were implemented just shifted around weaknesses. But the way this team is structured you legitimately cannot help this or even largely minimise this as you can normally.

Dwebble is honestly not a great sweeper. Don't make yourself believe that. Furthermore, Slowpokes should almost always Scald Dwebble unless they lack priority in which case T wave is probaby the play. Dwebble's X-scissor always OHKOs Slowpoke and OHKOes Foongus 75% of the time (both with Stealth Rock up) meaning that Substitute only actually helps it handle Pawniard and Houndour. You should probably run X-scissor if you decide to have a Pawn counter.

Dual Ground kinda really sucks for the team; I do not think Drilbur is truly helpful. I do think you should use Eviolite Diglett in order to trap Magnemite. It's mostly the same as Sash Dig, yet more reliable versus Magnemite.

I would not use Drilbur; Staryu fits the team better, as it handles ground types, Scald burns a lot, and has the ability to revenge kill a number of issue mons.

 

[Christoph]

The initial goal when first making the team was to annoy, but the team evolved out of that phase. At this point, since I've seen great potential in it, refining it to become even more competitively viable is the goal. I'll have the full updated team roster up soon.