Introduction
Hey guys, first time posting a proper thread here so do bare with me (didn't know about all the rules last time). Totally new to LC so did some studying up on the meta and saw how prevalent Regenerator was as well as how set up sweep was a lot rarer due to super hard hitters. So my plan was to try to use Scraggy to take advantage of it's Moxie boost to act as a free set up turn, which is aided by Dragon Dance to outspeed stuff. Which lead to the question of how the situation would be created to get the ball rolling. This came in the form of Memento Cottonnee. The team has been tested with some help from Subjection from Showdown, and now I just want to iron out the creases since it obviously has some flaws as well as flaws which could get greater,higher up in the ladder.
Teambuilding Process
The Team
Scraggy @ Eviolite
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 132 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Dual Chop
- Dragon Dance
Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Memento
- Stun Spore
- Dazzling Gleam
- Giga Drain
Gastly @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sucker Punch
Wingull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 36 Def / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Defog
- U-turn
Onix @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
Grimer-Alola @ Berry Juice
Ability: Poison Touch
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
Conclusion
For the conclusion I'll point out the notes,flaws and additional little info that I gathered from this team. First and foremost, the big note that needs to be made is with regard to the EVs. I understand that they may need tweaking since the EVs were applied to each pokemon based off of sets found on the forums. So as a whole they may not be perfect for this team or for this current meta so am open to tweaking those. The only thing I did tweak with regard to stats was changing Scraggy from Adamant to Jolly since to outspeed Abra at +1.
In terms of how well the team functioned, I went 20-8 (20 wins, 8 losses). These stats were over the whole course of testing the team out,rather than just the final product. The break down of the wins were pretty even where there were 12 Scraggy sweeps and the remaining 8 were kinda between Scraggy and the rest of the team. I shall post some replays below.
Sweeps -
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7lc-764961025
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7lc-764964231
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7lc-764969743
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7lc-764966577
Not Sweep -
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7lc-764968941
As for the flaws and issues that I identified -
1) Meinfoo Meinfoo Meinfoo. The issue around is it that regen allows it come in at close to full, so it's not exactly chipped. Rather it needs to be *chunked* by something early on so that regen is accounted for for once the sweep begins. If it is not properly weakened then it beats a Scraggy even after it has dragon danced. Timburr on the other hand, seems to not be as big of a deal.
2) There could be an argument made to run Zen Headbutt over knock off which is why I'm putting his here. A few of the loses came about when I was running Zen headbutt and came across a random Honedge which stopped my sweep even after I had got a dragon dance up and zen never flinched it. Similarly with Mantyke, without sufficient moxie boosts it doesn't die to zen and drain punch is resisted. So it took the hit, didn't flinch and then burned with scald. True, most of this can be attributed to my bad luck too but it is something worth mentioning. Pontyas and their flame body burns are another thing but I don't think that can really be dealt with other than by trying to kill it earlier.
3) However, what I do see as really big problem is dealing with steel types. The reason being Scraggy is held in the back till the late game. So I need to deal with steel types like Magnemite, Ferroseed, Honedge,Pawniard with just Onix. This is a problem since Onix also functions as a lead and my only rocker. On top of that he's super frail on the special side and weak armor means he's not taking too many hits on the physical either. This could be worked around by bringing in Scraggy earlier and getting off some drain punches. However, this solution doesn't work when there is a steel type+Meinfoo. Reason being I'm forced to bring out Scraggy early. This gives the opponent the chance to switch into Meinfoo who doesn't care about neutral drain punch damage since regenerator heals it off. On the other hand Scraggy definitely cares since I'm forced to switch or die to high jump kick. If I switch then there's the question of what the opponent does and then it comes down to luck since it has something for everyone on my team. High Jump kick takes out onix, knock off takes out Gastly, u-turn gives the opponent full momentum while chunking both Cottonee and Grimer. So the only switch in is Wingull but most games are going to have rocks up which mean it just dies too and if there aren't rocks up, well then that becomes the rare time when I can click u-turn.
So that's the end of that, looking forward to hearing some advice and opinions on how the team can be bettered. I also haven't gotten into the middle of the ladder or anything so also keen to heard how or what should be changed up when I get to like 1400+.
Scraggy @ Eviolite
Ability: Moxie
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 132 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Dual Chop
- Dragon Dance
Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Memento
- Stun Spore
- Dazzling Gleam
- Giga Drain
Gastly @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sucker Punch
Wingull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Keen Eye
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Defog
- U-turn
Onix @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
Grimer-Alola @ Berry Juice
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
Ability: Moxie
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 132 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Dual Chop
- Dragon Dance
Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Memento
- Stun Spore
- Dazzling Gleam
- Giga Drain
Gastly @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 200 SpA / 80 SpD / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Sucker Punch
Wingull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Keen Eye
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hurricane
- Defog
- U-turn
Onix @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Explosion
- Stealth Rock
Grimer-Alola @ Berry Juice
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Gunk Shot
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak