ORAS LC Into Battle! Take the Field! (LC Balance)

[Iron Caliber]

EI EI OU (but it's actually LC)

Hey, everybody! I'm Iron Caliber, and this is my first RMT! Little Cup is my favorite metagame on Smogon, and I'm proud to present this team that has done so well for me on the ladder. As of right now I'm at 1557 ELO, which isn't pro by anyone's standards, but it's the highest I've personally ever gotten with one team, so, cheers to that.

Anyways, on to the actual RMT.

TEAMBUILDING PROCESS

I really wanted to make a team around Corphish, as it's an amazing late-game cleaner.

Corphish really benefits from hazard stacking, because it makes it much easier for the little lobster to clean house. I tried support Archen first, but ended up going with Dwebble instead.

Since hazards are important for Corphish to efficiently end games, I needed a way to protect them. Dwebble is mostly threatened by Rapid Spinners, so Pumpkaboo-Super was perfect, since it walls all of them.

I needed a check to Pawniard, which up until now completely wrecked this team.

Now I desperately needed a check to Fletchling. Scarf Magnemite works great for that, since it checks Fletchling and makes a VoltTurn core with Mienfoo.

Finally, as an extra check to Fighting-types and Knock Off, I threw Spritzee in as a defensive Wish supporter.

IN-DEPTH

MISTER KNUCKLEMAN!​

KURUMI (Corphish) @ Eviolite
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 76 Def / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Corphish is a late-game cleaner, and can potentially sweep mid-game as well by setting up Swords Dance. Generally, you want to save Corphish as your win condition, unless you have the opportunity to revenge kill anything with its massive Adaptability Aqua Jet. Notable targets include: Abra, Gastly, Archen, Diglett, Drilbur, and more! Even without Speed boosts, Corphish can still take on Pawniard and Fletchling; its bulk lets it survive unboosted Acrobatics / Sucker Punches, and +2 Aqua Jet KOs Fletchling after rocks, and 2HKOs Pawniard regardless of hazards. Since it's slow, you want to give it wiggle room to set up; luckily we have a VoltTurn core to accomplish this task. Knock Off is extra utility and can help with stallbreaking, and Superpower is there for coverage, since unboosted Aqua Jet doesn't OHKO Pawniard.

NEVER GIVE UP!
DONGURI (Dwebble) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

Dwebble is a reliable hazard setter. Generally I use it to lead, but it struggles turn 1 against Pawniard and Mienfoo. Against other hazard stackers like Ferroseed and Surskit, though, it does great. Just watch out for Onix's Taunt. Thanks to SturdyJuice, you're guaranteed at least two turns to set up; Stealth Rock is important, but knocking off items is important, too, especially against other SturdyJuicers. Spikes is used for hazard overkill (which works really well for Corphish), and Rock Blast is a good STAB to get past other Sturdy users and Subsitutes. Using it is pretty self-explanatory: get in, throw some sharp stuff around, and get out. It's helpful to try to save Dwebble for a sac play or status absorbing play later in the game, too.

STRIKE IN THE SHADOW!
MATSUBOKKURI (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp

Pumpkaboo-Super is easily my favorite Pokemon out of this team. Spinblocking is cool, as it walls both Drilbur and Staryu, but spreading burns on lured-in Pawniards and Fletchlings is cool too. Not to mention it checks the hell out of Water-type sweepers, barring Shellder if it already has a boost. Synthesis can stall for days (8 days, to be exact), even against Foongus's Sludge Bomb after you get poisoned by it. Even bulky Waters like Chinchou and defensive Tirtouga don't stand a chance. Bullet Seed completely wrecks anything weak to it and can do decent neutral damage, too. It even has priority for more Abra hate. It's a generally useful special wall, spinblocking aside, and can help mitigate damage from threats like Porygon, Spritzee, and Magnemite, as well.

INTO BATTLE! TAKE THE FIELD!
KACHIDOKI (Mienfoo) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 40 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off

Good old Mienfoo, right? Everyone can appreciate a Foo on their team, since it's just so versatile and downright good. This build specifically is bulky Acrobatics, since it allows Mienfoo to be a dedicated Knock Off absorber throughout the game. It can also smack Timburr and opposing Mienfoo pretty hard. It also serves as a quick and easy answer to Larvesta if you've been Knocked Off already and don't want to risk multiple burn chances. Acrobatics is also a great way to answer Croagunk and Foongus, which generally wall Mienfoo pretty hard. I use Mienfoo pretty much just to gain momentum and force out Pawniard, but it can do work in a wide array of situations. Having reliable recovery in Drain Punch and Regenerator just makes it stay around, too, which can be important in long games. U-Turn is a must for such a Pokemon, and Knock Off just lets it cripple all sorts of switch-ins while screwing over Ghost-types.

DRAGON, FIRE! HA HA HA!
BUDOU (Magnemite) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 32 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Scarf Magnemite can be both a great offensive pivot and a wallbreaker at the same time. I chose Analytic specifically because I use Magnemite for momentum a lot, and generally force Pokemon like Abra (yet again), Spritzee, Fletchling, and Archen out; Analytic helps punish those switches by adding extra damage to whatever I end up Volt Switching (don't use it blindly into Chinchou, though, you'll hate yourself). Be sure to remember, though, that you don't have Sturdy; you can't just send Magnemite in to take a hit and consume a Juice to get back to full health. That's partially what the defensive Pokemon on this team are for, so you don't have to use Magnemite defensively unless you absolutely have to (non-Overheat Fletchling, other Magnemites). If you have one layer of Spikes out (and you should, since you have Pumpkaboo), Diglett isn't even a problem because you outspeed and KO with Flash Cannon, and Sucker Punch can't KO you. Good times.

SWOOSHING SPARK!
ICHIGO (Spritzee) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind

Spritzee provides a valuable cleric role for this team as well as a second offensive threat with Calm Mind. Setting up is relatively easy thanks to Spritzee's amazing bulk; just make sure you watch out for Pawniard. Wish isn't immediate and reliable like Synthesis, but being able to pass it to teammates can be very useful for getting them in without taking too much damage. It also threatens a lot of Pokemon with a strong STAB Moonblast, and can take quite a few hits. The chance for a Special Attack drop can easily force out other special attackers like Abra (here we go again), Chinchou, and Porygon. Protect can scout out choiced Pokemon as well as stall with Wish. Spritzee just defensively rounds the team out, giving us key resistances to Fighting, Dark, and Bug shared between multiple members.

THREAT LIST

Pawniard: Despite all the checks to this Pokemon I have, it still wrecks me. If it gets up a Swords Dance I can't really do much of anything against it unless Mienfoo hasn't been Knocked Off yet. It also hard-checks Dwebble, which is important to the team. If Dwebble can't set up properly, it sucks, a lot.

Drifloon: I made this team before all the SPL matches happened and Drifloon got super hyped, so I had no idea how powerful its WispRecycle set was. Basically, my only out to this thing is Magnemite, and it has to get in before Unburden happens.

Belly Drum users: Each of these Pokemon pose different threats to the team. If Magnemite is gone and Zigzagoon sets up, I lose, period, since ExtremeSpeed beats out Shadow Sneak and Aqua Jet. If I don't have Corphish, Magby is even worse because it has enough coverage to KO my entire team after a Belly Drum.

[Maybe more later as I come up with them]
RANDOM THOUGHTS

Sticky Web: This is more kind of like an honorable mention rather than a threat, but playing around Sticky Web is actually easier when running Swords Dance on Corphish over Dragon Dance. Sticky Web teams usually don't carry many checks to Spritzee outside of Pawniard, too, so being able to set up Calm Minds and fire giant Moonblasts is A-okay. Surskit also loses 1v1 against Dwebble due to Sturdy and Rock Blast breaking through Focus Sash.

[Possibly more here in the future]
SHOUT-OUTS
I'm really inactive and don't really know anyone here too well, but if I could list everyone's names I'd shout out to the entire LC community for being awesome and supportive to new players.

Also, shout out to 55555ish on PS. He doesn't have an account on the forums, but he's a great roommate, a great friend, and loves Kamen Rider as much as I do. He's currently in the hospital and is having his second lung surgery. He doesn't play LC, but he'd love this RMT.

Also, shout-out to everyone who reads this! Thanks again!

IMPORTABLE

KACHIDOKI (Mienfoo) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 40 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
- Knock Off

BUDOU (Magnemite) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Analytic
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 32 SpD / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ground]

KURUMI (Corphish) @ Eviolite
Ability: Adaptability
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 76 Def / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

DONGURI (Dwebble) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Rock Blast
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes

MATSUBOKKURI (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 32 Spe
Careful Nature
- Bullet Seed
- Synthesis
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp

ICHIGO (Spritzee) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Protect
- Calm Mind

CHANGES

Swapped Dragon Dance on Corphish for Swords Dance. Haven't seen any direct benefits yet, but I guess I just haven't played many games tonight. Thanks ThatCrazyRussian for the suggestion.

Calm Mind on Spritzee actually helps a whole lot, thanks ThatCrazyRussian for the suggestion. It's really easy to get free turns with Spritzee's bulk.

I had way too much fun with those in-depth pictures and this took way longer than I thought it would, whoops.
EDIT: I can't believe this made it onto the RMT of the week ballot. Thank you guys so much!

 

[tcr]

what up dude, this team looks pretty cool, and I'm happy to see you getting more involved with LC!
Your team seems cool but also a bit weird. For one you are running defensive mons on a team with a dwebble, which is normally run on hyper offensive teams that really need to get rocks and a layer of spikes up. However you also don't run any sort of Defog deterrent, which kinda means that Vullaby should in theory run over you, especially since it can easily defog on Mienfoo or Pumpkaboo.

First off, I'm going to recommend running Swords Dance on Corphish and Calm Mind on Spritzee. You don't really have issues with status when you can set up hazards with dwebble and then use it as bait for any sort of sleep or paralysis or whatever. You might have issues with Thunder Wave at times but all in all you don't really NEED aroma, I doubt you use it too often. Swords Dance on Corphish lets it be an immediate sweeper and grants it more power at the cost of speed. This lets it break through things like Ferroseed or Foongus so Spritzee can easily clean up. Spritzee with Calm Mind is still a devastating force in the metagame imo, being able to beat out things like DrifDig easily.

Switching Pawniard in for Magnemite should help you a bit with your weakness to things like SD Pawniard, while giving you a good revenge killer that doesn't need to use Aqua Jet. Pawniard still stops all the things that Magnemite did while also being a great derrent to Defog. If you really have issues with Zigzagoon, you could try running Pumpkaboo Small with enough EVs to outspeed Zig. You don't really want to rely too much on a big defensive backbone (not like Spritz+Pump is strong anyway) and Pump Small should give you more attaacking power. A few fiddling around with numbers should give you enough of a defensive spread for you, although it won't be quite as sturdy as Pump extra large is. Its up to you if you want to run it tho, it technically is inferior if you're focusing solely on a defensive set, but it also helps with zig a bit (which personally, I don't think zig nor magby are enough of a threat to warrant an actual dedicated answer to on every team, its just something you're going to have to live with. No team will be able to check every mon without completely rebuilding an entirely new team that will just end up opening holes for people to exploit anyway).

Anyways, I hope my suggestions might have helped you in some way, at the least think about what you might want to do with this team, and I wish you the best of luck in your battles!

 

[Iron Caliber]

I made those changes, but kept the Adamant nature on Corphish for the extra power. Speed doesn't really matter all that much when you're using priority anyways. I'm almost tempted to put EVs from Speed into Defense or Special Defense. Would that be better?

 

[CobalionCouncil]

Yo Iron Caliber,

I was looking at your team and I must say, it's looking pretty dang nice. But I noticed something:
- Mienfoo is a good mon in LC, but I feel like the set isn't the best. I would go Stone Edge/Fake Out/Poison Jab/High Jump Kick > Acrobatics, because it really seems to be better than Acrobatics. High Jump Kick actually does more to a Timburr than non-boosted Acrobatics would. The fact that you have a Knock Off switch-in is cool, but you never know, maybe HJK works out better for you :]

KACHIDOKI (Mienfoo) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 40 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab
- U-Turn
- Knock Off

For the rest, I really like your team. It looks solid! I'm definitely gonna check it out myself

Anyways, I hope my suggestion helped you a bit, and glhf with your battles!

Coba out

 

[Iron Caliber]

Thanks for the suggestion, but Acrobatics on Mienfoo is for more than just Fighting-types. Maybe I should outline this more in the RMT itself, but Acrobatics also checks defensive Grass-types like Foongus (which is 2HKO'd after rocks with its Eviolite intact, and has a chance to OHKO without its Eviolite) as well as other Pumpkaboos that may show up. Croagunk is also a target for Acrobatics because it resists every other one of Mienfoo's moves and is a huge threat to Spritzee and Corphish. Poison Jab is used to check Fairies, but Magnemite's Flash Cannon does the same thing, but faster and more powerful. Stone Edge is used solely for Flying-types as well, and Magnemite has those covered, too.

I was considering High Jump Kick originally, but Acrobatics is a risky move already, and Drain Punch is a much more consistent and safe STAB. Consistent recovery really compliments Mienfoo's offensive presence. As for Fake Out, I'm not sure. It seems interesting to try, so I probably will, but it doesn't seem good enough to ditch Acrobatics as a coverage move.

 

[Joltage]

Hey dude, cool team. Not exactly doing anything groundbreaking, but it definitely seems solid. I'm gonna go ahead and agree with your decision to keep Acro on Foo as it is super useful for your matchup with Croagunk, who kinda eats this team alive, and Foongus who is just generally annoying. Small nitpick with your reasoning on not running Stone Edge (not that it really matters but) Edge's primary targets aren't Flying types really, as no commonly used Flying types actually resist fighting. Edge is primarily used as a method for dealing with things like Larvesta and Ponyta who like to switch in on U-Turns and the like to potentially snag a burn. Like I said, I still want you to keep Acro but I just felt the need to point that out. Further regarding Mienfoo, personally, I feel that 0 Attack Foo really hits like a wet noodle with Drain Punch (and not even like a foam pool noodle, I'm talking like a limp strand of spaghetti) so I would suggest running HJK > Drain Punch. While I understand that the potential heals Drain Punch can provide are really nice, at the same time, you're probably getting more out of just switching in and out throughout the battle thanks to Regen. It's really up to you though, I've always viewed the choice of Fighting STAB as more of a preference thing.

Other than that though, your team looks really solid. No other changes really jump out at me as something that you should necessarily do.... Maybe something like Onix > Dwebble for the useful VSwitch immunity and it can also help check Drifloon better than Dwebble. Oh and its Taunt could prove useful as you currently lack hazard removal and your team doesn't really do much to deter them from being set on you. So I could definitely see that as an option for you. At the same time, you can probably get by without that change, so...eh.

Anyway, Good luck with your team moving forward, dude. Stick around in LC and all that. And have a nice day

 

[Oma]

Hi Iron Caliber, you've got a really nice team here and your RMT is very nicely done! You have a few issues with certain Pokemon but I have a few suggestions to fix that.

-Right now, the team has no great Omanyte check because Spritzee is easily knocked off and the rest of your team dies to all of its moves at +2. (Earth Power is a roll on Corphish but it is in Omanyte's favor, and Aqua Jet only does like 8) Omanyte doesn't set up on a lot, but a Dwebble with its Sturdy broken is easy set up bait. To help beat Surf Omanyte, you want to run a spread of 156 HP / 116 Def / 116 SpD with an Impish Nature on Mienfoo. This set is slower but lives an Omanyte Surf after SR. For games without an Omanyte, this slower spread means that other Mienfoo are more likely to Knock Off your Eviolite first, so you can surprise them with a full-powered Acrobatics. It also gives you a slower U-turn to help get Corphish in! This set does lose to Hydro Pump after SR, so if your opponent has Hydro Pump your best bet may be to go for the roll on Corphish, but your team keeps up enough pressure to deter it from setting up most of the time. I also prefer High Jump Kick on my Mienfoo for things like Porygon but Drain Punch is more consistent so you're not too bad leaving Drain Punch on.

-If you do do what TCR suggested and switch Magnemite to Scarf Pawniard you don't have a Fairy resist, and even Magnemite is hard pressed to switch into Snubbull. To help beat fairies, you will probably want to run Crabhammer>Superpower on Corphish. Superpower is nice for luring Ferroseed, but without Crabhammer you're walled by fairies and lose attacking power trying to hit Porygon. Crabhammer is more effective at destroying bulky core than Superpower is. This does leave you a little lacking in ways to beat Ferroseed, so if you want to have another Ferroseed lure you can replace Spritzee with Fire Punch Snubbull. Snubbull gives your team more immediate offensive power, and since there's really not a lot to WishPass to on your team it seems to fit better than Spritzee. Snubbull allows you to lure Ferroseed with Fire Punch, letting Corphish sweep later on.

Snubbull

Snubbull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 116 Def / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
Impish Nature
- Play Rough
- Fire Punch
- Thief
- Thunder Wave

That's all I have for your team, good luck with it and stick around in LC!