ORAS LC Quarks

[Idiotesque]

I've been playing Pokemon competitively since around the beginning of B/W, but have never gotten into the scene of these forums much. Today I'd like to change that with my first RMT:

The teambuilding process:

One of my favourite things to do in LC has always been Shell Smash Tirtouga. As as a set-up sweeper it can be a nightmare to combat, so much as a free switch-in can leave teams with enough holes to call them swiss cheese. For this reason, I've chosen a standard Tirtouga set to start with, with Rock Slide instead of Stone Edge because missing sucks.

Down (Tirtouga) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Atk / 116 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

This is what I'd like to build the whole team around. So, secondarily, I thought about Tirt's main threats. Hazards are certainly a big one, as a Tirtouga without sturdy is equivalent to a Kardashian without an ego complex, so I sought to get that in the team.

The other issue I encountered is named Mienfoo. Mienfoo has a lot of usage in the tier, for rather self-evident reasons, and my favourite answer to it happened to also be a defogger:

Top (Vullaby) @ Eviolite
Ability: Big Pecks
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 76 Atk / 236 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird

Vullaby can't exactly hard counter 'Foo, but it is a solid answer when you've just lost a pokemon and need some momentum (or at least it has been with the Mienfoo I've seen around), plus being a physically defensive defogger with two immunities provides some switch-ins for it to do its duty to Tirtouga.

Thirdly, I wanted something fast to pivot with, something that forced switches and could volt-turn out and provide a free turn for Vullaby or Tirtouga to do their thing.

Chinchou was the obvious choice for me, particularly with its immunity to electricity which aids the other two nicely.

Strange (Chinchou) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 232 SpA / 48 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Great. Halfway done.

This is where I needed to put in complimentary stuff, and didn't focus as much on the actual roles played. I'm still unsure whether I should revise the next three or not:

Up (Mienfoo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Serious Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

A solid 'Mon for most teams, Mienfoo was complimentary in terms of type, and has a nice priority move to go with its offenses.

Bottom (Growlithe) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 196 Atk / 112 Def / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Crunch

If there's one slot people will tell me to revise, I suspect it'll be this one. 'Lithe can do some serious damage, though, and the fact that LC is such a hectic and fast-paced meta makes me feel that two scarves may be a legitimate strategy, and most players are caught unaware by scarfed Growlithe on top of Chinchou.

Charm (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 32 Atk / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Seed Bomb

'Boo is another pokemon I quite like. It has neat special defense to compliment Vullaby's physical stat, and can, like Growlithe, offer complimentary offensive typing.

Importable:

Top (Vullaby) @ Eviolite
Ability: Big Pecks
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 76 Atk / 236 Def
Impish Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird

Strange (Chinchou) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 232 SpA / 48 SpD / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Up (Mienfoo) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Serious Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab

Bottom (Growlithe) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 196 Atk / 112 Def / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Crunch

Down (Tirtouga) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Atk / 116 SpD / 180 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Waterfall
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake

Charm (Pumpkaboo-Super) @ Eviolite
Ability: Frisk
Level: 5
EVs: 4 HP / 32 Atk / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Leech Seed
- Will-O-Wisp
- Shadow Sneak
- Seed Bomb

 

[Yagura]

ahh didn't rate LC teams in a while :]

Hello there Idiotesque and welcome to LC, I personally love Shell Smash Tirtouga and I find it very underrated and threatening with the right support so great job building around it, however I have some few suggestions that will hopefully help improving your team.

First of all your team lacks a Stealth Rock setter, so to fix this I suggest using Pawniard over Growlithe, this allows you to set up rocks , have Knock Off support which Tirtouga really appreciates, and have a way to deal with Fairy-types which are otherwise very threatening.

Pawniard set

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock

Now you're kinda weak to Fighting-types and Pawniad so I suggest using a more defensive variant of Mienfoo with Acrobatics, this allows you to check Pawniard and Fighting-types while also being a great Knock Off absorber with Acrobatics.

Mienfoo set

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

On Tirtouga try using Stone Edge over Rock Slide, this lets you score an OHKO on a Knocked Off Foongus and Spritzee (the latter after rocks), and Aqua Jet over Earthquake since it lets you hit priority users such as Pawniard and such as well as fast Scarfers like Mienfoo.

Also try to fix your Pumpkaboo set, Synthesis is way better than Leech Seed since it gives instant recovery and Bullet Seed is also better than Seed Bomb with the way rolls are in LC, it also lets you hit SturdyJuice Tirtouga and either KO it if it hits 3 or more times or put it in Shadow Sneak range if it hits twice, also use an EV spread of 204 HP / 36 Def / 236 SpD / 28 Spe since a lot of EVs aren't used in your current set.

Lastly some of your EV spreads are kinda weird, try 52 Def / 232 SpA / 224 Spe with Modest on Chinchou since it gives you an extra Defense point without any cost and Timid Chinchou has an underwhelming power, also try 116 HP / 76 Atk / 236 Def / 76 SpD on Vullaby in order to hit a Stealth Rock number (odd number) with Vullaby's HP allowing to switch 4 times into rocks, also use Overcoat on Vullaby since it lets you counter Foongus which is a huge threat for Tirtouga.

Well that's all I have to say, I hope I helped and good luck! :)

 

[Idiotesque]

Thank you Yagura! This was hugely helpful advice. I have noticed a huge difference with Pumpkaboo especially (didn't realise there were 236 EVs left over) and that the team gels somewhat better now, particularly with the SR to break sturdy users down for Tirtouga. Appreciate the help!

My only question is what you meant by an Acrobatics Mienfoo? The set you posted didn't include that, so if I were to use the acro variant, how would I construct that set?

 

[Fiend]

Acro Mienfoo runs Acrobatics over Taunt; everything else is the same on the two sets, though you can chose to run a bulkier Mienfoo set that is much slower, though these are prone to Iron Head flinches so this isn't really recommended.
_ _ _

Your team is overall fairly strong; some glaring weaknesses were present, but Yag has addressed most of them. The only suggestion I have to give is to run Bulky Smash Tirtouga as I find it typically more viable; it requires overall less support while hitting just as hard and having just as many set up opportunities. Aqua Jet is also a must on any Tirtouga for the added priority, as is Waterfall, but the 4th move can be either Zen Headbutt or Stone Edge. Zen Headbutt hits all Fighters for an OHKO with very minimal prior damage while also murdering Foongus after rocks. Stone Edge generally hits hard though, OHKOing Knock Offed Spritzee and Knocked Off Foongus. With Yagura's suggestions Stone Edge would be best, but you mention not liking to miss does make Zen Headbutt is perfectly fine considering your lack of a true removal of Fighting types.

Tirtouga

Tirtouga @ Eviolite
Ability: Solid Rock
Level: 5
EVs: 84 HP / 212 Atk / 12 Def / 76 SpD / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Aqua Jet
- Waterfall
- Shell Smash
- Zen Headbutt