big shoutout to monomite for the artwork
-- Introduction --
Hi, I'm OP! If you don't know me, I'm a Room Owner in the LC PS room, moderator of LC C&C, and I played for the Tigers in the last two SPLs. For the first time in my 3+ years of competitive Pokemon, I've finally made a team that I liked enough to RMT. I particularly love this team because it's one of my most successful teams ever and it showcases a few sets that I feel are dramatically underused and underprepared for. With that, let's get into it.
-- Teambuilding --
I originally built this for my Week 8 SPL match against Star, so to better show what I was going for, here's a snippet of my scouting report against him:
As you can see by the first, fourth, and fifth columns, I definitely wanted to use something that would punish his overuse of Fighting-, Grass-, and Water-types. This led me to build my team around Grassium Z Ponyta and Nasty Plot Vullaby.
Next up, I knew that I'd absolutely need hazard control so I deliberated between using Staryu or Kabuto as they're the most consistent spinners. I had Grass-types covered really well, would appreciate a bird check, and knew that it could be tough to later fit rocks on this team, so I went with Kabuto.
At this point, I needed to start working on a defensive backbone to actually switch into and check anything because of the very offensive nature of Ponyta and Vullaby along with the limited capabilities of Kabuto. Fighting-types and Abra/Gastly were a huge priority, so I added Snubbull and Alolan Grimer.
Lastly, I needed something to help my Dwebble offense matchup, an Onix/Kabuto check, something to switch into Pawniard, and my last pokemon definitely couldn't be weak to Magnemite or Chinchou. Fast Taunt Mienfoo seemed like the obvious choice to fit that criteria. It also gave me a way to consistently Knock Off Fairy- and Poison-types which could be nuisances.
-- Sets --
Item: Grassium Z
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpA / 196 Spe | Naive Nature
Moves: Flame Charge / Flare Blitz / Solar Beam / Hypnosis
Item: Berry Juice
EVs: 36 HP / 240 SpA / 196 Spe | Modest Nature
Moves: Air Slash / Heat Wave / Hidden Power [Grass] / Nasty Plot
This is just the extremely standard NP Vullaby set with one change: HP Grass over Dark Pulse. I feel that HP Grass is generally the better move and should be used much more often than it is. Here's the differences between the moves that I've thought of:
The main thing to take away is that HP Grass is better against Onix, Kabuto, Omanyte, and Tirtouga but a little worse against Slowpoke, Abra, Gastly, and Elekid. Almost everyone opts for Dark Pulse which seems kinda crazy when looking at the benefits and how common Onix/Kabuto are.
Item: Eviolite
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD / 156 Spe | Careful Nature
Moves: Rock Slide / Knock Off / Stealth Rock / Rapid Spin
There's not much special about this Kabuto set. I opted for more bulk, particularly in Special Defense, over Attack so that it would be a better check to NP Vullaby and Gastly. It also helps against Magnemite, Chinchou, Staryu, and Non-Energy Ball Abra. I chose Rock Slide over other alternatives like Aqua Jet or Waterfall because this is my primary check to Flying-types and being able to significantly damage them, particularly Vullaby, is important for this team.
Item: Berry Juice
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe | Adamant Nature
Moves: Play Rough / Fire Punch / Thief / Substitute
Big shoutout to Berks, pretty sure he made this set first. The idea behind running a fast substitute on Snubbull is that it allows you to get free subs against Fighters, gives you a chance of beating Foongus, eases prediction against switches, and lets you avoid slow status users like WoW Pumpkaboo and Thunder Wave Snubbull. It also lets you pop your own Berry Juice to heal back to full and enable Thief. I feel you have to use Fire Punch and Thief if running Substitute rather than things like Thunder Wave or Earthquake because they take best advantage of the Substitute. As mentioned before, this team was intended for use against Star and I thought the chance of him using Foongus was way higher than any chance of bringing Mareanie or other Earthquake targets, which further incentivized me to use Fire Punch. The biggest problem I faced when using this set as opposed to the standard set is that I had to keep it healthier against Shellder teams because this is my primary check to it and the reduced EVs in defense significantly increase Shellder's damage to Snubbull.
Item: Eviolite
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD | Adamant Nature
Moves: Knock Off / Gunk Shot / Pursuit / Shadow Sneak
Very standard Alolan Grimer whose main job is to just Pursuit threats to the team. Now that Counter Abra has risen in popularity, this team struggles a bit against Abra teams, particularly if they have both Abra and Gastly. Whenever you put A-Grimer on a team, the first thing to consider is Fire Blast vs. Shadow Sneak. Pawniard and Ferroseed are thoroughly checked on this team and using Fire Blast to hit them would be super redundant. Set-up sweepers can be a bit of a pain and the extra priority helps against them. This team is also a bit slow; I have no Scarfers and Ponyta can't revenge everything, so again, Shadow Sneak is the better choice there. Fire Blast would help against Counter Abra, Croagunk, and Pumpkaboo-Super, but I thought the benefits of Shadow Sneak were more useful.
Item: Eviolite
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe | Jolly Nature
Moves: High Jump Kick / Knock Off / U-turn / Taunt
-- Successes --
Me vs. Star, SPL Week 8 - This is what I built the team for and it worked out well, giving me a good matchup with a lot of suprise factor. Both HP Grass Vullaby and Subbull really shined in this matchup.
tko vs. Heysup, LC Seasonal Round 4 - Heysup had no answers for the Ponyta set and it wreaked havoc, eventually cleaning up in the late game.
miltankmilk vs. papai noel, LC Seasonal Round 4 - A pretty wild battle with luck on both sides. This game shows one of the weak points of this team, dual fighter teams, and the importance of keeping Snubbull healthy against them.
Akashi vs. Bouki, LC Seasonal Round 7 - No idea how Akashi got my team, but I saw him use it and win!
Me vs. naruto(sage), Trigger Warning Tour Round 1 - The ruleset for this tour wasn't very different from standard LC with the only change being that Timburr and A-Vulpix were not allowed, so I felt comfortable bringing this team. The Ponyta set let me break through Slowpoke and clean up the game from there.
I also used this team to get my reqs for the Vulpix suspect:
-- Threatlist --
-- Conclusion --
I think the Ponyta and Vullaby sets are super underrated and I encourage people to try them out more. If you feel like using this team, keep in mind that it partially relies on the surprise factor and can be less effective when your opponent knows the sets. It's also important to play aggressively with it, especially in bad matchups. Thanks for reading!
Ponyta @ Grassium Z
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpA / 196 Spe
Naive Nature
- Flame Charge
- Flare Blitz
- Solar Beam
- Hypnosis
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt
Grimer-Alola @ Eviolite
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
Snubbull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Thief
- Fire Punch
- Substitute
Kabuto @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD / 156 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 240 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Nasty Plot
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpA / 196 Spe
Naive Nature
- Flame Charge
- Flare Blitz
- Solar Beam
- Hypnosis
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt
Grimer-Alola @ Eviolite
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Gunk Shot
- Pursuit
- Shadow Sneak
Snubbull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Thief
- Fire Punch
- Substitute
Kabuto @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 36 Atk / 36 Def / 156 SpD / 156 Spe
Careful Nature
- Knock Off
- Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 240 SpA / 196 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA
- Air Slash
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Nasty Plot
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