Balanced Offense Peaked #1



Welcome everyone, I'm here to show you my successful LC team that I have built recently. The ladder reset 2 days prior to today, and I had practiced and tested with this team before pushing for the top spot. I realise that being so early in the race for 1st, 1947 might seem quite low when people start getting ahead of me, but it's the first time I've hit 1st in anything :D

Taking into account that my top spot won't stay for long, I'm looking for advice on how to better equip my team for the weeks ahead. I have lost 4 battles so this is certainly not perfect, so I'm relying on you to help me win as much as possible!

The Initial Teambuilding Process:

I always try to begin by building a defensive core, since I am an advocate of balanced teams. It's important to be able to switch in and out to cover weaknesses and maintain momentum against the opponent, so as to not jeopardise my sweepers. This isn't quite a bulky offense so I had to make sure I had solid walls.

Defensive Core -

I started off with Gligar and Chinchou as my defensive synergy when I was testing out a bunch of mons. Chinchou covers the Ice and Water weaknesses of Gligar, and Gligar is Immune to Earthquakes. They tested well together, but they could still be manhandled by pokemon with good wallbreaking coverage, such as Timburr with Ice Punch, or powerful water types with Grass Coverage.

Even though Gligar resists Fighting, they were still posing a problem to this defensive core. So I added the new Fairy type Spritzee into the mix, to help deal with set up sweepers such as DD Scraggy and Bulk Up Timburr, and it really helped pull the team together.

I will explain the Offensive mons individually.

Full Team Line-Up:





Chinchou @ Eviolite
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 212 Def / 68 SDef / 228 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Volt Switch
- Thunder Wave (Replaceable)

This is quite the standard Chinchou that people have come to love or respect. The Water/Electric typing along with the excellent Volt Absorb is what attracted me to this fish. His purpose is to tank the Water, Ice, Electric, Flying and Fire attacks that get thrown around a lot in LC. He serves as my primary switch-in into Murkrow of any variant, since he is immune to T-wave and can tank a Brave Bird and Heat Wave, providing it is healthy. He is also a momentum grabber with Volt Switch, an example being switching into a Magnemite's Volt Switch and taking advantage of scouting yourself. The defensive EV's serve their purpose by making it easier to handle Murkrow, and can kill Gligar if it comes in safely, as it is OHKO'd by Adamant EQ only 6.3% of the time. This is only really done in a pinch if I really need Gligar to die... Max SpA investment to hurt as much as possible with my attacks, since Scald spam is quite effective sometimes.

I am undecided about T-Wave, since it has come in handy sometimes, but I rarely find myself using it, especially if there are Guts users, Ground types, or Electric types loitering around. I'd like some suggestions here, as well as any advice on my EV's.



Gligar @ Berry Juice
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Spd / 236 Atk
Jolly Nature
- Acrobatics
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Taunt


And here we have Gligar, who was once banned but came back. I didn't play as far back as when it was legal, but I can sort of understand why it was once illegal. Most teams can't do without SR so this was my go-to guy. I used to have suicide lead Dwebble, but due to Defog, no Ghost Types, and Taunt users such as Gligar ironically, I chose Gligar. He is often my lead, taunting opposing hazard users, first turn Shell Smashers, and setting up SR to break Sturdies and deal with Fire and Flying types easier. I chose Berry Juice over Eviolite, so I can take advantage of a more powerful second STAB, and give him the opportunity to be refreshed and continue the fight.

He is also my primary switch in for Knock Off spammers such as Pawniard, since he doesn't really mind, and can hit back hard with EQ or acrobatics, seeing as most Knock Offs have a weakness to Gligar's STABS.

This Gligar is an offensive team supporter, designed to bring momentum back to my side, with defensive potential and sweeping potential, and must be played as such. He is normally one of the first mons to die, to save my sweepers. It used to have U-turn over Taunt, but the value of fast Taunt is far greater in my opinion.



Spritzee @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 64 HP / 196 Def / 236 SDef / 12 SAtk
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Aromatherapy

This is my primary counter/check to the various Fighting and Dark Types in LC, and to a lesser extent some Bug types. It is an additional check to Murkrow, but it is strongly advised not to switch into Brave Bird unless it is absolutely necessary, especially with SR up, as there is a high chance of 2HKO. Spritzee is the mixed tank that acts as a cleric, and occasional healer with Wish for the team and itself. Eviolite is the item of choice, since it needs all the bulk it can get, which it has plenty of. I opted for Calm Mind over Protect to add more offensive presence, so as not to become set up fodder, since most players predict around Protect quite a lot. Not much can 2HKO this thing, so most times it still gets the Wish off.

Given the fact I run Calm Mind, I am wondering if this is the most efficient EV spread or not. It mostly switches into physical attackers but the SDef EV's really help against Porygon for example, but I am not sure. Calm Mind could be replaced too, but with what I don't know.



Bunnelby @ Life Orb
Ability: Huge Power
Level: 5
EVs: 220 Spd / 232 Atk / 56 Def
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Return
- Quick Attack
- U-turn


My favourite Pokemon of this Gen has to be this guy. The power and destruction caused by this cute bunny is unreal. Here are some calcs to demonstrate what this little guy is all about:

228 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Bunnelby Return vs. 196 HP / 156+ Def Eviolite Slowpoke: 16-19 (57.1 - 67.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

228 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Bunnelby Return vs. 36 HP / 236+ Def Eviolite Koffing: 13-17 (61.9 - 80.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

228 Atk Life Orb Huge Power Bunnelby Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Ponyta: 9-12 (42.8 - 57.1%) -- 12.1% chance to 2HKO

Clearly a threat, and with a decent 16 speed, it can speed tie with Meditite and other 16 speed users, and outspeed most walls, making it an excellent wallbreaker with Return, and Revenge Killer with Quick Attack. It can also Switch into a Swirlix setting up, and outspeed before Unburden Boost, unless it is the Belly Drum variant. U-Turn is a secondary nuke to escape against stuff like Ferroseed and incoming Misdreavus before it has a chance to Willo.

Life Orb is chosen over Band, since the power is similar and it is so frail anyway. It better suits the U-turn playstyle as well.



Pawniard @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Spd / 236 Atk / 36 SDef / 40 Def
Jolly Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Iron Head
- Brick Break
- Knock Off

With the advent of Fairy Types, and the enormous buff to Knock Off, I couldn't resist putting in STAB Knock Off onto this team (effectively a 97.5 BP move), as well as Dark type being buffed offensively. I was originally using the SD set with Eviolite, which acted as a pretty good check to stuff with its typing and bulk. But then when I looked inside the Pawniard forum thread, I discovered a Scarf set that someone suggested, and it has been an immense success. Most people don't expect Scarf when I switch into something that is normally faster than it, and they predict a Sucker Punch and normally switch out, and I can just go for Knock Off and they still don't know that I'm Scarfed.

Shenanigans aside, Pawniard helps me deal with Psychic and Ghost Types, particularly Misdreavus, to give my Bunnelby a better chance at sweeping. Knock Off 2HKO's Missy, and being able to outspeed it is very useful. Brick Break is for opposing Pawniard. You might wonder why I have Sucker Punch, but having the fast Sucker Punch can be useful at times against opposing Scarfers. I wonder if Pursuit could replace it to trap Ghosts, but using Knock Off on the switch normally works out fine.


Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 76 SDef / 76 Def / 200 Atk / 156 HP
Adamant Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SAtk / 30 Spd
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Ice Punch
- Knock Off



Our last offensive Pokemon is Timburrrrrrr. He is basically just another wallbreaker to facilitate Bunnelby and Pawniard. It is an additional check to the likes of Pawniard, Gligar, various normal types and other stuff. This is mainly due to the utility of Mach Punch, plus Ice coverage. With Eviolite, it can take pretty much any neutral non-boosted hit and retaliate with Knock Off and Drain Punch. It is also another way for me to deal with Missy, since I can switch into Willo and get pseudo-STAB on Knock Off. Having an extra Knock off is also very useful. Timburr serves its purpose well, but I feel as if it could be the most readily replaceable mon in this team. I used to have Tangela in its place as an extra special attacker, so I'm wondering if another special sweeper could fit in here, preferably a bulky one.


So there we have it, my number one team. Please offer your suggestions, since I am relatively new to this metagame and there's more experienced people out there who I'm sure could help me. I will add a small Threatlist too.

Threatlist:

Ferroseed - No Fire attacks means I can't OHKO it so it will usually set up hazards unless I have Gligar in at the same time. Annoying to deal with.

Misdreavus - Can cripple 3 of my pokemon with Willo, and NP sets can be dangerous if it is healthy. I lost a game to this once.

Murkow - Because it's Murkrow, but I have good checks.

Meditite - This is a big one, since it can wear down my Spritzee and Gligar with Fake out, and switch out to an appropriate check to these 2. Can also predict with Ice Punch. I've had to risk the speed tie with Bunnelby sometimes, but this is a last resort. Can be handled with boosted Acrobatics and healthy Spritzee.

Vulpix - Scarf set is very dangerous if Chinchou is dead. Chinchou must be kept alive and healthy until this can be killed with priority. Support set is handled well by Chinchou with its chip damage.

I'll add some more as I check out this thread.
 
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Toyed with the idea of Rest-Talk Chinchou for longevity, was a little bit easy for people to set up on it though. Still looking for suggestions.
 
this is a cool team. there's actually not a lot that is a serious threat to this team because the defensive core is good and you have good priority checks. you could always try hp fire over thunder wave to 2hko ferroseed. it really depends if you find ferroseed too troubling or not, but hp fire is nice to beat other grass and steel types too. just an idea.

if you want to replace timburr, you could always run an np misdreavous of your own. synergizes really with pawniard and bunnelby. it also helps deal with meditite.

tl;dr
  • thunder wave -> hp fire
  • Misdreavus @ Berry Juice / Eviolite
    Ability: Levitate
    Level: 5
    EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spe
    Timid Nature
    - Shadow Ball
    - Nasty Plot
    - Hidden Power Fighting / Thunderbolt
    - Will-O-Wisp / Destiny Bond
good luck!
 
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I second the addition of Mis. Your team appears to be fairly weak to Scarf Tite. Spritzee is the only real way you have of dealing with it and if that is gone, it will destroy you. Mis would help take care of that but also, you may prefer to try Murkrow instead. Good luck!
 

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