LC VolTurn team

[Tbird]

Overview

Hi all, long time no post. Sorry about that been a busy little bee...

Anywho, without further ado, this is my first team in a damn long time and I thought I'd share it with you lovely folk.

I'd seen a lot of talk about the VolTurn strategy, something that I'd been playing with before my departure, and I'd seen that it had been widely popularised in the OU tier with Scizor and Rotom-W at the forefront. I figured I'd take that strategy and apply it to an LC team.

The aim of the team is to wear the opposing team down with passive damage via VolTurn, which racks up a nice amount of damage and switches which when used in conjunction with Stealth Rock can start to whittle a team down nicely. Once the opposing team is worn down enough it is down to scraggy to get a sweep on.

At a Glance & Team Building

Scraggy: Numero Uno, the guy the team is based around. Chose simply because I like him and he's viable.

Mienfoo: I wanted someone that could straight off the bat aid scarggy in weakening his counters, I also knew that I'd sooner or later need a lead. Mienfoo fills all of these rolls and more by having similar counters to scraggy and acces to Fake out + U-Turn.

Chinchou: Next I needed someone that could outright destroy bulky waters like Slowpoke, Frillish and to an extent Staryu, the former two having the ability to burn my mienfoo the later of which is capable of severely denting it. I also needed a pokemon that could fry birds from the sky, so an electric type was in need. With access to a typing that perfectly complements what I need removed and Volt-Switch, Chinchou was a prime candidate.

Larvesta: I now needed bulky Grasses and fighting types removed, with a unique bug-fire typing and access to Will-o-wisp and U-Turn Larvesta needed to be on the team.

Sandshrew: As Larvesta was on the team, I needed a way to get rid of rocks and if possible put my own down. Phanpy was the initial choice, however sandshrew seemed superior in pretty much every regard and thus found his way on the team.

Gastly: what's the point in having rocks if you have no spin blockerr? similarly I needed a plan B for fighting types as they are a huge problem to this team. Plus I love the Gastly family.

Lead

Lou (Mienfoo) (F) @ Eviolite

Trait: Regenerator

EVs: 156 Atk / 196 Def / 36 SDef / 76 Spd

Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)

- Fake Out

- U-turn

- Drain Punch

- Payback

This is my lead and 1/3 of the VolTurn strategy. The reason I chose Mienfoo for the lead position is because he is great at instantly scouting and putting the momentum into my hands. Not only that but he has similar counters to Scraggy, so when they are used in tandem they can quite effectively wear down each other's counters into a range of which the other can effectively remove them completely.

The EVs ensure that Mienfoo can get the jump on unboosted Misdreavius, Payback being a 2HKO whilst Shadow ball can't boast the same. This is important because misdreavius can cause a lot of problems for my team if it's not caught quick enough. Regenerator allows for Mienfoo to fulfill this task and then get out with enough health to switch into resisted dark, rock attacks later on. Mienfoo really is an all purpose pokemon on this team.

Homeboy

Terrence (Scraggy) (M) @ Eviolite

Trait: Shed Skin

EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SDef / 212 Spd

Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)

- Dragon Dance

- Drain Punch

- Crunch

- Ice Punch

This set is beautiful. It can sweep weakened teams with absolute impunity, I really do enjoy playing with this guy. Once Croagunk, random fighters and scarfed flying types have been disposed of, he can really shine. Drain Punch, Eviolite and Shed Skin all but make Scraggy untouchable, given his bulk, recovery and semi immunity to status he can usually find a time to set up at will. Given that his counters have been eliminated it's pretty much game.

The EVs give him as much power and speed as possible, he is able to outspeed the whole unboosted metagame after a +1 as he's sitting on a trolling 22 speed. The rest are dumped into SpD just to give him that one extra stat point that's up for grabs.

Drain Punch is used for recovery, Crunch has great synergy and is a lovely secondary STAB Attack, Ice beam is mainly used for Murkrow, Though if I see one more Croagunk I'm going to slap Zen HeadButt on him instead.

Revenge Killer

Amata (Chinchou) (F) @ Choice Scarf

Trait: Volt Absorb

EVs: 56 Def / 232 SAtk / 220 Spd

Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)

- Volt Switch

- Hydro Pump

- Thunderbolt

- Ice Beam

Given that Lanturn is one of my favourite pokemon of all time and that Chinchou gets Volt Switch, it should come as no surprise how she ended up on the team. Favouritism aside, though, she plays a crucial role on the team in getting rid of bulky water types, Switching into straty Scalds and Flying Typed attacks, and generally scouting with Volt Switch.

The EVs and nature are pretty straight forward, be as powerful and fast as possible. With a healthy speed stat of 24, she can outspeed slower +1 pokemon and the unboosted metagame, the modest nature and EVs are then just to smack said pokemon around.

The moveset has great coverage, hitting a lot of threats for super effective damage, such as tailow, doduo and that beast murkrow, who could otherwise potentially end my sweep. The Volt Switch + Thunderbolt combination is used over hidden power Grass, as although I am now countered by opposing Chinchou, I can get rid of Murkrow pretty flawlessly (so long as they're not packing Toxic.)

Get behind me Satan Fighting types

Malone (Larvesta) (M) @ Eviolite

Trait: Flame Body

EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Def / 40 Spd

Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)

- U-turn

- Will-O-Wisp

- Flare Blitz

- Morning Sun

Larvesta forms the 3/3 of my all singing and dancing VoltTurners. Larvest's main purpose is to remove bulky grassers and cripple the fighters abound, whilst also maintaining the momentum is on my side.

I chose a more bulky spread for Larvesta, though I initially wanted to play it as a CB set, the drop in longevity is considerably noticeable and its middling speed doesn't really allow it to function so well as a CB attacker. The bulky spread allows it to switch into pretty much any fighting typed pokemon and cripple it with a nasty burn. The rest is thrown into attack to make Flare Blitz hit like a truck, Morning sun is to aid in longevity, whilst U-Turn is good for putting Grass types into a check mate position; stay and get potentially OHKOd by Flare Blitz, Give me a free Switch in, or ake a STAB super Effective U-Turn to the face.

Utility

Shelly (Sandshrew) (F) @ Eviolite

Trait: Sand Veil

EVs: 196 HP / 76 Def / 196 SDef / 40 Spd

Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)

- Stealth Rock

- Earthquake

- Rock Slide

- Rapid Spin

Sandshrew's main job is to lay down some entry hazards as and when she can, but more importantly remove SR for Larvesta. Sandshrew also acts as quite a nice check to things like Larvitar and Drilbur, the latter of which could really cause some trouble to my team. Sandshrew on this team attempts to fill the void that the Gligar ban left, which it does do quite well, in my opinion.

The EV spread is pure bulk and a bit more bulk. 14 Atk is strong enough to get a 2HKO on things that don't resist the QuakEdge combo, and usually strong enough to OHKO things that are weak to it; IE Larvitar. Sand Veil is quite the boon for Sandshrew as this allows her to take on some of the stronger sand sweepers quite well with bulk and an effective Double Team under her belt, allowing her to more easily set up SR or generally tank.

Spin Blocker

Milton (Gastly) (M) @ Leftovers

Trait: Levitate

EVs: 40 Def / 200 SAtk / 200 Spd

Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)

- Substitute

- Disable

- Shadow Ball

- Hidden Power [Fighting]

Gastly's job is to maintain that SR stays on the opposing teams side of the field. Spinners such as Baltoy and Sandshrew also find themselves in a tricky spot when facing this set. Sandshrew will find its Rock Slide / Night Slash Disable, rendering it a virtual sitting mouse-duck-thing. Baltoy is simply forced out. Gastly is also good at aiding Larvesta in taking out opposing fighters, if SR is still on the Field Larvesta isn't going to want to risk switching in and getting taken out, allowing bulky grassers to dictate how the match goes, so plan be is Gastly. Gastly can take out opposing Scraggy nice and easily, disable Croagunks Sucker Punch, should it be carrying it, as well as disabling Mienfoo's Payback, which forces most fighters back into their cave, buying me a little time to pur Larvesta back into a nice healthy place. Gastly can also, if played right, get rid of Murkrow; who can be a real pain. The Sub Roost set with is forced to use roost when their sucker Punch is Disabled, allowing me to smack it hard with a Super Effective HP Fighting.

The spread is pure speed and offence, as that is what gastly is going to appreciate more than anything. Leftovers, while controversial in LC is my item of choice as I dislike the 1-time use of Oran berry, whereas after 4 turns behind a substitute I can be at full health again. There is a time and place for Oran Berry though, so I may have to give it a fair shout at some point.

After thoughts / things I'd now like to try

Other people's Ideas will be added here, too.

Scraggy - Replace Ice Punch for Zen Headbutt.

Larvesta - Actually try a Choice Band Set, though it'd possibly be outclassed by Darumaka.

Sandshrew - Find a better SpinRocker, as she can be somewhat lacklustre at times.

Gastly - Try an Oran Berry.

- Replace him with other ghosts see if any are better at the whole spinblocking duty.

Thanks for reading. I know the competitive side here is pretty much dead at this point, and there are little to no LC fans, so I don't expect much in the way of a response, but thanks for reading anyway

[Tbird]

| 1 | Mienfoo: Larvesta can switch into pretty much anything the bulky set is packing and threaten to burn it or dent it. The scarf varient is eaten alive by Gastly.

| 2 | Misdreavus: Can be a reet pain in the ass. However, if I switch in Scraggy as Misdreavus comes in I can set up on and faint it easily enough. However that means I have to play my hand early a lot of the time. Aside from that, Gastly behind a subsitute can generally beat it.

| 3 | Chinchou: Mostly scarf variants are played, however, Sandshrew beats both scarf and bulky with good prediction. Can be a problem though; mainly just gotta smack it around.

| 4 | Staryu: Can't touch Chinchou unless it's packing HP grass... even then it has to outspeed me.

| 5 | Scraggy: Mienfoo beats it every Day of the week, Larvesta can stand up to it so long as luck is on my side (in as much as Will-o-wisp hits and isn't instantly healed.)

| 6 | Murkrow: Torments the good shit out of me. But between chinchou and Gastly I can generaly get passed it.

| 7 | Bronzor: Set up bait for Scraggy. In a Pinch Larvesta can dispatch of it.

| 8 | Hippopotas: Chinchou and Gastly can beat it, Scraggy can set up on it. The sand is annoying more than anything else though.

| 9 | Croagunk: Another pain in the ass, Generally gastly can get passed it, Larvesta can put the hurting on him too, though.

| 10 | Porygon: Not actually faced a single one, I however imagine that Scraggy could quite easily set up on it and that Mienfoo could pretty much beast it.

| 11 | Natu: Gastly literally laughs at it.

| 12 | Ferroseed: 2 fighters and a fire type on the team...

| 13 | Lileep: has got on my nerves in the past. I usually get passed it easily enough though by smacking it hard with Larvesta and friends.

| 14 | Drilbur: should be way more of a problem than it's proven itself to be. Sandshrew is quite handy in that regard.

| 15 | Abra: Not seen as much of these as I expected to, between repeated fake outs and U-Turns though, he usually goes down without causing too much trouble.

| 16 | Timburr: Disable Gastly walks all over it.

| 17 | Larvesta: Chinchou and disable Gastly beat the prominent Mono Attacker.

| 18 | Gastly: If it's a choice Scarf Gastly predicting the move is the best bet, either Scraggy will set up on it or my own gastly will remove it.

| 19 | Dwebble: I hear dwebble is supposed to be really quite good but I haven't seen too much of it and when I have chinchou has been able to beat it.

| 20 | Snover: Larvesta eats it up all day long as does Mienfoo, however in a pinch Chinchouy can be used to switch in on blizzard.

| 21 | Magnemite: No steels on team to worry about. Mienfoo beats it down nicely, scraggy can set up on it, Larvesta can outright annihilate it.

| 22 | Shroomish: Larvesta eats it up. aside from that, Chinchou's Ice beam can be used in a pinch.

| 23 | Vullaby: A massive problem to my team.

| 24 | Ponyta: Chinchou outspeeds and OHKOs

| 25 | Dratini: Chinchou hurt it with Ice Beam. If it gets a chance to set up properly, I'm in a poor state of affairs.

| 26 | Houndour: Chinchou can deal with it quite nicely. Just gotta watch out for well timed HP Grass. Ghastly can revenge, get VTurned in, watching out for sucker Punch

| 27 | Frillish: Chinchou and Gastly can both purt a hurting on Frillish

| 28 | Stunky: as pretty much the best Pursuiter, it isn't a threat to Disable Gastly, and is walked all over by larvesta.

| 29 | Pawniard: Mienfoo / Larvesta... depends on my mood.

| 30 | Slowpoke: Chinchou can deal with it nicely, watching out for toxic.

| 31 | Clamperl: Switching chinchou in on a shell smash means I can OHKO with Volt Switch.

| 32 | Taillow: Can't touch Chinchou, sandshrew works in a pinch, too.

| 33 | Aipom: Beaten by mienfoo.

| 34 | Tirtouga: Only come across the one and it got beat by chinchou.

| 35 | Diglett: I imagine scraf Diglett could be a problem to my Chinchou, aside from that Gastly can deal with it easily enough.

| 36 | Munchlax: Set up bait for Scraggy

| 37 | Tentacool: Gets beaten by chinchou.

| 38 | Nosepass: beaten by Mienfoo set up bait for Scraggy.

| 39 | Axew: Not actually faced him, but I imagine he could really hurt if he sets up.

| 40 | Shellder: Pretty much any set it runs is beaten by Chinchou.

| 41 | Koffing: Beating the good God out of it with Gastly / Chinchou is my best bet.

| 42 | Baltoy: Gasty loves baltoy.

| 43 | Bulbasaur: Larvesta, can be revenged by Chinchou, too.

| 44 | Drifloon: Chinchou and Gastly should have no problem removing it. Not come across it though personally.

| 45 | Wynaut: Depends on the situation.

| 46 | Omanyte: Between chinchou and the fighters, it shouldn't cause too much trouble.

| 47 | Elekid: If it has any Ice Typed move it can probably do some mean things to my team. Best bet is Larvesta and solid play with Chinchou.

| 48 | Duskull: Gastly shouldn't have too much trouble getting passed it.

| 49 | Squirtle: Chinchou.

| 50 | Lickitung: Set up bait for Scraggy or destroyed by Mienfoo.