Artists Proof
Introduction
Its been awhile since I've played pokemon, so when I decided to come back I really only wanted to play Little Cup, because I was bored of OU. So I went on IRC and asked Elevator Music if he would be willing to make a new team with me so I could get back into the metagame. Since he's awesome he agreed and after hearing how well Murkrow+Staryu+Snover does as a core I decided to build around that and the result is this team. It doesn't have any pretty ladder rankings because I'm really pretty lazy and the ladder isn't super great right now anyways, what it does have is some decent playtime and a good build in theory. So without further ado here is Artists Proof.
Quick Look
In-Depth Look
Andy Warhol(Snover)@ Eviolite
Ability: Snow Warning
Nature: Quiet
EVs: 36 HP | 180 Att | 36 Def | 140 SpA | 36 SpD
-Blizzard
-Ice Shard
-Giga Drain
-Protect
Snover is just such an amazing mon in LC, not only does he change the weather in a metagame dominated by sandstorm, but he also has utility as a pivot and general check to many prominent little cup threats. When I was making the team I decided I wanted to go a different direction with Snover; Scarf is the standard set, but I wanted to use Eviolite because its bulkier making it a better check to sand. With Eviolite, Snover doesn't fear much from Hippopotas except the random toxic. From there it can proceed to spam either Blizzard if I'm trying to weaken the team in the early game or Giga Drain to recover some of Snover's health in the mid to late game. With Staryu spinning away hazards Snover becomes incredibly hard to get rid of and with a Special Attack of 15 its Blizzards are never anything to scoff at. Its moveset is fairly self explanatory, Blizzard is ridiculously strong STAB that will destroy anything that doesn't resist it and will still hurt a lot of things that do. Ice Shard has amazing utility in revenging random weakened threats and together with Timburr's Mach Punch really comes in handy during the late game. Giga Drain is Snover's other STAB move and it hits pretty hard too smacking around the water types who like to come in on Blizzard particularly the ever annoying Chinchou. It also has the added bonus of recovering Snover's health to keep him going strong throughout the game. I use Protect in the last slot over something like a hidden power for a couple reasons. First, hidden power will hardly ever see usage as more often than not I will just spam blizzard and most things that would be hit by hidden power fire are either trapped by Magnemite or can't take repeated hits anyways. Protect gives me some awesome utility and helps ease prediction and PP stall against certain threats. Protect can also give me an extra turn of hail damage on something that could put it into KO range. Snover's EVs are pretty simple I use 140 SpA with a Quiet nature to hit 15 and the rest are dumped into Att to give him 15 in that as well to make sure Ice Shard hits hard. With the remaining EVs I gave it some additional bulk all around helping it tank hits better. Even with the quiet nature I hit 9 speed which means I'm speed tying with Hippopotas, something that comes in handy at the beginning of a match to give me a chance at getting hail up first.
Pablo Picasso(Golett)@ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
Nature: Adamant
EVs: 44 HP | 244 Att | 116 Def | 84 Spe
-Stealth Rock
-Earthquake
-Drain Punch
-Ice Punch
Golett is an interesting pokemon, that was absolutely useless in BW, but got some interesting new toys in BW2. Golett is actually one of the most reliable SR setters in the current metagame and with his ghost typing he makes a great check to annoying fighting types like Mienfoo. He has a good attacking stat and hits harder than most people think, although it sucks that Shadow Punch is illegal with Stealth Rock. Usually I bring him out early game to lay rocks and then play him conservatively to keep things like Mienfoo from beating me up with U-turns and the like. Even with Knock Off there isn't much Mienfoo can do this robot, while he can smack him around with Earthquake in return for a pretty solid amount of damage. If the opposing team doesn't have anything that I really need Golett to check, than I usually get Rocks down and use Golett to absorb status for me. His moveset is pretty standard: Stealth Rock helps all teams particularly this one because it helps Murkrow score KOs on annoying pokemon and generally helps weaken the opposing team so I can spam Priority in the endgame to win. Earthquake is STAB and pretty strong coming off of an 18 attack stat. Drain Punch gets a boost from Iron Fist and helps keep Golett healthy in the face of Mienfoo and other annoying mons. I chose to use Ice Punch in the last slot over something like Toxic because this team doesn't really need it and Ice Punch hits random **** like Murkrow who would switch in with impunity otherwise. The EVs are also standard with max Att and enough speed to outrun stuff like hippo and bulky magnemite. The rest are split between HP and Def making Golett pretty decent at taking Physical hits.
Leonardo Da Vinci(Timburr)@ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Nature: Careful
EVs: 76 HP | 196 Att | 236 SpD
-Bulk Up
-Drain Punch
-Mach Punch
-Payback
Timburr is possibly one of the best underrated mons in Little Cup. Seriously this little guy packs a big punch and has a few things that I like that made me pick him over his more common fighting brethren Mienfoo. Timburr has some excellent bulk all around, being able to tank hits and set up really easily. He also has a pretty great attack stat that combined with Bulk Up and Priority makes him an incredibly threatening sweeper. Finally he can check all variants of Scraggy with ease thanks to his great bulk and access to STAB Mach Punch. Timburr is my main check to stuff like Scraggy because he laughs at all of his attacks besides Zen Headbutt, and can retaliate with Drain Punch+Mach Punch for an easy KO. Sometimes if I'm feeling ballsy I'll even set up a bulk up to make Timburr that much more threatening to the rest of the team. With Staryu running Psychic, Croagunk is usually lured in and killed pretty quickly making one of the few pokemon to resist Dark+Fighting coverage gone easily so Timburr can just sweep through with no problems. I use standard Timburr, but thats all he needs to be effective. With Guts Timburr laughs in the face of troubling mons like porygon because even if Tri Attack does get a status on me it just helps Timburr out. The Moveset is what everyone should be running on Timburr because otherwise the other fighting types will usually do a better job, Bulk Up boosts his Attack and Defense to ridiculous levels that simultaneously make him more threatening both offensively and defensively if Timburr manages to pick up a status 1 Bulk Up gives him +2 making his Mach Punch incredibly dangeous for anything to face off against. Drain Punch is his main STAB and lets him hit for amazing damage while giving him a ton of health back at the same time. Mach Punch is incredible Priority that lets me pick off faster opponents that are trying to OHKO Timburr and weakened opponents in the lategame. Payback rounds out Timburr's coverage by giving him near perfect attacking power and giving him an option against the psychic types that plague him. The EVs are also standard giving him a combination of great Special Bulk and decent Attack to start boosting off of. Timburr is one of my favorite mons in LC and he helps make an incredible defensive backbone on this team.
Ellen Robbins(Staryu)@ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Nature: Timid
EVs: 36 HP | 200 SpA | 240 Spe
-Hydro Pump
-Psychic
-Rapid Spin
-Recover
Staryu doesn't really do much for my team besides one thing: Spinning. Now thats not to say its job isn't important, because it is. Without Staryu, Murkrow and Snover would both be in big trouble. Stealth Rock is easily the most common hazard around and with it being a tutor move now its readily available on a lot more pokemon. Staryu is easily the best Spinner in LC as none of the common spin blockers really like switching into it for fear of a STAB Hydro Pump taking off a big chunk of their HP. Staryu is easily the most important member of this team and I treat it as such when playing. I keep Staryu away from action until it has its opening to spin hazards, once its done that and I know the opposing hazard setter is dead I play Staryu more aggressively, throwing around Hydro Pumps and Psychics until it faints, allowing something else to come in for free and set up. Staryu's moveset and EVs are pretty much what everyone runs with the exception of Psychic over Thunderbolt. I chose Psychic over Thunderbolt because its got more utility for this team. While opposing water types aren't really that big of a problem, Croagunk is annoying to the team so being able to lure him out and KO him with a quick Psychic is really handy. Hydro Pump is obligatory STAB and hits pretty hard against anything that doesn't resist it. Rapid Spin is for obvious reasons and Recover helps Staryu stay healthy to keep spinning throughout the match. The EVs are that of normal Staryu, giving it decent bulk while allowing it to hit fairly hard and giving it max Spe to outrun most of the metagame to get off a quick Recover or Spin. All in all Staryu helps keep this team together fantastically.
Edward Hopper(Magnemite)@ Choice Scarf
Ability: Magnet Pull
Nature: Modest
EVs: 240 SpA | 240 Spe
-Thunderbolt
-Volt Switch
-Flash Cannon
-Hidden Power[Fire]
Magnemite on this team is just kind of...there. I needed a revenge killer and as I was running through my options I realized I really didn't have anything to resist certain attacks well like Murkrow's Sucker Punch so I decided to use Magnemite. He helps anyways because he traps random steels so Snover can spam Blizzard and Murkrow can spam his STABs without worry of anything resisting them. He also provides me with something that can reliably revenge a lot of the metagame with an extremely powerful STAB in both Thunderbolt and Flash Cannon. Resisting common priority moves really helps him out too because it means even at lowered health he's still going to be pretty useful in the lategame. Magnemite's moves are pretty easy to read into: Thunderbolt is his best option for Primary STAB and it hits incredibly hard against so many of the big threats in the metagame. Volt Switch is a move that provides incredible utility and keeps offensive momentum on my side to keep up pressure on my opponent. Flash Cannon is great Secondary STAB and provides me with something to hit the ground types who are immune to Thunderbolt. Hidden Power[Fire] rounds out the set by giving me something to use against the steels who resist thunderbolt and other random stuff thats weak to it like grass types trying to come in on a predicted electric move. The EVs are simple, they max out SpA and Spe as most Choice Scarfers do. Magnemite provides a fairly bulky and useful Scarfer for this team and is a great asset. He is still probably the most replaceable member of this team.
Vincent Van Gogh(Murkrow)@ Life Orb
Ability: Insomnia
Nature: Naive
EVs: 240 Att | 80 SpA | 188 Spe
-Brave Bird
-Sucker Punch
-Dark Pulse
-Heat Wave
Life Orb Murkrow is easily the most threatening thing in Little Cup. It has retardedly high mixed offense stats and the magic speed number to match it. He just destroys everything, when playing him I just select the appropriate move and watch as something on the opposing team dies. He works especially well with Magnemite's Volt Swith and Snover's Blizzard weakening everything so he can come in and clean up whatever is left. Often times I bring Murkrow out in the midgame and let him run rampant until he either faints or I win. In the case that he faints, he's usually weakened the opposing team enough that I can simply spam priority and win the game. In other cases I'll have the rest of my team soften the opponent's team up and bring Murkrow in during the late game and just clean up whatever is left. This pokemon is just so ridiculously good at killing everything, its only downfall is how incredibly fast it wears itself down between life orb recoil and Brave Bird recoil. I prefer to use Life Orb Murkrow on this team as opposed to something like SubRoost or Eviolite Murkrow because of the sheer raw power of this set. Murkrow's set is pretty standard, with Brave Bird being the main STAB of choice destroying just about anything that doesn't resist it. Sucker Punch provides Murkrow with the strongest Priority in the game and really helps him out against annoying things like Misdrevious and the like. Dark Pulse is used over Hidden Power[Grass] because Dark Pulse hits Slowpoke a lot harder and the damage difference to Chinchou isn't noticeable enough that it warrants a need. Dark Pulse also means I win against Missy a lot easier since I won't have to worry about it subbing or WoWing me on the predicted Sucker Punch, which is really handy. Heat Wave rounds out the set destroying the Steels who would resist my STABs and frying them to a nice clean crisp. The EVs are pretty simple Max Att and Spe with a Naive Nature to ensure I hit that oh so wonderful 19 speed. The rest are dumped into SpA to make Heat Wave and Dark Pulse hard hitting tools as well. Murkrow is easily my favorite pokemon in LC simply because he can perform so many different jobs.
Conclusion
The team has performed well in the games I've used it in and overall I'm really happy with what its done. Chinchou is a bit of an annoyance, but I can usually beat it with smart playing on Snover. Other than that I haven't run into any major threats. Rates are always appreciated as I could be missing some kind of threat that my team is weak too and such. Thanks for taking the time to read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Team Export
The team has performed well in the games I've used it in and overall I'm really happy with what its done. Chinchou is a bit of an annoyance, but I can usually beat it with smart playing on Snover. Other than that I haven't run into any major threats. Rates are always appreciated as I could be missing some kind of threat that my team is weak too and such. Thanks for taking the time to read it and I hope you enjoy it as much as I do.
Team Export
Code:
Andy Warhol (Snover) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Snow Warning
EVs: 36 HP / 180 Atk / 36 Def / 140 SAtk / 36 SDef
Quiet Nature (+SAtk, -Spd)
- Blizzard
- Ice Shard
- Giga Drain
- Protect
Pablo Picasso (Golett) @ Eviolite
Trait: Iron Fist
EVs: 44 HP / 244 Atk / 116 Def / 84 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
Leonardo Da Vinci (Timburr) (M) @ Eviolite
Trait: Guts
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
Edward Hopper (Magnemite) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Magnet Pull
EVs: 240 SAtk / 240 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
Ellen Robbins (Staryu) @ Eviolite
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 36 HP / 200 SAtk / 240 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Psychic
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
Vincent Van Gogh (Murkrow) (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Insomnia
EVs: 240 Atk / 80 SAtk / 188 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Brave Bird
- Sucker Punch
- Dark Pulse
- Heat Wave