Pre-game Analysis
There was one huge flaw to my preparation for this event: I did not check Smogon's Little Cup ban list. Had I done so, some things on this team might have been a little different, since the things on that list seemed to be top-tier contenders. I mean, Smogon bans things for a reason, and regardless of how valid those reasons are or not (in case it is things that players should learn to work around rather than banning outright), they still created some amazing matches that I loved to play in.A quick stat-sorted search showed Scyther to be the absolute highest Base stat total (500) available to the format, so that choice was a no-brainer. Add in the amazing Technician ability and plenty of moves, including priority moves to choose from, and we have a contestant for Little Cup runner. My following choices included the absolute fastest Pokemon available to the format, Sneasel, and an attempt to fill in other roles like a bulky hitter, a staller, a priority wrecking ball, and an out-of-left-field tech to throw the game on its head. So let's see how we did!
The Team
- Scyther @ Life Orb
- Ability: Technician
- EV: 36 HP / 196 A / 36 D / 236 S
- IV: 31-31-31-xx-31-31
- Jolly Nature
- Aerial Ace
- Bug Bite
- Pursuit
- Feint
- + Highest base-stat total in the format
+ Array of priority moves for different situations
+ Steals berries - - Outpaced by Jolly Sneasel, Choice Scarf and Unburden users
- 4x Rock weakness
- Somewhat predictable - Base Stat Total: 500. Base speed, 105. Aerial Ace and Bug Bite are given as STAB movs that also receive the Technician boost. The only advantage over any other Pokemon is the raw speed, increased by the Jolly nature. It still falls short of Sneasel's speed by a 1 point maximum, but hey it can't be perfect! Pursuit over Knock Off to try to predict switch ins (of which I landed none), and Feint over Vacuum Wave or Quick Attack for the additional priority stage (+2), to land a blow against any Ice Shards and Gale Wing boosted moves. It performed about as I'd expect, though Knock Off may have been a better choice than Pursuit. While Vacuum Wave does hit 4x weakness on Sneasel, I found that at full health, the Sneasel can actually survive it, even without the Sash sometimes. The only other thing I could think of that might have been better is maybe Metal Claw, as a countermeasure to the prevalent Swirlix problem I continued to run into at the higher ranking matches.
- Sneasel @ Focus Sash
- Ability: Inner Focus
- EV: 236 A / 236 S
- IV: 31-31-31-xx-31-31
- Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Ice Punch
- Brick Break
- Fake Out
- + Fastest Pokemon, barring Scarf/Unburden users
+ Sash allows critical revenge-kills
+ Somehow survived Scyther's Vacuum Waves - - Somewhat frail
- Predictable - What Little Cup team would be complete without the fastest Pokemon available to it? One made by Smogon bans. And for clear reason. At it's speed, even Scyther (also banned from that rule set but not from official play) is slower, thus the Jolly nature and full speed investment. Fake Out was great for quick revenge kills or to ensure Focus Sash's won't work. Brick Break dealt well with opposing Sneasel. Some opponents used Low Kick, and I considered it before the tournament, but I figured most things I WOULD use it on were low-weight anyways. Knock Off proved to be killer to enemy strategies, but also to myself from time to time. Apparently, getting rid of enemy items with Knock Off triggers Unburden... oh Swirlix you are the most horrifying thing imaginable. And of course, Ice Punch. OHKO's Scyther almost every time, if not every time absolutely. The only thing I could have done better is somehow including Ice Shard, but that being "better" might be up for debate, as sometimes you just need the raw damage of Ice Punch. The Focus Sash proved most useful in surviving moves from other Sneasel, or from heavy hitters, long enough to land a 2HKO, and even persuade a couple opponents to surrender without finishing the matches. I still managed to get the videos of those matches though!
- Misdreavus @ Choice Scarf
- Ability: Levitate
- EV: 196 D / 156 sa / 76 sd / 76 S
- IV: 31-xx-31-31-31-31
- Modest Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Power Gem
- Dazzling Gleam
- Thunderbolt
- + OHKO Scyther
+ spread and Scarf outspeeds Jolly Sneasel and Scyther
+ Survives first hit nearly every time - - Move locks
- I was about to use Gastly. Great speed, base 100 Special Attack, super diverse move pool, what's not to love? Its bulk. So a friend who doesn't even play competitively reminds me that Misdreavus exists. Lacks poison type, meaning no weakness to Psychic, good. Almost the same special attacking move pool, good. Slightly higher speed base stat and MUCH more HP/Def/SpecD? Amazing. It survives Scyther's Aerial Ace, as well as many other moves that would wreck most things. The interesting thing I found is that Scyther (speed stat 22) and Sneasel (speed stat 23) could be outrun by this monster. A speed stat of 16, achieved with a modest nature and just a few speed EV's, gave a Choice Scarf adjusted speed of 24. Sneasel gets no Fake Out against the ghost and takes big damage from Dazzling Gleam (or KO as a revenge kill), and Scyther gets OHKO'd by Power Gem, which Gastly doesn't even learn.
- Fletchling @ no item
- Ability: Gale Wings
- EV: 156 HP / 196 A / 92 D / 52 sd
- IV: 31-31-31-xx-31-31
- Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Overheat
- U-turn
- Tailwind
- + Priority Acrobatics
+ Catches Honedge and Ferroseed off guard with fire - - Fake Out + Ice Shard Sneasel kills it
- Frail, and kind of a one trick pony... but I probably wouldn't change much about it. It really does its job well when it's used! OHKO's most Scyther, maybe the bulkier ones could survive. Gale Wings gets Acrobatics to wreck the field. Overheat might not get much use, but the chance to burn is always nice, and it did OHKO a Pineco for me once. The other moves are just there since nothing else seemed to fit. Since it was single flat battles, Quick Guard didn't seem nearly as special, and with Gale Wings being the primary use of this little guy, the speed EV's just weren't necessary. Still dies like hell to Sneasel, unfortunately.
- Lickitung @ Rocky Helmet
- Ability: Own Tempo
- EV: 116 HP / 156 A / 156 D / 76 sd
- IV: 31-31-31-xx-31-31
- Brave Nature
- Return
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Aqua Tail
- + Diverse move pool
+ Physical and Special potential - - slow
- Easily became one of my MVP's when I really got into the swing of things. Survived every hit thrown at it, save for STAB fighting moves from the likes of Scraggy and it's kin. Return is the given STAB of its own, though I think I may have forgotten to make sure its friendship was jacked before the tournament. Rock Slide handles Scyther, Earthquake is simply solid power, and Aqua Tail handles the Onix problem I thought I'd see a lot more of than I actually did. The one thing that would have made this better, though? Gyro Ball. A neglected speed IV, combined with Swirlix's Unburden, would have made Licky into a Gyro-spinning-wrecking ball. I just didn't see Swirlix coming. Curse my lack of research and forethought!
- Grimer @ Leftovers
- Ability: Stench
- EV: 196 HP / 196 D / 116 sd
- IV: 31-31-31-31-31-xx
- Impish Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Minimize
- Toxic
- Protect
- + Surprisingly bulky
+ Playing the timer out can win games - - Didn't account for Scyther's Aerial Ace
- Luck based (Shadow Sneak + Stench Flinch & evasion) - My least used team member, the toxic-staller. I went with Stench because of the chance to flinch an opponent on Shadow Sneak, that I never landed. The ONE game it won for me on the stall was by running the timer down, though I was already on the winning track anyways. However, when planning this Minimize user, I had briefly forgotten two things: Scyther's Aerial Ace, and Sneasel's Knock Off. Since most teams had at least a Scyther OR a Sneasel, Grimer was really just a liability that never got used. Either swapping Grimer's use to be a stalling wall that attacked, or trading it out for my own demonic cotton ball, would have won me a lot more games.
Post-game Analysis
30 wins, 15 losses3 losses day 1, Rating 1600ish
4 losses day 2, Rating 1700ish
8 losses day 3, sad face.
As you can see, I started out really well. Learning the ropes of my team's mechanics and predicting pretty well... up until day 3. This was when I started seeing a LOT of Swirlix. I saw a couple before hand, and even beat one or two, but by day 3 I was playing against people in the upper 1600's and 1700's, meaning I was against people who knew how to win with them. As I stated above, a Gyro Ball on Lickitung, Metal Claw on Scyther, and more offense on Grimer (or replacing it with my own Swirlix) would have won me more matches on the last day. In retrospect, I see this being the clear case. My team felt pretty solid, especially being my first experience in Little Cup, ever. But, as I mentioned earlier, I went in without first seeing what Smogon decided to ban from their Little Cup. After all, their bans have reasons, and no matter how bogus I think the reasons are, or what they do to an inherently competitive game, they are a good resource to look at before sizing up what certain official events may have as a standard.
In the end, I had a great time and would like to see more events, or maybe even rebreed my Little Cup team to engeneer them as Lv5 Pokemon that I can use with friends. Since the event auto-scaled Pokemon down to Lv5, I went ahead and got any level up moves I needed, instead of breeding the moves down from a pair of parents. All in all, I'd love to hear thoughts from you all on the Little cup in general.
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