XY LC Kaleidoscope

[GlassGlaceon]

Kaleidoscope

Hey everyone, Glass here with another LC RMT. Now that the LC Open is done, it's about time I posted this team. This whole team all started out as a group roombuild with a bunch of other LC guys who wanted to get far in the LC Open but didn't have many, if any teams. That being our motivation, I still didn't expect anything tremendous out of this team, just a team that was good enough to get by. But what came from this teambuild came to be the strongest team I've had the pleasure of building, and it helped get Obvious Power to round 6 of the LC Open, helped get chimpact his 2nd win in the LC Open Finals, as well as myself to
win Lost Cave.

Now that introductions are through, I bring you Kaleidoscope:
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First Look:

In-Depth:

Pawniard (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
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Swords Dance Pawniard was what we had all decided to base the team around, and boy has it not disappointed. Pawniard makes an incredible late-game sweeper, and is very easy to set up versus almost any playstyle with it's plethora of resistances. Now while it may seem odd on a stall team, Pawniard serves the role of being fletchling check #1, a win condition versus other stall teams while also serving the role of deterring the opponent's use of defog thanks to its ability, Defiant. If you defog, you have a +2 pawniard to deal with, and if you don't, you continue to let hazard damage rack up on your team. Moveset and EVs are pretty standard, daul dark STAB over brick break because I have ways of beating opposing pawniards and sucker punch priority comes into play way too often to give up, such as versus weakened offensive mienfoo, trubbish, and other 17+ speed mons.

Spritzee (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy

Spritzee is the cleric and fighter check of the team, and has great synergy with Pawn, resisting fighting and beating every common fighter not named croagunk (who I'll cover later). Spritzee just stops most of the common fighters that would love to run through this team such as scraggy, Life Orb Mienfoo, Bulk Up timburr, and other stallbreaking threats. Spritzee is here to increase the total longevity of the team more than something like snubbull would by passing wishes, healing the team with aromatherapy, and just being fat and pink. Spritzee's moveset is standard cleric fare, helps heal Mienfoo and ferro, who don't have reliable recovery, and it also forms a nice core with ferros typing-wise.

[00:17] GlassGlaceon: what else should i say about spritzee
[00:17] Obvious Power: it clicks wish and does stuff

Hippopotas (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 5
EVs: 132 HP / 20 Atk / 212 Def / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind / Rock Slide
- Stealth Rock

At this point we realized we were super weak to fire in general, so we filled this teamslot with Sunbeater Hippo to take on sun and pony. Unfortunately, Hippo doesn't take on pony nearly as well as it should with a Mixed defenses, and we eventually changed it to a mostly physically defensive spread. Sun is not nearly enough of a problem to the point where it's worth being weak to pony and one of stall's biggest problems, LO Pawniard. The Physically Defensive spread can take up to a +2 Adamant Life Orb Pawniard Knock Off after rocks and +2 Jolly Life Orb iron head from full w/out eviolite, and ohko in return with earthquake. Hippo switches in on pony and larvesta, takes minimal damage from flare blitz, limits their recovery, and can either slack off to heal itself, setup rocks, or whirlwind if it already has hazards up. Rock Slide can be used in the place of whirlwind if you really feel the need to Hit Fletchling and Archen, which is occasionally more useful than whirlwind. Stealth Rock is stealth rock, e-z chip damage along with sand allows you to wear opposing teams down handily. this thing also handles croagunk, who can be sorta annoying to this team

Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 5
EVs: 84 HP / 36 Atk / 188 Def / 148 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Bullet Seed
- Leech Seed

Ferroseed is the team's other hazard setter, and this thing puts in work. Ferroseed's moveset is very customizable, and I run the TWave variant over the protect variant for a variety of reasons. Thunder Wave Cripples Pony and larvesta, common switch ins to ferro and minor problems to the team. It's also very helpful for Tauntfoo switchins, so that pawniard won't need to worry about speed and kill late-game at +2. Thunder wave just allows me to cripple most offensive switchins to ferro. Bullet seed is the attacking move of choice to break things like sub Elekid and Diglett behind a sub. Gyro Ball would be counterproductive alongside TWave and iron head makes it much harder to take down chinchou, something this thing counters. Leech Seed allows even more chip damage along with spikes, SR, and sand, all the while giving ferro passive recovery. Ferro just generally walls a ton of various crap with its fantastic typing, like staryu, chinchou, porygon, titrouga, omanyte, etc.

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 156 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird

Vullaby is the standard defogger of the team, the backup fighting check, and a check for Abra. The set we're running runs a bunch of special defense just so it isn't 2HKod by sashbra's Dazzling Gleam most of the time, and so it can take Foongus' sludge bombs a bit easier than the fully physically defensive set. Vullaby was also another reason why hippo was switched to physically defensive; Vullaby takes on sun very nicely, with Bellsprout spamming sleep powder. Vullaby is also another mon who lures in walls and bulky mons like Spritzee and Chinchou, knocks them off, and makes them much easier to break down. Vullaby is also one of my primary ways of beating Pawniard, as it should knock off pawn on the switch-in to effectively neuter it by removing its item. Defog is there to make sure this team doesn't get worn down by hazards. The reason i chose a defogger over a spinner was because it's pretty easy to set hazards back up, and most spinners are too frail for stall :/.

Mienfoo (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge / Taunt
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Mienfoo is really the heart of the team, providing momentum with u-turn, knocking off items, and checking a plethora of threats to this team. Fastfoo was used over bulky foo specifically for Pawniard who can sweep through this team when weakened, and fastfoo can outspeed and revenge any non-scarf Pawniard, which can be a big threat to the team if it gets up a swords dance or if it gets defogged into defiant. Stone Edge can be run if you really hate Larvesta and Fletchling, but taunt can also be used if you're really paranoid about allowing too much pressure on Vullaby. The rest of foo's set is standard foo fare. Drain punch for recovery, knock off for utility, u-turn for momentum-grabbing, and the EV spread allows foo to survive Fletch's acrobatics a majority of the time and bop it in return with stone edge.
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Ending Words
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The end goal of this team is to wear down the opposition with hazards, knock off, and sand damage early game, and be able to stall out or sweep the opposing team late-game. This team is not too hard to pick up and play, but playing defensively in a mostly offensive tier might require a bit of learning and a bunch of trial and error. This team has a nice record as mentioned earlier, helping various players get far in or win various tournaments, even when most people knew the team inside out. A ton of players have had good success with this team, so feel free to try it out! With that being said, there are still some slight annoyances to this team, but none that are completely overwhelming that i know of, and this team has a good matchup versus a majority of teams running around the tier right now.

Here's a threatlist covering the aforementioned slight problems to this team:

Threatlist and how to beat them

1. Ponyta and Larvesta - First and foremost, get up hazards and preserve hippo. That is by far the easiest way to handle these fire-type annoyances, and if you do that, you wont have much of a problem. Knocking off their eviolites with one of the 3 mons that have it make this job a ton easier as well, and paralyzing it with Ferroseed makes them a ton less threatening, as you can attack them first and do big damage.

2. Pawniard - Never use defog on Pawniard with Vullaby until you have knocked off his item. Knock off on the switchin with Vullaby, because Life Orb Pawniard is way too threatening to just give a free Defiant Boost. Keep Mienfoo healthy, or paralyze it with Ferroseed to make this 100 times easier.

Here's an importable of the team if you wanna test it yourself:

Kaleidoscope

Pawniard (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head

Spritzee (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Aromatherapy

Hippopotas (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Sand Stream
Level: 5
EVs: 132 HP / 20 Atk / 212 Def / 100 SpD / 20 Spe
Impish Nature
- Slack Off
- Earthquake
- Whirlwind
- Stealth Rock

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 156 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roost
- Defog
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird

Mienfoo (M) @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Ferroseed @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Barbs
Level: 5
EVs: 84 HP / 36 Atk / 188 Def / 148 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Spikes
- Thunder Wave
- Bullet Seed
- Leech Seed

Replays​

Here are some replays showing the team in action:

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-162869601 Glass vs Heysup
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-161584735 Glass vs fitzy72
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-161908346 Glass vs macle
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-161272103 Glass vs Artemisa
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gold-lc-2470 Glass vs Corporal Levi
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-165866645 Obvious Power vs The Quasar
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-161236309 Obvious Power vs El-Soldier
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-161231477 Obvious Power vs El-Soldier 2
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-157710729 Obvious Power vs Tesung
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-lc-24016 chimpact vs Calloflochie LC Open Finals :]

Shoutouts and Conclusion
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Shoutout to everyone who helped build this team: zeriloa Obvious Power and Tahu (probably more people but you prolly didnt contribute enough to it :@) Shoutout to KratosMana for bein my protégé and lettin me test with you to snackwrap some nubs in the open ez :]. Shoutout to chimpact for bein a youtuber and winnin the open like a chimp champ and to Corporal Levi for helping me test this team and just bein an LC pal in general. Shoutout to atomicllamas o.o (quick shoutout to the sidewalks for keepin me off the streets too)

Thanks for taking the time to read this RMT everyone, hope you all enjoyed it!​

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[Calloflochie]

Ok Glass you told me to come here and post so I spose I will.

First off, to improve the team I would suggest you looking at this comment HERE. This advice is without a doubt the best way to improve a team made by user: GlassGlaceon. As for a rate, you obviously know how hard Ponyta is to deal with. Particularly Sunny Beam Ponyta, which when backed by Knock Off support, can literally put this team in the dumpster. You could try something like Archen over Hippo to deal with this problem but idk how well that would work, i'd honestly wait for the LC raters to give you a more comprehensive rate. Regardless, this team is pretty good, especially when it flinches my Vullaby twice hehe bwoi,,, But nevertheless a pretty solid balance/semi stall team in LC post Missy meta :]

Nice job fren.

 

[Corporal Levi]

I would like to suggest changing Vullaby's nature to Careful. This will allow it to hit Eviolite numbers; the boost in Special Defense will, most notably, drastically reduce the chance of Life Orb Gastly's Sludge Bomb 2HKOing, as well as Timid Magnemite's Thunderbolt OHKOing after Stealth Rock.
As for lochie's suggestion of Archen over Hippopotas, it looks like a bit of a toss-up; Hippopotas better checks Bellsprout, Pawniard and Magnemite, but Archen deals with Fletchling and of course Sunnybeam Ponyta more easily, so either could work. If you do keep Hippopotas, a spread of 132 HP / 20 Atk / 212 Def / 100 SpD / 20 Spe hits Eviolite numbers and will help in allowing Hippopotas to more frequently avoid the 2HKO from Modest Magnemite's Flash Cannon. Mienfoo should be enough to cover SD Pawniard and most of them are Jolly regardless.
Regardless, this is easily one of the best post-missy teams out there

 

[Yagura]

Hey there Glass this is clearly one of the best post-Misdreavus teams I've seen, covering literally all of the threats in the meta I can't really see any notable flaws except, like you mentioned, Special Ponyta but you can easily play around it.

First of all I agree with Levi's suggestion and I'll add that running an 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe spread on Pawniard will be a wiser idea, basically that spread is the best to run on Eviolite Pawniard especially the Swords Dance variants as it allows you to hit an Eviolite number which decreases the chance of getting OHKOed by Croagunk's Vacuum Wave and lowers the chance of getting 2HKOed by BJ Chinchou's Hydro Pump, the only drawback is that you can't straight OHKO Eviolite Drilbur with +2 using Sucker Punch.

Like I said this team is too solid and covers the whole threats in LC so I couldn't help much, great team and greater user :)

 

[GlassGlaceon]

Thank you both for the rates, Calloflochie Corporal Levi, and Yagura . I'll respond to them in that order

I don't consistently see sunny beam pony enough to change my slot with hippo, but thanks for bringing that to light. I have played around sunnybeam about twice before, and it involved me not immediately switching in hippo to pony once I knew the set. It can be very problematic if plyed well, thanks for bringing that back to light. also lochie

Levi, the EV master n_n. I'll definitely change vullaby's nature as it doesn't lose out on anything too notable with the change and I like that mixed hippo spread that doesn't really affect it's physical bulk, looking at the rolls so I'll be adding both changes. Ty fren for the Spreads, glad you liked the team n_n

Yagura, I would normally use that pawniard spread gladly, but I have things to cover both chinchou and croagunk trying to revenge me. Croagunk is also very easy to wear down, so I'll normally try to do that first before setting up unless a defiant boost happens in which case I won't normally need to survive vacuum wave. Drilbur is also potentially a problem to this team, especially after a swords dance, so I'll need all the power i can get behind the sucker punch. thanks for the rate and kind words though n_n