Sectonia
But I set fire to the rain
So 350 cup is a cool metagame that I've had fun building and then playing some games for recently, even if Pawniard and Cranidos have been a huge pain in the ass for me to deal with. My advice for this is to run enough speed to outspeed max speed Pawniard, or around 96+ EVs for base 140s, if they're defensive, as 96+ allows for outspeeding Pawniard, and conveniently gets Cranidos too. Unfortunately, Vibrava is the only pokemon I can think of that would care for outspeeding both. Regardless, Vibrava can handle having more speed to deal with Pawniard, since it doesn't see a significant drop in bulk compared to 252 HP / 252+ Def bulk.
Vibrava @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn / Toxic
- Roost
- Defog
- Earthquake
That being said, I think Vibrava is a great pokemon in the current metagame. It's a nice Groudon-Primal check, and checks Cranidos decently enough without Sheer Force Ice Beam or Blizzard sets (which, I think, are fairly bad moves to be running on Cranidos, as much as they deal with Ground-types, I think Cranidos would mostly be clicking other moves, which it would prefer investment so it can seriously dent resists.) It also deals with Pawniard decently enough, and can overall help with Defogging hazards, as I found it to be rather sturdy in the face of common hazard setters.
On the subject of Pawniard and Cranidos, though, I think something should be done about them, preferably having them be banned from 350 Cup. They are honestly oppressive, and often, if I find that I misplayed and let Pawniard set up for free, it just wins (barring some serious misplays on the Pawniard player's side). As for Cranidos, I find that while I rely on outspeeding it to beat it (I think that Scarf sets aren't that great, and Band or Life Orb sets are better), if it comes in versus something that I don't want to eat a hit from Cranidos, I often find myself hoping it doesn't do enough damage on my physical checks, and trying to KO it before it can do much damage. Pawniard and Cranidos together are a devasting combo, as they can both restrict Defog usage, and put stress on a lot of physical checks. I think the best choice of plan to go around them is to ban them.
Vibrava @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn / Toxic
- Roost
- Defog
- Earthquake
That being said, I think Vibrava is a great pokemon in the current metagame. It's a nice Groudon-Primal check, and checks Cranidos decently enough without Sheer Force Ice Beam or Blizzard sets (which, I think, are fairly bad moves to be running on Cranidos, as much as they deal with Ground-types, I think Cranidos would mostly be clicking other moves, which it would prefer investment so it can seriously dent resists.) It also deals with Pawniard decently enough, and can overall help with Defogging hazards, as I found it to be rather sturdy in the face of common hazard setters.
On the subject of Pawniard and Cranidos, though, I think something should be done about them, preferably having them be banned from 350 Cup. They are honestly oppressive, and often, if I find that I misplayed and let Pawniard set up for free, it just wins (barring some serious misplays on the Pawniard player's side). As for Cranidos, I find that while I rely on outspeeding it to beat it (I think that Scarf sets aren't that great, and Band or Life Orb sets are better), if it comes in versus something that I don't want to eat a hit from Cranidos, I often find myself hoping it doesn't do enough damage on my physical checks, and trying to KO it before it can do much damage. Pawniard and Cranidos together are a devasting combo, as they can both restrict Defog usage, and put stress on a lot of physical checks. I think the best choice of plan to go around them is to ban them.