SM LC "Symphony of Destruction" Meowth HO LC Team (Peak #1)

[MK007]

Symphony of Destruction

Hey everyone! MK here with an LC team that I am sure that many LC players have seen on the ladder before. I've been using this team for a couple of months, and recently hit #1 on the ladder with it while the ladder was still young, and hit it again now that it's a bit more developed, so I thought it was a good of a time as any to share. The team is a hyper-offense LC team, and the goal is simple, either eliminate the mons that stop a Dwebble sweep, and sweep with Dwebble, or batter the team down with offensive pressure. The team is named "Symphony of Destruction" after one of my favorite Megadeth songs, and because the name is fitting for such a offensive team.

The Team

Meowth @ Life Orb
Ability: Technician
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpA / 196 Spe
Nature: Lonely(+Atk -Def) / Jolly
- Fake Out
- Feint
- Double-Edge
- Water Pulse

Meowth is an amazing pokemon and one of my personal favorites in LC. It is unmatched as a revenge killer with access to STAB Fake Out + Feint with a Technician boost, and also works as a great Anti-Lead against Onix, Hazard Dwebble, and Mienfoo. Fake Out + Feint alone can KO almost any scarfer that doesn't resist normal, and Fake Out + Double-Edge can do a lot of damage to anything 17 speed or slower. Most people choose to run Aerial Ace to hit fighting types, but Double-Edge does just shy of the same amount to fighting types, and also deals a hefty amount of damage to pokemon that aren't weak to flying such as Chinchou, Snubbull, and Mienfoo. With this particular Meowth set you have nothing to hit Steel or Ghost types with so be careful.

neat calcs

236+ Atk Life Orb Meowth Double-Edge vs. 52 HP / 0 Def Vulpix-Alola: 25-31 (119 - 147.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ Atk Life Orb Technician Meowth Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 196 Def Eviolite Mienfoo: 8-9 (38 - 42.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO
(8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 8, 9)
236+ Atk Life Orb Meowth Double-Edge vs. 0 HP / 196 Def Eviolite Mienfoo: 12-16 (57.1 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(12, 12, 12, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 16)
Mienfoo has 21 hp uninvested so it's a pretty high % chance of a KO. This is also the exact same calc for a 0 HP / 180+ Def Mareanie.

236+ Atk Life Orb Technician Meowth Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mienfoo: 12-16 (57.1 - 76.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
(12, 12, 12, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 13, 16)
236+ Atk Life Orb Technician Meowth Feint vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mienfoo: 9-12 (42.8 - 57.1%) -- 12.1% chance to 2HKO
(9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 9, 12)

Guaranteed KO with FO + Feint vs Scarf Mienfoo and many other scarfers.

Doduo @ Life Orb / Choice Scarf
Ability: Early Bird / Tangled Feet
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Nature: Jolly
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- Jump Kick
- Quick Attack

Doduo is an amazing wallbreaker, and one of my 3 ways to deal with Pawniard. With 18 Speed, an incredible moveset, and a Life Orb, Doduo has become one of the best birds of this generation. There isn't much that Doduo can't hit, and it's only outsped by stuff in the 19 speed tier such as Abra and Staryu. A Choice Scarf can also be used on Doduo on this team, you sacrifice a lot of power, but give yourself a definite answer to Adamant +2 Speed Shellder, Modest +2 Speed Bellsprout, and everything in the tier that usually runs a scarf. A Choice Scarf also allows Doduo to function as a late-game sweeper as well.

Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 SpD
Nature: Adamant
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off

Timburr is my psuedo special switchin, and my best way of dealing with Pawniard. This is a pretty standard specially defensive Timburr. It's usually switched into Chinchou or Mag using volt switch or stuff like that. Timburr loves getting burned, as it's guts, and beats a lot of physical attackers 1v1, and is overall a great mon that is essential to this team.

Abra @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Nature: Timid
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball

I LOVE Abra. Abra is, in my opinion, the best Special Attacker in LC. With Abra living a guaranteed hit, and outspeeding 99% of the tier, while also boasting 105 base SpA, it's simply amazing. I run a 4 attacks set for this team, Psychic is obviously a must, Dazzling Gleam hits Vullaby and other dark types that try to switch in, Hidden Power Fighting is purely for Pawniard, and Energy Ball gives solid coverage to hit stuff like Staryu and Drilbur.

Dwebble @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Nature: Adamant
- Shell Smash
- Knock Off
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake

Dwebble is one of the best Shell Smashers in the tier, and the best fit for this team. With the ability to live 3 hits with Sturdy Juice, and a multi hit attack to deal with Sash mons such as Abra and Gastly, Dwebble fits perfectly. Dwebble relies on spin/defog support to utilize Sturdy Juice, so be careful with Vullaby, and you will be rewarded. Dwebble can also be used to hit Pawniard and Grimer-A really hard with Earthquake instead of setting up.

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 236 SpA / 196 Spe / 76 SpD
Nature: Modest
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse
- Heat Wave
- Defog

3 attacks + Defog Vullaby isn't the most common set, and it isn't the best, but it fits this team the best. It gives me a 2nd Special Attacker so physical walls aren't as troublesome, as well as a switchin to some physical attacks,. which gives me 1 special switchin and 1 physical switchin with Timburr. Defog is essential with Sturdy Juice Dwebble, and Doduo on the team, and the other 3 attacks are standard.

Threats

Scarf Magnemite is very tricky to deal with due to it being able to outspeed my whole team, resist Meowth, and living 2 hits. Croagunk beats Timburr and Dwebble 1v1, and I don't have a good switchin for it. Grimer-A is also a big threat due to it's bulk, it's abilty to trap Abra, and the fact that I don't have anything to 1hko it. Knock Off + Priority is very difficult to deal with and Grimer-A and Croagunk both have it. Snubbul is a pain to deal with as well due to hitting both Timburr and Vullaby very hard, being able to steal eviolites, and cripple mons with Thunder Wave. Corphish hits super hard and has super hard hitting priority. It beats Timburr 1v1 and basically is guaranteed to get a kill whenever it comes in.

Importable

http://pastebin.com/gwgQRYwm

Shoutouts!

shoutouts

Jox
Plas
Howl
Nem
MBY
Viper
Groot
Fille
Allstar

You guys are the best and are always cheering me on and are an amazing group to be around. We've had a ton of fun making jokes and battling. You all are amazing.

Proof of Peak

 

[Midnight Howl]

Pretty good team friend! I love your HO style, it's so fun to watch and play in my opinion, so you deserve this #1 now it's time to keep it :P
Hope we can keep playing for long as I have lots of fun with all the MDL guys while I learn lots of things and who knows, maybe we're both playing on LCPL soon (? xD

 

[sam-testings]

Hello!

So i already had a long discussion with you about this, but since you refuse to change your mind, that double edge is probably staying double edge. But for this rates sake, change Double Edge to Aerial Ace on Meowth. Less recoil, Aerial Ace allows you to nab some nice KOs on bulky grasses and fightings etc etc. But since you never listen to me that change is probably not happening. Also in an ideal world, I would replace Meowth, but since this is the "star" of your team I will leave it, but I would personally use Offensive Staryu over it as it is also a very fast, hard hitting mon that can also get rid of hazards which this team really wants due to it having a Doduo.

I don't understand what Tangled Feet is doing on this when Early Bird is really good, allowing you to absorb Foongus Spores and other sleep inducing moves and wake up 1-2 turns later. Tangled Feet is quite useless as there aren't too many moves that can confuse you in LC. Since its Quick Attack, I would just use Life Orb and replace Knock Off with Return as you want the power with LO. (also gonna assume that those are 236 spe evs and not spd and thats a typo).

I would change the EVs on Timburr to 196 Atk / 156 Def / 156 Spe as this allows you to hit super hard and take full advantage of Timburrs power. More Atk allows you to power through stuff like Grimer-Alola and Croagunk better as they take a good amount switching in. I would also replace Bulk Up with Poison Jab. This helps with your Fairy-type problem, as this team has no real way to deal with them, as you mentioned later on in your post.

Dwebble is far from the best Shell Smasher in the tier, and I would even say that it isn't even the top 3 smashers in the tier. It really doesn't do enough damage to muscle past a lot of Pokemon, especially Fighting-types such as Timburr and Mienfoo who can both check it quite well. Additionally, you do not have a solid source of Hazard control to keep Stealth Rock and Spikes from breaking your Sturdy, making it unreliable at best. With all that in mind, I would suggest changing this to Shellder. Shellder is quite bulky naturally, and when holding Eviolite can tank one hit from nearly anything in order to set up. Additionally, you still have a multi hit move, allowing you to get past Focus Sash's and Sturdies which is quite helpful. Shellder can also deal with Fighting-types, which Dwebble really can't deal with. Shellder overall is just a better Shell Smasher than Dwebble, especially with Fletchling nerfed.

Shellder Set

Shellder @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 Spe
Impish Nature
- Shell Smash
- Icicle Spear
- Rock Blast
- Razor Shell

Special Vullaby without Nasty Plot is very weak and fails to net KOs on many, many mons that it needs to KO. Heck, it barely fits the team the best either as your team before all these changes really wanted consistent Hazard removal, especially with Dwebble. If you decided to not change Meowth as I mentioned above, chances are you will just not have Hazard Removal as you really need a check to Fighting-types, Water-types, and Electric-types which can be very irritating to this team. As such, I would replace Vullaby with Foongus. Foongus is very good and checks a lot of Pokemon that you mentioned were annoying this team, as well as checking Fighting-types such as Mienfoo and Timburr which are everywhere. Additionally, it can put a Pokemon to sleep, which is always nice and useful. It also lures in Pawniard which is always nice, as once Timburr is gone you have a lot of trouble with it.

Foongus Set

Foongus @ Eviolite
Level: 5
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 124 HP / 160 Def / 160 SpD
Bold Nature
- Spore
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Hidden Power Fighting

Hope this rate helped you!

 

[MK007]

Hi sam!

Thanks for the input!

Meowth with Aerial Ace does have its benefits. I simply prefer double edge. One of the biggest kills double edge has in the current meta is on Vulpix-A. Thats huge. Aerial Ace does do a hair more to foo and foon tho. I simply prefer hitting a wider range with this particular team, and most of my more offensive minded teams in general.

You're right I did make a typo on Doduo's evs. Ill fix that next time im on my computer (mobile atm). Tangled Feet on doduo was idk. Ive never had it put to sleep so its not a big deal but ive never had it confused either.

Ive considered shellder for dwebble for a while, and may still try it. Shellder gives me snother weakness to scarf mag however, and cant harm it either so idk. It might work with foongus. Its something I'll definitely try soon. Something along the lines of shellder/foongus/doduo/staryu/munch/timburr maybe.

Special Vull is weak, I know. Ive considered and tried alternative hazard removal such as staryu and sandshrew-a many times. The thing about vull is it gets the speed boost and checks foo/timburr better than any other hazard setter while also having the widest range of coverage. It certainly deals with ferroseed easier than any other hazard remover and anything else on this team. There isn't a day that goes by where I don't wish vull was stronger, but its not and thats life. I lose more than I gain by tossing vull.

Timburr is already max attack. I have considered adding speed and running the set you suggested though. I may still do that, but not while serenes team is running rampant in lc. Right now timburr lives a frillish water spout. The suggested set does not.

Again thanks for the input, and ill definitely try the of the suggestions though.

Edit : Early Bird yeah is better and more useful. Also your suggestions worked btter than dundies

 

[MK007]

Thanks for the rate Dundies!

Scarf chou is definitely an option thst gives me a solid revenger and momentum gainer. I think for this team defensive chou might fit better there tho as it will create more momentum and stick around longer. Its something I'll try

Dwebble to shrew like you said takes away the HO. Shrew is bulky but really slow. It does give an alternate hazard removal tho. That and defensive Vull would def be a solid defensive core with shrew covering the electric hits for vull. It does give me an issue with ice beam Staryu or 17 speed apix however.

Overall these are good suggestions thst mske the team better, but they make me have nothing to kill apix but timburr and meowth and nothong to deal with a shrew under hail or scarf. Given that the former is fairly common and the latter is somewhat prevalent in the current meta it does give me some concerns. Maybe scarf or bj mag instead of chinchou could help patch that. Might try mag/shrew/def vull comr to think of it. Or possibly evio drilbur over shrew for a little more power and speed. Very noticeable drop in bulk there though.