Team Styles in Little Cup

There are many different styles of team in Black and White Little Cup, thanks to the introduction of myriad new Pokemon, items, and abilities. This variety has led to a balanced metagame in which many different team styles can work. Sun and stall teams especially have become popular even though they were rare in 4th gen Little Cup.

Stall Teams

Stall teams have boomed with the release of the item Evolution Stone. Now most stall Pokemon can take a hit from a boosted attack comfortably and recover off the damage. The addition of new defensive Pokemon such as Ferroseed has also served to improve stall significantly. A common problem Pokemon that stall faces is Scraggy, who has the ability to destroy teams after a Dragon Dance. As such, many teams have Timburr, Evolution Stone Meditite, or Scarfed Fighting-types to come in and deal with Scraggy.

Ferroseed
item: Oran Berry / Evolution Stone
nature: Careful
evs: 84 HP / 36 Atk / 188 Def / 148 SpD
- Spikes / Stealth Rock
- Seed Bomb / Bullet Seed
- Protect
- Leech Seed

Ferroseed can set up a variety of crap on your opponents. It can suck the life out of them with Protect + Leech Seed. It can set up Spikes and Stealth Rock to make switching a pain in the ass. Ferroseed resists almost every move in the world, except Fire-type moves, so facing one without a Fire-type on your team is basically hell.

Frillish
item: Evolution Stone
ability: Water Absorb
nature: Calm
evs: 236 HP / 196 Def / 76 SpD
- Will-O-Wisp
- Evil Eye
- Recover
- Boiling Water

Frillish is an excellent wall. It's immune to Fighting- and Water-type moves thanks to its typing and ability respectively. It can reduce physical attackers to wimps thanks to Boiling Water and Will-O-Wisp. The ghostly jellyfish also has a good Special Attack stat, which can help it KO Pokemon and make it an offensive threat.

Sun Teams

With the release of Drought Vulpix, sun teams have reached a new high in Little Cup. Typical sun teams contain a few Chlorophyll Pokemon like Bellsprout and Petilil, plus Fire-type Pokemon like Growlithe, Houndour, and obviously Vulpix. The opponent changing the weather is the most severe problem for sun teams. Without the Speed boost, Chlorophyll Pokemon can be easily outsped and killed. Snover does an excellent job of changing the weather, and deals with Chlorophyll Pokemon with Blizzard or Ice Shard.

Vulpix
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Drought
nature: Timid
evs: 52 HP / 196 SpA / 236 Spe
- Flamethrower
- Energy Ball
- Evil Eye
- Hidden Power Ground

This right here is the key to starting a sun team. Vulpix is a decent Pokemon that lets you get sun in play for the whole battle (unless interrupted by another type of weather). Flamethrower boosted by the sun hits like a ton of bricks. It reaches 25 Speed with Choice Scarf, allowing it to revenge kill all non-boosted non-Choice Scarf-wielding Pokemon.

Petilil
item: Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Timid
evs: 108 HP / 200 SpA / 200 Spe
- Solarbeam
- Hidden Power Fire
- Growth
- Sleep Powder

Petilil is a perfect sweeper under the sun. Once it's had a boost from Growth, not many Pokemon are capable of switching in and living. The Pokemon that do survive can easily be put to sleep, giving Petilil time to boost its Special Attack even more. Petilil's cute appearances may also result in the opponent underestimating its power.

Bellsprout
item: Life Orb
ability: Chlorophyll
nature: Jolly
evs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Seed Bomb
- Sucker Punch
- Sleep Powder

Bellsprout is the premier physical sweeper for a sun team. Swords Dance boosts its Attack to a phenomenal level. Sucker Punch can deal with faster opponents, while Seed Bomb is a decent STAB attack. Sleep Powder allows Bellsprout to put any Pokemon that it can't KO out of commission.

Sand Teams

Typically in the past the word 'sand' usually meant 'stall' but that has changed. New sweepers like Drilbur and Sandile have brought a new offensive feel to sand teams. Gligar can be used with Sand Veil to avoid attacks and be an offensive threat in its own right. Sand teams, like sun teams, are weak to changes in weather. If sand is not present, Drilbur can be easily outsped and KOed. Bronzor can cause problems as well since it can wall Gligar and Drilbur for the most part.

Drilbur
item: Life Orb
ability: Sand Rush
nature: Adamant
evs: 48 HP / 212 Atk / 212 Spe
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break
- Swords Dance

This set allows Drilbur to hit every popular Pokemon in Little Cup neutrally. Swords Dance helps you break down stall teams. Brick Break allows you to stop any dual screen schemes. It reaches 32 Speed in the sand, outspeeding all Pokemon in Little Cup, not to mention an impressive 19 Attack without even a Swords Dance boost.

Lileep
item: Evolution Stone
ability: Suction Cups
nature: Relaxed
evs: 228 HP / 140 Def / 140 SpD
- Curse
- Recover
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Lileep is probably the most annoying Pokemon in Little Cup. In the sand, it can take a variety of hits, Curse up, and then recover the HP lost. Rock Slide stops it from being Taunt bait. Toxic Spikes support really helps the set since it can lower the opponent's HP fast in conjunction with sand damage and Protect.

Offensive Teams

Offensive teams have been affected by the new things introduced this generation as well. The majority of teams are becoming bulkier thanks to Evolution Stone. Some offensive team staples are Scraggy, who can destroy stall, and Gligar, who helps cover Scraggy's shortcomings and stops a ton of threats. Other common staples are Misdreavus, Meditite, and Murkrow. Common problems for offensive teams are Trick Room teams which turn offensive teams' high Speed into a grave disadvantage. Evolution Stone's introduction has meant that defensive Pokemon can now survive a sweeper's assaults and retaliate for a KO.

Scraggy
item: Evolution Stone
ability: Moxie / Shed Skin
nature: Jolly
evs: 156 HP / 76 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 212 Spe
- Drain Punch
- Ice Punch
- Crunch
- Dragon Dance

Scraggy can destroy teams easily if they aren't prepared enough for it. Shed Skin allows it to be cured from status, or you can choose Moxie to get a boost in Attack after each kill. Drain Punch, Ice Punch, and Crunch give it good coverage against most teams. Evolution Stone allows you to survive some STAB attacks.

Other Teams

There are a variety of other team styles that can work in the metagame. Rain teams are still useful and a surprise to most opponents. New Pokemon with Swift Swim, like Tympole, help to make rain teams stronger and able to break through Evolution Stone-filled teams. Trick Room teams can defeat teams using sand and sun that focus on boosting Speed; unfortunately, it doesn't help against stall. Hail teams are quite disruptive to the opponent's team's strategies. This is thanks in no small part to Snover's ability to stop any weather and summon Hail. Hail teams can be played offensively or defensively. Defensive Hail teams use Hail to lower the opponent's HP and usually rely on Protect. Offensive Hail involves Choice Specs and Choice Scarf Pokemon firing off powerful 100% accurate Blizzards at the opponent.

So go play the most diverse yet balanced metagame around and test all sorts of team style!

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