Okay, you have pretty much won this match already. The opponent´s +0 timburr, his last mon is at 20% health and your Larvesta at 40% health can easily KO. You switch it in and... dafuq just happened? Why have you suddenly... oh, damnit. If you are more ofthen than not on the losing end of this situation, this guide is for you. In here, you will learn the basics of hazards in LC and how to counter them. Tf you are on the winning end of the situation more often than not... then we hate you. We all do. Okay, first up is some Stealth on the Rocks. SR: Sr is the most popular hazard for three good reasons: first, it has a high distribution, seeing as it has been tutored in both 4th and 5th gen as of BW2 (well, in 4th gen it was a TM, but you all know what I mean). This means that it is easier to fit on most teams, as even dedicated offensive teams have a moveslot to use on this. Secondly, it only needs to be layed once, a unique trait amongst entry hazards, which makes them more desirable for teams who have problems against spinners (read: no ghost type) or for teams whose hazard setter is frailer or is not going to be in as often. Last but not least, it is a very good check against several strategies, such as hail teams (sand teams tend to carry many potential SR users and no real snover check) and volt-turn cores (however, Mienfoo is actually resistant so you need to be careful). SR´s best users: Bronzor Bronz. Everybody knows him and most people find him to be a big lump of metal. That being said, he is your best bet for SR support. His sturdy defenses in both sides of the spectrum, alongside his steel typing with levitate and even a psychic typing so that he is only fire weak, will allow him to set Sr in a consistent manner, which is compounded by his hazard inmunity (bar SR). Furthermore, he can still keep some semblance of an offensive presence with EQ and Psychic (very weak though). That being said, he suffers from issues. First and foremost, as already mentioned, he has problems with offense. He cannot OHKO even targets he hits for STAB SE adamage (such as 0/0 mien), which means that anything with offensive power will knock him down. Staryu is very good at this, as it´s Scald will 3HKO at worst (not counting burn) under any form of prior damage, and more offensive moves will place the whammy on him. Furthermore, he can spin hazards effectively and, even better, can switch out of toxic status due to Natural Cure. Another issue is the lack of any recovery. He can not gain back any lost HP unless he runs recycle oran berry (hint= mag does it better) or rest ,which makes him very vulnerable to cherry tapping if it comes to that (read hail). That being said, it´s generally strong and sturdy. Golett Golett is one of the mons who gained SR as a new tutor toy, and arguably its best user. High coverage with elemental punches alongside with iron fist, which allows him to hit many targets for strong SE damage, defenses that allow him to tank some hits, mainly physical, a speed stat of 14 at max (11 should be enough) which is enough to outrun common wall spreads, and a ghost typing that allows him to block spins are the best reasons to use him. Okay, I am going to rephrase that sentence. A ghost typing that allows him to block spins were the most common spinner not Staryu, which can 2HKO with Scald (why do people use it, I wonder) and OHKO with any other water move. Not to mention its smexy 19 speed, which is as devastating as it sounds. Furthermore, his ghost type also allows him to be trapped by stunky and Houndour (SE EQ never makes it) as long as they run enough speed, making him a shaky SR user, though one woth more coverage and potency than most. Dwebble First and foremost, for all of the crap I have put Scald through, I use it over other moves with more power for two reasons. 1. The ability to incapacitate many physical attackers in a permanet way, meaning that it can actually use its mehish defenses quite nicely. Second, this thing (not this variant, this thing). okay, into its analysis. This thing has to be designed to be one of the most annoying hazard users in the tier, as access to SR and Spikes, Sturdy and some decent coverage is nt something you will fid every tday. Furthermore, the threat of SS may push peole to make unwise decisions (or switch in their Mienfoo) Hippopotas Psy already worte a huge guide on Hippopotas (let´s do him the wave! The sand wave! Which is also a sand particle, but that´s neither here nor there) and his playstyle so let me just pointout how he works as an SRer. In general, he has no real other options, unless you are a Stockpile freak or happen to realize the huge utility value of Superpower. Therefore, he should reallly be running SR. Furthermore, he is sturdy, very so physically but can even take Chinchu´s hydro once with Eviolite and max EVs/nature (and a Ha Ha to you, trak). However, his typing means he is beaten by Staryu´s Hydro Pump (seriously, that shit is a menace) or Surf (not Scald, though) and sandstorm can be useful or very, very bad (perhaps Sand Rush?). Diglett Diglett, a pokemon whose sole leitmotif is the ability to kill one single mon with its powerrful EQ and arena trap (unless you talk to Trak about the subject matter, thn Diglett is a ridiculously broken force which can 6-0 teams without any set up, and he´ll refuse to tell you how in the grounds of paranoia). Said mon can actualy, however, use it´s typing and ability (Arena Trap) to set up SR. This is because it can lock on choiced electric type attacks (not that there´s many of them), things which cannot hit him or anyithing that would break his common sash without going through it, set up Sr and still fire off a powerful EQ (or Sucker Punch) as well as using the rare but surprisingly deadly memento (mainly for the user, but mix it with some Shell Smash and yopu have instant set up on something able to decimate teams). That being said, it still has weaknesses. Due to its relatively average attack power, it will not be able to KO a lot of the targets it will want to, such as evio 0/0 Mienfo, whilst still being able to set up SR, some of which are able to u-turn. Furthermore, it takes hits like (wet) paper, which means that he will most often than not die if you leave it in the battle, and any common u-turn user either lives through it or is a scarfed flying type that can live through a sucker punch (without, mind you, SR). Finally, any entry hazard, hail or TR will scew up this strategy, as it will either die before setting up Sr or die before landing a hit. However, if you are looking not for an exceptional SR user, but for one that can set it up in a very fast offensive team while still pulling its weight, or just want to show of your Diglett to Trakyan, be aware of it. FYI, Smogon does not include this anywhere. Let us laugh at them for 5 seconds before moving on. Lileep Lileep is one of those oddity mons in that it does a job and it does it very oddly. His natural stat spread screams "Special Tank" but his typing is really mehy for the job. However, he has many desirable traits on an SRer. Most notably, its spread along with Water Absorb allow him to got the last alugh on Staryu (and all of the other ones) as even ice beam fails to 2HKO even when not under sandstorm. Furthermore, he also has Recover, something that Bronz could only dream of, allowing him to set up SR again.. and again... and again.... However, this is not without drawbacks. First and foremost is his vulnerability to Toxic Spikes. This means that he is unable to stay on the field and actually do its job on a consistent manner, and inability to use its attacking boosts to their highest potential sucks. His typing, while being great specially, sucks in the physical department, as mons such as Mienfoo, Mankey and others will be able to exploit the fact that it has to switch out of them in order to either HJK/CC somethng or U-turn to a Stunky to counter your ghost type of choice. Even in the special department, if it loses its eviolite, some strong hits will nail it, such as Snover´s Blizzard. However, Lileep still has the title of most anti-meta SRer, being able to do a lot of damage to common mons used to counter SR quite easily and using its bulk and typing to set up SR in a consistemt manner. Miscleaneous: There are other miscelaneous SR users, most of which are rock/ground types with Sturdy. They are good for one set up, but get utterly pwned against Staryu. If you are to use one, use Phanphy, ehich at least gets Rapid Spin. Anorith also gets some attack power, but should realy be used for other things such as SD as he is easily beaten by Staryu which is an undesirable trait (plus, really, if you want hazards+set up in a set, use Dwebble) and Nosepass is not all that good unless you really need Volt Switch for a reason. Oh, and there is also Turtwig, which has totally no drawbacks and is the best Pokemon evah (/sarcasm) Spikes: So, here you are, quetly enjoying your Stealth on the rocks because you are tough as Steel nails. However, you suddenly a general "not feeling well" sensation and start looking at that guy over there, which you did not notice before but now looks quite seedy. "Damm" is your last thought "my drink has been Spiked" Well, this is not about this kind of spiking, but the more competitive one (if you are interested in the first kind, turn yourself in to a doctor). THis is a great entry hazard, as it affects Pokemon injdependently of typing unless they would not touch the floor in the first place (makes sense till you consider Magnemite, really), and 25% is very valuable in order to reduce the amount of shaky checks to things, as even regenerator mons will notice the damage (they regenerate more than that, but not by much). However, setting it up is quite dificult as it requires three turns, meaning that you need to be able to slow the game enough to set it up, that your potential setter needs to be strong enough to survive until fully set up ( a very difficult task even with Eviolite) and that you absolutely NEED an answer to Staryu (or else you will have wasted three turns). Finally, many of the Pokemons that need to be attrited are levitators, most notably bronzong, or Flying, most notably Vullaby (though that is just an incentive to run SR), so it is unlikely you will run across it in Lc (though nevertheless just as deadly when you do). However, do not let up discourage you from using them; just remember that, in Spikes, you need to make every set up count. Notable users: Budew: Those who have used wall Budew before will tell you a story of how much it sucks. Sure, it has decent defensive stats, sleep powder and a toxic inmunity, but it also suffers from a lack of reliable or decent recovery (only natural cure rest), a lack of offensive power and, let´s face it, entire outclassedness by Foongus, which does everything he does only with better bulk in general, Spore, no notable movepool illegalities and Regenerator, which is better than Natural cure. Those who have used spiking Budew, on the other hand, have a story to tell about how absolutely amazing it is on its chosen role, with its formerly subpar defenses being up to the task now, its ability to beat Staryu unless caught with Psychic on the switch and so on. Its first issue is the illegality of Spikes+Sleep Powder, which removes it from what would have otherwise been its mostm powerful support tool. The lack of offensive püower still hurts, as it cannot OHKO Staryu with Giga Drain if said Staryu carries an Eviolite or heavy investment. Staryu can, as previously mentioned, still do a crapload on the switch with Psychic (2HKO top off my head), meaning it has to be handled with care or else it will just roll over and die. Finally, it has common weaknesses to ice, fire and psychic attacks (Houndoum should help here) agaunst which it can do nothing, so your team had better be able to deal with this weaknesses. Overal, Budew is a mon that can spike very well, but only spike, so you´d better be sure you really want a spiker on your team before making it an add on. Shellmet: Ferroseed: Dwebble: Trubbish: Miscelaneous: (TBC)
You should mention spikes, if you can get them up they are lethal, even on a team with 3 regen mons. Also, you have a few spelling mistakes like 'Tf' instead of if and often is spelt wrong. Also add nosepass and onix to the SR setters, onix is fast and can dodge mienfoo's taunt while nosepass has bulk+semi reliable recovery+threatens natu+volt switch+threatens staryu, and anorithe as it can spin too and meinfoo cant taunt it before it SRs and it has knock off cause its pro like that.
This is looking good, just a note though, its really difficult to read so if you could format this better, like bolding section titles and putting spacing between paragraphs.
Im so going to use this against you some day.... Just cause you seem to doubt diglett's power.... He... he.. that opertunity came around faster than expected... And seriously, you think diglett is weak yet you think lileep is a speed demon(also that speed=tank)? Now everyone: Lets laugh at five seconds before moving on. Nah, im just kidding. Dont laugh at the guy, just the first thing i noticed was him disgracing diglet and the fact he called lileep speedy. Also, you point out 'some strong hits will nail it, such as snover's blizzard', now please tell me, what exactly can take a STAB, super effective 120 base power attack WITH and eviolite from anything with a decent attacking stat, including from snover. Also, its still not bronzong, its bronzor :) Now just add onix/nosepass and anorith and i'll be happy. Ok, im done nit picking. For now.
Trak, I wrote that from a Blackberry. At odd hours (OPr was it with people screaming "Pass on the computer" at odd hours? I´ve done bth so...). Go to hell. Also, do not steal my phrasing. If not, you shall earn yourself a powerful enemy with lots of lame jokes at his disposal. Lots of them. Too many. Oh, an this are just the really good ones IMO. I am going to make a miscelaneous section later on. And please, do not flail your Diglet at people.
It's a good thing i lack a sense of humour :) You saying anorith and nosepass suck? Is that it? Well for starters nosepass without any investment at all is more physically bulky than a max defense and plus natured hippo, slowpoke, lileep or ferroseed or bronzor(and has better recovery than the latter two). And anorithe is fast, kewl and can spin as well, plus it hits pretty hard, and knock off, and swords dance, and battle armour, and rock polish, and swift swim, and im gonna keep this up until you add them. Should i even consider googling that to find out what it means? Is this one of those jokes? Urgh, i sense long hours of pondering over what was meant to be a sarcastic remark... I blame red for making me overthink on the internet....
Nosepass is the bulkiest mix bulk pokemon in LC..... also anorithe is better than dweeble cause of instant speed and attack, also spin and knock off and more set up moves. Also, every hazard setter bar ferroseed(which sucks so bad) and lileep(ice beam much? Blizz too when in hail) is beaten by staryu. Also, phanphy has bulky, hp, priority, moves, knock off, roar(great combo to knock off shuffle) but no rapid spin i believe. And as for spikes, mention how they let set up sweepers beat their grounded counters to a pulp. EDIT: a, mag doesnt do it better due to less bulk(unless its that stupid lvl one sturdy recycle spam set which gets ruined by burn/SR/spikes/hail and somewhat worse typing for the meta and, b, bronzor doesnt get pain split, nosepass does. Cause he more pro. Bronzor not pro. End of story. Use nosepass. Objection!(golett) Tell me if i need to explain. And in case you ask me to.... Golett sets SR, staryu comes into spin and say eats and EQ, twiddles its thumbs... er... limbs? for a turn and eats another EQ, OHKOs, spins, recovers and does a flash of its gem for a smile before waving goodbye. The end. Seriously, what are you gonnaa spinblock on? Anyways, its pursuit trappable which makes staryus job all that much easier, not that it could. Err... scratch that. But to make me seem smarter than to have shut down your analayse before reading the next sentence and realising it was sarcasm/a joke/already detected im going to point out this his ghost type also allows him to be trapped by stunky and Houndour (SE EQ never makes it) as long as they run enough speed, making him a shaky SR user, though one woth more coverage and potency than most., they dont need to run any speed at all to outspeed him, they would need a -speed nature in order to speed tie. And who runs that..... anyway? Also you misspelt 'with' in the same sentence i quoted. Yes? I didnt get the joke... Electric attacks choiced, i've actualy run into quite a few recently, probably just a freak acident but its fun to trap meditite who get sick of being walled by slowpoke :) What paranoia? Its just to broken to be exposed upon this young world... And its my secret.... Mine! Anyways, without using my secret wall 2HKOing set and spread diglet still picks apart teams, amazing 20 speed and with a LO it can pick off alot of semi healthy pokemon with some slow u turn support, the going was great untill wayward started using porygon(im gonna acuse him of stealing cause i use that for a bit before the unbans and it makes his victory over diglett seem less remarkable, though i remember doing the same to someone else when i used porygon on my sand team before the unabans) Now since im tired of copy pasting the quote thingies im just gonna say it, sash sucks use LO, memento sucks use a coverage move, suckerpunch sucks use shadowclaw or sub, and i've seen it take snovers ice shard without an eviolite so diglet is obv a tank. A fast. Powerful. Unrealisingly broken. Tank. [/QUOTE] Lileep still has the title of most anti-meta SRer [/QUOTE] you havent been on recently, this is on every second team. Ok, im done again. For now. Again. Epic short sentence. Not so epic now. I still like it. EDIT2: sorry for the absurdly long post, just trying to help polish it up, sorry if im getting annoying. Proof reading is useful, i know as a writer.
- Nosepass does have the best physical mix bulk or w/e but on the long run I would go with hippo anyway. It doesn't have a good recovery move other then Pain Split, all Nosepass is good for is to lure ferroseed out. - Anorith dooesn't get spikes which Dwebble most of the time guarantees. Has Shell Smash one of the best sweeping moves as you should already know. Dwebble has sturdy which alows it to live a move that can 1HKO him. Anorith has knock off yes, but there are other better users for it, it has Rapid Spin yes still outclassed by others. If it had 19 speed then it would be good since thats the "magic number". - You forgot Shelmet a poke that doesn't lose to Staryu. - Also about the stealing Porygon thing. "If you're not using a certain move, or a certain pokemon because it would be "copying" someone else's idea and not it being an original creation, that's idiotic."
Artemisa: Most of your points make sense. To be honest, though, I had not written Shellmet simply because I most often see him under the Spikes department (nver seen him run SR) and, if you run SS onb Dwebble, you should run SR as it cannot afford to spend tha many turns. Trak: I was refering to 14 speed Golett, which I ran, and could trap all of the slower trapers. The joke was about the 120 base power attack survival thing. Staryu takes a lot from his Thunder Punch (if Golett runs Iron Fist). To be honest I have not been playing the meta much as I am in, as I mentioned, Germany. Oh, and there are other spinners, I am getting there. Different Diglett moves ahve different merits and demerits. Sucker punch is good to counter other sucker punches and some of the evry fast scarfers. Sash is very good for the purpose of SR (hint: this guide is about SR) and even then I find it better in general as it means it does not dies to scarf users as much. Memento allows the set up of SS Shellder. And the Ice Shard you took was my snover´s. Scarfed. Minimum attack. hindering nature (not that it gets a lot more to run). Oh, and if you are to be my proofreader (before I forget, I am also a writer), there are two conditions. 1. Send me all corrections you have over through either PO PM or Mail. commenting is fine but do not coment walls of text. 2. I get to be yours.
Ik Lisalo I was talking to Trak there because he said every hazard setter bar Ferro and Lileep lose to Staryu my bad @Lisalo.
Edit: broke down text wall Edit2: it's still a text wall, cant erase anymore without erasing the text, man i love the fact i figured out how to multiquote.
-After it takes a +1 Drain Punch what happens? You can't KO it and if you try to put status on itthen shed skin kicks in. Also what if it has Hi Jump Kick? Did you do calcs on both natures? Magnemite is better. -Mienfoo is a better.knock off-er, I will explain later if you can't see it. Anorith can't live a super.effective attack doesn't have sturdy a good ability which dweeble possesses, loses to staryu, it's not fast enough to do anything imo, like I said before if it had 19 it would better. Lastly it's to fragil for it to continue setting up SR. -Shellmet is bad, but Nosepass and Anorith are good.... What?
Well, it is kinda because you need to set spikes in one go and SR multiple times. Shellmet is vulnerable to all hazards.
If you have ever played against waywardwind before the retest you'd know how awesome anorith can be. Nosepass and shelmet are both good. Nosepass. An run an excellent set of twave/rock slide/volt switch/sr or eq. Great for crippling then gaining momentum. Try it. Then hate. Shelmet is a bit harder to run as is crippled by taunt, has a weak stab, etc, but is still a great abuser of shell armor. Counters scraggy and can end game sweep if you know how to play him. Or you can get creative and make use of final gambit. I've used it before and gotten 2-3 layers or spikes plus a kill. You'd be surprised by what can work in LC. Even turtwig can make a great SR plus leech seeder and has more reliable recovery han ferro even if it has worse typing and stats
Wobb, anorith is awesome but not for the purpose of Sr, for other ones. Mosepass is kinda mehy, seeing as it has low speed and is raped by powerful water attacks, though volt switch is a plus I find hard to ignore. Shellmet has a mentin on spikes as he can make the times that comes in count (hufe def stats) but not come in (low HP and hazard weakness).
first off anorithe's bulk is as good as mienfoo and better than alot of sweepers and stuff so stop calling it frail. Second off mag has no chance at taking a +1 drain punch, nosepass is a mixed wall, the best mixkrow counter. Third nosepass is a wall, no wall has high speed, in fact it has good speed for a wall. Secondly i've seen it take hydro pumps(on the weaker defense) and your saying 'it gets raped by super effective STAB attacks' tell me what doesnt. Gligar dies to the much weaker ice shard on its stronger defense, lileep dies to blizzard, frillish dies to thunder etc. and considering drain punch from mienfoo only 3HKOs it and its super effective you might want to reconsider your shunning of nosepass. And considering nosepass is a mienfoo magnet painsplit is more than reliable, heck i even used restalk and it worked! Shelmet just doesnt fit into this meta imo, being SR weak and flying weak its typing isnt that good for the meta. also, wob is right, i found waywards anorithe a pain, it could knock off so many things and even when i used knock off on it drain punch was a 3HKO. And as i said, the rather unique(only shared by pineco) combo of SR+Spin warants its own mention. Speaking of pineco its rather good, decent recovery, good bulk, good attack, spin(which it can use and threaten spinblockers) and one of the only two pokemon in LC who can set every hazard, the other being omanyte. Omanyte also deserves a mention for the same reason+SS and good bulk as well as good offenses like pineco.
Magnemite carries 14 speed with which to fuction, and I really am talking more about the preban metagame as I have more experience (ie. have hot mentioned Gligar as an SR user). I would like to know whether the bans will stay before doing my edits. And whose Hydro´s were those anyways?. Well, foo´s DP is actually quite weak, seeing as it does not do over 50% to shit such as Porygon. People run it becauuse it is safer. maybe when I´m back from germany and if I see it more I´ll write an independent secton. Maybe. So Trak, cmplain through PM. Oh,a nd Pineco just sucks. No good offensive power and not all that sturdy, mainly on the special side (it is more important for an SRer).
its stil a STAB super effective attack and it was chinchous hydro pump, either way i thin onix is stil only 3HKOed by HJK idk. As for magnemites 14 speed, nosepass gets that too i believe. Pinecos attack is decent, pretty good for a bulky pokemon. Better than ferro, better than bronzor, better than lileeps special attack and can 2HKO alot of ghosts that try spinblock on it, its as sturdy physically as bronzor and ferroseed except for the fact it has better recovery than booth. It also has a higher special attack than booth of them. As for the importance for which side of the spectrum a SR user is bulky at it doesnt matter really, most of them are specially weaker or in the case of the rest of them their defenses are equal, SR's bulk only determines who it set up on.
-Nosepass hits 13 speed max. It's only good to set SR and Fire Punch Ferroseed. If you used Rest Talk Nosepass there is something wrong. Shelmet has the same def stat as Pineco same hp aswell, but Shelmet is sp def is HIGHER yet you say it doesn't fit in the meta and Pineco does. I'd like to see Pineco take down Frillish and Misdreavus while it's wisped, since you say it 2HKOs spinblockers. Also what recover does it have?
Onix is 2hko by hjk lol. Porygon is 2hko by 18 att foo drain punch. Nosepass can twave pretty much everything not named chinchou or is a ground type, so speed is irrelevant. And it can get well over 40 sdef in sand, making frillish scald a 3hko iirc.
Yes please, the man is doing a benefit to society by doing this, so please try to keep suggestions as organized as possible while he sorts things out
Not to be a jerk or anything, but when you are finished / feel like it, can you please use better grammar and proper speech, the site's grammar patrol team said that even they wouldn't try to fix this. I can help with any grammar or prose need, but I'm a bit busy atm.
I'll try my hand at some basic edits. Just copy-paste, I haven't changed any information, only letters and format. Some parts of it may fit my style more than yours, but I think it will make it easier to read. Spoiler Code (text): Okay, you have pretty much won this match already. The opponent´s +0 timburr, his last mon is at 20% health and your Larvesta at 40% health can easily KO. You switch it in and... what just happened? Why have you suddenly... oh, damnit. If you are more often than not on the losing end of this situation, this guide is for you. In here, you will learn the basics of hazards in LC and how to counter them. Tf you are on the winning end of the situation more often than not... then we hate you. We all do. Okay, first up is some Stealth on the Rocks. [U][SIZE="4"][B]Stealth Rocks[/B][/SIZE][/U] SR is the most popular hazard for three good reasons: First, it has a high distribution, seeing as it was a TM in 4th gen and a tutor move in 5th gen. This means that it is easier to fit on most teams, as even dedicated offensive teams have a moveslot to use on this. Second, it only needs to be laid once, a unique trait amongst entry hazards, which makes them more desirable for teams who have problems against spinners (read: no ghost type) or for teams whose hazard setter is frailer or is not going to be in as often. Last but not least, it is a very good check against several strategies, such as hail teams (sand teams tend to carry many potential SR users and no real snover check) and volt-turn cores (however, Mienfoo is actually resistant so you need to be careful). [U][B]Stealth Rock Users:[/B][/U] [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/436.png[/IMG] [B]Bronzor[/B] Bronzor. Everybody knows him and most people think of him as a big lump of metal. That being said, he is your best bet for SR support. His sturdy defenses on both sides of the spectrum alongside his Steel typing with Levitate and even a Psychic typing (making Fire his only weakness), will allow him to set SR more consistently, which is helped by his hazard immunity , bar SR. Furthermore, he can still maintain some semblance of an offensive presence with Earthquake and Psychic, though it's not much. That being said, he has his issues. First and foremost, as already mentioned, he has problems with offense. He cannot OHKO even targets he hits for STAB SE adamage (such as 0/0 mien), which means that anything with offensive power can eventually knock him down. Staryu is a good example, as its Scald will 3HKO at worst (not counting burn) under any form of prior damage, and more offensive moves will place the whammy on Bronzor. Furthermore, Staryu can spin hazards effectively and, even better, can switch out of Toxic status due to Natural Cure. Another issue is the lack of any recovery. He can not gain back any lost HP unless he runs recycle oran berry or Rest ,which makes him very vulnerable to cherry tapping if it comes to that. That being said, Bronzor is generally a strong and sturdy choice. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/622.png[/IMG] [B]Golett[/B] Golett is one of the mons who gained SR as a new tutor toy, and arguably its best user. He gets good coverage with elemental punches alongside with Iron Fist allows him to hit many targets for super-effective damage, defenses that allow him to tank some hits (mainly physical), a max Speed of 14 (11 should be enough) which is enough to outrun common wall spreads, and a Ghost typing that allows him to spinblock are the best reasons to use him. Okay, I am going to rephrase that sentence. A Ghost typing that allows him to block spins against spinners not named Staryu, which can 2HKO with Scald (why do people use it, I wonder) and OHKO with any other water move. Not to mention Staryu's smexy 19 speed, which is as devastating as it sounds. Furthermore, his Ghost type also allows him to be trapped by Stunky and Houndour (EQ never makes it) as long as they run enough Speed, making him a shaky SR user, though one woth more coverage and potency than most. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/557.png[/IMG] [B]Dwebble[/B] First and foremost, for all of the crap I have put Scald through, I use it over other moves with more power for two reasons: 1. The ability to incapacitate many Physical attackers permanently, meaning that mehish defenses become decent. Second, because of Dwebble. Okay, into its analysis. This thing was designed to be one of the most annoying hazard users in the tier, as access to SR and Spikes, Sturdy and some decent coverage isn't something you will find every day. Furthermore, the threat of Shell Smash may push peole to make unwise decisions (or switch in their Mienfoo) [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/449.png[/IMG] [B]Hippopotas[/B] Psykout already wrote a huge guide on Hippopotas (Let's do him the wave! The sand wave) and his playstyle so let me just point out how he works as an SRer. In general, he has no other real options, unless you are a Stockpile freak or happen to realize the huge utility value of Superpower. Therefore, he should always be running SR. Furthermore, he is sturdy, very so physically, but he is even able to take Chinchou's Hydro Pump once with Eviolite and max EVs/nature. However, his typing means he is beaten by Staryu´s Hydro Pump or Surf and Sandstorm can be either useful or very, very bad, so one might sometimes take a look at its Dream World ability. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/50.png[/IMG] [B]Diglett[/B] Diglett, a pokemon whose sole leitmotif is the ability to kill one single mon with its powerful Earthquake and Arena Trap. Said mon can actualy, however, use it's typing and ability to set up SR. This is because it can lock down Choiced Electric type attacks (not that there's many of them), things which cannot hit him well or anything that would break his common Sash without going through it, set up Stealth Rock and still fire off a powerful Earthquake (or Sucker Punch) as well as using the rare but surprisingly deadly Memento. That being said, it still has weaknesses. Due to its relatively average attack power, it will not be able to KO a lot of the targets it will want to and set up Stealth Rock at the same time, such as Eviolite 0/0 Mienfoo, some of which are able to U-turn. Furthermore, it takes hits like wet paper, which means that he will more often than not die if you leave it in the battle, and any common U-turn user either lives through it or is a scarfed flying type that can live through a Sucker Punch (without, mind you, SR). Finally, any entry hazard, Hail or TR will scew up this strategy, as it will either die before setting up SR or die before landing a hit. However, if you are looking not for an exceptional SR user, but for one that can set it up in a fast, offensive team while still pulling its weight, be aware of it. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/345.png[/IMG] [B]Lileep[/B] Lileep is one of those odd mons in that it does a job and it does it very oddly. His natural stat spread screams "Special Tank" but his typing is really mehy for the job. However, he has many desirable traits on an SRer. Most notably, its spread along with Water Absorb allow him to got the last laugh on Water-types as even ice beam fails to 2HKO even when not under sandstorm. Furthermore, he also has Recover, something that Bronzor could only dream of, allowing him to set up SR again.. and again... and again.... Of course, it has its drawbacks. First and foremost is vulnerability to Toxic Spikes. This means that he is unable to stay on the field and actually do its job on a consistent manner if TSpikes is on the field, and his inability to use its attack boosts to their highest potential sucks. His typing, while being great specially, sucks in the physical department, as mons such as Mienfoo, Mankey and others will be able to exploit the fact that it has to switch out of them in order to either HJK/CC somethng or U-turn to a Stunky to counter your ghost type of choice. Even in the special department, if it loses its eviolite, some strong hits will nail it, such as Snover's Blizzard. However, Lileep still has the title of most anti-meta SRer, being able to do a lot of damage to common mons used to counter SR quite easily and using its bulk and typing to set up SR consistently. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/95.png[/IMG][IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/231.png[/IMG][IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/347.png[/IMG][IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/299.png[/IMG] [B] Miscellaneous:[/B] There are other miscellaneous SR users, most of which are Rock/Ground types with Sturdy. They are good for one set up, but get utterly pwned against Staryu. If you want to use one, use Phanpy, which at least gets Rapid Spin. Anorith also gets some attack power, but should really be used for other things such as Swords Dance as he is outclassed by Dwebble in the hazards+setup department, and Nosepass is not all that good unless you really need Volt Switch for a reason. Oh, and there is also Turtwig, I guess. [B][SIZE="4"][U]Spikes:[/U][/SIZE][/B] So, here you are, quietly enjoying your Stealth Rocks because you are tough as Steel nails. However, you suddenly get a general "not feeling well" sensation and start looking at that guy over there, which you did not notice before but now looks quite seedy. "Damn," Is your last thought. "My drink has been Spiked." Well, this is not about this kind of Spiking, but the more competitive one. This is a great entry hazard, as it affects Pokemon regardless of typing unless they are immune to Ground moves, and 25% can help reduce the amount of shaky checks to things, as even Regenerator mons will notice the damage (they regenerate more than that, but not by much). However, setting it up is quite difficult as dealing maximum damage requires three turns, meaning that: You need to be able to slow the game enough to set it up, your potential setter needs to be strong enough to survive until fully set up (a difficult task even with Eviolite) and that you absolutely NEED an answer to Staryu, or else you will have wasted three turns. Finally, many Pokemon are immune to it, most notably Bronzong or Flying-types (most notably Vullaby, though that is just an incentive to run SR), so it is unlikely you will run across it in LC, though nevertheless just as deadly when you do. However, do not let that discourage you from using them; just remember that, with Spikes, you need to make every layer count. [B][U]Spikes Users:[/U][/B] [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/406.png[/IMG] [B]Budew:[/B] Those who have used Wall Budew before can tell you how much it sucks. Sure, it has decent defensive stats, Sleep Powder and a Toxic inmunity, but it also suffers from a lack of reliable or decent recovery (only Natural Cure Rest), a lack of offensive power and, let's face it, it's outclassed by Foongus, which does everything he does only better. Those who have used Spiking Budew, on the other hand, have a story to tell about how absolutely amazing it is on its chosen role, with its formerly subpar defenses being up to the task, its ability to beat Staryu unless caught with Psychic on the switch and so on. Its first issue is the illegality of Spikes+Sleep Powder, which eliminates what would have otherwise been its most powerful support tool. The lack of offensive power still hurts, as it cannot OHKO Staryu with Giga Drain if said Staryu carries an Eviolite or heavy investment. Staryu can, as previously mentioned, still deal lots of damage on the switch with Psychic , meaning it has to be handled with care or else it will just roll over and die. Finally, it has common weaknesses to Ice, Fire and Psychic attacks (Houndour should help here) against which it can do little, so your team had better be able to deal with these weaknesses. Overall, Budew is a mon that can Spike very well, but only Spike, so you'd better be sure you really want a Spiker on your team before adding it on. [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/616.png[/IMG] [B]Shelmet:[/B] [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/597.png[/IMG] [B]Ferroseed:[/B] [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/557.png[/IMG] [B]Dwebble:[/B] [IMG]http://www.pokestadium.com/pokemon/sprites/handheld/black-white/568.png[/IMG] [B]Trubbish:[/B] [B] Miscellaneous:[/B] [/HIDE] Something I find odd in your Golett's Stealth Rock analysis is that you say Golett cannot ever "make it" with Earthquake against Stunky and Houndour, but 252Atk Iron Fist lvl 5 Golett (Neutral) Earthquake vs 0HP/0Def lvl 5 Stunky (Neutral): 145% - 190% (32 - 42 HP). Guaranteed OHKO and 252Atk Iron Fist lvl 5 Golett (Neutral) Earthquake vs 0HP/0Def Flash Fire lvl 5 Houndour (Neutral): 200% - 238% (42 - 50 HP). Guaranteed OHKO. Now, I'm not an LC player, and I don't pretend to know which sets you're thinking about nor the ways to put up the EVs to make the damage calc more accurate (I'm only here to typo correct and some other stuff), but you might want to rephrase that statement to make it a bit more accurate, since Golett is not, as we can see, completely helpless against Stunky and Houndour. Make sure to read over my changes; I'm not sure whether some of my word changes are entirely accurate, as I am not always sure what you mean by a certain sentence. In those cases I put in my best approximation. Also, you may want to expand your descriptions of Hazard setters problems to more than just "Staryu kills them or doesn't kill them". :P I removed many of your digressions as well. If you wish, you can restore them, but I feel that they detract from the points you are trying to impart.
It has pain split and the majority of missy lack WoW while only Spades runs frillish nowdays, pinecos movepool is better bar recover, it can spin, SR, toxic spike and it has payback and earthquake as well as a few other good moves. Well, first off it has synthesis which counts for something and natural cure is an amazing ability for a special wall to cure burns from scalds and stuff, budew has the perfect typing to boot! Its special defense is also one point higher than foongus and it has great speed for a wall or bulky mon, outspeeding hippo, frillish, bronzor etc with no investment. Its defense is one point lower though so i guess its a trade off there. I can attest to it being good though, spikes is a huge advantage over foongus, so is natural cure in many ways(sleep absorbed anyone? And unlike staryu it walls the heck out of foongus rather than having to run in fear of death). Toxic spikes is another niche it holds and i believe leaf storm too. That is all. You cant really put 'foongus outclasses it' in a hazards guide when foongus doesnt get any hazards .-.
So, not sure why, but it seems my edits have been removed O_o Any reason for that? Seems pretty random, I wasn't even informed, and for some reason my post doesn't even say it was edited. EDIT: Odd, when I click Edit the Code with all its edits is still there... EDIT2: OK, think I got it to work through HIDE tags. Let's see how that works out. XD EDIT3: OK, it's all completely gone :I That was random. EDIT4: Huh, seems I just missed it. In any case, if you wish to have an adjusted version, my copy-paste has everything you've currently posted but with grammar, spelling, and digression checks.
Judging by its current length, I'd say to keep those separate. Also, (and I can't believe that I forgot this) I do plan to upload this to the PO wiki as an LC article, you will get credit and such and this way there will be a much larger audience.
Diglett and Budew are both mediocre entry hazard users and shouldn't even be mentioned in any competent article.
i don't know about budew, but i do know that diglett, when you know your opp. doesn't have a spinner, provides an excellent suicide lead that can eliminate most other leads (excluding bronzor) when given a moveset of: sr/eq/protect/sucker punch and a focus sash. I know that's still abit mediocre, but it's viable-ish and does have his niche in the right hands/team. note: and it makes since why smogon wouldn't include it so no laughing
Suicide leading is possibly the worst thing you can do in Little Cup, unless you can get more than a layer of Spikes as well as SR up and efficiently spin block the majority of the match. Budew is a great spiker. Or at least used to be before re introduction of current suspects. Survived Abra's Psychic, beats Chinchou, Ghastly, Shroomish, Slowpoke, can force Mienfoo out, etc etc. Don't hate.
I'd be inclined to keep it together, long articles are fine and entry hazards are very closely linked with the ways of removing them/preventing their removal. But if there's a huge amount to say about Spinblocking/Spinning in LC, then splitting it up is fine. And when you do upload, /wiki/5th Gen LC/Entry Hazards :)