SS LC The army of Shellos (30-0 in vulpix-a suspect) (built with GOAT madoka)

[Laroxyl]

Hi everyone, today I wanted to share with you all a team that led me and other people to great success during A-Vulpix suspect test. The team revolves around Cutiefly, who got Roost after Home, essentially making it banworthy, in combination with Shellos, who is a pretty underrated bulky Water that beats most of the meta. Without further ado, I present you the sets:

Cutiefly @ Eviolite
Ability: Shield Dust
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Def / 244 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
- Moonblast
- Psychic

Defensive QDfly was the main set that we had wanted to build around. In a meta where Timburrs are mostly forced to run Defog due to veils, Cutiefly has plenty of opportunities throughout the match to come into play and threaten a sweep. Roost gives Cutiefly plenty of longevity throughout the match, Moonblast is strong STAB, and Psychic allows Cutiefly to actually threaten poison types once it’s boosted up. The given EVs maximize Cutiefly’s defenses on the physical side, which allow it to set up vs Diglett and take less from priority overall. On the special side, at +2 the rolls are the same with 10 and 12 SpD versus Oddish and Mareanie, so it’s not too important to invest points there. The speed EVs also allow Cutiefly to outspeed mons in the 17 speed tier unboosted.

Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 156 Def / 156 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Defog

Timburr provides important support for Cutiefly. Knock Off allows it to remove Eviolites from key threats like Ponyta, Mareanie, and Spritzee, and Defog allows Cutiefly and Vullaby to remain healthy throughout the match by keeping hazards off of the field. With max Atk EVs, Adamant, and Iron Fist, Timburr can deal lots of damage with Drain Punch to targets that don’t resist fighting. Mach Punch also lets Timburr pick off weakened threats, most notably NP Vullaby.

Diglett @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- Final Gambit
- Stealth Rock

This Diglett set is rather unconventional. Going special lets Diglett take on Weak Armor Onix and Iron Defense Mareanie more easily, and it also means that it doesn’t need to fear a scald burn from Mareanie if it wants to switch in or a Will-o-Wisp from a speed boosted Ponyta on the revenge kill. Sludge Bomb gives Diglett a way to hit Vullaby without proccing Weak Armor, and can also do significant chip to non-Eviolite variants of Cutiefly. Final Gambit allows you to chip Ferroseed significantly and facilitate a Cutiefly sweep, prevents the enemy from using Diglett as setup bait if it’s healthy, and can also give a way to pivot to another mon if Diglett has already fulfilled its purpose. Stealth Rock is mostly filler, but it can be nice since Pawniard is not all that bulky of a setter-- in many cases the enemy defogger will outlast it. The EVs and nature maximize Diglett’s offenses while also letting it reach 20 speed, outpacing every unboosted threat in the meta.

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Pawniard is this team’s obligatory bird check. Even though Onix is more reliable overall, the team is rather weak to Spritzee so we opted for him instead. Stealth Rock is important for weakening birds and Ponyta, Knock Off provides item-removal support for the team, Iron Head allows Pawniard to effectively threaten Spritzee and Cutiefly, and Sucker Punch is nice for dealing with Diglett and boosted threats. The given EVs provide Pawniard with a nice mix of offense and defense. There is not much of a difference in damage output with 17 attack versus 18, so a point is removed from attack to put into special defense, allowing Pawniard to reach a nice eviolite number. 16 speed also allows it to outspeed or tie the birds it wants to check, as well.

Shellos @ Eviolite
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 228 HP / 212 Def / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Clear Smog
- Toxic
- Recover

Next, Shellos was chosen as a way of dealing with Corphish and as a secondary check to Vullaby, since Pawniard tends to get worn down throughout a match. With 27/14/14 defenses and the ability to not lose its item to Knock Off, Shellos is incredibly bulky. Consequently, Shellos can effectively 1v1 the entire meta not named Mareanie, Ferroseed, and Guts Timburr. Scald is nice for fishing for burns versus physical threats, Clear Smog lets you stop Corphish and opposing QDflys in their tracks, and Toxic allows you to rack up passive damage while you’re spamming Recover. If you’re able to trap Ferroseed or Mareanie with Diglett, Shellos can often become a win condition itself. The EVs maximizes Shellos’ defenses, and the extra point in speed allows it to outpace defensive Spritzee too.

Vullaby (F) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Endure / Defog


Lastly, Vullaby was picked as a general glue mon. Weak Armor allows Vullaby to boost its speed by two stages whenever hit by a physical attack, allowing it to outpace the entire unboosted meta. Brave Bird, alongside fully offensive EVs, allows Vullaby to nuke every non-resist in the tier, and Knock Off lets Vullaby remove Pawniard and Onix’s eviolite for Cutiefly. U-turn provides nice momentum, and it can also be used to trap Pawniard and Onix with Diglett if they get hit on the switch-in. Endure helps as a last ditch effort versus physical sweepers to proc Weak Armor and outspeed and kill them next turn. On the other hand, Defog can be used to help the webs matchup since Timburr can’t effectively fog them away without letting Cutiefly in for free to set them again. Jolly was chosen over adamant as a nature because it allows you to outspeed most Vullabies, letting you win the 1v1.

Threats:

Iron Defense Mareanie: Immune to Toxic, doesn't mind Cutiefly and can get behind Diglett. Pretty annoying but not unwinnable.
NP Spritzee: The lack of Ferroseed makes this extremely threatening. There's no true switch-in and the only way around it is by using Pawniard/Clear Smog with Shellos. NP Vullaby: Once again, no true counterplay. The best you can do is keeping Shellos healthy and using Clear Smog, or switching Cutiefly on the NP, then you're good.

Replays:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1070268385-m2jlz88h6i98zspxcmm8yu957oxhnijpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1070283670-vim0mwbql9gm5elu70t88o3cs3itd9epw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lc-1071794553-hxy12t6g7f3ybk9rh173gx4qqsntnjipw

Ett:

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Cutiefly @ Eviolite
Ability: Shield Dust
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Def / 244 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Roost
- Moonblast
- Psychic

Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 156 Def / 156 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Defog

Diglett @ Eviolite
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Sludge Bomb
- Final Gambit
- Stealth Rock

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch

Shellos @ Eviolite
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 228 HP / 212 Def / 20 SpD / 4 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Clear Smog
- Toxic
- Recover

Vullaby @ Berry Juice
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Endure

S/O:

mad0ka , for building the team and making the sets descriptions, you deserved to post this, really ty
TheRam , for writing the introduction and threats sections
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