Little Cup Suspect Coverage: Vulpix

By Conni.
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Art

Art by Tikitik.

Introduction

With the arrival of the fresh beaches of SM LC, who'd have thought that the metagame would stay true to the region's characteristics with the improvement of sun teams? The last dedicated weather teams were seen during early XY and more commonly in DPP, but now in the sun era of SM, you could find sun teams nearly everywhere because of changes made to the metagame. Before SM, sun checks were either nerfed or banned in DPP and XY, which allowed sun to prevail and survive in earlier generations, except for BW, where Vulpix was banned; sun checks that were banned or nerfed during DPP included Gligar, Sneasel, Murkrow, and Meditite, which could all handle sun teams effectively, and in the transition in to SM, Fletchling was nerfed severely and Porygon was banned, which resulted in two good sun checks gone from the start. Vulpix itself is already quite a force to be reckoned with due to its good offensive stats, powerful moves, and good coverage. Aside from Vulpix's good individual performance, it can stick around to help make sun last longer, which benefits the common double Chlorophyll core that is most likely always run with Vulpix. The core consisting of mostly Vulpix, Bellsprout, and Bulbasaur, sometimes with the rare Oddish or Cherubi, is very powerful, as Vulpix is not easily taken down and can continue restoring sun when switching in while it is still healthy, allowing the two Chlorophyll sweepers on its team to sweep quite easily. Bellsprout is a very common sun sweeper and has become even more powerful with the newly introduced Z-Moves, since with the Poisonium Z, Bellsprout can break through special walls with Acid Downpour and continue to sweep with its STAB and coverage moves. Bulbasaur is also a problem, as it is much bulkier than Bellsprout, and though it is less offensive, with the Eviolite Growth set, Bulbasaur can set up and become bulky and powerful. With this deadly double sun Chlorophyll core sweeping nearly all the Pokémon in the metagame, Vulpix needed to be suspected due to it being the most important part of this core with its Drought ability, and it was suspect tested entirely due to its position as an already formidable Pokémon. The reason why sun became too good was because in addition to the buff to sun teams in SM, sun is also a very different offensive archetype from other archetypes, especially this generation, as it fields two powerful sweepers without risking them to danger; the typespam in Chlorophyll sweepers is also very effective, and combined with the different nature of sun teams it made these sweepers effective wallbreakers and very hard to revenge kill.

Vulpix's Competitive Performance

Vulpix

This is Vulpix's main and only standard set. The HP EVs provide decent bulk, the offensive EVs combined with its offensive stats make its powerful moves very threatening, and the Speed EVs allow it to outspeed many Pokémon and take them out. Fire Blast is already a powerful move on its own, and with offensive EVs even Pokémon that are neutral against Fire take quite a lot of damage from it; Energy Ball on the other hand allows Vulpix to deal with most Water-types that are unable to KO Vulpix easily due to the sun. Will-O-Wisp can be used to cripple physical attackers on the switch, which renders most of them unable to significantly harm Vulpix, and Flame Charge can also be used on the switch to raise Vulpix's Speed to prepare it for foes that outspeed Vulpix naturally. The Heat Rock allows Vulpix to extend the duration of sun, which allows your Chlorophyll sweepers to sweep for longer periods of time. This set is already intimidating on its own due to its offensive presence and powerful moves, but the scarier part is that with Vulpix's ability to take out Pokémon and stay in the field longer, it can continue to provide sun support for Chlorophyll sweepers such as Bellsprout and Bulbasaur, which can run amok and take out opposing Pokémon quite easily with their own powerful sets and Z-Moves.

Bellsprout Bulbasaur

Teammates that work really well with Vulpix are of course Chlorophyll sweepers; the viable ones this generation include Bellsprout, Bulbasaur, and more. Starting with Bellsprout, it has always been a renowned sun sweeper with access to powerful moves, coverage moves, status moves, and good offensive stats; its only downside is its bad defenses, and even then, since with the Speed boost, most Pokémon are unable to outspeed it, priority moves are their only chance of dealing with it, and most Bellsprout variants can survive one priority move. With the introduction of Z-Moves, Bellsprout can now break through walls with Acid Downpour and continue to produce mayhem for the opposing team; it can also take care of types that resist its other moves with Weather Ball or render them vulnerable with Sleep Powder. Bulbasaur has a nice mix between offense and defense that makes it bulkier than Bellsprout but less offensive and slower; its Eviolite Growth set allows it to become very fast and bulky, which allows it to sweep usually longer than Bellsprout can due to its ability to tank more hits. Additionally, Bulbasaur can also set up on Pokémon that can't touch it with Growth to become extremely powerful and well balanced, and it also has its share of good STAB moves and coverage moves in Giga Drain and Hidden Power Fire. Oddish is also a decent choice in sun teams, although most of the time it's replaced by Bulbasaur as the second sun sweeper; however, Oddish isn't that bad either, as it utilizes its Twinkle Tackle or Moonblast to effectively deal with Dark- and Fighting-types and its usual STAB Giga Drain to deal more damage. While Bulbasaur is mostly preferred over Oddish due to its better bulk and move options, Oddish still got some of the spotlight, especially in SPL. Deerling and Cherubi were also used to surprise the opponent with uncommon sun sweepers, and they at least obtained some usage, although it was quite minimal because of the many flaws the two Pokémon are burdened with.

Although Vulpix has a good offensive presence, it is still possible to take it out using the correct methods. Stealth Rock is a good way to chip away at Vulpix's health, as it deals super effective residual damage due to its Fire typing every time it switches in. Rock-types such as Onix that can take an Energy Ball and recover health with Berry Juice can take Vulpix out with a Rock Blast or Earthquake, and Diglett can trap Vulpix and KO it with an Earthquake, although Focus Sash variants are more effective at this role, as after Vulpix uses Flame Charge, Life Orb variants of Diglett can be OHKOed by Energy Ball. A way to stop Vulpix's sun setting madness is to use other weather teams that can nullify Vulpix's sun; weather checks to Vulpix that are popular on the ladder are Snover and Alolan Vulpix with Snow Warning, the latter in particular with Aurora Veil, and Hippopotas with Sand Stream and early Stealth Rock setting to wear down the opposing team quicker. Checks to sun sweepers are also important, as they can still be trouble even if you have checks to Vulpix, although they are generally pretty hard to deal with. Good options are Pokémon that can wall most of their moves, especially specially defensive Pokémon such as Munchlax, which also can deal extra damage to Bellsprout with Fire Punch boosted by sun, or defensive Vullaby, which can also switch into an expected Sleep Powder and KO Bellsprout with Brave Bird, although it needs to watch out for Acid Downpour. Similarly, for Bulbasaur, good checks are Pokémon that can tank a hit and hit it back harder such as bulky Flying-types such as Vullaby and Fire-types such as Ponyta, which can deal with Bulbasaur quickly due to the sun boosting Fire-type moves.

Pro-Ban Arguments

People who wanted Vulpix banned generally come up with arguments that explained the improvement of sun teams and why they are so good this generation. One argument stated that Bellsprout, a favorable teammate of Vulpix that becomes very powerful from Vulpix's weather influence, now has the ability to take out common sun checks due to the addition of new mechanics such as Z-Moves and the nerfing of some Pokémon such as Fletchling. Another argument included the fact that no viable Pokémon in the metagame can outspeed Bellsprout or Bulbasaur under sun because there is a lack of Pokémon that set up and increase their Speed; the best choice for that is for Torchic to Baton Pass Speed boosts to an ally, but sun sweepers can knock out the frail Torchic before it can Baton Pass, and since Bellsprout and Bulbasaur aren't KOed easily by priority moves, they outspeed everything and are only stopped dead in their tracks by Pokémon that completely resist them or can take out Vulpix to prevent the opposing team from setting sun any longer. There were also arguments that mentioned the power of the two Chlorophyll sweepers, as some notable checks can take care of one sun sweeper but can't really take out two of them, as one can put the checks to sleep while the other can sweep them. Sun teams force most teambuilders to build cautiously around them, as they could easily dominate most playstyles; Sticky Web teams, 19 to 20 Speed Choice Scarf users, and multiple soft checks on a typical team would at least help you somewhat with sun teams, but would leave the team too unprepared for other common playstyles.

Anti-Ban Arguments

People who thought Vulpix and its chaotic sun sweeping teammates weren't good enough to be banned used the following arguments. They listed reliable and solid checks to Vulpix and sun teams, such as Focus Sash Abra, other weather setters such as Alolan Vulpix and Hippopotas, and other Pokémon that resist Vulpix and sun sweepers's attacks and can take them out efficiently. Another argument was based on sun playstyles being easily predictable and that preserving sun checks and using the right switch-ins and plays can overthrow sun teams and allow you to outmaneuver the opponent. The general sentiment of most anti-ban arguments was that sun was comparable to other offensive archetypes, as it was still quite difficult to effectively set up because Vulpix alone can't check a lot of Pokémon like the top metagame Pokémon do; it also needs to set up more than once, since sun has a timer and it still matters even if the Heat Rock is used, as most sun sweepers lack the potential to completely OHKO everything in their path (though Z-Moves can take out nearly everything), so this results in the sun archetype being a mix of setup sweeping and type spam. Counterarguments to the pro ban arguments above included the fact that Bellsprout and Bulbasaur don't instantly gain 28 Speed at the start of the match, as Vulpix needs to switch in, so the best way to deal with Bellsprout and Bulbasaur is to catch them outside of sun or somehow negate sun by switching in another weather setter or taking out Vulpix and waiting for the Drought effects to disappear. Shell Smash or other Speed-increasing setup moves may seem like an idea, but setting up against sun teams is particularly difficult, as Vulpix with sun activated can most likely take a Water-type attack and KO the Shell Smashers with Energy Ball; Timid Bellsprout also outspeeds Shell Smashers such as Shellder and Clamperl anyways, and although other sun sweeping Bellsprout variants that aren't Timid Speed tie with Shell Smashers at best, this isn't really reliable.

Conclusion

With Vulpix banned, there will obviously be a huge decrease in sun team usage; manual sun setters such as Firium Z Ponyta will have to carry on the legacy of sun teams, and Chlorophyll sweepers such as Bellsprout and Bulbasaur will be forced to take a break from the spotlight. Specific sun checks could also have a drop in viability, but this also gives Pokémon that fear sun a chance at the spotlight, and more Pokémon and new playstyles can arise from the toppling of the sun era; we might get to see more weather playstyles in play such as hail, or SM LC could just turn out to be the same clear skies metagame as the previous generation. All there is now is speculation time as the era of SM LC continues without sun; looks like we won't need sunscreen anymore.

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