Oglemi
Borf
http://www.smogon.com/rs/pokemon/lickitung
[Overview]
Lickitung is a good defensive Pokemon in the tier thanks to its acceptable mixed defenses, its great defensive typing, and, most importantly, its access to two invaluable cleric options in Wish and Heal Bell. It can easily utilize both physically and specially defensive sets, depending on your team's needs, although it has a tougher time going mixed, as its bulk is just not quite there to allow for it. Unfortunately for Lickitung, it is yet another defensive Pokemon in NU that's weak to Hitmonchan, decreasing its effectiveness slightly as a physically defensive Pokemon. Despite that, Lickitung is a Pokemon to strongly consider on defensive teams looking for role compression.
[SET]
name: Defensive
move 1: Wish
move 2: Protect
move 3: Heal Bell / Toxic
move 4: Seismic Toss / Body Slam
item: Leftovers
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
The most important thing to note about this set is that the playstyle and set remain the same whether you choose to go physically or specially defensive; Lickitung just ends up walling different Pokemon depending on whichever you choose. Specially defensive is the most common choice and arguably a better way to use Lickitung due to the fact that it has no special weaknesses, and physical walls are far easier to come by in the tier. With a specially defensive spread, Lickitung is one of the few Pokemon that can avoid a 2HKO from Huntail's Surf in the rain, allowing it to stall out rain turns and paralyze or poison Huntail in return. Wish and Protect provide Lickitung with reliable recovery, and it is one of the few Pokemon in the tier with access to Wish, giving it a major leg-up on its main competition in Kecleon.
Lickitung's main niche in the tier is that it is able to run both Wish and Heal Bell on one set, allowing it to function as a kind of one-stop-shop for stall teams looking to compress roles in one team slot. Heal Bell is pretty invaluable for stall teams in NU, as a lot of stallbreakers rely on Toxic to break through some of the main defensive Pokemon in the tier, most notably Sableye and Flareon, but also other defensive Pokemon like Relicanth and Tropius. Alternatively, and also somewhat ironically, Toxic is probably the best way Lickitung is going to spread damage on the opponent's team and allows it to outstall Pokemon like Flareon with the combination of Wish and Protect. So, if you have Heal Bell covered elsewhere on your team, likely by Chimecho, Toxic is typically going to be the best choice for the third slot. Seismic Toss is the main option in the last slot to spread consistent damage on the opponent's team due to Lickitung's abysmal attacking stats and allow it to prevent Pokemon from using it as complete setup bait, particularly Substitute users. Alternatively, Body Slam can be used, since it still does a decent amount of damage to frailer special attackers like Plusle and can paralyze foes if that's desired for your team.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
If you already have a special wall on your team, Lickitung can play around with its defensive EVs to better suit your team's needs. A fully physically defensive spread can be used by moving the Special Defense EVs to Defense and changing the nature to Impish. With a physically defensive spread, Lickitung can actually outstall a lot of the physical attackers in the tier not named Hitmonchan, notably Choice Band Sudowoodo (avoiding Focus Punch and Explosion), Kingler, Flareon, and Murkrow. Lickitung can also run a more balanced EV spread of 252 HP / 88 Def / 168 SpD with a Careful nature, which can allow it to take on a broad range of unboosted threats in the tier. With that spread, Lickitung has just enough physical bulk to avoid the 2HKO from Choice Band Murkrow's Drill Peck and enough Special Defense to avoid the 2HKO from Bellossom's Solar Beam.
Lickitung's movepool is absolutely gigantic, so there's lots of room to play around with its last two slots; feel free to fill them in with whatever best suits your team. One thing to note is that Lickitung's Special Attack is actually higher than its Attack, so its special movepool options aren't out of the question. The most prominent alternative is Shadow Ball, which allows Lickitung to actually touch Haunter, something it can't do with the given set. Knock Off can be used somewhere on the set to help its team win stall wars, as Pokemon like Sableye become significantly easier to 2HKO without their Leftovers recovery, and Choice Band threats like Hitmonchan are significantly easier to wall without their item. As for special attacking options, Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, and Hidden Power Grass all have their uses and allow Lickitung to better combat certain threats like Tangela, Huntail, and Pupitar should your team need it.
Regardless of the EV spread chosen for this set, Hitmonchan remains a major threat, as it can easily OHKO Lickitung with Sky Uppercut, even if Lickitung is running a fully physically defensive spread. Chimecho, Haunter, Swalot, or Pelipper is a required teammate if using Lickitung to assuage this issue. Physically defensive Pokemon like Pelipper and Relicanth love Lickitung as a teammate, as Lickitung can wall nearly every Electric-, Grass-, and Water-type attacker in the tier effectively, giving them a solid backbone to fall back on and pivot around, and Lickitung can pass them Wishes because they lack solid recovery of their own. Unfortunately for Lickitung, Rain Dance Huntail can 2HKO it with Hydro Pump, even with a fully specially defensive EV spread, but Lickitung can effectively stall it out if it hits Huntail with Toxic as it uses Rain Dance and continues to cycle with Wish and Protect. This should be a last resort strategy for dealing with Huntail when using a stall team, however, so a primary answer is needed, making specially defensive Bellossom a desired teammate.
If using a physically defensive spread, a specially defensive teammate like Swalot or Whiscash is recommended; Swalot in particular can still wall Hitmonchan effectively if it's running a specially defensive EV spread. Spikes support makes this set much more effective, as Lickitung can force out a lot of Pokemon and, combined with Toxic, really build up passive damage. Roselia is the best in this regard, as it resists Fighting unlike Cacturne and Glalie, and it is the best fit for the kinds of stall teams you would be using Lickitung on.
[SET]
name: Curse
move 1: Curse
move 2: Body Slam / Return
move 3: Wish
move 4: Protect / Shadow Ball
item: Leftovers
ability: Own Tempo
nature: Careful
evs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpD
[SET COMMENTS]
This set allows Lickitung to wall the same special attackers it would normally be able to with a standard defensive set but can also take Lickitung on the offensive, preferably late-game as a last Pokemon so that it can't be phazed out. It takes a lot of Curse boosts for Lickitung to be powerful enough to sweep, but the big highlight of boosting with Curse is the Defense boosts that it brings, turning Lickitung into an unbreakable tank after just a boost or two. That said, it still needs at least +2 to be able to avoid the 2HKO from most Choice Band attackers, including Kingler and Pidgeot. Body Slam is the overall better STAB move due the paralysis it spreads, giving Lickitung some utility earlier in the match and allowing it the chance to beat some threats it wouldn't normally be able to. However, Return is far stronger, which means it'll take fewer boosts for Lickitung to be able to sweep late-game if that is more desired.
Wish + Protect provides Lickitung with reliable recovery and allows for more Leftovers recovery; however, due the bulk that Curse will provide, Shadow Ball can be used in the last slot to prevent Lickitung from being completely walled by Haunter and Sableye, and it does more damage to the Rock-types that resist its Normal STAB move. If you're confident you can dispose of Ghost-types before bringing out Lickitung, Earthquake or Brick Break can be used to ensure that Lickitung can break through the Steel-types in the tier, as well as getting a super effective hit on Rock-types.
[ADDITIONAL COMMENTS]
Preferably, you should try to keep Lickitung hidden until late-game, hopefully until when Hitmonchan and Haunter have been disposed of and Rock- and Steel-types have been weakened a bit so Lickitung can boost up and break through them. Swalot is a good counter to Hitmonchan and can check Haunter effectively throughout the match; however, a lure may be more effective to make sure that Hitmonchan and Haunter are eliminated. Lures like SubPunch Sudowoodo and SubPunch Cacturne or timing an Explosion by Graveler correctly can get Hitmonchan out of the way before bringing in Lickitung. If you need to use Lickitung as part of a defensive core, you should pair it with a physically defensive Pokemon like Pelipper or Relicanth that loves Lickitung as a teammate due to its ability to wall nearly every Electric-, Grass-, and Water-type in the tier effectively.
[Other Options]
Lickitung's movepool is huge; it just lacks the stats to really make use of most moves. Lickitung is one of the few Pokemon with access to Swords Dance in the tier, and it can use its bulk to find the time to gather boosts. Curse just usually proves itself more effective due to Lickitung's already low Speed, and the Defense boosts it gives let Lickitung out-tank much of the tier. Belly Drum is another way to take Lickitung on the offensive, and thanks to its good bulk, it has a chance to boost on a weak attacker without the need of setting up a Substitute for protection, but again, its low Speed and lack of priority can make it hard to use effectively. Substitute + Focus Punch can be used as an effective stallbreaker and lure against the Pokemon that will usually switch into Lickitung, such as Mawile.
Lickitung is probably one of the best users of Counter in the tier, as it isn't OHKOed by almost anything in the tier, letting it take out select threats for your team in a similar way to Explosion lures like Sudowoodo. Psych Up is an option to copy the boosts of dangerous setup sweepers like Calm Mind Sableye and outstall them. A specially offensive set can be super tricky for your opponent to play around, as Lickitung's special movepool features very dangerous options across the board, including Ice Beam, Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Hidden Power Grass, and Surf. The only major thing holding this kind of set back is Lickitung's pitifully low Special Attack.
[Checks and Counters]
Hitmonchan is the best all-around answer to Lickitung, as it can OHKO even fully physically defensive sets with its Choice Band-boosted Sky Uppercut. Haunter is typically immune to everything that Lickitung can throw at it and will eventually run Lickitung out of Wish PP. Steel-types, such as Mawile, Lairon, and Metang, are the next most reliable answers to Lickitung, as they are immune to Toxic and take little damage from Lickitung's STAB attacks and typical coverage options. However, most are not strong enough to threaten Lickitung with a 2HKO, allowing it to heal up with Wish and safely switch to a teammate. Strong Choice Band users like Piloswine and Pidgeot will be able to 2HKO even fully physically defensive Lickitung, although Lickitung has a chance to Wish stall Pidgeot out of health if it uses Double-Edge. Finally, RestTalk users with Toxic like Relicanth can outstall Lickitung in the long run if played right.
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