Lickitung Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Wish enables Lickitung to recover health for teammates while also giving it a reliable form of recovery. Protect is used to guarantee recovery from Wish and can be used to scout for the foe's moves. It can also be used situationally against High Jump Kick users like Mienfoo. Body Slam is a decently strong STAB move that has a 30% chance to paralyze the foe, giving Lickitung more utility compared to other Normal-type moves like Return. Knock Off further enhances Lickitung's utility by removing items. It also allows Lickitung to threaten Ghost- and Psychic-types. Heal Bell can be run to enhance Lickitung's supportive capabilities, curing its teammates and itself from harmful status such as burns or poison. However, when using Heal Bell, Lickitung will have to forgo either Body Slam or Knock Off. This makes Lickitung very passive when running Heal Bell over Body Slam, and Lickitung will be walled by Ghost-types when using Heal Bell over Knock Off. Set Details Eviolite greatly increases Lickitung's bulk, allowing it to take more hits from various attackers. Oblivious is used so Lickitung can't be affected by Taunt, allowing it to use Wish against stallbreakers. 196 HP and 236 Special Defense EVs are used to maximize Lickitung's special bulk in order to take on special attackers like Abra, Gastly, Magnemite, and Chinchou. In particular, Lickitung can avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Gastly and Life Orb Abra after Stealth Rock damage. The HP investment also makes Lickitung's Wishes as big as possible. The 76 Defense EVs and an Impish nature maximize Lickitung's Eviolite-boosted bulk and allow it to nearly always avoid the OHKO from Choice Scarf Mienfoo's High Jump Kick. Usage Tips Due to Eviolite combined with Lickitung's raw bulk, it can switch into most non-Fighting-type attacks relatively easily. However, Lickitung should stay away from Fighting-types, as they can KO it quickly, thus eliminating its Wish support for the rest of the match. Also, do not let Lickitung take a Knock Off, as without an Eviolite, Lickitung loses much of its bulk and cannot take on many special attackers reliably. Lickitung can become setup bait for threats such as Swords Dance Pawniard and Shell Smash Shellder, so it is best to switch out into an appropriate check if one of those Pokemon comes in. Use Wish liberally when either Lickitung or its teammates require healing. When Lickitung doesn't have to use Wish, Body Slam and Knock Off should be used to fish for paralysis and remove items. Team Options Spritzee is a good teammate for Lickitung because the two form an effective Wish-passing core while covering each other's weaknesses. Other Fairy-types such as Snubbull and Cottonee value Lickitung's Wishes and can take on the Fighting-types that trouble Lickitung, namely Mienfoo and Timburr. Other Fighting-type checks, which include Mareanie, Mudbray, Foongus, and Vullaby, can handle Fighting-types that threaten Lickitung. Fighting-type checks that don't have reliable recovery, such as Croagunk, Skrelp, and Koffing, appreciate Lickitung's Wishes. Swords Dance Pawniard can easily set up on Lickitung and use Knock Off to remove its Eviolite, so Lickitung appreciates Pokemon that check it such as Mienfoo, Timburr, Mudbray, and Croagunk. Fighting-types such as Mienfoo and Timburr appreciate Lickitung's ability to handle Abra and also value Lickitung's Wishes. Although Lickitung can take Spritzee's attacks, it's setup fodder for Spritzee; therefore, Pokemon that can threaten Spritzee, such as Magnemite and Pawniard, are appreciated. In turn, Lickitung provides Wish support for them. If Lickitung is not running Knock Off, Dark-types, including Pawniard, Vullaby, and Alolan Grimer, can deal with opposing Ghost-types that otherwise won't take damage from Lickitung. Pawniard and Alolan Grimer can also Pursuit trap these Ghost-types, relieving pressure on Lickitung. Similarly, teammates that can damage Rock- and Steel-types can be helpful if Lickitung doesn't have Knock Off. Such Pokemon include common Fighting- and Ground-types in the tier, such as Mienfoo, Timburr, and Mudbray.

Moves Wish is useful for recovering health for teammates and makes it easier for them to switch in; it can also be used to heal Lickitung itself. Protect helps guarantee Wish recovery and allows Lickitung to scout the foe's attacks. Body Slam is a nice STAB attack and has a 30% chance to paralyze the foe. Return is also a viable alternative to Body Slam for additional power. Knock Off is great for removing items and allows Lickitung to be a good counter to Ghost-types such as Gastly. Heal Bell allows Lickitung to further support its teammates by curing status such as burns from Fire-types or Scald users. Set Details Eviolite is the optimal item for providing more bulk, as Wish is already a continual and reliable source of recovery and greatly outclasses Berry Juice's one-time use. 236 EVs in Special Defense allows Lickitung to more easily take on special attackers such as Gastly, Abra, Porygon, Magnemite, and Chinchou. The special bulk is also needed to avoid the 2HKO from Life Orb Gastly and Life Orb Abra after Stealth Rock damage, as with any less investment, it can't handle them with entry hazards up. Maximized HP EVs further improve Lickitung's special bulk and ensure that Lickitung's Wishes are as big as possible. The remaining EVs are dumped into Defense to improve physical bulk. Usage Tips Lickitung can switch into almost all unboosted non-Fighting-type attacks with ease. Therefore, keep Lickitung away from Fighting-types at all times and also watch out for Knock Off, as Lickitung's tanking capabilities are significantly reduced without Eviolite. Lickitung also needs to be careful to not end up being setup bait for threats such as Swords Dance Pawniard. Team Options Spritzee can work well with and form an effective Wish-passing core with Lickitung, as they both cover each other's weaknesses. Snubbull, Koffing, and Cottonee appreciate having Lickitung as a partner for Wish support in particular and can take on the Fighting-types that beat Lickitung. Swords Dance Pawniard can easily use Lickitung as setup bait; therefore, a teammate that can stop Pawniard is strongly recommended. Both Timburr and Croagunk resist Sucker Punch while being able to hit Pawniard for massive damage with priority STAB Mach Punch and Vacuum Wave, respectively. Croagunk is especially a great partner because it resists Fighting and enjoys Wishes from Lickitung. Trubbish also makes a good teammate for Lickitung, dealing with the Fighting-types that carry Knock Off with its combination of Sticky Hold, Berry Juice, and Recycle. Dark-types, such as Pawniard, Stunky, and Vullaby, can help Lickitung beat Ghost-types if it is not using Knock Off.

Lickitung functions very similarly to how Blissey does in OU; it can wall many special attackers and support its team by passing large Wishes or healing status ailments with Heal Bell. Wish works in tandem with Lickitung's massive HP, and this is complemented by Protect, which guarantees Lickitung can reliably heal itself. What makes Lickitung stand out from many other walls is its access to Dragon Tail, which allows it to phaze anything that tries to set up on it whilst racking up entry hazard damage on the opponent's team. Whilst these three moves are necessary for Lickitung to be able to function properly, the last moveslot comes down to personal preference. Heal Bell is the preferred option as it prevents Lickitung from being crippled by Toxic and also aids the rest of the team. If, for whatever reason, Heal Bell isn't necessary, Toxic is the next best option, allowing Lickitung to stall out opponents with Wish and Protect. Finally, if you already have Toxic Spikes support, Return is a reliable STAB attack which Lickitung can make good use of. The EV spread is pretty self-explanatory; it maximizes special bulk and allows Lickitung to pass 14 HP wishes. Unfortunately, Cloud Nine is illegal with Wish and Heal Bell because Lickitung can only get these moves from previous generations, which is why Own Tempo is used. Other moves which could be used in the last slot include Body Slam, should the 30% paralysis rate appeal to you, and Fire Blast to hit Ferroseed, who would otherwise wall this set. If you are going to use Fire Blast in the last slot, be sure to change the nature from Careful to Calm. As for team support, entry hazards are extremely important to make Lickitung's Dragon Tail much more effective. Dwebble is the obvious candidate for this job as it can almost always get down at least Stealth Rock or one layer of Spikes. Bronzor and Ferroseed are also good entry hazard setters and they both appreciate Wish support from Lickitung. Unfortunately, neither have particularly good defensive synergy with it. Lickitung also struggles against Fighting-types, so Pokemon that can handle them are great partners. Koffing and Misdreavus are both good choices as they can switch in on most Fighting-types and love the Wish support that Lickitung offers them. Finally, Lickitung struggles to switch in repeatedly if entry hazards are on the field, so Natu and Tentacool are also good teammates to remove them with Magic Bounce and Rapid Spin, respectively. In addition, both of them resist Fighting-type attacks and Tentacool can set up Toxic Spikes.

This particular set uses Lickitung's already great defenses to set up with Curse and make Lickitung very hard to take down. It can then proceed to shuffle through the opponent's team with Dragon Tail, dealing serious damage in tandem with entry hazards. Dragon Tail can also prevent your opponent from setting up on you. Rest is used to keep Lickitung healthy and immune to status, while Sleep Talk allows it to continue setting up and phazing in its sleep. Perhaps one of the best things about this set is Cloud Nine, which means Lickitung won't take damage from Sandstorm or Hail. This is a fantastic ability for Lickitung, as passive damage wears it down quickly. The EVs maximize Lickitung's special bulk; as you are boosting your Defense stat anyway, Defense investment isn't as important. In the same vein as the Wish set, entry hazard support is a must. Dwebble and Ferroseed have access to both Stealth Rock and Spikes, so they make good partners, although it must be noted that Ferroseed shares a Fighting-type weakness with Lickitung. Additionally, Tentacool can set up Toxic Spikes, which will help Lickitung immensely in stalling out the opponent's team. Unfortunately, Lickitung can't set up on Fighting-types, so teammates that can defeat them make great partners. Great examples of these include Larvesta, Misdreavus, Shelmet, and Natu. Natu has the added advantage of bouncing back hazards with Magic Bounce, allowing Lickitung to switch in repeatedly. Tentacool and Staryu can also remove hazards with Rapid Spin to help Lickitung switch in more easily. Both work well with Lickitung, as Tentacool resists Fighting-type attacks and Staryu can use Psychic to hit Fighting-types super effectively.

Lickitung can break nearly every wall in Little Cup with this set. Gligar, along with other physically defensive Ground- or Rock-types, are disposed of with Ice Beam. Fire Blast deals with the various Steel-types in Little Cup, particularly Bronzor. Return offers you the most power, but Body Slam is the preferred option as the paralysis chance helps accommodate Lickitung's abysmal Speed and the power drop isn't too big. Power Whip is used to handle Water-types, such as Chinchou and Wooper, who will take a hefty amount of damage and may even be OHKOed. Munchlax is one of the few Pokemon who can deal with Lickitung, but even it doesn't last long against repeated STAB attacks. This Lickitung is best used to make openings in the opponent's team for other sweepers, such as Dratini and Staryu. Croagunk and the various other Fighting-types in Little Cup give Lickitung trouble, so pairing it with Gligar, a Pokemon who can soak up Fighting attacks and benefits from a fainted Bronzor, is a good idea.

Munchlax has always been the premier special wall of Little Cup, sporting insane HP and Special Defense along with Thick Fat; however, it suffers from lack of recovery outside of the one-time Oran Berry. Lickitung can play a very similar set to Munchlax's Special Wall, but with a form of recovery in Wish. Wish and Protect is a very effective way of healing both Lickitung and its teammates, and provides more survivability than Munchlax in the long run . While Oran Berry might seem a tad strange on a set with self recovery, it prevents Pokemon like Modest Gastly with Hidden Power Fighting from 2HKOing Lickitung, while Lickitung fires back with Shadow Ball for the KO. Fire Blast can also be used in the last slot to hit Bronzor and the various Grass-types of Little Cup. However, Shadow Ball is the preferred option, as Ghosts are one of the main things this set is built to wall. Body Slam is chosen over Return on this set as the paralysis chance is extremely helpful considering Lickitung's pathetic Speed and the fact that Body Slam provides enough power to deal with frail threats. There are a few options that could go over Shadow Ball or Fire Blast in the fourth slot. Ice Beam is a perfectly viable option to be able to defeat the Grass-types Fire Blast hits along with Gligar, who laughs at this set outside of Body Slam's 30% paralysis chance. Most Pokemon who switch in will attempt to exploit Lickitung's lower Defense stat, so Counter could give them a run for their money. Heal Bell is a unique move, but should be considered a lesser option since status isn't widely used in Little Cup.

This set takes a much different approach than the Wall Breaker set. Instead of destroying walls, Lickitung sets up on them. After a Swords Dance, Lickitung reaches a destructive 32 Attack stat, making sure that nearly no one can survive its boosted attacks. Return and Fire Punch are Lickitung's main attacks. Return has great neutral coverage, while Fire Punch checks the Steel-types who would normally wall this set. Power Whip is chosen in the last slot to allow Lickitung to defeat bulky Water-, Ground-, and Rock-type Pokemon, such as Chinchou, Onix, and Kabuto. Another advantage this set has over the Wall Breaker set is the ability to invest heavily in bulk, whereas the other set has to invest in Special Attack. Swords Dance Lickitung appreciates Wynaut support so it can potentially come in for a free Swords Dance. Much like the last set, this set needs Croagunk to be killed before it can pull off a successful sweep. Wynaut once again comes to mind, as it can trap and pick off Croagunk, especially those without Dark Pulse. Swords Dance Lickitung doesn't like Gligar either, so Pokemon who can get rid of Gligar are also excellent to pair with this set. Snover is an excellent candidate for removing Gligar with its STAB Ice Shard and can also set up Swords Dance against a fleeing Gligar.

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. 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 Description STAB Hyper Beam, Wrap, and Lickitung's good defensive qualities are the only reasons to consider it over better Swords Dance users, such as Kingler or Sandslash. +6 Hyper Beam reaches such immense power that it even OHKOes Cloyster 82.1% of the time, though +4 Hyper Beam still packs enough power to almost always OHKO threats with more moderate bulk, such as Zapdos and Tauros. Earthquake is essential coverage, as it is Lickitung's only option to hit Gengar for super effective damage, and it deals decent damage to Rock types at +2; +2 Earthquake has a 7.7% chance to OHKO Gengar and a 6.6% chance to 2HKO Rhydon. Wrap is a useful utility move that can be used to pivot out of bad matchups and chip paralyzed foes into Hyper Beam range while keeping Lickitung safe from paralysis. Water-type coverage can be considered; Bubble Beam 2HKOes Rhydon and Golem and has a 33% chance to drop their Speed, which allows Lickitung to outspeed and KO them on the next turn, whereas Surf deals enough damage to prevent Rhydon from using Substitute later. Body Slam is Lickitung's best option for dealing consistent damage, 2HKOing Chansey and having a 95.5% chance to 3HKO Snorlax at +2. Lickitung's only way to find success is by putting it on a team with heavy paralysis support and statusing nearly the entire enemy team before bringing it out. The best opportunity it has to set up is to switch in when a paralyzed Snorlax uses Rest and boost to +2 while Snorlax switches out. It can then try to choke the paralyzed enemy team with boosted Wrap and Hyper Beam.