Lileep Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Stealth Rock is an important entry hazard, and Lileep is one of the few walls with access to it that also gets a recovery move. Giga Drain gets STAB and recovers HP, and hits Staryu and Drilbur, two of the most common Rapid Spin users, for super effective damage. Recover is for longevity, since Giga Drain doesn't recover enough HP most of the time. Ancient Power also gets STAB and a nice 10% chance for +1 across all stats, while also hitting most Defog users such as Vullaby and Archen, as well as Larvesta, Fletchling, and other Flying-type Pokemon super effectively. Toxic wears down walls Lileep would be otherwise be unable to harm. Earth Power and Hidden Power Fighting can be used for Fire- or Steel-type coverage, particularly against Magnemite and Pawniard, but they offer less coverage on other important Pokemon. Set Details A Calm nature lets Lileep take on special attackers a bit better, but it can also use a Bold nature with a 228 HP / 220 Def / 60 SpD EV spread. The maximum HP investment is to help increase Lileep's mixed bulk Usage Tips Setting up Stealth Rock is Lileep's primary purpose. The second is to wall or pivot and switch into Pokemon that trouble its teammates, such as Foongus, Abra, Staryu, Chinchou, Ponyta, and special attackers. It can often be the weakest link on a team, despite having a great niche, so sometimes it is better to just set up Stealth Rock and then sacrifice it to get another Pokemon in safely. Team Options Slowpoke and Ponyta / Mienfoo / Timburr make a great pivot core, being able to switch in on most Pokemon in the metagame. Use it with teammates that hate the Pokemon Lileep walls or pivots into and/or appreciate Stealth Rock. Lileep likes partners that can take on Steel- and Fighting-types. Mienfoo and Timburr can easily take on Pawniard, Magnemite, and Ferroseed, while Larvesta or Vullaby can switch into Fighting-types and also still take on Pawniard. Lileep has the added bonus of being able to take on powerful sun-boosted Fire-type attacks from most variants of Ponyta and Vulpix, so it doesn't mind if your Larvesta's, Ponyta's, or Vulpix's Sunny Day boosts your opponent's Fire-type attacks.

Lileep makes a great lead due its ability to beat a lot of the common leads in Little Cup and its general bulk to take a lot of hits. Common leads in Little Cup include Kabuto, Omastar, Phanpy, Chimchar, Aipom, Meowth, and Houndour, many of whom Lileep can easily manage. Stealth Rock is a no-brainer move that is usually set up, barring Taunt leads like Aipom and Meowth. Energy Ball is a nice STAB move that hits Kabuto, Omastar, and Phanpy for significant damage. Earth Power hits Chimchar and Houndour for super effective damage and breaks their Focus Sashes. Ancient Power is a strong STAB move that hits Flying Pokemon like Mantyke for decent damage. The novelty in this set lies in the fact that nothing can really OHKO Lileep except for Snover's Blizzard. 228 HP and 220 Special Defense EVs allow it to survive an Overheat from Houndour and Chimchar with just enough health left to activate Oran Berry. The extra EVs are put into Special Attack to give Lileep a little extra power. Alternatively, Giga Drain can be used instead of Energy Ball for the ability to heal a little bit, though it sacrifices power; it still OHKOes Kabuto and Omastar, and takes a significant chunk from Phanpy. Hidden Power Rock is also another option that gives you 10 more Base Power than Ancient Power. However, Ancient Power's ability to boost all stats by one stage 10% of the time is usually more helpful than the power boost of Hidden Power Rock. As Lileep can't beat Snover, a Pokemon to tank its Blizzard is a highly recommended teammate. Mantyke can easily tank Blizzard and threaten to maim it back with Hidden Power Flying. Lileep also cannot prevent other leads from setting up Stealth Rock, so packing a Rapid Spinner on your team, such as Pineco or Sandshrew, is crucial.

This is one of the most despised sets in Little Cup for its ability to turn a "won" match into a quick loss. This set is simple and fairly easy to set up; however, it will require permanent sandstorm to be in effect. Switch Lileep in near the end of a match, when most Pokemon are weakened, and begin to Stockpile up. With the bulky EV spread, Lileep reaches 26 HP, 18 Def, and 24 SpD under sandstorm conditions, even before any boosts. Stockpile and Recover as necessary to maintain maximum health (also remember that you have an Oran Berry, which is basically like a free Recover). All the while sandstorm should be whittling down the opposing Pokemon's health. In the end you are aiming to get 3 Stockpiles and at least one Swords Dance in before you starting attacking. Often you will find that unless the opposing Pokemon either has STAB Ice-, Fighting-, or Bug-type attacks, they aren't going to bring Lileep down. Their only hope is a lucky critical hit. After sufficient setup, sweep with Seed Bomb, which will be coming from 20 Attack after a Swords Dance. If you're feeling lucky, you can Swords Dance even more if you feel like you need the extra power. Hippopotas is a required teammate in order for this set to function properly. Outside of that, there are a few key teammates that can make Lileep's life much easier. A Pokemon to take Fighting-type attacks from the likes of Machop and Mankey is highly advised. Slowpoke fits this bill nicely, and as a bonus, Slowpoke also eats any Ice-type attacks thrown at Lileep. In return, Lileep walks all over any users of Electric- and Grass-type attacks, and can easily tank most users of Dark- and Ghost-type attacks. If a teammate has spread poison around the opposing team through the use of Toxic and Toxic Spikes, the amount of time that it takes Lileep to wear out the opponents is greatly diminished. Omanyte is a fantastic teammate to set up Toxic Spikes, while defensive Gligar is a great choice to spread around Toxic. Finally, if Lileep is afflicted with Toxic or Toxic Spikes, it's basically turned into dead weight. Therefore, including a Poison-type such as Croagunk, or Rapid Spinner such as Pineco or Sandshrew on your team will prove to be greatly beneficial.