Why is Lileep not a common Pokemon in Gen 8 LC?

Question

It has great bulk, great support moves, and a decent special attack stat good enough that things don't wanna stay in on it, so why isn't it used?

Answer 1

A lot of meta threats (Mienfoo, Pawniard, Grookey, etc) exert a lot of pressure with their super effective moves that Lileep can't handle. It's Knock Off bait (i.e. crippled without its Eviolite) and Knock Off Pawniard is one of its safest switches: Eviolite Pawniard isn't too fearful of a non-STAB Earth Power (plus it's immune to Toxic and resists Giga Drain). Any priority after a Knock Off pretty much kills it (Pawniard and Grookey say hello again), so there goes your Lileep.

It's actually pretty good if you need a Water resist, being able to sponge up Mareanie and Staryu Scald. However, Dewpider and Frillish are arguably better. Frillish gets helpful utility moves like Scald and Will-O-Wisp, while Dewpider gets the amazing Sticky Web for a dedicated lead set.

In short, Lileep struggles to keep up in the offense-dominated metagame and is outclassed by other Water-immune Pokemon.

Hope I helped!

Comments

Thanks!

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f sniped :(

Answer 2

PROS:
- Good all around bulk
- Decent Special Attack
- Good recovery in Recover (lol)
- Good stab in Giga Drain
- Stealth Rock is a useful move for any Pokemon
CONS:
- Not many support moves
- Weak to the common U-turn
- Ferroseed and Foongus outclass it as a defensive Grass type
- Cannot handle Vullaby as it is crippled severely by Knock Off
- Struggles to handle Pokemon like Mienfoo and Timburr, two premier threats.
- Is quite passive, as even with that special attack, you're probably not investing in it

Overall, it isn't the best, as it cannot handle common Fighting types, U-turn, is crippled by Knock Off, and is quite passive. Hope this helped :)

Comments

Amoonguss isn't in LC lol

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I meant foongus lmfao. Thanks :)