Metagame LC UU Introduction and Discussion [Sticky Web Banned]

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Shrug

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webs is gone, so a new threat necessarily will emerge as the meta's ""best"" (quotes bc theres no true #1 threat in an unsettled tier). that mon is Taillow. Blazing speed, prio if needed, two great STAB typings backed by good coverage [steel wing, heat wave], u-turn. Stats arent super but in a non-defensive tier u just need that STAB boosted 140 bp move n maybe sum spikes and you'll rip teams up. if im whipping up an offense - the best lc uu build - i need to find reasons to leave Taillow off. id like to see some discussion bout how to use this mon, how to check it, and it you all see something better in the new meta
 

Hogg

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Houndour moved from LC OU to LC UU
Drifloon moved from LC UU to LC OU
Anorith moved from LC UU to LC OU
Stunky moved from LC UU to LC OU

Wow, I literally just built my first decent LC UU team and two 'mons on it immediately rise to OU. Le sigh. Houndour seems fun though.
 

Berks

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Unfortunately, this tier shift doesn't do anything for us, as Houndour is already LC BL. Rip to three offensive threats and hazard removers.
 

shiloh

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Antar actually made a mistake with the list initialliy, so there are a few more changes:
Skrelp moved from LC UU to LC OU
Lileep moved from LC OU to LC UU
Honedge moved from LC OU to LC UU
Drifloon moved from LC UU to LC OU
Anorith moved from LC UU to LC OU
Pumpkaboo-Super moved from LC UU to LC OU
We basically gain Lileep / Honedge both of which have been in the tier before, but we in turn lose Pumpkaboo / Anorith / Drifloon
 

Anthiese

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Antar actually made a mistake with the list initialliy, so there are a few more changes:

We basically gain Lileep / Honedge both of which have been in the tier before, but we in turn lose Pumpkaboo / Anorith / Drifloon
sweet now dodo has two more checks that are still maimed by coverage
 

Merritt

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At least Honedge is a physical Taillow answer.

Lileep, on the other hand, can check I guess although U-turn is pain.
 

Merritt

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I also suggest not looking at the LCUU usage stats since you'll suffer horribly if you do.

Here's some excepts from the 1630 stats.
4 | Houndour | 100.00000%
6 | Skrelp | 100.00000%
17 | Doduo | 0.00000%
55 | Riolu | 0.00000%
 

Anthiese

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Oh yeah, Jac what are you talking about with Hippopotas? Why wouldn't sand be ok in LCUU?
I was implying to make Hippo drop so we could have Sand again.

It was a bad joke so just ignore it lol.

SO with all these additions and subtractions, how will the UU meta change? Will the re-inclusion of sword and plant be enough to deter dodo (Even tho it's standard coverage massacres them) ???
 

Merritt

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I was implying to make Hippo drop so we could have Sand again.

It was a bad joke so just ignore it lol.

SO with all these additions and subtractions, how will the UU meta change? Will the re-inclusion of sword and plant be enough to deter dodo (Even tho it's standard coverage massacres them) ???
| 51 | Hippopotas | 2.819%

When did Hippo even rise?

I think SWORD will be a pretty cool mon, since it can at least check Taillow and Doduo, so Growlithe might become more popular since it can beat Honedge.
 

Anthiese

formerly Jac
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| 51 | Hippopotas | 2.819%

When did Hippo even rise?

I think SWORD will be a pretty cool mon, since it can at least check Taillow and Doduo, so Growlithe might become more popular since it can beat Honedge.
I'm pretty sure Hippo is, and has always been allowed.
OK OK YAY SAND IS BACK


I had thought it has risen before? Ugh so many problems. Ah well. MOVING ON

Also after calcing, Dodo KO doesnt even OHKO standard Evio. It cant switchin on KO nor can it take BB + KO.

LO Taillow Heat Wave isnt enough either to OHKO but it could be a problem taking some prior damage to Boomburst / Brave Bird and then get picked off by Heat Wave.

Sword OHKOs them with Rock Slide tho so i guess that's a plus?

edit: midpost replies are horrid and i dont feel like retying this all so apoligies for this amalgam of hell.
 
I also suggest not looking at the LCUU usage stats since you'll suffer horribly if you do.

Here's some excepts from the 1630 stats.
4 | Houndour | 100.00000%
6 | Skrelp | 100.00000%
17 | Doduo | 0.00000%
55 | Riolu | 0.00000%
Tell me about it. I tried to find a good banlist so I could make LC NU, but the usage stats are shit. But at least LC UU has a ladder already (RIP FU, Doubles NU, Triples UU)
 

Berks

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Hello folks!! Its me, the Berkeley who can't sleep, and what better way to get through that nonsense than reviving a niche tier inside of an already-slightly-niche tier??

LC UU appears to have remained stagnant since the tier shifts that brought Honedge and Lileep back into the tier. From what I can tell for not having even thought about the meta over the past month or so, here's what I'm thinking.

1. Birds are undoubtedly very powerful.

Specifically, I'm referring to Doduo and Taillow. I'm sure you've heard it all before: "Doduo has no counters" "Boomburst, bro" "*insert any Latin-containing Shrug post in this thread*". Nonetheless, I'm here to echo those sentiments to an extent. It's fairly obvious that Doduo and Taillow are very powerful Pokemon in LC UU. Doduo simply has the raw stats and movepool, whereas Taillow comes in even faster and with actual variety, i.e. mixed v. Guts. However, I believe seeming lack of reliable checks has lead some people to overestimate the duo's actual efficacy. Not only do we now have access to two of the very best defensively oriented Pokemon in all of LC in Honedge and Lileep, we also have various capable mixed walls such as Frillish and Intimidate users of varying play styles (read: defensive Growlithe & offensive Sandile). What's more, there are several somewhat reliable offensive measures of dealing with the birds--which I might add are incredibly frail--in Pokemon like Amaura and Tyrunt (iirc). Overall, the birds are the epitomy of glass cannoning. I feel they are somewhat akin to XY Fletchling, in that they have not been properly prepared for or their checks fully sought out.

2. Sand seems very, very good.

A sand setter, a sand abuser, a ridiculously bulky Water Absorb grassmon, a bulky spinblocking Water-type also immune to Water cause why the hell not. These Pokemon, namely Hippopotas, Sandshrew, Lileep, and Frillish, all reside in LC UU. What's more, they have the makings of a sand squad that could have legitimate success in LC OU, meaning bulky sand offense should be truly terrifying in here, right? Perhaps, perhaps not. For one thing, the playstyle loves not having to deal with Pokemon such as Foongus, Fletchling, and Vulpix. However, the lack of those Pokemon in LC UU means that other Pokemon that harm sand's viability, such as Slowpoke and Snover, see more use. The playstyle has every tool it could possibly want present in the tier, but its uncertain how effectively it can function without true metagame exploration, which leads me to:

3. The metagame is ridiculously unexplored.

Look at the two paragraphs you just read. Look at how uncertain the person writing those posts is about the topics that are practically the most obvious ones he could possibly talk about. Then, remember that that person is none other than H&MBerkeley, an actual member of the actual council of the actual metagame he's discussing. While you could definitely blame that on his own lack of effort, it's also important to recall just how little activity has gone into exploring a metagame that is part of arguably the biggest tournament in the community: LCPL. One season of inclusion, one mini tour, and scattered room tours do not a metagame make. I'd like to actively call for my fellow council members (myself included, of course!!) to push deeper into this meta. It would be very cool if we as a community could flesh out this metagame by the time the next LCPL rolls around, so that Oma can go 8-1 in a tier that truly deserves to be called a tier. Am I suggesting another mini tour? A community suspect test? Who the hell knows?! Unless we play the meta, it will sit stagnant until next LCPL, when people like Oma will once again have to play some "garbage tier".

END POST


TIME: 12:47 AM MST
WHEN I HAVE TO GET MY ASS OUT OF BED: 5:45 AM MST
REGRET LEVEL: ZERO
 

Berks

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http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lcuu-313584117

Here's a pretty solid replay I had with Joltage, and true to what I said earlier, here's a little bit of metagame exploration:
  • Like I mention a couple times in the replay, Numel seems to be a pretty good choice in this meta. It's typing makes it incredibly hard to switch into offensive sets and its defensive typing lets it completely remove threats like Joltik, Honedge, Growlithe & Magby, and Voltorb.
  • Intimidate users like Sandile or possibly Growlithe seem very good in a metagame filled to the brim with powerful physical attackers and not so many threatening special attackers. Physical bulk seems even more influential here than it does in LC OU
  • There's almost no reason to not run a bird in this tier. There aren't nearly as many Flying resists down here, and the ones that exist like Tyrunt and Honedge have no recovery outside of Berry Juice. They're still plenty checkable, mind you, but there's almost no reason not to use one!
  • Mankey is a true threat, as with the right coverage it looks like nothing can walk it. I didn't have EQ on this Mankey, but EQ > Rock Slide along with Gunk Shot seems to remove several of Mankey's checks. It can hit a LO number, has great Attack, and has an even better Speed. It also SMASHES LILEEP.
  • Lileep is as bulky as ever. Like. Legit y'all. It's fucking insane. Run something that can just truly, straight up wreck it or you're gonna be in big trouble. Luckily, if you're a Hax Lord like me, Ancient Power will bail you out.
More battles guys!! Calling on
Shrug
Jac
Oma
Quote
Fiend
rozes
kingmidas

Side note why has almost every single one of you done a namechange since the last time this was relevant (and why am I about to do the same thing smh)
 
I feel like I should note that the removal of rock slide on Mankey opens the door for Natu to check it. (as well as other things like Spinarak, and Skorupi who have solid a solid niche in being solid fighting checks as well as providing t-spikes support, if that's what floats your boat, but Natu is far more relevant than them imo) Should also be noted that Koffing is dumpstering any Mankey set, so Mankey is never fully removing his checks. Solid mon though.

Speaking of Koffing, there seem to be a crap ton of viable fat mons in this tier. Koffing, Lileep, Pumpkaboo, Frillish, Hippo, Lickitung, Honedge (there are more but I don't feel like listing them) So I feel like Stall/Semi-Stall could potentially be viable if the bulk can avoid being overwhelmed by all the offense in the tier.
 
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