Metagame LC UU Introduction and Resource Thread

[Roldski32]

Unfortunately, I often get overslept and misses daily LC UU tours in the room or got busy doing stuff if I'm awake during those tours.

Usage based tier updates have been released. This will be the final tier update for Gen 7 LC UU.

From LC UU to LC OU: ??

??

From LC OU to LC UU:

These shifts will not affect the ongoing LPL3 finals.

Lol, Anorith getting moved up out of nowhere. Pikipek did a good job to be as viable as it can be, same goes to Meowth. Not sure on Pump...
I already missed Dewpider... but at least we get 3 former LC UU mon. Torchic would likely hate these drops because of their Fire resist (Munchlax's Thick Fat) except for like Omanyte, who gets smacked by HP Grass.

I'm having fun experimenting random stuff like physical Life Orb Ducklett, Double Dance Rhyhorn, Normalium Z Rattata-Alola and Life Orb Helioptile.

Also, I do hope there would still be LC UU next gen

 

[Joltage]

Aight so ya boy was bored and has no life. So I sat down and started thinking about how I personally view the tier and the mons within it and put together my own personal Viability Rankings. Just to give myself a concrete record of my thoughts on certain mons and how they compare to the official VR. And because I wrote that shit down, I figured I might as well share my thoughts with the rest of the LC UU community, because "hey, maybe y'all don't have lives either" and would care enough to read about what I think.

Anyway here are the Joltage Certified LC UU Viability Rankings with short descriptions on certain mons if I felt the need to talk about why I have them where they are. Note: Mons are sub-ranked within their tiers based on how good I think they are. This, of course, gets murkier the lower down the rankings they are but through about B/B- they're pretty much ranked that way. Also, I guess these are pretty speculative at the moment due to the fact that Munchlax and Omanyte still haven't quite been allowed for some reason on Showdown.

S

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Frillish - IMO the best mon in the tier. It’s supremely bulky with a great defensive typing and supportive movepool. Games are won and lost based on whether or not Frillish can be broken through and it is at the forefront of my thoughts every time I build a team. Frillish even has solid offensive options with the scarf set, and potentially a fast bulky offense set, though I need to explore that one more.

Pancham - I personally don’t love Pancham that much, but I can’t argue with the stats from the last LPL season. It has a multitude of options to tailor it to your team's specific needs and its Mold Breaker Knock Off is essential for some teams’ ability to break through stall mons like Shellos. It’s clearly a titan of the meta.

S-

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Archen - Now Archen was the most used mon in the LPL last season, and that makes sense as it’s one of the most versatile mons in the tier. It can legitimately run any of like 13 different moves successfully. However, I feel like Archen is just not quite on the level of Frillish and Pancham; primarily because I don’t think it’s the best mon at any of its jobs, maybe outside of Offensive Rocker. Archen does however, offer near unmatched role compression and can be incredibly tough to switch into for Offensive builds.

A+

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Cottonee - Cottonee is by far the single best glue-mon in the tier in my opinion. Cott can be used on any and every team archetype with its great typing and movepool. It is a Fight check, a Water Check, Knock Off provider, Set-Up Insurance, Memento User, Status Spreader, Sun Setter, Tailwind Setter, and even Defogger. It is an exceedingly rare situation where I find myself not wanting a Cottonee on my team.

Shellos - While Frillish was on vacation from the tier, Shellos took over as the mon I worried most about breaking when teambuilding. Like Frillish, Shellos is extremely bulky and can just wear down teams by chipping away while being an unbreakable behemoth. My only gripe with Shellos is that it’s sometimes a bit too passive and basically can only do one thing. (The Curse set is trash) Also, anyone who uses West-side Shellos should be sent to an asylum immediately. Eastern Shellos 4 life baby.

Taillow - Taillow was a little slept on last LPL season, only picking up 4 uses, but watch this replay and tell me this thing isn’t wild. In the right matchups, Taillow can just run through teams almost single-handedly. And the checks to its Physical Guts set don’t necessarily work for the Mixed Life-Orb set and guessing wrong at your opponent’s Taillow set could prove disastrous for you.

Munchlax - Lax is honestly not something I have much experience with in LC UU, so this ranking is more based on theorymon-ing than most others. That being said, Munch seems pretty good, both as a general special wall and as just a strong tank. Being a normal type, he has a vast number of options when it comes to coverage and Munch can be incredibly difficult to OHKO, especially from the special side. I’m sort of seeing Lax as somewhat analogous to Skrelp, whether rightly or wrongly remains to be seen, in terms of their role as beefy strong tanks.

Omanyte - This may be the ORAS LC player in me, but Omanyte one of the scariest things to see in a battle if you aren’t completely prepared for it. Never ever run a team that cannot deal with a +2+2+2 Omanyte in some capacity. That being said, LC UU does have some pretty solid Oma checks in things like Frillish, Lickitung, Shellos, Encore Cottonee, and a few other things which keep Oma at the bottom of A+ for me personally. Omanyte does also provide the option to be a great Hazards setter that threatens a lot of the common rockers with its Water STAB. And that added diversity provides you with a lot of flexibility as a builder when building with Omanyte

A

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Skrelp - Skrelp was extremely underrated in the VR previously, and it proved that over the course of the LPL season gathering an impressive 75% win rate with the 6th most usage. Prior to the reintroduction of Frillish and Munchlax, Skrelp set itself apart as damn near impossible to switch-into with the only things resisting both STABs being Tentacool and opposing Skrelp. On top of that Skrelp is very difficult to OHKO with its impressive bulk even eating moves such as STAB Earthquake from Sandshrew from full. Unfortunately for Skrelp, Frillish & Munchlax, 2 premier special walls have returned to the tier and will make Skrelp’s job just that little bit harder and bump it down out of A+ for me.

Sandshrew - Sandshrew is a great utility option in LC UU. It possesses very respectable natural bulk alongside fantastic support options such as Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Knock Off. It can also credibly be used as a sweeper and wall-breaker in Sand teams, as its the only mon in the tier with the ability Sand Rush. Shrew went underutilized in my opinion last LPL season, only picking up 2 uses (which were both by me) but was victorious in both outings. Overall, I think Sandshrew is a great pokémon whose optionality should allow it to be found on basically any team.

Lickitung - Lickitung is a fantastic pokémon in the tier and finds itself to be a staple on bulkier builds thanks to its versatility and all-around team support. Lickitung is crazy bulky and can provide its team with Knock Off support and pass fat Wishes to keep the rest of the team healthy. Additionally, Licki can be easily tailored to fit whatever your team needs thanks to its massive movepool and solid stat distribution. Lickitung can even serve as your team’s win-condition using Curse, Swords Dance, or even Belly Drum.

Sandshrew-Alola - Hail is pretty good. Definitely the best weather archetype in LC UU. But Hail also had a fairly poor showing last LPL season. Alolan Shrew is the thing that makes Hail teams work and serves as a quite potent sweeper in those teams. Ice/Ground coverage is always incredibly difficult to switch-into and A-Shrew even supplements it with Knock Off. But what puts A-Shrew above other Hail mons is its ability to find itself on non-Hail teams thanks to its unique typing and support options such as Stealth Rock, Rapid Spin, and Knock Off. This set is a little unexplored, but I think it's good enough to justify A-Shrew in A Rank.

Slowpoke - Slowpoke is a little overshadowed by other bulky waters in the tier but is still a very formidable pokémon in the tier. Regenerator gives Slowpoke the ability to come in multiple times throughout a match and just be a nuisance to opposing teams. Between Slowpoke’s STAB combo and coverage options you can basically hit anything and everything you would want to. Poke can also provide team support via Thunder Wave or Yawn or explore set up moves like Curse or Calm Mind.

A-

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Helioptile - Okay so you know how I said Frillish is the best mon in the tier? Well, guess who is immune to both of Frillish’s STABs and hits it super effectively. That’s right, Helioptile is the best Frillish answer in the tier and best Electric-type in general. Ever since Elekid left, it seems like people just don’t cause about Electric types anymore or at least they don’t think the Electrics of the tier are very good. So many teams find themselves without an Electric immunity, and that suits Helioptile just fine as you can just freely Volt Switch all over them. And even if they do have an Electric immunity, Helioptile doesn’t really care anyway thanks to Surf just bopping any Ground-types and you can still make momentum plays thanks to U-Turn. Helioptile is great, more people should use it.

Snover - With the new shifts, including the reintroduction of Frillish, I think Snover reclaims its status as the premier Hail setter over Amaura. Its Grass typing is way more valuable in a tier with as many bulky water types as are available in LC UU, and it at least allows Snover to sometimes pretend to have defensive utility as well.

Houndour - To me, Houndour is the most threatening of the Fire types in the tier and thus, finds itself ranked just a bit higher than its competition in Salandit and Torchic. Fire/Dark STAB is such a difficult combination to switch-into and beyond that Hound has a plethora of options to fill out the rest of its set. Sucker Punch is really useful for the few mons that outright outspeed Hound, and Flame Charge is another option for dealing with those mons that only check via speed. Hound is also a great Z-move abuser; running Firium-Z for either a ridiculous nuke or a Z-Sunny Day set, Grassium-Z is great for luring Shellos, and Z-Dream Eater can catch something like Skrelp by surprise. And that’s not even getting into the support options Houndour possesses like Destiny Bond, Will-O-Wisp, Pursuit, and Taunt.

Nosepass - When doing this, I would check the actual VR to get a rough idea of mons to put around each other and I was shocked to find Nosepass nowhere near the list. The Nose is one of my favorite rockers in the tier; the guy is crazy bulky, it’s the single best bird check in the tier, it has Volt Switch and EdgeQuake coverage, and you can TWave things if you want to as well. Nosepass should absolutely be ranked and I rate it really highly among the utility tanks of the tier.

Tyrunt - Tyrunt got really good after the July shift, and I thought it was already underrated. Tyrunt theoretically has a variety of options. You could run a more defensive or utility-focused Tyrunt where he’s your rocker or whatever, but why would you do that? Tyrunt is great because of his Dragon Dance set; run that. And not the weak SturdyJuice variant, no. Z-Outrage is THE set. +1 Adamant (cause you ain’t no bitch, actually though, you get better rolls) Z-Outrage OHKOs everything. Literally (figuratively) everything that is not a Fairy or a Steel. I’m talking: Pancham, Shellos, Frillish, Lickitung, Munchlax, Koffing, Hippo. All of them drop to a +1 Devastating Drake. This set is great. Use it.

Goldeen - I like Goldeen a lot. It has really useful coverage for a lot of teams, between its Water STAB, Knock Off, Drill Run, and Bounce or Poison Jab, you basically can just mess up anything your opponent tries to throw at you. That’s not even the best part about Goldeen though. Goldeen is a Water-type that also is an Electric immunity; so Helioptile can’t do anything to Goldeen except try to U-Turn out. With an Eviolite, Goldeen is decently bulky and you can really take on a lot of popular builds and cause them a lot of problems.

Honedge - Honedge is fine, I’m not the biggest fan tbh. Its typing is pretty great defensively, but not really offensively. It’s not that strong unless you get a couple of boosts because of the low base power of its STAB moves. Honedge also doesn’t check Taillow or Archen ‘’that well” cause it can’t really switch in unless it's physical Taillow. Idk, I’m just not high this mon, but other people seem to be and it's not bad or anything so I’m putting it in A-

B+

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Riolu

Diglett-Alola

Natu

Stunky

Amaura - See Snover

Fomantis

Salandit - Pre-September Shift, Salandit was a bit closer to Houndour in my eyes, though still definitely below. The main reason being, Salandit’s real difficulty in breaking through the Bulky Waters; HP Grass is just too weak even at +2. This problem is really exasperated now that Frillish is back in the game and it just really lowers Salandit’s ceiling to perform. Houndour just has better tools to succeed in the tier, and Salandit’s ability to hit 18 speed isn’t enough to put it on Houndour’s level.

Tentacool

Bronzor

B

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Torchic - Personally I’ve found Torchic fairly underwhelming. It’s not really strong enough to really break effectively, especially when you compare it to its primary competition in Houndour and Salandit. It relies on weak Hidden Power Electric/Grass to even have a semblance of coverage for its checks and its other supplementary movepool is so shallow it just really turns me off from using it in most teams. Speed Boost is obviously great, but Torchic can’t really do anything with it in most situations.

Cranidos - I think Cranidos is potentially insanely good. This has been an offensive tier these past couple months, but if things shift just a bit more to more Balance, Cranidos could be a real terror. Life Orb Sheer Force is genuinely un-wallable, and this tier really isn’t that fast to where you absolutely need to run scarf or something. There isn’t even any real priority Cranidos has to worry about. Point is, I’m really paying attention to Cranidos right now and going forward because I think he’s on the cusp of being really really good.

Budew

Hippopotas

Krabby

Larvesta

Pumpkaboo-Small

Joltik - Okay, disclaimer: Joltik is my favorite Pokémon. I am heavily biased toward it. That being said, this is my subjective VR, so who cares. Joltik is the 2nd best Electric in the tier IMO. People still aren’t really running electric immunities; even if they were, Joltik has Grass coverage to beat all of them except like Numel and A-Diglett. Joltik functions super well as a decently fast “bulky” pivot thanks to its unique type combination and Eviolite. Joltik really pairs well with Rock-types like Tyrunt and Omanyte as they love the opportunity to set up on Fires that might be used to deal with Joltik. Joltik is a great mon, give him a try.

Morelull

Bulbasaur

Kabuto

Mankey

Smoochum - There’s no good reason why Smoochum should be unranked on the official VR, she’s really solid as an offensive mon. Life Orb Smoochum with Shadow Ball (for Honedge mainly) is really tough to switch into for Offensive build between its STAB combo and HP Fight for Houndour. So if you can get her in, a lot of opponents will be scrambling to find a way to deal with her. Her Scarf set is also pretty solid and with Trick, you can really neuter the effectiveness of a mon like Munchlax or Shellos that will try to come in on you.

Golett

B-

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Growlithe

Flabébé - Flabébé is another mon that is nowhere to be seen on the official VR and I just have to attribute that to a lack of exploration with it. It’s not the best Fairy-type by any means, but it’s definitely decent and has a niche on more Balance builds, either as Calm Mind potential win con or as your poor-man’s Spritzee which I think it works a bit better as. Honestly, the worst part about Flabébé is the fact that you can onlyyous the red color on Showdown :(

Woobat

Lileep

Inkay

Electrike

Voltorb - I don’t like Voltorb. It doesn’t have the coverage options I want in my Electric-types and I’m not high on the Screens niche. Like Voltorb is fast and has some cool support options, but I find myself just choosing the other Electrics over it every time I want to use one.

Minccino

Darumaka

Machop

Trubbish

Deerling

C+

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Stufful

Baltoy

Sandile

Chespin

Numel

Solosis

Pineco

Spinarak

Piplup

Sandygast

Cacnea

Dratini

Bellsprout

Buneary

Mime Jr.

Cubone

C - This is basically just everything else I think you could realistically justify running if you really want to. Anything not listed is either something I don't think is ever worth running or I forgot about it because it's not a particularly relevant mon.

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Rattata-Alola

Noibat

Koffing

Axew

Rowlet

Blitzle

Espurr

Psyduck

Treecko

Deino

Chimchar

Venipede

Finneon

Zorua

Froakie

Geodude

Mantyke

Aron

Klink

Teddiursa

Remoraid

Totodile

Purrloin

Oddish

Gible

Elgyem

Cubchoo

Zubat - I am PISSED that this thing's stats are just so bad. This guy could be sick but noooo, his highest stat has to be 55 speed. feelsbadman

Turtwig

Alright so yeah, if anyone has any questions regarding how I feel about a specific mon I didn't talk about, or just wildly disagrees with me somewhere, lets talk about it. Then gen's about to end, might as well spend it talking about the incredibly niche LC UU, cause we won't have this for a while (if at all) once Sword and Shield come out.

 

[Kipkluif]

I've been playing around with it and I feel like Meowth-alola deserves to be ranked in the B tier. It has a fantastic speed tier, has access to some good physical moves, can be a threat with Nasty Plot and Technician-boosted Hidden Power, allowing very few actual switchins even when this set is revealed, and it could also play support with moves like Taunt, Fake Out and Parting Shot. It's an unpredictable mon that can fill a slot on most offensive teams and it's gone mostly under the radar until now because regular meowth was a thing I believe.

 

[a cat]

since I'm not really gonna use these teams anymore, here are a couple of my old lcuu teams. feel free to play around with them (although since this is nearly the end of gen 7, they probably won't be helpful, but meh.)

Honedge weak

Budew @ Eviolite
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Def / 40 SpA / 196 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Sleep Powder
- Synthesis
- Giga Drain

Frillish @ Eviolite
Ability: Water Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 236 HP / 116 Def / 76 SpA / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Hex
- Recover
- Will-O-Wisp

Munchlax @ Berry Juice
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 116 Def / 156 SpD
Impish Nature
- Return
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Recycle

Mankey @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Night Slash
- U-turn
- Earthquake

Natu @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Def / 120 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Psychic
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Roost

Sandshrew-Alola @ Berry Juice
Ability: Slush Rush
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 76 Atk / 116 Def / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rapid Spin
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Icicle Spear

Scarf Fomantis

Fomantis @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Contrary
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 200 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Leaf Storm
- Giga Drain
- Defog
- Hidden Power [Ground]

Shellos @ Eviolite
Ability: Sticky Hold
Level: 5
EVs: 228 HP / 132 Def / 100 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Recover
- Earth Power
- Clear Smog

Pancham @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 180 Atk / 100 Def / 212 SpD / 12 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Parting Shot
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt

Stunky @ Berry Juice
Ability: Aftermath
Level: 5
EVs: 12 HP / 172 Atk / 60 Def / 244 Spe
Naive Nature
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Defog
- Sludge Bomb

Nosepass @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 76 Atk / 236 Def / 196 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rock Blast
- Thunder Wave
- Volt Switch

Natu @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 156 Def / 116 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Heat Wave
- Substitute
- Roost

rain team lookalike

Koffing @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 76 Def / 236 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Fire Blast
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Omanyte @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 116 Def / 116 SpA / 156 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Ice Beam

Minccino @ Life Orb
Ability: Skill Link
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Aqua Tail
- Seed Bomb
- Tail Slap
- U-turn

Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 116 Def / 116 SpD / 68 Spe
Timid Nature
- Defog
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Encore

Pancham @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
EVs: 180 Atk / 100 Def / 212 SpD / 12 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Parting Shot
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- Zen Headbutt

Helioptile @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 192 SpA / 92 SpD / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Surf
- Hidden Power [Fire]