Tournament Little Cup World Cup - General Discussion

[Xayah]

Have fun in here but be civil. It's really pretty simple, but stick to it please. Posts will be deleted if necessary. Nineage really likes deleting bad posts so yeah

 

[freezai]

Go Asia!

 

[elleapple]

Asia has a literal rap god supporting them how can they lose

Serene grace, the mean machine screen ace

TUO kickin youo so hard you goin into space

Byron the well well making haysups game and life hell

Chill shadow raising the bar and making tides swell

Vooper gonna boop ya like a wooper he needs no hands

Ninja faster he’s the master yeah bro he’s the man

THESE BARS MAN

 

[Corporal Levi]

LCWC Power Rankings​

By myself, dcae, Melon, taranteeeno, tazz
Rankings submitted by myself, dcae, GOAO, Melon, Merritt, Serene Grace, Star, taranteeeno, Vileman, Wabane ​

Welcome to the LCWC power rankings! We decided to split the writing between several users (West players wrote Central descriptions and vice-versa to minimize bias. The writers we enlisted from other regions unfortunately dropped out). Rankings were unweighted averages of those submitted. Players from the week 1 starting lineups were used.

The SM and XY pools are honestly totally absurd. No fewer than the top 19 ranked SM LCers are Snake-level LC players, and the XY pool has a similar level of strength. This is not something that any LCPL we have had so far could even hope to approach, so expect some high level games this season. (The remaining tiers are about as strong as or weaker than what one would expect of LCPL.)

 

[taranteeeno]

SM LC Power Rankings​

Individual Rankings

1. Star: 1.833 – NA East
2. ggggd: 2.286 – Latin America
3. Corporal Levi: 2.600 – NA Central
4. dcae: 3.400 – NA West
5. Kingler12345: 4.333 – NA East
6. OP: 6.000 – NA West
7. jake: 6.200 – NA Central
8. Ninjadog13: 7.833 – Asia
9. Shrug: 8.167 – NA East
10. Osh: 9.429 – NW Europe
11. Chill Shadow: 9.667 – Asia
12. Toadow: 10.143 – France
13. Sken: 11.857 – Europe
14. ZoroDark: 12.000 – NW Europe
15. trash: 13.000 – NA West
16. Pohjis: 13.571 – Europe
17. BurntZebra: 14.000 – NA Central
18. vooper: 14.333 – Asia
19. Eternal Spirit: 15.000 – Latin America
20. hamhamhamham: 17.286 – NW Europe
21. Maomiraeniya: 17.857 – France
22. Wabane: 19.143 – France
23. Midnight Howl: 19.429 – Europe
24. lighthouses: 21.000 – Latin America

1. NA East: 4.778 (#1 Star, #5 Kingler12345, #9 Shrug)
US East sets the bar very high with its three starting SM LCers. Star, one of the few highly successful tour players who mains LC, leads the group as the #1 ranked LCer in the PR. This will be his first outing in LC since SPL 8 and it will be interesting to see how his play stacks up to the evidently high expectations after his recent elite OU showings. Kingler12345 would be the best player on the majority of the teams in the tour and is fresh off an 8-0 performance in LCPL. At his peak, Kingler can outplay anyone in LC and no one should be surprised if he pulls off another undefeated season. You know an SM unit is stacked when the lowest ranked player is Shrug, the player who iced Snake Draft 1 finals. Despite a slow start this calendar year, two deep runs in Fall Seasonal and Last Chance while cruising to an easy LC Circuit playoffs qualification show that he is heating up at the best possible moment. Three Snake level LCers that can all play and build at the highest level means US East will be dynamic in its play and undoubtedly successful throughout this tour.

2. NA West: 7.467 (#4 dcae, #6 OP, #15 trash)
With the US West preseason marked by trash fitting into his trademark team cancer reputation to the best of his ability by taking captaincy hostage, and former star player OP stepping down as TL soon after a disappointing Snake performance, a lot of question marks surround the future of the team. Regardless, West boasts an enormously strong SM lineup in terms of raw player talent that consists of three recent Snake Draft LC players: dcae, OP, and trash. At the helm is LC Circuit playoff’s #1 seed dcae, who has garnered multiple finalist placements in LC tours this year, although he has yet to actually win a tour. Despite his underperformance during Snake, as well as a general tendency for whatever team he supports to crash and burn, dcae has earned the respect of spectators with his consistent year-round performance. OP is another LC top dog who earlier this year won the LC Spring Seasonal and led the Squirtle Squad to an LCPL title. Just a few months ago, he was in contention for the title of number one LCer, but his recent commitment to LC is in question following his step down from tier leadership and his lack of appearances in the last two circuit tours.
Another question mark in terms of activity is trash, who started the year off hot. With decent LC Circuit results and even better results in LCPL, he cemented himself as a top builder as well as a capable player and manager, even leading the Bunnelby Battalion to semi-finals. However, a horrific performance in Snake and subsequent cool-off in circuit tours creates doubt as to where his mind is at coming into LCWC. US West has the means to dominate the other top SM lineups, but much of their success will rely on OP and trash returning to form during this tour. Whether it is trash's treacherous persona, OP's lack of commitment, or dcae's terrible luck, US West has obstacles in front of it far greater than their #2 ranked SM lineup.

3. NA Central: 7.600 (#3 Corporal Levi, #7 jake, #17 BurntZebra)
NA Central continues the trend of potent American SM trios. This unit is led by Corporal Levi, the newly minted LC TL, who will look to prove that he can build off his tremendous success in Snake, where he went 8-1 using some of the worst teams in the tour. His 2018 resume also features a Swiss victory where he managed to luck his way through a number of more deserving players. Despite such inadequacies, Levi is one of the most talented players and builders LC has to offer, and we expect his record and gameplay to live up to his high PR ranking. jake, better known as zebraiken by older users, was recently featured in Snake as well in his first trophy tour LC performance, where he pushed the boundaries of teambuilding with some of the more creative yet solid builds of the tour. However, his record in both Snake and LCPL (4-5 and 4-4 respectively) demonstrates that though he has looked good in recent times, his results have hovered around even. BurntZebra, once one of the most praised up-and-coming LCers, has not been actively involved in LC for quite a while. His last significant tour was LCPL, where he went 5-4 and had a notably dominant victory over Dundies. One of the more interesting wild cards in this tour, this other zebra will look to cement his place as one of the top LCers in the tier. Central's SM lineup is the weakest of the North American teams, but undoubtedly the most interesting. Look to see very innovative builds and Levi lucking throughout the tour. However, jake and BurntZebra must both exceed their recent team tour performances in order for NA Central to succeed because going around even in such a potent pool of players will not be as easy nor will it be enough to take this team all the way.

4. Asia: 10.611 (#8 Ninjadog13, #11 Chill Shadow, #18 vooper)
Team Asia-Pacific sits at #4 and despite a fairly big gap in points existing between them and Central at #3, they have managed to put up a strong SM lineup. Ninjadog13, 7th seed in LC Circuit Playoffs and a battler who proved his worth going 5-3 in his LCPL debut season, leads Asia-Pacific’s SM pack and is "the only Aussie on the team." We believe this tour will be his time to break into the Top 5. ChillShadow is another top SM LCer that makes up this formidable lineup. Despite missing circuit playoffs, CS had a superb debut LCPL season going 5-1. Much like his teammate, we expect CS to perform consistently well with the top SM players in this tour. ItzViper39th drags the overall lineup’s rank down a bit. His average 3-3 record in the recent LCPL and lack of notable success in the current circuit has resulted in a #18 rankings spot. His skill in the teambuilder however will certainly help teammates like ChillShadow whose success will rely heavily on proper team support throughout the season. Boasting a fairly high skill level, potential to break past it and proper support, Team Asia-Pacific will likely assert their position in the upper half of the SM PR.

5. Latin America: 12.762 (#2 ggggd, #19 Eternal Spirit, #24 lighthouses)
Latin America’s #5 placement in the SM PR is entirely carried by #2 ranked ggggd. The young Brazilian player is a proven monster in the LC tour scene recently winning the LC Open and being a past Circuit finalist. Eternal Spirit and lighthouses, both familiar faces in the official team tour scene, round out the rest of Latin America’s SM lineup. ES is hot off an amazing 6-3 Snake performance, even taking a win over OP in a one-off LC week. His overall LCPL performances have been a rough, but his successes at the highest level prove he is capable of taking on LC’s best as a player - however, much of his successes have been with a strong builder at his back. lighthouses on the contrary is a player who has severely underperformed at the highest level in recent official team tour outings. His recent 1-5 run in this year’s LCPL does not help his ranking as he takes the lowest spot at #24. Starting him is a highly questionable move by LA Captain/child soldier ggggd. While LA's captain is an almost guaranteed 6-1 slot, the rest of the lineup, especially lighthouses, absolutely tanks the team's overall SM ranking. They need proper teambuilding support and prep to take on the upper echelon SM lineups. Looking at Team Latin America, it is difficult to spot solid SM support thus cementing their spot in the lower half of the SM rankings.

6. NW Europe: 12.905 (#10 Osh, #14 ZoroDark, #20 hamhamhamham)
Team Northwest Europe sits at #6 on our SM Power Rankings barely edged out by Team ggggd LA for the fifth spot. The overall lineup boasts several LC mainstays and their SM is no different. Osh, the #3 LC Circuit playoffs seed, LC Summer Seasonal winner, NU Open winner, and Grand Slam playoffs qualifier, leads NW EU and has had quite the impressive year. After putting up an immense 9-0 LC record during Snake Draft 1, ZoroDark has had a much less eventful year going 3-3 in LCPL and having only two half-assed performances in LC circuit tours. Once considered a fearsome battler in the LC scene, we are curious to see if he will return to Snake form this LCWC. Rounding out the lineup is hamhamhamham, last year’s OM Grand Slam winner and newer face to LC. Hamslam will look to make a better impression this time around compared to his not-so-hot 2-5 record last LCPL. What holds this lineup back are recent LC performances from the latter two names in the lineup. However, do not doubt their potential. The team has a high skill ceiling and if manager LilyAC can ensure proper support is given, Team NW Europe has the potential to beat any of the teams ranked above them.

7. Europe: 14.952 (#13 Sken, #16 Pohjis, #23 Midnight Howl)
At #7, we have Team Europe whose lineup suffered from the loss of Benelux players to NW Europe in addition to losing Tricking over regional squabbles. What they ended up with is a rather lukewarm lineup consisting of a couple of veterans and a newcomer to LC team tours. Leading Europe’s SM lineup is Sken whose #13 rank may surprise some readers, but he has established himself this year as an inactive, middle of the pack player - going 2-2 in Snake, failing to make a single deep run in circuit tours, and not even playing in the most recent LCPL. Meanwhile, Pohjis has been surging recently in the LC Circuit, sneaking into playoffs with above-average performances topped off by a semi-finals appearance in Last Chance. We are curious to see if the Grand Slam semi-finalist can carry this momentum into his LC team tour debut. Lastly is Midnight Howl, a relative unknown in LC tours. His inclusion in the week 1 starting lineup may be a testament to Europe’s struggle to build their own team. The upside for this bunch is that they should have creative and solid teambuilding support between Sken and manager Fille, which high-level players like Pohjis and newcomers like Midnight Howl will surely benefit from. While it's questionable whether they will be able to carry the team to some success, Europe's SM roster is certainly set to produce a new star or two.

8. France: 15.714 (#12 Toadow, #21 Maomiraeniya, #22 Wabane)
Being one of the few countries to fiercely fight for their own team and the only to actually get it, it is hardly surprising that France is at the bottom of the SM Power Ranking. Their SM starting lineup consists of entirely new faces to the LC team tour scene. However, hope is not lost for Team France as their SM is lead by surging up-and-comer Toadow, who is fresh off a Last Chance tour win and late playoff spot. We have high hopes for the new Frenchman to make waves in his team tour debut. On the other hand, Wabane and Maomiraeniya are total unknowns to LC team tours and lack the recent success that their star teammate brings, being primarily known as ladderers. This starting lineup is a :WaitWhat:-level head scratcher for a country that pushed so hard for their own team. The pressure is high on France’s SM crew to make a strong and lasting impression as they represent their country on the big stage.

 

[tazz]

ORAS LC Power Rankings​

As a preface, it is worth noting that this is likely the most intimidating list of players oras has seen in team tournaments since oras itself; Seeing many of these players high in LC tournaments 3 years ago would not be at all surprising. Going positive in oras this year will be a significant challenge even for good players.

1. tazz: 1.200 – NA Central
The Missouri Machine is back again to make the tier his bitch. tazz has more tournament ORAS experience than anyone, with a 14-14 record in LCPL, and he only improved his play over time as he went 8-5 over the last two LCPLs. Beyond his back-to-back LCPL playoff appearances, tazz has had impressive SM results recently, notably getting second place in the most recent LC Open and making LC Circuit playoffs. With unrivaled experience and a team that is sure to help him out along the way, everyone should be expecting a big season from the ORAS savant himself.

2. Himeringo: 2.400 - NA West
Himeringo did not play 2 LCPLs ago and only went 1-1 in ORAS in the past LCPL. This high rank despite frequent inactivity and lack of recent experience compared to Diego Maradona tazz or majaspic22 is a testament to how proficient Himeringo was in ORAS; He likely had the highest tournament results of any player on this list. His metagame knowledge, grasp of mechanics, teambuilding skills and predictive ability were so strong during ORAS that if he can come back as or close to where he was in ORAS, something that he has done in the past, he could end up being the person to beat. Himeringo also has incredible ORAS support in trash and OP, giving him even more resources. If Himeringo can manage to not quit before the end of the season and can escape his status as a hax magnet this should be a great season for him.

3. Diego Maradona: 2.833 - Latin America
Diego Maradona has shown that he is very much still in touch with the LC meta, playing ORAS in the past 2 LCPLs and going solidly positive in both. Diego in known for his teambuilding prowess in a meta where teambuilding ability is very emphasized and should be very useful against many of his opponents who might not have that level of teambuilding support. Diego lacks that solid building support that the higher rankers on this list has, but he will likely have little trouble building independently. Despite his strong record he, like others who played in previous LCPLs, will still find himself having to work much harder to go positive on account of this strong player pool.

4. Kushalos: 4.000 - NW Europe
Kushalos is unlike the players around him in this list in that he lacks not only the recent ORAS experience that many of them have, but also extensive recent LC experience. On the other hand, Kushalos has proven through participating in high level team and individual tournaments in other tiers that he has a strong grasp of the game as a whole, which allowed for some considerable results during ORAS, including making it to LC Open finals; he also has some degree of support in other players on his team who were around during ORAS. If he can fully make use of the skills he demonstrated during ORAS with the help of his support he should have little trouble meaningfully competing with other members of this list.

5. Majaspic22: 4.1413 - France
Majaspic did not play ORAS during LCPL 5 and went negative in it in LCPL 6 (like any squirtle who wasn’t OP Serene or Dundies), but was generally seen as a solid player during ORAS and showed in his performance in LCPL 6 that he is capable of building teams at a high level, though in this case it did not translate to results. Majaspic should have some support in Maomiraeniya, who was a consistently strong presence on ladder during ORAS despite some lack of strong tournament results. If past LCPL results are any indication though, Majaspic will have to step it up if he hopes to turn his luck around and get a positive record in this player pool that is even stronger than LCPL, something that might be hard considering his notorious inactivity.

6. teal6: 4.333 - NA East
Teal6 did end up going negative in LCPL 5 and even in LCPL 6, but his performance in snake proved that with star support he is capable of contending with top players. A lot of this record will likely hinge on star: He nailed many matchups that led to teal’s great record in snake and this ability will likely end up being even more important considering how important team matchup is in ORAS. If teal hopes to go even or better in ORAS this time around he will need even more metagame adaptation; He has the same great support he had last time but to avoid going negative his play will have to rise to the quality of the teams.

7. Serene Grace: 5.333 - Asia
Serene has had no shortage of very strong results in SM LC, having three times as many points as the #16 spot in the LC circuit standings and making it all the way to the finals of the LC Open. One could even argue that he has the best SM LC results out of anyone on this list. However, the very opposite is true in ORAS; Serene is the only person on this list with absolutely no meaningful experience in ORAS LC and, unlike teal, lacks significant teambuilding and metagame knowledge support. This is only made worse by his tendency to have awful impressions of metagames. Serene has shown his ability to pick up metas to some degree in his BW LC performance in LCPL 6, but without a broken strategy to abuse and what could easily be argued as a much stronger player pool serene might find himself hard pressed to compete with all of these names. It is not impossible that he could somehow adapt with help from a teammate that was around during ORAS in time to find himself with a decent record, but that would likely be even more impressive and unexpected than his BW run.

8. fran17: 6.571 - Europe
Fran17 is especially difficult to rank considering that he did not find himself playing ORAS in either LCPL 6 or LCPL 5 despite his presence back in ORAS. Even in LCPL 4 he only played ORAS LC once, instead usually playing a different meta. Fran17 is very solid at playing a wide variety of metagames and is talented at picking them up, but he does not have many of the evident results that most of the players above him possess. However, Fran has shown in that past that he is capable of playing well and has solid testing support in Sken, so despite his last rank likely due to lack of results he does have the potential to surprise everyone.

 

[Corporal Levi]

BW LC Power Rankings​

1. Finchinator: 1.600 – NA East
Most of the BW starters this season are being questioned as to whether they are truly top level, with many of the purported strongest BW players starting in SM or ORAS instead this season. After a highly dominant LCPL season with the Pakistani Piplups where he ended 3-2 in BW despite poor luck, on top of winning at least one game in every generation, Finchinator is a glaring exception. Though primarily known as a BW OU player, Finchinator is notably more invested in the littler tiers than most other members of US East, with fairly deep runs in several LC circuit tours and strong performances for the last two LCPLs. Stronger fundamentals than the average BW LC player, coupled with Starmaster teams and enough knowledge of both LC and BW to get by, sets the stage for Finchinator to be the BW LCer to beat.

2. FLCL: 1.800 – NA West
Another favourite for BW LC going into the tournament, FLCL boasts the most LCPL wins of any player, sporting an overall record of 31-17. Though he spent his last LCPL season on the Bunnelby Battalion playing SM to minor success, he has seen a fair amount of BW play from previous seasons, with a record of 11-4 in BW LC. He does lack recent LC experience, but he will have highly touted builders in trash and dcae to help him with teams; they will also be able to act as strong subs should FLCL falter in BW or choose to play SM instead.

3. Vileman: 3.400 – Latin America
With GOAO stuck on DPP duty, Vileman makes his eagerly anticipated return into the limelight as the BW LCer for Latin America after skipping out on LCPL 7. Some may try and question whether he will be able to keep up in a metagame and playerbase that has changed and improved drastically since his heyday. However, there was no doubt about Vileman's position as one of the strongest BW LCers when he was active; he goes into LCWC as one of the most experienced BW LCers around, and GOAO should be able to help him get used to his new environment.

4. fatty: 3.500 – NA Central
fatty makes his full-time return to BW LC for the first time since LCPL 1, having only played the occasional LCPL game over the past few years. Midwest is a fitting region for this middle of the pack LC player. He has shown difficulty adjusting to SM, and considering the changes BW LC has undergone in recent times, it is questionable whether his veteran BW knowledge will be a positive or a negative in this case. However, despite some recent disappointing results, fatty is one of the most experienced LC players of all time and is one of the rare LCers to also be well-regarded in upper tiers (shown by his appearances in WCOP), and thus should not be underestimated. Do not be surprised if fatty gets one of the best records in this pool, but do not be surprised if he does not live up to the expectations either.

5. fitzy72: 3.571 – NW Europe
Fitzy is difficult to rank due to his inconsistency; a sky high peak during early XY and a more recent 2017 summer seasonal victory have been marred by poor performances in other tournaments, most recently LCPL 7. What is consistent is his flexibility; he can play just about any tier at a decent level, and for this season it looks like his team will need him in BW. This seems to suit his strengths, as even though his overall LCPL record is a mediocre 19-22, he barely manages a positive win rate of 14-13 in BW. While not exactly the superstar of his team, fitzy should be able to hold the line for EUNW's extremely strong SM lineup to shine through.

6. TUO: 4.333 – Asia
After over an year passed by with only silence, it was the Asia-Pacific doubters' turn to be silenced when the LCWC preseason saw the unexpected return of the enigmatic figure known only as The Unbeatable One. Little can be said of the legendary BW LCer - save, of course, his astounding LCPL record; his many seasons spent not knowing the shadow of defeat have truly cemented TUO as the greatest BW LCer of all time. There is a single saving grace for his hapless foes, which is his lack of familiarity with the modern BW LC metagame; though his teammate viper and manager Serene have some BW experience, Serene's notoriously incompetent metagame takes have a strong tendency to be more of a hindrance than of help. Will TUO's grand return be marked by yet another era of dominance, or will it be marred by Serene's presence? Billy may have run out of time, but TUO has not.

7. neomon: 5.857 – Europe
Once upon a time, neomon was an active MDLer; however, at no point was he an active BW LCer. In this year's highly experienced and fairly capable BW LC player pool, neomon has his work cut out for him. He does have some notably flexible teammates such as fran17 and fille who may be able to help him adapt, not to mention his own ability as a player with general LC experience, so not all hope is lost, but BW definitely seems to be one of team Europe's weaker points.

8. dance w me: 6.714 – France
I cannot, in good faith, rank someone with 1 post above last

 

[Melon]

DPP LC Power Rankings​

1. Heysup: 1.600 – NA Central
It should be no surprise to see Heysup at the top of this year’s DPP LC rankings, having been known as the single best in the tier for many years. With a 21-14 lifetime LCPL record in DPP LC, he has far more experience than not only the other players in this tournament, but literally any player in history of the tier. That being said, his recent results show a clear downwards trend, with a 2-3 finish in LPL and a 3-3 record in LCPL 7. Even with slightly below average results recently, Heysup’s still looking to be a clear favorite against nearly every other player and should have no issue ending this tournament with a positive record. The question to answer is will Heysup have his way with the inexperienced player pool, or will his bakery keep on burning?

1. Melon: 1.600 – NA West
Around the start of LCPL 7, Melon began to take an interest in DPP LC. As the manager of the Bunnelby Battalion, he chose not to play, but it was with Melon's builds that his teammate passion was able to amass a fantastic 6-1 record, the best DPP record in the tournament. Since then, Melon has been one of the most active DPPers around, helping to develop what was once seen as a stagnant and hopeless metagame into a more respectable tier. After going 5-1 in LPL, it has become clear that his strengths don't just lie in his metagame knowledge; most spectators will agree that Melon enters LCWC as one of the most threatening competitors, both in terms of building ability and level of play, and will be one of the players to beat.

3. GOAO: 2.400 – Latin America
Somehow managing to temporarily escape his tournament ban shackles, GOAO makes his first LC appearance in over a year this tournament. Often touted as an exceptional player during his time of activity, GOAO is not known for his DPP ability and has less experience than the top players in the pool. With little experience in the tier and no players with great DPP knowledge on his team, things could be rough for our Brazilian friend. That being said, he is also a significantly better player than most of the player pool and can abuse his superior fundamentals, LC knowledge, and youthful energy to carry Latin America to a positive DPP record.

4. bro fist: 3.000 – NA East
Often referred to as the best player in all of Smogon, bro fist makes his LC team tournament debut starting in DPP. Though he may be an incredible player, his complete lack of experience and knowledge in this tier could be his downfall as he will not know what to be expecting from unrevealed slots or uncommon Pokemon. Even though he won’t really know what to expect, it is bro fist, and just loading up a Star team and playing should be enough to at the very least go even, if not cause an upset or two.

5. byronthewellwell: 3.833 – Asia
One of the lesser pronounced players on this list, Byron has a limited but surprisingly impressive DPP LC history. His single result in the tier was his unexpected victory in the DPP LC Tournament late last year, where his most impressive win was over fellow DPPer HSOWA. Despite his performance, his questionable building ability coupled with his lack of results since his tournament win leave much to be desired. With little to no DPP help on his team this could be Asia’s weakest slot towards the end of the season.

6. HSOWA: 4.429 – NW Europe
One of the most recently active players on this list, HSOWA actually has results to look at for their performances unlike those below him. Even though he has recent results, his 1-3 record in LPL isn’t exactly doing him any favors, and he failed to get drafted in the most recent edition of LCPL. Despite these shortcomings he does have experience in the tier and a teammate to test and talk shop with in fitzy, a luxury that many other teams don’t seem to have. With help on his team and an overall lackluster DPP pool, this is HSOWA’s best shot to really make a name for himself and cement himself as a guaranteed pick in future LC tournaments.

7. Corckscrew: 6.286 – Europe
Despite having limited LC results and absolutely no DPP results, Corckscrew managed to get ranked higher than Alkione due to being a somewhat recognizable LCer.

8. Alkione: 6.714 – France
Is not a recognizable LCer.

 

[Corporal Levi]

Manager Power Rankings​

1. Corporal Levi - 1.333 - NA Central
Corporal Levi is without a doubt the single most accomplished manager in LC history. The five-time LCPL manager has made playoffs in the past four consecutive LCPLs, and even managed to make finals the past three. Of those three consecutive finals, Levi’s Massive Stat-Boost Munnas managed to take home the gold in LCPL 5, cementing his legacy as a fantastic manager. With such a consistent success rate when managing and a great team to back it up, anything less than a trip to the LCWC finals would be underwhelming for NA Central this season.

2. Coconut - 2.200 - NA East
One of the more experienced managers on this list, Coconut is no stranger to dealing with Little Cup's big egos. Her recent records as a manager have been notably poor, with her teams failing to make playoffs in Smogon Exhibition and LCPL 7 by fairly wide margins. However, it is generally acknowledged that her biggest downfall as a manager is in her poor auctioning ability, which makes for a much more promising season with that phase skipped for LCWC; the one year she did manage to amass a reasonably strong team in LCPL 5, her team was able to claw their way into finals before falling to the Massive Stat-boosting Munnas. With years of experience and an exceptionally proven co-captain in Starmaster, Coconut certainly looks like one of the strongest managers of the tour.

3. Melon - 2.667 - NA West
After spending LCPLs 5 and 6 managing teams that were undoubtedly in the bottom half, with all signs pointing to this being the most he would be capable of, it came as a surprise when Melon managed to, alongside his assistant manager trash, amass a threatening team for the most recent season in LCPL 7. Although they eventually lost in semifinals to the Squirtle Squad, Melon's burmy-trashes came out of the season as one of the strongest teams that LCPL has seen as of yet. There was much talk of potential collusion by Melon and trash for the midseason of LCPL 7, and the duo has been reunited for LCWC; there is no telling what sorts of underhanded tactics they will use to gain an advantage this time around. His recent stint managing for LPL was fairly successful as well despite lacking a midseason, with his team managing to make finals, so clearly he has other ways to dishonorably game the system.

4. Fille - 4.200 - Europe
Fille comes into LCWC season 1 as the most promising of the newer managers after helping to manage the winning team for LPL. As impressive as this is, it's also essentially the extent of his managing experience, as he had only managed for MDLPL and smaller tours before LPL. With a team that arguably ranks on the lower end in most other categories, Fille will have to go above and beyond to bring out the best in his players. Was Fille's LPL performance merely a fluke, perhaps indicative of strong drafting ability that won't apply to LCWC, or was it a hint at his position among the all-time greats?

4. ggggd - 4.200 - Latin America
Despite his middle-of-the-pack placement, I have to mention here that almost everyone involved in the rankings had only poor things to say of ggggd's managing ability. He managed in both Smogon Exhibition and the recent Snake season, and in both cases he left spectators questioning both his drafting ability and his overall qualifications as a manager; these questions have very much not been answered in a promising manner by his day to day interactions. However, while ggggd's experiences as a manager have been poor, he does still have significant experience; this is not something much of the managing pool cannot claim.

6. Serene Grace - 4.250 - Asia-Pacific
Pablo may have had poor showings during his previous stints as manager; suffice to say that Serene's Grace has been far worse. Having managed the Indian WCoP team and the Kawaii Xayah12345s for DPL, Serene is famous for never in his career having managed a team without a cheating scandal. After his disastrous WCOP run ended with several of his players tourbanned, Serene apparently decided this wasn't enough and took the benign pranks into his own hands for DPL, adding at least one new rule for DPL season 3. His pranks aren't limited to the tours that he managed for, of course, with similar behavior in tours such as CLPL. One could almost understand this rule-bending if his teams at least saw success as the Melon-trash duo did, but his WCOP team was disqualified immediately by Bangladesh, and his veritable superteam for DPL, managed alongside rank 1 manager Corporal Levi, failed to make playoffs. Most will agree that Asia-Pacific will be playing as if without a manager, and praying it doesn't get worse than that.

7. LilyAC - 4.800 - Northwest Europe
It may seem harsh to rank LilyAC below known negative variables like ggggd and Serene, but at the end of the day, Lily has only a single result to be ranked by: she drafted a reasonably strong team for LPL and ended dead last. Where fellow less experienced manager Fille of Europe comes into LCWC with a promising LPL victory, Lily comes into LCWC having placed last in 100% of her tours. The Larvesta Molesters were heavily hampered by poor luck, however; if she wants to override her extremely underwhelming record, Lily will have to do her best to set up a strong season with EUNW, showing that LPL was an exception, not the norm.

8. majaspic22 - 6.800 - France
Several other managers enter LCWC with poor track records and are expected to do poorly, but only majaspic22 managed to make a poor impression in LCWC before the tour even began. An extremely slow response rate and a general tone implying minimal effort have been concerning to the hosts and other managers alike; the vast majority of communication on the french team ended up having to be done through his co-captain, Bouki. This is coupled with a reputation for being difficult to schedule with and no experience whatsoever managing in Smogon-side tournaments. Majaspic22 will have to step up drastically in terms of activity if LCWC's integrity as a tournament is to be maintained.

 

[dcae]

Aggregates:​

1. NA West - 14
Boasting an extremely strong SM lineup and placing at worst second in every category except for managing, it's no surprise that NA West tops this list. With all-star players in every tier, NA West will be the team to beat.

Hot on NA West's heels are the other two NA regions; though they rank worse than West in terms of starting lineups, both are notable for their greater depth.

2. NA Central - 16
NA Central has every single player in the upper half of their respective tier, but they are especially notable for their strong subtitutes. This allows for an absurd amount of flexibility in Central's starting positions; a Central team B would likely be capable of making the upper half of these rankings as well.

2. NA East - 16
Tied with NA Central is the final NA team, NA East. Their roster is primarily carried by the strongest SM lineup in the tour, as well as the top ranked BW player. While their XY and DPP players are by no means poor, the veritable superstars in their favoured tiers grant them the most rank 1 positions of any team. The remainder of their lineup is jam packed with capable teambuilders such as Plas.

4. Latin America - 28
Straddling the line between the top ranked NA teams and the rest of the world lies GOAO's merry group of friends. While the team consists of capable players, they lack a notable teambuilder; Diego Maradona and GOAO will be able to handle the older gens with ease, but a lack of a strong builder for SM will likely be their downfall.

5. Asia-Pacific - 36
Having a manager such as Serene is unfortunate, but Asia-Pacific does have the tools to make it big if they play their cards right. Though they fail to stand out in any one category, none of their players are irredeemably poor, either, and everyone is in a position to make breakout performances.

6. Northwest Europe - 40
EUNW is in a similar position to Asia-Pacific in that though they don't have superstars outside of possibly Osh, most of their lineup is at worst passably good, allowing them to pave the way for their strong SM players to shine. Many of the players either lack recent success or experience entirely, but if they can get around that, this team could definitely see some success.

7. Europe - 47
Unfortunately, here is where we get to the teams that really don't look favourable at all from a power rankings point of view; Sken being one of their higher ranked players is more than slightly disappointing. There isn't much to be said except that they'll have to prove us wrong.

8. France - 53
Toadow has been on fire, Majaspic22 has looked fine as a player in the past, and Mao and Wabane show potential. Otherwise, France looks noticeably weaker than every other team. They undoubtedly enter this tournament as the underdogs.

With the SM and XY pools so strong, this should shape up to be an interesting season!

 

[HT]

Manager Power Rankings
4. ggggd

 

[obii]

byronthewellwell

 

[GOAO]

​

4. ggggd - 4.200 - Latin America
Despite his middle-of-the-pack placement, I have to mention here that almost everyone involved in the rankings had only poor things to say of ggggd's managing ability. He managed in both Smogon Exhibition and the recent Snake season, and in both cases he left spectators questioning both his drafting ability and his overall qualifications as a manager; these questions have very much not been answered in a promising manner by his day to day interactions. However, while ggggd's experiences as a manager have been poor, he does still have significant experience; this is not something much of the managing pool cannot claim.

vileman and i are taking over the team

 

[teal6]

whys is so fucking hard to get a decent ranking in LC fucking christ what do i have to do for you people

 

[Eternal Spirit]

since when do i use other people's teams at this easy tier LOOOL

 

[Chill Shadow]

since when do i use other peop- nvm

 

[neomon]

bw lc is heat bro

 

[Corckscrew]

why didnt u rank me last smh
alkione is way better I swear

 

[TUO]

wait I'm a doubles player not a LC player

 

[LilyAC]

Here's a sheet containing the player records so far.
I'll update it to include playoff games at the end of each week.
please lmk if you spot any mistakes!

 

[Pamplona]

Just wanted to say that for my first competitive team tour on this website it was a great experience & everyone on west was superb. From late night talks to watching everyone be successful week after week you guys were awesome teammates that I will definitely be supporting in your future endeavors.

A special thanks to trash & dcae for picking me up through tryouts so I encourage everyone else on the border of being selected, these definitely have the potential to make a difference if you perform well! Also I appreciate the dedication you both brought with helping everyone on the team out with teams and making sure we were ready every single week, it definitely showed with our impressive record. I'm happy to have paid you guys back with a victory for the confidence you bestowed upon me.

Also I just wanna say Melon's enthusiasm for DPP and the work he put in was stellar. I don't have any experience in this department but I heavily enjoyed watching your games the most week after week as it was something new and fresh for me. Glad I got to see all the victories which made spectating even sweeter. Even if Imanalt and rssp1 weren't on the roster officially you guys should definitely be credited for advice when building squads and test games.

My MVP of the team was HT, you stepped up into the spotlight big time by being called upon in multiple weeks and delivering victories. Also wanna say FLCL is a straight up winner your regular season run was impressive. You're as close to a robot as they come for wins LOL.

Everyone else on the team GG (tayllow keith still the best pokemon nickname I've ever seen tbh). Proud to have been a teammate of all of you throughout this tournament and definitely hope that there's a sequel next year. Not once did I have a bad time yall spoiled me. #westsidebestside

edit: We won the ladder though