Favorite Pokemon: AMAURA
Most used Pokemon: Cottonee
Most known for: Extreme Innovation in the BW metagame.
Hello! I am a 19yo college student who attends Old Dominion University (go Monarchs). I am currently studying Cybersecurity, although honestly I spend way too much time playing League / random games instead of studying. I'm really big into music, and while I can't play anything outside a few notes on a saxophone and a recorder, its probably one of the biggest influences in my life. I listen to music whenever I teambuild, for example, and the genres often range from alternative rock, to electronic pop, to folk metal, to weeb music, to even random stuff like melodic death metal. Currently I spend my days job hunting for the summer and getting drunk in skype calls with my bros.
How and when did you get your start in LC?
I first got started in LC in BW, almost right after BW2 came out. I think the players that got me into playing were my bros Sparkbeat, KingTorterraXIV, and I think zf (I can't remember if zf just played afterwards and was suddenly amazing at it or actually introduced me into playing). I had grown really tired of BW OU at that point, as I would either face Stall teams or Rain teams and neither were fun to play against when you were bad like me. My very first team I think was just a bunch of parafuse mons, like parafuse Murkrow. I remember that because I remember taking my team to Electrolyte at the time and asking him if the team was any good, and was told that Parafuse was ass. He revised my team a little, which just involved sticking the top 6 most used mons on the team, and I laddered with it, doing fairly well on the ladder. I made some cool friends in Vileman, GlassGlaceon, and Chromatic Art, and since then I haven't really found a tier that is as exciting as Little Cup.
What is your favorite aspect of LC?
One of my favorite aspects is that because of the fast paced nature of the tier, almost anything is viable as a serious team. I can stick some Tailwind mons on a team and crush things with Choice Band Binacle, simply because Berry Juice and glass cannon mons are fairly popular. The fast paced nature also means that stall isn't really all that good to use, which I love because I absolutely cannot play against stall effectively. The fact that LC is home to some of the cutest mons in existence is a big plus as well, and the playerbase of LC is for the most part really fun to chill with.
Is there any Pokemon, playstyle, etc that you feel is underrated in LC?
I personally feel that Tailwind / HO is severely underrated. After seeing that one Tailwind team that fatty made, I was hooked on using it, as a lot of the setters are mons that you would see on an ordinary team, like Archen, Cottonee, and Fletchling. Tailwind offense is also really cool in how it can just be played normally, as if you weren't using Tailwind at all, but if you are in a problematic spot its a good way to bail yourself out and make a comeback. I also think that there are wayyy more items in the tier that just aren't being used properly. Type Berries for one make excellent baits in order to get rid of problematic Pokemon. For example, theres the ever classic Chople Amaura set, but using Shuca Skrelp paired with something like a Snubbull that can cover Skrelp's job of tanking Fighting-types can help lure in Diglett and such and kill it, which is very helpful. Other Berries like Salac or Liechi are fun to use too, and as always Band, Specs, and even Silk Scarf / Soft Sand / etc items work well too.
What's your personal favorite playstyle and why?
Definitely Hyper Offense. I am absolutely awful at playing with and against a Stall team. Like I've lost to the most stupid low ladder shit with a stall team, its ridiculous. Bulky Offense is really fun and solid imo, but most of the time I just feel like I'm on autopilot when I use Bulky Offense and I don't really like not having to think in a game, as weird as that sounds. Hyper Offense is fun because I need to choose what Pokemon to sack to set up my wincon, I need to lead correctly, and most of the time I get to test prediction skills. BW OU Hyper Offense is probably one of my favorite tier / style to play just because most of the time it involves so much prediction to use effectively.
If there is one thing you could change in LC, what would it be?
I probably wouldn't unban anything, as after playing some older metas I've realized that a lot of stuff really needs to stay away from the tier. Instead I'd probably ban a ton of the more "centralizing" things, not really out of fixing the metagame but more out of seeing what would happen. Things like Mienfoo, Drifloon, trapping, Eviolite, Berry Juice, I think it would be really fun to see what emerges from a metagame like that. It'd probably be a very bad metagame, but imo it'd be cool to see some diversity in item / move / ability choices, and even better to see LC's mega salamence and primal groudon leave the tier.
What are your thoughts on Drifloon in the current metagame? Do you think the metagame would be healthier without it? Why?
IMO Drifloon is in a weird spot. I think its incredibly unhealthy, and somewhat like a stallier version of Swirlix, in that Drifloon has 2-3 different sets that it can run to get around its counters and quite often leave the game completely one sided. For example, its regular recycle stall set does really well against normal balance teams, while Calm Mind sets do well against things that would normally counter the standard set. Its often paired with Diglett, which only removes certain problem Pokemon like Magnemite or Ponyta, and the mon is also kinda formulaic like BP is. It doesn't really add anything interesting to the meta imo, and takes away far more than it gives. I would be perfectly fine with removing it, but I don't think that would fix too much of the issues I have with ORAS LC.
Tell us a little bit about the current state of BW LC. What do you think could be changed to make the metagame more balanced?
Right now I think that the tier is somewhat balanced. Some battles can be matchup based, but I think that the idea that BW is just one big Rock Paper Scissors is only spouted by people who really bad at the tier and don't actually know how to play it. While yeah, its going to be hard for a standard Double Rush team to fight a Hail balance team, its supposed to be hard, as the Double Rush player obviously didn't bring a good enough Snover check / trapper. A lot of BW imo involves good teambuilding and theorycrafting, as you can't just pick 6 semi strong mons and peak the ladder like you can in ORAS. I think the best way to look at it is thru atomicllamas' teams that he's built thus far, as all of the teams that he's shown through the last two lcpls are incredibly solid, but that don't really have a good matchup against any one thing. That was my thinking when I prepared for Week 2, was that there was one strategy that would net me a good enough matchup against what he might bring and knowing his teambuilding style he prefers to be solid against all archetypes rather than be semi weak to one but really strong against something else. I'm the exact opposite, and prefer building teams that might have a hard matchup against one or two mons but in contrast be really strong against a different two.
I think that getting rid of Scraggy would definitely open up the tier a little. Right now with Scraggy in the meta, one free turn of setup can mean that it just wins, which is really disheartening. Especially when it limits what you can run because you don't really want to give it a single turn. You can get around that by just having a 16+ Speed scarfer like Vullaby or Taillow, but I find that solution to be inelegant at best. I probably wouldn't mind seeing Misdreavus leave either, simply because its such a monster to account for in teambuilding and the teams I make are either notoriously weak to Misdreavus or so overpacked with Misdreavus counters that the mon is nigh useless against it. Sand Rush teams are annoying to face, but I don't personally see them being TOO broken. Lastly, I think that a lot of these issues could be fixed a little if Carvanha was opened into the tier, just off of pure theorymonning. Ban Scrag, Free Carv is my philosophy right now in BW LC, although either could easily unbalance the tier.
Is there anything, in either metagame, that you find overrated?
In BW LC, I find Double Rush teams to be extremely overrated. They're even more matchup based than I am comfortable with, and often they just don't simply do their job. I think that they definitely need a check on teams, but I don't find them needing overwhelming prep like a lot of people do, unless you're fighting Vileman. Personally I think that Timburr and Porygon in ORAS are overrated as well, as I think that Timburr has a poor matchup against a lot of common Pokemon and can't generally switchin to too much anymore, and that Porygon isn't really the best defensive behemoth that people used to run now that Download and 236+ SpA are more popular. This means that both Pokemon seem to be ran on teams where their primary role is to both switch into stuff and hit extremely hard, which just isn't going to happen and leads to them not doing either too well.
What players do you look up to / are good friends with?
Probably my best friends on the site right now are zf and Mambo, both are extremely chill dudes and I've known zf forever. I really enjoy talking to a lot of the older players, specifically the BW players as currently I'm focusing on trying to perfect myself at that tier. Its really fun to pick people's brains about certain concepts that I try to use, and its even better as I can't think of a single BW player that I would personally say is bad at playing, so I know I'll always get good test matches. Aside from those two and the BWers, I enjoy talking with the lfc and the village (aka konoha) as both groups are home to some of the best personalities that I've met on the site. For players I look up to, while we might not agree on everything and used to argue a lot, I really look up to Heysup as a battler, since hes just so fr*cking good. Wobbyble is another player I used to look up to a lot, as I've slowly tried molding my own playstyle to replicate what he used to do. Lastly, even though we haven't talked in years I've always looked up to the KingTorterra dude I mentioned earlier, as he was probably the first "lc elite" I ever came into contact with.
Do you have any predictions for LCPL?
I am almost certain that at some point during this LCPL both Shrug and TUO will quit. Shrug is going to continue getting haxed or misclicking and one day will just explode, while TUO will probably go like 5-1, then in the seventh week lose and will just never be seen from again. So far none of the newer picked up players have impressed me too much, and as af yet I don't really have high hopes for them, but it'd be really cool if that's proven wrong after midseasons. I haven't really worried too much about other players though, as my goal is to go undefeated alongside zf and fight him in the seventh week for the title of captain epeen. I'd be very disappointed if either of us went into that week not undefeated.
Is there any advice that you'd like to pass on to new LCers?
My advice to LCers is to honestly just have fun. Play with some crazy stuff, use Band Abra and try to make it work, experiment and try new things instead of the same old. If having fun to you is laddering with a fairly successful team, then more power to you, but if you want to use your favorite Pokemon and that mon is a Piplup, don't let anyone stop you. At the end of the day, you play this game for yourself, so its important to define what having fun is to yourself, be it trying new things, peaking the ladder, winning a room tour, etc. One day you'll catch the eye of someone mildly important and you'll definitely be recognized.
Do you have a team that you could share with us, with a short explanation of how it works?
rioLEGENDARY (Riolu) @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roar
- Drain Punch
- Copycat
- Protect
Stunky @ Eviolite
Ability: Aftermath
Level: 5
EVs: 92 HP / 92 Atk / 60 Def / 188 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
Shelmet @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 236 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Recover
- Acid Armor
- Bug Buzz
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 40 Atk / 196 Def / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Memento
Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 196 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Roar
- Drain Punch
- Copycat
- Protect
Stunky @ Eviolite
Ability: Aftermath
Level: 5
EVs: 92 HP / 92 Atk / 60 Def / 188 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
Shelmet @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 236 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Spikes
- Recover
- Acid Armor
- Bug Buzz
Misdreavus @ Eviolite
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 40 Atk / 196 Def / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split
- Memento
Timburr @ Eviolite
Ability: Guts
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Atk / 236 SpD
Careful Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Payback
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch
- Brick Break
- Iron Head
This was the team that I brought against tarn76 Week 3, and imo one of the most solid teams that I have. I prepped the team preparing for Coconut to be the person I fight against, and I really wanted to meme her with Roar Riolu. It's built around a solid core of Misdreavus / Shelmet / Pawniard, with Pokemon like Stunky to trap Abra and Timburr as a secondary check to Sand / Scraggy. Shelmet is really cool since it can just set up Spikes on 3 of the most common Pokemon in BW LC, Scraggy / Mienfoo / Timburr, and Stunky is also cool as a sure fire check to Misdreavus / Abra, while also absorbing Toxic Spikes for the team. If it had any weaknesses, I'd say its fairly weak to other Sand Stall, since I don't really have a way to break that and am not good at stall wars, but overall I find this team extremely solid.
