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hi, in the scenario with a magnemite that is charge beam/sub/rest/some other attack with salac against ferroseed, with say knock off/twave/rocks/giga drain, is the optimal play to spam rest to pp stall knock off?
or is there a more complicated flowchart?
 
hi, in the scenario with a magnemite that is charge beam/sub/rest/some other attack with salac against ferroseed, with say knock off/twave/rocks/giga drain, is the optimal play to spam rest to pp stall knock off?
or is there a more complicated flowchart?
Essentially how its supposed to go is
In some fashion get a free switch into Ferroseed. This can be done by either sacking a mon that is low on health and/or trapping it with a diglett and then going into Magnemite.
Click substitute until you get down to salac berry
Rest
Charge Beam while you are out of crit range
repeat these two above steps until you kill Ferroseed, at which point you likely win the game.
 
How to beat memento diglett + bd magby without your own diglett? And how is that team even popular in the first place? It feels really frustrating spending so much time making a viable team only for you to lose half your mons to what seems like such a matchup fishy strategy
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
How to beat memento diglett + bd magby without your own diglett? And how is that team even popular in the first place? It feels really frustrating spending so much time making a viable team only for you to lose half your mons to what seems like such a matchup fishy strategy
First off, Memento + Magby, Screens + Magby, Larvesta + Magby or any of the wide varieties of strategies people use to deal with Magby are impossible to deal with for everyone, including the top players. Magby is just an absolute nightmare mon in general. There are some counters though


:xy/Golett: :xy/Frillish:


Both of these pokemon are immune to Mach Punch, and with a Choice Scarf outspeed and kill Magby. I think Scarf Frillish is a little bad but Scarf Golett is one of my favourite choices for Magby weak teams.


:xy/Onix:

Onix lives a Mach Punch from full even without Eviolite and kills back.


:xy/Diglett:

You mentioned this one already, Evio Diglett outspeeds and lives mach punch


:xy/Abra: :xy/Ponyta: :xy/Staryu:

All these mons hit 19 speed, matching Magby and can OHKO it. Magby of course can also one-shot them, so its a 50/50 and unreliable. if your Abra is sash then you beat it no matter what though, which is nice.

:xy/Dwebble: :xy/Drilbur: :xy/Pawniard: :xy/Ferroseed:

Getting hazards up obviously puts Magby under a lot of pressure due to it's frailty and fire typing.

:xy/Mienfoo: :xy/Grookey: :xy/timburr:

Belly Drum taking a lot of your HP means that Magby can often be taken down by Fake Outs, Mach Punches and Grassy Glide.

***

There are some other counters, such as using Focus Sash pokemon, but overall Magby is just really hard to deal with in general if it can set up though. You just have to try and position intelligently and not leave yourself in a position where Memento into Magby is completely free. Good luck.
 
First off, Memento + Magby, Screens + Magby, Larvesta + Magby or any of the wide varieties of strategies people use to deal with Magby are impossible to deal with for everyone, including the top players. Magby is just an absolute nightmare mon in general. There are some counters though


:xy/Golett: :xy/Frillish:


Both of these pokemon are immune to Mach Punch, and with a Choice Scarf outspeed and kill Magby. I think Scarf Frillish is a little bad but Scarf Golett is one of my favourite choices for Magby weak teams.


:xy/Onix:

Onix lives a Mach Punch from full even without Eviolite and kills back.


:xy/Diglett:

You mentioned this one already, Evio Diglett outspeeds and lives mach punch


:xy/Abra: :xy/Ponyta: :xy/Staryu:

All these mons hit 19 speed, matching Magby and can OHKO it. Magby of course can also one-shot them, so its a 50/50 and unreliable. if your Abra is sash then you beat it no matter what though, which is nice.

:xy/Dwebble: :xy/Drilbur: :xy/Pawniard: :xy/Ferroseed:

Getting hazards up obviously puts Magby under a lot of pressure due to it's frailty and fire typing.

:xy/Mienfoo: :xy/Grookey: :xy/timburr:

Belly Drum taking a lot of your HP means that Magby can often be taken down by Fake Outs, Mach Punches and Grassy Glide.

***

There are some other counters, such as using Focus Sash pokemon, but overall Magby is just really hard to deal with in general if it can set up though. You just have to try and position intelligently and not leave yourself in a position where Memento into Magby is completely free. Good luck.
Word of caution plus a small addition. Specifically with hazards, Stealth Rock doesn't do very much to prevent Magby from doing what it wants to do, especially because Belly Drum cuts your HP by half, allowing Magby to get back up to full after Berry Juice activates. One thing worth considering is running either Carvanha or Tyrunt, as both run Psychic Fangs. Screens is often paired with Magby, so removing those works really well. Also Runt lives a +6 mach punch without Stealth Rocks up sometimes.
 
Hi, I've been trying out Scarf Porygon on ladder the past couple days but I've had a lot of situations where I try switching in on something and I get the wrong boost off Download. Can anyone share ideas on which Pokémon I can switch into if I want that Special Attack boost?
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
Hi, I've been trying out Scarf Porygon on ladder the past couple days but I've had a lot of situations where I try switching in on something and I get the wrong boost off Download. Can anyone share ideas on which Pokémon I can switch into if I want that Special Attack boost?
This can be a little annoying because some people have wisened up and started EV'ing their mons specifically to avoid Porygon getting the right boost. The problem with this though is that strong special attacks are somewhat rare in LC compared to strong physical attacks, so by investing in Sp.Def you're kinda screwing yourself over in every game without a Porygon.

There are a lot of examples and they can all differ based on how an opponent has chosen to use their EV's, but if you look at the most common smogon analysis set of the 25 most common pokemon in LCPL it looks generally like this.

note: remember that if defense and special defense are the same, Porygon will have it's special attack boosted

BOOSTS ATTACK (BAD):

:diglett: :abra: :carvanha: :ponyta: :frillish: :magby: :drilbur: :foongus:

BOOSTS SPECIAL ATTACK (GOOD):

:mienfoo: :natu: :koffing: :pawniard: :grookey: :porygon: :ferroseed: :tyrunt: :staryu: :mareanie: :trapinch: :timburr: :larvesta: :onix: :magnemite: :mudbray: :dwebble: :morelull:

If a Pokemon isn't listed here you can check it yourself quite easily in the builder. As you can see the odds are typically in your favour to get the right boost, but there are some problem pokemon to remember (though remember this isn't 100% concrete). Hope this helps.
 
hi! just wondering, why do most pawniard run defiant>inner focus? i dont remember the last time ive seen a stat drop outside of like a rare defog, and inner focus allows it to do some dmg to a mienfoo faking out for "free dmg"

also something like frillish with cursed body> water absorb? like idk but switching into staryu (scald, flip turn), carvana (flip turn/liquidation) and the rare corphish if you dont get knocked off

and also why isnt intimidate seen much?
 

Kipkluif

Liever Kips leverworst
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
hi! just wondering, why do most pawniard run defiant>inner focus? i dont remember the last time ive seen a stat drop outside of like a rare defog, and inner focus allows it to do some dmg to a mienfoo faking out for "free dmg"
Pawniard can run inner focus, even though I believe a mienfoo should almost never want to fake it out. The one matchup in which defiant helps is strength sap morelull. It really doesn't matter much.
also something like frillish with cursed body> water absorb? like idk but switching into staryu (scald, flip turn), carvana (flip turn/liquidation) and the rare corphish if you dont get knocked off
Cursed body allows you to repeatedly click recover while waiting for your opponent's strongest move to get disabled. A mienfoo with knock off disabled can't hurt you, just like a porygon with thunderbolt disabled. An immunity to water isn't as important as frillish already takes water moves with ease, and while blocking the momentum of flip turn is nice, the main user of the move still massively threatens you with crunch.
and also why isnt intimidate seen much?
The pokémon with intimidate are bad despite their great ability.
 
Pawniard can run inner focus, even though I believe a mienfoo should almost never want to fake it out. The one matchup in which it helps is strength sap morelull. It really doesn't matter much.
fair enough ig

The pokémon with intimidate are bad despite their great ability.
so basically an ability wont be strong enough to justify its use?
i mean, idk it might not be the greates example but sometimes on ubers stall teams, shedninja is used for its ability to switch into xerneas and (most) kyogre. i dunno,i just thought with all the u-turn mienfoo stuff flying around it see some use. so intimidatehas like never been seen in competitive play?
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
fair enough ig


so basically an ability wont be strong enough to justify its use?
i mean, idk it might not be the greates example but sometimes on ubers stall teams, shedninja is used for its ability to switch into xerneas and (most) kyogre. i dunno,i just thought with all the u-turn mienfoo stuff flying around it see some use. so intimidatehas like never been seen in competitive play?
Snubbull has been incredible in past LC generations, but sadly didn't make it through Dexit.

The current intimidate pokemon are just not very useful. Litten and Growlithe for instance aren't especially bulky and have a poor defensive typing that is weak to stealth rocks, and they don't pressure Mienfoo at all as it can just U-Turn out into, say, a water type that completely puts you on the back foot. That's not to mention the nightmare scenario where you give Pawniard a Defiant boost.

The idea you're describing does exist in Flame Body Larvesta/Ponyta and Effect Spore Morelull, which punishes Mienfoo for clicking things like U-Turn, but Intimidate itself is just not very useful.
 

Éric

mons is mons
is a Pre-Contributor
i mean, idk it might not be the greates example but sometimes on ubers stall teams, shedninja is used for its ability to switch into xerneas and (most) kyogre.
Yeah but man, comparing a just good ability (intimidate) with the single best, most broken ability ever (wonder guard) is not somwthing you wanna do. Shedinja getting used ever despite being one of the worst designed pokemon, stat and movepool wise, is because its ability is just the most broken thing pokemon has ever done. Thank god its stuck in shedinja.
also,frill runs cursed body, apart from the reasonskip stated, because it already beats star and loses anyway to carv regardless of the ability, while having water absorb would mean trace porygon hard counters it (inmune yo all its attacks)
 

Colin

formerly BeardedDrakon
is a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
Defiant can also just win you games if your opponent is careless with moves that could lower your stats such as Abra's shadow ball and fairy type's Moonblast. Inner Focus has a niche on suicide lead Pawniard, but that set has kind of been outclassed by suicide lead Diglett because Diglett is much better at using memento and stealth rocks, even if it can't spread T wave.
 

Merritt

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How come nothing runs Leftovers?
Leftovers heals 1/16 of max HP, rounded down to a minimum of 1, meaning that to heal 2 HP per turn a Pokemon in LC would need to have 32 HP. To achieve this, it requires a base HP stat of at least 123. The total list of LC Pokemon this applies to is Munchlax and Wailmer. All other Pokemon in LC will get at most 1 HP healed per turn. That's not so good.

The direct comparison is to Berry Juice, which will heal a minimum of 9 HP (no Pokemon in LC should be running an HP stat of less than 17, much less one that's running Berry Juice), so Leftovers would need to heal for 9 uninterrupted turns to accomplish the same baseline healing that Berry Juice provides at absolute minimum. This is a significant feat, made only more difficult by the prevalence of Knock Off.

As a defensive item, Leftovers is thoroughly outclassed by both Berry Juice and Eviolite in terms of providing sustainability to LC Pokemon. Defensive Pokemon are often subjected to Knock Off at some point during a game, bulky (and even not so bulky) offensive Pokemon prefer Berry Juice to give them an instant second wind when they get low enough to need healing or Eviolite to avoid being straight up KOed, and frail Pokemon have no real use for Leftovers healing in the first place.

To be clear though, unlike other items common in OU like Heavy Duty Boots which are useful but not good enough to use over Eviolite or Berry Juice, Leftovers is a flat out bad item in LC that should not be used.
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
Why cant i use my charizard set in this place?
it has belly drum earthquake fire blast and has the item leftovers
i try to use it on the battling website but it says its not aloud :(
Hi, this is Little Cup, a metagame where you can only use the lowest evolved form of a pokemon, and at level 5

You wouldn't be allowed to use Charizard, for example, but you can use Charmander. Unlike Charizard, Charmander doesn't learn Earthquake, which is likely why you're not allowed. If you want to use a pokemon that serves a similar purpose to what you want, you could try Belly Drum Magby.

There are a lot of resources in this forum to help learn the basics of the tier you can check out, such as the Viability Rankings, Sample Teams, and even the first post in this thread.

Good luck in starting your Little Cup journey!
 
Hey ppl, I'm rather interested in LC, but don't really know the tier that well. My question is: Why aren't Kubfu and Meltan allowed? Are they banned, or is there some technicality that make them non eligible for the tier?
 

Colin

formerly BeardedDrakon
is a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
for Kubfu, it is given at level 10 I'm pretty sure, and cannot be bred to get a level 5 Kubfoo. Meltan is interesting, because it only evolves in Pokemon Go, and is incapable of evolving in the main series games (it is mechanically fully evolved in ss, being unable to benefit from eviolite). In summary, neither Pokemon can fit the prerequisites that a legal LC Pokemon must have, as in being an unevolved Pokemon capable of evolving, and being usable at level 5.
 
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for Kubfu, it is given at level 10 I'm pretty sure, and cannot be bred to get a level 5 Kubfoo. Meltan is interesting, because it only evolves in Pokemon Go, and is incapable of evolving in the main series games (it is mechanically fully evolved in ss, being unable to benefit from eviolite). In summary, neither Pokemon can fit the prerequisites that a legal LC Pokemon must have, as in being an unevolved Pokemon capable of evolving, and being usable at level 5.
Oh, I see. That's very interesting, thanks for the insight!
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
what do i gotta do to help sum get suspect tested
At this point it might be realistically too late for anything to be suspected, since Gen 9 drops in under a month.

If anything will get tested though, it's Magby, as that has the most support that I know of. Generally, things get tested when there is a large community demand for it, so if you want something suspect tested, the best way to go about it would be to talk about it in discord or the Metagame Discussion Thread or something, and try to get a lot of other people to agree with you (bonus points if those people are on the council).
 

DaSlabhead

Banned deucer.
At this point it might be realistically too late for anything to be suspected, since Gen 9 drops in under a month.

If anything will get tested though, it's Magby, as that has the most support that I know of. Generally, things get tested when there is a large community demand for it, so if you want something suspect tested, the best way to go about it would be to talk about it in discord or the Metagame Discussion Thread or something, and try to get a lot of other people to agree with you (bonus points if those people are on the council).
aite bet appreciate da response
 
How are tourneys registered for LC btw? I feel like an LC ubers tournament would be fun to do right as gen 9 drops, considering some reallly cool mons will be available like girafarig and basculin. and paldean woopy boi
 

Drifting

wrapped in plastic
is a Tiering Contributor
How are tourneys registered for LC btw? I feel like an LC ubers tournament would be fun to do right as gen 9 drops, considering some reallly cool mons will be available like girafarig and basculin. and paldean woopy boi
if you want to host a tournament you can pitch the idea to a tier leader to try and get approval. I also have a tournament planned for early gen 9 and that’s how I did it.

Also, an LC ubers tournament just as gen 9 drops probably won’t work because typically everything gets unbanned at the start of a gen (apart from like Scyther and shit). LC Ubers typically takes some time to develop. If you aren’t already in it, you can join the LC Ubers discord if you wanna know more.
 

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