Hello everyone! LPL is now over for me, having just finished my last game, and I wanted to jump right into a team dump and talk about LC UU a bit.
Week 1 vs Albi: "Numel 6-0's this tier lol" - Drifting
https://pokepast.es/cdc896842c6c29f2
To be perfectly honest, my only LC UU experience going into LPL was 4 games at the beginning of the gen, so when I was drafted by the Magnemite Minors and put into UU, I wasn't very sure what I was doing. However, I did know that Numel was extremely stupid. The combination of Simple, Stockpile, and Tera in a UU meta was just too strong. I threw on 5 mons + Numel won, apologies to Albi for that one. Thankfully Numel was quickbanned right after w1.
Week 2 vs NotJackewu: The Smiling Friends
https://pokepast.es/f52d75d61c23f171
The monthly shift had us losing Bramblin, the best spinner in the tier, and getting Sandile. For this week I knew I wanted to use Swablu, I had played Joltage in test games in the previous week and he had Swablu putting in good work. He is also the one who suggested tera blast flying sandile to me. Sandile was a major threat, its combination of moxie, eq, crunch, and tera blast fly let it snowball very easily all while hitting most of the tier super effectively. In the game, Jack brought webs which Swablu absolutely shuts down, and tera fly Sandile cleaned the game.
Week 3 vs JuanSG: Vinland Saga
https://pokepast.es/b7c264ef78729d21
Going into this week I knew I had to prepare more than before, Juan is a very good player and I was still very new. Juan is known for his love of bulky teams and fat mons, and in my attempt to think of a team, I found Larvitar. Now that Bramblin was gone, Swablu was the clear #1 form of hazard removal. It is an extremely bulky mon that was very threatening with stab hurricane and heatwave to hit Meowth-G, one of the best stealth rockers. Larvitar gave me an automatic switch in to Swablu and non-tera Salandit, as well as threatening the other fat mons Juan liked to use, things like Nacli and Meowth-G. The idea of the team that I built around Larv was a t-spikes Salandit combined with double ground in scarf Sandile and Larv to threaten the poison types that want to absorb the t-spikes. In the game, I played poorly and was down multiple mons, but Larvitar was able to get a dd off and sweep Juan. This was not without some luck, opposing sandile getting a low roll on tera water Larv and Swablu missing heat wave, but I was very happy with my bring of Larvitar. This was a major meta development and led to Larvitar being second in overall usage throughout the rest of LPL, despite it not being used at all up to this point.
Week 4 vs HanPyol: Brock Purdy Revenge Game
https://pokepast.es/3dba70da84c51e59
Nothing super special about this team, I wanted to try out HO screens and so I stole a team CorckScrew used previously and put Larvitar over Bronzor. The team worked extremely well, Tera Ghost Teddiursa able to sweep the team after getting an SD off behind screens.
Week 5 vs Zeroouttathere: The Looney Tunes
https://pokepast.es/4e5372dfd63c4cf8
This is probably my favorite team I made all LPL. With Larvitar becoming a major threat, I decided to use Wooper which always can switch into an EQ and not be 2hko'd. I also decided to use Avalanche, which let me hit Swablu, and in the game vs Zero it let me get a crucial KO on a switch to Deerling. The team also features an eviolite Impidimp with no reflect, and an SD copycat Riolu. Imp was useful in the game, but unfortunely I wasn't able to let Riolu shine in the game. A very fun match vs Zero with a Wooper vs Shellos stall war.
Week 6 vs Joltage: Berserk
https://pokepast.es/3a9d2571f8987cbb
The new month's shifts had us lose Sandile and gain Fuecoco, Chespin, and Mankey. This team featured another screens team, similar to week 4, but this time with Sinistea, Belly Drum Chespin, and taunt Axew to break Fuecoco. In the match, Joltage made a great bring vs me with AcroCat Sprigatito. Up to this point, I had used Croagunk and Larvitar in every game since w3, and I didn't have a great answer for it. In the final turns of the game, he revealed Tailwind Fletchling after my attempts at dd'ing with tera fly Larvitar to win the game. He was able to outspeed with Sprigatito and handed me my first loss in a close game.
Week 7 vs Gali: Revenge of the Scrubs
https://pokepast.es/821741987a4003ec
Gali, manager of the Scrubs, had to sub in last minute to play me for the final regular season game. I was busy enough at this time that I sadly didn't even come up with a team name theme and wasn't as prepared, but I did really like the combination of Croagunk and Houndour. They cover each other's weaknesses well, and Deerling, Slowpoke, and Swablu helped create a solid defensive core. In the game, Gali played great and showed a life orb croagunk that surprised me and KO'd my slowpoke. It was a close endgame, but Gali's scarf mankey cleaned up.
Semifinals vs EK Mike in Abyss: Hunter x Hunter and the Revenge of the Pigeon
https://pokepast.es/a43a8e248e55de7c
Knowing I would be facing another Juan team, I decided to try to bring taunt Axew again, it does very well into the unaware mons that I was expecting. Slowpoke was becoming more popular as it is probably the single best answer to mankey, a major threat in the tier since dropping. NP Salandit and eviolite imp provided me another set up mon and a pivot. A decided not to bring either Croagunk or Larvitar for the first time all season in an attempt to catch them off guard, and I think this was a good call as I faced another Sprigatito. Tera Fairy slowpoke was the hero of this match, securing the final KO on Sprigatito and just being an overall great defensive mon.
Finals vs MTB: Foul Tarnished, in Search of the Elden Ring
https://pokepast.es/d8384bd1836ff5e0
One of my favorite teams of the season, I was inspired by the Joltage team Gali used versus me. Life Orb Croagunk is a major threat, and can catch things off guard. This is especially true with the recent usage of slowpoke, with lo shadow ball being a 99% to 2hko. The other highlight of the team is Tera Electric Larvitar. This lets me set up on anything that want to twave in return, like Impidimp, Slowpoke, and Deerling. Both gunk and larv shined in the match, Croagunk ko'ing slowpoke and Larvitar setting up on a Deerling Twave to win the game.
Final Thoughts:
I went into LPL with no LC UU experience, and came out enjoying it much more than any other gen9 meta I have played and becoming apart of the LC UU Council. I highly encourage everyone to try out the tier, overall it is a great meta (except Deerling). A thank you especially to Peachy07, Joltage, and zeroouttathere for team support, test games, and advice throughout the season.