tcr
sage of six tabs
As everyone knows, some of the more basic rules and central tenets of Little Cup have been that Little Cup must feature 1st form unevolved Pokemon, at Level 5 or below. This has stuck true with the metagame since its inception as an official Smogon metagame with its induction/revival from 4th generation back in 2009. Now, scholars are still deciphering the old texts in Closed Forums but the general consensus is that Little Cup is intended to be based upon a cup in Pokemon Stadium 2. In this mode, players may use either newly hatched pokemon or pokemon caught in the wild, but the level cannot exceed 5 and they must be pre-evolved Pokemon.
Now, why is it that "5" seems to be the arbitrary ceiling? The answer lies in early mechanics in breeding. Up until Generation 5, Pokemon's earliest levels would be at lowest level 2 in the wild, and if hatched level 5. So the idea here seems to be baby Pokemon that were just hatched (irrelevantly at level 5). If Little Cup was strictly playing in line with game theme, then past generation 5 the level cap should have been 1, as that is most consistent with the ideas of Little Cup's aesthetic, freshly hatched Pokemon. This has, quite obviously, not been the case. As such one can see that Little Cup's core policies have been subjectively applied to keep the Level 5 rule out of tradition from the previous generation. Thus, the Level 5 rule is arguably meaningless to the core identity of Little Cup, and is simply a practice carried out from tradition. Now, I argue that tradition is by no means a way to run a tier. The whole tiering process defies tradition in favor of change, and the idea of a competitive metagame similarly contradicts the essence of tradition.
If one is going to defend Level 5, one must have reasons for doing so. In a generation where freshly hatched Pokemon come from Level 1, it is as arbitrary to denote the ceiling at level 5 as it is with level 4. Level 5 is no different from having the Pokemon be level 10, as it is level 20, as it is not the baseline for the Pokemon nor is it the maximum, it is simply in between. When one inquires about the reasons, they scarcely exist outside of a abstract perception of how level 5 is integral with the phenomena of Little Cup because it has always been so. I argue that a viewpoint that Level 6 should be the cap would hold just as much weight as a cap at Level 5.
Now, if Level 5 is considered arbitrary in modern Pokemon games, then I say that one should stay consistent. The cons of a Level 5 metagame are that it further complicates movepool illegalities as well as EVing Pokemon to a point where it has the potential to discourage newcomers from truly attempting to involve themselves with the metagame. That is not to say that Little Cup is in any way dying or losing membership, but that the popularity of the metagame could be improved if changed. If one considers Level 5 to be a subjectively based ruling, then these illegalities, odd damage rolls, rarely filled EV spreads, and unnecessary movepool restrictions (rip sludge wave gastly) are self imposed, and for what? The offset that is gained is that the Pokemon are at Level 5, but Level 5 holds no meaning. If Little Cup truly wished to remain "Little,"whatever that entails, then one should aspire to lower the maximum level to level 1, to best represent freshly hatched Pokemon. This still holds the same issues of weird EV spreads, movepool illegalities, and possibly even more exaggerated damage rolls, but at the very least it is not arbitrarily picked and actually reflects ideas presented from cartridge.
Now since lowering the level could be a solution to maintaining a cohesive identity, subsequently raising the level to the maximum should do the same. This is the argument that I would like to make, that the pros of raising the level of Little Cup to level 100 would far outweigh the cons of losing tradition and familiarity. At level 100 the stat distribution would be much more spread out, diversifying different Pokemon from each other. For example, Mienfoo and Archen would no longer speed tie, with very clear differences between Pokemon's speed depending on if they have base 65, base 70, or base 71. EV spreads would finally be much easier to understand, especially for players transitioning from a usage based tier. You longer have to perform mild arithmetic using a Levi formula in order to calculate your spread, or use the Prem method of moving the sliders until it clicks. You can loosely base your spreads on usage based tier sets, while also opening up a ton of niches for Pokemon that don't really see play. Anything from more Stall variations to Choice Banded sets would be viable and lead to more team variation. This in my eyes would expand the playerbase skill, allowing them to deal with a variety of plays that they might otherwise deal with in usage based tiers, allowing an easier transition between tiers for LC players wishing to expand or for newer players looking to enter LC.
One drawback to this is that Little Cup may lose its identity as a "fast paced" hyper offensive tier, but is that necessarily a bad thing? I would not say that the essence of Little Cup is in fast paced battles but that that is simply the nature of battles at lower levels. We've already established that lower levels for Little Cup is but a tradition still held rather than what makes Little Cup iconicly itself.
Now obviously any major changes to a metagame or tier such as this would have to deal with an entire retiering of Pokemon. For example its probable that Misdreavus may not be broken with everything equalized at level 100. As such any proposal would have to really be done at the beginning of a generation. As such this is simply an initial thread, seriously entertain this idea, and question the rules that are currently in place, rather than simply conforming to "because it has always been that way." thank you for your time
- tcr signing off
Now, why is it that "5" seems to be the arbitrary ceiling? The answer lies in early mechanics in breeding. Up until Generation 5, Pokemon's earliest levels would be at lowest level 2 in the wild, and if hatched level 5. So the idea here seems to be baby Pokemon that were just hatched (irrelevantly at level 5). If Little Cup was strictly playing in line with game theme, then past generation 5 the level cap should have been 1, as that is most consistent with the ideas of Little Cup's aesthetic, freshly hatched Pokemon. This has, quite obviously, not been the case. As such one can see that Little Cup's core policies have been subjectively applied to keep the Level 5 rule out of tradition from the previous generation. Thus, the Level 5 rule is arguably meaningless to the core identity of Little Cup, and is simply a practice carried out from tradition. Now, I argue that tradition is by no means a way to run a tier. The whole tiering process defies tradition in favor of change, and the idea of a competitive metagame similarly contradicts the essence of tradition.
If one is going to defend Level 5, one must have reasons for doing so. In a generation where freshly hatched Pokemon come from Level 1, it is as arbitrary to denote the ceiling at level 5 as it is with level 4. Level 5 is no different from having the Pokemon be level 10, as it is level 20, as it is not the baseline for the Pokemon nor is it the maximum, it is simply in between. When one inquires about the reasons, they scarcely exist outside of a abstract perception of how level 5 is integral with the phenomena of Little Cup because it has always been so. I argue that a viewpoint that Level 6 should be the cap would hold just as much weight as a cap at Level 5.
Now, if Level 5 is considered arbitrary in modern Pokemon games, then I say that one should stay consistent. The cons of a Level 5 metagame are that it further complicates movepool illegalities as well as EVing Pokemon to a point where it has the potential to discourage newcomers from truly attempting to involve themselves with the metagame. That is not to say that Little Cup is in any way dying or losing membership, but that the popularity of the metagame could be improved if changed. If one considers Level 5 to be a subjectively based ruling, then these illegalities, odd damage rolls, rarely filled EV spreads, and unnecessary movepool restrictions (rip sludge wave gastly) are self imposed, and for what? The offset that is gained is that the Pokemon are at Level 5, but Level 5 holds no meaning. If Little Cup truly wished to remain "Little,"whatever that entails, then one should aspire to lower the maximum level to level 1, to best represent freshly hatched Pokemon. This still holds the same issues of weird EV spreads, movepool illegalities, and possibly even more exaggerated damage rolls, but at the very least it is not arbitrarily picked and actually reflects ideas presented from cartridge.
Now since lowering the level could be a solution to maintaining a cohesive identity, subsequently raising the level to the maximum should do the same. This is the argument that I would like to make, that the pros of raising the level of Little Cup to level 100 would far outweigh the cons of losing tradition and familiarity. At level 100 the stat distribution would be much more spread out, diversifying different Pokemon from each other. For example, Mienfoo and Archen would no longer speed tie, with very clear differences between Pokemon's speed depending on if they have base 65, base 70, or base 71. EV spreads would finally be much easier to understand, especially for players transitioning from a usage based tier. You longer have to perform mild arithmetic using a Levi formula in order to calculate your spread, or use the Prem method of moving the sliders until it clicks. You can loosely base your spreads on usage based tier sets, while also opening up a ton of niches for Pokemon that don't really see play. Anything from more Stall variations to Choice Banded sets would be viable and lead to more team variation. This in my eyes would expand the playerbase skill, allowing them to deal with a variety of plays that they might otherwise deal with in usage based tiers, allowing an easier transition between tiers for LC players wishing to expand or for newer players looking to enter LC.
One drawback to this is that Little Cup may lose its identity as a "fast paced" hyper offensive tier, but is that necessarily a bad thing? I would not say that the essence of Little Cup is in fast paced battles but that that is simply the nature of battles at lower levels. We've already established that lower levels for Little Cup is but a tradition still held rather than what makes Little Cup iconicly itself.
Now obviously any major changes to a metagame or tier such as this would have to deal with an entire retiering of Pokemon. For example its probable that Misdreavus may not be broken with everything equalized at level 100. As such any proposal would have to really be done at the beginning of a generation. As such this is simply an initial thread, seriously entertain this idea, and question the rules that are currently in place, rather than simply conforming to "because it has always been that way." thank you for your time
- tcr signing off