Shrug
Favorite Pokemon: Piplup
Most Used Pokemon: Pawniard
Known For: Community Contributor, ban abra
Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm a 17 year-old High School Senior from Connecticut, wrestler and lacrosse player; the combination of those things plus my posting style means i might seem like a douche but i dont mean to be i swear. Going to college next year at Williams. Ugly motherfucker. Free time i read books, listen to rap music, try to find ignorant things to do with my friends unsuccessfully, write angsty love poems to Sken, and play mons. I'm very interested in tactics and logic and such so i tend to follow politics which is the most major U.S arena for the former. I have little else to say the self-biosketch of someone who plays enough little cup to warrant a thread is by nature not ultracompelling
How and when did you get your start in LC? Do you remember your first team?
I played mons in stages: a stretch from 7th grade to like start of 8th (awful), end 8th off and on to the very first day of XY, where i realized Bisharp would be pretty damn good with the typing changes and Sticky Web. It destroyed the first XY ladder until i played a webs team and Defiant didn't activate thus losing me the game. I got so mad I quit not to return until November? of Junior Year, made some pretty horrid smogon posts in lc at that time. First good team i can recall was scarf: pawn / foo / snubs / something, LO: Dour and Sash: Abra (lol), which was the highlight of my laddering days.
What is your favorite aspect of LC?
Idk if this is a common view, but i like how the common mon-archetypes are shifted in lc versus other tiers. For example, bulky waters in other tiers are most closely approximated by fighting types in lc, etc. This makes battles interesting - lots of cool angles different from most tiers. Also, some queer archetypes (webs etc) are viable in lc that dont exist in other tiers. Knock off games (mainly, their import) are cool too - similar to the hazard meta in other tiers, but more offensive due to the sheer power of knocks in lc versus the passiveness of a turn setting up hazards. my greatest lc wish is an offensive water/fairy type thats fast, 18 would be dope.
Is there any mon, playstyle, etc that you feel is underrated in LC?
What's underrated in present lc is Scraggy for sure. Unburnable, it takes Passive Pokemon and turns them into 21 speed 25 attack with 23 / 14 / 14 Defenses and good coverage and power. With some Knocks that's beating Bulky offense, taking out stall, and drawing out (maybe living attacks from) the foe's scarfer. Kinda hard to fit on a team, but build around it and you'll get wins. Also: Honedge. Abra-check and fletch-check in the same mon is some slick role compression and the attacking power and fat in matchups sans those two is always helpful.
Anything you find overrated?
I'm aware this is contrary to goodplayer vouge rn but i find defensive birds in general (read: archen and vullaby) to be overrated. In a tier with tons of predatory volt-switchers, having mons that sort of invite heavy damage and a loss of momentum seems dubious to me; these are often paired with ground-types, but that creates all sorts of unpleasant guessing games and displeasing synergy concerns. Idk maybe it's just the way i play and build.
If you could change something about the current metagame, what would you change? Is there anything that strikes you as broken, and why is it Abra?
We all know the answer here, but i really dont like abra in the current metagame. LO is a "wallbreaker- it breaks walls" which is what georgie says incessantly whenever someone remarks on it 2hkoing say Pory, but most "wallbreakers" aren't of the highest common speed tier in the metagame, meaning it can rip through offense as well. Sash promotes bullshit and gives a shrewd abra user a free guessing game - you'll get one kill and if u luck out, two+. these sets are virtually indistinguishable. I wont go on u get it
What is your all-time favorite LC meta to play and why? Can be a past stage of 6th Gen LC, a past gen LC, an OM, whatever you want
to be genuine it is ORAS lc. it's a really good meta, lots of cool strats and shit. Great mix of aggressiveness and attendance to defense that i like in an interaction.
Any LC players in particular that you look up to or respect?
im not a super reverent person by nature, but i always kinda looked up to heysup as an lcer? sounds trite, but i enjoy both his confrontational playstyle and confrontational posts on the littlecup forums.
Is there any advice that you'd like to pass on to new LCers?
Yes: find ways to play that mitigate your weaknesses while enhancing your strengths. Seems banal, but heres how i apply it to myself: i have a bad habit about trying to overthink or outthink my opponents. While sometimes this has positive results (sometimes i make plays that look good and it seems easy) more often i end up overpredicting and hurting myself in the long run. So when i play in important games, i make sure to attend to the whirring of my head; I try to organize all my thoughts and find the play that's most incisive and covers all sorts of future branches. This is why it takes me much longer to play in real games lol.
Lastly, do you have a team you'd like to share with us?
contrite crab (Dwebble) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 76 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Counter
nefarious knight (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Polish
vapid vulture (Vullaby) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse
supercillious snake (Snivy) @ Eviolite
Ability: Contrary
Level: 5
EVs: 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Synthesis
- Glare
- Knock Off
party pinata (Drifloon) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Unburden
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endure
- Acrobatics
- Sucker Punch
- Baton Pass
dastardly duck (Porygon) @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 5
EVs: 40 Def / 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Tri Attack
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 76 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Knock Off
- Counter
nefarious knight (Pawniard) @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Polish
vapid vulture (Vullaby) (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 SpA / 116 Spe
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Heat Wave
- Air Slash
- Dark Pulse
supercillious snake (Snivy) @ Eviolite
Ability: Contrary
Level: 5
EVs: 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Synthesis
- Glare
- Knock Off
party pinata (Drifloon) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Unburden
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 196 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Endure
- Acrobatics
- Sucker Punch
- Baton Pass
dastardly duck (Porygon) @ Eviolite
Ability: Download
Level: 5
EVs: 40 Def / 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Agility
- Tri Attack
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]