tennisace
not quite too old for this, apparently
Let's Go Pikachu & Eevee: Overused
approved by OM Leaders. banner by spooktune.
Rules:
Mechanics: Pokemon are set to Level 50. Pokemon do not have EVs, Abilities, or Items. IVs and Nature still apply.
Clauses: Smogon-Wide Clauses. Obviously, Moody & Endless Battle don't really apply here.
Allowed Pokemon: Pokemon 1-149, 151, Meltan, and Melmetal are allowed. Mewtwo (#150) is banned.
Strategy:
Essentially, this metagame plays like a souped-up version of RBY OU. Some moves from later generations have been added, but many are excluded. There are no moves that induce weather or field effects, with the exception of Reflect, Light Screen, and Mist (though the latter is underpowered as usual as there are few options to lower stats). The two main strategies in the metagame revolve around breaking and utilising Hazards, with status playing an important role.
Breakers: Defensive strategies suffer an overall nerf in Let's Go. There are a number of factors involved in this such as many forms of recovery not existing, those that do having reduced distribution, Rest being far less viable due to a lack of Sleep talk, there only being one option for removing status conditions and the removal of EVs meaning defensive Pokémon take more damage on average. Because of this breakers are generally very effective- their competition in outright sweepers are less common due to moves like Dragon Dance and Curse simply not existing, while Pokémon such as Mega Gyarados and Memetal can outright 2HKO the majority of Pokémon while also being hard to take down themselves. Using breakers to prepare for a lategame clean-up with threats like Mega Alakazam, Mega Gengar, Mega Beedrill, Agility Dragonite and more can be a very effective strategy.
Status: Game Freak left almost every status-inducing move in the game AND added a few more for good measure. This includes Toxic, Will-o-Wisp, Thunder Wave, Rest, Sleep Powder, Hypnosis, and Eevee-Starter's new suite of tutor attacks, specifically Sizzly Slide (100% burn) and Buzzy Buzz (100% paralyze). However, Game Freak did NOT leave Heal Bell and Aromatherapy in, which leaves Rest and Eevee-Starter's Sparkly Swirl (which does damage and cures all status effects on your team) as the only ways to get rid of harmful status effects. A good strategy is to spread status effects like Paralysis or Sleep on your opponent's offensive threats and Toxic or Burn on Pokémon that might be hard to take down otherwise, putting pressure on an opposing Eevee-S to remove them (if present at all). Generally using Rest to clear status isn't recommended due to the lack of sleep turns and the potential danger of giving your opponent free turns to do whatever they want, but can work effectively in combination with Sparkly Swirl until your Eevee goes down..
Hazards: Or more accurately, hazard (singular). Stealth Rock made it into LGPE, but Spikes, Toxic Spikes, and Sticky Web are all absent. However, also absent are Rapid Spin & Defog, meaning once SR is up it is up for the duration of the battle. Obviously it is prudent to get Stealth Rock up as early as possible while keeping them off your side of the field as long as possible. Good Stealth Rock setters include Aerodactyl (or Mega Aerodactyl), Mew, and Rhydon. In addition, Aerodactyl and Mew come with the advantage of learning Taunt themselves, which can prevent opposing Stealth Rock from going up and giving you an opportunity to set up your own.
Q&A:
Q: Why is this being tiered? LGPE isn't meant to be competitive.
A: Well, for starters LGPE is the only format to use Melmetal, Pikachu-S, and Eevee-S, which all bring unique characteristics to the game not seen elsewhere. In addition, the metagame using Normal Rules is fairly close to balanced, if not a bit centralized. Mewtwo is just as overpowered as it is in RBY with the best way to check Mewtwo being your own Mewtwo. This allows people to simulate Faraway battles in a balanced format, without worrying about Game Freak's lack of a hack check (seriously like, you can go into battle with Mega Mewtwo X and evolve it into Mega Mewtwo Y).
Q: Will there be more tiers such as LGPE UU?
A: Currently UU doesn't have a format, but can be played by using anything not under the OU section or called Mewtwo in the teambuilder and challenging someone to a match.
Q: What about LGPE Little Cup?
A: No ladder yet either, but there is a discussion thread for the meta: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/lgpe-little-cup.3645797/
Q: Are any suspect tests planned for LGPE OU?
A: Not at the moment, but that won't be ruled out. Suspect tests will work much like suspect tests in Other Metagames, but nothing has been decided yet.
Q: What about candies? Will there be a format where candies are allowed?
A: LGPE Anything Goes (LGPE AG) will emulate the No Restrictions format, where Pokemon are Level 100, have max friendship, and have maximum candies. There will be no banned Pokemon and Smogon's AG clauses (or lack thereof) will apply.
Q: Why not use candies?
A: Essentially, candies give a flat +200 to every stat a Pokemon has. Now, at first glance, it may look like +200 to your attack stat and +200 to your opponent's defense stat would cancel out, and in terms of sheer damage output it mostly does. However, every Pokemon has 200 more HP than they normally would, which means the calculations are always skewed in favor of the defender. The metagame is extremely slow, and everything is extremely bulky. Seismic Toss isn't even an 8HKO on Chansey, for example. Few Pokemon have means to boost their stats as well, which means it's tough to break through a well-played stall. Battles drag on for way longer than they would normally.
Q: What about friendship and the 10% boost to all stats at maximum friendship?
A: In LGPE battles a Pokémon's happiness is automatically set to 70, which provides an roughly 3% boost to all stats.
Q: Are Alolan Formes allowed?
A: Yes, Alolan Formes of Pokemon are allowed.
Q: Are Mega Evolutions allowed?
A: Yes, Mega Evolutions are allowed. However, due to current technical limitations, the method of allowing a Pokemon to Mega Evolve is still to equip the appropriate Mega Stone in the teambuilder. This means that Charizard cannot choose between its X or Y forme in-battle, and must pick before the battle. The upshot of this though is since there are technically no items, you can run multiple Pokemon that have the ability to Mega Evolve on your team, and pick and choose based on your matchup. You can only Mega Evolve once per battle though as normal.
Q: Are Z-moves in the game? What about Pika Papow or Veevee Volley?
A: Z-moves are not in the game as Z-crystals are not in the game (and there are no items anyway). Pika Papow and Veevee Volley require motion controls to activate and don't pop up during link battles, and are therefore not usable.
Resources:
Discord: http://discord.gg/JxMZBXy
Pokemon Showdown Room: https://play.pokemonshowdown.com/lgpeoverused
Damage Calculator: https://cantsay.github.io/
Council:
Ezaphs (TL)
Funbot28
Kris
aim
Hayburner
Data threads:
-Datamine Info
-Mechanics Research
Last edited by a moderator: