Tournament LCPL 6 - Commencement and Discussion

GOAO

Banned deucer.
oh wait i got one !!!

i can make two lineups a week thanks to how many players i racked up

but seriously i am looking forward to making waves with Snivies this year.

also

s/o to Coconut she is the best

s/o to Sken best drafter of all time

s/o to macle lgi also ur team's goin down since type advantage
your two lineups are worse than half every other team lineup!!
 

Gummy

...three, smiles go for miles!
team rocket - guerilla goletts - similar to giovanni, i feel like shrug is going to hole up in a cave behind a waterfall and say some deep things about capitalism before leaving the cave. the lc community will discuss for years over how shrug left a cave without a pokemon with HM Waterfall but soon will be distracted by op's hip LCPL 11 team name, the Watch Me Vine Whip Bulbasaurs, which is sparking heated debate on whether or not it tops LCPL 10's Hit That KaDABras.


team magma - stunting stunkies - team magma is the cutest team in the games, and since sken won the Esteemed Little Cup 2016 Award of "Cutest User", i feel like it fits


team aqua - the crystal onix - team aqua is the second cutest team and TCO has some super cute players like rozes


team galactic - gonefroggin froakies - team galactic is the weirdest team ever, with the weirdest premise and weirdest leader and weirdest demise. all sounds accurate for the team based off a frog blog. im predicting quote to win all his matches


team plasma - the belchsprouts - i never played bw2 so neo team plasma is shrouded in mystery and similarly i have nothing to say about this team, sorry belchsprouts :(


team flare - lit af litleos - look, team flare's objectively the weakest and worst team ever, but op literally has the name "lit af litleos" so i couldn't resist.


team skull - snivy subterfuge - jac's team (the best one btw) is made up of a bunch of guys who didnt fit elsewhere and sold for like 6k tops except for 2 other players, and this is basically like team skull in sm. team skull has the best music though and its also the least boring one so even if we dont have crazy good players (like goao rip), or we dont win a lot, we will win lcpl's heart n_n


team skull but from mystery dungeon - waterless wynauts - i ran out of ingame teams because there are only 7 evil teams in the main games so melon's team gets stuck with the sad spinoff team. luckily PMD are the greatest pokemon games ever made so they dont have much to worry about.

NOTE: this post will be really unfunny if you haven't played the games, and if you have, you probably wont find it any more impressive because im a new user finding her way in life when it comes to memes, so hit that like to support me in my endeavors to become a professional smogon funnyman :D
 
fid
team rocket - guerilla goletts - similar to giovanni, i feel like shrug is going to hole up in a cave behind a waterfall and say some deep things about capitalism before leaving the cave. the lc community will discuss for years over how shrug left a cave without a pokemon with HM Waterfall but soon will be distracted by op's hip LCPL 11 team name, the Watch Me Vine Whip Bulbasaurs, which is sparking heated debate on whether or not it tops LCPL 10's Hit That KaDABras.


team magma - stunting stunkies - team magma is the cutest team in the games, and since sken won the Esteemed Little Cup 2016 Award of "Cutest User", i feel like it fits


team aqua - the crystal onix - team aqua is the second cutest team and TCO has some super cute players like rozes


team galactic - gonefroggin froakies - team galactic is the weirdest team ever, with the weirdest premise and weirdest leader and weirdest demise. all sounds accurate for the team based off a frog blog. im predicting quote to win all his matches


team plasma - the belchsprouts - i never played bw2 so neo team plasma is shrouded in mystery and similarly i have nothing to say about this team, sorry belchsprouts :(


team flare - lit af litleos - look, team flare's objectively the weakest and worst team ever, but op literally has the name "lit af litleos" so i couldn't resist.


team skull - snivy subterfuge - jac's team (the best one btw) is made up of a bunch of guys who didnt fit elsewhere and sold for like 6k tops except for 2 other players, and this is basically like team skull in sm. team skull has the best music though and its also the least boring one so even if we dont have crazy good players (like goao rip), or we dont win a lot, we will win lcpl's heart n_n


team skull but from mystery dungeon - waterless wynauts - i ran out of ingame teams because there are only 7 evil teams in the main games so melon's team gets stuck with the sad spinoff team. luckily PMD are the greatest pokemon games ever made so they dont have much to worry about.

NOTE: this post will be really unfunny if you haven't played the games, and if you have, you probably wont find it any more impressive because im a new user finding her way in life when it comes to memes, so hit that like to support me in my endeavors to become a professional smogon funnyman :D
new phone who dis dont take my job
 

churine

lunatic+
is a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
team skull but from mystery dungeon - waterless wynauts - i ran out of ingame teams because there are only 7 evil teams in the main games so melon's team gets stuck with the sad spinoff team. luckily PMD are the greatest pokemon games ever made so they dont have much to worry about.
they could just be the aether foundation since i feel like melon is very likely to go mad scientist.
 

Coconut

W
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LC Leader
So I'm gonna make a quick Strengths and Weaknesses of each team, because it seems like everyone is too much of a bitch to do power rankings and I think they're boring.

Gonefroggin.com Froakies: [Money: 500 | Bidders: macle, imanalt] Players: imanalt, Kumiho, Zorodark, Vubon, blarajan, Kushalos, atomicllamas, Many, Quote, Kenzo, Natalie, The Quasar, Spl4sh
+ Friendship: A lot of these people have already been on teams with each other and generally work well together. I can't really see them having any kind of internal issue, as long as all of the newer faces to this team mesh well.
+ Depth: Most of these players can play other metagames to a fairly high point, so switching around the lineup as macle sees fit is not an impossibility. There's also a lot of older talent to mix with the newer people in the older metagames. Expect players like Vubon and Quasar to support whoever is starting in the old gens along with potentially starting themselves.
- Teams: I can see reusing teams, and as a result, getting counterteamed an actual issue for this team. Many of these players either bring the same teams or have an extremely similar team/style in many of their teams, which can result in having difficult matchups
- blarajan: One of the worst players to team with in history. Expect him to be annoying if he isn't playing, and bring bad teams (see: fly fletchling, twice) if he is playing. Overall an extremely low quality user; and he's brown.
Overall: Good team.

The Crystal Onix: [Money: 0 | Bidders: nineage, tko] Players: tko, Heysup, rozes, teal6, -Tsunami-, Ice Tea, KratosMana, FLCL, Endal, Lax, Advantage
+ Heysup: I will never ever doubt this man in a team tournament ever. One of the best battlers, hardest workers, and a fantastic resource.
+ Strong battlers: This team is loaded to the brim with high level battlers and extremely good users in other tiers and it's been proven before that this works in this tournament. Looks very reminiscent of my lineup from last year.
- HeYsUp: If he's going to be gone for a portion of the season, like he said, I could see this team having some issues with depth. I can't see this team succeeding that well without him, as they don't really have any other LC mains outside of their manager.
- Teams: Most of these users are going to need to have teams built for them, and I can see this being an issue of them. While there is some independence in players like teal and rozes, there's a lot more people who will need to have a quality team built for them.
Overall: Rock or Flop

Guerilla Goletts: [Money: 2000 | Bidders: shrug, tahu] Players: tahu, Infamy, Rowan, PD, HSOWA, Dundies, fran17, Fille, Brazilian Army, Berks, Real FV13, Eternal Spirit, Poek, Adam the first

+ Experience: Lots of players with a lot of overall experience in team tournaments and LCPL in general, should be one of their best qualities. Expect big things from people like Infamy, Rowan, ES, and Poek in particular.
+ Excellent Teambuilding: Players like Infamy, Dundies and Berks have some very creative, yet solid teams that should lead to a power set of teams in the newer generations, along with Rowan being able to build exceptionally in BW.
- Motivation to play: I can see Shrug having trouble getting games completed with some players that would just be either too busy to play or not being motivated to play at all.
- Battling ability: This team doesn't really have a superstar player or a real reasonable leader, and I can see this being a serious issue for the team. Relying on players like PD, Fille might pay off for them, but it could also backfire majorly.
Overall: Good luck, you'll need it

Stunting Stunkys: [Money: 2000 | Bidders: sken, vileman] Players: Christo, TUO, Nails, fatty, TDK, Rumor, Pearl, absdaddy, obii, SamVGC, HeaLnDeaL, Sam-testings

+ Strong battlers: I think this team has one of the best sets of just good battlers, with plenty of raw power sprinkled in each tier. In addition to that, there are plenty of players that are skilled in Pokemon in general.
+ Black and White: With Vileman, TUO, and fatty on the same team, BW should be an absolute breeze of a tier. Probably the strongest point of the tier.
- 8 Slots: I think this team would have been significantly better if there was only 6 slots, because this team doesn't quite have enough players to fill 6 slots of quality players between SM and XY.
- Lack of Depth: While this team has some really good players, there's no players that are good enough to support everyone else on the team, and the team kinda needs someone like that. I could potentially see someone like Sken stepping it up, but if he doesn't I don't see this team doing that well.
Overall: Sken ^_^

Waterless Wynauts: [Money: 5000 | Bidders: waterlessmelon, fiendhound] Players: Fiend Hound, idiotfrommars, Tricking, Akashi, TraceOfLife, HT, Rodriblutar, HANTSUKI, majaspic22, void

+ Old Gens: This team has potentially one of the best oldgens cores out of all the teams, and it should be interesting to see how the other teams stack up to this one.
+ Strong starting lineup: This lineup doesn't really have anyone that isn't of a high quality of skill or battling, one of the most consistent looking teams in the entire tournament, I'm excited to see if this holds true.
- Activity: Melon needs to make sure that all of these players actually, play. That being said, as long as these players show interest, and do not die (Fiend), this should not be too much of an issue.
- Subs: That being said, if he has players that are shaky with activity, or the ability to actively get their games done, the person he subs in might not be able to keep the same quality of games that they were already at, especially, if it's BW or DPP.
Overall: Strongish team if they play, weakest team if they don't

The Belchsprouts: [Money: 1500 | Bidders: levi, kingler12345] Players: Kingler12345, Star, 067jox, Kaboom, TheFenderStory, Holiday, Serene's Grace, Confide, AD Thunderboy, tazz, Arifeen

+ SM Lineup: Probably one of the strongest overall lineups in SM, a lot of these players are very experienced and I can see Levi rotating a lot of his players in and out.
+ Experience: Players like Star, Kingler and Fender will be powerful leaders on a team with a lot of talent, but little to no guidance. I can see those players in particular scoring many wins and helping their team succeed.
- Lack of Reliable starters: This team might have some holes to fill throughout the team, as they might struggle with assigning which player to play where. While many of his players can go in at an acceptable level, not all of them will be able to play every tier at an exceptional level.
- Washed up players: Some of these players, to my knowledge, haven't really played LC since last LCPL, it should be interesting to see if they can shake the rust off.
Overall: Middle of the pack

Snivy Subterfuge: [Money: 12500 | Bidders: jac, merritty] Players: Merritt, tcr, rssp1, Gummysaur, Drew, Mambo, Pikasohn, Hilomilo, therealslap, ItzViper482, slurmz, Joltage, sparktrain, Finchinator, Quite Quiet, Altariel von Sweep, Oma

+ Liveliness: This team absolutely has more passion and drive than any other team, because no other team has something to prove quite like these guys. I expect these guys to at least be better than people are suggesting.
+ Scouting: That being said, you can expect a lot of these players to scout for everything and put in the extra mileage to counterteam things, as many of them are going to dedicate a ton of time into really showing that they were worth being picked up.
- Scouting: With their ability to scout being very high and hopefully, like most 4th graders, can notice a common pattern comes one of their bigger weaknesses. Will they be able to actually do anything with their ability to scout? Can they effectively build a counterteam that doesn't lose miserably to something else?
- Player skill: While there is a couple of outliers, this team has a lack of starting lineup level players and it should be interesting to see how he fills out his lineup.
Overall: Probably not 8th place

Lit af Litleos: [Money: 0 | Bidders: op, trash] Players: trash, OP, GOAO, ggggd, Zebraiken, fitzy72, p2, Nintendi, miltankmilk, Manipulative

+ Overall Skill: Probably one of the strongest teams in lengths of pure skill. I expect this team to not really have issues with a choke or a throw, which can't really be said about any other team.
+ Tigers + Brasil: While almost the entirety of this team, (sorry fitzy and trash!) is either hailing from Brazil or a Tiger in SPL [or both!], this should probably result in a team that already works well together and shouldn't have a problem meshing
- Oldgens: trash can't build for BW and DPP. Most of these players prefer to use their own teams anyway.
- Toxicity: This team is most likely to have someone get banned on smogon before the end of the season.
Overall: Better than most.

Hope everyone enjoyed, but please don't take what I said too seriously, it's just for fun!
 

Corporal Levi

ninjadog of the decade
is a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
LCPL 6 Power Rankings

By Corporal Levi and Nineage.



Welcome to the first, and quite possibly the last LCPL Power Rankings.



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Gonefroggin.com Froakies




SM LC: Vubon
SM: Zorodark
SM LC: Kenzo
SM LC: The Quasar
XY LC: Kushalos
XY LC: blarajan
BW LC: atomicllamas
DP LC: Kumiho
Subs: imanalt, Many, Quote, Natalie, Spl4sh

The froakies possess a well-rounded lineup across all generations with no gaping holes. Zorodark and Vubon have proven themselves to be SPL caliber SM players who will very likely pull out with strong scores if they remain motivated. Despite this being Kenzo's first LCPL, he has already proven himself to be one of the most promising new LCers after winning the official SM LC tournament. The Quasar has done quite well in several recent LC tours, though he was better known as a BW player in previous LCPLs. Blarajan and LC Open finalist Kushalos ensure that XY is well-rounded, and atomicllamas and Kumiho are veterans at playing their respective old gens in LCPL. Quote, imanalt, Natalie, and Spl4sh are all decent subs if SM and XY don't work out, The Quasar can cover for BW, and imanalt been extremely successful in DP in the past, so the froakies have a great deal of flexibility if a few of their players underperform. And of course, it's difficult to imagine a luckier lineup than one that includes both Vubon and blarajan.

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The Crystal Onix


SM LC: Ice Tea
SM LC: tko
SM LC: KratosMana
SM LC: -Tsunami-
XY LC: rozes
XY LC: teal6
BW LC: FLCL
DP LC: Heysup
Subs: Endal, Lax, Advantage

With an absurdly strong lineup of veteran LCPL and SPL players handling DPP and recent gens, the tkos look to dominate in the majority of tiers to make up for a weak BW. Nineage and tko have gone for the classic approach of general tour players + LC builders, but did a good job in making sure that the tour players know their way around LC at least somewhat, with the likes of KratosMana, -Tsunami-, teal6, and FLCL all having done well in previous LCPLs despite not regularly interacting with the LC community, Ice Tea having an impressive showing in SPL regardless of his record, and Endal and Lax making it to LC Swiss playoffs using trash's teams. Backing up the tour players are top LCers tko and rozes, strong teambuilders who will be able to cover the main drawback associated with drafting non-LCers in LCPL. Heysup is the single most experienced and established DP LC player in the community, and will undoubtedly be a threat regardless of his claims of lack of activity. That being said, it seems like the tkos lack a dedicated BWer entirely - if they come across a team that is able to match them in recent gens, they could find themselves in a tight spot.

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Guerilla Goletts


SM LC: Dundies
SM LC: Fille
SM LC: PD
SM LC: Adam the first
XY LC: fran17
XY LC: Berks
BW LC: Rowan
DP LC: Infamy
Subs: tahu, HSOWA, Brazilian Army, Poek, Real FV13, Eternal Spirit

Shrug and tahu have gone for an interesting combination of slightly unproven LCers mixed with tour players who do not have experience in LC, resulting in a generally solid lineup but no big names. This will be the first LCPL for Dundies, Fille, PD, and Adam the first, and although they have demonstrated their capabilities in other LC battles, it remains to see whether first time nerves get to them. Brazilian Army, fran17, Berks, Rowan, and Infamy have performed decently, though not spectacularly, in previous LCPLs; however, with the exception of the always marvelous infamy, they have been quite inactive for the past little while, and will have to shake off their rust if they wish to perform. Poek, Real FV13, and Eternal Spirit are all well established as strong Pokemon players but do not have much experience playing LC in particular. This draft's relatively safe approach should result in a decent run, but Shrug and tahu will have to go above and beyond if they wish to emulate the Munnas.

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Stunting Stunkys


SM LC: Christo
SM LC: Pearl
SM LC: Sam-testings
SM LC: TUO
XY LC: absdaddy
XY LC: TDK
BW LC: fatty
DP LC: Nails
Subs: Rumor, obii, SamVGC, HeaLnDeaL

The Stunkys have an extremely threatening lineup from XY and earlier that is only somewhat offset by their lack of SM talent. Christo, fatty, Sam-testings, and TUO are their only players with a more than trivial amount of experience in SM LC, but Sam-testings has almost no experience playing in tours, and it's a bit of a waste not to put TUO in BW. Sken is a notably capable teambuilder, but he may struggle to build for all six SM and XY slots on his own for players who may be too unmotivated or inexperienced to build solid teams on their own. On the other hand, the Stunkys have managed to lock down no less than three of the best BW LCers for themselves, leaving them with very little competition in that slot, and have multiple capable XY and DP players in absdaddy/fatty/rumor/HealnDeaL and Nails/absdaddy, respectively. The main concern for these slots isn't their playing ability, but whether they will remain motivated for the entire season.

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Waterless Wynauts


SM LC: Fiend Hound
SM LC: TraceOfLife
SM LC: rodriblutar
SM LC: Akashi
XY LC: HT
XY LC: Tricking
BW LC: majaspic22
DP LC: idiotfrommars
Subs: HANTSUKI, void

Idiotfrommars is arguably the best DP LCer right now and majaspic22 is a top contender for all of BW, XY, and SM, but otherwise, it looks like Melon decided on his draft based on how fruity the user in question was rather than how well they would do in LCPL, somehow managing to pick up trash's boyfriend HT along the way, because likely no more than a few of these players will even be motivated to schedule. I hope the LC community likes fruit, because this is going to be delicious.

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The Belchsprouts


SM LC: 067jox
SM LC: Serene's Grace
SM LC: Kingler12345
SM LC: Holiday
XY LC: tazz
XY LC: Confide
BW LC: Kaboom
DP LC: TheFenderStory
Subs: AD Thunderboy, Arifeen, Star

With the LC community still reeling from the decision to not only dish out 20k for Kingler12345, but actually let him draft outside of a mock, Levi has somehow managed to end up with a solid lineup. The team features no shortage of teambuilding ability, with Levi on the backend, and two newcomers to the LCPL scene, 067jox and Serene's Grace, all quite creative and competent teambuilders. The team's SM lineup will be able to abuse this, with the two aforementioned new players as well as proven LCers like Kingler12345 and Star. Beyond this, however, the Belchsprouts suffer with a rusty and somewhat weak lineup. Tazz and Confide in XY certainly would've been solid picks a year ago, but haven't been seen much playing since, there's not even really a BW player on the team, and TheFenderStory will probably quit midseason to go code full-time. Its possible that the team will come together, abuse the teams they have access to, and end up at the head of the pack, but all it will take is a few of the rusty players to stay rusty or one of the new players to flop, and they could end up struggling to beat out Melon.

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Snivy Subterfuge


SM LC: ItzViper482
SM LC: rssp1
SM LC: Finchinator
SM LC: therealslap
XY LC: Joltage
XY LC: Pikasohn
BW LC: tcr
DP LC: Mambo
Subs: Merritt, Drew, Hilomilo, slurmz, sparktrain, Finchinator, Quite Quiet, Altariel Von Sweep, Oma, Gummysaur

Jac has decided not to take his usual approach of drafting around a 30k user this time around, instead going for the largest team of the tour with 17 members. While they certainly don't have any superstars, with the possible exception of tcr, Jac has managed to amass a surprisingly solid lineup overall. After establishing himself as Star's master last season, ItzViper482 now finds himself as the most prominent recent gen player on the team alongside Pikasohn, mentoring a group of eager but unproven LCers including therealslap, Gummysaur, Drew, Hilomilo, and Altariel von Sweep. Joltage and rssp1 haven't been spectacular in previous LCPLs but are generally accepted as capable players. TCR is one of the few users to have in-depth knowledge of the BW LC metagame and is able to take advantage of it. The remainder of the team seems to consist of a variety of washed up or otherwise unmotivated players, but the eager members of the ItzViper Fan Club should fill in whatever slots the team needs.

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Lit af Litleos


SM LC: GOAO
SM LC: ggggd
SM LC: Zebraiken
SM LC: OP
XY LC: trash
XY LC: milktankmilk
BW LC: fitzy72
DP LC: p2
Subs: Nintendi, Manipulative

OP's armada of 2017 superstars suits up for another edition of the Smogon Premier League. This time, the users who will be quitting or getting banned before the end of the season include the likes of OP and GOAO. That being said, if they manage to last through the season, the Litleos have an extremely strong group of players, including quite possibly the strongest SM lineup in the tournament. OP drafting half the tigers (and ignoring trash's suggestions) will do well for the first two weeks before OP quits, but we'll see if they have the incentive to continue afterwards.

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SM LC Ranking
1. ggggd
2. GOAO
3. Zorodark
4. Ice Tea
5. 067jox
6. Dundies
7. Zebraiken
8. ItzViper482
9. tko
10. Serene's Grace
11. Kingler12345
12. Fille
13. therealslap
14. TUO
15. Christo
16. Vubon
17. Kenzo
18. TraceOfLife
19. -Tsunami-
20. KratosMana
21. Pearl
22. PD
23. The Quasar
24. Akashi
25. Holiday
26. rodriblutar
27. finchinator
28. Fiend Hound
29. Adam the first
30. Sam-testings
31. OP
32. rssp1

1. ggggd (1), GOAO (2), Zebraiken (7), OP (31) - Litleos - Boasting one of LC's top memers in ggggd and top memes in GOAO, as well as both of the tiger LCers, every single SM LCer of the Litleos has firmly proven himself to rank among the best, time and time again. Pablo "Vicious Beast" Ggggd has not once done poorly in a tour, and in fact first made a name for himself by consistently finishing LCPLs with fantastic records; there is no doubt that he will replicate his success again as the SM LCer to beat. Fellow Brazilian prodigy GOAO, newest member of the tigers, bullies his rivals ruthlessly both on and off the battlefield, but is otherwise cool like an owl; Heysup's tutor is a solid builder and incredible battler. Zebraiken is relatively new to the LC scene but has already firmly cemented himself as a strong contender, playing well in several tours. OP won't be around for long. Furthermore, all of these users are quite friendly with each other - with some of the greatest LCers of all time working toward a common goal, the SM core will be the main factor in what victories the Litleos see.

2. Ice Tea (4), tko (9), -Tsunami- (19), KratosMana (20) - tkos - A combination of great builders and strong players makes for a potent SM LC lineup. Though ict's SPL record was marred by hax, it did nothing to hide the fact that he can compete with the best in both building and playing. tko, on the other hand, has been universally accepted as easily SPL caliber for a long time; even though he may start off somewhat stale after his break from LC, tko will be hard to stop once he gets back into form. Shake and KratosMana may not have kept fully up to date with the metagame, but they have participated and done well in several LCPLs, and have strong builders to back them up, so they should perform fairly well regardless.

3. 067jox (5), Serene's Grace (10), Kingler12345 (11), Holiday (25) - Belchsprouts - The Belchsprouts have two proven builders in Serene's Grace and 067jox, and both offer solid potential in LCPL. However, because they are new to team tournaments, its totally possible that they wont prove to be up to snuff. If this is the case, the Belchsprouts have to rely on a man who refuses to play until his mom's curry is in front of him and LC's serial name changer to carry them in SM. Whatever happens, though, expect to see some creative builds in the Belchsprout's SM games.

4. Zorodark (3), Vubon (16), Kenzo (17), The Quasar (23) - Froakies - The highest ranked non-LCer on this list, Zorodark had arguably the strongest showing in the LC slot during SPL 8. Though he wasn't too impressive last LCPL, his familiarity with the metagame and community has certainly improved since then. Frequently ranked among the luckiest LCers alive, Vubon hopes to continue his previous LCPL record to prove that he is a genuinely good LCer. Kenzo made a name for himself after defeating OP and mad0ka in the finals of the SM LC tour; there are some concerns about whether he is still in shape after his extended hiatus from LC and Pokemon, but if he is, then he will surely be an extremely tough opponent. The Quasar hasn't been spectacular at any one tier he has played in, but is definitely solid at all of them; SM just seems like the most likely position he'll be squeezed into based on the rest of the lineup.

5. Dundies (6), Fille (12), PD (22), Adam the first (29) - Goletts - None of these players have had any prior LCPL experience, so they may be a bit nervous here. That being said, their reputation for good playing ability seems to indicate the potential to do quite well otherwise. Dundies is well known as a fantastic builder and battler, did well in Lost Cave, and is known as a generally excellent lower tier player, which meshes well with the huge amount of time he's put into getting familiar with the SM LC metagame. Fille was among the first of the newer ladder community to reach out to the overall LC community after ItzViper482, and is one of MDL's most prominent users. PD is associated with his somewhat uncaring attitude - however, if he puts effort into this LCPL, this will be a great chance to show everyone that he's got more than luck. Adam the first is the least proven of these players, having narrowly been left out of LC Swiss playoffs. It's up to Shrug and Tahu to guide their players to their full potential.

6. ItzViper482 (8), therealslap (13), finchinator (27), rssp1 (32) - Snivys - The "Corporal Levi of level 100 tiers", no one on this list has less experience playing LC than Finchinator. However, he is a prominent tour player overall, and with connections to multiple LCers plus Zorodark, it won't take long for him to pick up the tier if he puts in the effort, at which point such a low ranking almost certainly won't do him justice. I don't know which of the numerous members of the Mighty ItzViper482 League on this team will be playing SM LC, but ItzViper482 and therealslap are two of the bigger names in MDL; they have plenty of LC experience, and even though most of it is from laddering rather than tour play, they have more than enough talent to do well anyways (and based on ItzViper482's clean win last season). Finally, we have rssp1, who will make optimal plays 80% of the time.

7. TUO (14), Christo (15), Pearl (21), Sam-testings (30) - Stunkys - TUO has been notoriously inconsistent in previous LCPLs, but don't let that fool you. When The Unstoppable One gets going, Shellder's sweep ceases to exist, and all other Pokemon on the opposing team are subject to powerful priority and Knock Off. Christo can be expected to do quite well after his solid performance in SPL if he puts in the effort. After that, though, the Stunkys lack established SM LCers. Pearl has played in previous LCPLs, but he has very limited SM LC experience. Sam-testings has been incredibly active within the LC community for over a year now, and has indisputably picked up a great deal of metagame knowledge along the way, but he has yet to prove at all that he can play at a high level. It may sound like Sken should just start other players in SM LC, but I'm not sure who else he can put in.

8. TraceOfLife (18), Akashi (24), rodriblutar (26), Fiend Hound (28) - Wynauts - TraceOfLife managed a nice win over Sweep last LCPL and seems to be a generally strong LCer. Akashi has been playing LC since at least ORAS and, although he hasn't done much outside of beating Alice last LCPL, can certainly surprise here. Unfortunately, the good news ends here; it looks like rodriblutar's LC experience so far is limited to seasonals, and Fiend Hound's playing ability resembles two week old bread.


XY LC Ranking
1. Confide
2. Kushalos
3. tazz
4. rozes
5. trash
6. teal6
7. absdaddy
8. TDK
9. Pikasohn
10. Tricking
11. HT
12. Berks
13. fran17
14. miltankmilk
15. Joltage
16. blarajan

1. Confide (1), tazz (3) - Belchsprouts - Confide and tazz have proven themselves over and over again in the ORAS LC environment, especially in team tours. Both have experience building, and won't be tripped up by getting their mind stuck in SM because neither plays SM. However, both are rusty in the ORAS LC environment, so it's possible one could flop.

2. rozes (4), teal6 (6) - tkos - Between rozes' large amount of experience in the LC tier and teal6's unstoppable innovations, this duo will be difficult to handle from a teambuilding perspective alone. But that's not all; rozes is an LC Open semifinalist and teal6 single-handedly carried the Munnas to victory last year, so they're both very much tried and true LC battlers. And on top of that, they have tko to help build...

3. absdaddy (7), TDK (8) - Stunkys - Absdaddy has not played XY LC in years. But when he did play it, he played it lots - he got familiar with what was good, he figured out the ins and outs of the metagames, he established a few metagame trends. The difference between abs and other washed up LCers is that he puts in the time and effort to relearn his tier, and I think that will be what he needs to get close to his peak. TDK isn't really known for his LC playing, but he made it far into LC Open, using his own teams from what I've heard, and with how strong he is in other tiers, he can't be too bad at LC.

4. Kushalos (2), blarajan (16) - Froakies - Kushalos: Naughty Noibat extraordinaire, LC Open finalist with two teams that looked like they were built in 2014, and not even an LC main... yet. There is no doubt that Kushalos will be able to perform. As for blarajan? I simply cannot picture that user winning.

5. trash (5), miltankmilk (14) - Litleos - When it comes to teambuilding, few users can hope to come close to trash's ability. One of the catalysts of the Litleos lineup, his intuitive and phenomenally solid squads may be what miltankmilk needs to do well despite being relatively inexperienced in LC. trash himself can play at a high level as well, though he is somewhat prone to choking.

6. Tricking (10), HT (11) - Wynauts - There was once a time when Tricking was casually listed among the very best LCers; those days are long gone. Nowadays, he won't even participate in LC QC discussions or give a single QC check, so I don't think he'll put much effort into scheduling for the Wynauts, although he should still be quite strong if he does. HT is fairly accomplished, having gotten to semis in the most recent LC Open, beating some very respected players along the way, but all of his accomplishments have been with trash by his side. Here is where we find out whether he can remain a contender on his own.

7. Pikasohn (9), Joltage (15) - Snivys - At the time of the last LCPL, Pikasohn and Joltage were both quite good. Pikasohn has stuck around within the community, but Joltage's activity has been close to non-existent. Maybe he'll look better if he vastly increases his level of activity, though.

8. Berks (12), fran17 (13) - Goletts - Berks is surely going to be a great team presence, but I don't know how strong he'll be once the battle begins. While he did all right in previous LCPLs, his activity has taken quite a blow for the past few months. fran17 has been even less active, and though he was very strong at one point, I don't think he'll be taking this LCPL seriously.


BW LC Ranking

1. tcr - Snivys - When he signed up, I figured tcr wouldn't really care for LCPL, but that won't be a problem alongside his good friends Jac and Mambo. With zf not currently in the picture, activity seems to be the only thing that could prevent tcr from standing uncontested as the best BW LCer on the list. His familiarity and passion for the metagame and very creative builds allowed him to amass one of the best records last LCPL, and with BW LC not having had any shifts since tcr took a break, I don't see this changing.

2. Rowan - Goletts - Among the influential users of early XY who will likely be playing some BW, there isn't much differentiating their playing ability outside of motivation, and Rowan seems like he would care the most. The former tier leader of course knows the BW metagame, has played BW for previous LCPLs, and can play LC at a very high level in general, so if he remains active throughout, there's little question that he'll be a big threat.

3. fitzy72 - Litleos - His reputation as an LC battler took quite a hit during ORAS, and he hasn't quite gotten it back for SM, but when it comes to early XY and BW, fitzy72 is still up there. His record last season wasn't too great, but the competition has arguably been weakened without the likes of zf, Vileman, and Coconut, and he also seems more involved with the community than before, so he should do better this season.

4. majaspic22 - Wynauts - Consistency is the name of majaspic's game. Whether it's SM, XY, or BW, majaspic can play it, and play it well. It doesn't look like melon has any other options for BW, but that'll work out just fine, seeing how majas played BW for LCPL a few years back.

5. fatty - Stunkys - fatty seems like the sort who will be too lazy to build new teams for each week, but that's okay because he's got plenty of strong ones to back up his solid playing ability. If he bothers to test, he has plenty of help between TUO and Vileman.

6. atomicllamas - Froakies - Although his performance last LCPL wasn't very good, llamas has played BW LC in LCPL for quite a long time, and most of his other showings were quite good. If it really doesn't work out, The Quasar can sub in here.

7. Kaboom - Belchsprouts - Who is this mysterious user?

8. FLCL - tkos - I don't actually have any clue who the BWer for the tkos is, so FLCL is just a placeholder. I don't think they have a dedicated BWer.


DPP LC Ranking

1. idiotfrommars - Wynauts - After two ridiculously dominant LCPL seasons, it's not a stretch to consider ifm the best DPP LCer of today. With a level of consistency unbefitting of a tier reputed for being luck-based, ifm looks to continue his eight game winning streak and improve his overall record of 10-1.

2. Heysup - tkos - It may not be a good idea to rank Heysup so high on the power rankings; look how well that turned out for him this SPL.

3. Kumiho - Froakies - Following his fantastic performance on the Scrubs several years back, Kumiho continues to be a good choice for a dedicated DPP LCer. He didn't do so well last LCPL, but still has more experience in the tier than most. This year, he has both macle and imanalt to help him out in tests.

4. p2 - Litleos - p2 showed that he could play DPP LC quite well last year when he managed to finish 3-1. The competition seems tougher this year, but with a much stronger group of LCers to back him up, he should do fine.

5. Infamy - Goletts - He beat Heysup back in the day and hasn't really touched the tier since. But Infamy's unmatched LC genius knows no bounds - this ranking assumes he relies purely on getting activity wins, but if Infamy begins to actually play, who knows what marvelous record he will obtain.

6. Nails - Stunkys - Nails is back. He hasn't actually really played in previous LCPLs, but as far as I know, he's a real DPP LCer, as opposed to everybody else on the list except for Heysup. Maybe that will give him an advantage?

7. Mambo - Snivys - Mambo hasn't been active at all over the past few months, but from what I've heard, he's making an effort to be a good team presence. Peak Mambo was a genuine threat in every tier he played, including DPP, so if he is able to put in the time, then this will be an entertaining season.

8. TheFenderStory - Belchsprouts - TheFenderStory plays DPP LC well when he is motivated, but odds are, he won't be. i cant rag on my friend fender levi


Managers Ranking

1. Shrug & Tahu - Goletts - I'm not being sarcastic here: Shrug is way too cool. He's probably the sports star of LittleCupVille. I go around asking some users whether they'd like to be on the Belchsprouts before the auction, and more than a few of them respond with, "I would like to be on Shrug's team". And really, I can't blame them; Shrug was a pleasure to work with last season. Meanwhile, this will be the first season I'm not sharing a team with Tahu in spite of his tendency to choke away his matches. If there's anything that can make the Goletts perform above expectations, it's this managing duo.

2. Nineage & tko - tkos - Yea, Squirtles finished 8th last season, but let's be honest here, that lineup was pretty unwinnable. The lineup Nineage is working with this year is anything but unwinnable. With a group of collected players who will be able to handle themselves, Nineage could ignore what's going on, similarly to what he did for Origin, and they would still do fine, but Nineage also happens to be familiar with the LC community to an extent that the other managers can't match, and will be able to help out in that regard. tko, meanwhile, provides the star power, a user that the other members of the team can respect and look up to. Between the two of them, the dark days of the Squirtles will be long gone.

3. Corporal Levi & Kingler12345 - Belchsprouts - Corporal Levi is straight up the best teambuilder in LC, and has the tryhard spirit to build every team for every game. However, he has been known to be absent during seasons, which would leave Kingler12345, a man who earnestly believes Diglett is broken, in charge of a team. This could potentially be problematic later in the season.

4. Sken & Vileman - Stunkys - While neither comes off as someone who will try very hard, you really can't go wrong with two of the most charming users in the community. How many users actually dislike Sken and Vileman? The answer is zero. The managers being likeable can only get the team so far when it comes to motivation, of course, which is where Sken's experience managing in HPL could potentially help.

5. macle & imanalt - Froakies - Although macle apparently needed GOAO to step in as Unofficial Team Leader last year, imanalt should suffice, as he seems to genuinely care for the team's performance. It's worth noting that macle is more popular as a tier leader than he was last year, so perhaps that will translate to more convincing team leadership as well. Their biggest obstacle will have to be dealing with the LC community's resident Debbie Downer, QuoteCS, who will likely continuously claim that he is terrible at LC and so on, regardless of everybody else LC community insisting otherwise, bringing down the entire team's mood; if macle and Imanalt can somehow convince Quote of his self-worth, then the Froakies are golden.

6. Jac & Merritt - Snivys - Jac and Merritt are both lovable users, and I consider Merritt a great friend of mine. But being lovable users didn't stop the Snivys from famously getting four activity losses in semifinals last season. Then again, the Munnas were a thoroughly intimidating group, so maybe the Snivys aren't completely to blame. A much more energetic group of users making up the team this year should also help to prevent the same thing from happening.

7. melon & fiend

8. trash - Litleos - trash is undeniably one of the cutest users on Smogon, and definitely seems to have the enthusiasm for LCPL that a good manager needs. However, how will he be able to handle managing the team on his own past week 3? We saw how well that turned out last year.

For optimal Accurate and Unbiased Power Rankings, I wrote tko descriptions and nineage wrote belchsprout descriptions.
 
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