Resource LC Tiering Info

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Corporal Levi

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The LC council suspecting process is currently as follows. This is subject to change in the near future.

1. The council will cycle through potential suspect nominations every two months or so. In addition, a council member may personally bring up a topic for discussion as possibly banworthy/unbanworthy at any time.
2. If at least 5/11 council members believe that the topic is banworthy/unbanworthy OR are unsure (that is, there is no supermajority disagreement with this nomination), then the topic is put through a suspect test. A thread for discussion on the topic will be set up.
3. Suspect tests are conducted on the regular ladder and are open to all users who are able to reach reqs. Our current standard for this is 83 gxe across 40 or more games, across a suspect that lasts between a week and a half to two weeks; we may shift these values to accommodate for factors such as a newer ladder, exam season, and so on.
4. Users who meet reqs during the suspect test and post their alts are eligible to vote on whether the topic is banworthy/unbanworthy.
5. A majority vote of at least 60% must be passed to alter the status quo.
6. If the topic is banned/unbanned accordingly, no other suspects can be made for a minimum of two weeks to give the metagame time to settle.

The quickbanning process will be as follows going forward.

1. We will only consider quickbans immediately following major metagame shifts that are otherwise out of our control, e.g. a new generation.
2. When a topic is being seriously discussed for a quickban, it will be mentioned in the metagame discussion thread at least a week before the potential quickban so that non-council members can share their thoughts. However, if the council unanimously agrees a topic is so overwhelming that it shouldn't even warrant a basic discussion (think Scyther/Sneasel/Swirlix levels of powerful) then it will be autobanned, completely bypassing quickban discussion and voting. This will be determined with a swift informal vote at or around the time of the release.
3. If there have been no reasonable arguments against a quickban brought forth in the metagame discussion thread (note: "reasonable" is subjective, but we'll try to set this bar quite low), then the council will proceed to a vote.
4. For a topic to be quickbanned, at least 80% of the council must believe it is broken (12/15 members).
5. If this threshold is not reached, it will instead be suspected.

Current council members:

Coconut (Leader)
Fiend (Leader)
BurntZebra
Corporal Levi
LilyAC
KSG
kythr
Plas
Shrug
Star
tazz
Wail Wailord
 
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Corporal Levi

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What Pokemon are legal in Little Cup?

Pokemon only need to follow three rules in order to be eligible for Little Cup.
  1. All Pokemon need to be level 5.
  2. The Pokemon must be able to evolve, but be in the lowest stage of evolution. For example Pichu is legal, but Pikachu is not.
  3. All Pokemon must be attainable in Pokemon Sword and Shield.
The following Pokemon, Moves, and Abilities are currently banned in Sword and Shield Little Cup:

corsola.png

Corsola-Galar

Announcement
Corsola-Galar is arguably the greatest defensive threat Little Cup has ever seen. Boasting 60/100/100 defenses, Will-o-Wisp, Strength Sap, Calm Mind, and Cursed Body, Corsola-Galar is extremely difficult to KO. When you factor in the Ghost typing which not only prevents trapping but is more difficult to punish because of Knock Off's limited distribution and Pursuit's removal from the game, you have a threat which requires the efforts of numerous Pokemon to effectively take it down.


Cutiefly

Sticky Web is a generally potent support move, but Cutiefly happens to be massively more threatening individually than every other Sticky Web setter available. Its high speed, good offensive and defensive typing, and access to moves like Quiver Dance and Roost allow it to consistently and repeatedly force switches to maintain Sticky Web, or even forgo Sticky Web entirely and opt for a sweeping set, whether through a more offensive Life Orb set or a bulky Roost set. Cutiefly's versatility and utility make it difficult to justify giving up on most teams, in addition to ensuring its status as one of the tier's top offensive threats.


Drifloon

Announcement
With the release of Pokemon HOME, Drifloon has re-gained access to Recycle, which allows it to greatly sustain itself over the course of a game by constantly recovering its Berry Juice. While a huge buff to its Specially Offensive set, this also allows its infamous AcroWisp set to be viable once again. These sets in tandem make Drifloon extremely difficult to reliably check, as checks for one will not reliably check the other.



Gastly

Announcement
Gastly is among the most immediately threatening Pokemon in the tier due to a combination of its fantastic 19 special attack and 18 speed, strong STABs in Sludge Wave and Shadow Ball, and a plethora of coverage moves that includes Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, Fire Punch, Psychic, and Sucker Punch. Life Orb Gastly in particular is able to OHKO the vast majority of Pokemon that aren't wielding Eviolite, as well as 2HKO most that do, allowing it to reliably get KOs almost every time it comes into play against teams that lack one of its select few checks. These checks have their usage dramatically skewed upwards, as the only other significant option to deal with Gastly is revenge-killing it with faster threats, all of which are unable to safely switch in and are generally less threatening than Gastly.



Gothita

Announcement
Gothita is noticeably bulkier than the other common LC trappers, and has access to a variety of coverage and support moves including Thunderbolt, Energy Ball, Trick, Charm, and Thunder Wave. This allows each of its major sets to be tailored to switch into and trap a fair number of defensive Pokemon, as well as guarantee a revenge-kill on many more offensive and defensive Pokemon. The ability to actively switch into many of its targets means that it can effectively invalidate them from team preview. The options to countertrap Gothita are quite limited - Eviolite Gothita variants are generally able to avoid being countertrapped by the likes of Trapinch and Diglett - meaning Gothita will often be able to trap multiple threats per game. Gothita is able to support many of the top offensive threats in the metagame to an extreme degree by removing their strongest checks in a manner that allows limited counterplay.


Rufflet

Rufflet's combination of high base Attack, Hustle, and access to powerful moves in Brave Bird and Close Combat turns it into an enormous offensive threat that can OHKO the majority of the metagame with a Choice Band or 2HKO it otherwise. Furthermore, Rufflet has few weaknesses, decent bulk, and access to Roost, allowing it to completely shift its role and act as a bulky setup sweeper. Each Rufflet set has few reliable checks due to Rufflet's power, and the setup sets require different answers than the choiced sets, ensuring that Rufflet as a whole is unusually difficult to prepare for.


Sneasel

In terms of raw stats, Sneasel simply outclasses every other LC eligible Pokemon in the game by too large a margin to warrant its inclusion. It is three full points above the next highest speed tier, on top of boasting an excellent attack stat and decent bulk. This is backed by a strong offensive typing and a decent movepool to take advantage of its STABs, which includes Swords Dance, Ice Shard, and several coverage moves, making it too well-rounded and powerful an offensive threat.


Swirlix

Swirlix was originally banned in gen 6 for two major sweeping sets, both taking advantage of the Unburden + Berry Juice combination: its Belly Drum set and its Cotton Guard-Calm Mind set. While it no longer has access to Belly Drum, its CGCM set was already generally considered broken on its own, and has hardly been hit at all. This set is able to both rapidly boost its bulk and outspeed the entire relevant metagame, before simultaneously healing itself and sweeping with Draining Kiss. Its wide array of coverage moves means that it can pick and choose its checks without hindering its sweeping ability.


Vullaby

Vullaby's combination of stats, ability, and movepool allows it to simultaneously be nearly uncounterable as an offensive threat and one of the metagame's premier utility mons. As an offensive mon, its bulk and and high speed through Weak Armor grants it numerous opportunities to switch in, threaten with strong STAB moves in Knock Off and Brave Bird, and get around would-be checks with mixed or Nasty Plot sets. Its few hard checks, such as Onix, are generally poor choices outside of checking Vullaby, so most teams instead choose to handle Vullaby by brute forcing with multiple mons that individually lose to it, such as Pawniard, or their own Vullaby. This offensive value, when combined with defensive value from Defog, pivoting, and good bulk, all but mandates Vullaby on a team.


Vulpix-A

Vulpix-Alola offers an enormous amount of utility to its team through its combination of Snow Warning and Aurora Veil. Instantly doubling its team's bulk for 8 turns most notably allows Vulpix to support powerful sweepers like Vullaby, Spritzee, and Zigzagoon by granting them significantly more opportunities to set up, as well as reducing their pool of checks and counters. Although Vulpix itself has low stats, preventing it from being a serious threat, and Aurora Veil does have some degree of counterplay like Brick Break and Defog, the extent to which Vulpix is able to drastically shift how its teammates can be dealt with often forces an extreme number of matchup issues.

Baton Pass

While Baton Pass teams may not be outright broken, they can certainly be seen as uncompetitive due to the degree to which they force games to be decided by matchups. Individual Baton Pass abusers, while not as extreme, similarly decide games on matchup much more than usual. Generally, countering Baton Pass involves a small number of niche sets that would see little to no use if Baton Pass did not exist; if these niche sets are run, then the Baton Pass strategy is all but guaranteed to lose. On the other hand, if these niche sets aren't run, then the Baton Pass strategy will generally either win outright, or frequently decide the game off of a single coinflup. This effectively takes player skill out of the equation, rendering Baton Pass uncompetitive.

Chlorophyll

When supported by Vulpix or, to a lesser extent, Sunny Day teammates, several Chlorophyll users such as Bulbasaur and Cherubi become extremely threatening. They gain access to a boosted Growth, enough speed to outpace most Choice Scarf users, and in some cases access to a strong coverage move in Weather Ball. This increases their sweeping capabilities, and required preparation for the opposing teams, to levels well beyond other offensive cores. Since this applies to multiple abusers and can be overbearing with either Drought or Sunny Day support, banning just Chlorophyll is the most direct solution.

Moody

Announcement
Moody is available on two Pokemon in LC, Remoraid and Snorunt, and we have deemed it to be uncompetitive on both. Because of how damage rolls work at level 5, as well as how most passive options such as hazards, status, and leftovers have their effects rounded down, LC naturally skews towards offense; options to consistently deal with Moody abusers that might be available and common in OU, such as (p)hazing and Toxic, would be close to unviable in the LC metagame except to deal with Moody. As such, the opponent to the Moody abuser simply has to hope that Moody doesn't grant favourable boosts in time; if Moody does grant favourable boosts, then the Moody abuser will generally be able to sweep with no room for counterplay, leaving the outcome of the game entirely up to random chance instead of player skill.


In addition, Dynamaxing is banned in Little Cup for causing too many Pokemon to become overbearing offensive threats.
 
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Corporal Levi

ninjadog of the decade
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jake and LilyAC have been added to the LC council!

jake has been a mainstay of the LC tour scene since the beginning of SM. He has been drafted for every trophy team tour that included LC since then, and has done quite well in the past two Snake Drafts, notably going 8-3 in Snake Draft 3, on top of a respectable all-time LC team tour record. jake is actually a former NU tier leader and a previous member of the LC council, having chosen to step down from the latter near the beginning of the year due to inactivity; we look forward to having him back.

Lily is one of the most respected LCers in the community, and is often touted as the best teambuilder of SM LC. She was first drafted in LCPL 7 and began seeing success in LCWC later that year, where she managed UK-Benelux to semifinals. Since then, all of her LC team tour teams have reached playoffs at minimum. She made her trophy team tour debut in Snake Draft 3, going an impressive 6-3. Her community presence and superb metagame knowledge are a welcome addition to the council.
 

Corporal Levi

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Drifloon required 15/24 ban votes to be banned, but only received 14. As a result, Drifloon will not be banned.

---

There were some concerns with how this suspect was run that I'd like to address. I think they can be boiled down to two points:

1. The suspect requirements were too hard.

24 voters is an unacceptably low voter turnout. Having some bar of entry for the suspect is needed to ensure that at least a majority of the voters are both qualified and interested when it comes to understanding and helping to change the metagame. However, 24 voters is simply not a large enough sample to be indicative of what the community at large believes; we should at least aim for more than 30 voters. A majority of the voters had win/loss ratios of 90% or above, which is a lot to ask for given that you should be facing other competent ladderers more frequently in a suspect test.

This would have been because of the GXE requirement, which we planned as we did - initially set a relatively high GXE, and then lower it if it proved to be too difficult - simply because there was no similar precedent to work off of. This Drifloon suspect occurred on a ladder that was roughly one month old, and initially required a GXE of 85 at 30 games, down to 83 at 40 games. In comparison, the Vulpix suspect occurred on a ladder that was roughly four months old (i.e. significantly more inflated), and required a GXE of 85 at 40 games, down to 80 at 54 games. The Torchic suspect occurred on a ladder that was completely fresh, and required a GXE of 90 at 40 games, down to 81 at 49 games. The latest SM suspect, the Trapinch suspect, required a GXE of 83 at 40 games. This is what we chose to use initially with the understanding that a) we did not have a good guess for a better GXE, and that b) in all likelihood we would have to lower it later, since using too low a GXE and then increasing it later would be much more of a hassle.

2. A suspect ladder may not always be the best indication of player ability.

Hosting suspects on a relatively inactive ladder, including the LC ladder, heavily disadvantages users who might not be able to afford the time commitment to play 30+ games during the specific time frame of the suspect, even if they happen to be highly capable and motivated contributors at other times. In this case, the problem may have been exacerbated by the suspect taking place across both exam and holiday season; while these issues weren't unexpected, we believed this scheduling to be necessary to have the suspect over before SPL. What this meant is that users who began to participate in the suspect later on would generally have to wait several minutes between each game past a certain elo; it also made specific reqs ladderers much easier to snipe, either by those who already had reqs or who had no intention of getting them.

With that being said, a suspect ladder is ultimately still adequate, and is also the system used by almost every other current gen tier. An alternative would have to have significant advantages to even be entertained.


Some quick thoughts on the above:

- I don't think our stance of initially difficult reqs was an issue in of itself; again, we hadn't yet had a suspect under these circumstances to gauge the difficulty off of. However, we should have lowered reqs both earlier and to a greater degree once it became clear how much everyone except for boulicrok was struggling; the conservative approach of lowering reqs by a single point ultimately wasn't adequate. There may have also been issues with clarifying that we planned to potentially make the suspect test easier/longer, as the change caught several users by surprise.

- If we do stick with a suspect ladder for future suspect tests, it's worth noting that most of the issues I described above should thankfully be much less prevalent. We now have a better reference point for a GXE, and since we won't be at the beginning of the gen rushing to get the metagame in shape for SPL, we should be able to schedule around exam season and so on much more comfortably.

- There were reports of certain users intentionally sniping reqs ladderers to deny them reqs, losing intentionally against users who weren't participating in the suspect to keep their GXE low and make winning against them less beneficial/losing against them more harmful when they did play a reqs ladderer. I don't believe there are currently explicit measures against sniping itself, though it's extremely distasteful to do so with a deliberate counterteam. On the other hand, forfeiting to non-reqs users is against the global forum rules, which state the following:
Cheating in Suspect Test: (2 Points, 90 Days) This is given to those caught cheating in suspect tests. Applicable scenarios include boosting other accounts, attempting to vote with multiple accounts, intentionally losing against suspect participants, coercing an opponent to lose, and trading/buying/selling suspect ladder accounts. In addition to the infraction points, you may also lose your Tiering Contributor points and your Tiering Contributor badge, if you have one.
This doesn't include intentionally losing against non-suspect participants, but doing so would be gaming the system to an equal degree and would warrant the same punishment. In this case, the reports lacked hard evidence so we aren't looking to pursue them further, but please do not make this an issue in future suspect tests.

- In the past, we have run supplementary suspect tours alongside the ladder, where winning one of these tours would automatically qualify you for reqs. We have also considered factoring in existing tours, such as LCPL and the circuit, into suspect tests as well. However, these run into the issue of simply requiring far fewer games to obtain reqs than those who use the ladder, with suspect tours often consisting of as few as 4 or 5 rounds. This shouldn't be enough to claim a significant interest in the tier, which is why we chose to forgo them this time around.
 

Corporal Levi

ninjadog of the decade
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Luthier, BurntZebra, mad0ka, and Serene Grace have been added to the LC council!

Luthier is one of the strongest LCers in the community, boasting a nearly unmatched record in LC tournaments despite being a relatively fresh face to the scene. His 2019 LC Open victory and solid 6-5 Snake Draft record, which included winning the deciding game of his team's season, is surpassed only by a spectacular 9-0 run during the 2019 LCPL. These accomplishments aren't what he's best known for, though - even more important is his boundless enthusiasm that will help to breathe life into council discussions.

BurntZebra has been seen as a respected LC battler and teambuilder ever since his debut in the 2018 LCPL. Since then, he has performed consistently across various LC tournaments, including a strong 7-2 record during the 2019 Exhibition, a win in the winter seasonal, and a hard carry performance on the Tactical Totodiles in the 2019 LCPL. BurntZebra is a capable and level-headed discusser who has held his own in other LC policy discussions, so we look forward to having him on the council.

mad0ka's early career may be marked moreso by her attitude than her playing, but even then, her capabilities as an LCer were undeniable, having won the first LC circuit back in ORAS. She took a break for much of SM, but her Ekans Draft performance has shown a clear return to form, and she is now seen as SS LC's strongest builder. She has been a major force in metagame discussions, contributing toward Drifloon remaining unbanned, and can now offer her expertise as a formal member of the council.

Serene Grace has been tearing through circuits and LC team tours for over two years now. Throughout SM and now SS, Serene Grace has amassed a ridiculous team tour record that involves a 5-0 in the 2019 Exhibition, 8-1 in the 2018 LCPL, and not a single non-positive record. This is backed by two circuit qualifications, including first seed in 2018 and a win in Snake Draft 3. He is seen as an unorthodox teambuilder with unusual metagame takes, and will be able to add a fresh perspective to the council.
 

Camden

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We have added a condition to the Quickban Policy to cover autobans:

"2. When a topic is being seriously discussed for a quickban, it will be mentioned in the metagame discussion thread at least a week before the potential quickban so that non-council members can share their thoughts. (An explicit time frame was instated in response to the concerns with the speed of the Cherubi quickban.) However, if the council unanimously agrees a topic is so overwhelming that it shouldn't even warrant a basic discussion (think Scyther levels of powerful) then it will be autobanned, completely bypassing quickban discussion and voting. This will be determined with a swift informal vote at or around the time of the release. "
 

jake

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Quote has stepped down from his position as LC Tier Leader. Thank you for all you have done for the tier, Quote.

edit: tazz has also stepped down from LC Council, though he did so some time back. Our apologies for not acknowledging your hard work in this thread, tazz.

ggggd has been added to the LC Council! Pablo is a phenomenal LC player, rocking to a 9-0 record in SPL (even though he's a baby and didn't play in semis to secure a 10-0). He has been around LC for a long while, and he has demonstrated a strong commitment to the tier. On top of that, he has been a vocal and informed player since his return. He will be a great presence on the LC council.
 
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jake

underdog of the year
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
Active & Inactive Council

Coconut and I have made a change to the SS LC Council. Moving forward, the council will have an "Active" and an "Inactive" split. We've determined that council activity can best be represented by activity in the council chat (logs of which can be found here), activity on the forums / LC discord, and acquiring voting reqs. Council members that do not meet activity requirements will become Inactive, and their votes will not count toward future suspects until they return to being Active.

If a council member remains Inactive for a prolonged period of time, they must step down from the council, and must be re-added traditionally if they are interested in re-joining.

These changes have been made so that we can consistently recognize council members who have become inactive and ensure that said inactivity will not influence the direction of a vote. It is very important to note that being moved to Inactive does not mean anything negative about the council member; it's just a summary of their current activity level. By making this change, it formalizes our activity management process and allows us to give inactive council members an opportunity to re-establish their activity in the community, rather than just removing them prematurely.
 

Coconut

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LC Leader
Scyther and Tangela have been autobanned from SS LC.

These Pokemon need no explanation, but Scyther has the same base stat total as its evolved form, Scizor. These stats simply make it far too overwheming for the LC metagame, as has incredibly powerful attacks, boosted by Technician, that are able to 1v1 nearly the entire metagame. Scyther also has access to boosting moves in the form of Swords Dance and Agility, just in case it isn't able to immediately break through anything that could potentially stop it.

Tangela, despite being nerfed by the recent Chlorophyll ban, is a remarkably devastating wall with an overwhelming ability to break through nearly all of its checks in one way or another. Tangela has enough offensive pressure to smash through opponents with powerful STAB Leaf Storms and use its Regenerator ability to shrug off any damage that might have been done to it in the process. Combine that with the ability to abuse Sleep Powder, and its ability to spam Knock Off; Tangela is an extremely difficult Pokemon for any team to beat.
 

Coconut

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LC Leader
Vulpix has been unbanned from SS LC.

The LC council has decided to unban Vulpix. The recent banning of Chlorophyll has drastically weakened the primary reason why Vulpix was considered too powerful previously—its role as a support Pokemon for sun teams. In addition, the DLC has brought numerous new answers to Vulpix such as Porygon and Staryu, as well as a number of other Pokemon with similar power levels. For these reasons, the LC council has unbanned Vulpix.

Kris HoeenHero The Immortal
 
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