LC Player of the Week 6: Dundies

Corporal Levi

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Despite having only gotten into the tier in earnest at the start of SM, Dundies is fast establishing himself as an LC player to watch out for. Placing in the top 16 in the Spring Seasonals, ending 5-2 in LCPL, and not losing to OP even once, Dundies effortlessly proves that he has all the talent and looks to succeed. But for all of his critically acclaimed plays, one thing continues to evade Dundies - a tournament victory. Could LC Open be where this changes?

Player of the Week 6: Dundies

Tell us about yourself. How did you get into competitive Pokemon? How did you get into LC?

Hi, my name is Jacob. I'm 18 and live in Georgia, and I'll be attending my first year of college this year. I'm usually working out (literally every day), hanging out with friends, going to parties, working, or just hanging out watching Netflix / playing mons. I started playing LC a little bit about a year ago, just laddering here and there and playing in the Lost Cave challenge, but other than that, I hadn't played much LC at all. Once SM started I began to play more frequently and I really enjoy the tier, so I stuck with it. Ever since I've just been joining tournaments like Swiss Tournament, LC Seasonals, and LCPL, having decent luck and getting better as I go along.


After going into LCPL as certainly one of the more hyped up players, what are your thoughts on your own performance? What did you think of the Guerrilla Goletts? Of LCPL as a whole?

I've always been super competitive and I really don't like losing, so I set a pretty high expectation for myself finishing LCPL with one loss at the most. Sadly, I went 5-2, which is still good, but most importantly I was really happy with my performance throughout. I think in almost every game I put myself in a solid position to win. I also sort of felt I took somewhat of a leadership role out of my teammates and tried to do a lot of testing to benefit everybody I could. My first loss was to tko in a game I feel I outperformed and put myself in a position to win, then just ended up losing to a High Jump Kick miss. Alas can't beat lucky dong players GG. My other loss was to miltankmilk in a super weird game. I didn't take the loss too hard on myself, as our team was guaranteed to not make playoffs, so the game didn't matter and I brought a weird ass team (triple bulky waters and Scarf Alola-Vulpix because why not). I ended up kinda just losing to a cool Z-move Rufflet set, and I think miltankmilk won that game on prep really, considering it would've done well against a lot of my serious builds. As for my team as a whole, I loved the Goletts. Shrug was by far the best manager I've had in any team tour, and my team got along really well overall (even PD). I feel luck wasn't in our favor after midseason and it caused us to not make playoffs, but I don't regret anything about this LCPL. I thought LCPL as a whole was pretty great. There was a good share of great games and stupid memes / banter, and Coconut did a really good job of hosting it smoothly. I look forward to next LCPL if I'm still around.


Do you plan to stick around for the tours involving LC that are coming up? What are your expectations for those?

Definitely. I'm in a few small ones like LC Gods Among Us and LCPC, which are fun and I plan on doing well in, though I'm more focused on the LC Seasonal Circuit and LC Open. LC Seasonal so far has been pretty fun and I did decent in the first, though I'd like to maybe make at least top 3 this time around, if not win. I think LC Open will have a pretty good turnout and it'll likely get more exposure to the tier from higher level tournament players, which is pretty cool. It's a tournament I've been set on doing my best in for a long time, and my goal is to win it, nothing less.


You had good things to say about the LC community when you first got involved in SM. Now that you're more established, do you still feel the same way? What are the areas you think we could improve on?

I think I've really gotten along with a lot of people in the community and made friends along the way. Hanging out in the LC Discord and talking to the people in the community is always fun since theres a wide variety of different types of people. It's hard to pick out something to improve on, but I'd say just finding ways to help newer players with teambuilding and playing the tier in general would be helpful. I know Coconut just made a nice resource when you can give replays of your playing to be reviewed, which is pretty cool.


Who are the users that you particularly respect or look up to?

I really respect players who can play almost any tier and do really well, even against mains of that tier. A few that come to mind are Teddeh, Christo, and Level 56, all of which can really play any lower tier and succeed. As for LC players, I really only look up to Heysup. Pretty sure this would be like any LC player's answer, he's like the really old LC godfather lol. I also have a lot of respect for teal6; he's just a super nice dude which seems hard to come by in high levels of power and is also a great player.


You used to be known as a PU main. How do you feel SM LC compares to ORAS PU in terms of fun, diversity, balance, and so on? How do you feel LC compares to level 100 tiers in general?

ORAS PU was a decent tier for the most part, but towards the end of it, everything seemed to just be bulky teams using defensive cores like Bronzor + Clefairy, which honestly made the tier pretty boring and I got worn out on it really quick. LC has a somewhat nice diversity to it, where you can successfully use a lot of different playstyles to some success. One bad thing about LC, though, is that the tier doesn't get new Pokemon from tier shift, so the tier kinda centralizes around certain playstyles a little bit, but it's something I don't mind too much. Also stall isn't viable, which is kinda cool. In comparison to level 100 tiers, the battles are shorter and there's obviously the super fun speed ties and rolls that make LC what it is, but overall I'd say how you play in both is pretty similar strategically.


What are your thoughts on the presence of metagame-defining items like Eviolite and Berry Juice? Do you think that they are overpowered relative to other popular items like Life Orb and Choice Scarf? Would you consider them beneficial to the health of the metagame or not?

I don't think they're really overpowered honestly. I kinda consider them as just a part of the tier. I could see fast wallbreakers becoming a bit overpowering with the absence of Eviolite, so I'd consider that to be more beneficial to the tier, while Berry Juice can be a nuissance at times, but I don't really see it as a negative force in the tier either.


What about other things that are frequently brought up as potential suspects, namely Abra, Diglett, Staryu, and Vullaby? If you don't find them broken, would you say that banning one or two of them to "shake up the metagame" is worth considering? Is there anything else you think is potentially banworthy, or could use a retest?

I personally don't think anything needs a suspect at the moment, but out of those four, Abra and Vullaby are the most threatening at any point to me. Between Counter Sash Abra and Life Orb Abra, there basically isn't any counters, between Psychic, Energy Ball, Dazzling Gleam, and either HP Fire / Ground / Fighting, but it's one of those Pokemon Diglett is able to keep in check and can be played around depending on the set. Vullaby's versatility is what makes it most threatening, as it's hard to tell whether you're facing a physical bulky variant, Choice Scarf, or Nasty Plot, the latter being somewhat tough to play around because of Weak Armor. Thankfully the meta seems to be centralizing about around Onix builds, being a really nice check for any of the sets. Torchic is another Pokemon I'm finding very hard to play around, as not only is it hard to switch into, but once it's played its role offensively, it can pass off the Speed to another bulky sweeper like Croagunk or Rufflet. However I feel like Torchic builds are pretty matchup based, as Torchic alone isn't insanely hard to check, and it's hard to fit hazard control on Torchic teams with sweepers like Croagunk and Rufflet, so I feel like it's pretty easy to beat teams like that by just getting up hazards and keeping up offensive pressure. As for retests, I like the idea to shake up the meta a bit, but everything seems kinda broken still. Maybe Drifloon???


Finally, do you have a team that you would like to share with us?

Slowpoke @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 156 Def / 116 SpA / 116 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off

Snivy @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Contrary
Level: 5
EVs: 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Leaf Storm
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Knock Off
- Glare

Grimer-Alola @ Eviolite
Ability: Poison Touch
Level: 5
EVs: 80 HP / 36 Atk / 196 Def / 196 SpD
Brave Nature
- Poison Jab
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Fire Blast

Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Onix @ Eviolite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 76 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Rock Blast
- Explosion

Snubbull @ Berry Juice
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 116 Def / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Play Rough
- Fire Punch
- Thief

Here's a pretty solid team that I built around Scarf Snivy. The team hasn't gone through much testing but in my experience with it so far it's done pretty well. The team basically focuses on wearing down or taking out Snivy's biggest checks and counters so it can clean late-game. Fire Blast Grimer-A is a solid way to get nice chip damage on Pawniard and punish it for switching in, while Substitute + Fire Punch Snubbull is a great way of luring Foongus and Ferroseed. Foongus is a bit annoying for the team, so make sure you're doing your best to pressure it through getting off damage with Knock Off + U-turn from Mienfoo or Fire Punch, followed by Substitute, and another Fire Punch from Snubbull. Slowpoke is also amazing so it's bound to grab you some W's.


Thanks for responding in a timely manner, Dundies!

---

Thanks for reading our sixth player of the week. I'll do my best to get the next one up soon.
 
How are you doing?
good.
How do you like your turkey?
chicken.
Are the allegations that you have played over 3000 PU Alpha games true?
nope.
:dundies:
:dundies: :)
can any PU player make such a smooth transition into LC or just you?
probably anyone decent, its definitely an adjustment though.
Favorite Old Gen tier?
i won't count oras, so i'll just say bw ou. i wasn't around during bw so i haven't played much of it, but i joined two bw ou tours and found the tier pretty enjoyable.
 
You used to be known as a PU main.
This is a false statement, Dundies has always been a PU main, and will continue to be one until the end of time, despite his cute LC journey.

Now for some real questions for Dundies himself.

1.) You clearly have had a reasonable amount of success in LC tours, and prior to that, in PU tours. What motivated you to first pick up, and then adjust to LC, considering you were considered to be at the very top of the PU playerbase?

2.) I have an issue; my sleep schedule is all over the place. I wake up at 2pm, and sleep at 4:30am. What tips have you learned across the span of your life to remedy this issue which causes so many of us problems?

3.) I have another issue, there is this girl I really like and I wanna ask her out, what tips do you have for me and any other nerds who stumble across this thread and are reading your response?

:dundies:
 
1.) You clearly have had a reasonable amount of success in LC tours, and prior to that, in PU tours. What motivated you to first pick up, and then adjust to LC, considering you were considered to be at the very top of the PU playerbase?
I just started to play it at the beginning of LC and really enjoyed it. Once I started to get better at it I kinda realized theres a bit more tournament opportunity, and honestly I just think I'm better at LC overall, so I made the switch.
2.) I have an issue; my sleep schedule is all over the place. I wake up at 2pm, and sleep at 4:30am. What tips have you learned across the span of your life to remedy this issue which causes so many of us problems?
You've just gotta force yourself to do it for a bit, and your body will get accustomed to it. As for me, I've been working like 5 am shifts recently so I've been forced to, and now my body just wakes up at like 8 am at the latest. Set your alarm for the time you wanna get up and give yourself like 6-7 hours of sleep. Then do that for a week and you should be good.
3.) I have another issue, there is this girl I really like and I wanna ask her out, what tips do you have for me and any other nerds who stumble across this thread and are reading your response?
Just be confident and casual about it. The worst she can do is say no, and if she does then it doesn't matter, so go in with that mindset. I'd first text her a little bit then eventually ask her to go bowling or something fun like that where you're moving around and doing something. Never ask a girl to a movie or dinner for a first date, it's lame and awkward.
:dundies:
:dundies: :)
What are your thoughts on pakis and is Serene's Grace one of them.
NOT a fan, and yes, Serene's Grace is a paki.
 
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What are your current thoughts on the SM PU tier?
Have you topped the ladder in the SM PU tier yet?
Is there anything really broken or something I should watch out for in the SM PU tier?
Can you pass me only one from your many teams in the SM PU tier?
 
What are your current thoughts on the SM PU tier?
Have you topped the ladder in the SM PU tier yet?
Is there anything really broken or something I should watch out for in the SM PU tier?
Can you pass me only one from your many teams in the SM PU tier?
i'm not sure, but you can direct any questions about the PU tier to ggggd.
 
who is the tiniest user on smogon.com? (;w;)
best lc discord emote?
worst currently "meta" Pokemon to play against other than Diglett and Weak Armor stuff?
least favorite "meta" Pokemon to play with?
 
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Gummy

...three, smiles go for miles!
advice for moving onto other tiers after you've been acquainted with one for so long? :o

also, thoughts on skitty?
 
who is the tiniest user on smogon.com? (;w;)
trash
best lc discord emote?
:dundies:
worst currently "meta" Pokemon to play against other than Diglett and Weak Armor stuff?
Abra
least favorite "meta" Pokemon to play with?
I'm assuming this means using, so I'll say Kabuto I guess, I just find that all it does is Stealth Rock or Rapid Spin then die.
advice for moving onto other tiers after you've been acquainted with one for so long? :o
You gotta distance yourself from the community a good bit :P
also, thoughts on skitty?
meh, more of a dog person.
 

freezai

Live for the Applause
is a Tiering Contributor
Rank the Top 5 (or more) LC memes

Who are your favorites to win LC Open? Who are your dark horses?

What are Dundies teams weak to (asking for a friend)

How do you feel about Sticky Web in LC?

Favorite SM tier other than PU or LC?

What are your views on Homosexuality?

You are well known as a white supremacist yet you dislike Alolan Vulpix which is pure white. Why?

India or Pakistan?
 
What's your favorite LC pokemon to use that is also absolutely terrible in competitive play?

thoughts on rufflet (:praise:)?

what is the strangest Pokemon/set you've built a team around?
 
Thoughts on diglett?

When will you record a LC live with 3 mareanies and 3 slowpokes and climb to the top?

Best trainers on the come up?

Gayest user?

Worst emote?
 
Rank the Top 5 (or more) LC memes
:dundies:, :geraldo:, idk
Who are your favorites to win LC Open? Who are your dark horses?
myself :P, maybe like OP. for dark horse I like milktankmilk.
What are Dundies teams weak to (asking for a friend)
nothin'.
How do you feel about Sticky Web in LC?
i feel like people make too much of a big deal about it. there's a lot of things that beat it, namely Snivy, spikestack, and non-grounded scarfers like Gastly.
Favorite SM tier other than PU or LC?
i think most of them are pretty bad, i guess ill say OU.
What are your views on Homosexuality?
indifferent.
You are well known as a white supremacist yet you dislike Alolan Vulpix which is pure white. Why?
no clue what you're talking about.
India or Pakistan?
neither.
 
oops double post

What's your favorite LC pokemon to use that is also absolutely terrible in competitive play?
Squirtle
thoughts on rufflet (:praise:)?
It's kinda cool, I wish it hit more.
what is the strangest Pokemon/set you've built a team around?
Scarf Mareanie.
Thoughts on diglett?
It's really good, though recently I've been finding it harder to make room on my teams for it.
When will you record a LC live with 3 mareanies and 3 slowpokes and climb to the top?
Neverrr
Best trainers on the come up?
tough to answer, maybe Osh? he beat Heysup last seasonal and gave me a bit of a tough time in our games.
Gayest user?
Kingler12345
Worst emote?
:whomstdve:
1) say smthg about blt nerd
kinda fun, no disrespect to other players but with there was better competition :p
2) any tips to do well in lc open ?
don't save replays.
3) do you consider yourself a better teambuilder or player
I used to consider myself a better builder, but I feel my playing has started to catch up, so not sure.
 

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