Smogon Snake Draft IV: LC Discussion

[taranteeeno]

Artwork by Bummer

Snake Draft Introduction
Snake Schedule
Spreadsheet

Wow, hello Little Cuppers, long time no see! taranteeeno back on the forums and this time, I present to you the Smogon Snake Draft IV LC Discussion thread. I encourage you to use this thread to discuss tournament games, metagame trends, predictions, and anything else Snake Draft IV related. This thread will be updated weekly for replays and such.

Pre-Trade Rosters

Potential LCers
Rumble Hall Rattlers: Serene Grace
Ambrette Astrotias: LilyAC
Shinto Ruin Serpents: Star, Mazinger, tko
Lake of Rage Leviathans: Xizaaa, Hamhamhamhamham
Black City Mambas: Wail Wailord, KingKdot
Lanakila Nagas: Ninjadog, robjr
Celadon City Cobras: Shrug
Sky Tower Lindworms: dcae, Jytcampbell
Terminus Taipans: Osh, Eeveeto
Berry Forest Bushmasters: Kingler, frisoeva

Power Rankings

Replays

Week 1
[RAT] Serene Grace vs Kingler [BUS]
[AST] LilyAC vs Osh [TAI]
[SER] Mazinger vs dcae [LIN]
[LEV] Xizaaa vs Shrug [COB]
[MAM] Wail Wailord vs Ninjadog [NAG]

Week 2
[TAI] Osh vs Serene Grace [RAT]
[BUS] Kingler vs dcae [LIN]
[AST] LilyAC vs Shrug [COB]
[SER] Mazinger vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[LEV] Xizaaa vs Wail Wailord [MAM]

Week 3
[RAT] Serene Grace vs dcae [LIN]
[TAI] Osh vs Shrug [COB]
[BUS] Kingler vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[AST] LilyAC vs Wail Wailord [MAM]
[SER] Mazinger vs Xizaaa [LEV]

Week 4
[LIN] dcae vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[COB] Shrug vs Serene Grace [RAT]
[AST] LilyAC vs Mazinger [SER]
[LEV] Xizaaa vs Kingler [BUS]
[MAM] Wail Wailord vs Osh [TAI]

Weekly 5
[RAT] Serene Grace vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[COB] Shrug vs Wail Wailord [MAM]
[LIN] dcae vs Xizaaa [LEV]
[TAI] Osh vs tko [SER]
[BUS] Kingler vs LilyAC [AST]

Week 6
[RAT] Serene Grace vs Wail Wailord [MAM]
[SER] tko vs Shrug [COB]
[AST] LilyAC vs dcae [LIN]
[LEV] Xizaaa vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[BUS] frisoeva vs Osh [TAI]

Week 7
[RAT] Serene Grace vs Xizaaa [LEV]
[MAM] Wail Wailord vs tko [SER]
[NAG] Ninjadog vs LilyAC [AST]
[COB] Z Strats vs Kingler [BUS]
[LIN] dcae vs Osh [TAI]

Week 8
[LIN] dcae vs Z Strats [COB]
[AST] LilyAC vs Xizaaa [LEV]
[RAT] Serene Grace vs tko [SER]
[NAG] Ninjadog vs Osh [TAI]
[MAM] Wail Wailord vs CyberOdin [BUS]

Week 9
[RAT] Serene Grace vs LilyAC [AST]
[SER] vivalospride vs CyberOdin [BUS]
[LEV] Xizaaa vs Osh [TAI]
[MAM] Wail Wailord vs Shogarth [LIN]
[NAG] Ninjadog vs Z Strats [COB]

Semifinals
[LIN] dcae vs Ninjadog [NAG]
[RAT] Serene Grace vs Shrug [COB]

Finals
[LIN] dcae vs Serene Grace [RAT]

Player Standings

[RAT] Serene Grace: 9-2
[LIN] dcae: 7-3
[AST] LilyAC: 5-4
[MAM] Wail Wailord: 6-3
[NAG] Ninjadog: 5-5
[TAI] Osh: 4-5
[LEV] Xizaaa: 3-6
[COB] Z Strats: 2-1
[COB] Shrug: 2-5
[BUS] frisoeva: 1-0
[SER] Mazinger: 1-3
[SER] tko: 1-3
[BUS] Kingler: 1-5
[BUS] CyberOdin: 0-1
[LIN] Shogarth: 0-1
[SER] vivalospride: 0-0

Quick Bites Interviews

Quick Bites #1 - Wail Wailord
Quick Bites #2 - dcae
Quick Bites #3 - LilyAC

 

[taranteeeno]

I guess I'll get some pre-season discussion started. Haven't been following the LC tour circuit super closely lately, but I do think the picks this year are quite interesting. We have a few returning faces, some newcomers, and some wildcard picks. I think this Snake will be very interesting to follow.

Returning Faces:
LilyAC
Osh
Serene Grace

Everyone in the above group has established themselves as LC staples in the tour scene with strong performances in previous team tours as well as the LC Circuit. Lily and Osh will face each other this week in LC Open Semifinals and both players already have a strong position in the LC Circuit Top 16. Serene is back from a brief hiatus after his plans to take both WCOP and LC Open were shambled by factors outside his control. I think the break served him well and he's returned with renewed determination to prove he's still one of the best in the pool.

Long Time No See:
dcae
Kingler
Shrug

Personally happy to see all three of these players back in what should be starting roles. Fresh off a tournament ban, dcae has returned and is jumping right into the deep end. This was actually a huge surprise to me (albeit I haven't been paying attention). Nevertheless, he shouldn't be taken lightly and will adjust to any recent metagame trends if he hasn't already. dcae has always been able to come up with some of the most solid builds no matter how inactive he's been prior. Should his season go awry, which isn't totally out of the question, the Lindworms do have Jytcampbell and even Moutemoute who has had a solid LC Open run to sub in. After a series of runs as team tour manager, Kingler is back. His placement in the current LC Open Semifinals is an indicator that he's ready to compete in this player pool. Shrug was drafted in the previous SPL but wasn't given much opportunity to play. He did receive a ton of kudos from jake who he teamed with which might've helped in this Snake draft. I'm definitely excited to see him play and hope to see his signature aggressive style come out combined with some interesting builds.

New Faces:
Ninjadog
Xizaaa
Wail Wailord

Also quite happy to see these three players get what appear to be starting slots on their respective team lineups. Ninjadog has been an excellent builder and player for quite some time now and is finally getting his shot to prove he belongs with the rest of his fellow elites. He isn't exactly a new face but this will be his first. much deserved opportunity as a starter in an official tour. Xizaaa took a long break from competitive mons returning just before LCPL 9. I never expected such a quick rise from him as he went from just getting back into the meta to a deep Grand Slam run (fighting today for Semis) and getting drafted for Snake. His confidence is super high right now and deservedly so. I'm excited to see his matches. Wail Wailord is another player with a recent sudden rise. Following a phenomenal LCPL 9 where he went 6-1 and establishing himself as a huge boon to any team that drafts him, this official tour newcomer will get a huge opportunity to prove he's as good if not better than those already established.

Wild Cards:
Eeveeto
Mazinger

Apparently, Eeveeto mentioned that he really wants to play LC in his Snake sign-up. There is a chance this could happen as his teammate Osh is more than capable of starting in a different slot. I know he's been participating in LC circuit tours and that he already has plenty of official tour experience so it will be interesting to see how he fares amongst the best LC has to offer. Apparently, Mazinger is going to be the LC starter for the Serpents. If this is the case, he does have Star to provide teams and test against. He also tko as another builder, tester, and potential sub in the event that he doesn't quite work out in this slot.

I'd love to see what everyone else has to say about the LC player pool in this year's edition of Snake!

 

[Aurella]

Go Wail!

 

[-DarkAlex55-]

Lets go Ninja !! Use the power of Ninja !!!

 

[qweschuning]

GO SCISSORS(XIZAAA)!!!!!!!

 

[daunt vs]

Go teeeno

 

[PyProd]

And here I am just wanting the Wild Cards to pull their weight, because it's nice to have newer players on the tour scene. Says a lot about society.

 

[ojr]

To start the season here are your week 1 predicts from none other than me :)

Week 1
SS LC: Serene Grace vs Kingler
In this match, we see 2 veterans of LC go head to head week 1. Serene Grace is coming off a good LCpl run where he played in both SS but also SM LC. Kingler however, was not active in LCpl but has shown himself to still be a top player as he has made it to the LC open Finals. Kingler has found his way in LC right again, even after taking a break from playing in major tournaments. But I do think Serene Grace has an edge over Kingler because of his successful SPL campaign. He showed he was able to beat some of the best LC players and I think that experience should give him enough confidence to take the win here. I'm interested to see what teams will be used here since Serene Grace is known for his aggressive teambuilding.
SS LC: LilyAC vs Osh
In the LC open semifinals, LilyAC showed a strong victory against Osh. With this recent result, we might have some insight into what the future might bring. LilyAC was able to win 2 / 3 games with a rather interesting ending to game 2. Hopefully, we won't see any timeouts from her in this tournament and this game should be a cracker nonetheless.
SS LC: Mazinger vs dcae
[insert free dcae meme]
Mazinger and dcae are in my eyes the outsiders in this tour. Mazinger is a bit unknown to me and especially in LC. However, he has support from Starmaster. Starmaster was able to make a lot of players who are not very familiar with the LC meta shine in his winning LCpl run as manager. dcae, on the other hand, has been out of the running for some time since his tournament ban. But can he make a successful comeback to LC in SS? Only time will tell. I'm giving him the benefit of the doubt for week 1.
SS LC: Xizaaa vs Shrug
Here we have quite an interesting fixture between a relatively newer face and one of the older faces in LC. Xizaaa and Shrug both had decent LCpl showings but Xizaaa has made a splash recently with his deep run in LC Open. Shrug does have a great amount of experience and was given a lot of credit from Jake in their successful SPL run. The Red trophy under his name should give Shrug a great amount of confidence but I don't think Shrug has it in the bag by default. This game should be very even and will probably be decided by teambuilding strategies.
SS LC: Wail Wailord vs Ninjadog
The other newbie Wail Wailord has to face Ninjadog as his first opponent on the big stage. The opinions on Wail Wailord within the LC community are diverse, to say the least. But I have a lot of confidence in him. His LCpl run is one of his much-debated achievements and should give him confidence here. But his opponent Ninjadog is no push-over. He has been in all of the most recent official tournaments. But it looks like he will finally be the main starter for his team in LC here. As for most of Wail Wailord's games, the outcome of the match is often decided by the teams of choice. He preps a lot for his opponents coming up with great ideas to exploit the common builds of his opponents. This will be a real test for both players to show how well they can capitalize on their opponents.

edit:

 

[freezai]

Predictions:
Week 1

SS LC: LilyAC vs. Osh
A few days ago, I would have considered this matchup to be a 50/50 toss-up. But after seeing that LC Open series, yikes. Lily... embarrassed Osh in 3 straight games; it was like watching a fish out of water. Osh isn't just going to take that lying down, and he was ranked first for a reason, but wow, you'd have to be a fool not to pick Lily here.

SS LC: Mazinger vs. dcae
I have no clue who Mazinger is in an LC context so I'll give him the benefit of the doubt and say that he won't be a pushover. The vaunted Starmaster support hasn't worked in a while considering the relative failures of Burntzebra and HT in Snake and SPL, respectively. On the other side, dcae hasn't played LC in a year so that made the pick pretty funny. I think dcae is still good at this game, but there are so many things that can go wrong with someone this emotionally unstable. "High risk, high reward" is the best way to describe dcae, and I'm betting there'll be a high reward.

SS LC: Xizaaa vs. Shrug
Xizaaa getting picked was surprising to me but in a good way. I've always thought Xizaaa was good but I didn't think he had any chance of getting drafted because he has 0 results. A manager saw what I saw and was willing to spend a 6th round pick on someone this inexperienced. Xizaaa still has never actually played a full LCPL season, much less a trophy tour, and the last time he had a big loss, he quit pokemon. These are all big red flags. Shrug has been around for a while and was a key support player when his team won SPL, but ever since he sold his soul he hasn't actually played or won a lot of games. Xizaaa is a better player, in my opinion, and should win this, but he is a choking hazard.

SS LC: Wail Wailord vs. Ninjadog

Wail Wailord's LCPL run was misleadingly impressive. Don't get me wrong, 7-1 is a good record, but he never actually played anyone of Snake caliber. This is his first real test and I don't think he can handle Snake tier players, or perhaps more accurately: he's never shown it. Ninjadog has question marks of his own: he was stealing teams from Luthier youtube videos for Open and that doesn't inspire a lot of faith in his abilities as a builder. But still, he's good enough to beat Wail Wailord.

 

[Mister Magnus]

I wont make predictions cause i know zero about xizaa or mazinger and my boy dcae just joining for the likes and ended up being drafted LOL

Just wanna register my deep support to my frens

Wail/Shrug/ Lilyac

 

[Berks]

two words: shrugoat, liloat

 

[GOAO]

SS LC: LilyAC vs. Osh - osh has a 33% winrate all time on LPL, while lily is second all time on lpl wins, with a respectable 60% win rate. this is a no brainer.
SS LC: Mazinger vs. dcae - one has never played on LPL while the other is LPL banned, i'll give it to ginku just because his mienfoo has killed more pokemon than dcae during SS LC.
SS LC: Xiza vs. Shrug: also a no brainer. shrug has a respectable 7-7 record all time on the LPL, while xiza has not showed anything great, with an awful 0-3 record.
SS LC: Wail Wailord vs. Ninjadog: wail has an ok 3-3 record on the levi premier league, while ninja, a known little cupper, can't be too proud of his 5-7 record. even though wail's sample size isnt as big, I believe he can do great here.
SS LC: Serene Grace vs. Kingler: tough indian showdown, serene has an 8-6 all time LPL record while kingler has an average 5-5. I'll give it to serene based on his last 3 LPL games, which all have been very impressive.

 

[Derkpharocy]

LPL Overall Sheet
I'll have you know that oshawott fan is now 8-3 (72.73% win rate) all time in the prestigious Levi Premier League, going 7-1 in SM this season against a pool brimming with sun&moon little cup threats like truswagblu and metariolu7. Please fix your predictions

 

[freezai]

Predictions
Week 2

LC: Kingler vs dcae

lmao dcae looked better than even I expected and Kingler didn't play horribly in Week 1 either. This is probably the most 50/50 matchup this week but I'm going to give it to dcae mainly because I thought he played really well in Week 1.

LC: LilyAC vs Shrug

Lily looked good last week, I think she's the most likely to go 9-0 right now. I wouldn't be surprised if there was an upset because Shrug does play aggressively and bring exotic teams, it's just that there's too much variance to reasonably predict for that type of player. Like he can beat anyone in this pool, but he's not consistent enough to go positive.

LC: Mazinger vs Ninjadog

Mazinger's issues started with the builder last week: aside from the obsession with a B-tier pokemon like Abra, the predictability is a major concern. I imagine that this will be a reoccurring theme, especially as the season goes on. Ninjadog won convincingly vs a worse opponent last week, but that doesn't say much about his ability to take on tougher competition. I remain cautiously optimistic about him.

LC: Xizaaa vs Wail Wailord

A dream debut vs a nightmare one: Xizaaa converted an easy mu fairly sharply last week while Wail Wailord struggled with everything from timer trouble to misplays. The bright side for Wail Wailord is that there's nowhere to go but up and, take it from me, the most important thing about week 1 is not the week itself, but how you respond to it. I think some of the nerves should be gone and we'll see some better play from Wail. That being said, I'm not going to hop off the Xizaaa train, especially after his week 1 dominance.


Predicts
Overall: 4-0
Last Week: 4-0

 

[DC]

Instead of predicts, here are stats lmao.

Cumulative

Cumulative

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Vullaby            |   18 |  90.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Mienfoo            |   13 |  65.00% |  69.23% |
| 3    | Pawniard           |   11 |  55.00% |  27.27% |
| 4    | Diglett            |   10 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 5    | Staryu             |    9 |  45.00% |  44.44% |
| 6    | Onix               |    7 |  35.00% |  71.43% |
| 7    | Mareanie           |    6 |  30.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Foongus            |    5 |  25.00% |  60.00% |
| 8    | Abra               |    5 |  25.00% |  20.00% |
| 10   | Ferroseed          |    4 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 11   | Mudbray            |    3 |  15.00% |  66.67% |
| 11   | Wingull            |    3 |  15.00% |  66.67% |
| 11   | Magnemite          |    3 |  15.00% |  66.67% |
| 11   | Spritzee           |    3 |  15.00% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Grookey            |    3 |  15.00% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Porygon            |    3 |  15.00% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Ponyta             |    3 |  15.00% |   0.00% |
| 18   | Timburr            |    2 |  10.00% |  50.00% |
| 18   | Koffing            |    2 |  10.00% |  50.00% |
| 20   | Frillish           |    1 |   5.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Zorua              |    1 |   5.00% | 100.00% |
| 20   | Trapinch           |    1 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Vulpix             |    1 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Slowpoke           |    1 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Dewpider           |    1 |   5.00% |   0.00% |
| 20   | Farfetch’d-Galar   |    1 |   5.00% |   0.00% |

Week 1

Week 1

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Vullaby            |    9 |  90.00% |  55.56% |
| 2    | Mienfoo            |    7 |  70.00% |  71.43% |
| 3    | Diglett            |    6 |  60.00% |  50.00% |
| 3    | Pawniard           |    6 |  60.00% |  33.33% |
| 5    | Onix               |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Staryu             |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 5    | Abra               |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 8    | Foongus            |    2 |  20.00% | 100.00% |
| 8    | Magnemite          |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Grookey            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Koffing            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Porygon            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Mareanie           |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Spritzee           |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Wingull            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Ferroseed          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 15   | Dewpider           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Farfetch’d-Galar   |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Timburr            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Ponyta             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Week 2

Week 2

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Vullaby            |    9 |  90.00% |  44.44% |
| 2    | Mienfoo            |    6 |  60.00% |  66.67% |
| 3    | Staryu             |    5 |  50.00% |  40.00% |
| 3    | Pawniard           |    5 |  50.00% |  20.00% |
| 5    | Diglett            |    4 |  40.00% |  75.00% |
| 5    | Mareanie           |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 7    | Ferroseed          |    3 |  30.00% | 100.00% |
| 7    | Mudbray            |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 7    | Onix               |    3 |  30.00% |  66.67% |
| 7    | Foongus            |    3 |  30.00% |  33.33% |
| 11   | Wingull            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Ponyta             |    2 |  20.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Frillish           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Zorua              |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Spritzee           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Magnemite          |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Timburr            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 13   | Abra               |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Trapinch           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Grookey            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Vulpix             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Porygon            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 13   | Slowpoke           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Apologies in advance if any stats is wrong. (First time using this thing)

Notable Trends:

• Vullaby has a 90% usage rate (Bird is broken?)
• Staryu is Top 5 in usage despite being a A- tier mon
• Abra and Ponyta is terrible (Currently 20% and 0% WR respectively)
• Pawniard sits at a subpar below 30% WR despite being Top 3 in usage
• Ferroseed with a 100% WR ("Truly, this is the best pokemon in LC" - Merritt)

 

[freezai]

Predictions
Week 3

LC: Osh vs Shrug

It's a shame that one of these guys will end up 0-3 by the week but neither has been particularly impressive thus far. Osh has historically always been clinical vs worse opponents so I think he'll take this one.

LC: Kingler vs Ninjadog

Kingler's 0-2 is very misleading. It's not that he's been bad, in fact, he's been quite good for like 70% of his games, it's just that he's struggled to close down endgames and that's a trend that I don't expect to continue. Ninjadog's 2-0 is slightly specious as well as it's come off of farming lower-ranked players. This is Ninjadog's first real challenge and I think Kingler12345 is just better right now.

LC: LilyAC vs Wail Wailord

Wail Wailord had a nice bounce-back game last week. It wasn't perfect but he improved a lot since Week 1. That being said, he's still outclassed by LilyAC.

LC: Mazinger vs Xizaaa

This is the most 50/50 matchup of the week. Xizaaa took a bit of a step back last week and I think he's at the part of the learning curve where it has to get worse before it gets better. Maybe the hype got a little ahead of him and he still needs some time to figure it out. Mazinger hasn't been horrible but he has been hamstrung by his teams. If Mazinger brings a Mienfoo and a Diglett I expect him to win.


Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 7-1

 

[Kingler]

i think im like 6-2 on predicts so far

LC: Osh vs Shrug - what serene said
LC: LilyAC vs Wail Wailord - ^
LC: Mazinger vs Xizaaa - disagree with him here
Serene vs dcae is my hl, I’ll predict the upset because it’s very possible but serene is favored realistically

 

[GOAO]

LC: Osh vs Shrug - i think osh is from england and england has 1 world cup.
LC: LilyAC vs Wail Wailord - wail is spanish and spain has won the world cup in 2010. although lily's england has won it as well, it was in 1966, leaving much to be desired in recent years. spain also has some euros on them, so thats the tiebreak.
LC: Mazinger vs Xizaaa - i THINK mazinger is german and while xiza's france holds a respectable 2 world cups, germany has 4, one of which was won in the great land of brazil. close, though.
LC: Kingler vs Ninjadog - even though nindajog's australia hasnt won shit and is bad at soccer, they're nowhere near as bad as india. solid edge for australia (again, mainly because india sucks).
LC: Serene vs dcae - dcae's guatemala against serene's india, might as well flip a coin here.

 

[ojr]

I missed week 2 but here we go
LC: Osh vs Shrug rough start for both of them and even though I think Osh might be the better overall player here I'm expecting shrug to come with some weird HO like final gambit spam and snag the win.
LC: LilyAC vs Wail Wailord nooooooooooo wail :C. LilyAC has shown her qualities even if we have only played 2 weeks of the season and I don't know what can stop her right now. I suppose wail does have some kind of momentum after his win from last week but lily is too good to predict against right now.
LC: Mazinger vs Xizaaa maybe this is partly lc mainer bias but I was really questioning his team last week and honestly expected to see tko in the lc spot this week. Even after a loss last week Xizaaa has my confidence after his earlier showings.
LC: Kingler vs Ninjadog ninjadog has been solid but it was against some of the weaker links of the pool, kingler is 0-2 but hasn't been that bad tbh. If ninjadog wins this game he is looking for a really good season.
LC: Serene vs dcae this is probably my favorite matchup of this week because of how both players play and build. I'll give the edge to serene cuz of the more recent success in other tours.

 

[DC]

Games finished earlier, so here are the stats!

Moves and Teammates (Cumulative) I Combos (Cumulative)

Cumulative

Cumulative

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Vullaby            |   26 |  86.67% |  53.85% |
| 2    | Mienfoo            |   23 |  76.67% |  60.87% |
| 3    | Diglett            |   18 |  60.00% |  55.56% |
| 4    | Pawniard           |   16 |  53.33% |  37.50% |
| 5    | Onix               |   11 |  36.67% |  63.64% |
| 5    | Mareanie           |   11 |  36.67% |  54.55% |
| 7    | Staryu             |    9 |  30.00% |  44.44% |
| 8    | Ferroseed          |    8 |  26.67% |  62.50% |
| 9    | Foongus            |    6 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 9    | Abra               |    6 |  20.00% |  16.67% |
| 11   | Wingull            |    4 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Timburr            |    4 |  13.33% |  50.00% |
| 11   | Porygon            |    4 |  13.33% |  25.00% |
| 11   | Ponyta             |    4 |  13.33% |   0.00% |
| 15   | Magnemite          |    3 |  10.00% |  66.67% |
| 15   | Koffing            |    3 |  10.00% |  66.67% |
| 15   | Mudbray            |    3 |  10.00% |  66.67% |
| 15   | Grookey            |    3 |  10.00% |  33.33% |
| 15   | Spritzee           |    3 |  10.00% |  33.33% |
| 15   | Vulpix             |    3 |  10.00% |  33.33% |
| 21   | Trapinch           |    2 |   6.67% |  50.00% |
| 21   | Frillish           |    2 |   6.67% |  50.00% |
| 21   | Slowpoke           |    2 |   6.67% |  50.00% |
| 21   | Dewpider           |    2 |   6.67% |   0.00% |
| 25   | Zorua              |    1 |   3.33% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Scraggy            |    1 |   3.33% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Ponyta-Galar       |    1 |   3.33% | 100.00% |
| 25   | Farfetch’d-Galar   |    1 |   3.33% |   0.00% |

Week 3

Week 3

+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon            | Use  | Usage % |  Win %  |
+ ---- + ------------------ + ---- + ------- + ------- +
| 1    | Mienfoo            |   10 | 100.00% |  50.00% |
| 2    | Vullaby            |    8 |  80.00% |  62.50% |
| 2    | Diglett            |    8 |  80.00% |  50.00% |
| 4    | Pawniard           |    5 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 4    | Mareanie           |    5 |  50.00% |  60.00% |
| 6    | Onix               |    4 |  40.00% |  50.00% |
| 6    | Ferroseed          |    4 |  40.00% |  25.00% |
| 8    | Timburr            |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 8    | Vulpix             |    2 |  20.00% |  50.00% |
| 10   | Scraggy            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Slowpoke           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Koffing            |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Ponyta-Galar       |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Trapinch           |    1 |  10.00% | 100.00% |
| 10   | Frillish           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Porygon            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Wingull            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Foongus            |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Ponyta             |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Dewpider           |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |
| 10   | Abra               |    1 |  10.00% |   0.00% |

Notable Trends:

• Congrats to Mienfoo on becoming the 1st Pokemon to be present on all the teams in the week!
• Staryu usage plummeted this week, going from 50% usage in week 2 to 0% in week 3.
• Ferroseed had a bad week, winning on only 1/4 teams that it was brought on and ruining its 100% WR.
• Diglett surpassed Pawniard as the third most used Pokemon, trailing Vullaby and Mienfoo.

 

[GOAO]

LC: dcae vs Ninjadog - dcae's avatar rocks neymar, the best soccer player in the world, on a funny moment. ninjadog's avie, however, is just a dumb meme i dont even understand. big edge.
LC: Shrug vs Serene Grace - close one, both got sick and classic avatars. ill give it to serene because im a 2d man.
LC: LilyAC vs Mazinger - ginku's avatar gives a mysterious vibe, while lily's avatar is just a vulpix using encore. solid edge.
LC: Xizaaa vs Kingler - while xiza chose to kept it simple, kingler has an avatar i cant even describe. i dont usually like pokemon avatars though (unless its qwilfish), so ill be giving it to the indian.
LC: Wail Wailord vs Osh - osh's avie is super sick and like ginkus, gives a mysterious vibe. wail's isnt too bad but hes playing a too solid opponent. decent edge.

 

[freezai]

Predicts
Week 4

LC: dcae vs Ninjadog

Both players struggled with endgames last week and I think both are about equal in skill level. This is the most 50/50 mu of the week and it's basically a coinflip from my pov.

LC: LilyAC vs Mazinger

Lily got embarrassed by Wail Wailord last week and now she faces another trap game here. Mazinger looked better last week and I really liked his team too. Lightning doesn't strike twice however and I think Lily will bounce back.

LC: Xizaaa vs Kingler

Kingler got back on track with a passable victory last week. He hasn't really looked dominant but he's done enough to establish himself as slightly above average. Unfortunately, xizaaa has been struggling lately and after the strong week 1 he's been below average. It's still Xizaaa's first tour so he has a lot of time to improve. We know the potential is there, but right now, I don't think he has what it takes to beat Kingler.

LC: Wail Wailord vs Osh

Wail Wailord is VIABLE. I still don't feel comfortable calling the upset here though, but this isn't going to be a pushover like Week 1 Wail Wailord would be.

No upsets this time

Last Week: 3-1
Overall: 10-2

 

[ojr]

predicts but actually on Monday???
LC: dcae vs Ninjadog
2 players that have been pretty solid thus far dcae just barely lost vs serene last week cuz of id mareanie into ep-less dig and ninja got unlucky with missing a hjk late game. I think both have the qualities to take it home here in this matchup and its very hard to split the 2 here.
LC: Shrug vs Serene Grace
tough season for shrug so far and doesn't look like its getting better when he is facing one of the top players in the pool this week. Serene has looked very strong so far being the only one 3-0 (correct me if I'm wrong) so all eyes on him for winning here.
LC: LilyAC vs Mazinger
after a shocking defeat last week LilyAC has to pick up her old form from earlier weeks and I don't think she is gonna have any trouble with that. Mazinger on the other hand finally got his first win last week so maybe an upset here? I don't believe in it to be fair Lily is still one of the best in the pool and Mazinger is gonna need to really make a big step up to get this win.
LC: Xizaaa vs Kingler
is this an upset? I feel like Xizaaa can definitely win this one with the LC open Semifinals in recent memory where Xizaaa got a bit unlucky vs kingler. Xizaaa did just lose for the 2nd time in a row and Kingler got his first win of the season so that would obviously point towards kingler being in better shape. But I still have faith in the Frenchman to reset his negative record.
LC: Wail Wailord vs Osh
Wail was very good vs LilyAC last week picking up a surprising victory. Osh got a good win vs Shrug last week but he has been in better form than now. If wail plays as well as he did last week I think he is gonna be a strong contender for the rest of the season quite possibly recreating his LCPL run but on a bigger stage.


| 1 | Mienfoo | 10 | 100.00% | 50.00% |
| 2 | Vullaby | 8 | 80.00% | 62.50% |
| 2 | Diglett | 8 | 80.00% | 50.00% |
may the best foo vull dig user win

 

[taranteeeno]

Artwork by yours truly, don't mention it...
Smogon Snake Draft IV: Quick Bites - LC Edition!
Interviews with your favorite Snake LC players!

Hello again, Little Cuppers! taranteeeno here with some exciting new content for the LC community. Thanks to our sponsor, Levi Premier League, I am delighted to present you Quick Bites - LC Edition! In this brief segment, I will conduct a short interview with some of the Smogon Snake Draft IV LC players. I'll check in with your favorite Little Cup player and get their latest metagame hot takes! This is likely to be a recurring weekly or biweekly segment.

In this very first Quick Bites interview, I have Snake and official tour newcomer, Wail Wailord! Fresh off a commanding victory over the great LilyAC, I think we are all curious to know how he managed to turn things around after a rocky start to his first official team tour.

Quick Bites #1 - Wail Wailord

​

Hey Wail Wailord, thanks for joining me in this quick interview. You started off this Snake with a rough Week 1 but have since bounced back with consecutive wins including one over LilyAC! What did you learn from Week 1 and how did that influence your performance in the coming weeks?

Hi teeeno! Yeah week 1 was really bad to me. It was a nightmare. It's not only the fact that I lost, but also being questioned as a player, getting predictions against me and feeling really pressured by the "hate". In other words, I'm used to other environments where it's not put into question that I should be playing or deserve my place. In my opinion, many people didn't think about the fact that I was debuting. I have been learning to ignore people's opinion (mainly not reading predictions anymore until I finish my games) and I also have been working with my timer's issue, I’m trying to not get that low now.

I can imagine it feels a lot different from LCPL 9, but it seems you’re starting to settle in. What’s it like being a part of your first official team tour compared to LCPL? Is it difficult prepping as the only LC main on your team?

To be honest the main difference is the level of the opponents. This tour is really important and there are only the “best” players of the tier, so the pressure is much more noticeable. Something that is also pretty different is the team chat, my lcpl chat was active but definitely not as much as the Mambas. However my LCPL experience was better so far, I enjoyed that tour more, because I didn’t have any pressure and my team (panchams) was amazing (big s/o to them). And nope, prepping is not difficult at all. I always considered myself as a good scouter. People inside and outside the team are helping me as well. In my opinion, we are doing a good job in that aspect so far so I’m happy about it.

I've heard great things about your scouting and prep. Glad to see it's translating at the official tour level. What are your thoughts on the current metagame since Snake has started? Are there any trends you like or don’t like?

I honestly like this meta, I like it more than gen 7 and any lc old gen I played. I think that this metagame is really mu dependent, in the sense that matchup fishing is really easy. That is why I liked more the pre-home metagame more (the one that was played in lcpl + cloro ban). I honestly dont really like Woobat. In my opinion it's really dumb and it’s pretty easy to win without requiring too much skill. So definitely this metagame has more mons than the pre-DLC one which is cool but I feel like the pre-DLC metagame was more fair, the best player usually won. Nowadays half of the match is won in the builder.

Thanks for taking a little time out of your day to answer these questions. Before I let you go, I have one last question. Which remaining matchups are you looking forward to?

I’m honestly really excited to face Osh, Serene and dcae because I have never played against them in a tournament before. I also really want to watch Serene vs Lily, because even if everyone is good here they are in my opinion the best players in the pool. It will be interesting to see how aggressive their builds will be! This being said I want to thank you for this interview and thanks to everyone who is supporting me. Go Mambas!!

Alright well, that wraps up the very first Quick Bites interview! Hope you readers enjoyed this short segment. Let me know which Snake LC player you'd like me to interview next. See you again soon!

 

[Kingler]

I'd like to talk about my games so far a little; obviously 1-3 isn't where I'd like to be at, but I think all of my games could've gone either way, and featured a lot of interesting matchups. i'll probably edit this later so the formatting isn't terrible

Week 1 vs Serene (L): this one was odd for sure; I ended up with a great lead matchup that netted me a free kill (Scarf Mag was one of the most annoying things for the team, so that was really nice). Turns 1-6 were probably fine, and 7 was basically an incredibly stupid mistake that lost me the game. Also I choked on the last turn assuming vull was berry juice, but he still had a pretty easy out so I should've doubled down Abra against Vull instead of Fetch'd.

Week 2 vs Dcae (L): This one was fun; I didn't really get the matchup I was hoping for, as Frill+Ferro is one of the more annoying things for Pony + Staryu + Foong to face, so his team choice was an excellent one. Turn 6 was a little too cheeky, Recover was definitely a silly move in hindsight (yes Staryu's one of my only defenses against LO Diglett, but who attacks there?). I also should've defogged with vull before getting the free kills I did ca. turn 20. Turn 24 Foongus is a terrible double down for precisely the reasons the game showed; Dig -> Ferro is pretty telegraphed. My Staryu's obviously not spin, and Frill kind of hardwalls it (unless I made the tbolt play on the switch). Staryu still keeps me in the game though, and when I let the spike get down pawn basically isn't a Frill check anymore cuz it dies to Scald.

Week 3 vs Ninja (W): I think I played fine here, I had a pretty easy win path until I missed that twave lmao. Though of course, I probably should've gone trapinch instead of CMing on ferro (I was worried about a vull double switch, but that was just a little paranoid).

Week 4 vs Xizaaa (L): I think in part I played badly and in part, I got outplayed. Don't think the lead was wrong, but could've let dewp and gotten webs down probably. The t2 switch to grookey was bad, I was expecting rocks obviously but that was probably an easy read for him. Getting the kill on mudbray helped a lot, but long term scarf foo, mareanie, and pawniard were still issues. He managed to bring pawniard in scot-free on spritz a few times, which definitely jsut comes down to outplaying your opponent. I think getting timburr knocked was inevitable, though as later turns showed, it certainly wasn't ideal. He also got me on the turn I wanted to switch timburr in at 75%; if he recovered, I think I end up in a winning spot there.

Definitely messy games so far, but at least there's some stuff to learn from. hopefully the astrotias send in a sub, an even matchup would be nice