Metagame SwSh LCUU Metagame Discussion Thread

DC

Kpop Main, No Brain
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This thread, but LCUU version. The guide is meant to help newer players understand what moves and sets certain Pokemon use in the current metagame. (updated: 4/15/2021)

S Rank
:Pancham:
Common Moves: Drain Punch, Knock Off, Gunk Shot, Zen Headbutt, Parting Shot, Swords Dance
Common Sets: Bulky Pivot, All-out Attacker, Swords Dance Wallbreaker
Uncommon Moves: Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Substitute
Uncommon Sets: Choice Scarf

:Sandshrew:
Common Moves: Earthquake, Rapid Spin, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance
Common Sets: Defensive, Sand Sweeper
Uncommon Moves: Rock Slide, Rock Tomb, Poison Jab
Uncommon Sets: None

A+ Rank
:Cottonee:
Common Moves: Knock Off, Dazzling Gleam, Giga Drain, Encore, Defog
Common Sets: Defensive
Uncommon Moves: Memento, Tailwind, Stun Spore
Uncommon Sets: Offensive

:Meowth:
Common Moves: Fake Out, Feint, U-turn, Knock Off
Common Sets: Life Orb
Uncommon Moves: Double-Edge, Body Slam, Water Pulse, Seed Bomb
Uncommon Sets: None

:Stunky:
Common Moves: Nasty Plot, Fire Blast, Sludge Bomb, Dark Pulse
Common Sets: Nasty Plot
Uncommon Moves: Crunch, Sucker Punch, Play Rough, Defog, Explosion, Taunt, Corrosive Gas
Uncommon Sets: Physical

A Rank
:Diglett-Alola:
Common Moves: Earthquake, Iron Head, Stealth Rock, Rock Slide
Common Sets: Life Orb, Eviolite
Uncommon Moves: Final Gambit, Substitute, Memento, Sucker Punch
Uncommon Sets: Suicide Lead

:Elekid:
Common Moves: Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Psychic, Ice Punch, Cross Chop
Common Sets: Special
Uncommon Moves: Fire Punch, Wild Charge, Quick Attack
Uncommon Sets: Physical

:Frillish:
Common Moves: Hex, Scald, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Ball, Recover, Strength Sap
Common Sets: Defensive
Uncommon Moves: Psychic, Water Spout, Surf, Giga Drain, Trick
Uncommon Sets: Choice Scarf

:Goldeen:
Common Moves: Flip Turn, Waterfall, Drill Run, Knock Off, Poison Jab
Common Sets: Pivot
Uncommon Moves: Megahorn, Scald, Swords Dance
Uncommon Sets: None

:Joltik:
Common Moves: Volt Switch, Thunderbolt, Giga Drain, Bug Buzz
Common Sets: Pivot
Uncommon Moves: Thunder Wave, Sucker Punch
Uncommon Sets: None

:Magby:
Common Moves: Belly Drum, Fire Punch, Thunder Punch, Mach Punch, Fire Blast, Psychic
Common Sets: Belly Drum, Mixed Life Orb
Uncommon Moves: Substitute, Cross Chop, Flame Charge
Uncommon Sets: None

:Munchlax:
Common Moves: Recycle, Double-Edge, Body Slam, Curse, Earthquake, Fire Punch
Common Sets: Berry Juice
Uncommon Moves: Facade, Counter, Superpower, Self-Destruct, Rest, Sleep Talk, Belly Drum, Seed Bomb
Uncommon Sets: Choice Band, RestTalk, Belly Drum

A- Rank
:Amaura:
Common Moves: Blizzard, Thunderbolt, Earth Power, Aurora Veil, Freeze-Dry
Common Sets: Aurora Veil Setter, Choice Scarf
Uncommon Moves: Ancient Power, Stealth Rock, Thunder Wave, Hyper Voice
Uncommon Sets: Suicide Lead

:Croagunk:
Common Moves: Nasty Plot, Focus Blast, Vaccum Wave, Sludge Bomb, Knock Off
Common Sets: Nasty Plot, Mixed
Uncommon Moves: Drain Punch, Gunk Shot, Sucker Punch
Uncommon Sets: Physical

:Cufant:
Common Moves: Iron Head, Stealth Rock, Zen Headbutt, Power Whip
Common Sets: Eviolite
Uncommon Moves: High Horsepower, Superpower, Rock Slide
Uncommon Sets: Choice Scarf

:Grubbin:
Common Moves: Sticky Web, Volt Switch, Thunder Wave, X-Scissor
Common Sets: Sticky Web Setter
Uncommon Moves: Discharge, Electroweb, Poison Jab
Uncommon Sets: None

:Larvesta:
Common Moves: Flare Blitz, U-turn, Morning Sun, Will-O-Wisp, Wild Charge
Common Sets: Pivot
Uncommon Moves: Zen Headbutt, Toxic
Uncommon Sets: Choice Scarf

:Omanyte:
Common Moves: Shell Smash, Hydro Pump, Ice Beam, Earth Power, Spikes, Stealth Rock, Knock Off
Common Sets: Shell Smash, Entry Hazard Setter
Uncommon Moves: Scald, Surf, Toxic Spikes
Uncommon Sets: None

:Pumpkaboo:
Common Moves: Poltergeist, Flame Charge, Bullet Seed, Shadow Sneak
Common Sets: Life Orb (Physical)
Uncommon Moves: Explosion, Fire Blast, Will-O-Wisp, Shadow Ball, Giga Drain
Uncommon Sets: Life Orb (Special), Eviolite

:Sandshrew-Alola:
Common Moves: Triple Axel, Icicle Crash, Knock Off, Iron Head, Rapid Spin, Swords Dance, Earthquake
Common Sets: Hail Sweeper
Uncommon Moves: Stealth Rock, Icicle Spear
Uncommon Sets: Stealth Rock setter

B-Rank and below to come in the future!
 
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Im biased but even though zorua is getting banned from LCRU i think its actually pretty decent in todays meta w sucker punch/knock off and illusion always looming and feel its impact could be noticable going forward if players are willing to experiment. Things like magby/oma/zigzagoon among other set up mons are seeing a decent amount of success and zorua both thwarting them and impersonating them as well as illuding as other knockers can be interesting to see in the development of the lcuu tier. I think cheese/HO has a real tool instead of a gimmick here.

Also i want to say golett should rise but w what i mentioned on top of its recent losses(especially w.o scarf since im going to mention that...) W non scarf variants, since its best set is scarf and idt golett is gonna be the threat it was in lpl 6. Its not too hard to revenge or outspeed especially if you build w it in mind

The last specific mon i wanna speak on is trubbish which is just so fire all around from its speed tier to its movepool to its typing. Trub is p fire. Talk about blanking cott... Sands best weapon vs cott? ~~don't look at random psn coverage on mons ‍♂~~

I believe w the current landscape of uu, lileep, hippo and snover should all drop a tier or 2 because of their lack of impact on the tier from my current pov
I also believe that a+ to a- should be reaccessed soon, many of them are good but better or worst than the others next to them but may not need to drop below that general area of tiering.
Ex. Idt munchlax is a maybe a- same w elekid meanwhile pumpkaboo, grubbin and croagunk have been showing their behinds!

B+ and below looks fine mostly, me speculating and further would only be me writing a wishlist

Also go kip!!!!
 
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risi

miao
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
1620758686567.png
dropping a vr post now with the changes brought to the meta by the april shift, and with LLL coming to a close!

Rises:

:Croagunk: to A+ With Natu leaving, both Croagunk and Pancham become much better with one of the best fighting resists gone. I would've nommed Pancham, except that it's already at S, so can't go any higher lol. Vacuum Wave priority is as useful as ever, smashing hail teams, and preventing set up sweepers such as Omanyte from getting out of control.
:Corphish: to A- All of the new April drops (Archen, Scorbunny, Dwebble, Drilbur) get owned by Corphish's Adaptability boosted Aqua Jet. Having access to Dragon Dance makes it a formidable set up sweeper, especially for teams without water immunities. Lileep becoming less popular is also great for Corphish, as Corphish cannot break Lileep without devoting a moveslot to Superpower (which is a pretty useless coverage move outside of breaking Lileep; Corphish would much rather run Crabhammer or Knock Off instead.)
:Grubbin: to A Natu gone is excellent for Grubbin, as now it can freely spam Sticky Webs without worrying about them being Magic Bounced back by Natu.
:Scorbunny: to A+ Incredibly scary sweeper with the unresisted stab combo of High Jump Kick and Acrobatics. Having access to Flame Charge to boost its speed makes it difficult to revenge kill, and Sucker Punch allows it to revenge kill faster mons. There aren't many switchins to Scorbunny either, the only checks being Frillish, Hippopatus, Sandshrew, and Shellos.
:Drilbur: to B+ Drilbur hasn't really been impressive so far. Utility wise, its an inferior Sandshrew, with less bulk and no Knock Off. Not having Knock Off means that Drilbur will always be walled by a healthy Frillish. As a sand sweeper, it does have potential with a higher base attack than Sandshrew and better speed; however I don't think the extra speed makes a difference, since in sand Sandshrew hits 28 speed while Drilbur hits 34. Either way, you're still outspeeding everything unboosted in the tier, so in my opinion, Drilbur's higher speed stat is mostly irrelevant. Drilbur only has one extra point of attack compared to Sandshrew, which I don't think is useful enough to warrant running Drilbur over Sandshrew.
:Archen: to A+ The birb is back!!! Archen's perfect coverage and high attack stat make it a nasty wallbreaker, and while it does suffer from being in the crowded 17 speed tier, webs solve this issue and make it nearly impossible to revenge kill. There aren't any fat walls that can live Knock Off into Dual Wingbeat or Head Smash, not even Shellos or Lileep can tank.
:Dwebble: to B+ So far, I haven't really seen much of Dwebble in LCUU yet. That being said, it's Shell Smash set is definitely something to be wary of, and the suicide lead set does an excellent job of getting up hazards and providing Knock Off support.
:Slowpoke: to B Slowpoke isn't great in the current meta, but it has a small niche in being one of the few mons that can take hits from Scorbunny. Teleport allows it to safely bring in frailer mons (mainly offensive breakers and sweepers), somewhat making up for it being a huge momentum sink. Also with Natu being gone, it is one of the few fighting resists we have remaining (albeit not a great one, since it's slower than Pancham and Knock Off after rocks is a 2hko.)
:Helioptile: to A- Frillish usage is rising, since teams need to be able to soft check the new drops, Scorbunny and Archen. With Frillish's rise in usage, Helioptile is following, as Helioptile pretty much stone walls Frillish. Having access to Uturn differentiates Helioptile from the other electric types in the tier, making it possible for Helioptile to pivot out on ground types. This is useful on certain team structures, particularly hail where Helioptile baits in ground types for Amaura and Alolan Sandshrew.

Drops:

:Stunky: to A Stunky was one of the best answers to Natu, but now with Natu gone it's not as mandatory as it used to be. In addition, Natu provided Stunky free set up, and without it Stunky has a more difficult time finding mons to set up on. It's still a great Nasty Plot sweeper, as nothing in the tier wants to eat +2 Sludge Bomb /Fire Blast /Dark Pulse. Stunky also completely walls Cottonee, preventing it from using Defog and all other status moves. Cottonee can only hope to wear down Stunky with Dazzling Gleam, which is only a 3hko.
:Munchlax: to A- Fighting types such as Croagunk and Pancham getting a boost from Natu leaving have made Munchlax worse. The introduction of Scorbunny to LCUU isn't doing Munchlax any favors either, Scorbunny gets stab High Jump Kick which nukes Munchlax.
:Meowth: to A Meowth requires a bit of support to work well, and isn't something that you can just slap on teams like the rest of the mons in A+. It doesn't have the power to wallbreak on its own, and is best used as a lategame cleaner, after everything is within range of its powerful Fake Out attack. In my opinion, Archen being introduced to the tier makes Meowth worse, since Archen comes in pretty freely on Fake Out. However, Archen still has to be wary of Knock Off, which gets Archen into Defeatist range, or even a potential Water Pulse.

couple of thoughts on the current meta:
- It's super difficult to build without Cottonee, even while knowing that Cottonee is very prone to getting picked off by random poison coverage. With Natu out of the tier, there aren't a lot of fighting resists left, and most of them are B tier mons. The next fighting resist on the vr after Cottonee is Larvesta, which is worlds away in terms of viability from Cottonee. Larvesta requires very specific team structures to function well, because of its big weakness to Stealth Rocks, bad defensive typing, and its meh speed tier. Cottonee is by far the most splashable of all the fighting resists, having use as a ground resist, hazard control, preventing mons from setting up, Knock Off support, and more. It almost feels like not running Cottonee puts you at a disadvantage, because nothing else in the tier can fill all of Cottonee's roles.
- The Joltik craze has kind of died down, not sure if it's because Joltik is indeed worse than it was before, or because people are just distracted with the new drops and have stopped using it.
- Pumpkaboo seems better than before, since Stunky was the only true Pumpkaboo counter and now people have less reason to run Stunky with Natu gone. After consuming its Berry Juice, Scorbunny is a major problem for Pumpkaboo, because Pumpkaboo can no longer ohko Scorbunny with Poltergeist.
- Goldeen usage during LLL is lower in comparison to LPL 6. Frillish is reclaiming its role as defensive water, with Goldeen being edged out possibly because of its lack of recovery.

and ofc, continuing on with the tradition of giving teams

Archen Webs
:archen::grubbin::pumpkaboo::croagunk::diglett-alola::corphish:
(click sprites for paste)
Archen is already a big threat to teams on its own, but under webs it becomes even more difficult to stop, since outspeeding it to revenge kill won't work. Pumpkaboo serves as a spin blocker and sweeper. Corphish is a soft check to ground types, Archen, and Scorbunny, and can be a lategame cleaner. Croagunk is a glue mon, soft checking water types such as Frillish which are otherwise a huge problem to the team and dealing with hail. I opted for Life Orb Croagunk instead of Eviolite, because Shadow Ball on Life Orb Croagunk 2hkos Frillish, and also on an offensive build like this one, the extra damage is very useful. Diglett-a provides a much needed electric immunity, speed control, and Memento support for Corphish. The team is very priority heavy, and is capable of functioning just fine without webs up, although having webs up just makes it a lot easier to sweep with Archen, Pumpkaboo, Croagunk, and Corphish.


Electric Spam
:elekid::joltik::scorbunny::cottonee::goldeen::sandshrew:
The idea behind this team was that Joltik has coverage for basically everything, except Alolan Diglett. Elekid is able to beat Alolan Diglett because it has access to Cross Chop, and in return, Joltik beats ground and grass types for Elekid. Scorbunny pairs well with the electric spam core, taking advantage of the pressure that Joltik and Elekid put on Sandshrew and Frillish, the main Scorbunny checks. Goldeen helps glue the team together, serving as a offensive pivot, electric immunity, fire resist, and soft check to ground types. Cottonee is another defensive glue, filling the important role of ground resist, fighting resist, and hazard control. Lastly, Sandshrew sets rocks, provides Knock Off support, and helps in taking hits from Scorbunny and Archen, which everything else on the team gets 2hko'd by.

and lastly, somebody make a team with psyterrain nature power amaura!!! (mostly a meme idea, but hey it's supposed to prevent croagunk vacuum wave, and nature power in psyterrain turns into psychic, getting big damage on pancham)
Thanks for reading!
 

jcbc

lechonk is so cute
is a Pre-Contributor
So i was bored and i saw risii post so i mighy as well add my 2 cents on rises/drops for the VR while I am at it. Going to do it quick since it's late, if any nomination is more questionable i will go more in depth tho.

Rises
:Salandit: to A-: People sleep on salandit a lot, it straight up sweep a large portion of the metagame. Only Frillish and the unseen Shellos can take it.
:Joltik: to A+: Joltik has no switch-ins lol this mon is borderline S tier.
:zigzagoon: to A-: Zig is god and we been ignoring it, but nothing changed, it's still as problematic as always.
:Axew: to A-: Axew is phenomenal, it not only hitclike a truck but has coverage for days. And you may say, but cott exist and cott is in every team rn you're never going to setup. Yeah well i would like to talk with you about Mental Herb. Scale Shot also helps it to cheese for sweeps if it gets one free kill with it.
:croagunk: to A+: The frog is still good!! Don't get fooled, pancham being more splashable doesnt stop croagunk from clicking and claiming kills all over the place. (risii went over this too so i'm not going to go further but yea A- is a joke).
:Hippopotas: to A-: Sand is really good rn, hippo is the main architect of it, therefore the nom.
:frillish: to A+: We talk about how much of a glue cott is on the tier, but what abt frillish? this pokemon is as much of a glue for any team as cott. It can wall pretty much all the tier and it can also be veey threatning.
:Helioptile: to A: Water inmunity is phenomenal rn and yellow magic is broken. And unlike elekid and joltik it doesnt need to predict the ground type, it can pivot on them if it wants to.

Drops
:Stunky: to A: Yeah, i never been to big on stunky but meta just keep getting worse and worse for it. It's still a great pokemon but it doesn't fit in all teams as it used to do.
:Meowth: to A-: More bulkier pokemons are around and building with it is hard. (risii went over this one very well and i'm not going to repeat myself).
:Munchlax: to B+: Yeah this mon is BAD and has always been idk what it's doing in A lmao. but fr tho fightings are better therefore this gets worse.
:Elekid: to A-: Idt elekid is at pair with the likes of magby or stunky (who should be in A imo). Out of the 3 electric types it's the one who gives the least for your teams. Helio giving a water inmunity and joltik having no switch-in just makes elekid harder to justify rn.

:cufant: to B+: The elephant saw better days tbh. None of the new mons make it happy and the meta developped leaving it in an even worse spot than it was on the last meta.

New mons

:Scorbunny: to A/A+: The bunny is awesome, it has no switch-ins on paper and the speed tier is incredible.
:Drilbur: to A-: Sandshrew is still the better ground type and more splashable yes, but drilbur offensive power is awesome.
:Archen: to A+: The birb hits soooo hard and can be put in pretty much any team.
:dwebble: to B+: yeah, sad moment for the dweb, idt is as good as it used to be, there's a lot more answers to it, and there are better shell smashers rn.
 

Kipkluif

Liever Kips leverworst
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
I want to talk to you guys about Scorbunny.
Scorbunny is an absolutely excellent pokémon in LCUU, putting it's ability Libero to great use with powerful moves such as High Jump Kick, itemless Acrobatics, and Gunk Shot, while having strong priority in Sucker Punch and pivoting through U-turn. Scorbunny is the complete offensive package with these tools; it's impossible to switch in completely safely, when you do, it can just U-turn out and keep up the pressure, and faster foes don't always check it offensively thanks to it's priority. Berry Juice also gives it a massive swing factor, providing key longevity when it looks like it will be worn down while activating Acrobatics.
That said, Scorbunny does not come without problems. It's weakness to Stealth Rock discourages frequent use of U-turn. When it is on the field, the use of High Jump Kick is dangerous, as it may take crash damage if one of the excellent Ghost types switch in, and Scorbunny's most reliable move against those is the relatively weak Assurance. In general, Scorbunny doesn't like taking strong neutral STAB attacks unless it's at full health, since it's not the bulkiest. Sometimes, winning a game with it may rely on some risky speed ties, as Scorbunny hits the overpopulated 17 speed tier, together with Archen, Helioptile, Joltik, Goldeen, among others.
However, these downsides don't negate the insane pressure it can put on balance teams, and Scorbunny nigh invalidates bulkier builds. What are your thoughts on Scorbunny (or other meta trends)? Reply to me here or come discuss it in the LCUU Discord!
 
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Kipkluif

Liever Kips leverworst
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
July shifts are here and we got no new toys this time around! This is a little unfortunate, but the tier still changed:
:Frillish: Frillish leaving is a big deal. Frillish was the best special wall in the tier and a soft check to many threats. Balance teams nearly always relied on it's stability. A lot of things are held in check a bit less now, so we'll be looking into things in order to keep the tier healthy.
:Munchlax: Munchlax had seen better days. In our last meta, most teams were naturally prepared for it by having plenty Knock Off and physical offense. You will no longer have to play around it ingame, but the loss of the munch won't affect the teambuilding a lot.
:Drilbur: Drilbur was an alternative to Sandshrew, but Sandshrew is still around and requires pretty much the same amount of preparation, so it's departure is entirely inconsequential.
I'll try to get samples up to date as soon as possible, if you have any thoughts on the new meta let me know, and stay alert, because after LCPL there will likely be another LPL featuring LCUU, as well as maybe a singles tour!
 
Sandygast isnt ranked. Is there a reason for this?
Being weak to Knock Off really bites in a tier filled with it. Its also pretty passive and usually forced to shore up which gives free turns to your opponent to switch to something that can threaten it. Might have a niche on a bulky sand team with shore up recovering more than 50% but overall hard to justify in a very offensive and fast paced tier like lcuu.
It is decent in lc ru tho, so feel free to try it out there!
 
Will this tier get its own ladder?
it is highly unlikely that it will ever happen again. there was an lc uu ladder in gen 6 that would get like maybe 50 battles a month, so unless there's a random hyper-explosion in interest, I wouldn't count on the powers that be giving it a second chance. it'd probably be a long shot even with a hyper-explosion of interest
 
it is highly unlikely that it will ever happen again. there was an lc uu ladder in gen 6 that would get like maybe 50 battles a month, so unless there's a random hyper-explosion in interest, I wouldn't count on the powers that be giving it a second chance. it'd probably be a long shot even with a hyper-explosion of interest
Oh cool ty for the info
 

Kipkluif

Liever Kips leverworst
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
Scorbunny has been banned from LCUU.

LCUU held a private suspect on Scorbunny and Magby due to their overwhelming coverage and pressure on teambuilding. This suspect was held with people who got wins in the recent LCUU Cup and people who play the tier in the LPL tournament. Thanks to everyone who took their time to vote!
Screenshot_20210829-133900_Sheets.jpg


A majority of 60% or higher was needed for a ban. Thus, Scorbunny has been banned from LCUU while Magby remains legal.
 
I posted this in the uu discord (link btw), but a little forum activity never hurts as well. This is a post of speculation and forecasting the next usage shift which is coming on Oct. 1.

so new month stats are out and it's another mid-shift one so we get no changes, but what if we had? Well, if it were a full shift it would look like this
lose: :dwebble: :archen: :larvesta:
gain: :tyrunt: :chinchou:
on the cusp: :drilbur: return, :slowpoke: loss

:dwebble:Dwebble has never really been hugely impactful in uu for whatever reason so i don't feel that we'd feel too impacted by it's loss again. Losing :archen:Archen would be a blow for offense given it's power and role compression ability but very nice for building in not having to worry about dealing with it. :larvesta:Larvesta has actually been picking up in usage in uu as well as a great fighting check and generally good pivot. losing Larvesta would be a shame imo.

:tyrunt:Tyrunt would give us all a new toy to play with as a dragon dancing threat and yet another reason to be careful with our Cottonee. I don't think Tyrunt would be unmanageable, but i've been wrong in the past. :chinchou:Chinchou would be a very welcome addition as another 17 speed mon and a neat water and electric type option for us. being a solid pivot via volt switch and a nice Goldeen-esque Magby and Elekid check is always welcome.

:drilbur:Drilbur is quite close to the 4.52% usage line to return to us and if he does return, he likely ends up in a similar spot as last time where he's fine but unspectacular. :slowpoke:Slowpoke on the other hand is fairly close to leaving the tier after seeing a recent uptick in usage itself in uu. Its ability to pivot and just kinda be fat is pretty valuable in the Frillish-less climate we find ourselves in so losing poke would indeed be a blow as well.

other notables: :natu:Natu and :frillish:Frillish seem firmly established ou mons at this point (much to my dismay) Also :onix:Onix's usage has inexplicably remained a steady ~16/17% over the last 2 months so it's looking like its gonna be a long while before we get our hands on him
 
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I posted this in the uu discord (link btw), but a little forum activity never hurts as well. This is a post of speculation and forecasting the next usage shift which is coming on Oct. 1.

so new month stats are out and it's another mid-shift one so we get no changes, but what if we had? Well, if it were a full shift it would look like this
lose: :dwebble: :archen: :larvesta:
gain: :tyrunt: :chinchou:
on the cusp: :drilbur: return, :slowpoke: loss

:dwebble:Dwebble has never really been hugely impactful in uu for whatever reason so i don't feel that we'd feel too impacted by it's loss again. Losing :archen:Archen would be a blow for offense given it's power and role compression ability but very nice for building in not having to worry about dealing with it. :larvesta:Larvesta has actually been picking up in usage in uu as well as a great fighting check and generally good pivot. losing Larvesta would be a shame imo.

:tyrunt:Tyrunt would give us all a new toy to play with as a dragon dancing threat and yet another reason to be careful with our Cottonee. I don't think Tyrunt would be unmanageable, but i've been wrong in the past. :chinchou:Chinchou would be a very welcome addition as another 17 speed mon and a neat water and electric type option for us. being a solid pivot via volt switch and a nice Goldeen-esque Magby and Elekid check is always welcome.

:drilbur:Drilbur is quite close to the 4.52% usage line to return to us and if he does return, he likely ends up in a similar spot as last time where he's fine but unspectacular. :slowpoke:Slowpoke on the other hand is fairly close to leaving the tier after seeing a recent uptick in usage itself in uu. Its ability to pivot and just kinda be fat is pretty valuable in the Frillish-less climate we find ourselves in so losing poke would indeed be a blow as well.

other notables: :natu:Natu and :frillish:Frillish seem firmly established ou mons at this point (much to my dismay) Also :onix:Onix's usage has inexplicably remained a steady ~16/17% over the last 2 months so it's looking like its gonna be a long while before we get our hands on him
So today we got our actual shift and there aren't too many surprises based on the speculation I laid out in my last post.

Lost: :Archen::Dwebble::Slowpoke::Larvesta:
Gained: :Chinchou::Drilbur:

I mentioned all of these mons in my speculation post and I really don't feel like going over them again so instead I'm going to talk about some speculative winners and losers of this shift.

:Pancham: Big Panda loves the fact that 3 of the departures this shift had a positive matchup against them with Archen being one of the better offensive checks to it as it was basically our only flying type. Larvesta was possibly the best panda check available as it shrugged off anything thrown at it outside of the uncommon stone edge while threatening a nasty burn thanks to its Flame Body ability.

:Snover::Sandshrew-Alola::Amaura: Speaking of things that are glad to be seeing the back of Larvesta, Hail teams are also probably feeling good about the tier shake-up. Larvesta was bar none one of the best options when you need to switch into Snover and threaten the hell out of it with it being gone Snover is much more free to click Blizzard and really threaten opposing teams. The Slowpoke departure was also pretty nice for Hail squads, obviously more so for A-Shrew than Snover or Amaura, but even so that's one less fat mon to worry about being able to break through.

:Magby::Elekid: Magby and Elekid on the other hand are, probably much less into the changes. They already have been suffering from the recent rise of Goldeen and the addition of Chinchou basically just adds another Goldeen to the mix. Magby is obviously less affected by the change than Elekid as he certainly enjoys the removal of Slowpoke, while Elekid loses 2 positive matchups in Slowpoke and Archen.

Those are all I particularly feel like highlighting for now. It'll be interesting to see how the meta develops from here especially with LPL playoffs still to play.

Before I go, I'd like to highlight one final thing. :Dewpider: With the ban of sticky web at the beginning of September, Dewpider's usage cratered in ou down to 1.66% for the month. Unfortunately, that was not quite enough to lower its combined usage for the 3 month period below the threshold to drop with this shift, but that usage number is low enough to believe that we might be getting it as a quick drop come next month and I'm pretty excited by the prospect. While it still won't have sticky web, I think Dewp could serve a role as a hard-hitting bulky water and be pretty decent in uu. If it does fall, it'll likely be the last notable thing to happen to LC UU before the release of the Diamond and Pearl remakes, which will probably mess with us quite a bit. Stay tuned for how we decide to handle that. We'll have a better idea as the games actually are released.
 
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Hello LCUU Fans. It’s me, coming after the elimination (sigh) of my team in LPL semis to drop all the teams I used and give some insight on the metagame in general.
The meta has been very enjoyable for me throughout the season, and now that the rises and drops happened there are still some things to discover and experiment with, and possibly something to keep an eye on in terms of power, but we'll get to that.
This will be pretty long as I'll give all the teams with a brief explanation and a little insight of the games, soo enjoy the ride I guess.

Week 1 - Hys (W)
:elekid: :hippopotas: :sandshrew: :corphish: :croagunk: :larvesta:
It had been a while since I last played uu in a tour setting, so I still had to get back into the meta, both in playing and building aspect. For this week I just decided I wanted to build around Elekid and Corphish, and then as I went on with the team I threw a hippo there to have a semi reliable answer vs Scorbunny and Archen, so at that point the team became a sand team. The team doesn’t really enjoy Goldeen, as the water immunity is Croagunk that hates Knock + Drill Run, but this Croa is a bulkier set (made by hys himself lol) and in general there are ways to chip Goldeen, as shown in the game.
As for the game, yea, not great. I had a pretty good start, especially being able to get rid of Goldeen without it making too much progress. Then I started choking and losing all the advantage I had, until an Ice Punch freeze on the last turn bailed me out, so ye, not the cleanest start let’s say.

Week 2 - Kipkluif (W)
:grubbin: :pumpkaboo: :stunky: :corphish: :pancham: :meowth:
I saw a lot of Cott as only hazard control and decided to cheese with webs, and luckily, no Sandshrew again, so webs were there to stay. Scarf Grubbin is there because this was the week of the Scorbunny/Magby suspect test, so i was expecting one of them to show up and I didn’t want my webs lead to get cooked t1. Thankfully I don’t lead with it, otherwise getting bopped by Scarf Archen would have been tragic. Rest is pretty self explanatory, Pump/Stunky to deny hazard control, Pancham and Corphish as breakers, and Meowth in case webs don’t stay up.
I get lucky again, with a Blizzard miss in the early game from a very threatening Sub NP Smoochum that allows me to keep my annoying Pumpkaboo and force him to also lose hp on Corphish. After that, I manage to get webs up, and Corphish (s/o Aerial Ace) and Pancham manage to clean.

Week 3 - Meru (L)
:shellos: :magby: :joltik: :pancham: :cottonee: :diglett-alola:
This was one of my weakest weeks in terms of prep. At first I wanted to bring Trick Room to surprise him with something he would never expect, but after running some tests it wasn’t really worth it and I ended up using this. It wasn’t prepped, it’s just a solid team that I had been using during the Lcuu cup with decent success, featuring one of my faves, Shellos, with a very powerful heavy hitter in Magby and a solid offensive core.
Oddish really punishes teams that rely on Cott as grass resist, and I let my Dig get slept which forced me in a 5v6 situation. Then a very unexpected and cool Mirror Coat Shellos killed what I thought was gonna be my main way of forcing pressure (Pancham) and the battle turned uphill very fast, until Scarf Golett (which was already very threatening at preview) cleaned up.

Week 4 - Juan (L)
:amaura: :pancham: :corphish: :goldeen: :pumpkaboo: :sandshrew:
After seeing a very high Cott usage, I opted for a slow Parting Shot Pancham + Scarf Amaura core, hoping to get some kills or chip with Blizzard and Freeze Dry and let Corphish clean up late game, with a very standard Goldeen-Pump-Shrew to round up the team. Funnily enough, this is the only Goldeen I brought to the whole tour.
All was working as intended. Meowth was no threat to Amaura, his ice resist Scarf Cufant was heavily chipped by Blizzard, then I go to Pancham, I Parting Shot as planned, back into Amaura, I win the mind game as he stays in with Shrew aaand I get what’s most likely a min roll. This is definitely the punishment for the first 2 weeks of luck I had, so I’m not gonna complain at all, also because I still had ways to win but I tilted after that and misplayed the Pump vs Joltik interaction and lost every possible mindgame in the end game against Meowth, so yea, bad luck on that turn but props to him for keeping the advantageous position after that, which was not guaranteed.

Week 5 - Elfuseon (W)
:golett: :croagunk: :lileep: :larvesta: :shellos::diglett-alola:
We were fighting for guaranteed playoffs this week, and I was among the last games, so the pressure was on. I decided to use things I had never ever used before but thought were pretty cool, like Scarf Golett and Life Orb Croagunk (also my Pancham usage was starting to get a bit too high and predictable so I changed Fighting-type). The rest is a very solid defensive core + Dig as Joltik answer and rocks setter. Larvesta is boots, which is pretty bad but I had no hazard control so I had to do it.
I basically get a dream matchup, with his wincon Zig that is always revenge killed by Golett, but in general most of his mons were walled by my 3 tanks and there werent many ways to overwhelm with pressure one of them, so the game just plays out without many issues and Scarf Golett cleans in the end.

Week 6 - zeroouttathere (W)
:bunnelby: :growlithe: :cottonee: :helioptile: :lileep: :slowpoke:
at this point we were SUPPOSED to be in playoffs guaranteed until I get the message that my game probably counts for differential but at that point I only had built this thing, so I went with it. I mostly wanted to experiment with mons and cores I had never touched before, with Growlithe, Slowpoke, Cott and Lileep as defensive backbone, Helioptile as scarfer and with Glare for a last ditch effort vs another scarfer or setup sweeper, and as the star of the show, Choice Band Bunnelby and its stellar 38 attack, helped by paralysis moves on Poke and Cott. The team can be overwhelmed by Stunky sometimes, if Lileep fails to counter it or has to deal with other stuff too.
Meowth + Double Bug was not great for me, although the Meowth turned out to not be U-Turn most likely. I get the prediction right vs Anorith on turn 15 and that’s basically the winning turn, as at that point there aren’t many ways to break the defensive core, and Bunny manages to show its power by doing 50% to Dig with Quick Attack and killing a couple more chipped mons.

Week 7 - Pamplona (L)
:diglett-alola: :sandshrew: :hippopotas: :larvesta: :pumpkaboo: :lileep:
We were basically already in and I wanted to play soon in the week, so I just tried to fish for pamp's usual oddish defensive core by going with a full sand with Life Orb Sand Force Dig-A. Pretty standard looking team. Double grass to avoid Sleep Powder at any cost.
I lose my most threatening mon to Scarf Final Gambit Shelmet, nothing I could have done about it, great tech by him but it sucks because his only fire resist was Slowpoke which obviously gets U-Turned on, but he planned for it and got it right.
After that lets say I underestimated Oddish and Slowpoke's tanking abilities, as they kept on sitting right in front of my breakers and clicking Strength Sap or Teleport, and I also got too comfortable with Lileep's health, which could have still helped me win if healthy enough but I let it get into Oddish 2hko range.

Semifinals - Elfuseon (W)
:drilbur: :corphish: :oddish: :growlithe: :pancham: :stunky:
Had to face my friend again in playoffs, and at this point there was an army of uu helpers in the chat. this was after shifts happened, so no more Larv or Poke, which made us concerned about the hail matchup. Therefore Growlithe was picked to help with that and was on every version of the team that I made during the week (there were a lot). Oddish also looked good and it was something I had never used before. The rest is standard, with Drilbur over Sandshrew because the team was already very slow. This struggles against Lileep, even if Growlithe has Close Combat which does like 50% max, so Pancham really needs to carry in that, helped by Oddish. I made a last minute change to Mold Breaker Pancham over Iron Fist just fishing for Shellos. Dig-A is also insanely threatening with Life Orb, as it outspeeds an 2hko's everything.
Once again, great matchup fish lol, with Oddish walling every member of elfu's team, and also getting a free sleep on something. I just needed to be careful not to let it get knocked, as that can let it get chipped eventually and I didn’t want to lose the wincon. Also, I was lucky to face full sand with no Dig-A, and no water immunity too, with Shellos being the water resist that gets knocked by mold breaker Pancham. Despite that, he managed to put pressure on me with his Scarf Bunnelby by playing aggressively, so I had to start making not obvious moves too and that sealed the endgame, but really, good job in making that a close game despite all odds.

Bonus - since most of these teams are illegal now, I’ll also drop two other teams I considered for semifinals. Didn’t test them as much, but they looked solid enough.
https://pokepast.es/e5be8794e135d760 Dig-A Sand updated
https://pokepast.es/4bad7c845adac0b6 Dig-A + Meowth

Before the vr noms, which wont be explained as the post is already too long and most of them are probably not too controversial, I wanted to point out how mons like Lileep, Shellos, Growlithe, Oddish that were considered momentum sinks and not worth it last LPL really took the stage this time and showed all their qualities, being able to sit in front of teams and force awkward switches, since most of them have good coverage and decent offensive stats.
As for new meta, too few games are played, but losing two good defensive mons like Larv and Poke means things like the weathers are becoming tough to check in the builder, at least theoretically. To be fair, hail lost a pretty key fight resist in Larvesta too, while Sand is always not too hard to build and stuff like Dig-A 2hko's the entire tier. Looking forward to seeing how the meta develops, and especially what will be brought in the final!

Noms (ofc related to pre shifts meta, but most should still be like this more or less)
Rises
:goldeen: -> A+ too easily chipped and one dimensional imo to get to S, but still, a lot of usage and very helpful
:diglett-alola: -> A+
:corphish: -> A/A+
:lileep: -> A
:shellos: -> B+
:golett: -> B+
:oddish: -> A-
:growlithe: -> B+ (I can see it rise it more in the future as the only defensive fire type)
:zigzagoon: -> A-

Drops
:meowth: -> A
:stunky: -> A/A-
:elekid: -> A-/B+
:cufant: -> B
:omanyte: ->B+


Shoutouts:
all the Bronzors gang, in particular zeroouttathere risi for all the test games and help throughout the season
Kipkluif and Joltage for the weekly test games
Hys for joining the chat along with zero and kip in semis and helping craft the team
Daruma and CMDoge (and shadow manager ojr) thanks for drafting me, this season was a blast and the team environment you created was so fun. hope to team up with the frenchies again sometime
Bag of Trixx idk, you didnt really do anything, you played one test game (and i was even more useless in ru) but ily so you get the s/o too :heart:

Thanks for reading!
 

Kipkluif

Liever Kips leverworst
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
LCPL Champion
Oh hey I can do this too since I have been out for a week now but did have a pretty good season.

Week 1 - zeroouttathere (W)
:wimpod::golett::cottonee::mantyke::croagunk::elekid:
So since Scorbunny was still in the tier, from my early elimination in LCUU cup and other test games I learned that winning the hazard war was super important in this meta, and so I busted out the Wimpod. Coupled with some rain threats to create some pressure of my own and a scarf Golett which is a menace to switch into and can be hard to force out with priority thanks to it's immunities.
Wimpod does exactly what it needs to do and I'm fortunate enough to run into a team without removal. I try to read a predicted switch and lose my Golett for it which sucks, as Poltergeist went unresisted and was a big threat that I had to play without. I end up trading Croagunks after I set up on a Dwebble at low health, which was then sacked because it could no longer switch into a spike without fainting. Elekid proves to be a big problem as zero has no proper switchin and thankfully doesn't pack Shadow Sneak on his Pumpkaboo. The spike's damage also puts Scorbunny exactly into range of being KOed by Volt Switch, so I didn't have to go for the unreliable Thunder. I got a couple of turns wrong, but was happy with my overall gameplan and execution.


Week 2 - Albi (L)
:smoochum::croagunk::corphish::cottonee::diglett-alola::archen:
Scouting a lot of Amaura, I decided to bring Smoochum, which is one of the few things that switches into it. I gave it a moveset that could surprise and outplay Scorbunny, and built with my standard core for this meta then added a naturally fast threat and a surprise scarfer. Nothing too crazy here.
I always lose against Albi. Unfortunately, he had my standard core scouted and teched Aerial Ace Corphish for my Croagunk and Stunky for my Defog Cottonee. I get my Smoochum in on a nice double, only to be punished for my silly building nature; Ice Beam would've done the job here, but I brought Blizzard and promptly missed. I then misjudge my damage where I could've KOd with Archen, and the game slips out of my control from there. Once Grubbin gets Sticky Web up, it becomes incredibly hard for all my team except Archen to put on any kind of pressure, and Albi neuters that threat by forcing me into Defeatist on a nice read with Aftermath Stunky. The miss was bad, but I feel like it didn't lose me thd game; I made several wrong calls afterwards and was outdone in the builder.


Week 3 - JuanSG (W)
:grubbin::stunky::pumpkaboo::sandshrew::pancham::helioptile:
If you can't beat them, join them; I brought webs this week while it was still legal. No special prep here, this team is so consistent that Albi and I once built it separately with the exact same 6 and sets. The difference here is that Frillish went to OU so I swapped in Pumpkaboo, and Helioptile got Glare and Berry Juice instead of Dark Pulse and a Choice Scarf.
I wish I could tell you what I was thinking this game, but I can't. This was in my opinion not a pretty game, I autopilot and overpredict a little at the start, then get a good speedtie win with Grubbin to ensure webs go up before it faints, then a good speedtie win with Pancham to ensure his Croagunk faints, then a nice crit to beat his Goldeen, and from that point Juan is trapped, as his Sandshrew gets spinblocked by my Pumpkaboo, and when he manages to KO it I force it right back out with Helioptile. Time to move on.


Week 4 - Pamplona (L)
:meowth::sandile::solosis::shellos::morelull::litwick:
What are we even looking at here? Meowth was some nice anti-cheese and Sandile is my second attempt at an antilead that beats other dedicated hazard setters. The rest of the team is a weird mix of Trick Room and an attempt to out-tradw, since trading was what I expected Pamplona was going to do with me. It's honestly very unoptimized, not even effective at beating what it's trying to fish and I wouldn't recommend bringing this to any game.
Because of the Oddish on Pamplona's team, my Morelull is completely shut down and can only sponge hits for me. Joltik also pressures my entire team, and Sandile can't get hazards up effectively without them being promptly removed because I also can't prevent Stunky from doing that. I'm constantly on the back foot and essentially lose the game when Choice Band Karrablast effectively removes my Shellos from the game (Shoutouts to Litwick for only taking 3hp of damage from it). I manage to get a little ground back while Trick Room is active, then push my luck and hope for Meowth to wake up early, which it doesn't. I then don't manage to break Pamplona's Slowpoke before I run out of Trick Room turns a second time, and that's curtains. I'm happy with how I played, my prep just sucked. It happens, I don't mind losing to Pamp.


Week 5 - Meru (W)
:hippopotas::lileep::sandshrew::larvesta::croagunk::goldeen:
Special prep is once again off the table, I decided to bring this Sand team that felt very comfortable in tests. Hippopotas' set tries to force as many switches as possible, while Choice Band Larvesta either nukes a neutral target with Flare Blitz or dents something with U-turn for massive damage while using it's typing to switch into sand checks. Sandshrew and Lileep take advantage of the weather Hippopotas sets and Croagunk and Goldeen round out the team. Overall this team felt very consistent at pressuring standard and gimmick teams alike and I'm super bummed that Larvesta rose to OU because now I can't bring it anymore.
I run into hail, which at first glance seems like a bad matchup; however, thanks to Larvesta and Rock Tomb, Meru's Snover doesn't get going early game. Croagunk deals with Pancham (Hail chip would've been enough for the Focus Blast KO, but the poison from Sludge Bomb didn't hurt). Then, Baltoy proves to be a little annoying for me, as it has great coverage for my team and switches into multiple members of my team, but it ultimately lacks the firepower to make enough progress. I read the switch to Snover again and kill it with Goldeen, preventing hail pressure once and for all. Croagunk proves to be invaluable in shutting down Corphish, and Goldeen cleans up. Very happy with this game, I got a lot of turns right and always felt in control.


Week 6 - Elfuseon (W)
:diglett-alola::stunky::pancham::cottonee::corphish::joltik:
I saw a lot of Archen and Joltik in Elfuseon's teams, so I brough Choice Scarf Stone Edge Pancham, hoping to surprise one of those. I added Diglett-alola to switch into those semi-reliably, and a Joltik to trade with them. I gave Corphish Sludge Bomb hoping to surprise a Cottonee, and rounded out the team with Stunky and a Cottonee of my own. Overall, a solid team with a surprise factor that could give me the edge.
Loading into this and realizing we brought the exact same six was one of the funniest moments this season. We both lead Pancham, but his quickly reveals not to be Choice Scarf like mine. I get a nice double switch into Diglett-alola on Stunky, and manage to set up Stealth Rock and take out Joltik. I double out of his Pancham with Cottonee to scout for Poison Jab, which he doesn't click, instead switching to Stunky. Scarf Pancham pays off here, quickly taking it out. I then overpredict on Elfuseon's Diglett-alola, not recognizing the threat of Life Orb and losing two pokemon in the process. My opponent's Diglett then takes out mine with Sucker Punch, but Tangling hair slows it and leaves it to be picked off by Stunky. Because my opponent's Pancham switched out of my Cottonee earlier, I feel confident trading with it in the endgame. Corphish tries to set up, only for it to miss Crabhammer and that ends the game. I don't think it mattered at this point though, as Cottonee's Encore would have prevented it setting up a second Dragon Dance and Pancham would have outsped it at +1 speed. This was a fun game, and I'm glad I won a match that in team matchup was very even.

Week 7 - Surfy (W)
:hippopotas::lileep::sandshrew::larvesta::croagunk::goldeen:
I reused my team from 2 weeks ago. Surfy hadn't started in LCUU yet this season and their team was already out of playoff contention, so I was confident in my ability to "bring solid and outplay".
Once again, I run into a weather that seems disadvantageous at first glance. On closer inspection, however, you find that Lileep walls Surfy's entire team bar Riolu, which gets sacrificed in order to set up a Rain Dance early on. Lileep then stalls out Mantyke's Rain turns, thankfully without getting stuck in freeze by Ice Beam, and lets Larvesta back in once Mantyke no longer has the speed advantage of Swift Swim. After it suicides with Wild Charge, I send out Hippopotas and double switch back into it to negate the attempt at Rain Dance once more, and then another time on an expected Teleport by Surfy's Slowpoke. Sandshrew uses this opportunity to get in multiple Rapid Spins, making it fast enough to 1v1 a Lotad in Rain. This goes to show how pathetic Lotad is, but even if it had beaten Sandshrew, Lileep was winning the game at this point and the last win of the season was in the bag. This game was less serious, especially since we agreed to play rfn, but I'm still happy I managed to win it without shenanigans.

And that was my season; I'll be looking at new meta a bit longer before I do any VR noms, and when I do, it's likely going to be in private for the actual VR. I'm happy that I once again had a good season in LPL, and I'm looking forward to the next LCUU tour. Cool post Albi, you inspired me. Until next time!
 

DC

Kpop Main, No Brain
is a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnus
In to display some teams that I personally liked building before my team server gets nuked. Won't be able to do week by week analysis cuz I didn't play and only built the squads. S/O Meru and Peachy07 for piloting these builds to a W. UU in LPL this season was relatively ok. Scorbunny meta the first two week was not cool, but the rest of weeks were pretty good and relatively balanced in terms of team variety and not one Pokemon being overwhelming.

:Shellos: :Joltik: :Pancham: :Oddish: :Golett: :Archen:
https://pokepast.es/ae52fdaddfbbc901 - Golett "Balance" (Although its more Bulky Offense)
Replay of the match:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen8lcuu-577428
This team was sorta thrown together last minute cuz I thought Meru was building. Shellos covered Albi's decently high Corphish and sand usage, and I brought Mirror Coat cuz Joltik was being used a lot. Golett is one of the only few good Choice Scarf users imo cuz it covers all the fast mons in UU (Magby, Elekid, Meowth, ADig, Stunky) in one slot. The team has a lot of wallbreakers in Joltik, fast Pancham, and Archen to open up opportunities for Golett. Game went as planned; we got a KO with Mirror Coat and Golett clicked buttons.

:Diglett-Alola: :Oddish: :Joltik: :Goldeen: :Hippopotas: :Magby:
https://pokepast.es/95db960fade150d0 - Magby + Joltik Sand
Replay of the match:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1424496676
Sorta a weird take on the traditional UU sand, since I am not using Sandshrew. My inspiration for this team was DPP semi-rain, so this team can be termed as semi-sand. LO ADig is a better standalone sand attacker in comparison to Sandshrew, since you dont have to spend a turn SDing and can click attacks. The team perfectly complements the lone sand user, having Magby and Joltik to pressure bulky Grass- and Water-types and Goldeen to consistently bring it into play.

:Goldeen: :Pancham: :Diglett-Alola: :Pumpkaboo: :Salandit: :Bunnelby:
https://pokepast.es/bf11c1ba9073ce6e - Salandit + Choice Scarf Bunnelby Offense
Replay of the match:
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1432989594-oosy08cu0tprztfgkegcmufuy60osonpw
We wanted to bring a solid team, and Meru wanted to use Salandit and Bunny. I originally went with Sleep Talk Salandit (Becuz our Grass-type loses to Oddish, and Salandit was likely gonna be our sleep fodder) and SR + 3 Atk ADig to complement Choice Scarf Bunny. Meru suggested that we go for Eject Pack on Salandit and Final Gambit on ADig to retain initiative + nuke something so we went with that. Super defensive Pancham was the MVP of the game because we ended up running into GOAT Zigzagoon.

Team that never got used: https://pokepast.es/cf46b91bf27ea63c DC HO 2.0 (Memento + Setup Spam)
- Gimmicky but fun

Thoughts on VR:
Good (Rises): Goldeen, Joltik, Oddish, Golett, Shellos
Bad (Drops): Cottonee, Elekid, Cufant, Omanyte

Not much else to say. Thanks for reading till the end! S/O to the other peeps for posting their teams.
 

Elfuseon

is a Top Tiering Contributor
RUPL Champion
Hi folks!
My first post in this thread as a council member. I'll share some of my teams i used during the last LPL as well as in the LCUU Cup. I started LPL as a LCOU starter (2W-0L) and then transferred to LCUU (2W-3L) in week 4. You have the pastes by opening the Week links.

Week 4 vs Albinson (L)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1420038153-y61ep1d1i23tsv9q8s746xy6naxj89cpw

Team idea : So here the basic idea was to sweep with zigzagoon. The set was really basic to touch everything in the meta and you can replace Seed bomb by Protect if your team lacks against Meowth. To make the sweep easier, you have two memento users with Cottonee and Stunky, in case one of them fails to do it. Both have regular spread, defensive and offensive respectively which allows them to do what they gotta do during the game plus the memento fact. Pancham has the defensive spread with one Hp more to live acrobatics from archen which was legal at that time and be as much as bulky to allow pivot during the game. Parting shot can act as a semi-memento as well. Goldeen was the lead-knocker of the team as well as electric immunity for joltik and magby counter. Finally, we have Archen that was a very good offensive threat at that time, serving as a pivot and stealth rocker.

Game : First, at the preview, the matchup was literally impossible, Albin got every possible counter to all my poke. He did a really good preparation and it paid off during the game. Having a scarf Golett in front completely countered my Zig strategy and with the combo Lileep-Larvesta than can't be ohko and can will-o-wisp or fame body respectively. I had a hard time finding the momentum i needed too and didnt made the predictions i gotta do to break his team. In the end i made some good plays to get back a little, but the game was set. I feel like i didnt Well done by Albi!

Week 5 vs Kipkluif (L)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1422018639-xh71n4c1cmvnjxu9z1pkved4s2kymtypw

Team idea : We go with a more balanced team based around Diglett-Alola who has the possibility to 2hko almost every pokemon of the tier and dragon dance Corphish. Diglett-Alola has the life orb set with iron head and earthquake, the two stabs and it doesnt needs more. So the two last moves are your choice, i decided to go with stealth rock and sucker punch to avoid another Golett scarf festival. Corphish is dragon dance instead of swords dance to give some speed to the team since i dont have scarfer. This set struggles against croagunk so you gotta take care of it before since knock off doesnt do much damage to it even boosted. We got Stunky berry juice to deal with Croagunk with a berry juice set so it can take a focus blast and hits twice. After that, to complete we have a very basic core of Cottonee defensive, Pancham defensive and Joltik pivot. Pancham had stone edge to ohko larvesta which was troublesome for this team but gunk shot is more common usually since at that time, Cottonee was way more used.

Game : Well, what an interesting matchup we got here with an exact mirror (well it looks like...). We had a pretty equal beginning but i think afterward i havent been enough agressive in my plays with stunky since it had a good matchup. I got a very unfortunate crit in superpower on Cottonee that, as we can see further in the match, prevent him to come back once more on Pancham. Little later, i sucker punch with my Diglett-Alola on his not knowing if he had it also but i should've tried the tie and keep my speed so stunky wasn't a free welcome. One more time at the end with my Cottonee i should've just hit dazzling gleam on the opposing Cottonee to make it in range of aqua jet, it was a mistake. Even with that it was possible for my Corphish to close the game, but miss crabhammer happens. I was happy with how the team went more than week 3 and felt more confortable with it as well.

Week 6 vs 067Jox (W)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1426948785

Team idea : Interesting team here based around scarf Bunnelby and teleport Slowpoke. I love Bunnelby with its great speed (16), its talent (huge power) and its movepool (u-turn, strength, stone edge and earthquake). Here, we prefered stone edge for Larvesta and Archen that we're still legal over iron head or quick attack. Slowpoke has a very good bulk for the LCUU tier and was the perfect check to pokemon like Diglett-Alola, Pancham (without SD) and Archen. To complete the team, we had a volt-turn duo with Joltik and Goldeen, the latter can also knock stuff to make Bunnelby's job easier. Stunky was berry juice-nasty plot set to put pressure early-mid game. This was a team i used in LCUU cup as well and i was confident bringing this one here.

Game : Looking at the matchup here, Bunnelby was good but not broken since Diglett-Alola forces 50/50 to not provocate speed drop and be revenge kill. As well, seeing Rowlet was interesting but i knew it was going to be scarf so having stunky and slowpoke covers its stabs quite easily. I had a good beginning getting trading Goldeen's was not a problem for me since it will not knock my slowpoke and it's one less momentum taker. Going on, i played safely and using my Bunnelby and Slowpoke very often to u-turn+teleport all around and force him to switch to chip it's team. In middle game i had an unfortunate dual wingbeat miss that could've set the game pretty much but i got lucky in the end into scald burn on Rowlet which incapacitate it completely. The last turns were pretty much kills vs kills and finishing with Bunnelby. I was really happy to bounce back and this core worked perfectly.

Week 7 semi finals vs Albinson (L)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1432853367

Team idea: After the ban of many great pokemons like Slowpoke, Larvesta, Dwebble and Archen combine to the drop of Drilbur and Chinchou i really wanted to try to make shine a sand team. No more flying mons (or very few) and not so much grass pokemon i tought it could be a good idea. The team is based aroung Hippopotas smooth rock and two abusers in Sandshrew and Drilbur life orb. Around it, we have a defensive Pancham which i really like yo pivot and knock stuff, a defensive Cottonee to give a ground and fight resistance as well as knock support. Shellos was on the last spot and we will see that this spot could really be improved but i didnt know really how to fix this during my preparation. Now that the match is done, i had time to look at it and a great addition in this team would be a defensive poke like Lileep stockpile-earth power, Bulbasaur in a certain way because it has knock off as well or in a more offensive way, Salandit sleep talk. As you saw probably in the match, this team is literally 6-0'ed by Oddish and don't try to find what i was thinking, but i simply forgot it's existence during my preparation. Oddish had a huge rise during the LPL due to it's good defensive stats, strength sap for the recovery and sleep powder. Albi made a great move by bringing it and it was all in his favor, well done.

Game: As i said, in the preview i was like... Ok this Oddish was not expected and it's a nightmare for my team. One more thing is that i found that in early game he brought mold breaker Pancham which is never done and my shellos got knocked pretty early which was kind of bad for me. Starting at this point, i knew i had to play very aggressively if i wanted to have a chance to win this game. Growlithe was also a huge threat for my physical sweepers so i decided to lose one of them and kill it so Bunnelby and Drilbur could be a little more free. After that, i went making anticipations turn after turns to come back which i did partially and in the end it was a close match that i enjoyed to play because it made me think about how to win the game more than just follow a game plan from A to Z which doesnt always work. As usual, Albi is a very good player so i can't be sad to lose to him. One day... one day bro i'll take my revenge ;)

Week 8 Final vs Pamplona (W)
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8lcuu-1437289792-h2siia6m2w91fc62m3czt8n5n0ve9cmpw

Team idea: Ok so in final, first i didnt want to be as weak as i was last week to Oddish and on top of that i knew that my good friend Pamplona likes it. I also decided to go with underated stuff at the moment which was hail based around scarf Amaura and eviolite Sandshrew-Alola. Eviolite is prefered over life orb to allow swords dance and also live non super effective moves. I prefered the scarf Amaura set to be fast even if Sanshrew-Alola was dead and anyway a 4x weak pokemon is better to be fast. One other big surprise i found during building was Salandit that benefits probably the most from the last tier shift. No more Slowpoke and Archen to counter it so i brang an eject pack set to deal massive damage on turn1 or to ohko Croagunk that was a big threat to that team. Finally, i decided to bring double grass core to wall Oddish and Bunnelby that Pamp likes a lot. Pumpkaboo-Large was a defensive set but without synthesis to allow psychic and ohko Croagunk. Lileep was the defensive spread, but with stockpile to be a good mid-game wincon and also win the dual against Oddish. Finishing, the always good Pancham as you already know.

Game: Having a Bunnelby in front was satisfying, but denied by lead Salandit. Also no Croagunk so my hail had a better matchup. I was able to deal early good damage on Joltik and Goldeen but i've been scared of scarf Goldeen as well since the calc said it could be. I should have just hit again, but hopefully my switch into Lileep was good and became an opportunity to set up stockpile. Little mistake here, since i could have double stockpile and recover again instead of hitting right away. My Lileep was ready to break the team in front, but i needed to be careful and staying out of iron head from life orb Diglett-Alola which we will see left me on 1hp later (it was calc'ed). After this, Pamp's team was left with only two pokemon full and i was still at 6, but big point, Bunnelby had the potential to be very hard with earthquake. I did a questionnable sequence with my Pumpkaboo on Lileep, since i didnt want to switch and he predicts with earth power. I should've go to Pancham even if i get poison and keep my normal immunity even if Pancham had still enough hp left to live a strength. In the end, we got a very interesting interaction of trick room turns with hail being set at the same time but since earthquake or strength couldnt kill both of my left poke the game was done. Pamp has been able to put this very close even if i had a lightly better matchup, well done bro!

Overall, i'm happy of my LPL record, finishing 4-3 in the end with a 2-0 LCOU and 2-3 LCUU. Even if i lost more game in LCUU i improved my teambuilding in it and i'm really happy about it. I wanted to share these teams with you since some of them are still legal and in my opinion are good or just need small fixs to become. I will also add my personal VR visualizer that i did as a new member of the LCUU council, the official will follow soon. (Note that pokemons in the same tier are ranked in order of which i find they are the best or more useful except for the UR who are just unviable)

1634944886571.png
 

jcbc

lechonk is so cute
is a Pre-Contributor
Saw elfu post and i wanted to give my 2 cents on the tier too.

I can't share my teams as this season i didn't play uu (ill leave that to risi and Pamplona) but i always enjoy some uu on me and ive been very active all around with the meta changes.

This would be what the VR should look imo (below B+ i stopped ordering them but from A+ to B+ is in order from best>worse):

my-image.png


Now i'm going to explain some that may be debatable (or atleast differ from the version elfu posted).

I personally feel that Pancham is the solely S tier of the tier but if i were to put someone else next to it, the only possible candidate imo is Goldeen. The overall utility Goldeen brings is amazing walling pretty much all the Fire types on the rise and the recently dropped Chinchou. And while it easy to chip down is also kinda hard to switch into it. Diglett-Alola on the other hand is good and no one can take that off but is far from being as splashable in all teams as Goldeen and Pancham.

Now i can't stand seeing A+ lileep being throwed around. That's a slander, this pokemon is good and all yeah but is NOT on the levels of others such as Joltik, Croagunk etc. On the other hand, Oddish has been meta defining bei g able to wall a lot of the top threats (except fire types). I also find A+ Bunnelby to be an overrate of what bunny can do.
For the rest is pretty self-explanatory, i doubted on if dwebble should be A- or not and i also probably would UR like more than half of B- to C mons since most of them are very rarely going to see usage but aren't as uselesa as the UR ones so.
 
Saw elfu post and i wanted to give my 2 cents on the tier too.

I can't share my teams as this season i didn't play uu (ill leave that to risi and Pamplona) but i always enjoy some uu on me and ive been very active all around with the meta changes.

This would be what the VR should look imo (below B+ i stopped ordering them but from A+ to B+ is in order from best>worse):

View attachment 379286

Now i'm going to explain some that may be debatable (or atleast differ from the version elfu posted).

I personally feel that Pancham is the solely S tier of the tier but if i were to put someone else next to it, the only possible candidate imo is Goldeen. The overall utility Goldeen brings is amazing walling pretty much all the Fire types on the rise and the recently dropped Chinchou. And while it easy to chip down is also kinda hard to switch into it. Diglett-Alola on the other hand is good and no one can take that off but is far from being as splashable in all teams as Goldeen and Pancham.

Now i can't stand seeing A+ lileep being throwed around. That's a slander, this pokemon is good and all yeah but is NOT on the levels of others such as Joltik, Croagunk etc. On the other hand, Oddish has been meta defining bei g able to wall a lot of the top threats (except fire types). I also find A+ Bunnelby to be an overrate of what bunny can do.
For the rest is pretty self-explanatory, i doubted on if dwebble should be A- or not and i also probably would UR like more than half of B- to C mons since most of them are very rarely going to see usage but aren't as uselesa as the UR ones so.
Just to make a note. Dwebble is no longer in uu. I just forgot to remove it from the visualizer image set when I made it. whoops.

Anyway, official vr update is incoming soon (prob within the next few days) so stay tuned
 
Aight I've finally gotten around to updating the VR. Not gonna go through all the changes, bc frankly, I didn't make a note of them, but I will talk about a couple of things. As a reminder/note, the VR in LC UU is determined by aggregating the individual rankings of each council member and averaging out the scores.

:Oddish:Oddish hit a major rise from somewhere to A- as it really took off over the course of the latest LPL season
Similarly, :Goldeen:Goldeen firmly established itself as one of the best mons in the meta in A+ as it took over the mantle of top usage from former A+ mon, :Cottonee:Cottonee, who fell off a bit itself down to A-
The biggest fall from grace is :Cufant:Cufant's tumble down the rankings from A- to C+ which was a long time coming if we're being honest about things
Recent additions :Chinchou:Chinchou and :Drilbur:Drilbur have both been slotted into B+ as they don't seem to have the juice to assert themselves as one of the best of the meta but are still pretty solid mons overall.
The C ranks are very crowded with a ton of things that are conceivably viable/usable but likely underexplored or overall overshadowed by things further up the table. There are likely some things that are better than their rating down there, so don't be shy about experimenting.

Anyway, stay tuned (but, like, don't hold your breath) for more LC UU updates as we inch closer to BDSP.
 
what about eevee? it's not featured in the viability rankings
Eevee is eligible to be used in LC UU, don't worry. The reason it does not feature in the viability rankings is because it lacks a real niche that would warrant someone wanting to consider using it on a competently built team.

Edit: If you feel that that statement is false and that Eevee should be included in the VR, I encourage you to test it out and make a post showing evidence of its effectiveness in LC UU.
 

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