Sword/Shield Little Cup Metagame Primer

Composition

LC (Little Cup) is a format where players may only use Pokémon that have not yet evolved, are capable of evolution, and are obtainable at level 5 in-game.

A list of the current LC Pokémon and those with LC analyses for the SS era are found on the dex page.

Play Restrictions

Players must abide by the following clauses:

  • Smogon-wide Clauses.
  • Dynamax Clause: Players cannot use Dynamax or Gigantamax.
  • All Pokémon must be level 5. If a Pokémon is only available via event and is not obtainable at or below level 5 (for example, Type: Null), it cannot be used.

Players cannot use the following Pokémon:

Players cannot use the following moves:

Players may not use the following abilities:

For information on Little Cup moveset legality, please refer to this guide. Disclaimer: Some legality issues no longer exist due to the introduction of the Ability Capsule in Pokémon X and Y, the introduction of new tutoring mechanics in Pokémon Sun and Moon (note that this feature was reverted in Pokémon Sword and Shield), and the addition of Nature Mints and Egg Move transfers introduced in Pokémon Sword and Shield.

The LC Forum

Learn

The LC Information and Questions thread is a convenient directory of tips and guides as well as a place to ask questions pertaining the Little Cup metagame, how to play it, and so forth.

The LC Analyses forum is the place to go for writing analyses. You may reserve an analysis in the Index Thread or comment on analyses that are a WIP.

Participate

The LC Metagame Discussion thread is an open platform to discuss any aspects of the current state of the SS LC metagame.

The LC Discord server allows you to chat in real time with other Trainers about the LC tier.