Magmortified
Wherever I fly
- 169
- Posts
- 17
- Years
- Seen Nov 22, 2009
Who here plays LC? For the unfamiliar, this means Little Cup, and if you've been reading my sig, I retired from serious laddering to play it (though I did it for entirely different reasons and just picked up LC later on).
Some people may remember the Level Five thing Pokemon Stadium had going. Little Cup is basically that, and it's gotten a big upgrade when we fast-forward to D/P.
The basic rules for Little Cup are as follows:
-Standard clauses. For those who've heard otherwise, the ultimate decision is that Item Clause is NOT standard for Little Cup. But it's optional like anywhere else.
-The Pokemon've got to be level five. Yes.
-The Pokemon must be part of an evolution chain. Sadly, you cannot bring your Sableye.
-The Pokemon must be at the lowest evolution in the chain. Yep. Charmander. Not Charmeleon.
-If the Pokemon's named Tangela, Meditite, Yanma, Sneasel, or Scyther, you can't use it. These Pokemon are essentially the Uber tier of LC, and were found overpowered. DeapSeaTooth is considered a banned item, since Clamperl is overpowered when holding it (but is not overpowered when holding anything but DST).
How's LC different from Standard anyhow?
1. It's a heckuva lot more offensive.
Little Cup is the offensive metagame, where any neutral hit tends to at least 2hko most of the time. Walls are at a minimum (and Bronzor is usually your best friend when aiming for this), and even the "Special Defense Normal Type" of the metagame can get KO'd fairly easily by Special Attacks (Munchlax's aim is to survive the hit and kill the Special threat before Munchlax gets killed). Your main hope to survive attacks will usually rely on finding something that can resist what your opponent is throwing out. Spikes and Toxic Spikes are rare indeed, as you'll usually do more damage just hitting the opponent, though Stealth Rocks are still favored for ruining Focus Sash.
2. Set-up's a game.
Unlike OU, where things like Rain teams and Trick Room are only seen occasionally, LC features team set-up a whole lot more. Because of LC's nature, Rain is fairly ideal, as it provides the Speed and Double-Stab to make things threatening. Though Weather's nowhere near as omnipresent as Ubers or similar things, a team that has now way of stoppering Rain Dance teams will not be a happy team in LC. Trick Room is somewhat less common, but still viable, as many of the things with the most destructive power in LC have the lowest speed.
3. Priority is a friend.
In LC, Priority can make a game-breaking difference. Where most things are frail and fragile, the ability to hit first all the time makes priority extremely awesome. Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet, Quick Attack, Fake Out, and more are all prominent in LC. Fear them, for they are mighty. Again, your best defense is a good resist, and failing that, something neutral with fair defenses to take advantage of a usually-lower base power.
4. Evolving into an OU does not mean success.
While you may be tempted to use Happiny, Larvitar, or maybe even Gible in your team, be warned that evolving into an OU Pokemon doesn't mean its lowest form is awesome. Though some exceptions exist, like Gastly and Bronzor, you'll find yourself down on your luck if you try to go wholesale with Blissey's littlest sister. LC makes its own names, with things like Murkrow, Meowth, etc. forming the OU. Don't be tempted to use a bad Pokemon just because it has an awesome evolution.
5. EVs are a heckuva lot different at Level Five
4 EVs don't go quite as far in LC, where you'll usually require 36 or more to get even a single stat point. Basic LC analyses for good EVs can be found here, but you're otherwise going to have to experiment a little to find the ideal.
And finally:
6. Leftovers is phail.
In something like LC, you'll rarely - if ever - get enough bang for your buck out of Leftovers. The tempting Sitrus berry may look good for things needing recovery, but be warned: In D/P it recovers a flat 25% health for everything. This sad fact relegates the job of major healing item to the Oran berry, which recovers 10 HP, which is usually more than what wou'll get from a Sitrus Berry. Let's look at, say, a 30 HP Munchlax. With 30 HP, 10 would be equal to 33% or so of Munchlax's health recovered, while Sitrus Berry would recover 25% as always. The percentage gain gets even higher as you move to lower base HP than Munchlax.
Eh? Eh? =D
Some people may remember the Level Five thing Pokemon Stadium had going. Little Cup is basically that, and it's gotten a big upgrade when we fast-forward to D/P.
The basic rules for Little Cup are as follows:
-Standard clauses. For those who've heard otherwise, the ultimate decision is that Item Clause is NOT standard for Little Cup. But it's optional like anywhere else.
-The Pokemon've got to be level five. Yes.
-The Pokemon must be part of an evolution chain. Sadly, you cannot bring your Sableye.
-The Pokemon must be at the lowest evolution in the chain. Yep. Charmander. Not Charmeleon.
-If the Pokemon's named Tangela, Meditite, Yanma, Sneasel, or Scyther, you can't use it. These Pokemon are essentially the Uber tier of LC, and were found overpowered. DeapSeaTooth is considered a banned item, since Clamperl is overpowered when holding it (but is not overpowered when holding anything but DST).
How's LC different from Standard anyhow?
1. It's a heckuva lot more offensive.
Little Cup is the offensive metagame, where any neutral hit tends to at least 2hko most of the time. Walls are at a minimum (and Bronzor is usually your best friend when aiming for this), and even the "Special Defense Normal Type" of the metagame can get KO'd fairly easily by Special Attacks (Munchlax's aim is to survive the hit and kill the Special threat before Munchlax gets killed). Your main hope to survive attacks will usually rely on finding something that can resist what your opponent is throwing out. Spikes and Toxic Spikes are rare indeed, as you'll usually do more damage just hitting the opponent, though Stealth Rocks are still favored for ruining Focus Sash.
2. Set-up's a game.
Unlike OU, where things like Rain teams and Trick Room are only seen occasionally, LC features team set-up a whole lot more. Because of LC's nature, Rain is fairly ideal, as it provides the Speed and Double-Stab to make things threatening. Though Weather's nowhere near as omnipresent as Ubers or similar things, a team that has now way of stoppering Rain Dance teams will not be a happy team in LC. Trick Room is somewhat less common, but still viable, as many of the things with the most destructive power in LC have the lowest speed.
3. Priority is a friend.
In LC, Priority can make a game-breaking difference. Where most things are frail and fragile, the ability to hit first all the time makes priority extremely awesome. Sucker Punch, Aqua Jet, Quick Attack, Fake Out, and more are all prominent in LC. Fear them, for they are mighty. Again, your best defense is a good resist, and failing that, something neutral with fair defenses to take advantage of a usually-lower base power.
4. Evolving into an OU does not mean success.
While you may be tempted to use Happiny, Larvitar, or maybe even Gible in your team, be warned that evolving into an OU Pokemon doesn't mean its lowest form is awesome. Though some exceptions exist, like Gastly and Bronzor, you'll find yourself down on your luck if you try to go wholesale with Blissey's littlest sister. LC makes its own names, with things like Murkrow, Meowth, etc. forming the OU. Don't be tempted to use a bad Pokemon just because it has an awesome evolution.
5. EVs are a heckuva lot different at Level Five
4 EVs don't go quite as far in LC, where you'll usually require 36 or more to get even a single stat point. Basic LC analyses for good EVs can be found here, but you're otherwise going to have to experiment a little to find the ideal.
And finally:
6. Leftovers is phail.
In something like LC, you'll rarely - if ever - get enough bang for your buck out of Leftovers. The tempting Sitrus berry may look good for things needing recovery, but be warned: In D/P it recovers a flat 25% health for everything. This sad fact relegates the job of major healing item to the Oran berry, which recovers 10 HP, which is usually more than what wou'll get from a Sitrus Berry. Let's look at, say, a 30 HP Munchlax. With 30 HP, 10 would be equal to 33% or so of Munchlax's health recovered, while Sitrus Berry would recover 25% as always. The percentage gain gets even higher as you move to lower base HP than Munchlax.
Eh? Eh? =D
