WeLCome to the LC Room!

Art by HeaLnDeaL.

Introduction

Little Cup was first conceived with the release of Pokémon Stadium 2 in 2000. However, the release of Pokémon Diamond and Pearl in 2006 brought a large community with it due to Little Cup's inclusion in the Communication Club Colosseum. Ever since DPP, the Little Cup community has remained vibrant and active on the forums and on Pokémon Showdown!, and recently the community has started to adopt Discord as a third place of discussion.

What Happens in the Room

The Little Cup room on Pokémon Showdown! is host to mainly discussion on the current metagame. This consists of talking about what Pokémon are and aren't good, what sets are on the rise, and generally how the metagame is trending. We rely on both roomauth and regular users to keep discussion going, so we appreciate newer users' willingness to talk about the metagame. Talking in the chat is also a great way to learn about the metagame from more knowledgeable players. The room intro provides many resources for new and experienced users alike, with the viability rankings, role compendium, and sample teams all being commonly utilized. The room is also host to a few room tournaments a day to keep users active and show off the metagame.

How to Contribute

As mentioned above, we rely on regular users to keep discussion going, and as such, one of the best ways to contribute is by engaging in discussion. One of the best ways to start a conversation is to say something such as "thoughts on this Pokémon" or "thoughts on that set". This gets people to present their thoughts in a conversational manner and sparks discussion. Another great way to contribute is to answer questions, particularly from newer users. Due to our metagame being so unique, new users commonly come in wondering about what is and isn't good and how to build teams, and answering these questions can help bring new users to Little Cup and thus help the metagame grow. Merely being kind to newer and older users alike is a great way to get noticed as well! Outside of the PS! room, engaging in projects on the forums is a great way to contribute and grow the metagame. Some of these projects include Counter That Threat, a place to find what Pokémon make the best switch-ins to common metagame threats, What's Their Last, a project where users select a Pokémon to best fit an unfinished team, and the Community Create-a-Team, a thread where the community votes on different Pokémon to add to a team each week, although at the writing of this article there is no current CCaT.

Discord

Many LC players have adopted the Little Cup Discord (found here) as another place of discussion for Little Cup. The Discord LC server has a few major differences from the PS! LC room. The most substantial difference is how much more casual the Discord is. In fact, the main chat isn't even Little Cup-based, although the Metagame and QC sections are quite active as well. You also cannot play matches on Discord, making discussion of actual games uncommon if not for important tournaments.

Meet the Room Owners

Currently, the Little Cup room has three ROs: Coconut, OP, and Quote. Coconut is a Little Cup tutor and the current host of LCPL. OP is one of our LC C&C leaders, leading the charge on analysis writing, and he is also the current host of the LC seasonals as well as a forum moderator. Quote is our sole tier leader, and as such, he is also a forum moderator. All three are on constantly and commonly engage with and moderate the chat, and all three are large contributors to the Little Cup community.

Interviews

Drew

What first drew you to Little Cup?

Coconut

I first got my start in Little Cup when a friend of mine showed me Smogon University. I lurked for a really, really long time, until I started playing on whatever battle simulator was being used at the time (it was somewhere in BW, pre-BW2). I picked Little Cup for the most logical sense, that it had the cutest Pokémon. That was actually the whole reason, as much as a joke as it is now. I became instantly attached to it when I realized I was actually winning in LC instead of the other tiers. I also didn't enjoy how the tiers moved and shifted so much; LC was for the most part the same set of Pokémon and not having to worry about usage.

Drew

How did you become Room Owner?

Coconut

Becoming a Room Owner is a ton of hard work, but it was a lot of dedication to the LC room in general. Answering all kinds of questions, from new and old people alike. I'd say that the best way to get promoted Room Owner is showing how dedicated you are to the room, just like you would across anything else on PS or Smogon alike.

Drew

What would you say is the best way to contribute?

Coconut

The LC room, being one of the smallest tier rooms, usually struggles with staying active throughout all times of the day. Like many rooms, we have dead times of the day. I would say the best way to contribute to the chat is to keep it active. That being said, you still need to contribute to the chat in a positive manner. If there is a discussion about Little Cup happening, you need to be knowledgeable about, surprise surprise, Little Cup. Or if there's a conversation about a question that someone asked, focus on the question, not on the person who asked it. For the most part, just talk in the chat in a positive manner and have fun!

Drew

What do you look for in a Voice (+)?

Coconut

Well, each Room Owner is different. Even in the LC room, each of the Room Owners (and Room Mods!) look for something different in the chat. One thing that I look for personally is contributing to the actual chat positively, while on the other hand, some of my staff would rather Voice any user that is interested in LC and is not a horrible user; on the other hand, some of the staff likes to focus on contributions outside of PS, such as the forums. Either way, it's going to be different for each member of the staff, but if you're interested in getting Voice, I'd read the FAQ on becoming a Voice. It's very useful in just about any room.

Drew

What is your favorite part of the Little Cup room and why?

Coconut

I don't think there's one particular thing that I enjoy about the room. There's so many unique things that are fantastic about the LC room, and it would be akin to choosing between my favorite children. That being said, some of the things that I love are the interesting characters, all of the conglomerate of new users, the competitive spirit that shines in every new user, and of course, my fellow roomauth and staff.

Drew

What is your favorite metagame or metagames (ADV LC, SM LC, LC UU, etc.)?

Coconut

Well, if you know me, I very highly support BW LC. It's my flagship meta and the one that I support very much. I also love ADV LC, as more recently I've been really pushing the metagame to its fullest. Outside of LC, however, I also love a lot of the ADV metagames, as I find them to be a lot of fun, and my personal favorite non-LC metagame is GSC OU, just because of how much thought that it takes.

Drew

So what first drew you to Little Cup?

OP

It was unique and sounded interesting to me. The cute Pokémon were a huge plus.

Drew

How did you become a Room Owner?

OP

I was active and helpful in the room for a very long time.

Drew

What would you say is the best way to contribute to the LC community?

OP

I wouldn't say any one way is the best. There's a lot of different ways to go about doing so, (add comma) and it's important to find the ways that you enjoy contributing the most.

Drew

What do you most enjoy doing in Little Cup?

OP

Just hanging out and talking with people. I think our community is hilarious, (add comma) and I have a great time chatting with everyone.

Drew

What do you look for in a Voice (+)?

OP

People that are active, helpful in the chat, and display solid metagame knowledge.

Drew

What is your favorite part of Little Cup and why?

OP

I love the community we have. It feels like a big group of friends that I can joke and mess around with all the time.

Drew

What is your favorite metagame or metagames (ADV LC, SM LC, LC UU, etc.)?

OP

Right now my favorite is SM LC, but DPP LC is super close behind.

Drew

What first drew you to Little Cup?

Quote

I originally wanted to try playing Little Cup near the end of Gen 5 just for the hell of it but never gave it a proper chance, only using a mono-Water team. It wasn't good. The first time I properly started playing was around the beginning of Gen 6, after being frustrated with OU and all of its broken Megas and other annoying Pokémon. I wanted to give something else a try, and of all of the main metagames, the only ones I had never properly explored were LC and Doubles, so I picked LC, and here I am.

Drew

How did you become RO?

Quote

To answer that we have to look at the rest of the steps you have to take first. So becoming Voice in the LC room was very easy in 2013. If you were active in the room for about a week or two, you could get Voice. That's what I had done, and that's what I got. Ezpz. After that I continued being a good room presence, hosting tournaments (scripted tournaments didn't exist at this point), and helping in any way I could. I was promoted to Driver three weeks later and then Mod a month after that. Becoming RO was a bit different, but it was mostly just doing more of the same but also putting a lot of work into room policy, which means making sure the rules are proper and special disputes are appropriately handled. I think I became RO somewhere in the 8-10 month range after originally joining the room.

Drew

What would you say is the best way to contribute?

Quote

The best way to contribute to the LC room is by helping out new players that come along asking for it and striking up positive discussion whenever possible. The vibe of the LC room is much different from what it was 2-3 years ago because most of the casual discussion has moved on to Discord, so today the room acts as a portal for those new players that need some sort of direction. That doesn't mean it's completely dead or useless. It just serves a different purpose than it did years ago.

Drew

What do you look for in a Voice (+)?

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I look for someone that is active, mature, and contributes to the room in the ways that I detailed. It's a pretty simple process, but I am a bit strict with it because I want to make sure that people promoted are truly deserving and are great role models for the rest of the room.

Drew

What is your favorite part of the Little Cup room and why?

Quote

Well, that's changed over the years. In 2013-2014, I would have said that my favorite part of it was just casually chatting with everyone and feeling like just another dude in the room. Nowadays my favorite part of it is seeing all of the new players get their start, whether it be those looking for a quick game or some simple team advice. I also enjoy making room tours. Those are fun to watch and sometimes play in.

Drew

What is your favorite metagame or metagames (ADV LC, SM LC, LC UU, etc.)?

Quote

I have no idea. I take enjoyment out of all of them, despite playing XY/ORAS the most. I just like LC.