For the second time this season, the audience can only cower as they watch the superhuman battle unfold before them; and for the second time of the season, when the dust settles, it is Jox's opponent who emerges battered and bruised, but ultimately victorious. However, a hero does not give up. Realizing what he must do, Jox requests a name change into one that is 067 times more bearable and prepares to face his rival, ict. In a heart pounding battle, Jox manages to obtain his first victory... But not his last. By the time week five ends, Jox has already made short work of his next two opponents for a positive record.
The LC revolution has begun.
Tell us about yourself. Just who is the man behind the hero, and how did you get into LC?
Hello, my name is Jordi and I live in Holland. I'm 18 years old and currently working as a cook in the kitchen. Now, let's get to how I made my way into competitive Pokemon and LC.
So I searched a long time for my first lc replay and Jezus this is ultra low ladder. I used last resort aipom + choice band fury cutter honedge, can i have some credit for this http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-148143108
My journey started 3 years ago at the start of XY. I knew the basics of Pokemon, and I had studied the type chart from playing the handheld Pokemon games. The man who brought me into Pokemon was megamogwei, a youtuber who did a lot of Pokemon showcases and was in a competitive draft. So I thought, let's give it a shot. I played NU, UU, and Monotype, which I got good at, but they weren't the tiers for me. So after some time I thought, why not LC. My first ever LC team was actually pretty fun. I remember something about Larvesta with no hazard control, but loved the team. I was playing on the low ladder when I met two of my friends, ItzViper482 and Godofwar. We played a lot of LC and built a lot, one of the golden teams from that time being Goomy rain. It was Rest / Rain Dance / Curse / Outrage Goomy with Hydration. Then, Godofwar invited me to a showdown server, I think it was azula; the group was called the Mighty league, with Eevee as the mascot. There I met Skyee, jewced, copybara, malink, and NemesisNoibat. I suggested we make a Skype group and help each other out with building. The Skype group was really amazing and I met a lot of people there. At this time, viper was in a Smogon draft, and I wanted to make something like that too, so I started the draft that is now called MDL. The name MDL actually comes from Mighty Draft League, in honor of the first group we joined. While recruiting people for MDL I met some amazing friends, the first of which was Fille. We found each other on the ladder and trashtalked each other; now we're best buds. Midnight Howl, warpig, kushal00, therealslap, NemesisNoibat, and allstar were also in MDL at this time, and it started to grow a lot. MDL season one failed, so we started season 2 with a different approach, but it still did not work out the way we intended to do it. At around this time, we moved to Discord. Viper had gotten voice like a half year ago and all of us trained hard. I got first, second, and third on the ladder and started doing youtube videos. The discord channel started small and chaotic with like 20 people, but we are around 50/60 people now. We had a lot of good times with each other and at the same time we could kill each other. I changed a lot because of MDL; sometimes in life it's hard, but every time I came online and saw my friends in MDL, i started to feel happy and safe, thanks to all of you guys :). MDL season 3 came around and we have now reached the finals; everyone was motivated and the draft was going a lot better than we thought it would, though still not optimal. Of course, we learned from this, so we will change it in season 4. Finally, LCPL. Everyone was hyped for LCPL in MDL, and I thought like 40% of us would get drafted. I was somewhat right, but a lot of my friends did not get drafted, but guys you need to know, I know you are potent and amazing at this game so don't let that get you down. LCPL was a new step for getting into battling in tours and I absolutely love it now.
You and other members of MDL have had a few weeks to play in LCPL now. How is LCPL the same as or different than what you expected? What do you feel of the level of playing and competitiveness in LCPL relative to MDL tournaments and the ladder?
The ladder in general is, in my opinion, not competitive most of the time, but laddering is a source of ideas. A lot of weird Pokemon or tactics I see on the ladder can be used and built upon. I saw people using Sleep Talk Alolan Grimer on the ladder and used it for a while on a team with no Vullaby, and it worked perfectly.
MDL, on the other hand, is something that can't be compared to LCPL because it is competitive in its own ways. We draft 12 Pokemon at the start and prepare with those 12 Pokemon vs the other 12 Pokemon. You can use things like Sludge Bomb Life Orb Corphish if they have a Morellul, or Z-Dig Mienfoo if they have a Trubbish. MDL building is mostly creativity and lures, but because you are forced to be more creative, you get a lot better at regular battling.
LCPL is everything I expected and wanted. It's really competitive and you work together as a team, which is really awesome. I learned of a lot more people now, like everyone from the Belchsprouts, Ict, Finch and a lot more. I could not be happier fighting in LCPL.
Although your record doesn't show it, you have been a part of some impressive games this season. What do you think of your performance so far? How about the Belchsprouts as a whole?
So here is a fun one. To be honest, I think the Belchsprouts have played really well. Like our team is lit. Everyone is working together with creative team ideas and helping to scout the other team. We had a lot of hax against us and could have more wins than we have right now; still, I think we are performing really well under these circumstances. I'm 3-2 right now and my 2 losses were really dumb on my behalf. I misplayed vs Dundes mid game, and vs flinch when I had the win at the end. Still, moving on is the most important thing after a loss. After I lost to flinch, I was upset, but kingler helped me to just move on and clear up my mind. The words he said to me were: think about the end game, that's all I have to say to you. Week 3 vs ict, I thought about the end game and calced out all the possible options and it worked. Week 4 vs hantsuki was a lot of early predicting to get myself in the right position, but still thinking about every play and everything that could happen. I am really happy with my performance so far; this is my first LCPL so I am still learning a lot, and I feel like every time I fall, I get stronger.
What do you feel of how the metagame has developed since you first started playing LC? What are your thoughts on the SM bans, and current suspect-worthy threats?
Well to be honest, I did not know what a metagame was back in those days; I just used Pokemon that looked cool and tried to make them work. Weirdly enough, this helped me a lot. I always used a lot of weird stuff like magic room teddiursa or trick room cranidos. SM was where I tried to develop a lot, and there are still so many new sets. Z-moves make this so interesting now, and it opens up another level of play in terms of prediction. Honestly, the metagame is really good right now, but I still think Vullaby can use a suspect test as it can be used special offensively, physical offensively, mirror move, defensive, or scarf, and the coverage moves it gets allows it to even go mixed. The Pokemon we banned for SM were vulpix, drifloon, gothita and cutiefly. All of them were good even though I'm still 50/50 on drifloon; I never used it that much, but the concept of the mon itself was really cool. With the burn nerf and weak armor onix, it could be handled better as onix just comes in on acrobatics.
You're known as one of the community's more creative teambuilders. Do you feel that being creative comes at the cost of consistently solid teams, or is it an advantage? How useful do you think this has been between laddering, MDL tours, and LCPL?
Creativity is one of the most important things when building a team. Lures, Pokemon that can surprise the other side and surprising combinations, are what makes a team different from other teams. I honestly think that a standard team is good on its own and more safe to play with. Fighting spam, flying spam, shellder teams or just a nice weak armor vullaby team is good, yes, but you don't give your team a part of yourself. I have a lot of standard teams on my computer and I play with them from time to time, but I don't like using them; give me my axew, wingull and skrelp teams and I will give it my best shot. So what you asked was, is it a bad thing to bring more creative Pokemon, or do you get an advantage? I would say I get an advantage. In my ladder days, I got the first three spots using a meowth. This was because a lot of people ran fletchling, zigzagoon, or shellder on the ladder. Meowth could take all of them out with a nice fake + feint combo, and I just loved using the Pokemon itself. Also, it was a perfect counterlead with water pulse, as a lot of people on the ladder used lead dwebble, onix, and archen. In MDL tours, it's the most important thing to build creatively. If you bring a standard team, you will get surprised by the other player, but because you know what 12 Pokemon the other side is bringing, it's a lot easier to be creative and risky. In LCPL, it's the hardest to be creative; your team needs to synergize well, but also needs to keep momentum and offensive pressure. You also need some defensive synergy as everyone in LCPL has a lot of experience and can bring various playstyles like webs, typespam, strong sweepers, and so on. Even though it's harder to use unexpected Pokemon vs people in LCPL, it's still a valid tactic and has worked out so far.
What is your favourite part of the community? Which resource was the most helpful in getting you into the tier? If there was one thing you could change about how things are run, what would it be?
My favourite part of this community is the people. I literally love everyone in LC just because the tier is so open. I used to play OU, but I was a random, so I would not get any help. I was a meme in NU and looked down upon in monotype. After I topped the ladder a lot and started making a impact on the metagame, people started recognizing me. To be honest, I did not use any resources until only around a year ago, and I think it was the viability rankings. Even though I don't agree with some Pokemon being that high/low, it helped me get started learning the tier, and I'm really grateful for the person who made the viability rankings a thing in LC. I honestly would not change a lot about the community; everything in LC is going really solidly. We have tutors who help new players, a great community that helps people, and of course, an active ladder.
Lastly, do you have a team that you would like to share with us?
All right, so when I'm tired of building and I want to ladder I use this team.
Thank you for the responses, Jox! Subscribe for more.
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Thanks for reading our fifth player of the week!
The LC revolution has begun.
Player of the Week 5: Jox
Tell us about yourself. Just who is the man behind the hero, and how did you get into LC?
Hello, my name is Jordi and I live in Holland. I'm 18 years old and currently working as a cook in the kitchen. Now, let's get to how I made my way into competitive Pokemon and LC.
So I searched a long time for my first lc replay and Jezus this is ultra low ladder. I used last resort aipom + choice band fury cutter honedge, can i have some credit for this http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/lc-148143108
My journey started 3 years ago at the start of XY. I knew the basics of Pokemon, and I had studied the type chart from playing the handheld Pokemon games. The man who brought me into Pokemon was megamogwei, a youtuber who did a lot of Pokemon showcases and was in a competitive draft. So I thought, let's give it a shot. I played NU, UU, and Monotype, which I got good at, but they weren't the tiers for me. So after some time I thought, why not LC. My first ever LC team was actually pretty fun. I remember something about Larvesta with no hazard control, but loved the team. I was playing on the low ladder when I met two of my friends, ItzViper482 and Godofwar. We played a lot of LC and built a lot, one of the golden teams from that time being Goomy rain. It was Rest / Rain Dance / Curse / Outrage Goomy with Hydration. Then, Godofwar invited me to a showdown server, I think it was azula; the group was called the Mighty league, with Eevee as the mascot. There I met Skyee, jewced, copybara, malink, and NemesisNoibat. I suggested we make a Skype group and help each other out with building. The Skype group was really amazing and I met a lot of people there. At this time, viper was in a Smogon draft, and I wanted to make something like that too, so I started the draft that is now called MDL. The name MDL actually comes from Mighty Draft League, in honor of the first group we joined. While recruiting people for MDL I met some amazing friends, the first of which was Fille. We found each other on the ladder and trashtalked each other; now we're best buds. Midnight Howl, warpig, kushal00, therealslap, NemesisNoibat, and allstar were also in MDL at this time, and it started to grow a lot. MDL season one failed, so we started season 2 with a different approach, but it still did not work out the way we intended to do it. At around this time, we moved to Discord. Viper had gotten voice like a half year ago and all of us trained hard. I got first, second, and third on the ladder and started doing youtube videos. The discord channel started small and chaotic with like 20 people, but we are around 50/60 people now. We had a lot of good times with each other and at the same time we could kill each other. I changed a lot because of MDL; sometimes in life it's hard, but every time I came online and saw my friends in MDL, i started to feel happy and safe, thanks to all of you guys :). MDL season 3 came around and we have now reached the finals; everyone was motivated and the draft was going a lot better than we thought it would, though still not optimal. Of course, we learned from this, so we will change it in season 4. Finally, LCPL. Everyone was hyped for LCPL in MDL, and I thought like 40% of us would get drafted. I was somewhat right, but a lot of my friends did not get drafted, but guys you need to know, I know you are potent and amazing at this game so don't let that get you down. LCPL was a new step for getting into battling in tours and I absolutely love it now.
The ladder in general is, in my opinion, not competitive most of the time, but laddering is a source of ideas. A lot of weird Pokemon or tactics I see on the ladder can be used and built upon. I saw people using Sleep Talk Alolan Grimer on the ladder and used it for a while on a team with no Vullaby, and it worked perfectly.
MDL, on the other hand, is something that can't be compared to LCPL because it is competitive in its own ways. We draft 12 Pokemon at the start and prepare with those 12 Pokemon vs the other 12 Pokemon. You can use things like Sludge Bomb Life Orb Corphish if they have a Morellul, or Z-Dig Mienfoo if they have a Trubbish. MDL building is mostly creativity and lures, but because you are forced to be more creative, you get a lot better at regular battling.
LCPL is everything I expected and wanted. It's really competitive and you work together as a team, which is really awesome. I learned of a lot more people now, like everyone from the Belchsprouts, Ict, Finch and a lot more. I could not be happier fighting in LCPL.
Although your record doesn't show it, you have been a part of some impressive games this season. What do you think of your performance so far? How about the Belchsprouts as a whole?
So here is a fun one. To be honest, I think the Belchsprouts have played really well. Like our team is lit. Everyone is working together with creative team ideas and helping to scout the other team. We had a lot of hax against us and could have more wins than we have right now; still, I think we are performing really well under these circumstances. I'm 3-2 right now and my 2 losses were really dumb on my behalf. I misplayed vs Dundes mid game, and vs flinch when I had the win at the end. Still, moving on is the most important thing after a loss. After I lost to flinch, I was upset, but kingler helped me to just move on and clear up my mind. The words he said to me were: think about the end game, that's all I have to say to you. Week 3 vs ict, I thought about the end game and calced out all the possible options and it worked. Week 4 vs hantsuki was a lot of early predicting to get myself in the right position, but still thinking about every play and everything that could happen. I am really happy with my performance so far; this is my first LCPL so I am still learning a lot, and I feel like every time I fall, I get stronger.
What do you feel of how the metagame has developed since you first started playing LC? What are your thoughts on the SM bans, and current suspect-worthy threats?
Well to be honest, I did not know what a metagame was back in those days; I just used Pokemon that looked cool and tried to make them work. Weirdly enough, this helped me a lot. I always used a lot of weird stuff like magic room teddiursa or trick room cranidos. SM was where I tried to develop a lot, and there are still so many new sets. Z-moves make this so interesting now, and it opens up another level of play in terms of prediction. Honestly, the metagame is really good right now, but I still think Vullaby can use a suspect test as it can be used special offensively, physical offensively, mirror move, defensive, or scarf, and the coverage moves it gets allows it to even go mixed. The Pokemon we banned for SM were vulpix, drifloon, gothita and cutiefly. All of them were good even though I'm still 50/50 on drifloon; I never used it that much, but the concept of the mon itself was really cool. With the burn nerf and weak armor onix, it could be handled better as onix just comes in on acrobatics.
You're known as one of the community's more creative teambuilders. Do you feel that being creative comes at the cost of consistently solid teams, or is it an advantage? How useful do you think this has been between laddering, MDL tours, and LCPL?
Creativity is one of the most important things when building a team. Lures, Pokemon that can surprise the other side and surprising combinations, are what makes a team different from other teams. I honestly think that a standard team is good on its own and more safe to play with. Fighting spam, flying spam, shellder teams or just a nice weak armor vullaby team is good, yes, but you don't give your team a part of yourself. I have a lot of standard teams on my computer and I play with them from time to time, but I don't like using them; give me my axew, wingull and skrelp teams and I will give it my best shot. So what you asked was, is it a bad thing to bring more creative Pokemon, or do you get an advantage? I would say I get an advantage. In my ladder days, I got the first three spots using a meowth. This was because a lot of people ran fletchling, zigzagoon, or shellder on the ladder. Meowth could take all of them out with a nice fake + feint combo, and I just loved using the Pokemon itself. Also, it was a perfect counterlead with water pulse, as a lot of people on the ladder used lead dwebble, onix, and archen. In MDL tours, it's the most important thing to build creatively. If you bring a standard team, you will get surprised by the other player, but because you know what 12 Pokemon the other side is bringing, it's a lot easier to be creative and risky. In LCPL, it's the hardest to be creative; your team needs to synergize well, but also needs to keep momentum and offensive pressure. You also need some defensive synergy as everyone in LCPL has a lot of experience and can bring various playstyles like webs, typespam, strong sweepers, and so on. Even though it's harder to use unexpected Pokemon vs people in LCPL, it's still a valid tactic and has worked out so far.
What is your favourite part of the community? Which resource was the most helpful in getting you into the tier? If there was one thing you could change about how things are run, what would it be?
My favourite part of this community is the people. I literally love everyone in LC just because the tier is so open. I used to play OU, but I was a random, so I would not get any help. I was a meme in NU and looked down upon in monotype. After I topped the ladder a lot and started making a impact on the metagame, people started recognizing me. To be honest, I did not use any resources until only around a year ago, and I think it was the viability rankings. Even though I don't agree with some Pokemon being that high/low, it helped me get started learning the tier, and I'm really grateful for the person who made the viability rankings a thing in LC. I honestly would not change a lot about the community; everything in LC is going really solidly. We have tutors who help new players, a great community that helps people, and of course, an active ladder.
Lastly, do you have a team that you would like to share with us?
All right, so when I'm tired of building and I want to ladder I use this team.
Banana (Snivy) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overgrow
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 Atk / 156 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Aqua Tail
- Synthesis
- Coil
Bradley (Slowpoke) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Aqua Tail
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Trick Room
Pillow pet (Munchlax) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Self-Destruct
Appels!!! (Skorupi) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Sniper
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Acupressure
Assaultvesta (Larvesta) @ Eviolite
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Morning Sun
- Calm Mind
Starbucks (Staryu) @ Eviolite
Ability: Illuminate
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 Def / 36 SpA / 156 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Recover
- Reflect Type
- Cosmic Power
Ability: Overgrow
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 Atk / 156 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Leaf Blade
- Aqua Tail
- Synthesis
- Coil
Bradley (Slowpoke) @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 76 Def / 36 SpD
Adamant Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Aqua Tail
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Trick Room
Pillow pet (Munchlax) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Self-Destruct
Appels!!! (Skorupi) @ Normalium Z
Ability: Sniper
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 36 HP / 196 Atk / 36 Def / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Cross Poison
- Night Slash
- Acupressure
Assaultvesta (Larvesta) @ Eviolite
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 SpA / 196 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flamethrower
- Giga Drain
- Morning Sun
- Calm Mind
Starbucks (Staryu) @ Eviolite
Ability: Illuminate
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 76 Def / 36 SpA / 156 SpD / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Recover
- Reflect Type
- Cosmic Power
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Thanks for reading our fifth player of the week!
