Metagame SV LC UU Metagame Resource and Discussion Thread

[Albi]

approved by Coconut

Art by Kaiju Bunny

Hello and welcome to SV LC UU. This thread will serve as the primary place for metagame resources and general discussion. For some less formal discussion and talk with the LC UU community, come hang out in the lc uu discord. Anyway without further ado...
​

LC UU Banlist (usage):

LC UU Banlist

Chinchou, Diglett-Alola, Drifloon, Elekid, Foongus, Glimmet, Gothita, Grookey, Growlithe-Hisui, Houndour, Impidimp, Larvesta, Magby, Mareanie, Mienfoo, Mudbray, Pawniard, Sandshrew-Alola, Shellder, Shellos, Shroodle, Snover, Snubbull, Stunky, Timburr, Tinkatink, Toedscool, Torchic, Vullaby, Wingull, Zorua-Hisui

LC UU Banlist (tiering action):

LC BL

Deerling, Minccino

The rest of the ruleset is the same as with standard LC.

Your SV LC UU council currently consists of

Albi (Tier Leader)

Kipkluif

MOHAMEDALL

bleahey

Camden

reggg​

Have fun everyone!

 

[Albi]

Sample Teams

Standard FWG Balance by Drifting and DC | https://pokepast.es/d07088fc7b6f1b81


Meowth + Grimer-Alola by MOHAMEDALL | https://pokepast.es/e7428ba8ab7a55b3


Buizel Balance by Kipkluif | https://pokepast.es/a955b21dd22f6963


Sand by Nanchlax | https://pokepast.es/1cf0bdde1216aaba

 

[Albi]

Viability Rankings
*Mons ranked by council score within each tier​

S
None!


A+
Sandshrew
Voltorb
Crabrawler
Tentacool


A
Doduo
Wattrel
Numel
Bramblin


A-
Meowth
Grimer-Alola
Meowth-Galar
Croagunk


B+
Koffing


B
Pikipek
Salandit
Buizel
Cottonee
Hippopotas
Dewpider


B-
Drilbur
Nymble
Snubbull
Trapinch
Axew
Larvitar
Varoom
Larvesta
Chewtle


C+
Quaxly
Shroodle
Finizen
Psyduck
Rhyhorn
Sinistea
Riolu
Magnemite
Scorbunny
Cetoddle
Corphish
Froakie
Impidimp
Munchlax
Zorua


C
Mankey
Poltchageist
Sandile
Squirtle
Slowpoke-Galar
Cranidos
Slowpoke
Chespin
Espurr
Litten
Skrelp
Clauncher
Oddish
Pineco
Cacnea



Everything Else

If you notice there is a mon not listed here that you believe should be listed here. Let me know and I'll consider it.

 

[Albi]

LC UU Sets
​

These are not meant to be sample sets, but a more rough guideline of what to expect from every Pokemon in the A and B ranks. Maybe I'll update with the C ranks in the future but those tend to be more underexplored and everyone has their own set.
Items, Tera Types and moves are listed in more or less the order in which you're more likely to see them, so you can treat the first 4 moves as the most common (usually).

A Ranks

Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Water, Grass, Bug, Flying
Moves: Earthquake, Knock Off, Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Swords Dance, Rock Slide, Stone Edge, Leech Life


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Ice, Water, Grass
Moves: Thunderbolt, Volt Switch, Tera Blast, Protect, Metal Sound, Taunt


Item: Eviolite, Choice Scarf
Tera Type: Steel, Electric
Moves: Drain Punch, Knock Off, Bulk Up, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Earthquake, Zen Headbutt, Close Combat


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Grass, Ground
Moves: Knock Off, Rapid Spin, Flip Turn, Gunk Shot, Poison Jab, Mud Shot, Surf, Sludge Bomb, Hydro Pump


Item: Choice Scarf, Heavy-Duty Boots, Eviolite, Sky Plate
Tera Type: Normal, Flying, Ground
Moves: Brave Bird, Double Edge, Knock Off, Quick Attack, Tera Blast, Protect


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Steel, Water
Moves: Discharge, Air Slash, Roost, U-turn, Thunderbolt, Tera Blast


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Water, Ghost
Moves: Flamethrower, Earth Power, Flame Charge, Stealth Rock, Growth, Fire Blast


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Fairy
Moves: Rapid Spin, Power Whip, Poltergeist, Strength Sap, Shadow Sneak, Spikes


Item: Life Orb
Tera Type: Normal, Ghost
Moves: Fake Out, Feint, Knock Off, U-Turn, Double-Edge, Chilling Water


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Ghost, Fighting
Moves: Knock Off, Gunk Shot, Drain Punch, Shadow Sneak, Mud Shot, Poison Jab


Item: Eviolite, Choice Scarf
Tera Type: Fairy, Flying, Steel
Moves: Iron Head, U-Turn, Knock Off, Stealth Rock, Brick Break, Fake Out


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Dark, Flying
Moves: Vacuum Wave, Sludge Bomb, Focus Blast, Nasty Plot, Mud Shot, Drain Punch, Earthquake, Poison Jab, Sucker Punch

B Ranks

Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Water
Moves: Sludge Bomb, Will-o-Wisp, Pain Split, Thunderbolt, Fire Blast, Toxic Spikes


Item: Eviolite, Choice Scarf
Tera Type: Grass
Moves: Brave Bird, Bullet Seed, Knock Off, U-Turn, Flame Charge


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Grass, Poison
Moves: Nasty Plot, Fire Blast, Sludge Bomb, Tera Blast, Flame Charge


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Psychic
Moves: Wave Crash, Flip Turn, Ice Spinner, Tera Blast, Aqua Jet


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Steel
Moves: Encore, Giga Drain, Dazzling Gleam, Stun Spore, Memento


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Water, Grass
Moves: Earthquake, Stealth Rock, Slack Off, Yawn, Crunch, Rock Slide


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Electric, Water
Moves: Hydro Pump, Bug Buzz, Icy Wind, Giga Drain, Ice Beam, Surf


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Water, Grass, Poison
Moves: Earthquake, Poison Jab, Rock Slide, Rapid Spin, Stealth Rock, Shadow Claw, Swords Dance


Item: Life Orb
Tera Type: Bug
Moves: First Impression, U-Turn, Leech Life, Sucker Punch, Substitute, Agility


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Steel
Moves: Play Rough, Thunder Wave, Psychic Fangs, Earthquake, Thief


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Bug
Moves: First Impression, Earthquake, Feint, Stone Edge, Crunch, Protect


Item: Eviolite, Choice Scarf
Tera Type: Steel, Dragon
Moves: Dragon Dance, Outrage, Iron Head, Stomping Tantrum, Poison Jab, Dragon Claw


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Grass
Moves: Earthquake, Rock Slide, Stealth Rock, Dragon Dance, Rock Blast, Stone Edge


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Flying
Moves: Iron Head, Gunk Shot, Parting Shot, Bulldoze, Toxic Spikes


Item: Eviolite, Choice Scarf
Tera Type: Fairy
Moves: Flare Blitz, U-Turn, Morning Sun, Will-o-Wisp, Wild Charge


Item: Eviolite
Tera Type: Dark
Moves: Shell Smash, Liquidation, Crunch, Stomping Tantrum, Protect

 

[megatyler30]

Glad to see Gen 9 LC UU's creation! Can we please have a list of (initial) legal Pokemon?

 

[Joltage]

Glad to see Gen 9 LC UU's creation! Can we please have a list of (initial) legal Pokemon?

no.

list

| 30 | Foongus | 4.178% |
| 31 | Shellder | 3.901% |
| 32 | Azurill | 3.715% |
| 33 | Tarountula | 2.980% |
| 34 | Mareanie | 2.818% |
| 35 | Zorua | 2.760% |
| 36 | Nymble | 2.738% |
| 37 | Sandile | 2.572% |
| 38 | Wingull | 2.509% |
| 39 | Axew | 2.504% |
| 40 | Yungoos | 2.457% |
| 41 | Varoom | 2.271% |
| 42 | Deerling | 2.203% |
| 43 | Gothita | 2.169% |
| 44 | Numel | 2.144% |
| 45 | Smoliv | 2.126% |
| 46 | Slowpoke | 2.073% |
| 47 | Hatenna | 1.907% |
| 48 | Sprigatito | 1.876% |
| 49 | Meowth-Galar | 1.479% |
| 50 | Makuhita | 1.405% |
| 51 | Pineco | 1.242% |
| 52 | Fomantis | 1.160% |
| 53 | Riolu | 1.141% |
| 54 | Bagon | 1.098% |
| 55 | Skwovet | 1.022% |
| 56 | Wattrel | 1.007% |
| 57 | Shellos | 0.993% |
| 58 | Nacli | 0.928% |
| 59 | Teddiursa | 0.908% |
| 60 | Larvitar | 0.845% |
| 61 | Dratini | 0.838% |
| 62 | Drifloon | 0.835% |
| 63 | Fuecoco | 0.779% |
| 64 | Silicobra | 0.751% |
| 65 | Voltorb | 0.720% |
| 66 | Frigibax | 0.700% |
| 67 | Buizel | 0.635% |
| 68 | Arrokuda | 0.615% |
| 69 | Grimer | 0.576% |
| 70 | Finizen | 0.569% |
| 71 | Bonsly | 0.561% |
| 72 | Skiddo | 0.552% |
| 73 | Gimmighoul | 0.543% |
| 74 | Psyduck | 0.533% |
| 75 | Chewtle | 0.509% |
| 76 | Clauncher | 0.499% |
| 77 | Meowth | 0.485% |
| 78 | Hippopotas | 0.421% |
| 79 | Bergmite | 0.404% |
| 80 | Fidough | 0.399% |
| 81 | Sandygast | 0.328% |
| 82 | Litleo | 0.323% |
| 83 | Pawmi | 0.309% |
| 84 | Cacnea | 0.270% |
| 85 | Ralts | 0.247% |
| 86 | Charcadet | 0.243% |
| 87 | Wiglett | 0.187% |
| 88 | Bronzor | 0.164% |
| 89 | Cufant | 0.153% |
| 90 | Eevee | 0.107% |
and anything not listed that is not also in the banlist in the op

 

[Joltage]

Okay so we're into what we are referring to as our alpha stage. This first month of LC UU will likely be the most chaotic and different iteration of our meta for the entire generation. We have several mons that have previously been LC OU staples in past gens such as Foongus, and Mareanie, as well as a few mons that have been even better than that in Drifloon and Gothita. Not only that, previous LC BL threats Wingull and Shellder are also joining the party.

No immediate action is being taken against any of the mons that have dropped to us, but we on the LC UU council our noting all of Drifloon, Gothita, Wingull, and Shellder as "on our radar" based on their previous track record in LC tiers past.

Additionally, since Bramblin is an unfortunate miss, we have very few hazard removal options that look promising particularly on the spinning side. We also do have a mon with access to Sticky Web in the tier in Tarountula. And while that mon sucks, if it is capable of setting webs consistently, the council is wary about the potential strength of the strategy as a whole. As a result, Sticky Web is also going to be on the councils radar, though to a lesser degree than the mons previously mentioned.

I will save some other thoughts about our fledgling meta for later on after a few games have been played, (or other folks talk in this thread) but I can't wait to get started playing with you all!

 

[Peachy07]

Just some early notes I've got.

Shellos returns as one of the premiere defensive waters. With both losing scald and knock off, and losing Future sight, Scald, and most importantly Teleport Shellos stands out as one of the better bulky waters. With it gaining access to Stealth Rocks as well I think Shellos certainly will be the staple bulky water.

Yeah this little shit is so good even without tera, with it it's incredible. I definitely see this being the most broken out of the things currently on the radar, especially after berry juice was removed from .

WOW this mon is way better than I thought, whether it's the standard scarf set or my banded set on webs this thing hits so much of the tier with bonkers damage.


Rain on paper also looks very good in this meta, and with Wattrel being added to it's arsenal this gen I think rain should for sure be prepped for.

Just wanted to throw in some quick thoughts, been having fun this first day so I look forward to continue playing future games.

 

[Joltage]

The initial role compendium is up now. It'll be updated as time goes on between meta shifts, cleaning out the unviables from it, and adding new roles that emerge (eg choice scarf users). Hopefully that resource will help people out a bit with their building. Let me know if you see anything you believe should be added to it.

In other news, not gonna lie the initial response to SV LC UU in terms of interest has been kinda disappointing. I don't really know how to address that however, so you're likely to see me throw a bunch of shit at the wall to diagnose and hopefully treat the problem. If you have any suggestions for what I should do, feel free to let me know.

On to some mons thoughts based on some of my early play:
Sprigatito seems very good in my initial experience, between protean and tera existing, it can find plenty of ways to do work in a given game gaining stab basically whenever it wants despite the protean nerf.

Set

Sprigatito @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
Level: 5
Tera Type: Fairy
EVs: 188 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 11 HP
- Petal Blizzard
- Sucker Punch
- U-turn
- Play Rough

This is what I've been running on mine and I've been very happy with it so far. It's not crazy in terms of coverage or anything, but it just puts in work. The speed tier is really solid and it really works well in some Volt-Turn style builds. In particular, I've been like the core of Sprig + Varoom + Clauncher. Really solid type synergy there and they're all quite solid as pivots, between parting shot and u-turn.

Speaking of Varoom, this thing has also been more decent than I was expecting.

Set

Varoom @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
Tera Type: Flying/Water
EVs: 196 Atk / 92 Def / 76 SpD / 140 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Parting Shot
- Iron Head
- Gunk Shot
- Bulldoze

This is what I've been running on mine, obviously with new mons, there's probably room for improvement. But this has impressed so far. The 4th move is the most variable, but Bulldoze is actually allows you to hit opposing Steels and the other options are things like Taunt, Toxic Spikes, and Tera Blast, so I'm pretty happy with Bulldoze there.

On final mon I'd like to mention right now is Sandygast who has been a surprisingly decent option as both a rocker and a water stop thanks to Tera Grass.

Set

Sandygast @ Eviolite
Ability: Water Compaction
Level: 5
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 76 HP / 196 Def / 116 SpA / 76 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Stealth Rock
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain

This set has been decent for me. Sometimes I wish I had Shore Up on it, but it's been fine overall. Tera Grass Giga Drain allows you to deal with things like Azurill and Buizel. Not foolproof obviously, but if you can tera on the turn they use a water move, you become nigh unkillable with the Defense boost from Water Compaction. This set probably relies a bit to much on people not knowing/expecting the grass tera, but it's been fun for me so far.

That's all for now, I hope to see more people playing and talking about LC UU soon. Feel to hit me up whenever to talk/build/play, I'm pretty much always down.

 

[Peachy07]

Back again this time to discuss sticky webs. I've been using sticky webs more than anyone else so I wanted to discuss some mons I think work well on this playstyle.



Sandile @ Life Orb
Ability: Moxie
Level: 5
EVs: 180 Atk / 76 Def / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Protect/Fire Fang

Protect is because can go fuck itself, however this is one of the best webs sweeper I've found so far. Moxie + Life Orb + strong stabs makes it such a potent sweeper, giving it essentially adaptability earthquake on top of all that gives it insane strength. It is pretty frail though, so make sure you're able to get the kill when you use it.


Axew @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
Level: 5
Tera Type: Steel
EVs: 68 HP / 220 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Stomping Tantrum
- Crunch

Axew gaining access to Stomping Tantrum allows it to delete and having a way to hit and is always nice. Tera steel removes all it's weaknesses to dragon, ice, and fairy giving it several potential set up opportunities. It's a great set up sweeper that can punish many things, and on webs sometimes won't even need to setup to kill things.



Gimmighoul @ Eviolite
Ability: Rattled
Level: 5
Tera Type: Fighting
EVs: 156 HP / 116 Def / 76 SpA / 116 SpD / 36 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Power Gem
- Tera Blast

While slow and overlooked, I believe Gummighoul to be a genuinely good addition to webs teams. It's great bulk allows it to come in at several points and block rapid spin attempts, which good special attack to boot. It's not really meant to be a webs abuser, but it is the most bulky ghost we have access to (curse you LCOU for taking Greavard) so I'd for sure give it a try if you're building a webs team. is the other option and while generally better, Gimmghoul still has good traits that make it worth using over .


Shellder @ Eviolite
Ability: Skill Link
Level: 5
Tera Type: Rock
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 36 Def / 196 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Rock Blast
- Shell Smash
- Liquidation
- Ice Shard

Even not on webs this shit is broken LOL, after a shell smash tera rock can one shot and . I don't have much else to say but yeah this and are for sure the two most broken things in the meta.

Some other good abusers that have already been discussed: , , .

Some other things I want to explore with more on webs:
, , , , , ,

 

[Elfuseon]

Hi fellow LCUU enjoyers!

Usage stats for december are up and we got some nice news for you today!
https://www.smogon.com/forums/threa...nuary-2023-ru-having-fun.3713705/post-9453201

Lets start by the goodbyes.
Buizel and Voltorb are moving up in LCOU with the proeminance of rain in this tier and trust me its better like this. Next we have the best revenge killer that has the combination of Tinted Lens and First impression but also Sucker Punch and U-Turn (yes thats a very specialised set).

We also gotta say goodbye to probably the only good defogger of LCUU unfortunately, Drifloon is rising up too. Also we have something i've never thought possible, Mareanie was in LCUU for the first month but thanks god its now gone. The regen water-poison pokemon was still a big threat even if it lost Knock off and Scald due to its incredible bulk and having the possibility to stop most of set up sweepers with Haze, Toxic and the very good Toxic Spikes.

Finally, we have three unexpected losses, Zorua , Meowth and Meowth-Galar are leaving the tier. Zorua creates a lot of mind game with its unique ability Illusion and its able to threat most special attackers with its powerful Knock off, Sucker Punch and U-Turn. While on the other side, the two mouses have either very strong priorities with the normal stab being rarely resisted in LCOU and the steel variation that can use Fake out and U-Turn to pivot on most special attackers with its decent bulk.

NOW, here are our new toys!

We welcome back the fighting-poison type Croagunk that has been with us in the past gens. With very few fighting types being available in early gen, its stab combos will be very dangerous. Having the ability to play on both spectres of the damages will surely gives headaches to more than one. Bulk up, Drain punch, Gunk shot, Sucker Punch, Earthquake on the physical side while Nasty Plot, Focus blast, Sludge Bomb, Shadow ball and Vaccuum wave on the special side will be part of its most common movesets.

Impidimp is coming to terrorize the metagame and make screens hyper offense rise once again with its ability Prankster giving a +1 prority to all status moves. The item Light Clay will proccur Reflect and Light screen a longevity of 8 turns instead of 5. Combine with Taunt and Parting shot, this allows very easy set up for its teammates. Don't get me wrong tho! This pokemon is able to make some massive damages on its own. Having access to Nasty Plot, Dark pulse, Dazzling gleam and Tera Blast, this will allow it to be a big threat in only one free turn. With its decent 15 Jolly speed, be sure to bring revenge killing options!

Shroodle is another Prankster user that is making its arrival here. With its unique normal-poison typing and fast 18 Jolly speed, it will obviously be a very good offensive pivot. It can count on the access to useful moves like the all mighty Knock off, but also U-Turn, Parting shot, Gunk shot and Encore to prevent set up from opposing pokemons. Be careful tho, its bulk isnt what's makes it good so play carefully with it but remember that it has access to Swords dance and a decent 65 Atk base stat that will allow it to deal massive damage to non resisting pokemon thanks to a normal Tera blast stab (and another stab once you Tera'd).

Next, we have Maschiff , the dark type dog is coming and is gonna be a very good scarfer (even a dangerous choice band trust me with its good 78 base stat Atk) thanks to its ability Stakeout that doubles its offensive stat when the opposing pokemon is switching out. That means that nobody is a resisting switchin! Having access to a wide coverage, Crunch, Fire-Ice-Thunder-Psychic Fangs, Play Rough and even Facade to absorb status. You will have trouble guessing which pokemon to switching in and if you're wrong then you may faint or take heavy damage. Don't forget, the other ability of this cute little puppy is Intimidate so you can also try some bulkier set with Taunt and Roar to prevent sweepers.

Finally, we have the pokemon that was really hyped at beginning but due to a technical problem, its no longer being able to Belly Drum + Berry juice back to full. Cetoddle was a big threat in LCOU in first weeks of the gen due to Hail + Slush rush + Belly drum. Now it no longer has Slush Rush and because Berry juice is no longer available too in gen 9, its tougher to set up. It still has some good stuff to put in works in LCUU. On top of its amazing 108 HP base stat, this thing doesnt want to die! You can think of two ways to play it. Bulkier spread with the ability Thick fat, Amnesia and Rest + Sleep talk and Icicle Crash. But the most conventional way to play it will be either Life Orb or regular Eviolite with the ability Sheer Force that boost Icicle Crash, Liquidation and Play rough. Having access to the priority Ice Shard, dont sleep on that pokemon or you'll get freeze to death!

There you go! We are now good for a fresh new month. Dont hesitate to come and join us in the discord server : https://discord.gg/EyGed4tBjZ and ask other crackheads for games. Wishing y'all also a happy new year and the best in every aspect of your life.

Peace out!
Elfu

 

[Joltage]

To add on to Elfu's excellent post; we have also received Charmander and Tandemaus. Neither of which got enough usage to even show up on the forum post Elfu linked but they had usages of
| 94 | Charmander | 0.04449% | and
| 124 | Tandemaus | 0.00002% |

The mice were available the entire month from what I understand and Charmander was made available early enough in the month that the extremely low usage of both these mons is more than enough for us to consider them UU. Not like we have a format yet anyway to tell us we're wrong.

Both Charm and Tandemaus seem pretty bad tbh. Charm can maybe find usage on sun teams if those are even viable at all, otherwise both of these guys are headed directly to ru in the future.

I should be able to be a bit more active moving forward and will be updating the basic resources shortly. A slow start for LC UU this gen, but I'm confident that we'll find our feet soon. Thanks guys

 

[Joltage]

New Month = New Shift

The Departures: Deerling Foongus Shellder Shellos Wattrel

Honestly, not too upset about any of the losses, except Wattrel. Shell was pretty busted, Deer is annoying, and Foong and Shellos just aren't that fun to use despite being good presence in the tier. Maybe we see them again someday.

The Arrivals: Bramblin Buizel Houndour Meowth-Galar Snover

We do have some very exciting arrivals however. Bramblin finally gives us a spinner worth using and will be a welcome addition to my builds in particular. Buizel's return means great things for rain especially now that Shroodle is also around. Houndour is a scary mfer in terms of its sheer power, but it is pretty frail, so I'm interested to see how it performs. Meowth-Galar's is also a very welcome addition, I really was liking it as a rocker when it was first down here. Lastly, Snover provides use with an interesting grass type and potentially opens up hail snow as a viable team option, though that is kinda reliant on Cubchoo not being trash like it normally is.

It looks like we (read: I) unfortunately missed our window to be interesting to people this gen between the failed kickoff challenge and not running a more traditional tour instead before seasonal and winter league popped up. Honestly, I feel terrible about it and it looks like LPL, whenever that comes around, is gonna be our first real shot at meta development. I'll of course be around and down to play in the meantime, but general interest in UU seems to be at an all-time low and that's mostly my fault. Sorry y'all.

Anyway, have fun if you do play!

Edit: Oh so we also get Scorbunny Who was UUBL last gen and seems at first glance at least to have been buffed with the addition of Flare Blitz, so we'll see how that goes.

 

[Joltage]

Good news everyone!

We've got a new tour in the works! It's a regular bracket tour and it's only single-elim as well, so sign up for that if you haven't yet!

Also because of this, I have thrown some actual content in the Sample Teams and Viability List posts. Take those with a grain of salt for now, but something is better than nothing, am I right? If you have ideas about the VR or Sample Team(s) you'd like to donate, feel free to post about them here!

 

[Peachy07]

Wanted to give some brief thoughts on the new shifts! (Excluding Buizel and Meowth-G as they were both in UU previously). I've also attached my personal VR as a little bonus to show my thoughts of the meta as a whole.

To the surprise of literally no one, Scorbunny is great. While quite similar to it's not outclassed by Sprigatito nor does it outclass Sprigatito. In fact they pair quite well together, creating a offensive u-turn core that can be potent. Scorbunny can be worn down easily by stealth rocks and flare blitz recoil, but it is still a major threat in the metagame and a top meta pokemon.

I'm so happy this little guy has joined the tier. It gives an actual good hazard remover and matches up great to spin blockers like and . It provides spikes and can keep itself healthy using strength sap, Bramblin will definitely be a metagame staple.

Croagunk is just incredible. It walls major threats in shell smash and , while vacuum wave is incredible for picking off threats like and . While is a big issue for it, Croagunk can tera into a dark type and easily remove Gothita. Croagunk has been a good glue mon for my teams, able to handle several threats in just one team slot.

Houndour is extremely scary to face off against. Whether it's the life orb set or the nasty plot set it will fuck you up. I could easily see this moving up to great tier for the record. It's an excellent sweeper and a great tera abuser, it could very well be too much for the tier to handle.

I honestly don't know how to feel about this mon. It has a lot of bad matchups with all the fire, steel, and poison types (Especially , , , and ) running around. However it does help a lot versus rain teams, and gives a niche. I think Snover will be a matchup fish and not incredible, but you could do worse.

Extra: Houdour completely outclasses it now and creates more competition, see you in RU Litleo.

Closing thoughts: This shift brought a ton of interesting new mons and I'm stoked to have Bramblin and Croagunk. Also HELL YEAH no more Shellder, hate that stupid oyster.

 

[Joltage]

New Month = New Shift
and this one sucks...

Gained: Deerling *Froakie
The only addition we are receiving this month is Deerling, which while being a good mon does lend itself and encourage some more toxic gameplay patterns with its paraflinch set. Not exactly super enthused to have this back at the moment personally.
*Oh Froakie also dropped, we just forgot about it because it was only ou before because it dropped late. Now we can run our triple starter triple protean meme teams! In all actuality, I don't expect it to be that good, but who knows.

Lost: Buizel Chewtle Fuecoco Gothita Impidimp Numel Shroodle Stunky Wingull
We lost an absolute ton of stuff as the LC OU meta became less centralized in the wake of the Giraf ban. The only real surprise of this bunch imo is the loss of Fuecoco which JuanSG will be more sad about than most. The majority of these mons were highly relevant to our LC UU metagame, so it will be interesting to see how the meta reshapes itself in the vacuum. Personally, I'm gonna mourn the loss of Shroodle and try to refill my builder now that the vast majority of my teams are illegal.

Resources will be updated accordingly soon. This shift will not affect the current round of the LC UU tour and will only come into effect at the start of the next round.

 

[Joltage]

Monthly Shifts Post:

Lost: Sandile

Gained: Buizel Chewtle Impidimp Meowth Numel Rowlet Stunky

Sandile moving up is a bit of a surprise to me, but tbh I'm sure it'll return fairly quickly. In terms of our drops all but Meowth and Rowlet have already spent time with us this gen before. Some of our cheese strats are back on the menu with the return of Chewtle and Impidimp in particular. Meowth should be frankly annoying, but fine in terms of power. Honestly might force Chewtle and other set up sweepers to run protect (or tera ghost), which could be nice. Rowlet gives us both a new Defogger and Knock mon which will certainly be welcome additions to the tier and might save our favorite owl pokemon from heading to RU but time will tell as to if it can actually perform well in its roles.

That's all for now. LPL should be starting soon so that'll be our opportunity to really play with this new meta. Have fun!

 

[Drifting]

Numel 6-0’s this tier lol

 

[Joltage]

Hey guys, with LPL on the immediate horizon, I have finally gone and put together sample sets for every mon listed B or higher in our current makeshift VR.

If there's any sets that you think are bad or if you think a mon should have a particular set included that I've missed out on, let me know. Additionally, if there's a mon in the Cs that you really want to submit sets for, hmu.

 

[Joltage]

New shifts and new reasons to hate the LC ladder...

Lost: Bramblin, Meowth, Numel, and Stunky
Gained: Cyndaquil, Oshawott, Sandile and Shellos

We have lost our 1 definitely viable spinner in Bramblin which is a huge blow for all sorts of teams. The additional loss of Meowth and Stunky are also definitely impactful as both served as very strong and impactful members of the meta. Meowth as an excellent anti-cheese mon and revenge killer and Stunky as a versatile sweeper and support mon in its own right. Hopefully we will get all 3 of Bramblin, Stunky, and Meowth back in the future.

Conversely, our final lost mon is something we won't be wanting back in the future as Numel has actually been quickbanned from LC UU by decision of the council regardless. Now effectively, this changes nothing for the time being, but in the event that Numel falls below the usage cutoff in the future, rather than returning to us in LC UU, it will be classified as LC UU BL unless and until we decide to reintroduce it to the meta. Tagging Marty now just to make him aware of that tiering decision for the future. If it gets overlooked in the event Numel drops down again, I will remind them, since right this moment, our ban doesn't really change anything.

As to why Numel got the ax,

Numel 6-0’s this tier lol

Drifting was right
"after an incredibly dominant showing in w1 of LPL, the LC UU council has decided to quickban Numel ahead of w2. The potency of the stockpile body press set provides Numel with an absurd ability to just take over games. While there are options for counterplay, most if not all require the usage of tera and even then, it’s difficult to ensure that you will be able to outlast the Numel as it slowly wears away at you whilst never coming particularly close to dying itself barring timely crits. With Numel coming in as our first bit of tierring action taken this gen, the council will continue to monitor the state of the meta and take action against any other problematic elements that rise up in the wake of Numel’s departure."

Now onto our new additions; Sandile and Shellos both make their returns to LC UU after a brief time away in LC OU. Sandile provides us with a threatening ground type that can fill roles as a Scarf Moxie sweeper and Fast Offensive Rocker, two niches that both find themselves previously unrepresented in the LC UU meta. Shellos also provides us with a previously unrepresented niche in LC UU in a true Bulky Water with reliable recovery (no, Wooper does not count). While Shellos is overall a quite passive mon, its ability to serve as a strong defensive backbone will be greatly appreciated for bulkier teams, and its potential Curse Sweeping set provides it with just enough to be a threat for many teams out there.

Cyndaquil and Oshawott also are making their way to LC UU for the first time this generation having been introduced to the game in the last month. Cyndaquil is likely to be outclassed as a fire type by mons such as Houndour and Salandit, but it does have the niche of packing quite powerful Scarfed Eruptions over those two. Despite that niche, I expect Cyndaquil to be no more than a footnote in the overall LC UU landscape. Unfortunately, the same can be said of our other newcomer, Oshawott, who despite having some interesting options, most notably the very rare Knock Off, fails to really stand out as a particularly compelling mon. Perhaps, I may be proven wrong, but I expect both of our new starters to eventually make their way to LC RU where they may find a bit more success.

That's all for now. Feel free to share any of your thoughts on the meta and any notable observations from the LPL action currently taking place.

 

[Joltage]

It's come to my attention that both Cyndaquil and Oshawott are not currently categorized as legal in the teambuilder. This is an oversight from the previous (April) shift where both of those mons were LC OU not due to usage, but because they had not been introduced to the game for a sufficient amount of time to fall. With the most recent (May) shift, that time issue is no longer a problem and both mons should be considered LC UU. Tagging Marty to make that change when you get a chance please. (no rush)

Until then, technically every LC UU game should be played in LC OU to fully allow each player all of their options. I understand that both of these mons are niche enough to where it likely won't matter overall, but in fairness to anyone that wants to use either of them, the format in which the challenge is sent should not tip an opponent off to the team they will be facing. Thank you for reading and thank you for playing!

 

[Joltage]

New Shifts Time! gotta wait til next month for the new home mons (and voltorb, bc h-torb is absolutely stealing that mon's job)

Gained: Chespin, Fuecoco, Mankey, Sobble

Lost: Sandile

In terms of the additions:
Chespin will be a nice new grass type (not like we don't have plenty of those) that can both set spikes and sort of shut down some relevant pokémon such as Larvitar and Croagunk due to it's Bulletproof ability. With Tera Water or something, it also could wall Salandit. A bulky grass that isn't weak to rocks (Snover) is likely to be quite a nice addition to the tier.
Fuecoco makes a very welcome return to LC UU (JuanSG is surely ecstatic about it). As a bulky unaware mon, Coco provides us with a solid answer to the myriad of set up sweepers we currently have to deal with. With Tera, you can tailor make your Coco to be potentially unkillable between unaware and Tera's ability to avoid potential super effective coverage from things that may threaten its native Fire-typing.
Mankey is a sick addition to the tier. A 17 speed fighting type that can pivot? *insert peter parker glasses meme with mienfoo as the blurry pic and mankey as the clear one* In all seriousness, I am very excited to have Mankey at our disposal. It has an excellent movepool and a pretty neat ability in Defiant to punish? Swablu Defog (not necessarily recommended, but +2 196 Atk Mankey Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 196+ Def Eviolite Swablu: 18-22 (85.7 - 104.7%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO, that's pretty hot if you do get the boost)
Sobble blows. Don't use it.

Losing Sandile is both nice and kinda lame. Sandile provided us with a nice offensive rocker and the Tera Flying Moxie set were both fun and very threatening. We'll see if we get it back, but for now, I wish the croc luck in OU.

That's all for now. See you next month!

 

[Joltage]

Hey everyone!

Just posting to update that the council has finally gotten around to voting on an official VR following the LPL season. LPL was great for meta development and you'll notice some less traditional mons at the top of our rankings. Most mons at the higher ranks have sample sets available by clicking their names, those that don't will get them eventually.

We are also in the process of getting a collection of sample teams together for our next tour. And July will deliver us yet another shift that will likely completely shake up the meta, but we'll adjust accordingly.

When I find time, I'll also do my post tournament team dump as well. Have fun y'all!

 

[reggg]

Hello everyone! LPL is now over for me, having just finished my last game, and I wanted to jump right into a team dump and talk about LC UU a bit.

Week 1 vs Albi: "Numel 6-0's this tier lol" - Drifting

https://pokepast.es/cdc896842c6c29f2

To be perfectly honest, my only LC UU experience going into LPL was 4 games at the beginning of the gen, so when I was drafted by the Magnemite Minors and put into UU, I wasn't very sure what I was doing. However, I did know that Numel was extremely stupid. The combination of Simple, Stockpile, and Tera in a UU meta was just too strong. I threw on 5 mons + Numel won, apologies to Albi for that one. Thankfully Numel was quickbanned right after w1.


Week 2 vs NotJackewu: The Smiling Friends

https://pokepast.es/f52d75d61c23f171

The monthly shift had us losing Bramblin, the best spinner in the tier, and getting Sandile. For this week I knew I wanted to use Swablu, I had played Joltage in test games in the previous week and he had Swablu putting in good work. He is also the one who suggested tera blast flying sandile to me. Sandile was a major threat, its combination of moxie, eq, crunch, and tera blast fly let it snowball very easily all while hitting most of the tier super effectively. In the game, Jack brought webs which Swablu absolutely shuts down, and tera fly Sandile cleaned the game.


Week 3 vs JuanSG: Vinland Saga

https://pokepast.es/b7c264ef78729d21

Going into this week I knew I had to prepare more than before, Juan is a very good player and I was still very new. Juan is known for his love of bulky teams and fat mons, and in my attempt to think of a team, I found Larvitar. Now that Bramblin was gone, Swablu was the clear #1 form of hazard removal. It is an extremely bulky mon that was very threatening with stab hurricane and heatwave to hit Meowth-G, one of the best stealth rockers. Larvitar gave me an automatic switch in to Swablu and non-tera Salandit, as well as threatening the other fat mons Juan liked to use, things like Nacli and Meowth-G. The idea of the team that I built around Larv was a t-spikes Salandit combined with double ground in scarf Sandile and Larv to threaten the poison types that want to absorb the t-spikes. In the game, I played poorly and was down multiple mons, but Larvitar was able to get a dd off and sweep Juan. This was not without some luck, opposing sandile getting a low roll on tera water Larv and Swablu missing heat wave, but I was very happy with my bring of Larvitar. This was a major meta development and led to Larvitar being second in overall usage throughout the rest of LPL, despite it not being used at all up to this point.

Week 4 vs HanPyol: Brock Purdy Revenge Game

https://pokepast.es/3dba70da84c51e59

Nothing super special about this team, I wanted to try out HO screens and so I stole a team CorckScrew used previously and put Larvitar over Bronzor. The team worked extremely well, Tera Ghost Teddiursa able to sweep the team after getting an SD off behind screens.


Week 5 vs Zeroouttathere: The Looney Tunes

https://pokepast.es/4e5372dfd63c4cf8

This is probably my favorite team I made all LPL. With Larvitar becoming a major threat, I decided to use Wooper which always can switch into an EQ and not be 2hko'd. I also decided to use Avalanche, which let me hit Swablu, and in the game vs Zero it let me get a crucial KO on a switch to Deerling. The team also features an eviolite Impidimp with no reflect, and an SD copycat Riolu. Imp was useful in the game, but unfortunely I wasn't able to let Riolu shine in the game. A very fun match vs Zero with a Wooper vs Shellos stall war.

Week 6 vs Joltage: Berserk

https://pokepast.es/3a9d2571f8987cbb

The new month's shifts had us lose Sandile and gain Fuecoco, Chespin, and Mankey. This team featured another screens team, similar to week 4, but this time with Sinistea, Belly Drum Chespin, and taunt Axew to break Fuecoco. In the match, Joltage made a great bring vs me with AcroCat Sprigatito. Up to this point, I had used Croagunk and Larvitar in every game since w3, and I didn't have a great answer for it. In the final turns of the game, he revealed Tailwind Fletchling after my attempts at dd'ing with tera fly Larvitar to win the game. He was able to outspeed with Sprigatito and handed me my first loss in a close game.


Week 7 vs Gali: Revenge of the Scrubs

https://pokepast.es/821741987a4003ec

Gali, manager of the Scrubs, had to sub in last minute to play me for the final regular season game. I was busy enough at this time that I sadly didn't even come up with a team name theme and wasn't as prepared, but I did really like the combination of Croagunk and Houndour. They cover each other's weaknesses well, and Deerling, Slowpoke, and Swablu helped create a solid defensive core. In the game, Gali played great and showed a life orb croagunk that surprised me and KO'd my slowpoke. It was a close endgame, but Gali's scarf mankey cleaned up.


Semifinals vs EK Mike in Abyss: Hunter x Hunter and the Revenge of the Pigeon

https://pokepast.es/a43a8e248e55de7c

Knowing I would be facing another Juan team, I decided to try to bring taunt Axew again, it does very well into the unaware mons that I was expecting. Slowpoke was becoming more popular as it is probably the single best answer to mankey, a major threat in the tier since dropping. NP Salandit and eviolite imp provided me another set up mon and a pivot. A decided not to bring either Croagunk or Larvitar for the first time all season in an attempt to catch them off guard, and I think this was a good call as I faced another Sprigatito. Tera Fairy slowpoke was the hero of this match, securing the final KO on Sprigatito and just being an overall great defensive mon.


Finals vs MTB: Foul Tarnished, in Search of the Elden Ring

https://pokepast.es/d8384bd1836ff5e0

One of my favorite teams of the season, I was inspired by the Joltage team Gali used versus me. Life Orb Croagunk is a major threat, and can catch things off guard. This is especially true with the recent usage of slowpoke, with lo shadow ball being a 99% to 2hko. The other highlight of the team is Tera Electric Larvitar. This lets me set up on anything that want to twave in return, like Impidimp, Slowpoke, and Deerling. Both gunk and larv shined in the match, Croagunk ko'ing slowpoke and Larvitar setting up on a Deerling Twave to win the game.


Final Thoughts:

I went into LPL with no LC UU experience, and came out enjoying it much more than any other gen9 meta I have played and becoming apart of the LC UU Council. I highly encourage everyone to try out the tier, overall it is a great meta (except Deerling). A thank you especially to Peachy07, Joltage, and zeroouttathere for team support, test games, and advice throughout the season.

 

[Albi]

Hi LCUU fans! Albi here with the usual (but first in gen 9!) LPL post where I share my teams so you can use them and auto lose because shifts are tomorrow and they are gonna have illegal mons

w1 - regg
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1853497190

https://pokepast.es/507e8f63ad4d0787
Was very excited to use the cat again, alongside some other dumb stuff like Chewtle (tera ghost to bop meowth and croagunk) and Scorbunny, with Stunky Memento support. Unfortunately I didn't realize what was Numel's true potential, brought a bad set, got 6-0'd by the good one. Tera ground Bramblin was a good Stunky lure.
Still, this team was very fun to click buttons with, unfortunately there was something more broken around back then.

w2 - Juan
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1859427446

https://pokepast.es/494652bea9dc3cf0
Really really liked this team, Twitt built it and I don't think it's ever lost a test, even the ones after the week. Skrelp was amazing at handling the many fire types in the tier, alongside Growlithe. Swablu and Meowth provided a good bulky core, Snover was the Chewtle answer (thanks to snow it lives a +2 Tera dark crunch even after rocks iirc), and Sandile the very good scarfer with tera fly giving it all the coverage it needs. The only game this team lost was the one that counted lol, tho it came down to a lot of very tense 50/50s where Juan read my mind like 4 turns in a row.

w3 - zero
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1868469874

https://pokepast.es/8f0e22294e156461
Another very bulky team, built around Maku (double prio because cheese setup and slow team), softening stuff for deer and houndour to clean later, no form of speed control other than twave deer, but good bulk to outlast most stuff. I honestly was disappointed in Houndour in general but brought it anyway, back then it tied with Sandile that was very common, and slower than salandit and deerling. Idk, i didnt really like it. Skrelp was my goat again and Nacli the swablu answer.
Game was fun, again very long and very close, this time i managed to clutch a bit more 50/50s and brought it home.

w4 - NotJackeru
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1872885876-fww9tvwgp29vtuni52m05o2c4cursejpw

https://pokepast.es/8bfc4b47e9f1d8d4
Larvitar was everywhere now, so I brought it, and I brought the "best" answer Wooper, as in the one that nobody ever brought to a game and was only tasked with checking larvitar, but the MADMAN somehow hacked my prep channel and brought the perfect lure tera blast grass larvitar, thus tilting me so much and ultimately winning (but Chespin was illegal at the time so I won).
Other than woop, swablu larv and deer are self-explanatory as basically best mons, then the double poison core with croagunk and salandit was very fun to use, with sal being a demon if it ever sets a np.

w5 - Joltage
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lc-1877580388

https://pokepast.es/9d9cca3d75f80566
Stole reg's screens team from the week prior (that he stole from Corckscrew to begin with, can't believe uu'ers laziness) cause I thought teddi was insane, and i liked scarf snover so i wanted to bring both and slapped them in a structure that looked fine for HO. Despite some garbage play at the beginning i managed to clutch the game at the end thanks to a hail mary shadow ball in front of a houndour that tera ghosted (we all love these tera mind games am i right)

w6 - Greedy
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1882772664-9kvwj4qpx4lzrc6ifbugue7hvmj1zo6pw

https://pokepast.es/629ceb7a7aa3def7
I really tried to make volturn work cause i was nostalgic of last gen where it was so easy to pull off. I do like the froakie tadbulb mankey core in general, but this team might have had some holes that I didn't really bother to fix cause i had too much fun using it in tests. Some early misplays and a freeze on Chespin kinda doomed me, but you will see me bring a similar team again until i make these guys work.

w7 - MTB
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9lcuu-1885829002-449a7gmui2lcm83hzr1ti1qeq7rt6nkpw
stole a broken Juan team and got blessed by yellow magic at the end

playoffs

https://pokepast.es/11f35e5e078ba584
I didnt get to playoffs but built this for MTB and he used it in semis and finals. Para spam deerling is kinda broken and this team has an easy time spreading it. Imp handles a lot of cheese. Maku was there because both his opponents had decent houndour usage (not that maku reeeally stops it but at least it forces some progress). Double prio maku is still my favourite set cause of random setup but eq over fake out is certain viable especially if expecting a Croagunk.


Deerling is a bit dumb rn and very wasy to slap on teams, but we are getting at least one twave immune this shift (Voltorb) so I'd wait before any action.
The tier is very fun to play and has a lot of options to choose from, bit of a headache to build but we'll figure it out by stealing Juan teams and ending up in mirror matches that take 150 turns.

Cheers to another LPL season!
I was happy to get back into serious mode try harding LCUU, and I'm definitely looking forward to the next meta developments with shifts and whatnot.
Special thanks to my bronzors zeroouttathere and Peachy07, and TWiTT for the help with builds. Also Joltage especially early tour we played like 30 test games (you had 30 teams, I had one bad team i kept tweaking until it was semi decent)
See you in LLL!