Pokémon Global Link Little Cup

[BugCatcher6]

Hello all.

I posted a few days ago in the RMT section about the upcoming PGL Little Cup. With the Nintendo format only banning the items Eviolite and Soul Dew and the moves Sonic Boom and Dragon Rage, this is set to be a really hyper offensive battle. Also being 3vs3 changes how the play will go and if setting up is worth it.

I managed to get my first round in last night. I have not battle competitively since last year and battle LC in even longer.

I did manage to go 12-3 for the day.

I think my success was due to the few replies I did get in the RMT. Although it did not play a huge part, changing my Mienfoo's hold item to a Coba Berry as suggested on the RMT did manage to save me the 1 time my Mienfoo did get hit by a Flying attack. Enough to let me retreat and Regenerate.

I changed my Mienfoo's Drain Punch to High Jump Kick and the first time I got to use High Jump Kick my opponent Protected and I was dropped to 11 HP.

I have an issue with lower accuracy moves, always going for a sure hit is my style over a potential OHKO or miss.

Icicle Crash missed more than I expect with my Sneasel, which was directly linked to 1 of my losses.

Being that this is a Nintendo format and not a Smogon rules, I thought there would be a lot more of the Smogon Banned Pokémon in battles.

Scyther, Sneasel, and Swirlix were the standouts. I was surprised not to see more Tangela, Gligar, Yanma, and Meditite, I saw none in 15 battles.

1 of my losses came to a lead Scyther, which that battle was odd because my Sneasel was outsped late in the battle by a Makuhita. Which I assume was holding a Quick Claw or Custap Berry.

Sneasel was completely dominant in this format so far. Scyther not so much, but I can see why it would be banned with an Eviolite.

Swirlix, I faced 1 and saw about 7 on my opponents' teams.

All the 1 I faced was I was prepared for. I got in my quick Fake Out and then a Knock off, not an ideal attack but it did stop Swirlix from healing after his Belly Drum.

Anyone else battling in this event? Any surprises for you so far? My only surprise so far was the quick moving Makuhita, which after having Scyther lead and crippled my counters, Makuhita moving 1st to OHKO my Sneasel was shocking.

My PGL LC Team​

Edit:

Hmm looks like nobody is participating in the PGL LC event.

So I will finish discussing my play and maybe others are waiting until the tournament is over.

Day 2 was not as kind to me as my opening day 12-3. I went 7-8 on day 2. The teams on Day 2 and Day 3 were so beefed up compared to Day 1.

I can bank that Gligar, Sneasel, Scyther, Swirlix, and Gastly will be the most used Pokémon when the stats are in. My team did well against Sneasel, Scyther, and Gastly. Swirlix I was about 50/50 against, seems people were opting for the special version. Gligar just manhandled my team.

I was surprised by a Timburr on Day 3. My only real counter to Fighting types was my Dazzling Gleam Chinchou. Poor planning on my side. I did have my Mienfoo with Drain Punch and changed it to Hi Jump Kick, and Drain Punch was rampant and dominating in this format. Hi Jump Kick cost me a few times with misses and Protects causing me damage.

Not many surprises, no diamonds in the rough so to speak.

Another thing my team lacked was a good counter to Earthquake. Amaura on my team I don't think I got but 1 Blizzard off the entire tournament, only used him about 6 times though. Mostly OHKO'd.

On day 3 I was 9-6 and finish the tournament at 28-17. A little disappointing, since my team did test well without Sneasel and Onix. I messed up and forget to give my Ponyta Wild Charge, not sure how I made that mistake. I switched Anorith with Onix for the extra bulk, and I missed the Aqua Jet Anorith had.

Good tournament and I wish GameFreak would somehow put in the feature to do LC battles on the Battle Spot or as a battle option for pvp.

 

[Psynergy]

I actually participated in this but it seems many people here don't these days. The more people the better though, especially since Battle Spot ladders tend to be more competitive than any of the Showdown ladders (surprisingly enough) due to the larger Japanese playerbase. Sneasel was definitely the most broken thing though, there was literally no reason not to use one.

Called it at 29 battles, ended 23-6 and decided I was satisfied with my results. Should be somewhere around 1700 which is decent. Sneasels with a Fighting move (PuP, Low Sweep), Tirtouga and the one game where Stealth Rock appeared were what I struggled with the most, otherwise I'm satisfied with how things went given my lack of knowledge in LC. Diglett felt like my weakest member though, it never contributed much to the games where I did bring it but it wasn't useless. Sneasel, Honedge and Houndour were the most consistent though, since Fletchling didn't always have a good enough matchup to warrant bringing. Magnemite, while getting less use than I'd hoped, did have a good role in letting me Recycle stall out Light Screen turns in one game for Houndour to clean up. Breeding and EV training this team was worth the effort though.

Spoiler: Team Spreads

Magnemite @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 236 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Flash Cannon
- Volt Switch
- Recycle
- Thunderbolt

Sneasel @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Shard
- Knock Off
- Icicle Crash
- Fake Out

Fletchling
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Atk / 92 Def / 52 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Acrobatics
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Roost

Diglett @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Sucker Punch
- Stealth Rock

Honedge @ Colbur Berry
Ability: No Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 116 Def / 140 SpD / 52 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Sacred Sword
- Iron Head
- Rock Slide
- Shadow Sneak

Houndour @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 5
EVs: 36 Def / 196 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Fire Blast
- Flamethrower
- Dark Pulse
- Destiny Bond

As far as moves though, honestly U-turn on Fletchling was the only one I fully regretted. Stealth Rock also didn't get any use but I don't know what else could've worked there, maybe Protect to preserve the Sash against Fake Out spam but oh well.

 

[BugCatcher6]

I noticed a lot of the other Sneasels in the event did not carry a Fighting move. I was really disappointed in the number of misses I had with Icicle Crash. The 30% chance to flinch, I had absolutely 0 flinches from it.

I was also surprised at the number of people that tried to Fake Out my Sneasel. I did see 1 Pickpocket Sneasel and it did take my Life Orb and hit me hard, but also fainted himself from the recoil.

The one thing that I found enjoyable was the given the right timing some unique Pokémon became threats.

I wish this would become a permanent feature of the battle spot or when challenging friends.

 

[Creyk]

I played 17 battles on this, won 12, lost 5, then I got bored. It was so boring, since every battle was the same: Scyther - Sneasel - Random third pokemon
Okay i get it everybody brought those but after the fifth time it was redundant as hell, specially when Using my Abra and some predicting I crushed them effortlessly most of the time
I did have a memorable battle with a person who only used fire type pokemon. My tentacool had a field day with him
And also, I only sent out my Snover once, but in that one time he did really well, hit that dark type kitten pokemon through attract and being paralyzed, and then deal major damage to the scyther next turn with ice shards

 

[BugCatcher6]

My favorite was battle 45.

My opponent Swaggered my Onix and I swept his team while I was confused. His team Murkrow, Sneasel, Scyther all fell to Rock Blast.

 

[EKZ1505]

I enjoyed the PGL Little Cup since it was just a nice change of pace compared to past competitions, but I agree towards the end I was bored of it as well, as this was the first PGL tournament that I didn't complete the maximum number of battles. Most highly-ranked teams I faced did have the same 6-8 Pokemon, so that likely contributed to the battle fatigue.

My Tirtouga was the star of my team, even though I majorly screwed up and forgot to give it an Ability Capsule to change his ability to Sturdy. Solid Rock was still decent, but the lack of having Sturdy definitely cost me a few battles. Shell Smash+Berry Juice recovery, combined with two STAB moves with solid base power and a chance to cause a flinch (Rock Slide and Waterfall), as well as priority in Aqua Jet, was something most teams couldn't handle. Being able to predict when my opponent's Sturdy Pokemon had the Berry Juice, however, was definitely the key in many of my victories, as I would use a weaker move that wouldn't activate the Berry Juice, and then use a stronger move to KO that Pokemon the following turn. My Explosion Magnemite was the most fun to use though, for obvious reasons.

Sneasel was overall the best Pokemon I used/faced, but looking back I do wish I had given mine a fighting move over Ice Punch.
I wouldn't mind seeing a Little Cup option on Battle Spot (even if it's just in free battles), but banning certain Pokemon like Smogon does for their Little Cup tier would have to be considered for me to even think about spending more time on it.

 

[Mye]

If they do make LC an official "thing" for battle spot, I would at the very least love to see something in which they allowed pokemon with a BST under 350 as well. Certain crappy pokemon (luvdisc) could be made so much better if they had a tier to roam around in, while not being too OP due to luvdisc's offenses being pretty "meh" even for that tier's standards.

 

[BugCatcher6]

I ranked #692 out of 7,509. My highest rank ever.

Thank you everyone that provided feedback on my PGL LC RMT.

On to the 2015 International Challenge June now.

 

[Psynergy]

Oh huh, without even finishing all of my battles I got 126th place (10th in the US). Maybe I'm just not familiar enough with these competitions but I expected more participants than 7509. I could have probably gone even higher but I'm satisfied with my result.

 

[Creyk]

Do we know what the winner got? Was there a reward?

 

[Psynergy]

Do we know what the winner got? Was there a reward?

The reward is basically just the 1000 Pokemiles if I'm not mistaken. No special Pokemon or item, which could possibly explain why there wasn't more people participating in this compared to other events in the past.