Oma
Favorite Pokemon: Omastar
Most Used Pokemon: Pawniard
Known For: LC Room Driver, Team Rater, Ice Beaming the Porygon
Tell us a little about yourself.
Hello! I'm a high school junior from the great state of Ohio. I'm pretty outgoing in real life and try to be as friendly as possible. Besides playing Pokemon and doing school work I'm part of my school's Science Olympiad team. Science Olympiad's basically a club where kids with an interest in science and engineering go to tournaments to compete and show their knowledge in specific areas of science. It's a lot of fun and I've met some truly amazing people through it. My team was able to get 4th in the nation last year, and we hope to do even better this year! Beyond school, SO, and mons I don't do a lot but I love listening to music and reading about current events.
How and when did you get your start in LC? Do you remember your first team?
I first heard about LC like two years ago and thought it was a really neat concept, but I never made a team or even started playing on PS until much later. I had done some research about LC, but all the resources I read were from BW, so I had a vastly inaccurate idea of the metagame. For example, I didn't know what the fairies did and I thought Sand Rush was really good. As I said I didn't start playing until a few months afterward, and there's a funny story behind the time I actually did. At the end of the school year I had an exam that required computers, and it was only going to take half an hour out of the allotted two hours. So after I turned in my exam, I decided to register an account on Pokemon Showdown and start building a team. Like I said I thought sand was great, and I also didn't know that Smogon had no item clause because I had played tons of ingame before this. So my first team was like Smooth Rock Hippo / Passho Berry Drilbur / Scarf Thunder Magnemite / Rock Polish Aron / Shell Smash Dwebble / Manual Sand Lileep. Needless to say it didn't do great, but it was fun enough that I decided to keep playing LC.
What's your favorite aspect of LC?
My favorite aspect of Little Cup is the fast pace of the games. Being able to have a quick match or play in a half hour room tour is really nice as opposed to some other tiers where the viability of stall means that some battles could last well over a hundred turns. I also like how LC is really balanced and you can use a wide variety of Pokemon and playstyles without a great disadvantage.
Is there any mon, playstyle, etc. that you feel is underrated in LC? Anything you find overrated?
Honestly most things in LC get the appreciation they deserve, but one thing I think is underrated is good old Swords Dance Pawniard. Because people run Mienfoo on like every team most Pawniard tend to be utility sets with Stealth Rock, but because lots of people use Foo and then don't add more Pawn checks due to Mienfoo's nearly guaranteed ability to counter Pawniard, many teams are really weak to Pawniard+Gothita. If I had to call something overrated, it would probably be the bulky stuff that doesn't do a lot offensively like AromaSpritz, Ferroseed, Mienfoo lacking High Jump Kick, and fat Staryu. Like sure it takes hits but it's also giving out precious turns to the opponent in many cases.
If you could change something about the current metagame, what would you change? Is there anything that strikes you as BROKEN?
The metagame right now is extremely balanced, so I wouldn't do anything to change it. The only thing that seems remotely close to broken to me would be Abra because it 2HKOes everything except dedicated counters like Stunky, but it's easy to revenge kill and can't come in on anything. The sash set is just a little too weak to do its job in a lot of cases, plus some set-up sweepers like Omanyte and Scraggy have access to mult-hit moves so that Abra can do nothing to them even if it's saved until they set up.
Any LC players in particular that you look up to or respect?
The LC player that probably did the most to get me into the community and help me improve as a player was Corporal Levi. Great guy to talk to and he was always able to do test battles or give advice. He also inspired me to start rating teams so I have to thank him for that. dsr95 was also really fun to talk to and made me feel welcome in the community when I was first starting. Shoutouts to all of the Lego Fan Club, y'all are great and a big reason I'm still playing this game.
Any advice for new LC players?
Get involved! Start posting on the forums, ask questions on PS!, do whatever as long as you're participating. Talking about LC with other people is a great way to get better at LC, as they have different perspectives about teambuilding or playing that you can use to improve your own building or playing. We love to see new people contribute positively to LC, so don't be shy!
Do you have a team you'd be willing to share with us?
I'd like to share a team of mine so here's a really fun team that I've used for various live tours or just for fun:
Dwebble @ Berry Juice
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
Gothita @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt
Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Def / 36 SpD / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Dazzling Gleam
- Encore
- Memento
Omanyte @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
Ability: Sturdy
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Shell Smash
- Rock Blast
- Earthquake
Gothita @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 240 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Trick
Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Taunt
Cottonee @ Eviolite
Ability: Prankster
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 116 Def / 36 SpD / 228 Spe
Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Dazzling Gleam
- Encore
- Memento
Omanyte @ Eviolite
Ability: Shell Armor
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 196 SpA / 236 Spe
Modest Nature
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
I decided to build around Shell Smash Dwebble+Omanyte because I realized that most teams only run like one Shell Smash check, which is typically Goth food. Dwebble is great because Sturdy lets it set up a Shell Smash against nearly any opposing Pokemon, or get up Stealth Rock if it would rather smash later. By setting up Dwebble acts as an immediate threat and forces a Shell Smash check like Timburr or Ferroseed in really early, and Gothita can pick them off after Earthquake damage. Mienfoo is Mienfoo, it's here to check Pawniard and Taunt things. Pawniard was added as another Fletch check and to abuse GothPawn, so even if Dwebble and Omanyte can't win Pawn can clean up. Cottonee is a blanket check to a lot of stuff I didn't have answers to and provides Memento support for my 3 set-up sweepers. It's a pretty mindless team and it's really fun to use.
Lastly, why did you Ice Beam the Porygon?
According to Drive-Reduction theory, motivation is caused by a desire to reduce the brain's demand for a certain necessity. Perhaps my decision to use Ice Beam on the Porygon was guided by an incessant, unconscious need to target the Porygon, and this desire would be shared by all humans. More research into Porygon studies needs to be done in order to fully answer your question.
