LC Player of the Week 7: Shrug

Corporal Levi

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Up to now, Shrug has developed his reputation primarily on spreading his political views far and wide, as well as some controversial ORAS metagame posts, but beneath his pale complexion lies a formidable LC player who has taken on Snake Draft by storm. Though he was always acknowledged as a solid battler and creative teambuilder, nobody could have expected him to end round 1 of Snake 3-0. As of round 2, he still boasts a good record of 4-2; will he be able to carry Starmaster on his back to a trophy?

Player of the Week 7: Shrug


What are your political stances and why?

hm running through my stance on a list of issues would be boring and shitty, so i'll just say my overall political beliefs center around improving the material conditions of people and ensuring they have the ability to live their lives with dignity. im a big rights guy - constitutional ones, civil ones, human sometimes aswell.

What about your stances on Little Cup politics? What do you like most about our community? How do you think we can further improve?

Little Cup politics... now thats a subject i do not engage in. i think our community is very inclusive, which is maybe it's strongest point - we're willing to take in anyone who likes little cup and find them a social niche. We can further improve our collective showing in tournaments, which we seem to be doing already, but it'll be solidified when future slam finals are me vs. Brazilian Army.

Outside of yourself and Brazilian Army, which players are you most looking forward to watching in future LC tours?

I think fiend hound is going to be back in a big way later this year, probably with his typical teams that have resistances to less that 1/3 of the type chart but still manage to win - maybe shades of his semifinal (quarterfinal?) open run that ended unjustly. pumped to see dundies, a star communist in lcpl, choke people out with his bulky balances. tko has some fire HOs in the teambuilder which always makes games exciting. honestly i like watching a lot of players, hopefully i get to see a bunch of good games in person

What were your thoughts on how LCPL went? How did you feel of your team's performance? Would you draft differently if you had the chance?

I think lcpl went well overall, a good team won and it was a tight series in the final. I was proud of my team, we were close until the last week off of a furious start. I dont think i would draft differently - I earnestly believe with some better fortune in the middle weeks we'd have been legitimate contenders for the title, and I liked everyone on the team too much to not have picked them up.

What are your thoughts on Snake draft so far? How do you feel about being drafted? About being on the same team as Star?

snake draft has been great for me so far in terms of my team atmosphere. thanks to ict and Poek, snake's dominant manager duo, for picking me up, and to Star for stumping for me for some reason lol. much love to all my teammates too. We've seen a couple lc matches thus far and there hasnt been any groundbreaking innovations or dominant playstyles but im looking forward to seeing that (and the meta) change over the course of the 8 weeks. i love starm despite his fixation with posting graphic incest hentai in the lc chat of our team discord.

How do you feel about the current state of SM LC? Do you feel it is an improvement from ORAS LC? From older gens?

oh i really like sm lc. lots of new dynamics, and i feel people have built around the initial staleness brought by onix + staryu cores - they can be pretty easily taken apart and often leave their users on the backfoot against aggressively-played teams that commit to opening them up. Still good for beating dudes on the ladder but that's not a sign of metagame domination by any stretch. few things that maybe dampen my enthusiasm slightly: abra, which really does define a playstyle (webs) that has seen heavy usage in high-level situs as well as having a massive impact in every game it is brought to; vullaby, whose panoply of effective sets means u need to keep more counters alive for longer than u might be able to; torchic, which provides a threat on its own great enough to force the defending party into a position where they might not be able to stop the next boosted threat; and diglett / wynaut, who change game dynamics in interesting ways for sure. spirited debates could be had about all of these of course.
as for a comparison to other metagames, i think i like sm lc more, but thats not a claim with any objective basis. i think im just better at it as a result of getting better at pkmn over time, making me like it more.


What are some Pokemon you feel are underrated or overrated in the current metagame?

I feel like salandit is p underrated. Good stabs, good speed tier, p powerful. Uhhhhh grimer-a is overrated, it often has trouble impacting games where it doesnt have a clear purpose.

You brought up Berry Juice as potentially banworthy last gen - would you still consider it banworthy? What about other major items?

hm my argument for banning gen 6 berry juice was sort of weird and context-specific - basically, i wanted dig gone as well as berry juice and (i think) abra, which i felt would make the metagame better by reducing the number of stupid things like zigzagoon, freeing floon, etc. i dont think id still advocate for this from like a council position, but it is interesting to think about a gen 6 meta without dig goth abra pony and berry juice. i can see it being a lot more fun and better overall, but thats a radical change that isnt appropriate for an old metagame. would be fun for a minitour, though.

What are your thoughts on potential retests?

hm i think missy, floon, goth etc are p clearly broken and dont need to be retested. only one i could see would be cutiefly, and only if we decide to ban baton pass, which we should probably consider with how quickly torchic has come to play a huge role in this meta almost out of nowhere.

Do you think that the metagame still has room to significantly develop without altering the banlist?

no, i dont think so. there's nothing left to be mined from the movepools of the current most powerful mons, and i cant forsee something like a drifloon showing up and changing the metagame drastically. i think there will be shifts in the vougish dominant element - torchicpass, webs, birdspam, etc - but the fundamental composition of the meta will remain the same imo.

Finally, do you have a team that you would like to share with us?

Spritzee @ Eviolite
Ability: Aroma Veil
Level: 5
EVs: 212 HP / 196 Def / 12 SpA / 76 SpD / 12 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Wish
- Protect
- Moonblast
- Reflect

Pawniard @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Pursuit

Vullaby @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 76 Def / 76 SpA / 76 SpD / 116 Spe
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- U-turn
- Heat Wave

Snivy @ Normalium Z
Ability: Contrary
Level: 5
EVs: 236 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Wring Out
- Knock Off
- Glare

Scraggy @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- Drain Punch
- Iron Head

Staryu @ Eviolite
Ability: Analytic
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 200 SpA / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Rapid Spin

here you go, a team that tries to unlock opposing defensive cores and force a wincon through the door. z-snivy knocks down poison types for scraggy, staryu's hp fire allows ferro to die so z-wring works, etc. pursuit pawn breaks down like abra etc.

Thanks for the answers, Shrug!
 
dear shrug.

greetings and salutations.

i have a question.

dont you think its time for a namechange.

i feel like shrug is an edgy nick and not accurately representative of how woke you are.

thank you for your time.

infamy.

ps you should write a book about koalas or something else you find interesting and i would buy it because i am your internet pokemon friend.

pps we are friends right.

ppps i suggest goaoslayer for your new name.

pppps thoughts on word knurl.
 
Last edited:

Fille

Afk
is a Pre-Contributor
LCPL Champion
Since when did communism seem like such an appealing idealism ?

BA cousins or Dundies? Fuck/Dump

enjoy your privilege
 

Shrug

is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past SCL Champion
LCPL Champion
i dont want to face my inability to write at a college level so instead of an essay imma respond to these

infamy said:
dear shrug.

greetings and salutations.

i have a question.

dont you think its time for a namechange.

i feel like shrug is an edgy nick and not accurately representative of how woke you are.

thank you for your time.

infamy.

ps you should write a book about koalas or something else you find interesting and i would buy it because i am your internet pokemon friend.

pps we are friends right.

ppps i suggest goaoslayer for your new name.

pppps thoughts on word knurl.
I do not. shrug isnt an edgelord name i dont think - im not like dragonslayerxXx69 or whatever. namechanges are almost always bad unless theyre just a becoming of what people called you already. i also like that it cannot be abbreviated, like my irl name. in fact its almost exactly like my irl name which is weird.

if i wrote a book it would be about some stupid bullshit like my feelings while driving around, because while i hate talking about myself i also hate talking about everything else.

we are indeed friends

nope, never associate with cops tryna frame ppl to make themselves feel better.

good word, the soundgroove in the middle jives well with the meaning

gummy said:
got me

PD said:
Egg nog or horchata ?
first girl i ever loved's mom once gave my parents alcoholic eggnog as a christmas gift. my parents never drink eggnog and really never drink alc, so one night i pounded the mason jar and got pleasantly inebriated and almost fell off my tredmill while running. so that for the memory.

felines said:
How does it feel having a Vullaby set named after you?
most ppl have celebratory namings after their death, i achieved it before. there are like 4000000 cities named "alexandria" but that dude bit it before he could see em all, so im superior to him. pretty good it feels

rssp1 said:
what are your thoughts on scarf abra, especially with regards to the following replay? http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pokebanklc-514859101

if you want to talk about abra as a whole i wont stop you
fuck this mon fr.

fille said:
Since when did communism seem like such an appealing idealism ?

BA cousins or Dundies? Fuck/Dump

enjoy your privilege
since i got kicked out of college and had to get a job, and i made 10 dollars an hour and basically had my surplus value gobbled up by a collection of the biggest dumbest apes on the planet, and one day i went to wendys on my break and got myself a baconator which is the best meal and it was like 10.02 and i thought hm, i traded an hour of my precious valuable life to impose myself on some poor guy or lady to make me this delicious disgusting thing, and im going to put it in me, for an hour closer to death. so yea. no one should die from a lack of resources. more power

i think Dundies would kill me too so its only fair

im certainly going to
 

Merritt

no comment
is a Tournament Directoris a Site Content Manageris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host
Head TD
congrats shrug!

what are you thoughts on snake draft not in the context of lc but in the context of how it's gone overall considering that there hasn't been a single week without something coming to light every single week so far?

what kind of projects do you want to see happen in lc?
 

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