Shapes of Things to Come: A Little Cup Warstory

v

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It was July 16 of 2008, mid-summer. I was at my Grandparents’ house in Michigan and I was getting ready for Round 2 of the first big LCF Tourney, having won the first round by default. I was still green behind the ears, only having played Pokemon competitively since late June and Little Cup for a week or two. Obviously, since Tenta was one of the more experienced and active members on the forum while I was simply a lowly noob, I didn’t have very high expectations of myself. Little did I know, my unique sets and stranger thought processes would make this a match for the ages, one that would foreshadow the Metagame to come, popularizing Meowth leads, Bellywag and Elekid sweepers, SubKrow even, while still keeping a firm rooting in the Metagame of the day, with SubPunch Gunk and Abra.

My Team At a Glance:


Opponent’s Team At a Glance:



Rules: Evasion Clause, Freeze Clause, OHKO Clause, Sleep Clause, Species Clause, Timed Battle
Vader sent out The Mighty Thor (lvl 5 Croagunk ?).
tentaintcool sent out Meowth (lvl 5 Meowth ?).
Vader: gl
tentaintcool: You too :)
Meowth used Fake Out.
The Mighty Thor lost 74% of its health.
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
The Mighty Thor flinched!
Opening up with the power of…Good Sportsmanship!! Not surprised at all at the Fake Out. Fake Out is a staple on Meowth leads. If I’d had a ghost, I would’ve switched to it. I figured that losing Croagunk was nothing major.
---
tentaintcool switched in Croagunk (lvl 5 Croagunk ?).
The Mighty Thor used Vacuum Wave.
It's not very effective...
Croagunk lost 18% of its health.
The Mighty Thor lost 5% of its health.
Here I’d been hoping for a KO on Meowth via Vacuum Wave, since they so frequently switch out with U-Turn. Unfortunately, Tenta outpredicted me. I wasn’t sure what kind of Croagunk he was running, so I decided I’d try to take advantage of his Dry Skin…
---
Vader switched in Magby (lvl 5 Magby ?).
Croagunk used Substitute.
Croagunk lost 23% of its health.
Croagunk made a substitute!
Ugh. A free sub is never good. Especially when I still don’t know what Gunk he’s running. I have a bad feeling at this point…
---
Croagunk is tightening its focus!
Magby used Mach Punch.
It's not very effective...
The substitute took damage for Croagunk!
Croagunk used Focus Punch.
Magby lost 226% of its health.
Vader's Magby fainted.
Magby's Flame Body burned Croagunk!
Croagunk lost 9% of its health.
Croagunk was hurt by its burn!
Croagunk lost 9% of its health.
Magby’s Mach Punch may seem a bit out of place and a stupid move, failing to even 4KO Gunk, but let me explain myself. Croagunk is often a Priority Pokemon who uses moves such as Sucker Punch and Vacuum Wave. Sucker Punch is an OHKO on this Magby from my experience, and I wanted to get a hit in before I died. Well, at least I knew he was a Sub-Puncher now…@-@ Lucky Flame Body means his Gunk isn’t going to be nearly as good.
---
Vader switched in The Mighty Thor (lvl 5 Croagunk ?).
Croagunk used Sucker Punch.
It's not very effective...
The Mighty Thor lost 16% of its health.
Croagunk lost 9% of its health.
The Mighty Thor used Fake Out.
The substitute took damage for Croagunk!
Croagunk's substitute faded!
Croagunk was hurt by its burn!
Croagunk lost 9% of its health.
I switch to Croagunk, hoping to take advantage of the fact that he probably isn’t running anything Super-Effective as a Sub-Puncher and Burn is weakening his attack even more.
---
Cuteslims has entered the room.
The Mighty Thor used Bullet Punch.
Croagunk lost 32% of its health.
tentaintcool's Croagunk fainted.
The Mighty Thor lost 5% of its health.
Vader's The Mighty Thor fainted.
Here, I got a lucky break and my Croagunk, with his 1 HP left, outsped and KO’d with Bullet Punch. The LO recoil took him out, but Meowth would have done so just as easily later on with a Fake Out.
---
Vader switched in The Untouchable Captain America (lvl 5 Carvanha ?).
tentaintcool switched in Meowth (lvl 5 Meowth ?).
Cuteslims has left the room.
Meowth used Fake Out.
The Untouchable Captain America lost 71% of its health.
The Untouchable Captain America'sOran Berry restored health!
The Untouchable Captain America restored 48% of its health.
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
The Untouchable Captain America flinched!
D: Poor, poor pointyfish. I was curious as to why he didn’t get Rough Skin recoil, though. Later on I learned Fake Out, like Earthquake and Stone Edge, doesn’t make physical contact.

---
Meowth used U-turn.
It's super effective!
The Untouchable Captain America lost 114% of its health.
Vader's The Untouchable Captain America fainted.
tentaintcool switched in Gligar (lvl 5 Gligar ?).
Meowth was hurt by The Untouchable Captain America's Rough Skin!
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
KO’d trying to Hydro Pump. >_< I didn’t think he’d be carrying U-Turn, since he switched into Croagunk at the beginning, rather than U-Turning. Looking back, that was a stupid assumption since Gunk 4x resists U-Turn and OHKO’s with Vacuum Wave. Unfortunately, since I didn’t use Carvanha, I wasted another Pokemon. I was losing 5-3 at this point, and I needed someone to take out his Gligar before it could Agility for a pass or (heaven forbid) a sweep. I pulled out my ultrafast counter.
---
Vader switched in The Expedient Quicksilver (lvl 5 Elekid ?).
The Expedient Quicksilver used Ice Punch.
It's super effective!
Gligar lost 115% of its health.
tentaintcool's Gligar fainted.
Gligar'sOran Berry restored health!
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 5% of its health.
Elekid! Named for the ex-Brotherhood of Evil Mutants and eventual Avenger staple, his speed is unmatched in the entire metagame, save for Voltorb and Diglett. Ice Punch’s 4x effectivity smacked Gligar for ridiculous damage. In an era where 19-speed Pokes were the norm, this Elekid was a pioneer and symbol for what was to come. 4-3
---
tentaintcool switched in Meowth (lvl 5 Meowth ?).
The Expedient Quicksilver used Quick Attack.
Meowth lost 33% of its health.
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 5% of its health.
Meowth used Fake Out.
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 74% of its health.
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
Gross! Meowth’s Fake Outing again. Luckily, with a bit of prediction I was able to avoid the flinch. He had only 19% left, so I prepared to KO…
---
tentaintcool switched in Abra (lvl 5 Abra ?).
The Expedient Quicksilver used Quick Attack.
Abra lost 47% of its health.
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 5% of its health.
Smart. He didn’t want his Meowth to take another Quick Attack, so he decided Abra would be able to survive and dish back damage. His mistake…
---
The Expedient Quicksilver used Thunderpunch.
Abra lost 116% of its health.
tentaintcool's Abra fainted.
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 5% of its health.
TPunch for the win. I had caught up by virtue of my Elekid. It seemed at this point as though Tenta didn’t know that Elekid had 20 Speed, one of only three Pokemon in the whole Metagame to hit that number and one of the prime reasons that he functions so well as a Sweeper. Factor in his awesome Type-Coverage and access to Priority, and it's easy to see why Elekid became so popular further along the line.
---
tentaintcool switched in Murkrow (lvl 5 Murkrow ?).
The Expedient Quicksilver used Quick Attack.
Murkrow lost 32% of its health.
The Expedient Quicksilver lost 5% of its health.
Vader's The Expedient Quicksilver fainted.
Murkrow used Sucker Punch.
But there was no target!
Krow was now in easy KO range, letting me switch in someone who could OHKO him regardless…
---
Vader switched in The Amazing Ant-Man (lvl 5 Anorith ?).
Murkrow used Substitute.
Murkrow lost 23% of its health.
Murkrow made a substitute!
The Amazing Ant-Man used Rock Slide.
It's super effective!
The substitute took damage for Murkrow!
Murkrow's substitute faded!
Eew…SubKrow…
---
Murkrow used Dark Pulse.
The Amazing Ant-Man lost 90% of its health.
Murkrow lost 9% of its health.
The Amazing Ant-Man's Salac Berry raised its speed!
The Amazing Ant-Man used Rock Slide.
It's super effective!
Murkrow lost 155% of its health.
tentaintcool's Murkrow fainted.
Glorious victory! Truth and justice prevail! With a Salac Boost, I was almost assured a lategame sweep with Anorith…
---
tentaintcool switched in Meowth (lvl 5 Meowth ?).
Meowth used Fake Out.
It's not very effective...
The Amazing Ant-Man lost 29% of its health.
Vader's The Amazing Ant-Man fainted.
Meowth lost 10% of its health.
Not surprised. His Meowth is slowly picking off my men, and it’s starting to bother me. I pull out the big guns, with my own custom set. Keep in mind, this battle was long before BellyWag was widely used, making this guy totally unexpected…
---
Vader switched in The Incredible Hulk (lvl 5 Poliwag ?).
The Incredible Hulk used Hypnosis.
Meowth fell asleep!
Meowth is fast asleep!
The Hulk, founding member of the Avengers and uncontrollable mass of rage! Hypnosis shuts down Meowth, and I prepare for my superb victory. I imagine Hypnosis being Bruce Banner giving a boring lecture and putting the opponent to sleep…
---
tentaintcool switched in Dratini (lvl 5 Dratini ?).
The Incredible Hulk used Belly Drum.
The Incredible Hulk lost 50% of its health.
The Incredible Hulk's attack was raised.
…before getting pissed and becoming the Hulk. With 19 Speed and 48 Attack, there was nothing Tenta could do. I was prepared to say my gg’s.
---
The Incredible Hulk used Frustration.
Dratini lost 175% of its health.
tentaintcool's Dratini fainted.
You don’t like him when he’s angry. Now, I’m thinking I’m going to win. His Meowth is asleep, and I’m in an excellent position with Poliwag.

---
tentaintcool switched in Meowth (lvl 5 Meowth ?).
Meowth woke up!
Whut.

Meowth used Fake Out.
The Incredible Hulk lost 60% of its health.
Vader's The Incredible Hulk fainted.
tentaintcool wins!
AGH. Meowth wakes up on his second turn of sleep, finishing the game with another Fake Out and knocking me out of the LCF Tourney! If I’d had one more turn of Sleep, Wag would have easily KO’d Meowth and won me the game!

Props:

Meowth for killing almost everything (5/6 Pokemon) on my team with Fake Out
The Hulk(Poliwag) for getting pissed successfully
Ant-Man(Anorith) for killing SubKrow
Quicksilver(Elekid) for evening out the score
Cap(Carvanha) for trying…:,(
Tentaintcool for a superb match showing how easily one or two Pokemon can turn a match in LC
NO HAX

Slops:

Cap(Carvanha) for doing nothing
Magby for doing nothing
Thor(my Croagunk) for being totally ineffectual and failing to KO anything beyond his counterpart
Abra for being even less useful than Cap


I hope you enjoyed it!

For more information on Little Cup, visit The Little Cup Forum
For some Little Cup battles on the official Little Cup Ladder, visit DougJustDoug's Create-A-Pokemon Server
 

bugmaniacbob

Was fun while it lasted
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Ah, you beat me to it.

Anyway, that was a pretty good warstory all-round. However, I should edit the log a bit if I were you, at least put down the score at the end of the turn or the amount of health (%) or something. Just don't leave the log as it is.

Great work for a second post.
 
Yeah i used to have a team with both mewoth and aipom and just kept on u turning and fake outing for the majority of my KOs. i really think ghastly should have even more use because of it.
 
Great warstory. Considering how pioneering this was, it'll probably be archived. The comments were excellent, as was the font (soothing black). The names got me a little messed up though. Could you fix that?

Technically, Meowth waking up early could be called hax. Just to let you know.
 
Nice warstory. Never seen (or read) a LC match. It's interesting to say the least.

Meowth, wow...good job at putting up a major fight and more or less winning the match.
 
Lol, in LC every move becomes so superpowered. But yeah, great warstory, would have been fun if Poliwag actually won though.
 

eric the espeon

maybe I just misunderstood
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Nice battle and some insightful comments, good job LV!

A few situations could probably have been handled a bit better (Anorith could have taken Fake Outs for a few turns, meaning less sacrifices maybe?), Tenta could have used the turn Elekid KOd itself with LO recoil to get a sub up, if he wanted to be risky. But overall well played by both.

Even now Fake Out Meowth is pretty potent, maybe Protect will become a common filler on leads or other things with spare moveslots? I know I use it on my own Fake-Turn Meowth.

Its always interesting to see how even when you are quite far down in the score a single well played Pokemon that your opponent can't effectively revenge kill can really do a lot of damage in LC. Keeps things interesting :D

Wow, Meowth was vicious. That was insane. It was like CB scizor without the getting stuck in one move part. :O
Kinda, but with the problem that you can only use your main move on the first turn in battle. Without that it would be extremely hard to beat.
 
Great warstory, it was a pretty engaging read. I didn't realise Fake-Out was a move that didn't make physical contact o_O, good to know. I love Little Cup warstories!
 

Bologo

Have fun with birds and bees.
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I am taking some time off a little posting hiatus to give this warstory a huge thumbs up.

There really isn't much I can say that would improve this story. I really liked how you put the log in quotes instead of bolding it, I'm going to try that next time I make a warstory. This story really shows how Little Cup is arguably the hardest metagame out there (at least in my opinion). If you make even 1 wrong prediction, your pokemon won't be living very long. If anyone likes prediction wars, this is the tier to play.

To sum this warstory up in a few words: Brilliance, simply put. *****

I am requesting that this one gets archived, as we don't have any LC warstories in the archive (IIRC), and this one is definitely deserving of it.
 
this is, indeed, a very cool warstory. basically read bologo's post for a coherent, backed up version of mine. but yea *****
 
Very nice warstory. Different format was easy to read with little editing, and battle was quite intense. The twist at the end finished off the battle beautifully. Hope to see another warstory from you.
 
very nice! I enjoyed this very much. LC makes me laugh when you think about Fake Out and Quick Attack being powerfull. very nice
 

v

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Thanks for the nice comments, everyone! I'd like to give credit for the formatting idea to Acredula (yes, Metang@ Acredula), who used it first in his/her Warstory and I just couldn't resist using it. I didn't edit the nicknames out since I think it adds a bit of personality. I have the score where it matters, I think.

I also used this team earlier today and it still worked! :) Except Magby is off for Meowth...
 

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