LC Player of the Week Special Edition: Melon & tazz!

taranteeeno

levi premier league of the decade
is a Community Contributor


Melon & tazz
Manager and Assistant Manager of the LCPL 8 Champions, the Activity Call Archens!

Hello Little Cuppers! Sorry for the long wait, but I am back with a special edition of LC POTW. This week, we have my good friends and managerial duo of the LCPL 8 winning Activity Call Archens, Melon and tazz!
Melon and tazz, let me start this off by congratulating the both of you and the Activity Call Archens on winning LCPL 8. Your team had a phenomenal playoffs run first besting the Greed Up Geodudes, a team predicted to go to finals from week 1, and then 5-0ing my team, the Shambled Shellos, in finals. How does it feel to bring home gold after a pretty long and grueling season?

Melon: For me specifically, winning this season feels like a huge weight lifted off my shoulders. It was starting to feel like the tradition of my teams making playoffs and finding a way to lose was never going to end, and finally being able to to win one is fantastic. The season definitely was a long and stressful one though. With how the points were spread out almost entirely among only five teams during the season, tazz and I rarely felt like our playoff spot was safe. Luckily for us, we drafted a team that wouldn’t quit, and whenever they were put into a situation where they needed to perform they did it fantastically. Everyone killed it all season, and being able to win with a few of the people I had managed and lost with in prior tours was amazing.

tazz: Winning this season was definitely very validating for myself, as it was simultaneously my first time co-managing an LCPL and supporting multiple slots. Bringing the first team I helped to create all the way was amazing, especially considering how much I wanted melon to finally get the win he so deserved. Melon and I put a lot of work into the team both at the drafting and support stages, and I was very happy to see that work pay off. I wasn't completely sure of my building ability before this tournament, but it ended up being a way for me to prove to myself that I was capable. Individual feelings aside, getting this win as a team was also very fulfilling, as regardless of presence on our initial plan I ended up really liking everyone on our team and found myself whipped up in team spirit more often than I expected. They absolutely deserved this win, and I was very happy to see it earned.

A question for you, Melon: Did you change anything up this tour in terms of management style compared to previous LCPLs or even LCWC?

And for tazz: Can you describe how you managed to go from primarily starting in ORAS for LC team tours to becoming this current gen powerhouse?

Melon: Yeah I changed my style some, I didn’t even rig midseason a little bit this year!

Nah but actually, I basically changed nothing. I think it’s very important as a manager to be able to identify your own strengths and weaknesses. I understand that I can supply the DPP slot, scout effectively for every tier, and motivate my team. At the same time though, I know that I’m ass at anything current gen and that I’m likely to randomly not build anything for a week. Because I understand where my strengths lie, my managerial style is mostly based around being able to effectively draft to where I have to do as little direct work as possible outside of DPP and delegate almost everything else to a select few once I have my team. Thanks to tazz, executing that was really easy this season, as he was able to keep SM and ORAS completely covered on his own. While I was supposed to cover DPP and BW, I knew I would get lazy so I made sure we had additional help in imanalt, TUO, fran, and dcae at varying points during the season to cut down on my non-existent workload even more. I don’t think I have a super unique style really. I think I’m just sick at being lazy, which makes me excellent at surrounding myself with talented people that I can trust.


tazz: I quit Pokemon for the most part before the end of ORAS, the obvious exception being the LCPLs I started ORAS in. This break was less a matter of disliking the meta and more one of shifting interests. I found another game that I really enjoyed, but it was one that took up a lot of time and ended up crowding out Pokemon. I never stopped liking ORAS though, and LCPL ended up being a way for me to stay connected with the community while playing the meta I so enjoyed. I was passable at SM during those first couple LCPLs, but it was just more practical for me to play the tier I had expertise in as at that point I had not invested the time needed to really be familiar with SM. Shortly before the LC Open run that really marked my shift to SM, the game that I had been playing competitively received a sequel that was boring for me, so in my new found spare time I decided to see for myself if I could get the individual results I had missed out on back in ORAS. I never expected myself to get far in Open, but found myself really enjoying the meta and found the motivation to learn it enough to get to finals. I ended up getting second, but that tour and becoming more connected to some awesome members of the community made me want to see how far I can go in SM LC.

What was your plan going into this LCPL 8 draft? I know there are varying amounts of effort and methods that go into team planning. What did you guys do?

Melon: Our thought process was pretty simple: between tazz and I all three old gens were covered, so we can pick up decent to solid old gen players that maybe can't provide for themselves at a discount. This would free up some capital so we can get a second SM provider along side tazz (who was surprisingly confident in his ability to carry multiple SM slots), and we could top it off with tour players that might not be on other teams radars. We went through each slot and tried to find the people that we thought would best fit the strategy we were trying to do. Shrug and Zebra were both in our plans, and we had basically settled on getting one of those two to assist tazz, but tazz also specified that if both were too expensive that he could carry SM on his own. Literally everyone we got that played SM for us was on our primary targets list aside from Toadow, who I upbid in reaction to missing both Shrug and Zebra and not wanting tazz to be left completely alone. For ORAS we were pretty dead set on Casparov before the draft, but I have always been high on Kushalos and he was our optimal choice if his price was within our range, which it happened to be. In BW and DPP we were way looser with who we wanted as the primary goal was to save money on those slots, but Real FV was our primary target for BW, with fran not being on our plans at all and fortunately falling into our lap. Fantos was actually not on my radar even a little bit until he tried out and greatly impressed me. He became our 3K fallback in case Tony, rozes, and Alkione all fell out of our price range.

tazz: Melon covered our plans pretty well, I'll add that beyond specific people we were looking for we had a general idea of the minimum prices people should go for and would upbid if we felt that they were below that range, which is how we picked up Kushalos and Fran who both should have gone for a higher price in the draft.

Who really impressed the both of you this season?

Melon: From the Archens, the pretty clear answer for me is Eternally. My man came off the bench into a previously 0-2 SM5 slot and completely turned it around, making our weakest slot one of our strongest. Not only that, but nearly all of his games had some notable element. From 5-0ing SpaceWorm in his opening game, to the best comeback of the tournament vs Howl, to the 1 HP victory over Shrug in Finals, Eternally always put on a show and was super key to our success. As for other teams, my personal standout was trace, particularly at the start of the tour. He seemed to always manage to pull out wins, and I'm glad he finally had a really solid LCPL after having drafted him multiple times and knowing what he can do, he definitely deserved it.

tazz: It is honestly a bit difficult to distinguish one or two people that I was really impressed with on our team, as by the end of the tour we didn't really have any weak spots and I felt that I could depend on every slot to cover up any weaknesses the rest of the team had that week. If I had to single out someone it would be Fran17, who really stepped up the past few weeks for the team even after specifically requesting to not play BW. He provided us with two key wins and even when not playing was supporting through spirit. On other teams I was impressed with the individual performances of Luthier and Trace and the team performance of the skitties. The skitties to me seemed like the most tight-knit team, and because it looked like so much support from the whole team went into each game it is difficult to distinguish one player from them. I hope to see another team like that next LCPL, maybe from the same managers.

Looking ahead to LCPL9, are we going to see the two of you return as a pair once more or will you, tazz, try to manage a team yourself?

And Melon, will you finally move on from competitive Pokemon or has an LCPL win reinvigorated your competitive spirit? Will we see the DPP Scientist return to action?

Melon: Honestly, even though I'm very glad I was finally able to win an LCPL, it has done nothing to re-interest me in Pokemon and maybe even made me even less interested, if that's even possible. There is a very small chance that this LCPL is the last thing I do Pokemon-wise, especially with a new generation releasing soon and ADV OU/DPP LC existing (the greats). That being said, I'm absolutely taking an extended break from the game to pursue other interests, both in real life and gaming related. It's been overwhelmingly obvious to most people that I haven't exactly been the most interested in the game for probably the last year or even more, so it's been a long time coming.

Also, tazz should absolutely be given the opportunity to manage for LCPL in my stead if he so wishes.


tazz: We'll see in the future, but the difference between manager and assistant manager doesn't really matter all that much to me and I really enjoy teaming w melon so I'd be more than happy to assistant manage again next year.

With Smogon Snake Draft II coming up and finally an official tour with LC as a lineup slot, who are your predictions for Snake starters?

tazz: My best guess would be Kingler12345, Shrug, Serene Grace, Myself, Ninjadog13, Heysup, Luthier, BurntZebra, a tournament player that starmaster passes to, LilyAC, and Levi if he decides to sign up. I think that if sken signs up he will probably get in over one of the newcomers, but I don't think he'll sign up and hopefully the managers will do some scouting if he does as that would be a bad move as he is not versed at all in the current meta (imo).

On the off chance some snake managers see this I think the strongest snake lineup possible would be Kingler12345/Shrug/Serene Grace/Ninjadog13/Luthier/tazz/BurntZebra/Fille/Heysup/LilyAC with Levi drafting either Kingler or Luthier and Starmaster being on the team that gets the other as I think think those two need the most help. Obviously I'm a bit biased as I prefer LC mains, so this list is unlikely.


Are either of you excited for Gen 8 Sword & Shield? Anything you are looking forward to the most or hope Gamefreak makes happen for the next game?

Melon: The start of a generation is usually pretty fun, but after the first few months the fun kinda dies off for me and I find myself moving back toward old gens again. I’ll also likely be extremely inactive when the new generation releases, so I’m not overly excited and I’m not too hopeful for anything specifically.

tazz: I'm very skeptical of this new generation, I think that beginning LC is going to be even more chaotic now that gamefreak is cutting what will likely be some of the most prominent Pokemon in our metagame. I'm interested in how much we'll be effected by gigamaxing, as they seem potentially even more potent than z moves. I think the beginning of this generation will take longer to figure out than the beginning of ten 7, and I'm not sure how I feel about that.

Whether it’s for LCPL 8 or just LC and mons in general, do you have anyone you want to shoutout?

Melon: Shoutout Elites, you guys are the vast majority of the friends I have left that I talk to online and I care about all of you. Shoutout Archens of course for being an absolutely incredible team, love you boys, thanks for carrying my washed ass to the goal I had been trying at for years. Shoutouts to Splashyship, zeriloa, Antgeezy, Aerow, ChromaticArt, Sparktrain, Fender, Mambo, Fiend, and the other goons who I met in 2012-2014 that were my first real friends on the site, thanks for being fucking wild and convincing me to come out of my shell back then.


tazz: I'd like to shoutout all the great people in the LC community, particularly melon, Levi, ninja, serene, lily, teeeno, luthier, zebra, dcae, plas, holiday and tko. Thanks to everyone on the archens, how much you all deserved the win made finally getting it all the more rewarding.

As is tradition with LC POTW, can you both share a team with us? That’s right guys, we get two teams this time. :psysly:

Staryu @ Oran Berry
Ability: Natural Cure
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 200 SpA / 236 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 3 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Rapid Spin

Houndour @ Oran Berry
Ability: Flash Fire
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Atk / 36 Def / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Will-O-Wisp

Duskull @ Oran Berry
Ability: Levitate
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 116 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD
Impish Nature
- Shadow Sneak
- Return
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pain Split

Munchlax @ Oran Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 Def / 236 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Return
- Fire Punch
- Brick Break
- Pursuit

Croagunk @ Oran Berry
Ability: Dry Skin
Level: 5
EVs: 188 Atk / 116 Def / 196 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Cross Chop
- Ice Punch
- Sucker Punch
- Substitute

Chinchou @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 52 Def / 232 SpA / 224 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 Spe
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Here is a double water team I made around LCWC that features some interesting individual sets, even if the team as a whole is moderately outdated. Lead Staryu is something I feel like was very good six months ago and might be even better now, as a lead that can confidently take on Gligar is extraordinary against the people who have been mindlessly spamming it, and it's also a generally useful and threatening Mon outside of the lead slot. Scarf Chou is something I have a relevantly low opinion of, but it works very well with Staryu and Chou is always going to be good regardless. MunchSkull + Oran WoW Hound is one of the most bread and butter cores you can build with honestly, but it just covers too much to not use in a lot of spots. Skull is standard, but Munch is minspeed with Brick Break to give the team something to work with vs both TR and Screens-based teams. Oran WoW Hound has been around for over a year at this point, and it still remains as probably my most used set outside of Munch in that time. It's just so impactful and consistent, and is by far the biggest change I personally have brought to DPP in my opinion. Oran Gunk is kind of a weird concept on paper, but in practice it can do so much. It serves as a dominant breaker with Sub and great coverage (Oran Hound + Munch gives you more options vs Ghosts outside of just Sucker) and helps with opposing Chou so Munch's health is free'd up, which is huge. It's just a generally very cool glue that can threaten or stomach a threat for another key teammate if they're more important, and is for sure something more people should mess around with.
Abra @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Level: 5
EVs: 240 SpA / 200 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 Def / 30 SpA / 30 SpD / 30 Spe
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Substitute

Mareanie @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 HP / 100 Def / 92 SpA / 100 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Scald
- Sludge Bomb
- Recover

Diglett @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Final Gambit
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
- Beat Up

Pawniard @ Eviolite
Ability: Defiant
Level: 5
EVs: 156 Atk / 36 Def / 116 SpD / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
- Stealth Rock
- Sucker Punch

Mienfoo @ Choice Band
Ability: Reckless
Level: 5
EVs: 36 HP / 236 Atk / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Drain Punch
- U-turn
- Knock Off

Vullaby (F) @ Berry Juice
Ability: Overcoat
Level: 5
EVs: 116 HP / 76 Def / 80 SpA / 156 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Brave Bird
- Hidden Power [Grass]

This is the team I gave to robjr in LCPL finals against luthier. It's a very fun team that maintains the look of a standard team while hiding band mienfoo to OHKO lead vullabys. Choice band gives mienfoo two key advantages over life orb mienfoo: it can bluff scarf after picking something off, and picks up the 2HKO on both foongus and mareanie after rocks. Once ghosts are gone it should be getting a kill just about every time it come in. The rest of the team complements it well by wearing down defensive cores it has trouble with using toxic spikes and hopefully by giving it switching opportunities. The team obviously relies on a shock factor to be tournament level and will likely not be quite as potent if recognized, but the team preview is innocuous enough to be forgotten about even if this variation is known.

Thank you to Melon and tazz for taking time to answer my questions and thanks everyone for reading. Feel free to ask any questions to our guest and please take a moment to congratulate them on their LCPL 8 victory. See you soon!
 
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fatty

is a Tiering Contributor
NUPL Champion
Melon
- although you’re taking a break, what are your thoughts on the current state of dpp (dominant archetypes, mons that mb aren’t as good, did we handle sleep properly)?
- what other games are you most interested (and pursuing) other than mons?
- why do you hate hsowa?

tazz
- you’ve definitely become one of the best sm players lc has to offer. to what do you attribute this rise, have you been playing more, building differently?
- I’m really interested in what your prep process was in sm as a whole in finals, were there any weaknesses / tendencies you were trying to exploit?
 
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Melon

WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW
- although you’re taking a break, what are your thoughts on the current state of dpp (dominant archetypes, mons that mb aren’t as good, did we handle sleep properly)?
DPP right now has potential for sure but as you'd expect feels a bit under-developed and under-explored, both in playing and the actual metagame of it. I think standard teams (Munchlax / Gastly or Duskull / Gligar / Houndour / Chinchou / Snover) are probably still the big thing right now, but steps are being taken against it like how Yache Gligar leads became more popular a few months ago because rocks do wonders vs standard teams. Special Spam teams (think double water with Gastly as the ghost and usually even more pressure) are also really cool to me and are something I feel like can be pushed further. TR and Screens are very underrated.

As for sleep, I don't think I'm against a complete ban. It's tough for me to say, but I'm comfortable with how removing Hypno went and that should at the very least be extended to Grass Whistle and Sing.

- what other games are you most interested (and pursuing) other than mons?
I've been speedrunning Portal 2 for the last eight months and have been able to slowly carve myself into that community and actually accomplish some shit. I'm currently 11th in full-game (Top 10 soon) and I'm looking to push that even further and explore some other stuff further, such as the Time Trial-esque mode the game has and probably learn the co-op mode also. Here's a video of the best individual level time I have.

I'm not really interested in speedrunning anything else because it's pretty degenerate, but I'm also looking into learning Age of Empires 2 to at least a moderate level, because it's one of my favorite games ever and is extremely fun to watch competitively. I've always been into learning games to a point of understanding, so I have a good amount of stuff I have gotten decent at in the past I'd consider returning to, like Civ V, ROTMG, Rocket League, and most likely of all MKWii.

- why do you hate hsowa?
Mostly pent up aggression and the fact that I haven't beaten him in a tournament after the first time we played in LPL 1. I feel like we also have a very different view of the tier which leads to me rarely appreciating his teams (his LCPL 8 W7 team is very cool though, and a great example of what I meant by Special Spam earlier.) That coupled with the fact that I feel like I choke / build some dumb shit very often vs him, and am a very loud shit-talker at heart probably gives off that impression. But it's also the fucking internet, I don't hate anyone, HSOWA's just better than me and I hate that.

If these weren't just questions for the sake of questions and you wanna know more about something, you can Discord PM me.



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