Welcome to the SM version of OU Player of the Week! This project will feature interviews from some of the most accomplished and influential users in the tier so that we can learn more about them.
If there is a user that you would like to see interviewed be sure to let me know.
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Finchinator
favourite pokemon: Garchomp
most used pokemon: Landorus-Therian in SM and Tyranitar/Garchomp in BW
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of Smogon?
I am currently an 18 year old student who attended Binghamton University over the course of the last year and I plan to continue to do so over the next three years as well. I currently major in finance, as a student in the Business School, and I am not sure what I intend to minor in, but psychology has came to mind as an idea in the past. My likely future job will be in advisory or consulting, but I am not entirely sure if I want to close my mind to the prospect of pursuing any of the numerous alternatives in the general realm of finance as my career path quite yet. Right now, I am, thankfully, on summer break between the spring and fall semesters until late in August. However, I do start working mornings for my town's recreation department later this month, being a camp counselor for children ages 3-5 throughout the week. Besides that, my life is pretty free of responsibilities for the time being and it is truly refreshing to me after going through a long year at college.
I am an avid sports follower, most notably baseball and football, but also hockey and basketball. The teams I support are the Yankees, Steelers, Rangers, and Knicks, but I also tend to spectate for enjoyment, fantasy (mainly football and college basketball -- won lots of money off of that this year), and as something to do with my group of friends. I'm actually going to the Yankee game this coming Saturday and I tend to go to a couple each year as I find that professional sporting events tend to be some of my favorite environments I ever encounter in life. Thankfully, there are two minor league affiliates in the Binghamton area, AA for the Mets and AHL for the Devils (we had the Senators until this upcoming year, but they moved), that I tend to attend games of fairly often, too. Additionally, I used to play baseball at a decent level and I used to sort of get by playing basketball because I am on the taller side, but I no longer do so on a serious, consistent level anymore.
I tend to be a very logical and serious person when it comes to how I handle many things in real life, but I can be more comical and fun-loving around those who I am more comfortable around. I'm sure some people are familiar with my antics (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, etc.) and if you take out the potentially creepy undertones (swear I'm normal), that's pretty much who I am IRL, I guess -- people who have been in call with me (looking at you OU QC team) definitely have at least somewhat of an idea what I'm trying to get at, but I just generally often enjoy laughing and having a good time, even if the former is at my own expense from time to time.
Finally, I'll touch on some other things about myself that have been discussed on this forum or on discord with my friends, but I haven't articulated here yet. I am a semi-active poet and I love writing in general as a means of expression and communicating opinions in general. I am always listening to music. I do not have too defined a taste per se, but I generally find myself favoring modern alternative music with modern, generic pop music also flaring up from time to time among my frequents. Currently, my favorite artist is Halsey -- I've seen her live twice, but most notably on her last tour for her first album, Badlands, at Madison Square Garden last August. Her lyrics and the 'concepts' behind her songs really grab my attention and, often times, just make me happy and keep me at ease, which is something I often strive for in life and sometimes resort to music to find. Her new album hopeless fountain kingdom (it's supposed to not be capitalized) is something I have been looking forward to for ages and, so far, it has met all of my expectations, but I cannot wait for it to grow on me even more as I keep listening! Outside of that, Imagine Dragons is one of my all-time favorite bands and I also thoroughly enjoy Paramore, and Fall Out Boy (not to say I just listen to these groups, as I listen to pretty much everything and there are countless other artists I enjoy, but these pop up the most and I have favored for the longest). One last thing is that when I started playing, I had to lie about my age (this paste I made during my prior PoTW) and it stuck with me for a couple years, which is a funny story and there are a ton of things that happened because of this and lots of other stories that pertain to that which I now look back upon often, so feel free to ask me anything about this, if you'd like, as most of it is pretty funny in hindsight.
Where did you get your name from?
My last name in real life starts with "Finch" and I suppose Finchinator became a childhood nickname through playing baseball. Whenever I was pitching or did well in other facets of the game, my coaches and some of my teammates referred to me as this and I guess it stuck. Needless to say now, I liked that and I used it as my username for many things online, ranging from forum names to random account names. When I made my first PO alt back in 2011, Finchinator was the first thing that came to mind and I never looked back, really. To be fair, I recently considered changing my forum name to Finch as I was alerted that this was possible given the inactivity of the current owner of the name Finch, but I do not really feel a need to do this and I am even a bit sentimental towards this name, so it shall stay for the time being.
How and when did you get into competitive Pokemon?
I played in-game frequently from 2007-2011. I started with Pokemon Pearl as that was the first game my parents got me when they gave me a DS, but I soon became addicted to the Pokemon series and the games as a whole -- the dynamic of playing in the games and becoming the best trainer in a region, defeating the E4, and "saving" everyone from the villainous team of the region was really intriguing to me at the age of eight. Soon, I branched out to Emerald, Fire Red, and Soul Silver. During the later part of HGSS, before the release of BW, I started watching people on YouTube do Let's Plays of the Pokemon games, seeing all of the things they had to say and just enjoying their gameplay, sometimes using it as a reference and comparative point for my own. Eventually, I came upon a YouTuber that perhaps some of you have heard of, but probably not many -- he went by the name Slowflake and his LPing is best described here. He discussed a lot of different things when playing the games, besides the gameplay itself, and one of those things happened to be Smogon and the metagame. The prospect of playing Pokemon at some higher, more competitive, level against other individuals who do their best to win and all of the endless possibilities that emerged alongside it really caught my attention, it captivated me.
After various failed attempts at EVing and trying to make things work over WiFi happened, I eventually stumbled across Pokemon Online in either August or September of 2011. From there, I never truly looked back. I have not taken any prolonged "break" from Pokemon since then. There might have been a week or two on vacation or where school work took up a significant portion of my time and there was a couple days at the start of college where I was unsure of my ability to continue playing, but ultimately I have stuck with this game and I plan to continue to actively and consistently play it throughout college, so you all are stuck with me until at least 2020, if not longer!
What’s your favourite generation of OU and why?
Generation five, for sure. I know that BW OU is controversial in the eyes of many people. Hell, a lot of ignorant people view it as a mess, an uncompetitive tier, and/or the home of a bunch of weather that 'ruins' gameplay. With that said, I love the tier and while I acknowledge that it has some inherent flaws, perhaps even rooting back to the developmental stages of the metagame, that's not to say it has too much of a negative consequence on how it plays in the modern day. In my eyes, BW OU has some of the most competitive games in each of the major tournaments and games decided by match-up are generally due to poor building on one player's part as opposed to the tier being too flawed. I will not get into my lovey-dovey relationship with the tier in the answer to this question as I already answered the question fully, but please feel free to ask any questions BW OU related in this thread and I will gladly answer!
What’s your favourite playstyle to use and why?
Bulky-offense. I feel the most consistent with this playstyle and it caters the most to my building tendencies as an individual, making use of things with many purposes and proper role compression to make me secure about my builds against anything the metagame has in store for me to face. I think that the more "advanced" I get at building and the more I feel competent at a tier, my ability to build hyper-offense and balance/bulkier teams tends to become much better, but bulky-offense is always natural to me.
What are your thoughts on the current metagame? How do you feel about SM in comparison to ORAS?
I believe that the current metagame is actually the best SM metagame we have had so far. I think that it is still flawed and there are some things that could potentially go in the future, but now is as close to a balance as we have reached so far and it is quite enjoyable to play. I think that after some time for the metagame to settle was given, the Mega-Metagross ban happened, and the Baton Pass decision was made, the tier became a lot less polarized to the extremes and simply uncompetitive. There was a point in time when you could not go three games without seeing one of Stall, Webs, or Baton Pass and now, the former most is still prominent, but the latter most is eliminated and I would argue that Webs has slowed down. Additionally, the tier itself, especially building, is as open as we have seen it yet. Mega-Metagross going did not lead to anything else, like Tapu Lele, becoming banworthy and the people who used that as justification to vote anti-ban should probably feel quite ignorant as that is not justification to use and I warned everyone about this numerous times. As expected, other offensively viable Steel types, such as Magearna and Celesteela, increased in usage and the metagame opened up in a very nice fashion. Some clear trends have emerged such as Mantine + Scarf Lele (or just generally a Scarfer with less than 100 speed), the utilization of Rockium Tapu Bulu, and even an increase in utility and offensive variants of Heatran, which all contribute to the tier becoming more multi-dimensional and, alongside many other things, make the tier more competitive and enjoyable, in my eyes, going into the World Cup of Pokemon and the final stages of Smogon Tour 23.
As for the comparison to ORAS OU, I find SM to be better than ORAS. With that said, I am a bit bias in favor of SM as I personally excel at it much more than I did in ORAS, which is one of my weaker generations. SM offers a lot more versatility and, as of late, has had a lot less of those "aids" games that take ages and don't really have a direction that ORAS seemingly has all of the fucking time in tournaments. I'm no expert to speak about ORAS OU and I am fully willing to admit this, so I do not have too lengthy or a justified of an opinion on this, but I do feel that SM is the better and more enjoyable of the two OU metagames at this point in time.
Are you happy that Baton Pass has been banned? Do you believe it should also be banned in ORAS?
Yes, very much so. It had no place in the SM OU metagame and the clause was ridiculous. I am fairly indifferent to it being in ORAS, but even if a fraction of the amount that thought it was banworthy in SM thinks the same about ORAS, then sure, why not!
Do you believe that anything else deserves a suspect test in the near future?
Yes. I personally believe that Greninja is not nearly as broken as it was when Mega-Metagross was in the tier as Magearna and Celesteela usage has increased while other elements of the tier have simply made it not as potent, but I would still label it as borderline broken. Outside of this, there is obviously the prospect of stall. I do not believe anything needs to be done currently, but I do see why many people want something done (I refuse to discuss what that something will be in this thread, as a warning for anyone who might ask) and I am willing to change my opinion in the future depending on what I observe and potentially encounter as an individual playing the tier, so only time will tell. Finally, some Pokemon that are a bit less controversial in the eyes of the community that I believe should seriously be looked into are Landorus-Therian and Zygarde. I will not elaborate on why I feel both of these are potentially suspect-worthy and/or ban-worthy in this post, but feel free to ask me and I will gladly elaborate. I do not think anything else crossed my mind right now, but I understand why some people wish to rid the tier of Volcarona, which is something many people have complained about and Poek brought up in his thread, too.
You played in the most recent SPL and will return as the manager for US Central in WCoP. Which tournament do you enjoy more and why?
SPL is and always will be my favorite tournament, but WCOP is my second favorite for the time being. SPL is the best, in my eyes, as it is the peak of competitive play on Smogon and encompasses lots of team tour skills that are not found in individual tours. I have always been a big fan of team tournaments and hold them highest when compared to everything else, so I suppose this is not surprising for you guys to hear. I hold it a step above WCOP because the formation of teams is done in a way that allows all of the top players to participate as opposed to there being restrictions. I feel that the level of play of the average SPL game is clearly higher than that of the average WCOP game. With that said, I thoroughly enjoy participating in both tours on the teams I have been able to be a part of and I am anxious for this upcoming WCOP to start and I am also looking forward to the Snake Tour that will occur in the near future!
Which team do you think is the most underrated coming into WCoP? Which team is the most overrated?
I think Team Canada is the most underrated going into this WCOP. While Canada probably still is not necessarily ready to be one of the top teams in the tournament unless they do a bit of overachieving, it is clear that their roster is well-above that of the bottom handful of teams and they placed within the bottom two or so teams each of the past two seasons. Therefore, we likely have low expectations for them going into this season and I cannot really fault anyone that does. However, if you look at their line-up, it clearly is not subpar. They have five very capable, SPL level SM OUers and mediocre, but passable, old generation players. Ultimately, their fate will likely come down to how players like Genesis7, Tokyo Tom, Heysup, and Texas Cloverleaf perform in metagames that they do not necessarily stand out in, but they do stand a chance against anyone in. I think that they have a very good shot to make the playoffs if they are at their best.
In terms of overrated, it's hard. I do not think many teams are overrated. I guess US West might seem like a lock to advance to the playoffs in the eyes of just about everyone, but I do not think this is the case given that Meru will be in BW and Blightbringer will be in DPP as opposed to having Dice in BW and Philip7086 in DPP. This is not to say that the former two are bad, as this is not the case, but they are not as good as the latter two, who are two of the best players in their respective tiers. They also have a relatively average SM core, in my eyes, so they will have to prove themselves to me once more before I have full confidence in their ability to make it out of the first round. With this said, I still think that their odds of making it are decent and, if they do advance, having Dice and Philip7086 in the long haul will make them a playoff threat.
Who is your favourite to win Smogon Tour 23?
Posho is my personal favorite to win the tour, even if he arguably is not the best player in the field as per historical results (likely Soulwind). I would ultimately be fine with just about any winner besides Kickasser and I say this with no offense intended towards him, but I think he still needs some more experience to be of SmogTour winning caliber, his French fanboys are annoying as shit (and I very much intend offense in saying this), and there are simply very strong alternatives.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone trying to break into the tournament setting?
Challenge yourself! One of the best ways to become better, even if it means losing a lot at first, is playing top players. You can only become as good as the best ladder players by playing on the ladder, but you can become as skilled as the best of the best if you play top tournament players consistently. Sign up for SmogTours, try to reach OLT (if it exists this year)/GSlam/Classic playoffs, etc. - these can only make you improve as a player and hardly have a downside. I remember I felt that I was an "average" player this time in 2012 and even in early 2013, but I participated in many seasons of SmogTour whenever I could and I must say that simply being exposed to a plethora of other high level players improved me as a player (not to mention that I've followed tours like SPL and WCOP, which give an accurate representation of metagames and high level play, so these tours are always good to keep tabs on). I feel like just playing in these tours and practicing your game really develops your mindset as a player and enhances long-term thinking, which is an element of gameplay that so many newer players either lack, have not fully developed, or just simply neglect in their gameplay which leads to poor prioritization, choking, and misplaying in general.
With this said, success doesn't come instantly to most people. For example, it took me from season 14/15 until season 18 to make playoffs of Smogtour and it took me 3 years to make SPL. That doesn't mean you aren't improving; some people are just slower to make progress than others and that's perfectly fine (I considered myself one of those players who took a while to reach a truly high level, but now I am content with myself as a player, so just stay positive and keep trying and you'll reach your goals eventually).
Finally, refrain from posting unnecessarily unless you are certain it will be perceived positively until you 'make it' as you do not want to turn into one of those dudes that everyone views as a meme/joke. If you happen to go down this route, then it might not even matter how good or bad of a player you are as everyone relevant will discount you to begin with. This might not be particularly fair and how a post is judged is generally something that changes from person to person, but the community has its flaws and bases a lot on popularity, perception, and judgement from the outside, so perhaps it isn't fair inherently, but you don't want to fall into this trap when you can avoid it anyway! You should become known for your gameplay or teambuilding, not anything else, in my opinion.
Who are some of your favourite people in the Smogon community?
I was going to come up with some long ass list and tag everyone individually, but I'd rather not as I feel like it would lead to me accidentally forgetting people and I don't want to provoke any problems. Instead, I will try and keep this as general as possible. My friends on the OU QC team (or simply the people in that private discord channel) and my US Central buddies are probably two of my most active groups of friends currently and I enjoy my continuous interaction with all of these individuals. Additionally, all of my OUTL friends (plus the one random who happens to stay in our chat) are all genuinely intelligent and enjoyable presences. The OLT chat has been so active for quite a long time and I am glad to have gotten to interact with everyone in it from time-to-time, my SPL teammates from this year and past years have all been great and I am so glad to have gotten to know so many new people and work with all of you, and all of the other team tours I've been on have also been generally positive experiences (as of late, UUPL and LCPL have both been spectacular, with the former being even more special as we won the tour and we had an amazing team). All of my old PO friends, especially those who still hang around, are dudes who I am thankful to have interacted with and I feel they have played a large part in shaping my individual development as a user (even you, Cased, if you ever happen to read this). Finally, thanks to all of my friends I haven't covered by this group -- you guys know who you are and I appreciate you. You guys are the reason why I stick around, play, and contribute as I enjoy interactions in various settings throughout this community significantly.
Finally, can you provide us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle, with a brief explanation of how it works?
Sure!
Latios @ Choice Specs
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 84 SpD / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Smack Down
Zygarde @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
- Scald
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 224 HP / 60 SpA / 216 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Thunderbolt
- Trick
Magnezone @ Assault Vest
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 64 HP / 252 SpA / 84 SpD / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Flash Cannon
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Thunderbolt
Landorus-Therian @ Earth Plate
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Knock Off
- Smack Down
Zygarde @ Dragonium Z
Ability: Aura Break
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Extreme Speed
- Thousand Arrows
- Outrage
Keldeo @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Justified
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Stone Edge
- Scald
Tangrowth @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 224 HP / 60 SpA / 216 SpD / 8 Spe
Sassy Nature
- Leaf Storm
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Hidden Power [Ice]
