All Gens Ruins of Alph Player of the Week: Fear

McMeghan

Dreamcatcher
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis the 5th Smogon Classic Winneris the Smogon Tour Season 14 Championis a defending SPL Championis a Past SPL Champion
Big Chungus Winner
McMeghan the finals that took almost two months to win rofl

Also:
"Strangest successful tour team that you've seen, as in, a team that shouldn't be good but is?"

Fuck you man das not cool. I didn't know who you were before that either :[
Oops, like I told you, I thought he had asked for "strangest successful team tour" and not the other way around. I knew we were destined for greatness :afrostar:
I certainly didn't expect the Wolfpack to win SPL 4, but I think nobody did to be honest lol.
favorite to win smogon tour?
how incredible is life orb alakazam in oras?
how did it feel to win smogon tour? how much did you prepare for it?
1. Tier 1: Heist (guess you can see a pattern here...)
Tier 2: SoulWind
Tier 3: Leftiez / You / Bad Ass

If Malekith makes it, he'll be among my favorites (Tier 1).
I'll be rooting for ZoroDark, MetalGro$$, boudouche and Reymedy if the latter 3 make it.

2. It seems very good. Drawback-less Stall/Balance Breaker that doesn't take the mega spot? Yes please. Weavile getting more and more popular kinda sucks for Zam tho.

3. It felt awesome and I'm still very proud of that win. Altho on the moment, I was a bit disapointed that my final victory wasn't 100% clean hax-wise as BKC didn't get any break in the DPP game, and some of his fanboys were pretty loud about that (mainly AM at the time).
I spent a lot of time discussing team ideas/"theorymoning" with Ojama throughout the season and in PlayOffs too. I mainly focused on building my ADV teams, Ojama prepared/edited a lot of DPP teams for me, and I'd save some BW pastebins of teams that I found solid while packing some surprised. Typically, I knew the ADV team I was gonna use, had some 2-3 options for DPP and 5-6 for BW. I'd pick the DPP and BW team on the spot. I've never been someone who tested a lot and didn't test at all during that season.

Here was my preparation in more details:
  • R1 vs AM: built an ADV team around Drill Peck Zapdos with Spikes, had 2 options for DPP from Ojama (Offense around Sub CM Raikou and a bulky Sand balance, picked the Offense as I wanted to play something more risky and possibly more rewarding), had more options for BW and picked a regular Kyurem rain I got from mostwanted right before the battle.
  • Quarter vs Frexa: used my in-season ADV team (Modest Gar spikes offense with CB Mence), wanted to use Infernape in DPP and used a team Ojama had showed me for Round 1 iirc.
  • Semi vs. Malekith: built an "anti-Spikes" team featuring what I loved at the time: Spikes and Gengar under Sand again :D, the team turned out to be Ttar/Skarm/Gengar/4Atks Flygon/Zapdos/CB Mence. Had 2 options in BW and used a Rain Offense from Aldaron (!!!!!!!!) with Sharp Beak Torn-I and Body Slam/Thunder/Sub Jirachi lo!l. Used the DPP team I used vs Frexa (I was a fan of Infernape and ScarfZor, as well as MixNite).
  • Final vs. BKC: built a more defensive ADV team featuring Starmie to go against the metagame trends (SpikesGar being everywhere) and very distincly (I'd screen it if I could) texting Ojama some days before the final to build a heavy offensive DPP team that could destroy Stall/Semi-Stall with Rotom around hazards while I was out watching the first Hobbit ahah. He built a team with Metagross lead and an another one with Machamp, and I loved the second one.
Do you have a girlfriend?
I used to, but we broke up recently...
 

gene
Favourite pokemon?

Zapdos

How did you get involved into competitive Pokemon?

I didn't start playing online until the RS era. I began reading the RS boards on Gamefaqs to learn more about game mechanics and eventually found out about Netbattle. I started playing in Smogon and Pokerealm tournaments back in 2005 and continued playing a lot until mid-2007. Then DP came out, Netbattle died, and I kind of lost interest in the game.

What past gen tier are you most known for playing, and what are some of your greatest achievements in playing (in either this tier or in general)?

ADV and GSC, but more so ADV because I didn't play GSC when it was the current generation. I never actually won a major ADV tournament like the OST, but I won a lot of minor tournaments during that 2006-2007 era. I also went 8-2 in ADV during SPL 1 and our team somehow managed to win despite underperforming all season and barely making it to playoffs.

What are your favourite old gen tiers and why?

Competitively, I'd rank them ADV > GSC > RBY > DPP > other shit. ADV had the best mix of offensive and defensive playstyles, and I think a lot of other players who played during this era would also consider it to be the best gen. The generations that came after introduced too many things that discourage switching and defensive play in general, so I never liked them as much. Ingame, the best gen is obviously GSC.

What are some of your most often used Pokemon in the tiers that you play?

Zapdos is on pretty much all of my teams. I think it is easily the second-best pokemon in GSC and top 5 in ADV. Other than that, in ADV I used a lot of Subpunch Tyranitar, Sleep Talk Skarmory, Flygon, CBMence, and Swampert. In GSC, I used a lot of Drumlax, Nidoking, Curse Skarm, and Growl Miltank or Charm Umbreon. In DPP, I like Subpunch Tyranitar, Agility Lucario, and Gyarados.

What type of playstyle do you enjoy using the most in these tiers?

I usually played pretty defensively. In GSC, I would use things like Miltank to stall enemy pokemon out of certain moves. Usually, I'd just wait until the opponent fucked up in some way and then try to make a play with an offensive threat (usually Drumlax). This usually worked pretty well for me, but games would be a boring 6-6 grind for like 100+ turns until Drumlax could finally kill something. In ADV, I liked somewhat-defensive teams that played off resistances and had at least 3-4 spikes-immune pokemon. The last bit is pretty important for defensive teams because I hated having a rapid spinner due to the fact that most spinners were pretty shit.

I liked offensive teams in ADV to an extent, but I wasn't happy with their relative lack of consistency. There are some really good offensive combos that can work well (SD or CM passing with Celebi comes to mind), but I never liked the Mag/Dug + sweepers teams at all.

Do you consider yourself having innovated or popularised any sets throughout your time playing?

It's always hard to say who popularized what set first. I think I was one of the first people to use Counter Wish Blissey a lot when that first became available, and it was pretty effective for a few months until people caught on. Also husk and I used to play a lot of ubers and I think we were the ones to popularize T-wave/SD Groudon and Reflect/Toxic/WW/Recover Lugia.

Are there any specific games you've played that you consider really great?

The first one that comes to mind is the mirror match I had vs. goofball in battle of the week a few years ago. It was close as hell all game and came down to my Tyranitar having HP Grass and shitting on his Swampert, and then my Aerodactyl beat his Aerodactyl. Then there's also the game vs. kael in SPL 1, but I think that one is more memorable because that was the game that won our team the tournament. Also there's the game in the 2011 world cup where I played some guy with the BW version of team superman and won.

Are there any changes to older tiers that you think would be beneficial?

Is that ingrain smeargle shit still banned? Because I always thought banning it was a dumb idea. Also for ADV UU, I think the best metagame was made during the last Summer Freedom tournament where 1 BL pokemon was allowed. However, this would require a huge rework of the current BL list.

I think DPP and later gens would be a lot better if some of the mechanics were fundamentally changed when those games came out (delete stealth rock and tone down the base power and base stats on many moves and pokemon), but I don't believe in doing that just for simulators.

Who do you look up to as a player and/or person, and which players are you close friends with?

When I was still pretty new, I always looked up to VIL because he was probably the #1 overall player back then. I consider myself friends with a lot of people on Smogon and Nugget Bridge, and I've probably met at least 100 people from these communities irl by now. I'd rather not start listing names because then I'd just leave someone out.

Are there any old players who you wish would come back, either to play again or just to talk to?

There are quite a few old players who I haven't seen in a while... husk, Jackal, Roy, Gouki, Loki, goofball, fm, Bugsy23.

How do you feel about the comparatively larger successes of newer players recently, for example, in this year's OST?

I have no idea as I don't really play or follow pokemon very much anymore. I don't even know who won the last few OSTs.

How do you feel about smogon as a whole right now?

Part of it is nostalgia speaking, but it used to be better and more fun. Most of the people that originally drew me to the community are gone now, so I am a lot less active on the forums.

Any teams you feel fit you as a player particularly well?

There are 3 teams that come to mind. One is my main GSC team (Zapdos/Drumlax/Curse Skarm/Starmie/Growltank/Nidoking) which fit my "stall until I can get Lax in and do damage" playstyle perfectly. Then there is VIL's superman team in ADV which I changed a bit to fit my tastes (Aerodactyl/Tyranitar/Flygon/Swampert/Skarmory/Zapdos). There's also another ADV team I really like (Gengar/Zapdos/CBMence/Swampert/Skarmory/Blissey) that is a bit more defensive. That last one was very successful when I first made it about 9 years ago, but I eventually stopped using it as much because it hates dealing with Tyranitar. I ended up using that one only once in SPL.

Final question - are you still going to continue playing in tournaments?

I'm sure I'll still play in some tournaments in the future, including VGC events. After being in the community for so long, I really can't see myself leaving it. But I just don't have that drive to play or win anymore.
 

Isa

I've never felt better in my life
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnus
How did you feel about playing RBY in this SPL?

What are your thoughts on the newly discovered mechanics in RBY? (Can't paralyze Normal types in RBY with Body Slam)
 

gene

(* ̄(エ) ̄*)
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Two-Time Past WCoP Champion
How did you feel about playing RBY in this SPL?
i haven't ever really liked rby as much as gsc or adv, but i kind of wanted to play it anyway. my luck turned around pretty hard after midseason and i remembered why i never cared for rby that much. i also lost one game where a recovery move failed, and that's not even the first major tournament where that dumb bug happened to me. rby can be pretty fun, but it's not great for serious matches.

What are your thoughts on the newly discovered mechanics in RBY? (Can't paralyze Normal types in RBY with Body Slam)
i can't believe nobody discovered them for so long. i don't really like the new mechanics though, chansey should not be switching into snorlax...

How do you feel the on the introduction of ev's and how that affects the complexity of the game?
i like it because it makes pokemon more customizable. on the other hand, not having maxed out stats in everything makes most pokemon die quicker. one thing i like about gsc is how deceptively tanky things with 80-90 base def/spdef are. very few attacks can ohko common pokemon in gsc, but that is not really the case in adv and later gens.

Opinion on gengar in the first 3 gens
gengar is alright in rby, but hypnosis really sucks as a sleep move and he doesn't do a lot of damage. i find him pretty unreliable overall. in gsc, he is quite good, but i'm not sure if he'd make my top 10. he is still vulnerable to earthquake here and he doesn't hit nearly as hard yet. in adv, gengar is top 5 easily. he is an amazing offensive threat, and you always need to watch out for him when putting together a team. my favorite set was probably hypnosis/thunderbolt/ice punch/wow with a somewhat defensive spread. the best thing about gengar in adv is that you can use pretty much anything and he'd still be good.

Opinion on the move baton pass
dedicated bp teams suck and are usually used as a crutch. it's either win 6-0 or lose 6-0, and those games are never very good. bp + sd/cm on things like celebi can be really good because of how many good recipients there are.

Is there any good reason to use Egg over celebi in ADV?
as a defensive pokemon, celebi is unquestionably better. exeggutor is only better in ubers (where he still sucks a lot). sunnybeaming actually works on vileplume in uu, but exeggutor can't pull it off in ou.

Opinion on trapping moves (mean look etc)
they are alright, i don't think they are overpowered in any way. trapping with umbreon in adv can be pretty good if you have the right team for it and the opponent gets caught off guard. if you can trap/taunt the right pokemon and pass to a sweeper like ttar or gyarados, it's over.
 

Atticus

Atticus
is a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnuswon the 10th Official Smogon Tournamentdefeated the Smogon Frontieris a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
I knew you had a soft spot for DPP OU

What are your thoughts on the viability of golem/rhydon in RBY? I always felt they were meh unless you were facing a team with zapdos
 
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gene

(* ̄(エ) ̄*)
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Two-Time Past WCoP Champion
GENE

are you coming back for wcop?
maybe, but someone's gotta make me a team, and also train me in whatever the hell metagame wcop is this year

I knew you had a soft spot for DPP OU

What are your thoughts on the viability of golem/rhydon in RBY? I always felt they were meh unless you were facing a team with zapdos
yeah, they're not very good unless you think they have zapdos. i don't think there's a clear better of the two, but i've always liked rhydon more. golem is faster and explodes, but i would rather have the higher damage most of the time. i think that if you use rhydon/golem, you need to spread paralysis asap so that rhydon/golem can be an actual threat.
 

Mr.E

unban me from Discord
is a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
user groudon80 how excited were you to find out your namesake pokemon got something even BETTER than mega evolution?
 

Smurf.
Favourite pokemon?

Ever since I was 6 years old and got my first cartridge for Christmas my favorite pokemon has been Dragonite. It had a bad ass sprite and was ridiculously strong. I have very fond memories of spamming blizzard and absolutely obliterating Lance in the Elite 4.

How did you get involved into competitive Pokemon?

Pokemon was a huge craze in my primary school days; kids everywhere were playing Gameboy and wasting absurd amounts of money on pokemon trading cards. Over the following years Pokemon started to die out amongst my peers, and everyone got new hobbies/interests. It wasn’t until Year 11 when I started to get back into pokemon. I had downloaded an emulator to play the latest game, Platinum, to kill time during free periods at school. The mechanics of the game had changed dramatically, and there was now a vast array of pokemon. I decided to look up some strats to build the greatest squad ever (as all aspiring trainers do), and stumbled upon smogon and shoddy battle. Who would have thought there was such advanced tactics and a competitive community for a game from my childhood? I downloaded shoddy battle, and ever since have had to deal with hiding my pokemon addiction from my mates and girlfriend.

What past gen tier are you most known for playing, and what are some of your greatest achievements in playing (in either this tier or in general)?

I guess I originally made my name as a DPP UU specialist. Having dabbled in a bit of DPP OU and not finding it to my liking, I soon discovered and became addicted to UU. The metagame was incredibly interesting and never stagnated for long, especially with suspect testing periods which each saw a new centralizing force. One month you would have a metagame centered around Cresselia & PorygonZ, the next it would be Raikou + Dugtrio, then Heracross etc. There was always something new to explore and try, and I think that’s what led me to play the tier so extensively.

I went into SPL 2 as kind of an unknown quantity, having had makiri graciously bid on me. It was cool because there wasn’t a lot of expectation riding on me and playing as the underdog in almost every week helped me achieve the best record for the tier (tied with Bluewind and ToF). We went on to win the trophy that year with what I still believe is the greatest SPL squad ever assembled, and I made a lot of friends during that period. That is still something that I’m quite proud of (as proud as you can possibly be of some pixels under you name).

What are your favourite old gen tiers and why?

Obviously from the above, you can tell that I have a soft spot for DPP UU. There was just a great community in the tier as well, and I remember killing a lot of time on IRC in #underused talking shit and playing pokemon drawing games with friends. A lot of the best UU players hung out in that channel and you could always find some high level games.

Recently, I’ve dabbled in ADV quite extensively and have really enjoyed it. I picked it up to test with Golden Sun for the latest SPL and, being a complete noob, tried to make teams with underrated mons and create some new innovation. I originally perceived ADV as a boring and dull tier, but after playing with GS I’ve really come to love it (though not as much as BKC it seems). We built some really cool teams during SPL and even post-SPL I’ve continued to try seek out ADV games wherever possible.

What are some of your most often used Pokemon in the tiers that you play?

DPP UU: Fast Life Orb Clefable, with a moveset of CM / thunderbolt / ice beam / softboiled. Don’t leave home without this mon, it eats up balanced teams and is a monster with spikes support.

ADV OU: Houdini (Metagross) because its just so versatile that you can fit it on any team to fulfill a role. I’ve used CB, hidden power [grass], agiligross…. The possibilities are just endless. Awesome power, bulk and a utility boom is always appreciated.

What type of playstyle do you enjoy using the most in these tiers?
Undoubtedly offense. I’ve never really enjoyed using passive/defensive teams and would much rather use a well-crafted offense. If you have a great offensive squad, you should always have the potential to win any given match, it all comes down to the player. I love having momentum and being in control of games, and I find this is a lot easier to achieve when you’re playing proactively rather than reactively.

Is it the most consistent style? Of course not, because at any given moment you might miss a crucial Focus Blast and its game over. Having said that, I’m definitely not as methodical as some dudes like Heist and so could never use his kind of builds.

Do you consider yourself having innovated or popularised any sets throughout your time playing?

The King, LO Clefable with speed.

I wouldn’t go so far as to say I ‘innovated’ them, but I have definitely popularized the use of some underrated waters in RD Kingdra and Utility Ludicolo in ADV. They’ve been generating some buzz in the viability thread and that’s great because more people should use them.

Oh yeah, there’s also QD Volcarona. During BW2 I came up with a classic offense squad that was centered around Volcarona, because at that time everyone was using these bulky sand teams that were just ripped apart by Volc after a boost. It provided a lot of free wins against the common team archetypes and has since become widely used.

Are there any specific games you've played that you consider really great?

I really like this ADV game I played vs Aim: http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen3ou-55852

The game was really tight the whole way through, and boiled down to Snorlax vs Vaporeon, which involved some intense mind games re: Self-Destruct. Fortunately Lax prevailed, leaving Mence the sole survivor.

There is also this awesome DPP UU match vs Ironbullet93 from SPL 2 Semis:


Clung on for the 1% win. Always worthy of going on the highlights reel!

There’s a few others, including my BW Cup games against Blunder where I really ascended to Babidi1998-esque levels.

A hilarious one that I vividly remember was when my Sand Veil Dugtrio dodged 4 Flygon EQ’s and rock slid its way to victory against Golden Sun in a fun game.

Are there any changes to older tiers that you think would be beneficial?

I try to steer clear of tiering politics. However, that said, I’ve always found it kind of stupid how sun + chlorophyll is allowed in BW but rain + swift swim was banned.

Fuck Scald.

Limiting spikes to 1 layer in ADV.

Who do you look up to as a player and/or person, and which players are you close friends with?

Tough one. I’ve met so many cool people over my time playing. I guess when I started playing I idolized guys like husk and Panamaxis, and it was fantastic to be able to team with them during SPL 2. I always rated Pana as the best player I’ve seen, and still think that’s true (come back for wcop bae). These days my close friends include Heist, Golden Sun, BKC, Floppy and a few others who hang out in the chan.

Shoutout to Colchonero and Raichy also. *Ribbit*

Are there any old players who you wish would come back, either to play again or just to talk to?

All the guys from #underused like franky, uragg and Bluewind so we can have one last nostalgia-fest DPP UU tournament.

Panamaxis. Come play wcop!

How do you feel about the comparatively larger successes of newer players recently, for example, in this year's OST?

I think these days it’s a lot more of a collective approach to playing tournament games. I know a lot of new dudes have group skype chats where they discuss teambuilding and in game moves. There’s definitely been a shift away from the more individual, ladder centric era I first started playing in, where #1 on the ladder was the absolute pinnacle of competitive pokemon.

Any teams you feel fit you as a player particularly well?

This is without doubt the team I most enjoy using in ADV, as its fast paced, offensive and features some cool underrated sets.

This team was built around the premise of using high powered sweepers to overwhelm the opposition. With fantastic offensive synergy, each member of the squad works to open up holes that others can exploit. Pivotal to this is the use of explosion and self-destruct, which decimates dedicated walls and provides the set up sweepers the chance to achieve victory.

houdini (Metagross) @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 64 HP / 252 Atk / 192 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Meteor Mash
- Explosion
- Rock Slide

Half Measures (Tyranitar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 76 Atk / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Dragon Dance
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide

Felina (Snorlax) @ Lum Berry
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 160 HP / 188 Atk / 120 Def / 40 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Counter
- Shadow Ball
- Curse
- Self-Destruct

Gliding Over All (Gengar) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 124 Atk / 200 SpA / 184 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Explosion
- Ice Punch
- Giga Drain

Full Measure (Kingdra) @ Leftovers
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]

Dead Freight (Swampert) @ Salac Berry
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Substitute
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Endeavor

I'll throw in my SPL 2 winning DPP UU team as well. This was really anti-metagame back in 2011 and I used it in the vast majority of my games that season.

Mismagius @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Shadow Ball
- Thunderbolt
- Destiny Bond
- Taunt

Qwilfish @ Leftovers
Trait: Poison Point
EVs: 248 HP / 152 Def / 108 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Pain Split
- Waterfall

Torterra @ Leftovers
Trait: Overgrow
EVs: 212 HP / 252 SDef / 44 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Wood Hammer
- Synthesis

Arcanine @ Choice Band
Trait: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Flare Blitz
- ExtremeSpeed
- Thunder Fang
- Morning Sun

Clefable @ Life Orb
Trait: Magic Guard
EVs: 72 HP / 252 SAtk / 184 Spd
Modest Nature (+SAtk, -Atk)
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Calm Mind
- Softboiled

Registeel @ Leftovers
Trait: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Atk / 216 SDef / 16 Spd
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Iron Head
- Rest
- Sleep Talk

Final question - are you still going to continue playing in tournaments?

Yep. Next year’s SPL will be the end for papa smurf though.
 
opinions on stall (like the one KG used vs. GS)?

do you think old gen metagames like DPP UU can ever receive official recognition?

are you planning on trying for smogon tour?
 
Sapientia: What's your opinion on 8-0 wins in SPL?
Any win is a good win. I miss the days when SPL teams were smaller; there's far too many garbage tiers now where no one knows whats going on when watching.


Kingler12345 opinions on stall (like the one KG used vs. GS)?
I cant comment on that particular team since I was away on vacation when GS played KG. However, I don't really like stall in ADV because its very easy to trap or break certain pokemon like skarmory and swampert. I'd much rather be using an offensively minded team because you can dictate the momentum and terms of the match, and it involves a lot less reactive play. I find people who use those standard skarm stall teams really easy to play against purely because they are so reliant on those few pokemon, and you can really pressure them until theres nothing that they can do to stop your late game sweeper [insert threatening mon]

do you think old gen metagames like DPP UU can ever receive official recognition?
Honestly no. I think metagames like DPP UU have had their turn in terms of official recognition (i.e. SPL 1 & 2 and the Tours that were DPP ubers/ou/uu). With so many generations and tiers since then, I don't think it would be feasible to have a tier like DPP UU back in such a prominent tour. That said, it is a shame because some of the old gen metagames were really good.

are you planning on trying for smogon tour?
I don't really have the time to be able to commit myself to pursuing stour so I prefer just to watch on as some of my friends play. Having to wake up at 6am and sit around for 2-3 hours playing mons on a saturday/sunday is something I don't really find appealing, especially when it goes on for so many weeks. I did try my hand at tours back in 2010, but swore never to play again after some nuff nuff haxed me out of a quarter final in DPP UU. I had a + 6 SD venusaur and this dude dodged all my powerwhips and won. Never again.


babidi1998 when are u gonna start learning XY for WC man?
done.

cool interview. u present urself much more intelligently here than u do on IRC LOL
Thanks bro, sometimes its easier to communicate to the masses when you speak like an illiterate petroleum engineering student such as SOMALIA
 
Favourite pokemon?

Tyranitar. Competitively? Probably Garchomp.

How did you get involved into competitive Pokemon?

A friend of mine and I loved playing the co-op frontier in Platinum. I had an account on a random french Pokemon site and learned a bit about competitive movesets there, which I applied to my in-game frontier team. We always tried to improve so we could get further and started discovering stuff here and there... until we found out about shoddy. He never really stuck around after that though, but I kept on playing and switched to PO when I learned about it. I loved scripted server tours and that got me caught up in mons...

What past gen tier are you most known for playing, and what are some of your greatest achievements in playing (in either this tier or in general)?

BW2 OU is the tier I've made a name for myself in. I was pretty bad until the release of BW so I kinda am a BW (BAN ME PLEASE) after all. I wasn't really a forum dude until the BW2 days which is when I became a better player I guess... I think my biggest achievement was a solid showing last SPL. I don't really have much to show for otherwise, my favourite part of this community are the team tournaments!

What are your favourite old gen tiers and why?

DPP OU is my absolute favourite. Part of it comes from nostalgia I guess since it was the first competitive metagame I've ever played. I just like the fact that it has the fast pace of modern metagames as well as a wide array of dangerous threats, but still maintains a pretty nice balance and leaves room for creativity. I also love the lead metagame! A lot of people think it's stupid and that it makes the tier worse, but I think it's one of the biggest creativity enabler in any given metagame. I also like that there's only one Dragon running around that is strong enough to crush everything with Draco Meteors and Outrages, because those are pretty stupid in BW especially.

DPP Ubers is one of the few non-OU tiers that I really enjoy playing. I haven't played it much during "the days" so I mostly picked it up from the two most recent UPLs and I've been having a blast in them. The lead metagame is one of the most interesting parts of the metagame: there's one lead (Deoxys-S) that dominates the tier and threatens heavy punishment to unprepared leads. Everything revolves around that and making new innovative counterleads is a lot of fun. Shoutout to CM Lum 3 attacks Kyogre

I kinda have a love-hate relationship with BW OU. It has its qualities (like having a ton of unexplored stuff, for example, the recently re-discovered Hydreigon!) but at the same time also has really stupid faults, like Volcarona.

What are some of your most often used Pokemon in the tiers that you play?

Tyranitar definitely is the Pokemon I use the most. In DPP it's just so reliable and so good that there hardly is a downside to use it. In BW, I don't like running around without my own weather and Tyranitar is just so splashable and offers a lot of support without draining your momentum like Hippowdon would. I also have a slight penchant for Sand balance teams as my teams from SPL shown, which helps its inclusion into my builds.

As for more tier specific stuff, in DPP I'd say Rotom-A (usually Washer or CUT) is my boy. I love it as a scarfer because spinblocking is just so convenient for the Spikes based teams I love. A fast electric move is useful because it can revenge Gyarados, one of the most threatening pokes in the tier, and also has great neutral coverage for late game sweeps. I also like that it can so easily be turned into a lure for so many common Pokes to support the rest of the team so... yeah.

In BW then Garchomp definitely is my most used monster. Rough Skin is just so convenient. On top of that you have one of the best offensive Pokes in the tier, an almost guaranteed SR, and a check to a million dangerous threats. While it's not hard to not include it in builds, usually I find Garchomp teams to be better than those without it...

What type of playstyle do you enjoy using the most in these tiers?

I used to absolutely love YOLO-type offense but I kinda calmed down after the last wcop ended. Since then I've been using a lot of Spikes balance because they are just so easy to use. I like sticking a random set that might make no sense to use on that specific build to some. I still enjoy playing offense a lot though!

Do you consider yourself having innovated or popularised any sets throughout your time playing?

I am not an innovator but I like to think I have revived CB Garchomp in BW. That set really is strong.

Also I am the REAL king of Smeargle leads in DPP. I posted a RMT of the Smeargle offense I made, that I created more than a year ago. That team truly is a beast

Are there any specific games you've played that you consider really great?

This game in particular from last SPL against Aqualouis. It was the game after a particularly embarrassing loss to Conflict, against a team I tried really hard to get on (the Scooters), and against a player that always did really well in team tournaments... Winning that felt awesome.

I think I had a pretty good match-up as my Keldeo was CM + Fighting Gem which straight up kills his only Water resist (Rotom) at +1, but he had a pretty big threat to my team (Hydreigon) that I played around early in the game.

Are there any changes to older tiers that you think would be beneficial?

I really, really want Volcarona banned from BW. It's crazy that a Pokemon that has the potential to sweep literally every team bar a few after just one turn of set up given the right moveset exists. I don't think it's very healthy for the metagame and the influence it has to teambuilding compared to the number of time you'll actually face it is crazy. That's why a lot of people aren't even prepared for it... I really hate it.

I'd limit Stealth Rock to neutral damage in DPP. While some stuff like Zapdos and Dragonite might go crazy without the extra damage I think it'd really help fighting off hazard wars.

Who do you look up to as a player and/or person, and which players are you close friends with?

McMeghan Harsha Finchinator and Funkasaurus are all people who influenced the way I play and I'm close friends with. BKC is one of my closest friends and my greatest inspiration in the world of Pokemon!!! Floppy is the battler I aspire to be, funny, skilled, and lucky.

Are there any old players who you wish would come back, either to play again or just to talk to?

I wish Krack and Gouki would come back so Canada would have an EZ win in wcop... I also wish Iconic would be back full time he's a beast...

How do you feel about the comparatively larger successes of newer players recently, for example, in this year's OST?

I think it's a great thing! We always are in need of new elite players. More elite players means more competition and more minds at work to develop the multiple metagames we play. That makes it a whole lot more fun. My success in tournaments is pretty recent too so I consider myself part of the new guard haha

How do you feel about Smogon as a whole right now?

Well there's been a lot of drama and change lately which is... entertaining I guess. To be honest I think it'll be for the better and I'm having a great time at the moment so I'll say I'm feeling pretty good about it!

Any teams you feel fit you as a player particularly well?

Of course! I'll share this team since I've given it to about 20 people so far and I've seen more use it.

Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psychic
- Focus Blast
- Encore
- Shadow Ball

Garchomp @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Dual Chop

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 112 Def / 148 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Spikes

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Hidden Power [Ice]

Jellicent (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Bold Nature
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Recover

Tyranitar @ Expert Belt
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 144 Atk / 156 SpA / 208 Spe
Lonely Nature
- Crunch
- Fire Blast
- Superpower
- Stealth Rock

I made this team for the first week of SPL 6. It's built around Alakazam and abusing Iron Barbs + Rough Skin as well as Spikes to wear down its counters. It's pretty standard nowadays to see that kind of team with one of the Magic Guard users. I prefer Alakazam because it's so much more threatening to Offense which is the most common bias in BW. While the team has a pretty solid defensive core in Ferrothorn + Jellicent, most of the monsters on it are offensive which really gives you room to play around stuff. Choice Band Garchomp is a god, but at first the main use for it was to OHKO Breloom leads through their Sash, which is a popular choice on offenses like Smurf's.

Final question - are you still going to continue playing in tournaments?

Not gonna stop until I have my trophy.
 
fuck you

why is ttar so stupidly easy to put on a team ughhh starmie too but to a lesser extent which is hilarious considering how well starmie fits into almost everything

why is your slowking team so ridiculously brutal, usually I don't fawn over bw teams because ayy bw lmao but when I used it in that one tour it was sooo '86 slayer

speaking of bw teams, your cbchomp one is all over the fucking place and several great players harbor feelings for it similiar to the ones I've expressed for his majesty, the Slow King. how does it feel to have made a metagame-defining "squad" as the kids call it?!

your favorite women, no arbitrary number because the more love the better :3

FUCK you

how do you justify monferno in dpp uu O_O

why is ciele the best n_n!

favorite team in both gens, one each from you and someone else

fuck you

:heart:
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
Pokegod Rachee n_n

What do you think is a bigger pro of BW in comparison to XY, which lacks both of the following: the ability to use gems for creativity and various innovations (see: Fight gem Keld) or the ability to play the hazard game and (attempt to) spinblock (no Defog)?

Based on the past couple years of big tournament performances, who are your personal top three BW OU and DPP OU players?

Biggest regret (be it a move or a team choice) about a tournament game you currently have (can be about any important match you've had in the past)?

How much did you think you would go for in the previous SPL? How happy where you with the record you put up and the team you were on in SPL? :pig:

Thoughts on the BW metagame sort of stagnating as the Magic Gaurd psychic + spikes variants of sand become quite common and dominant? Is this for better or worse? (I'll avoid asking about sun and exca stuff as we discussed this at length on IRC)

How long do you see yourself playing competitive pokemon for? Do you still enjoy playing it consistently? Have you ever thought of quitting recently?

Why did you decide to finally break the MOTH out vs Roro for BW Cup and not previously during SPL or some other tour? Was it to spite me yn

:)
 
To apparently the most worthless player on smogon:
How would you feel if you brought a Smeargle team and faced a Lead Crobat?
Why is BW a dumb meta? Kinda is (just saying this cause of how stupidly broken Magic Guard+Spikes is)
Thoughts on ADV OU?
Thoughts about Slayer?
Mind PMing me your BKC Slaying Squad from SPL Week 8?
BKC sux yn?
How's Montreal as a city?
Would Team Canada appreciate my services this year?
More to come n_n
 
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Jirachee

phoenix reborn
is a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
why is ttar so stupidly easy to put on a team ughhh starmie too but to a lesser extent which is hilarious considering how well starmie fits into almost everything
Tyranitar is one of the few (good) Zapdos checks that fit well on offense and the only one (I think?) that will do well against all sets. Add to that Pursuit and Sand Stream, as well as a fantastic STAB in Rock and 8 different possible sets, always keeping it a surprise for the opponent. What's not to love? I guess it being too good makes it boring to build teams sometimes.

When people use Tentacruel in DPP I guess it speaks worlds about how good Rapid Spin is and how stupidly good any half decent Pokemon becomes by learning it

why is your slowking team so ridiculously brutal, usually I don't fawn over bw teams because ayy bw lmao but when I used it in that one tour it was sooo '86 slayer
for those wondering what team he's referring to, he's talking about the team I used in SPL against Aqualouis (Tyranitar / Slowking / Ferrothorn / Landorus-T / Keldeo / Garchomp.) Personally I like that team because Tyranitar traps the only Pokemon that stops both Keldeo and Garchomp easily (the Lati twins.) It's a very simple team!

speaking of bw teams, your cbchomp one is all over the fucking place and several great players harbor feelings for it similiar to the ones I've expressed for his majesty, the Slow King. how does it feel to have made a metagame-defining "squad" as the kids call it?!
Feels weird, kinda. Shoutouts to the BIGs for helping to make it popular hehe. I remember feeling amazing when people complimented it. It's funny because after I made the first iteration of the team I kinda put it aside and tried making something else to face peachy with (it had Gliscor and Virizion), but since it didn't work I went back to that and yeah, the rest is history I guess.

your favorite women, no arbitrary number because the more love the better :3
older than yours

how do you justify monferno in dpp uu O_O
Monferno is best compared to XY OU Greninja. Its main niche was to switch into Aegislash's Shadow Ball. Monferno's niche in DPP UU is to switch into Venusaur's Leaf Storm. One must be very careful not to put Monferno on the same team as say, Drapion or Swellow, as these share the same niche. That would be as redundant as using Gastrodon and Choice Scarf Tyranitar on the same BW OU team, and would result in a suboptimal build.

why is ciele the best n_n!
He is cute n_n

favorite team in both gens, one each from you and someone else
In DPP, my favourite team I made myself probably the Aerodactyl team I made to play you in SPL (Hippowdon / Celebi / Rotom-W / Tyranitar / Forretress / Aerodactyl). Double Rock is really really strong offensively and the rest of the team just chills, casually setting up Spikes to help them sweep. Having no Water is a little weird but you don't really need one on that team.

By someone else, not sure. There's a lot of great teams out there and I can't really pick one. I'd say either your ST16 victory team (Zapdos / Hippowdon / Starmie / Jirachi / Venusaur / Heatran) or one of boudouche's teams from earlier last year (Zapdos / Hippowdom / Breloom / Aerodactyl / Jirachi / Starmie). Both are pretty similar I guess lol. Also similar to the team of mine I talked about earlier. I just like that kind of team I guess.

As for BW, my pick has to be the team I talked about in the original post (CB Garchomp + Alakazam). It just fits my playstyle so well. It being popular kinda helps too, makes me proud of it, hehe.

I really like Aqualouis's Slowking team from SPL 5 (Jirachi / Slowking / Ferrothorn / Tyranitar / Terrakion / Landorus-T). Never used it myself, although one of my teams is really similar to it. I always thought it was "beautiful", if you can say that about a Pokemon team.

fuck you too

Pokegod Rachee n_n
pokepeasant finchie ;]

What do you think is a bigger pro of BW in comparison to XY, which lacks both of the following: the ability to use gems for creativity and various innovations (see: Fight gem Keld) or the ability to play the hazard game and (attempt to) spinblock (no Defog)?
Even though Defog is kinda stupid I really love gems and would love to have them available in Gen 6. I love having different metagames to play since a lot of them end up being centralized around Spikes core. Gems are infinitely better than Expert Belt for bluff sets and can even allow for a stronger hit in general (for example, Dragon Gem Garchomp) to break through stuff so yeah. Even if they're released, they've been nerfed (x1.3 now rather than x1.5) so fuck game freak

Based on the past couple years of big tournament performances, who are your personal top three BW OU and DPP OU players?
Hard to say. It's tough to rank players in a game as volatile as Pokemon. In BW, I'd say SoulWind, Ojama, and Masterclass would be my top 3. Out of those three it's hard to choose a clear #1. Could probably place Bloo and McMeghan somewhere out there. As for DPP, Heist, BKC, and DracoMalfoy would be my picks.

Biggest regret (be it a move or a team choice) about a tournament game you currently have (can be about any important match you've had in the past)?
Oh man you know it. That game against Conflict. I really underrated him. I brought the kind of team I'd usually never bring to a serious game... and got burned. Thank god that game didn't actually matter. I was so furious at myself after the game. Guess I had to learn never to underestimate my opponents. heh

How much did you think you would go for in the previous SPL? How happy where you with the record you put up and the team you were on in SPL? :pig:
In all honesty I thought I'd go for a higher price. There's a few teams I thought would go for me but they ended up not doing so. Knowing how much Funk was willing to spend... I expected more. I'm glad I ended up on the bigs though, since we had a great season. I think my record would have been better if I hadn't been an idiot in the first half of the season but at the end of the day it ended up not mattering, so whatever.

Thoughts on the BW metagame sort of stagnating as the Magic Gaurd psychic + spikes variants of sand become quite common and dominant? Is this for better or worse? (I'll avoid asking about sun and exca stuff as we discussed this at length on IRC)
You know I quite like using those teams, so I don't know. There's quite a lot of threats that give them trouble like Volcarona and Hydreigon most notably. I'm not sure if Reuniclus is broken, but boy, it sure is good. I think there still is a lot of room for innovation in BW, so maybe we'll see a metagame shift in the future.

How long do you see yourself playing competitive pokemon for? Do you still enjoy playing it consistently? Have you ever thought of quitting recently?
I'm not sure. Haven't thought about quitting recently since I still enjoy playing quite a bit. Can't see myself play for many more years though as more Serious things might take place in my life but right now I'll say you're not close to seeing me leave o.o

Why did you decide to finally break the MOTH out vs Roro for BW Cup and not previously during SPL or some other tour? Was it to spite me yn
Actually it was because I knew McMeghan would be serious about that tournament and since he had access to pretty much every single one of my teams I had to make new ones. I was thinking about stuff he wouldn't expect, and the last thing someone would expect from me would be Volcarona right? Turns out he has fucking Choice Band Ferrothorn. Jesus

To apparently the most worthless player on smogon:
rude ?_?

How would you feel if you brought a Smeargle team and faced a Lead Crobat?
Switch out. Taunt's probably coming but it's not worth risking getting U-turned on because Crobat's not a sashed lead anyway. Since Crobat doesn't lay down hazards, it's a pretty risk free play. The worst match up you can get I think is Gliscor, althought Lum Tyranitar is high up there.

Why is BW a dumb meta? Kinda is
It's dumb if you want it to be. There's plenty of room to make good teams without using the same old standards all the time. If you want a small piece of advice: try new things, you'll enjoy making new cool looking things and will improve your knowledge of the metagame!

Thoughts on ADV OU?
It's a cool tier, I wish I was better at it. No Stealth Rock makes it very different from the other post GSC tiers. It's funny how dominant trappers can be in one tier. I'm not sure how much I like that, but whatever.

Thoughts about Slayer?
They're alright, not really my kind of music though :O

Mind PMing me your BKC Slaying Squad from SPL Week 8?
Fuck that, I'll just post it here instead for the people who want it:

Hippowdon (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Earthquake
- Ice Fang
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock

Aerodactyl (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
- Taunt
- Roost

Forretress (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Payback
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 48 HP / 252 Atk / 208 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stone Edge
- Crunch
- Pursuit
- Ice Punch

Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 248 HP / 228 Def / 32 Spe
Bold Nature
- Grass Knot
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover
- Thunder Wave

Rotom-Wash @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball
- Hydro Pump
- Trick


I think Fakes has a pretty similar team, but with different sets and Swampert over Hippowdon. Aerodactyl + CB Tyranitar is ridiculously strong as an offensive core. Toxic Forretress is not a set you see often but it fits this team nicely I think!

BKC sux yn?
of course
 
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McMeghan

Dreamcatcher
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis the 5th Smogon Classic Winneris the Smogon Tour Season 14 Championis a defending SPL Championis a Past SPL Champion
Big Chungus Winner
Philou :D

What are your goals in the Tournament scene as a TD, and as a player?
I like your take on BW! Name 5 stuff (Pokemons or Strategies) you consider underrated. I want funky stuff here!
Any team in particular you liked as a Rater? Also show me a team you've liked even if it didn't get much spotlight.

T'es un champion :toast:
 

Oglemi

Borf
is a Top Contributoris a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Researcher Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnusis a Top Dedicated Tournament Host Alumnus
play more: dpp nu

when building for dpp metas, where do you typically start your teams? do you prefer bulkier builds, ho, stall, bp, other

how do you think bw will play out here with no more venu (or relevant venu i suppose)?
 
o sorry lol i forgot Jirachee answer your last questions after this interview if you want to


BKC
Favourite Pokemon?

Funnily enough it's not Blaziken but instead Salamence! He was my first level 100 in my Sapphire, sporting a fearsome moveset of Fly / Dragon Claw / Fire Blast / Flamethrower and he's an all-around beast.

How did you get involved into competitive Pokemon?

In autumn 2007, a new friend I'd made in 6th grade asked me if I liked Pokemon. I said that I had when I was younger, and he let me know about D/P. When I got home after school and got permission from my mom to go on the computer, I searched it up, finding impressive monsters such as Staraptor and Garchomp. I looked up walkthroughs of the game on youtube, and stumbled upon a channel called Marriland, who also had a wifi battle posted - a fight against a fellow by the name of Untouchable. I thought this was the coolest thing ever, especially when he led with a Salamence and finished the guy off with a fucking Rattata, and decided I too wanted to post wifi battles. However, I was 11 - so until I hit the required 13 years of age, I lurked on the tube and various websites, learning about EVs and IVs and natures. DPP ingame was fucking amazing, btw. I remember when I first encountered Toxic Spikes, I was very proud of myself for guessing that stacking it a second time would inflict bad poison.

So May 2009 rolls around, I'm 13, Platinum is released in America, and I start my yt channel with the incredibly clever name BlazeKickinChicken. My first battle was against a guy named fabdoghouse98 - my team was the Empoleon I had picked as my starter (I kept restarting until I got a Modest one) with Choice Specs, an SR Gliscor that was Lax because I wanted +Def but didn't have the patience to wait for Impish, a double spiking Cloyster with SDef so abysmal it got OHKOed by Spiritomb's Dark Pulse, mixed Flareon, SD Pursuit Weavile, and Gyarados with Thunder Wave / Rest / Roar / Taunt @ Chesto Berry. It's worth noting btw that the general attitude on youtube was extremely anti-Smogon ("they aren't original" the battlecry of a generation) so I didn't use the forums at all, although I did experiment quite a bit on Shoddy - I developed my love for Spikes Roserade there - and of course I checked out the strategy dex. The first time I came onto the forums was to check out Philip7086's Team of Torment after MrFlamethrowa, one of the best yt players (who was also an integral part of two yt sub-communities I look very fondly back at, Pokecentral101 and Regileague), used it. The vid had that stupid Rob Zombie song... fucking Dragula lmao

Anyway I eventually ventured to different forums looking for more people to play against - GameFAQs was my main one around the time HG/SS came out in Japan, eventually moving to Marriland sometime during that winter, and a bit after those games' American release in the spring, I finally decided to come to Smogon - I had been wary ever since Marriland said that really good players were there in the video description of his battle against Disfunction and I overcame my initial nervousness to register an account. I beat the first guy I played, I think he had a Scyther lead... and the rest is history.

What past gen tier are you most known for playing, and what are some of your greatest achievements in playing (in either this tier or in general)?

DPP OU. I won Smogon Tour 16, the last ADV/DPP/BW one - that season everyone was amazed at Marth winning three BW tours back-to-back and thus seemed to not notice when I became the first person to win a tour in all three metagames in one season.

In addition to being known for DPP, which I was a Frontier brain for last year, I was also one of the most... well-known let's say (I get really self conscious haha) BW players when it was the main metagame starting from the late stages of BW1, circa the latter half of the latter half of SPL 3 which is where I began to break out - right after the season I won my first tour. I had a 3-1 record in that SPL, including winning the legendary semis battle against Smogon's newly beloved, Earthworm-touted BW wunderkind McMeghan, who became my competitive rival for the rest of the year. Despite my polar opposite record that WCoP where I joined US East, I played a big role in taking down three-time reigning champions Oceania. I made it to the finals of Smogon Tour 14 that fall, taking out Bloo, Heist and Vinc2612 before McM beat me in two games I will never not give him shit for because while he was the more deserving winner they were still extraordinarily frustrating. The following year I helped East to its first WCoP championship, with a performance that earned me rave reviews from some very respected names that went so far as to hail me as the best BW stall player, and was a brain in the Frontier.

Lastly I'm also known for ADV. Besides Tour I played it in last year's WCoP and this past SPL, I also got an ADV Smogcast together with chaos, Loki, cbb and Danilo about two years ago.

What are your favourite old gen tiers and why?

DPP OU (with Latias and / or Salamence) - it was my first and whenever I play the dragon(s) meta for fun it's always awesome. Mence might've been broken yeah but my nostalgia goggles cloud me from caring.
DPP UU - I've had a massive hardon for it ever since I played one of the guys from my Serebii clan with Heysup's Free Bird team. There's a reason it's often lauded as the greatest tier of all time, although you have silly detractors who overexaggerate the presence of Spikes and the morons who ruin it for everyone with whistle's stupid Sand Veil team.
DPP Ubers - just like what I did with UU, I took Jibaku's Vulcan Fury team, tried it on wifi and fell head over heels.
ADV OU - at first I hated it because it was really hard and I just didn't get it; I wanted to be able to win every game with one team that I considered the best. However, when you get ADV, you don't go back. If I had more experience in UU and Ubers they would most likely make this list as well.
BW1 OU - yeah Deo-D was stupid, and Terrakion was ridiculous, and Landorus was sort of straddling that same border... but man, it was great.
BW RU - I messed around with it in its early stages in autumn 2011, using an RMT with I think a lead Hariyama and SubCM Cresselia... I think the guy had a username like superpascal. I never was extraordinarily dedicated to the tier but I always played it on and off (except during the peak of Hail, yuck) right to the end of the generation and enjoyed the hell out of it. I had a good run in GS2's Open, taking out some solid players before meeting my death at the hands of Heist / babidi in round 5.
GSC OU - it's utterly chesslike. I'm still getting more experience here, although I was able to help quite a bit in it this past SPL. I sorta view learning this tier as The Ultimate Pokemon Challenge. Satan bless my competitive drive.

What are some of your most often used Pokemon in the tiers that you play?

DPP - offensive Zapdos, mainly Specs (my team that got passed around last fall has made Zap the #1 lead for the past two seasons of Tour!) because it's an offensive behemoth that also has defensive utility, SR MixTar because I dislike when spinners come in on my rocks dude, Breloom because fuck having offense walled by Hippowdon / Swampert / the now-rare Vaporeon and it checks DDtar / LO Aero who I'm also very paranoid of, SDef Hippowdon because it walls the dog shit out of everything - for example I remember a battle against McMeghan in the spring of '12 for the all gens tour where I won because Hippo stalled out a Leaf Storming Celebi and afterwards survived Specs Kingdra's Surf.

ADV - Zapdos for the same reasons as DPP although I'm more likely to go with a defensive set here, CB Tyranitar because brutalizing Swampert with Focus Punch is one of life's greatest pleasures, Salamence due to its nostalgic sprite and it's my favorite pokemon and because it excels in a multitude of roles, Jolteon because it's like a weaker Zapdos but with the benefit of Speed and VOLT ABSORB, Heracross because the SubSalac SD set (mopcross) is one of the most terrifying sweepers in any generation.

What type of playstyle do you enjoy using the most in these tiers?

DPP - bulky offense because my perfectionist tendencies don't get in the way of building the team as much as my more defensive shit and it consistently plays at a comfortable tempo. Semistall (or "spikes based balance" for the purists) is a pretty close second.

ADV - any kind of interesting offense, the possibilities are nearly endless. I've fallen out of favor with more defensive teams for the most part since they are much harder to do something cool with and are quite easily taken advantage of.

Do you consider yourself having innovated or popularised any sets throughout your time playing?

I sure do! Funkasaurus and I's team played a major role in popularizing Hippowdon and Scarf Jirachi in the later stages of BW1, which is the same time I was among the dudes popularizing SDef Perish Song Celebi on (semi)stall, mainly alongside Ojama, whose Toxic Invasion team revealed it to the masses. In early BW2, I often ran Sweepage's SDef Leech/Protect/Drain Punch Breloom on bro fist's team that I tweaked with him after he 6-0ed me with it in a test and it gained quite a bit of traction amidst all the Techloom hype. During WCoP '13 I became the second person to make a Tailwind (!!!) + Dragons HO team - pana was first, I will however respectfully point out that his team struggled with Ferrothorn which my team aimed to utterly crush [LO HP Fire Suicune and LO Focus Blast Kyurem-B] - and the first to use it in a big match; my CB Salamence surprised Aqualouis and gave East the early lead over France. In end/post-BW, I was running Reuniclus ss and thus contributed a good amount to the metagame going the way it is now, my b guys!

In DPP there are a lot of things I've come up with by virtue of necessity being the mother of invention, I know I'd leave something out so for the time being I will leave this but at one point when my time has come I do intend on writing a history of my pkmn career as much for myself as for interested community members (pre-emptive apology for what will inevitably be quite a self-indulgent thread haha) and there I will go over them, my memory is stupidly accurate at this sorta thing so I doubt I'll leave anything out.

I will give mention to the time in early 2012 when I took inspiration from the vet favorite, SubRoost Zapdos, and turned the LO Aerodactyl on my Bleed team into a Sub Roost Taunt set. It worked incredibly well and I thought I was a genius for inventing it it until I learned husk, one of my idols, had made a team with it before... and then my ego rose to dangerous levels as I congratulated myself for thinking on the same level as such a legend. I'll also mention my Leech Seed / Seed Bomb / Mach Punch Breloom that I devised in autumn '14 (Jirachee affectionately dubbed it "cancebolaids" what a friend) that I have used quite a bit since then and a few others have taken a liking to, I posted about it a few times in RoA. Umm, I have also been a Nidoqueen advocate for quite a long time and like to think I helped boost her popularity, although Heist is her real lover. Lastly, Fakes and I helped make Bold Starmie the thing it is today.

In ADV I was using Jolteon on my flawed but faithful team in late 2012 approximately a year before Spikes teams with it (which I also helped popularize, I used one in the semis of ST16 playoffs against cbb) started appearing and I was very glad when he started getting recognition. In spring 2013, my quest for Optimal Stall led me to start using a Starmie team that was for the most part identical to the one McMeghan / Ojama made and passed around, which contributed to Spikes becoming less of an essential factor in the metagame in the following months (something that is present nowadays as well, which makes me very happy). I've also seen quite a few more Charizards thanks to the RMT I posted which makes me happy, although he's a bit high maintenance so he hasn't really enjoyed the massive boost in popularity of McM's offensive Starmie or Smurf's Kingdra.

In GSC I hope to spread the gospel of Piloswine!

Are there any specific games you've played that you consider really great?

Satan knows there have been a ton... again I will probably detail everything I can remember in that aforementioned thread when my retirement comes, but for now I will name my ADV battle against Danilo this past SPL. God that was fucking tight, my Zapdos survived sand by 3% for the game. My BW1 game against McMeghan in SPL 3 semis was also superb, as well as my BW2 game against Lohgock in WCoP '13 semis, the ADV games against Heist and Vinc for rounds 3 and 3 of ST14 playoffs and the deciding DPP battle against boudouche in ST16 finals.

Are there any changes to older tiers that you think would be beneficial?

BKC's Handy-Dandy Guide To Fixing BW2 OU!
Ban: Kyurem-B, Sun, Rain, Sand, Reuniclus, Latios, limit Spikes to 1 layer
Unban: Excadrill, Manaphy, test Tornadus-T and Thundurus, unban Genesect for 5 minutes and then ban him again because fuck him

I would love Latias to come back to DPP, I never thought she was broken and the tournament I hosted this past fall reaffirmed my thoughts, it was still an amazing tier. I think Assault Vest and Rocky Helmet in DPP would make the tier perfect absolutely perfect - AV gives a great way to check some overwhelming special attackers such as Zapdos and Gengar, while RH gives a way to fight back against U-turn spam that can sometimes be really hard to handle with SR up as well as a way to chip spinners.

I'd limit Spikes to one layer in ADV, it kills me to see such a great tier turn into a Spikes + sand + Aero fest as it so often does.

I'd give Spikes an extra layer in GSC - just the one, three layers would be hell, but the second layer is a small boost, just the right amount imo. I would also probably get rid of HP Legends because I feel Zapdos needs to be knocked down a peg, and I'd definitely consider getting rid of Lovely Kiss on Snorlax.

Who do you look up to as a player and/or person, and which players are you close friends with?

My biggest idols coming up were Gouki (still the greatest), Earthworm, Philip7086, panamaxis, imperfectluck, husk, Atticus, Bluewind, 6A9 Ace Matador and gene/G80, as well as Heysup and Jibaku for their impressive exploits in their tiers.

I'm friends with a lot of great players, I'll refrain from getting into a name-dropping circlejerk but they all know who they are and that they rule!! I will however mention Ciele because he is my favorite :)

Are there any old players who you wish would come back, either to play again or just to talk to?

The aforementioned guys I idolize, a few of them still hang around but aren't all that active. Others include Zak91, Krack, Scofield, hanke, DarkLucario, and my buddy Blue Star!!

How do you feel about the comparatively larger successes of newer players recently, for example, in this year's OST?

I think it's great, it is always refreshing to see new guys showing up and proving themselves; I remember when I was one of them not all that long ago. However I do wish a few of them would "know their place" a little more.

How do you feel about Smogon as a whole right now?

It's cool. Sometimes politics frustrate me but I TM28 it.

Any teams you feel fit you as a player particularly well?

Aside from the more defining RMTs (Art of Ruin, The Great Southern Trendkill with Funkasaurus [my most prized tutee!], Bleed, Nær sólen gar niþer for evogher), there have been quite a few over the gens, and the only reason I hesitate to post an exact one is because there a million alterations I make and don't like having one definitive version.

In BW, there is The Sand Stall Team (I will post it eventually Jirachee fuck off) - it started in summer 2011 as Heatran / Forretress / Jellicent / Tangrowth / Jirachi / Tyranitar. I eventually dropped Tangrowth + Jirachi for Celebi + Gliscor / Hippowdon, when BW2 came around I obviously threw in some Landorus-T and Amoonguss. There is also my Reuniclus team I made at the tail end of BW that has unfortunately helped make the metagame what it is, Garchomp / Skarmory / Gengar / Tyranitar / Gastrodon (Alomomola a few times) / Reuniclus (sometimes Alakazam). The aforementioned Tailwind team (Mew / Tornadus / Suicune / Garchomp / Kyurem-B / Salamence) is the polar opposite of what I usually like to run in any gen but that's part of why I like it so much.

In DPP, I've been fond of my bulky SD Scizor team that I've had for about two and a half years - Floppy has dubbed it as one his favorite non-gorgie teams. My SR + MixNite + Lucario squad was the talk of the town in late '13 as we heard clamoring of its unbeatability, but it isn't really anything too innovative - it's extremely similar to LizardMan's classic team from late '10. The aforementioned SpecsZap team as well, and in summer '12 I was rolling with some balance/semistall reminiscent of an old Krack team feat. U-turn Gliscor and early use of Bold Starmie that I was insanely comfortable with, Heist tells me to go back to it when I'm having teambuilding block.

In ADV I'll always look back fondly at my first real team, I posted about it in my Charizard RMT. There's the aforementioned Starmie stall team. The SD Focus Punch Hera + CM Roar Raikou team I made during ST16 playoffs holds a special place in my heart, as do my many Jolteon Spike teams. Golden Sun-style Modest Zapdos + CBtar bulky offense squads are always a blast to use, as are Triangles-esque MixMence things, and I'm quite proud of my more recent Regirock team that Jirachee is very fond of.

Final question - are you still going to continue playing in tournaments?

For sure! I think my last tournament before retiring will be SPL 7, which ends about a week before I turn 20 and seeing as I'll be working + at university then I think it'll be a good time to hang it up. However I do hope to stick around the community as a spectator, and a more recent appreciation for RBY as well as the adrenaline rush that comes with playing it means I might play that casually.
 

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