UU Player of the Week #10: Hogg

Hogg

grubbing in the ashes
is a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis an Administrator Alumnus
Do you plan to do Grand Slam this year?

Best/worst moments of SPL this year?

When will people start prepping for rain stall in BW OU?

You're an SPL manager in a season with no retains. What's your dream draft plan?

If they bring back LTPL and include retains, who's taking it this year?

Have you read anything else by Junot Diaz yet? (If not, still highly recommend This Is How You Lose Her.)

I know you've said you want to study business. Anything in particular you plan to focus on?
 
top 5 tentacion songs
This is hard because I listen to both his chill and aggressive songs, so ill make a top 5 for both oo
Hype songs:
1. XXXANAX
2. Dont Test Me
3. IGOTPLENTYDICKTOSHARE
4. RUN UP ON ME
5. TUMMY TUCK

Non-Hype Songs:
1. I dont wanna do this anymore
2. KING
3. NEVER
4. Catch
5. Slipnot / Ghost
Any chance you'll continue to upload to your youtube? You have a fantastic voice for narrations and your play by play insight is always eye-opening.
Thank you! I will try my best to pump out a couple videos soon.
Do you plan to do Grand Slam this year?

Best/worst moments of SPL this year?

When will people start prepping for rain stall in BW OU?

You're an SPL manager in a season with no retains. What's your dream draft plan?

If they bring back LTPL and include retains, who's taking it this year?

Have you read anything else by Junot Diaz yet? (If not, still highly recommend This Is How You Lose Her.)

I know you've said you want to study business. Anything in particular you plan to focus on?
I will definitely give Grand Slam a shot, although I'm usually busy during the summer time and that always fucks up my motivation to give it 100%

Best moment is probably my debut vs Star because I was a pretty big underdog. I didn't really have a bad moment, but not qualifying for playoffs sucked.

hmm this is a good question but actually pretty tough if it were to be realistic. I'll give you my dream-team though.
SM OU:njnp
SM OU:TDK
SM UU:dodmen
SM RU:-Tsunami
SM NU:Teddeh
SM LC:Heysup
ORAS OU:ABR
BW OU:SoulWind
DPP OU:Tamahome
ADV OU:undisputed
GSC OU:idiotfrommars
RBY:Peasounay

?? Clearly Kinglax

I have not, and now that you bring it up, I might try to find it in a bookstore before I leave on my flight tomorrow.

As of now I am interested in studying Marketing, but ya know, things change.
 

bruno

is a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
World Defender
Is BW your favorite OU gen? Would you ban anything from it if you could?

Do you think player skill transcends through every tier? For example, do you think you`d do fine vs the SM OU top dogs if you cared enough to play that tier more instead?

Thoughts on the song gospel?

Any other video games you like outside of pokes?

How do you keep up with the metagame without contributing or laddering? Is it through speaking with other people that know the tier, or just a lot of tournament play?
 
who do you fuckin hate in smogon

whos the shittiest player uve played
Those ppl that love to justify every loss publicly

charizardlover2000, 2015 ORAS UU ladder

Is BW your favorite OU gen? Would you ban anything from it if you could?

Do you think player skill transcends through every tier? For example, do you think you`d do fine vs the SM OU top dogs if you cared enough to play that tier more instead?

Thoughts on the song gospel?

Any other video games you like outside of pokes?

How do you keep up with the metagame without contributing or laddering? Is it through speaking with other people that know the tier, or just a lot of tournament play?
I like BW and DPP, but I have the most fun playing DPP mainly because I like how it rewards aggressive plays. As a player you have to know what trigger your opponent will and will not pull, like going hard gengar on the CC knowing they won't Flare Blitz even when the Gengar was already revealed. Or, if a Gengar is not revealed you can go hard Kingdra knowing your opponent will expect a ghost type and Flare Blitz. No I wouldn't ban anything in BW.

Player skill definitely transcends through every tier. If I took the same amount of time I did to get comfortable in SM LC as I did in SM OU I think I could compete at a high level. The same goes for any tournament player, but I think being willing and able to build in the new tier is crucial.

Gospel is one of X's best hype songs but I stop listening when it hits Rich Chigga's verse D:

As of now I only play pokemon

I learned the metagame by building and testing each week for UUPL. I know what all of the mons do in the tier already, so I don't really need to theorize with bulbasaurfan69 in the np thread to come up with the best keldeo set.
favorite underdog threat?
Sam I Yam
 

Manipulative

Camila <3
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
I'm back with another interview for you guys this week and I'll leave it down below! Feel free to look for it in the OP as well.



Shiba
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name is Ryan and I'm a soon-to-be 3rd year college student in Arizona going into accounting. Excluding school and Pokemon, some of the other things I like to do are playing pick-up basketball games w/ a few friends a couple nights every week, play Xbox (mostly Gears/Cod Zombies), and being a 700+ hour warrior on PC games like H1Z1 and Rocket League. I also like memes


Most known for?
Disagreeing with every council decision ever, also I was pretty good at Baton Pass back in XY. And I manage a team in UUPL or something


Favorite Pokemon?
Arcanine, even though it's pretty bad in UU this gen :(


Most Used Pokemon?
Probably either of the most splashable ground-types in the tier, Hippowdon and Swampert. On a lot of my builds it's easy to just fill them in and know that they'll perform the role I intend for them with ease.


What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I had a friend on Xbox that was pretty into competitive Pokemon and we battled on 3DS from time-to-time on XY, and always demanded using "Smogon rules". I was only really interested in playing the story at the time but after checking out Smogon it sorta grew on me and here I am right now.


What made you choose your name?
My family got a Shiba Inu back when I was like in 5th grade and I just used the dog breed on every kind of online alias I had like Xbox, Steam, and here. Even though she's really old now she's still the sweetest thing ever I swear lmao :heart:


Ignore what people say about that xShiba guy though, that's fake news, never heard of him


What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
Game-wise, probably the 4th generation, I loved the Pokemon (esp the legendaries like Palkia, Darkrai, Giratina, etc) they added and the story was pretty fuego imo. Also that was the last gen without team preview so I'm a fan :toast:


Thoughts on the SM UU metagame so far?
I guess it's alright right now, only things that are completely centralizing are Latias and Clefable imo. The next tier shift could really mess this tier up though with things like Xurkitree, Manaphy, Mega Beedrill and Jirachi potentially dropping. Looking forward to it though I guess


What is your favorite playstyle?
Right now probably bulky offense or balance. Currently those are 2 of the most diverse playstyles in my opinion (and the reason they're my fav) at the moment just because there's so many different Pokemon that can fill much of the same roles, so it's pretty nice


You have been doing very well in UUPL so far! Are there any tips you would give to newer tournament players in terms of preparation and playing?
In terms of preparation, the best advice I can give is to not overthink your team too much, either by testing or changing the general concept of the team after every test. I've probably tested my teams a grand total of twice over the course of UUPL and it's worked out pretty well actually lmao. Also never stray away from using what you're comfortable with using or else you'll most likely lose the battle. My best advice during the battle is to always identify a win-con right off the bat and never make super-flashy plays unless you absolutely have to, otherwise it could end up in just losing one of your mons for no reason whatsoever then you look dumb


What is your favorite UU Old Gen?
I guess 6th gen since that was the only one I was around for completely. Just revisit Klefki though omg please



Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
My day 1s anto rozes DrReuniclus Vapo Pak Always! petyer Snowy scald and some people I met along the way Cynde HT YABO miltankmilk Amaroq Accelgor Adaam LeoLancaster Sam dingbat Eyan Plus IronBullet Killintime Meru Mahmudkipz newfren TSR Mazz Donphantastic Aquadext and anyone else that puts up with me in my UUPL team/group chats, you know who you are :toast:


Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
Change (Terrakion) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Rock Polish
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge

Deja Vu (Absol-Mega) @ Absolite
Ability: Magic Bounce
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Knock Off
- Pursuit
- Sucker Punch
- Ice Beam

Love Yourz (Clefable) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Soft-Boiled
- Thunder Wave

No Role Modelz (Latias) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Recover

Neighbors (Cobalion) @ Leftovers
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Close Combat
- Iron Head
- Swords Dance

G.O.M.D. (Nidoking) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam
- Taunt


A cool bulky offense squad I built for Cynde/Arifeen Week 5, where I wasn't expecting many fighting resists just based on replays. It's basically just Fighting spam with a core of SD Cobalion and Double Dance Terrakion, with the obvious Pursuit help to deal with Psychics from Mega Absol. The other mons in Clefable, Latias, and Nidoking are just there to support the fighters, either by breaking down the other team with powerful attacks for late game or paralyzing them with T-wave ;).


----------

Thank you for your time and the great interview, Shiba! If you have any questions that you would like to ask him, feel free to leave them below. I'll be back next week with another interview!
 

Freeroamer

The greatest story of them all.
is a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributor
Favourite zombies maps on each game and why

What do you feel about the zombies spinoff as a whole? I feel they peaked with maps like Der Riese and Five personally, but the later maps onwards became far too complex for the casual gamer, almost like they were victims of their own success and had to be seen to be making them more complex in order to make them seem better.
 

Adaam

إسمي جف
is a Community Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis the 8th Grand Slam Winner
Glad to see another Gears fan! Most of my friends roast me for liking it. Which game was your favorite? Which skins did you use in 3's multiplayer (I never played the later ones so that's why I ask)?

How good are your handles? Could you break my ankles, or are you the Kyle Korver of your group?

Which Pokémon, if any, needs to go from SM UU?

Would you rather eat a pound of live spiders every Halloween or forget how to read? Justify your answer.

SM introduced a good amount of new Fairies when we were previously starved of Dragon checks (namely Hydreigon). Do you think they changed the meta for the better, or are they too powerful to make a positive impact?

Thanks for the shoutout!
 
Most overrated and underrated Pokémon in SM UU?

Best video game of 2016 in your opinion?

Are there any games coming out this year you're looking forward to?

Why is Gears of War Judgement the worst Gears game, and how glad are you that Gears 4 went back to old school gameplay?

Are you going to pick up the classic maps zombies dlc coming out for black ops 3? If yes, which map in the dlc are you looking forward to the most?

Worst zombies map?

Would you ever buy a cod game that didn't have zombies?
 
Why'd you snake me in the UUPL auction?

Why'd you snake me out of world series tickets?

Why are you a snake?

Why is Starlin Castro going to win the batting title but the Yanks will still lose to the astros in the playoffs?
 
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Amaroq

Cover me.
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
General Pokemon Stuff:
Who do you think are the top five SM UU players and why (feel free to list the top ten if you feel like ranking that many players)?

Who do you think are some good up-and-coming UU players?

What do you think of UU's current tournament structure? Do you think we would benefit more or less from moving to a more "standard" seasonal structure?

What is your opinion regarding the influence Z-Moves have on the competitive metagame? How do you feel about this mechanic?

What do you think should be done to help the UU community continue to grow and develop (feel free to talk about any or all of the following aspects: increasing the size of the playerbase as a whole, increasing the competitiveness of the playerbase at any and all levels, fostering more forum contribution, helping new players network with more experienced players, etc.)?

If you could go back and balance old UU metas, what would you do and why?

UUPL (feel free to skip all or part of these questions if you don't feel comfortable answering them):
What do you think of UUPL so far? Are teams and players performing more or less as you expect them to?

Which player or team's performance has surprised you the most so far (this can be positive or negative)?

How closely did your team's final draft align with your expectations/desires?

What did you think of the auction as a whole?

What good decisions do you think managers made before or during the draft (for example, retaining HT)?

What bad decisions do you think managers made before or during the draft (for example, spending 10,000 credits on that Amaroq idiot)?

What decisions related to the draft do you find just plain confusing (for example, you being allowed to manage to begin with)?

Did the various managers draft more or less the way you thought they would, or did some of them surprise you?

What is your thought process when building a team for a Premier League? What plans do you make before the auction? What thoughts do you have and what actions do you take during the auction?

Beyond the obvious "can win games", what do you look for in a player when building a Premier League team?

What do you think of the decision to add retention rights and relegations to UUPL?

Do you ever intend to manage UUPL again in the future?
 

rs

STANDING ON BUSINESS
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis a Former Smogon Metagame Tournament Circuit Champion
Favourite zombies maps on each game and why

only going to do Treyarch games cause that's the only REAL zombies

Cod 5/WaW: Der Riese - camping catwalk camping with friends with MG42s and Brownings was probably by far my favorite zombies experience at the time

BO1: Moon - main easter egg was dope, wave gun/dual wonder weapon is probably one of my top 3 guns in any Treyarch zombies game. Also the environment/map was insanely fun to run around

BO2: compared to most of the zombies community liking Origins as the best map, my favorite map on Black ops 2 was probably Buried. It still had the bank so I could cheese my way to endgame set-up pretty easily, Vulture-aid was pretty cool, the maze/witch house was always fun to run through, and the release of that map gave the Mk II, probably by far the best universal gun on any map. Also the Paralyzer was on buried LOL that gun was stupid broken wtf

BO3: Gorod Krovi - easily my favorite on BO3 just to how not-complex it was compared to the other BO3 maps, and it went back to the close quarters kinds of map which I always enjoyed compared to big spacey areas where it was 10x easier to train

What do you feel about the zombies spinoff as a whole? I feel they peaked with maps like Der Riese and Five personally, but the later maps onwards became far too complex for the casual gamer, almost like they were victims of their own success and had to be seen to be making them more complex in order to make them seem better.

I don't really have a problem with it but with BO3 maps they probably got too complex cause I had to look up how to get power and PaP for a majority of the maps, which is probably more annoying for the common player. Also it seems like a lot of the new maps revolve around the easter egg more than anything now instead of just old school zombies where surviving was the goal.
Glad to see another Gears fan! Most of my friends roast me for liking it. Which game was your favorite? Which skins did you use in 3's multiplayer (I never played the later ones so that's why I ask)?
Gears is insanely underrated its ridiculous yeah :(. Gears 3 is probably my favorite since it was the last Epic game (The Coalition is just money-hungry lol) and most of the changes made were ones that the community recommended. In Gears 3 on COG side I used Sam/Griffin and on Locust side I used Savage Hunter or Myrrah somtimes, small hitboxes in that game were fun :D

How good are your handles? Could you break my ankles, or are you the Kyle Korver of your group?

I BEEN STEPH SHIBA WITH THE SHOT BOY

Which Pokémon, if any, needs to go from SM UU?

Clef.

Would you rather eat a pound of live spiders every Halloween or forget how to read? Justify your answer.

Probably a pound of spiders cause I heard its good protein :^) + if you forget how to read you literally can't do anything nowadays highkey LOL

SM introduced a good amount of new Fairies when we were previously starved of Dragon checks (namely Hydreigon). Do you think they changed the meta for the better, or are they too powerful to make a positive impact?

Clef is just centralizing and not fun, Toge is just not fun, but I think Primarina was a good addition as a wallbreaker :toast:

Thanks for the shoutout!
Most overrated and underrated Pokémon in SM UU?

Overrated - Krookodile
Underrated - Bewear


Best video game of 2016 in your opinion?

Probably Gears 4 since that's the game I play the most nowadays

Are there any games coming out this year you're looking forward to?

Well I WAS looking forward to Red Dead Redemption 2 but I guess I have to settle for Marvel v Capcom Infinite since Xbox finally gets a good fighting game, rip Street Fighter

Why is Gears of War Judgement the worst Gears game, and how glad are you that Gears 4 went back to old school gameplay?

Movement/Gnasher was wack and so was the customization ~_~, and really glad, the gnasher is still kinda meh but its definitely better than Judgement's by far

Are you going to pick up the classic maps zombies dlc coming out for black ops 3? If yes, which map in the dlc are you looking forward to the most?

YES, I WILL BE INACTIVE WHEN IT COMES OUT ON XBOX

MOON


Worst zombies map?

Zetsubou No Shima, set up takes like a hour and anything like power or PaP is by far too complicated for the common player. The easter egg is really easy though so i guess that's a +

Would you ever buy a cod game that didn't have zombies?

I always 100% buy Treyarch cod games since they're the best in terms of Zombies AND multiplayer, with infinity ward/sledgehammer it depends on multiplayer, the new World War II game coming out I'm 100% getting
Worst meme you've ever posted?

I don't post bad memes

Best meme you've ever posted (basically anything that's slightly better than your first answer :toast:)?

Manager sign-up, it wasn't outdated at the time ;)
In high level games, those between very experienced tour players for a tour, Pokemon is what percent luck and what percent skill in your opinion? Can it even be generalized like that fairly?
In a game completely not factoring team matchup, I'd say it's 80% skill and 20% luck imo. I think it can be generalized like that, although I'd say if we did factor in preparation/matchup, it'd the biggest factor over either of those, because those with matchup usually just have to play pretty safe in order to secure the win
Why'd you snake me in the UUPL auction?

Next year, my precious mascot :^

Why'd you snake me out of world series tickets?

IM NOT A SNAKE

Why are you a snake?

IM NOT A SNAKE

Why is Starlin Castro going to win the batting title but the Yanks will still lose to the astros in the playoffs?

I'm not worried, any AL West team can never win in the playoffs LOL, looking at dong teams like the Angels and Rangers. FAX.
Why am I cuter than you

wtf since when,,,
When will these peasants accept your superiority in the UU metagame and pick you up for SPL?

When and if I get into The Clique™ maybe
how much food does a fish need in ur pond

a team of 6 per game, the fish needs to get +2 atk and +2 speed before eating tho and that's not possible anymore :(

why is conkeldurr so annoying i hate that pos
probably cause my mans carries two random pillars with him 24/7 like wtf
General Pokemon Stuff:
Who do you think are the top five SM UU players and why (feel free to list the top ten if you feel like ranking that many players)?

dodmen and Pearl are top 2, as for 3-5 they probably change a lot so you can just put whoever is on a roll in tours there, any SMer in Battle Girls minus Aqua and TSR are bottom 10


Who do you think are some good up-and-coming UU players?

yourself once you shake the tour funk or whatever tf you're in, Eyan, Cynde

What do you think of UU's current tournament structure? Do you think we would benefit more or less from moving to a more "standard" seasonal structure?

I think it's fine, majors were fun, I don't really care for Classic though since I can't play old gens for my life. And nah, I think being unique is a good thing

What is your opinion regarding the influence Z-Moves have on the competitive metagame? How do you feel about this mechanic?

Honestly its annoying how some mons have an insane amount of unpredictability due to them and actually how many mons we've actually had to ban because of them, but I guess it's just a gen 7 staple we might have to deal with. It'd be easier to ban them though fr

What do you think should be done to help the UU community continue to grow and develop (feel free to talk about any or all of the following aspects: increasing the size of the playerbase as a whole, increasing the competitiveness of the playerbase at any and all levels, fostering more forum contribution, helping new players network with more experienced players, etc.)?

Well major tours was a step in the right direction, but maybe more subforum tours could help with playerbase as well as quality of play

If you could go back and balance old UU metas, what would you do and why?

Just revamp ORAS, it's literally unplayable for a lot of people due to how badly it was handled near the end

UUPL (feel free to skip all or part of these questions if you don't feel comfortable answering them):
What do you think of UUPL so far? Are teams and players performing more or less as you expect them to?

GO MONSTERS

Which player or team's performance has surprised you the most so far (this can be positive or negative)?

I'm most surprised with Wanka's performance because he didn't actually get to play at all o_O

How closely did your team's final draft align with your expectations/desires?

I would say 80%

What did you think of the auction as a whole?

We did good, yeah?

What good decisions do you think managers made before or during the draft (for example, retaining HT)?

Tony obtaining and retaining TDK and Pearl

What bad decisions do you think managers made before or during the draft (for example, spending 10,000 credits on that Amaroq idiot)?

I think a lot of teams bought more non-uu mains than they could handle and couldn't prep enough due to lack of metagame knowledge across the team

What decisions related to the draft do you find just plain confusing (for example, you being allowed to manage to begin with)?

Did the various managers draft more or less the way you thought they would, or did some of them surprise you?

I'd say a lot of them were predictable

What is your thought process when building a team for a Premier League? What plans do you make before the auction? What thoughts do you have and what actions do you take during the auction?

Mostly look for people that would have team chemistry and decent activity, I usually make a spreadsheet of who I want and what the price ceiling will be for that specific player

Beyond the obvious "can win games", what do you look for in a player when building a Premier League team?

FRIENDS

What do you think of the decision to add retention rights and relegations to UUPL?

good decision, I got the easiest franchise player in HT oml

Do you ever intend to manage UUPL again in the future?

maybe bop
Were you the one who taught amaroq to spam the potw with these massive walls of questions

Nah, I only taught him how to win every single UUPL VI game. soon™.
 
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Manipulative

Camila <3
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Thanks, Shiba! Got another interview for you guys and I'll leave it right down below! Feel free to look for it in the OP as well.



Kink
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm 25 years old and I work in the field of mediation. Pretty much, it's a conflict-resolution type of gig where I try to help people avoid going to court. It's generally much cheaper and leaves people better off. Aside from that, I'm an avid musician and I enjoy making electronic music. I recently posted a new track, you can check it out here if you want :D


Most known for?
longtime UU main and staff.


Favorite Pokemon?
I have a few favourites aesthetically, such as Gyarados, Slowking, Scizor, Jolteon, Krookodile and Zapdos. I'm sure there are a couple others.

In SM UU, my favourite to use would have to be Scizor or Krookodile.


Most Used Pokemon?
Latias


What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I've loved Pokemon since day 1, and after kicking my friend's ass numerous times I decided I wanted to find other people that battled and through shoddy/PO eventually stumbled my way onto PS/Smogon.


What made you choose your name?
The name Kink was given to me by Kitten Milk and just caught on. The story of how I thought of King UU can be found somewhere in the Cold Storage threads of ORAS UU.


What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
ORAS was the tier where I really developed as a player, so I had a lot of appreciation for it, but as someone who loved playing Sapphire and Fire Red over and over again, I have to go with Gen 3.


Thoughts on the SM UU metagame so far?
It's garbage, but it's also a waiting game. Give it a few more months to a year and we'll have a reasonable enough metagame.

What is your favorite playstyle?
Balance or Bulky Offense.


You have been doing well in UUPL so far! Are there any tips you would give to newer tournament players in terms of preparation and playing?
It's important to rely on your teammates for help, as there's really no reason to be a lone-wolf superstar. Practise does indeed make perfect, and people do display their trends, even if they're minor ones. In terms of playing, it really comes down to who your opponent is, how your skill matches their skill, how able you are to guide your opponents moves even in a poor matchup, how willing you are to make "they play", and, last but certainly not least, how lucky you are. And even though luck can be the deciding factor more often than we'd like in something we call a "competitive" game, at the end of the day, even the most consistent luck will not beat strong preparation. This being said, a combination of the luck and preparation is generally unstoppable.


Congrats on getting your team to the finals! How would you reflect upon your team's experience in this year's UUPL so far?
The experience has been very positive. Without trying to sound too smug, this is what I expected out of this season. I came in with an exact plan, I followed through (with a couple hiccups no doubt), and I've tried to be there every step of the way with my team. We definitely would not be here without the efforts of every individual. Except Sacri', I don't think we needed you.

kidding goat, you're MVP



What is your favorite UU Old Gen?
ORAS or BW. All of them are really chill though.


Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
all of the UU community, my battlegirls, and everyone in hikari's palace.


Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
I wouldn't say this team is typical, but it does reflect my style of thinking and the kind of sets I like to work with.
Mew @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Flamethrower
- Dazzling Gleam

Scizor @ Iron Plate
Ability: Technician
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost

Swampert @ Leftovers
Ability: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 32 SpD / 8 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Scald
- Earthquake
- Roar

Gengar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Sludge Wave
- Destiny Bond
- Trick

Togekiss @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 248 HP / 164 Def / 96 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Thunder Wave
- Roost
- Defog

Raikou @ Psychium Z
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Extrasensory

The team is fairly self explanatory. It's not uncommon for Kiss to lead to spread Paralysis as much as possible, or for Scizor to lead with a basic U-turn just to start to build some type of momentum. Gengar has the option to attack, d-bond, or trick depending on the situation. It really needs to be wary of Pursuit though, so sometimes it's better to save it for a late-game sweep, if possible. Naturally, at times Pursuit is simply unavoidable if trying to plow through a frail team. The Raikou set is probably the one with most flexibility. Another set that this team can use is Magnet with Volt Switch replacing Extrasensory, giving the option for a half-decent Volt-turn core, but this only works against certain matchups and easily falls prey to stuff like Krookodile. Other options would be to run Z-Hyper Beam, Z-Aura Sphere, Z-Thunder, Z-Shadow Ball, or even a basic Sub CM Lefties set. Togekiss is especially noteworthy as a fanastic lure for all variations of Mega Aero, due to its ability to survive an Adamant Stone Edge, Paralyze, and Roost Back all noteworthy damage until it can Paraflinch or continue to wreak havoc, should the opponent choose to switch on your Roost. This type of strategy also works okay against stuff like Cobalion, Bisharp and even Metagross, if you're okay with the former two potentially flinching you with Iron Head, or the Latter's ability to take 9+ Air Slashes, greatly diminishing your ability to take care of it, since Paraflinch is only 85% certain. Lastly, Mew is a fanastic Dark-type/ScizorSharp lure and helps to dispense with other important threats such as Hydreigon, Mega-Shark, Krookodile, Mega-Absol, and sometimes even the the occasional Latias, if its cocky enough to take a +2 Dazzle Gleam at under 75% health. Anyway, nothing too radical about this team.



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Thank you for your time and the great interview, Kink! If you have any questions that you would like to ask him, feel free to leave them below. I'll be back next week with another interview!
 
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pancake

movement and location
is a Contributor Alumnus
I'm posting because I'm also a musician. I play piano, sax, and kinda sing among other things, but I am interested in starting to compose electronic music. Do you have any tips for an aspiring composer? do you have any software suggestions- specifically, something that is free/doesn't cost too much money (emphasis on the not a ton of money lol)?

on a slightly more serious note- I just wanted to say I respect you as a player and as a person, you seem like a really nice guy.
 

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