Other OU Player of the Week #2: McMeghan

Status
Not open for further replies.

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
In my opinion, competitive Pokemon is extremely hard to start off in; 99% of the time you end up learning stuff the hard way, like the fact that X isn't a gimmick but standard, and that Y isn't good even though you're been using it for the last 2 months. What's the easiest way to start out in the competitive pokemon scene, other than reading analyses for two months prior?

Is there a balance that should be struck between knowledge and experience?

How do you manage your time on Pokemon with real life? I know I have a really hard time finding time to play, and I'm not even in college yet -_-

How good is the ladder for learning purposes, due to the general gimmicky/cancerous nature of half of it, minus the OLT guys?

What should you do if you're in the void between "I'm #1 in the ladder" and "I get wrecked in tournaments"? Battle with friends better than you?
Lot of interesting questions there!

The easiest way to start is probably a combination of learning through reading and experiencing and having some friends/knowledgable players to answer your questions. I'm very thankful to some people who didn't mind answering every questions I came up with when I got back into the game in Black and White. Don't be afraid to ask; if you're polite and show desire to learn, there is a strong chance you'll get the answers you're seeking.

Knowledge and experience go hand in hand, both are importants in their own right. There is nothing to lose by being "too knowledgable" anyway. I realize this is kind of a useless answer, but at the same time, I don't have much else to say here.

Time managing is useful for everything and not only Pokemon, so try to get better at it I guess? We always find time for our passions and what truely matters for us. I would be lying if I'd say Pokemon wasn't a passion for me, so I naturally find time to play it. If I can use an example: say you have to fill an empty bucket with sand and rocks. If you put the sand first and then the rocks, you might not have enough room to fit everything. If you put the rocks first and then the sand, it'll fill the gaps and there will be room for everything. In the same way, if you reserve yourself some time to do what you consider the most important, you will likely find time to fit in the less important activities you want to accomplish.

I think the ladder is really good to learn. It also helps to quickly figure out some weaknesses of your team you might have forgotten after you've built it. You will also get a good grip on your team and will know how to play it against pretty much every playstyle and every threats.

As for your last question: keep trying, watch other people play and try to learn from their games, discuss with them, play with them. Don't be afraid to ask, there are many people willing to share their knowledge and watch other players grow enough to put up some good fights and impose themselves in the Tour Scene, myself included ;]
1) rank the ratchet&clank games from best to worst
2) will you definetly come to german vgc nationals or arnheim regionals?
3) are there any other games you like to play? (on console)
4) what do you think seperates the best players from normal/solid/good players?
5) which things did you learn by analyzing your battles?
1) My top5: R&C 2 > R&C Crack In Time > R&C 1 > R&C 3 > R&C Tools of Destruction
2) I'll see at the moment. It'll likely depends on how much the travel would cost. What's sure is I'd genuinely love to attend one.
3) As you know, I'm a huge fan of the Ratchet & Clank serie. I also am an avid Smash Bros player. I played and still play competitive Melee, even tho the Smash scene is pretty small here. I just can't stop once I start. I played a bit of Brawl and am enjoying Smash 3DS atm (anyone willing to play can VM me their Friend Code!). I also like Minecraft a lot. I often come back to it when they release a new update or when my favorite multiplayer servers launch a new game (mainly Hypixel and The Hive).

Other than them, I play a lot of Animal Crossing when a new one comes out and I like pretty much every Kirby game. Used to be a huge Crash Bandicoot and Spyro fan in my young years.
4) Their ability to consistently succeed on a long period of time. Their ability to put up a fight in pretty much every tier and generations despite not having a lot of knowledge of said tier, but instead relying on their "general Pokemon knowledge". Their composure too, they usually don't let hax get on their nerves to the point where they'll start playing worse.
5) A ton. In general, I'd say considering every options, better end-game planning, keeping an advantage to the point where you can safely close a game, reach conclusions based on team consitution/informations I gain through the battle. To be more specific, I learn a lot just by watching how a game got played.

Once again, I'll use an example: by playing a lot of ADV, you can quickly notice that Metagross and DD Mence are common partners. When you play a team with Swampert as your sole Metagross and Salamence counter, you will quickly realize that you're weak to Salamence. Even if in theory, you're fine against Mence with Pert, in practise, Metagross will boom and Salamence will then sweep you. What I gained from that? If Swampert is your Mence check, you need to pair it with something that can check Metagross and doesn't mind taking the Boom against physical offense.

This kind of learning process pretty much works in every tier, that's the kind of thing I learn from analysing my losses. I could mention more examples in different tier to give you (or other people) maybe a better idea of what I'm trying to explain here. Just ask away if it's the case.
I want to try belgian beer, which one would you recommend? :o
As shameful as it'll sound for a Belgian dude: I don't drink. I can't really recommend you anything then :(
I asked Alf tho and he mentionned Orval, Pécheresse and Hoegaarden. I hope they will fit your tastes!
why you left me for ben gay? ;_;
._. ben owns
where did you play on netbattle? only on smogon or other servers? with what nick?
I only played on the french server. We were very close minded and had our own vision of how the tier should be. We had a lot of different "official rules" compared to Smogon, which created a totally different metagame. I would sometimes venture to Smogon, but it was a pretty rare case. I went by the name Roro 97 but there is a good chance you haven't heard of me since I stayed on the french server most of the time.
In your opinion, which Smogon tier (from any generation) is the best? (If you have the time, if you could even do a ranking of your favorite tiers I'd really appreciate it.)
Since I already answered the first question in my previous post (ADV OU), I'll just post a little ranking of my favorite tiers to play:

OU Only
  1. ADV OU
  2. DPP OU
  3. XY OU
  4. BW OU
  5. RBY OU
  6. GSC OU
The order varies and I'd also note that I like playing everyone of them, there isn't an OU tier I truely dislike. I just prefer some to other, hence why I made a little ranking of them.

Now, if I'd have to mention some other tiers I genuinely like to play, I'll add: BW UU, ADV Ubers, ADV NU and RBY UU, especially ADV Ubers.
Definitely feel like my depth of understanding of Pokémon has improved just by reading your insight. Thread bookmarked, screened and saved as my computer background. Printed out a copy too while I was at it; thanks, McGOAT.

On a more serious note though, who are (or were) some of your favorite players to watch? Whether it's because of the teams they use, how aggressively they play, and so on, what is it that makes them your favorite to spectate?

:heart:
There are many players I like(d) watching and I could make a pretty huge list of them if I wanted to. I'll try to keep it close:
  • wilson46, he was a great player and would often include underrated sets into his teams and make them work wonder, something I can appreciate.
  • CrashinBoomBang, even tho you probably know this one and why, I just love how aggressive he can be when he plays (without making dumb or useless risky predictions). I actually feel like I learned a ton when I discovered him, one of the person who influenced me the most.
  • c0mp, just a fun guy to follow on the ladder. Play a ton of tier pretty well with interesting teams. I enjoy watching him play, just that simple.
  • Earthworm and yourself. Now, I don't wanna make it seem like I'm circlejerking here, but I just appreciate how you both make good decisions throughout the battle. You can always feel there are some options left by the end of the game (if isn't won already by then). Every great players, especially when they're in their prime, leave me this impression (ToF, reyscarface, Ojama, BKC, gr8astard, etc), but I feel like mentionning you and Earthworm maybe because they're some games where you impressed me in particular.
  • Finally, how could I not include my little favorite, the one I felt in love at first sight: ben gay. I realize I fancy him a lot everywhere so I'll explain why I particulary love watching him play. Ben basically does on a consistent basis what I always aimed to do (but with much less success): consider every possible options when teambuilding and the desire to explore a tier as much as possible. I wish I could do it as well and as easily as him, but I just can't. I just always fall back in my comfort zone. Ben can realize how well will work a Pokemon or a combination of them, or a totally new brand set in OU and you can bet your ass he's not wrong. He doesn't follow any "formula" (I always found formula to be dumb anyway) when he builds. To top it off, ben is actually a good player. His stuff works on a consistent basis (he often picks #1 or close to it on the ladder and won a Smogon Tour recently). Finally, he doesn't use gimmicks for the sake of it, he isn't a tryhard, he uses exactly what he needs for his team and consider unexplored options for the job, something a very little amount of player can do successfully (I'd also mention that WhiteQueen can be pretty good at pulling this kind of stuff and win with them).
Would you consider using one of the 'riskier' team archetypes, such as Trick Room, Sticky Web or even Geomancy Pass in an important tournament game, or do you think those playstyles are a bit too matchup reliant?
I would, but I'm just not confortable enough with them to "risk" it. As you said, they feel too matchup reliant for me, at least TR and Sticky Web. Geo Pass (and Baton Pass in general) is different because they are even less unwinnable match-up when using it, and even If I considered using this playstyle in the past, it just isn't how I want to win. I play Pokemon to have fun and to win, and I wanna feel like I was better than my opponent if possible. I wouldn't feel like it was the case if I'd use Baton Pass, as it removes a ton of variables of a game and just aim to win effortlessly.

I realize that if you'd want to win at all cost, Baton Pass would be a really good option, but there is nothing to gain in competitive Pokemon except some kind of pride and feeling of accomplishment, so why bother with a playstyle that doesn't require you to be better than your opponent (or at least, I don't feel better than him if I win thanks to Baton Pass, and I know what I'm talking about since I've used it on the ladder sometimes).
Why do you never have a Kingdra switchin ._.
How good/bad is ADV Swampert in your opinion and why n_n
Not gonna lie, I often overlook Rain when I teambuild in XY OU. Thanks for the reminder ;]
Swampert is pretty amazing in ADV, although it's easy to wear down. I just think it's a really great Pokemon when you pair him with an another defensive glue to alleviate some pressure from it.
McM you'll have to help out with the spelling; but barbar? (monks beer) is really awesome beer that I had when I visited Belgium.

In terms of questions; How do you prepare for a serious ladder session? Same with a tournament match. Is there anything you do differently?

also i am heading to see rhino about November time again. Be awesome to see you about Belgium:toast:
I don't prepare for ladder. I very rarely ladder anyway and when I do it, it's always for a reason (OLT, Suspect Test or team testing). As for Tournament, it depends on how much I care about it.

Most of the time, I just quickly build a team (if the tournament requires me to build a new one) and go with it without any testing. If I care, I'll think through my team a lot more. I will eventually test or at least make a threatlist which will be my way to test it. I'll spend some time playing game scenario in my head against various playstyles and threats to see if I feel confident using that team. I will also try to avoid being weak to what I assume my opponent likes to use. Pokemon is such a wide game that your teams are always weak to something, but at least, I can chose my weaknesses, and that's what I mean when I say I try to avoid being weak to the assumed preferences of my opponent.

That's as far as I go preparation-wise, then it comes down to playing better than my opponent once the game starts.
 
Last edited:
What does it take for a player to stabilish himself or herself as a well-known tournament player? Does it all really go down to pure skill/game knowledge? How was that for you?
In your opinion, what makes ADV and DPP "balanced" tiers? What would it take for XY OU to achieve as much balance/a level of balance similar to those tiers?
Many players dislike the current ("final") state of the BW OU metagame. What do you think about it? What could have gone differently to make it a better metagame?
Thanks in advance. big fan n_n
 
What does it take for a player to stabilish himself or herself as a well-known tournament player? Does it all really go down to pure skill/game knowledge? How was that for you?
In your opinion, what makes ADV and DPP "balanced" tiers? What would it take for XY OU to achieve as much balance/a level of balance similar to those tiers?
Many players dislike the current ("final") state of the BW OU metagame. What do you think about it? What could have gone differently to make it a better metagame?
Thanks in advance. big fan n_n
I could probably answer some of these questions for him, though I'm certainly not a substitute.

1.) consistently do well in tours, and your name will be known. How to become good at tours is a different question altogether (but I think that's your real question tbh)

2.) Time. Think of a tier as a can of soda, with carbonation standing in for the meta; in the beginning, it's going absolutely bonkers. After a few seconds, the carbonation is still going strong, but it's certainly stabilized. As time goes on, the carbonation goes away, until it becomes flat. ADV and DPP are flat, while XY is still strong (and ORAS is gonna start the process all over again).

3.) I can't answer this for him, but I don't like it for the sole reason that team archetypes are restrictive; in other words, 90% of all teams are weather-based. I personally just don't like the feel of it.
 
I only played on the french server. We were very close minded and had our own vision of how the tier should be. We had a lot of different "official rules" compared to Smogon, which created a totally different metagame. I would sometimes venture to Smogon, but it was a pretty rare case. I went by the name Roro 97 but there is a good chance you haven't heard of me since I stayed on the french server most of the time.
Interesting. What tier? Jirachi / Celebi ban? no reversal? no calmbeasts? can you tell me something about it? If we are OT here, contact me on my profile!
 

Reymedy

ne craint personne
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Tournament Director Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
what is your favorite chromeo song ?

if you could choose ONE pokemon, only one, and have it by your side in real life, which one would it be ?

why don't you rmt a team ?

ive seen that you placed BW low on the list of your favorite metagames, if you were a council member (huehue), what would you suspect in BW to make it better ?
 
What is something that you think is underrated in the current XY meta? Doesn't really have to be a UU or RU Pokémon, just something that isn't used to it's full potential in your opinion.
 
Do you think it's a waste of time to play on the ladder? Is there a good, and fulfilling reason to play Pokemon, or is Pokemon just a fun, but unsatisfying cycle no matter how you play it?
 
Last edited:
Well heres one i sorta want to ask. Whats your favorite sport bud and i guess favorite player bud (mainly asking cause i like that type of stuff).

Also even if you are Belgian, I still hold out hope that player is Dirk. Go Mavs! :D

EDIT: On an unrelated note, when did I pass 900 messages? -_O
This rate I wont notice when I hit a thousand...
 
Last edited:

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
What does it take for a player to stabilish himself or herself as a well-known tournament player? Does it all really go down to pure skill/game knowledge? How was that for you?
In your opinion, what makes ADV and DPP "balanced" tiers? What would it take for XY OU to achieve as much balance/a level of balance similar to those tiers?
Many players dislike the current ("final") state of the BW OU metagame. What do you think about it? What could have gone differently to make it a better metagame?
Thanks in advance. big fan n_n
Winning something big or being consistant will usually do the trick, especially the latter. I'd say it's how it worked for me. It should be the same for you if you keep showing this kind of performance for a little while.
I think ADV is perfectly balanced because everything (playstyles and Pokemon) is checkable within one team if you think through it when you teambuild. While there are some really powerful threats, they don't decimate everything easily by clicking random buttons (the closest thing to that would be CB Ttar but it's not really fast, has some solid checks and can be Trapped by Dugtrio). There is also a much closer pool of usable Pokemons (and they all have way smaller movepools than now), which means you have less threats to take into account when teambuilding.
DPP kinda fails in the same boat, except that it's a lot more "directly" offensive. I honestly hate leadwar and they sometimes decide games right off the bat. While I love DPP, I think it has some flaws. You can get punished way harder if you didn't assume the correct set against a particular threat than in ADV, and some Pokemons can punish pretty much any switch-in if they make the right prediction (MixNite/Nape comes to mind). It still is a really cool and balanced tier!

I think XY OU is pretty balanced right now, there are a lot of viable playstyles and Pokemons and while your teams will usually be weak to something, it's possible to kind of check p.much everything. The fact that Team Preview exists helps you to identify your worst threats before the game starts to make sure you can play around them as well as you can (which is sometimes a flaw of DPP, there might be something waiting in the back that will completly destroy you once it comes out, and you will have no options to play around it).

I actually liked BW OU in general, and I don't really have a problem with its final state. I'm very strongly against weather bans and I'm glad they stayed around, the tier would be even worse without them IMO (probably a DragMag fest infested with other powerful threats such as Volc, Breloom or Terrakion). I'd consider adressing the issue of Sun. While not broken by itself, it's incredibly hard to build a team that fares well against it when you wanna be solid against the other popular playstyles.

Finally, I think the closest thing to being Uber worthy in BW is Keldeo.
Interesting. What tier? Jirachi / Celebi ban? no reversal? no calmbeasts? can you tell me something about it? If we are OT here, contact me on my profile!
Here are the rules we imposed in ADV compared to current ADV on Smogon:
  • Jirachi banned.
  • Celebi banned.
  • Only one semi-legend per team allowed.
  • Spikes + Dusclops banned.
  • Spikes + Sableye banned.
  • Dugtrio banned.
  • Magneton banned.
  • Mean Look + Perish Song banned.
I could also add that Mean Look in general, even without Perish Song and Baton Pass were frowned upon.
We blindlessly classified Jirachi and Celebi as too strong and unhealthy for the metagame. We also thought trapping was too easy, restrictive and skill-less so we banned MagneTrio and to an extent PerishTrap. Since we were all playing defensive teams, we also thoughts that Spikes + Ghost was too easy to abuse, especially if the ghost was bulky. We didn't even ban Gengar since it was always played offensivly (shows how retarded some of our rules were).
The typical teams back then were Beller + Spinner + Staller 1 + Staller 2 + Sweeper 1 + Sweeper 2.
I actually conserved two teams from this era, if you wanna take a look:
Swampert (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Torrent
EVs: 252 HP / 204 Def / 52 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Earthquake
- Ice Beam
- Roar
- Rest

Claydol @ Leftovers
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 216 Def / 40 SAtk
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Reflect
- Psychic
- Rest
- Rapid Spin

Skarmory (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 HP / 220 Def / 36 Spd
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Roar
- Drill Peck
- Spikes
- Rest

Snorlax (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Immunity
EVs: 252 HP / 68 Atk / 80 Def / 108 SDef
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Curse
- Frustration
- Shadow Ball
- Rest

Xatu (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Early Bird
EVs: 252 HP / 120 Def / 88 SAtk / 48 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Psychic
- Rest
- Calm Mind

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Toxic
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

Suicune @ Leftovers
Trait: Pressure
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 Spd
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Calm Mind
- Rest
- Surf
- Roar

Exeggutor (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Bold Nature (+Def, -Atk)
- Wish
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Hidden Power [Grass]

Tyranitar (M) @ Choice Band
Trait: Sand Stream
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Hidden Power [Bug]
- Earthquake
- Rock Slide
- Focus Punch

Forretress (M) @ Leftovers
Trait: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SDef
Impish Nature (+Def, -SAtk)
- Hidden Power [Steel]
- Rest
- Reflect
- Rapid Spin

Hariyama (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Thick Fat
EVs: 204 HP / 152 Def / 152 SDef
Careful Nature (+SDef, -SAtk)
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Ghost]
- Brick Break
- Rest

Blissey (F) @ Leftovers
Trait: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SDef
Relaxed Nature (+Def, -Spd)
- Toxic
- Aromatherapy
- Seismic Toss
- Soft-Boiled

what is your favorite chromeo song ?

if you could choose ONE pokemon, only one, and have it by your side in real life, which one would it be ?

why don't you rmt a team ?

ive seen that you placed BW low on the list of your favorite metagames, if you were a council member (huehue), what would you suspect in BW to make it better ?
Somethingood

It's a really hard question to answer, I'll go with Latios because it can fly and communicate with you (according to the movie).

I actually have two RMTs planned, they should be posted within the next week(s).

I think BW is good and I like playing it, I just prefer playing the other metagames in general due to how they're played as a generation. As I said in answer to DD, I'd adress Sun just because of how it affects Teambuilding. I would certainly keep weathers tho.
oh and an interesting question: when a metagame becomes better?
When the overpowered Pokemons get banned I guess? I started liking XY after Aegi and Mawile left. There were a lot of games where one player would play a lot better than his opponent but would still lose because Aegi and Mawile would tear shit up whenever they came on the field (and they had checks and counters, but they don't always work because Broken Pokemon usually have really good options to play around them and screw you over).
How do i stop overpredicting? How do you make most of your decisions?
Is it worth it? Aren't there any other options for my opponent that I didn't consider? Try to put yourself in your opponent's situation and consider his options on top of yours. Sometimes, he won't need a Pokemon anymore and you will think he will want to keep it, which might lead to a pretty poor decision in-game.

Sometimes, it's also useless to go for the "ballsy" predict if you have a safer and just as good gameplan in mind, so I'll just reiterate: consider every options both for you and your opponent and their impact on the game overall.
What is something that you think is underrated in the current XY meta? Doesn't really have to be a UU or RU Pokémon, just something that isn't used to it's full potential in your opinion.
Baton Pass. Not full BP, just one member of the team providing boost to a partner. Pokemon like Taunt BP Mew would probably destroy Balanced and Stall teams, especially with the surprise factor.
Ghost Stab is also really, really good. Too bad there aren't many abusers of it, but a lot of teams lack good ghost resist since Aegislash got banned.

You should ask this question to ben gay by the way ;]
Do you think it's a waste of time to play on the ladder? Is there a good, and fulfilling reason to play Pokemon, or is Pokemon just a fun, but unsatisfying cycle no matter how you play it?
There isn't really any definite answer there, it's really up to the person. I personally don't find ladder fullfilling and I think Tournaments do, hence why I focus on them. At the end of the day, what matters the most is doing what you enjoy the most, it's just a game after all, without any material rewards.
Well heres one i sorta want to ask. Whats your favorite sport bud and i guess favorite player bud (mainly asking cause i like that type of stuff).

Also even if you are Belgian, I still hold out hope that player is Dirk. Go Mavs! :D

EDIT: On an unrelated note, when did I pass 900 messages? -_O
This rate I wont notice when I hit a thousand...
Football (the european one, Soccer if you prefer). One of my favorite player is Miralem Pjanic. I discovered him when he was a 17 years old talent in the formation center of Metz, a small french club and now he's doing work in Italy for the AS Roma. I hope he'll keep improving! I'm also a big fan of Iniesta and Thomas Müller.
Favorite other metagame?
I don't remember playing any other metagames to be honest, but I enjoyed watching CrashinBoomBang playing Ability Exchange, Vinc2612 playing Haxmons and some dudes playing PU.
 
Last edited:
Here are the rules we imposed in ADV compared to current ADV on Smogon:
  • Jirachi banned.
  • Celebi banned.
  • Only one semi-legend per team allowed.
  • Spikes + Dusclops banned.
  • Spikes + Sableye banned.
  • Dugtrio banned.
  • Magneton banned.
  • Mean Look + Perish Song banned.
I could also add that Mean Look in general, even without Perish Song and Baton Pass were frowned upon.
We blindlessly classified Jirachi and Celebi as too strong and unhealthy for the metagame. We also thought trapping was too easy, restrictive and skill-less so we banned MagneTrio and to an extent PerishTrap. Since we were all playing defensive teams, we also thoughts that Spikes + Ghost was too easy to abuse, especially if the ghost was bulky. We didn't even ban Gengar since it was always played offensivly (shows how retarded some of our rules were).
The typical teams back then were Beller + Spinner + Staller 1 + Staller 2 + Sweeper 1 + Sweeper 2.
I actually conserved two teams from this era, if you wanna take a look:
Interesting. I remember some servers made their own tier on Netbattle. I have only one memory of something similar and that was when I ended up on a brasilian / french server in late 2007, and I had a celebi + jirachi team when people start to insult me because in their tier they were banned, pretty funny. xd

btw my story is similar to yours as for tier list and bans to make a better metagame, but my conclusions were different. we'll talk of this maybe in the future. thanks for your replies.
 

PK Gaming

Persona 5
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
Really insightful answers man, I really enjoyed reading your thoughts on the intricacies of competitive battling. I never got really good at Pokemon, but I think I might have done better if I had adopted similar mindset that you have. I think i'll start to enter as many tournaments as possible in the near future to get a real "feel" for the game.

PS: Your taste in Ratchet and Clank games is impeccable (Going Commando was godlike).
 
Last edited:
Since you said you like ADV a lot:

What is your opinion on BP Chains in ADV? Do you think it should be used or not, is the banning of Ingrain Smeargle enough with Soundproof Mime etc?
 
Are you considering playing for SPL or do you still want to manage?

Do you feel significant pressure during big games and if yes does it ever affect your judgement?

Big fan, hope you win Smogon Tour. :toast:
 
Wah, you really like ADV. So I'll fill you with questions

1. Which combinations do you most like to use?

2. Your favorite 5 pokémons in ADV Competitive.

3. What do you least like to face? (I'll use this as reference hihi)

4. What would you like to change in the metagame?

5. You have the same opinion as me about Swampert. So what are the most suitable companions to complement your performance?

6. What do you expect about ADV Competitive level in next SPL?
 

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
Since you said you like ADV a lot:

What is your opinion on BP Chains in ADV? Do you think it should be used or not, is the banning of Ingrain Smeargle enough with Soundproof Mime etc?
It's match-up reliant, and since ADV is only played in official settings now, most people probably think it's too risky to bring it, which makes me thing banning it as a whole would be useless. I don't think it should be used for the reasons I stated before regarding Baton Pass in XY.
Are you considering playing for SPL or do you still want to manage?

Do you feel significant pressure during big games and if yes does it ever affect your judgement?

Big fan, hope you win Smogon Tour. :toast:
I will be playing.
I still do sometimes, but it's usually only in Team Tour games or maybe late stages of an official tournament. It doesn't really affect my judgement in-battle nowadays (I used to play a bit too cautiously because of it before).
Thanks!
How much time do you use when you usually select a move against a good player in a tournament match?
Depends on the situation and the match-up. No definite answer there. I happened to take like 3 mins to move just because I was thinking about the whole game if I'd do that move in particular. A lot of factors enter into consideration.
Wah, you really like ADV. So I'll fill you with questions

1. Which combinations do you most like to use?

2. Your favorite 5 pokémons in ADV Competitive.

3. What do you least like to face? (I'll use this as reference hihi)

4. What would you like to change in the metagame?

5. You have the same opinion as me about Swampert. So what are the most suitable companions to complement your performance?

6. What do you expect about ADV Competitive level in next SPL?
1. Suicune/Swampert/Milotic + Celebi | Celebi + Magneton | Celebi + Dugtrio | Blissey + Snorlax | Tyranitar + Gengar | Heracross + Porygon2 to name a few.
2. It varies with time, but I'd say: Tyranitar, Celebi, Magneton, Swampert, Gengar. Special mention for Articuno.
3. Depends on my team! I usually dislike facing CroCune, Bulky Dugtrio and Superachi.
4. It's good the way it is. The metagame would be quite interesting without Spikes or Sand, but just as an experiment.
5. Skarmory, Zapdos and Celebi are great partners for Skarmory. A spinner/Magneton is appreciated if your team isn't fully offensive.
 

WhiteQueen

the queen bee
is a Tiering Contributorwon the 11th Official Smogon Tournamentis a Past SPL Champion
I will be on vacation next weekend, so I won't be able to participate in the last week of Tour, which happens to be DPP, which happens to be the tier where I accumulate most of my points. I won't be able to make the Playoffs if I don't play. Can I please give you my login and password and have you ghost for me?
 

HeIIraiser

tough like igglybuff
Just one question:

If you are up 6x2 in a XY OU match for a tour finals, and your opponent is left with a 1% HP Latias poisoned and a burned Scizor with 1% HP, and you miss a Rock Slide with your Scarf Landorus-T (which was locked in this move), the opponent Healing Wish the Scizor with Latias, mega evolve, gets +2, crits something and sweep, how mad would you be from 0 to 10? Would you offend your opponent? Would you wish you had Bloo's luck?
 
You're know for being a very precise player and for making few mistakes. Do you have a specific checklist you go through mentally when deciding on the best move for a given situation?
 

UnicornDemon

Banned deucer.
What's your favorite new mega Pokemon released in ORAS?

Also, what are your top 10 favorite Pokemon in general? (Or top 5 if you don't have that long a list... my list goes down to like 40 so idk how long other people's list is)
 
Are there any tips you can give for players that struggle with decision making?

How do you go about choosing moves and weighing risk/reward throughout your battles?
 

Nelson

Young, Wild & Free
What was ur most salty defeat between: 1)the 6-0 Zephir inflicted you in 2013 Wcup when benelux absolutely needed the win and was counting on you to get it and 2) ur lost in Gran Slam 2012 playoffs vs me after beating me in 3 different opens (of which u won 2 of them) ?
Or More generally, which defeat had the worst taste in all ur pokemon carrer
 
Last edited:
Status
Not open for further replies.

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top