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Welcome to OU's Player of the week, a project
where I interview well known players to gain insight on how they battle, as well as get to know some things about them. The goal of this thread is to have these high level players give insight to other players in this community in hopes of creating a better overall experience in the OU environment. As always, if there's someone you'd like to see interviewed, feel free to shoot me a PM. So without further ado, lets get to it!
Destiny Device
Going from zero to hero in WCoP, getting a team on the RMT archive and getting to ST semis in my first year on Smogon; having a diet based on chicken nuggets for almost 3 years; putting "o.o", "oO", ":]", ";]", "n_n", "._.", ";_;" or ":[" after almost every sentence; having a terrible internet connection; being the "Electrode-dude".
Favorite Pokémon:
Mawile! n_n
Most used Pokémon:
Keldeo. You can put in a Specs Keldeo on any team (except maybe full stall teams) and it will work well. Also, you can always burn your opponent's Keldeo checks!
Where did you get your name from?
Once when I was playing on PO I saw the nickname "Echelon" and I thought it sounded cool so I started to use it (before that I used the nickname "allanrs98", which is basically my name + birth year). Signed up for some brazilian forums (see the next question for more info), eventually registered on PO because of POWC and then decided to step up and start playing at Smogon so I could play WCoP, but the name "Echelon" was already taken, so I signed up as E-ShenLong, which is how Sogeking used to call me for some reason (it's probably how he pronounced "Echelon" lol). Later I realized how horrible that nickname was and decided to change it. Then I started asking some brazilian friends for cool nicknames and papai noel came up with "Destiny Device". There wasn't really any reasoning behind it, I think. I liked it too, so I changed.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
I knew Smogon since maybe Shoddy was still up. I used to look at the analyses so I could find "good strategies" to play with some friends on my Pokémon Pearl version (that was around 2009). Then I found Shoddy and I was like "WTF I can have any Pokémon I want and at lv100?! AMAZING!!!" so I started playing. I kind of sucked but at least I knew how some game mechanics worked. I joined Shoddy on the very last day of Smogon's Shoddy server (I believe BW was already out), so I started to play on some minor Shoddy servers. The server I played on died too so I started to play on PO, eventually discovering the brazilian server - BOS. After months playing on its legendary ladder with shit like Focus Sash "Ulgamoth" and Scarf "Jalorda" I discovered the "good" brazilian forum - PokéEVO - in 2011. I was then tutored informally by Sogeking. I was called up to tryout for the 2012 WCoP but I failed miserably, even using a team with Electrode + Armaldo on one of the matches. I was far from being good enough by then. Later I joined PO to play POWC 2013 but I couldn't play most of it because I had no internet, lol. I was (and I still am!) pretty shit at BW so I decided I would try to get good at XY, which is when I joined Smogon.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
My favourite is Bulky Offense. It's great to be able to play offensively without having to take major risks all the time or having to sack stuff constantly and also having a reliable defensive backbone. I like all playstyles except for full stall, though. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy playing Stall, but not when I absolutely need to win. Sometimes I feel like stall is just way too "passive". You have zero field presence and your opponent can do anything he/she wants to. A good opponent will know how to shape the game so he can win, and your Chansey and Quagsire aren't going to stop him from doing exactly that.
Aside from Greninja, is there anything that stands out as suspect worth in ORAS? Why?
Mega Sableye, mostly because of the CM set. While it's far from uncounterable a well-played Sableye is borderline impossible to defeat in favourable matchup (i. e. if your opponent doesn't have a Clefable, Diancie and/or luck (i. e. Heatran needs Lava Plume to burn, everything else needs to crit)). It's suspect-worthy but probably not ban-worthy, though, since its useless sometimes and its hard to set-up against offense.
What's your favorite generation of OU and why?
6th gen. It's the one I've played the most, and I find the meta to be quite balanced and enjoyable overall. There are a lot of viable Pokémon, team archetypes and team styles and, in my opinion, team matchup is not that much of an issue most of the time and usually you can play around it, even though it may give you a disadvantage. It's also the only one I've played at "high level".
If you could change one thing from any generation of OU, what would it be and why?
Well, I wasn't around in DP and I was pretty clueless in BW, so I can't say anything about those, but I wouldn't change anything in 6th gen OU. I think it's easy to see how much XY started to improve since Genesect/Mega Lucario got banned.
Do you have any advice for people who are trying to get into big tournaments like SPL, WCoP, etc?
There are two ways: having connections and playing well. If you are really playing well and doing well in tournaments you will eventually be noticed. All captains/managers want good and cheap players. Plus, don't beg for chances. If you need to keep begging captains/managers to look at you and give you a chance, you most likely don't deserve it. Again, you will be noticed if you're playing well, so don't worry.
This is also important: It's better not to be known than being known as "that random guy who keeps posting shit on the [tournament] thread without even playing".
Do you have any advice for newer players in general? What about Smogon?
If you're still starting to play OU, playing on the ladder and reading analyses and other Smogon articles and discussion threads (also The Smog) is a good way of learning.
If you want to improve and step up your game, play with people that are better than you. If you just keep playing worse players you are not going anywhere. In fact, you will just think you're a lot better than you actually are and that will make it harder for you to improve. Watch your own losses again and try to figure out what you did wrong. Also, watch good players playing and try to understand their plays and why they're doing them (Smogon Tour is a great way to watch good players playing live!). aim's YT channel can help you a lot too. Also, don't be affraid to ask experient players for advice. I'm yet to meet a tournament player that isn't nice!
Also, jump into action! Sign up for tournaments and play. Nothing beats experience.
What players do you look up to / are good friends with?
No matter what others say, I really like Sogeking. While he may act like a retard on Smogon, he is actually a really nice friend and he is the player that helped me the most since I started playing. I'm good friends with many brazilian smogoners such as papai noel and Hantsuki, among others (including all of Team Brazil). I also gotta mention my fellow BIG users, whom I already like a lot even though we've been playing together for just a few weeks.
When I started to play on brazilian communities I wanted to be as good as MarceloDK and Sogeking, mostly. When I joined Smogon I looked up to Bloo (who thrashed me on my first tournament match on Smogon, lol), McMeghan, M Dragon and gr8astard among others and I still admire those players a lot.
Finally, is there a team that you can show us that reflects your playstyle and is a good fit for this Metagame?
Metagross @ Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Flying]
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 92 SpD / 116 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Psychic
- Baton Pass
- Nasty Plot
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
- Pursuit
Keldeo-Resolute @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Hidden Power [Flying]
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt
- Lava Plume
- Stealth Rock
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 32 HP / 252 Atk / 224 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- Earthquake
- U-turn
Celebi @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 92 SpD / 116 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Recover
- Psychic
- Baton Pass
- Nasty Plot
Greninja @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 40 Atk / 216 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Dark Pulse
- Gunk Shot
- Ice Beam
- Low Kick
Greninja is broken af, Celebi is useful for checking things like Lopunny, Landorus and Keldeo, Landorus-T is just too good to not be used, fast Tran is good, Specs Keldeo as usual and Pursuit Metagross helping it. Really simple and effective team. Hopefully by the time this is posted Greninja will already be banned though, so you can replace it with Tornadus-T, Magnezone or anything that can break through common balance cores.
English is not my mother tongue so it may take a while for me to answer some questions n_n
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So there it is. If you have any questions for Destiny Device, leave them down below. I'd like to thank him for doing this, and see you next week!
