Doubles OU Player of the Week #41 - Stax

ryo yamada2001

ryo yamada2001
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Hi people, sorry for being so late with this DPOTW, I had some problems at school and stuff, but here it is anyway :]

Interviewee #7 - shaian
1. Hi! Who are you and where do you come from?
A: Hi, my name is Shaian, and I'm a student from Hamilton, Ontario. Proudly repping Canada from '94 til infinity.

2. Where did you get your name from?
A: it’s my middle name, but i prefer it to my first name. most everyone i know in real calls me by it or they call me shay, since back in 5th grade the teacher kept fucking it up. She kept pronouncing my name as "Shay-Ann", so shay just stuck and almost 11 years later, I just keep rolling with it.

3. What is your favourite Pokémon in-game, and what is your favourite Pokémon to competitively use? And why is that?
A: In game, I couldn’t tell you to be honest. My top 5 pokemon are Gardevoir, Dragonite, Scyther, Espeon, and Pidgeot, but I only ever use a combination of 1 or 2 of them in-game runs because if you watch the anime, the best trainers in it only ever use 1 or 2 Pokemon. Competitively I’d have to say I use a ton of Aegislash and Charizard because both are just so good at what they do, and I find them hella fun to use.While everyone knows that both of them are good, its just so fun to see them break through even the most prepared teams late game, especially with Zard because Heat Wave is just a mad fun move to use. Not to mention they work so well together, so I can always run through someone with one or the other. Also im a huge fan of mega gardevoir and mega diancie, so I prolly just have a thing for special attackers.​

Another thing I think people notice about me is that I tend to use a lot of UU Pokemon, or some rather unorthodox choices when I teambuild. I think that's something we need to see more just in general, because it helps keep the metagame feel fresh. Also there's just something about seeing a random mon help fill the void in a team that I just love. Whether it's Gastrodon, Arcanine, Chesnaught or Verizion. Though there is also a fine line between using a niche Pokemon and just making a team full of bad choices.

4. When did you start playing competitively and why?
A: Well if we’re just talking smogon doubles, I started back in early 2013 as a random ladder kid who didn’t know what he was doing but in general, i started earlier than that playing on cart quite poorly though, since i randomly came across a tournament held at a teddy n me in a mall near a 5 guys i actually came 2nd though none of my mons were ev trained, iv bred, or were competitively viable, that was back in like 2010 or 2011. before that i did play some OU here and there, but i was more preoccupied with playing basketball and hockey
but yeah smog dubs started in 2013, i used to play against makolicious all the time we more or less made each other better as we tried to peak the ladder
we came close a few times, but jesus our teams were awful in hindsight, no protect, the worst choice in mons like i used choice scarf hp ice espeon

5. How do you feel ORAS plays compared to XY?
A:
They are quite similar, though obviously a few things are different given that we have powerful new megas like Diancie and Metagross carving out huge chunks of the meta for themselves. Also just in general the player base is more skilled, but that's just a given since we're all better than we were a few months ago, than we were half a year ago, and so on. Also we can see a few more things carried across from VGC, whether we want to admit to it or not, like more people are using clefairy / clefable, and we're seeing people bulking up their Pokemon more than we were in XY. Also when Volcanion comes out we could see some major changes to the way the metagame is played because Volcanion is just a straight better Heatran, though not something that I feel would ever be suspected.

6. What is your favourite playstyle to use?
A: I honestly could not tell you that, I find myself comfortably using HO, bulky offense, semi-Trick Room, weather. Variety is the spice of life, and being of Indian decent, I can tell you that I love me some spice. I can tell you that I've never found myself able to make a good full-Trick Room team, so yeah, that's something I should fix.

7. What is in your opinion the most annoying strategy to face?
A: FUCK THAT ONE GUY WHO USES FLASHTRAP.

8. Is there anything you feel suspect-worthy? Something that you think is broken?
A: Outside of getting Salamence banned, which frankly I'm still on the fence about even after casting my vote, I can't say I think anything is necessarily broken. I do think a few things should, at the very least, be suspected. I've mentioned Rock Slide in the past, as it can be a major influence on games just by virtue of being so easily spammable. For example, my pspl game vs anty where he started spamming it in conjunction with sleep despite it being a poor move choice against 4 of my remaining 5 pokemon, and he was still able to bring the game down from 5-2 to 2-0 with his lando-t at .33 Atk. The issue though is that banning Rock Slide would mean that there are only 2 useful Rock-type attacks, and would also destabilize the meta to a certain degree. That's something I think most people should be aware of, as there are consequences when banning something. If Rock Slide were to go, Sun just became a whole lot better and we might find ourselves being overwhelmed by Zard, Thundurus, or Kyub. CM Cress is another one that might have a case, by I doubt it.

9: Is there something you want to do as a new member of the Doubles OU Council?
A: There are no real immediate concerns because Doubles OU as a meta is really easy to make stable, and the previous council members all did a great job getting it to that point. There will probably be a shakeup once Hoopa comes out, though I have a feeling Hoopa U will just be straight quick banned.

10: Who is in your opinion the favourite to win Seasonals?
A:
Between Las and Deo? My heart says Deo, but I could see Las taking it as well. But I think Deo has better overall wins on the way to finals, so DEOXYS SPEED. If we're talking about the summer seasonals, well I'm gonna be gunning for it, but I've been a choker so... also obvious candidates like Stratos, Deo, finally, Hashtag are gonna do well, no questions. Which sucks because I get Hashtag like next round I think.

11: If there is anything you would change about Doubles OU, what would it be?
A: Not really, the way it is right now is fine. I'd like to nerf a few moves, but that's not really anything to do with doubles is it?

12. Do you have any advice for new players to the tier?
A: Test a lot. I can't stress that enough, and I've been guilty of just jumping into important battles with untested or poorly tested teams. For teams that I really enjoy using the testing period is always on-going, and I keep track of the progression I make on the team. My current favourite team to use is on it's 6th version, and I still find ways of improving it, and it's done quite well over the course of it. Being satisfied with the way a team is playing is never a reason to stop trying to make it better.

Also I think the way people approach battling should be more flexible. A lot of people go in with a specific strategy, and they don't take time to think about what they should do to be able to do what they want to do. If you're playing Trick Room, and your opponent has a million ways to counter it, are you really going to try and set it up? Your team should be able to play well regardless of it's initial "goal". If your sun team can't play without sun being up, then you need to fix that. The games not played on paper, anything can happen in the course of a battle, so you need to find ways to play around it.

And lastly, this is just something that I think has to be said: learn to take advice, Jesus fucking Christ there are a ton of people who can't swallow their Selim and take criticism. Every time I test, or help someone test, the first thing after the battle that's asked is "gibe feedback", or something like that. That's how you learn, so people should just shut up and listen.

13. What is your favourite metagame outside of Doubles, and why? It can be any generation.
A:
Probably VGC or just fun battles on Pokemon Stadium. God I fucking love that game. Also I play a ton of Battle Factory with Memoric. I've also been meaning to learn NU because Scyther kicks ass in it, and I somehow ended up playing Doubles for them in PSPL.

Raseri notice me

14. Could you provide a sample team that reflects your playstyle for new players to use with a brief explanation of it?
A:
is fairy loli (Diancie) @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Diamond Storm
- Moonblast
- Protect
- Substitute

is moth (Volcarona) (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Def / 100 SpA / 108 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Protect
- Rage Powder

is slug (Gastrodon) (F) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Def / 240 SpA
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 3 Spe
- Scald
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Ice Beam

is half and half (Kyurem-Black) @ Leftovers
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 232 HP / 220 SpA / 56 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Substitute

is sword (Aegislash) (M) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Stance Change
EVs: 248 HP / 20 SpA / 240 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Shadow Ball
- Flash Cannon
- King's Shield
- Shadow Sneak

is grass puppy (Shaymin-Sky) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Seed Flare
- Air Slash
- Protect
- Earth Power

This is an older version of this team, but it works just fine, though it's a bit weak to Kangaskhan (something I worked out in the newer version which I apparently deleted all trace of). On this team we have Sub-Mega Diancie, which is one of my favourite sets right now, and 5 members that help support it. The Volcarona used to be both Rage Powder and Quiver Dance, letting me do one or the other depending on the matchup, but I swapped it to a standard set for the purpose of "general use", since this is supposed to be for new players or something. Gastrodon is the most "unique" choice on this team, but it does its job wonderfully, which is more or less stopping bulky waters from ruining Diancie and Volcaronas day. At this point you'll notice that rain just kinda fucks with this team, so I threw in Kyurem-B which can dismantle rain cores with ease, then threw in Aegislash which helps out against Fairys, and then Shaymin-S for more security vs Rain / Waters, and because it pairs so well with Diancie as a fast HO core.

I'd like to thank Shaian for this cool interview! :]

STAY STUNED FOR FUCKING SICK INTERVIEWS, WITH VERY INTERESTING NEWS COMING UP NEXT WEEK
 

Idyll

xD
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RBTT Champion
I'd just like to say thanks to shaian for being one the first people who helped me out when I was still starting out dubs around last year. If it weren't you and the other oldies guys making me feel welcome in the dubs room, I probably wouldn't have had the interest to play this tier like I do know. You're a pretty chill guy, approachable too, and a good friend overall. I still remember that time when we kept fighting a lot and called it a Bo21 lol and you just played me and my gayass dubs teams even tho i lost more than i won ;u;. You've come a long way fren keep it up.

Anyways, questions nerd.

1. Ponyta viable y/n????
2. When will you stop matchup haxing me in Battle Factory?
3. What is your opinion on Rock Slide, and why is it the best move in the game?
 

finally

how can you swallow so much sleep?
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
wanna watch flcl with me; im on episode 5
how often do you come to michigan? how often do you come to new york?
what's your favorite curry
what's the chinatown like in hamilton? what about little india in hamilton?
 

shaian

you love to see it
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I'd just like to say thanks to shaian for being one the first people who helped me out when I was still starting out dubs around last year. If it weren't you and the other oldies guys making me feel welcome in the dubs room, I probably wouldn't have had the interest to play this tier like I do know. You're a pretty chill guy, approachable too, and a good friend overall. I still remember that time when we kept fighting a lot and called it a Bo21 lol and you just played me and my gayass dubs teams even tho i lost more than i won ;u;. You've come a long way fren keep it up.
IZ UR WURL SQUIRL ;u;
Anyways, questions nerd.

1. Ponyta viable y/n????
2. When will you stop matchup haxing me in Battle Factory?
3. What is your opinion on Rock Slide, and why is it the best move in the game?
1. YES
2. NEVER
3. FUCK ROCK SLIDE
wanna watch flcl with me; im on episode 5
how often do you come to michigan? how often do you come to new york?
what's your favorite curry
what's the chinatown like in hamilton? what about little india in hamilton?
1. Never not down to watch FLCL
2. lol fuck michigan. i go to new york once or twice a year :>
3. BEEF CURRY
4. im like 90% sure the chinatown in hamilton is my school, ain't seen asians outside of it anywhere. lol little india in the gta is scarborough s/o to my turban niggas up in gerrard
 

Audiosurfer

I'd rather be sleeping
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
what albums are you currently enjoying?
what do you think about the state of the doubles community right now?
whose your favorite user to watch play / what user's battles are the most enjoyable to spectate to you and why?
 

shaian

you love to see it
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what albums are you currently enjoying?
what do you think about the state of the doubles community right now?
whose your favorite user to watch play / what user's battles are the most enjoyable to spectate to you and why?
1. From Kinshasa by Mbongwana Star, and Surf by Donnie Trumpet & The Social Experiment are my current 1 and 2. I'v been listening to a lot of Sufjan lately, mostly Illinoise and Carrie & Lowell, and the general Kishi Bashi discography as well because his music is just amazing for the summer time. I also recently gave A Dream Outside by Gengahr, and A Year With 13 Moons by Jefre Cantu-Ledesma a few listens and both are really good.

2. The doubles community right now is small but dedicated to the meta. I'd really like to see us grow as a community, and one way to do that is to get the PS crowd more involved on the forums, so that we can generate more interest amongst the larger smogon community. If people see the forum buzzing they're gonna wanna join in. There are a lot of really cool projects that could be run that would help everyone learn the game better, but they all fizzle out due to a lack of participation on here.

3. My favourite person to battle with in general is Memoric, my favourite testing bitch is SpaceBass even though he has Pinoy level luck during them, and the person I enjoy watching the most would probably be BLOOD TOTEM because he's hilarious when he gets going. Also every time I play BW Doubles with Aurarayquaza the games are always fun.
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
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Hi Shaian, nice to see up-and-coming players getting their time in the spotlight. Since i'm here i'll also ask a few questions;

What do you find the most underrated Mega Pokemon to be? Why?
If you had to pick one, what is your overall favourite thing about Smogon, and what is one thing you wish to accomplish?
What's the worst team you've ever made?
Who are some players that you find yourself looking up to, and do you try to emulate their style into your own playing/building?
 

shaian

you love to see it
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Hi Shaian, nice to see up-and-coming players getting their time in the spotlight. Since i'm here i'll also ask a few questions;

What do you find the most underrated Mega Pokemon to be? Why?
If you had to pick one, what is your overall favourite thing about Smogon, and what is one thing you wish to accomplish?
What's the worst team you've ever made?
Who are some players that you find yourself looking up to, and do you try to emulate their style into your own playing/building?
1. There are quite a few Mega Pokemon that I think are underrated, such as Gardevoir, Abomasnow, and Blastoise. All three of them can run through teams late game given the proper field conditions, with very few things wanting to take a neutral hit from any of them. Of the three, I think Blastoise is the most underrated of the three, seeing almost no usage whatsoever when the other two have seen use and shown that they are good 'mons (Gardevoir is at least tier 2 viability damnit). It does the typical offensive water type things (good vs lando-t, diancie, etc), but unlike conventional Water types it isn't completely deadweight vs Ferrothorn and Hydreigon, and Aura Sphere lets it hold its own vs Kangaskhan without having to hope for a burn which most tend to go for. I won't say lie and say it's the best Water type, most teams are better off not using it, but it's really cool and does have a niche that is worth exploring.

Or perhaps I'm just fanboying Gen 1 too hard.

2. Probably the community, the people here are cool for the most part (the tournaments crowd tends to get insane as fuck sometimes), but the people I typically interact with (Doubles, RMT, the NBA crowd) are great. It's kinda hilarious, I came here for the 'Mons but the most interesting part is the areas of the site that have almost nothing to do with Pokemon, like the sports arena (the only reason I know I'm going to regret going to a Jays game on my birthday, sigh), and smeargles studio (my art is no only slightly below mediocre!).

As for things I want to accomplish, I can't really say there is much since I got my brofist. I've thought about trying to become a tutor because I like teaching people new things, and once I become good enough at it, I'd like to become an artist. On a more competitive level, I do want to become a more consistent tournament player; looking at my tournament history I've been very inconsistent in my play. Other tournament related things are the usual, trying to get picked up for SPL (Stratos inspired this one), I'd also like to try and win Grand Slam once I've learned more tiers. My last goal is to try and join Team Canada for WCOP once I've gotten the hang of OU, I thoroughly enjoy playing OU and I thoroughly enjoy being Canadian so the two of those blend together quite nicely.

3. I have a huge collection of awful teams since a lot of the teams I build are designed around exploring a single concept and seeing how far I can push it. For example, during the recent Salamencite suspect I spent a large portion of my early laddering using a team that was just Salamence and 5 different partners for it. The goal was to see how different partners would function with Salamence, and depending on how well they worked I would use them on different teams. I've done similar things quite frequently, such as Charizard + partners, a team built with Articuno, I've built quite a few Altaria teams just to see different ways it can function. The one team that I think is /probably/ the worst I've built is a team built around Helping Hand. The goal was to see how far I could EV Pokemon defensively and mitigate the lost offensive power through the use of Helping Hand. I'll leave it here for the whole world to see:
Cuban Linx (Scizor) (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 252 HP / 56 Atk / 32 Def / 68 SpD / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Protect
- Superpower

Waterchubby (Azumarill) (F) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 244 HP / 52 Atk / 152 Def / 60 SpD
Careful Nature
- Play Rough
- Waterfall
- Protect
- Helping Hand

Erza (F) @ Draco Plate
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 132 SpA / 96 SpD / 28 Spe
Modest Nature
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Roost
- Helping Hand

iTeddy (Reuniclus) (M) @ Expert Belt
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 148 Def / 104 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Protect
- Trick Room

Pizza (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 244 HP / 48 Def / 16 SpA / 200 Spe
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Protect
- Substitute

Larry (Dragalge) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Adaptability
EVs: 232 HP / 148 Def / 76 SpA / 52 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 0 Spe
- Sludge Bomb
- Draco Meteor
- Protect
- Focus Blast
I gave up on it after a week, and I can't remember what the EV's do. I still use it sometimes just to fuck around though. No shame.

4. I can't say I look up to other players, but I do admire quite a few aspects of certain players, and I try to develop my own play in those ways. Though if there was one player who had perhaps the most influence on me as a player, it would be Pocket. It wasn't even that big of a deal, but back during the first seasonal I joined back in XY, I landed Pocket in round 7(?) and I lost to him. After the battle he commended me on my play, and complimented me on my use of Mega Gardevoir through the games, and told me that I should keep playing. It was a small thing, but it kept me motivated to keep playing and learning doubles, because frankly I probably would have quit soon after because Pokemon was getting pretty damn boring at the time.

As for the things I admire about other players, it's typically things like EV'ing, creativity, consistency, etc. Early on after I joined the forums, I spent time reading over a lot of the posts by Nollan, and how he would EV his Pokemon and just kept working on my own EV'ing (I can't say I'm as good as he was back in the day, but I'm pretty confident in where it is right now), and I also spend a lot of time reading Braverius's posts in doubles because I know his reputation as being one of the best, and his own teambuilding quality is something I wanna work towards. I also worked to becoming more creative after seeing a lot of the work done by people like Level 51, Bughouse, and yourself. It was actually reading about your Poliwag team that made me wanna make a Ponyta™ team just for fun. As for consistency, I really admire that quality of Stratos's play, because he always does well in tournaments and he uses 3 different teams, so you would think someone would just counterteam him but nah. Tournament games always make me really nervous and I find myself often shooting myself in the foot out of sheer nerves, and seeing someone just play through that makes me work harder trying to get to that level.

Also half my main teams are bulky offense now so I have to blame him for that too.
 

Bughouse

Like ships in the night, you're passing me by
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What are the best (non-ponyta) innovations you have ever used? Can be mons or just very unusual sets.

What's one Pokemon you see others using successfully, but when you try to use it, it sucks/you don't like it?
 

shaian

you love to see it
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how do you feel about being considered the second cutest user in the doubles room by me
n_n

also why do you think of me when you eat sandwiches?
How many times should I watch Space Jam?
23 / 6 neffew
What are the best (non-ponyta) innovations you have ever used? Can be mons or just very unusual sets.

What's one Pokemon you see others using successfully, but when you try to use it, it sucks/you don't like it?
1. I'm a huge fan of Sub-Mega Diancie, though I wouldn't necessarily classify that as an innovation, but it's definitely a very useful set on certain team builds. The best innovative set that I've used is a specially defensive WP Aegislash set, it's been my go-to Aegislash set for a while.

2. I have a very bad track record with Kangaskhan in ORAS and Mega Gengar is a Pokemon I've never been able to figure out properly. It doesn't help that the last time I've used Kangaskhan on a serious team was back in mid-XY, but even now I just can't motivate myself to use it because it just feels really boring to play with. As for Gengar, it just always seems so lackluster in practice and I often find myself wanting to have another mega in that position. I do plan on working with Gengar more as the offensive trapping qualities of it intrigue me, I just haven't found a core that works with it that I find interesting.
 

ryo yamada2001

ryo yamada2001
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Interviewee #8 - Memoric


1. Hi, who are you and where are you from?
Hi, I'm a random guy from the Philippines who uses Memoric as his name.

2. What is your favourite Pokemon to use in-game, and which to use competitively?
I only really played the Gen 3 games so if it's a favourite Pokemon to use in-game, it's FRLG Charmander because that thing just wrecks house for a decent part of the early game (beating even Brock with Metal Claw too jej). It's also bad-ass to look at which is awesum oooo
If it's competitively, it's definitely Landorus-T because the scarf set is just a really splashable utility counter for a lot of strong things such as Mega Metagross, Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Diancie, etc + it gives me a good fast mon right off the bat. Intimidate is a fkn great ability like wow I try to include it as much as i can on my teams. All-around favorite mon though is probably Darkrai because bad-ass factor and Dark-types are dank and edgy like me

wew

3. What is your favourite strategy to play with?
If it comes to a strategy that I like, I'm not really favoring any as long as said teams can win. You can say my favorite playstyle is to win. Whatever playstyle it is, whether it be Rain, Sun, Kanga TW, SemiTR, etc, as long as it can net me games I'd probably use it. I can attribute some of my success to me being a bit versatile and unpredictable with the teams I can use I guess o_o

4. When did you start playing Pokemon competitively and why did you?
I just got bored from playing in-game gen 3 too much lol so I went to other forums like Pokecommunity before I discovered PS!, and in turn discovered smogon. I started playing competitive mons back then during late-2013 which is sometime during the end of the BW era. I first started playing OU until somewhere around February which is when I got picked up for B101 for, dun dun dun: SMOGON DOUBLES
fun fact: Doubles was my second choice before OU so if I didn't get picked up for it you probably wouldn't know me rn

5. As you're a member of the council now, is there anything you think is broken in the current metagame, something that is suspect-worthy and might even be tested in the future?
I actually think that the metagame is great as it is now. There's probably nothing I'd change because of how fun to play it is rn. Something that's been in my mind tho is Lando-T because that thing is just a really great mon to have and checks a lot of shit so effectively it's ridic but it's not really "broken" in my eyes so it's ok

6. As a new member of the council, what are your ideas and plans for the Doubles metagame?
Uh, I don't think there's anything I can do for the metagame since it's great rn. If it comes to the community though it's basically the contribute to analysis, boost forum activity, the usual things we should be doing. I've been trying to do more things since I got my position like Tutor and the Teambuilding contest since it kinda boosted my confidence. but so far it's the same ol usual back when i wasn't council

7. Who is in your opinion the favourite to win the summer seasonals?
Me B)
Well, from the guys that are still in the winner's bracket Kamikaze seems like a good pick to win the things, especially when you consider that he got to a high placing last seasonal and has only improved since e then.
Arcticblast strikes to me as a good player, and his knowledge and experience with tour settings and metagame, considering he's Dubs Co-TL will only help him throghout
Stratos is another great player but getting bopd to loser's bracket kinda ruins his chances a bit, but I won't count him out. Same case for KyleCole and his unpredictabilityy with sets but he has to watch out on his team's builds more.
Shrop05 has potential to break out and be a great player but strong foes in loser's bracket + being in loser's bracket means that this might not be the tour :[ He's cool tho!!!

8. deoxys speed or lasagne?
I think I posted this on the winter seasonals thread already but im gonna say it again: My mind says Las but my heart says Deo-S

9. Is there anything you'd like to change about Doubles?
If there's anything I want to change, it's the community's forum presence. As anyone can see, the Doubles subforum is basically dead and that's because most doubles players can't give enough of a shit to post their thoughts about things really tho Doubles has a reasonable amount of good players and those good players contributing to forum activity will only help the community in the long run ...by providing us visibiltiy, presence, and actual represenation in the rooms

10. What is your favourite metagame to play outside of Doubles?
Since I've been out of the loop of OU, I just go play some random metas to pass the time when I'm not playng dubs stuff. Battle Factory is very fun to play and if you think otherwise you're probably subhuman. Ranbats and Ranbats 2v2 are also good but they're more prone to getting g_g matchupd. CC 1v1 is excellent if I want to have fun with guys in a quick and easy to play format. If things get stale I'd start a CC 1v1 tour in the Doubles room because really it's a good mood booster because the sets and games can be really funny

11. Do you have any advice for new players to the tier?
The only advice I could really give is the usual: go watch replays of good players using good team, keep in touch with the community, and just practice your craft and playmaking. That's because they're good advice, and if you want to actually get somewhere you'd best follow them

12. Could you provide a sample team that reflects your playstyle for new players to use with a brief explanation of it?
Migraine (Kangaskhan) (F) @ Kangaskhanite
Ability: Scrappy
EVs: 144 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def / 108 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Return
- Power-Up Punch
- Sucker Punch

Ode To Sleep (Amoonguss) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 184 Def / 72 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 1 Spe
- Giga Drain
- Rage Powder
- Spore
- Protect

Screen (Rotom-Wash) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 128 SpA / 120 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Thunderbolt
- Will-O-Wisp
- Protect

Guns For Hands (Heatran) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 168 HP / 252 SpA / 88 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Substitute
- Protect

Truce (Latios) (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 29 HP / 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Tailwind
- Protect

Car Radio (Landorus-Therian) (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 44 HP / 252 Atk / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower


This is an oldie team that i have but still works in the current meta bc it's great lol. This team has had its share of success before as it took me to top 10-ish in the ladder back when I got really bored of doing nothing so I laddered lol. Anyways, this is basically a really standard-ish balancy team that features being able to bop foes Mega Kanga in Tailwind. The point of this team is to really just kill your opp before they can kill you lol, using the synergy to outlast them in a way. Kangaskhan is the team's strongest form of damage and can be especially dangerous if supported by Tailwind from Latios or RP from Amoong. Amoonguss provides the standard redirection and Heatran provides some chipping damage potential, especially behind a sub; both are also my strongest ways of dealing with Trick Room. Latios takes out annoying Fighting-types for Kang and Tran while also being able to provide Speed Control with Tailwind, making them more threatening. Latios being a good hit-n-run nuke with Draco Meteor and a good way of checking Zard Y teams is great have as well. Rotom-W and Landorus-T are basically my "utility checks" for things such as opposing Lando-T, Heatran, Mega Diancie, other Kang, etc. They help the team by being able to check and beat a lot of other pokemon that mine wouldn't want to deal with in a match.

13. What are some animes you are currently watching, which animes do you recommend, and which are extremely shite?
actually, I'm not really someone who watches a lot of anime lol. But guys like ponymon and shaian got me into it with their Taiga talk that I just jumped and then I found out what I've been missing out on oml. I'm not actually watching any anime rn due to time restraints, but I do plan to watch steins;gate and Code Geass a bit later. I recommend watching Tora Dora and Nagi No Asukara because they're cute and dank and will make your heart melt. Those two are some of my faves from those I've already watched. Also, I don't find any anime to be shit tbh idk if I'm just lucky or have really low standards lol.



I'd like to thank Memoric for this interview

STAY TUNED FOR SUPER HOT SHIT THOUGH LIKE INTERVIEWS WITH SEASONALS WINNERS, SEASONALS LOSERS, SEASONALS DESTROYES, AND MEMES, MANY MEMES, SEEYA NEXT WEEK
 
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Arcticblast

Trans rights are human rights
is a Forum Moderatoris a Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
Considering your team has four of them, how do you feel about the use of catch-all Pokemon like Scarf Lando-T, Rotom-W, etc?
 

Fangame10

DOU Master of Snow-based Trick Room teams
is a Tiering Contributor
favorite meme?

Arctic edit: don't answer this one, memes are for scum
 
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Stratos

Banned deucer.
As for consistency, I really admire that quality of Stratos's play, because he always does well in tournaments and he uses 3 different teams, so you would think someone would just counterteam him but nah. Tournament games always make me really nervous and I find myself often shooting myself in the foot out of sheer nerves, and seeing someone just play through that makes me work harder trying to get to that level.
jinxed it

why didnt i leak inside scoop "off the record" during my interview i wonder
 

Idyll

xD
is a Tutoris an official Team Rateris a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnus
RBTT Champion
glenn rhymes with men. memoric likes men
also nice art bulba
actual question: can you list me your current top 5 artists/bands
I like men named Glenn, no lie. That's why I spend so much time looking at the mirror.

When it comes to music, well I can't really say since I enjoy such a wide range of music that it's hard to keep tabs on which is my "Top 5" or anything. What I like really depends on my mood at the time so yeah can't really say. If I have to list a top 5, it'd probably be: My Chemical Romance, Madeon, Tycho, twenty one pilots, and Fall Out Boy (lol fgts come and get me). Lately, I've been enjoying listening to Adventure by Madeon and True Colors by Zedd like wew kid,,,

Considering your team has four of them, how do you feel about the use of catch-all Pokemon like Scarf Lando-T, Rotom-W, etc?
h-h-hey

Those set of mons just really work great together and is pretty standard so yeah no coincidence with that team lol. My opinion with catch-all mons is that they're just great to have around in later stages of building because they can check a wide portion of the meta at hand at a single stroke, like Scarf Lando-T being a great utility counter to most physical mons while being able to provide Speed, etc. They're just so great at what they're generally picked for, which is be a good "second check" and "first check / counter" to a wide portion of the meta, that it's kinda disgusting imo since they just provide great ease and escape button in building, kinda like when I'm weak to Tran I just add Rotom-W which at the same time gives me a Lando-T check, Thundurus check, etc. While these catch-all mons are certainly great, they kinda make people a kinda "lazy" builders, which is what a decent portion of the actually ok ladder is; they just provide people with an easy "out" to beating things, which means some other good Pokemon, like Mega Venu, Latios, Ferrothorn, Reg Gengar, and other stuff, might not be seen which isn't developing the meta really. I kinda feel good when people like qsns use stuff like Reg Gengar and other non-norm mons since it shows that they're actually trying, yknow.

favorite meme?

Arctic edit: don't answer this one, memes are for scum
SPACE☆ASS

this is my interview, I do what i want :>
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Hi Memoric nice interview, few questions for you!

What specifically is it that keeps you coming back to Smogon? Is there any "goals" that you want to accomplish in your time here?
What do you think the most underrated Mega Pokemon is? Why?
Is there any player(s) that you looked up to when starting in the tier? If so, why them specifically?
Got any creative sets you're looking to try?

Looking forward to seeing you grow even more as a player, keep it up
 

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