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Congrats to the winners of the 2023 Smog Awards!
UU Player of the Week #19: Sam
- Thread starter Manipulative
- Start date
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream
Favorite burger toppings
Favorite color
Chocolatey kinda desserts or like fruit kinda things
Salami or pepperoni
Do favorite way to cook burgers / steak (like rare medium)
Beyoncé or Shakira
Favorite burger toppings
Favorite color
Chocolatey kinda desserts or like fruit kinda things
Salami or pepperoni
Do favorite way to cook burgers / steak (like rare medium)
Beyoncé or Shakira
Last edited:
Congratulations for being selected in the Player of the Week, Christo !
Time for me to fire some questions to you:
What genre of music do you appreciate the most?
What is your most favorite meat (pork, chicken, beef, lamb) dish?
What is your most favorite seafood dish?
Do you plan on traveling out of the country? If yes, what country?
Time for me to fire some questions to you:
What genre of music do you appreciate the most?
What is your most favorite meat (pork, chicken, beef, lamb) dish?
What is your most favorite seafood dish?
Do you plan on traveling out of the country? If yes, what country?
I was looking at the VR and I honestly don't think anything is overrated haha
I think a lot of mons are underrated. I think Stealth Rock Diancie is the most underrated. People don't realize how good a fairy rocker is, especially with a flying and fire resistance, not to mention heal bell. I would have said SD Virizion too, but Celebi D:
Mega Aero is the best mega imo. I think Aero does a great job checking a lot of UU's scary offensive threats.
I think winning UU Open would be a goal of mine in terms of UU. As for mons in general, definitely an individual trophy.
This is too far in the future I don't think I can answer this truthfully D:
you, hogg, dodmen, and Hikari
Individual
I will most likely give them all a shot. I will probably give ST more of a shot as I have been recently enjoying the past gens. I wish I was interested during the beginning of Classic, I bet I would have had some fun.
Probably NU
Bacon
Purple
Chocolatey
Pepperoni on Pizza, Salami on a sandwich
Medium Rare
Tough one but I would say Shakira
Not sure what this is asking, but I am gonna go w/ the edgy response and say Evil.
Thanks Clarion!
I like most music, but I would say I listen to rap and post-hardcore the most
I eat beef and chicken the most. It has to be a tie between the two
The only type of seafood I enjoy eating is Sushi
My family and I occasionally travel to Australia as that is where my mother is from. I am interested in visiting Europe the most probably.
On a scale of "total garbage" to "god why would you use this thing," where would you place Barbaracle in UU?
If you could move one thing from OU to UU, what would it be (other than Starmie because everyone says Starmie)?
Best lower tier other than UU?
Best old gen version of UU?
Best guess for number of people who will get banned for ghosting in Slam this year?
Will LilOu remain back this time, or will he disappear into the ether again?
What's the coolest team you've seen so far in UU Open?
EDIT: Who is your favorite non-UU player on Smogon right now?
If you could move one thing from OU to UU, what would it be (other than Starmie because everyone says Starmie)?
Best lower tier other than UU?
Best old gen version of UU?
Best guess for number of people who will get banned for ghosting in Slam this year?
Will LilOu remain back this time, or will he disappear into the ether again?
What's the coolest team you've seen so far in UU Open?
EDIT: Who is your favorite non-UU player on Smogon right now?
Last edited:
People that aren't super popular but are actually pretty good?
Barbaracle is top 7 oras uu
Klefki
NU
Dpp
6
He will disappear somewhere in Peru after UU Open
Idk probably bushtush's
The WhiteQueen
Idk his smogon name but sparrow is top 2 oras uu
No
Fuck all 3
I'll think about it
Ban celebi and hydrei, take klefki, raikou, and starmie from ou
How much speed do you creep on sableye
Sorry for the delay! Have been having some difficulties but I'm back now with yet another great interview! I'll leave it down below, but feel free to find it in the OP as well.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name's Ryan and I'm an 18 year old soon-to-be college student attending Rowan University. I live in New Jersey and have been playing pokemon competitively for 5 years... As much as I hate the game sometimes (and am having a particularly low point with it currently), I can never stop loving competing and playing every different tier I can. I have a true love for the game that I can't deny even when I hate it D: I hope to keep playing and competing on Smogon for the next few years as well (and I want my indiv trophy ;_;). Though I'm kind of taking a break and not taking gslam seriously, I'm preparing for OLT and hoping to outplace what I got last year.
Most known for?
Being 16k in SPL and going 1-3, obviously. Really though, I definitely have a history of hotheadedness, but also I think I'm a very upfront person and am appreciated for it :P. Otherwise, I went 5-5 in SPL this year (not the record I wanted :/) and 5-1 in wcop in total, on top of making top 5 of the recent OLT (although I was robbed from winner's bracket with some ridiculous probability). Uh oh yeah I also made smogtours playoffs which I forgot about since it was such a failure lool. I made top 8 (top 4? not sure) of UU open 2 years ago which was my first tournament on Smogon, which kind of started my time in the UU tier. Maybe I'm known for harshly criticizing the tiering process that has happened in UU recently, but imo the crawdaunt suspect was a major failure and UU is the worst it's ever been. I'm really happy about the mence ban though, and I hope the UU tier will continue to get better :)
Favorite Pokemon?
Tha queen...
Most Used Pokemon?
In UU that'd probably be Conkeldurr because it's fucking amazing or maybe Sylveon. Sylveon feels like a must to me on teams so I don't really count it, but Conk is so bulky and strong, with great priority and the ability to check Suicune. What more could one ask of a pokemon?
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I was brought to competitive Pokemon through youtube videos from some dude named TheKillerNacho (lol), and eventually spending time on PO everyone started to migrate to Smogon and I made kind of a storm, doing really well initially. I used to talk about how PO was superior to Smogon, and that's why it was my motivation to make a splash in the community haha. Honestly it was more fun as an unknown PO player for a while, but now I'm more known as a large personality here :/
What is your favorite playstyle?
My favorite playstyle is probably straight-up offense (not bulky offense) or balance, but offense is kind of impossible to run these days lol. I like to be able to play aggressively or patiently, and these styles generally give you both options moreso than any other.
Do you think any playstyle is blatantly dominant or weak in the metagame?
Yeah, stall is god awful. Shoutouts to pokeisfun though the king stays makin it work...
Are there any specific Pokemon that you think are unhealthy for UU and may be deserving of a Suspect Test in the future?
Lol Mamoswine and Hydreigon are stupid-broken but UU council refuses to suspect broken things for long periods of time so idk. Sylveon is broken as well, but the wish set is so useful I'd be really disappointed if I couldn't use it ;_;. Crawdaunt will become broken if the tier reverts to a point where bulky pokemon are viable and more than 1 strategy is worth using. NP celebi is stupid as hell too, and SD pass is an aneurysm but it's definitely easier to handle than NP. The tier's quite unbalanced atm :/
Congrats on winning UUPL with your team! What do you think brought you and your teams together the most over the last two years to consistently put up dominant performances and why?
Thanks so much man :). Honestly drafting friends is always the best strategy. If you put faith into your friends they'll win eventually. If I watched my players lose constantly without any HUGE chokes (just overall small misplays or bad team choice) I was honestly very forgiving and willing to give them more chances I think. I don't know if my UUPL team will vouch for me on this but I think I've definitely been lenient sometimes. But still, it sets me off so badly when people just make 1 or 2 HUGE chokes and I'm like "if you thought about this play for two fucking seconds you'd not have made it." I hate seeing mistakes that no one should make because I know they stem from impatience rather than lack of talent. But if I saw people simply not getting the grasp or making inoptimal decisions opposed to huge chokes, I gave them multiple chances to redeem themselves. I was always there to help with testing and I built like 10 BW teams over the course of the season, as well as a few ORAS. Also adding good friends who are also good at the game helps (shoutouts Hogg). Good team environment is key to a successful team, so drafting people who like each other (and most importantly, who you like a lot) is important to me.
You're an SPL player and are known for being good at just about every tier you play! Is there any advice that you can give to newer players who are interested in the tournament scene and learning multiple tiers?
Thanks man :). The only advice I can give is to constantly practice. Once you get the hang of this game, as I feel I finally did sometime recently, every other tier just comes so easily compared to the first tier you ever played. Once I felt that I was really good at UU and RU, OU just came naturally to me. And then so did BW OU, and PU, GSC, and Ubers, and everything I continued to play. You'll know once you're a truly good player when every tier feels just as easy as your first tier. Building multiple teams for a tier has also helped me a lot to get a "feel" for what's what. Make sure to watch all SPL + wcop games, and major tournament matches, and think to yourself "where could the loser of this game have won this game if he was more aggressive/if he played better? (if possible)". A lot of becoming good comes with recognizing others' mistakes so you don't repeat them and can truly understand which situations require aggressive play.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
long list but...
Joey, Teal, Blunder, Anti, Tesung, PDC, Teal, TDK, Shake, Dodmen, ABR, Soulgazer, Metaphysical, New Breed, FLCL, Tom Bus, Isa, TonyFlygon, Sken, Hogg
Love you all guys :P
Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
Blastoise-Mega @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 192 HP / 252 SpA / 64 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Roserade @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Dazzling Gleam
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
Conkeldurr @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
I love this team because of the CB metagross + CB conkeldurr core, which destroy offense with ease due to their priority. A strong bulky core with good hazard removal and wallbreaking capabilities, plus scarf rose as a surprisingly fantastic offensive check to Gyarados (OHKOs with hp elec and outspeeds). Good typing synergy-wise, and a lot of offensive checks to some of the common threats. This team's 2 biggest weaknesses were wallbreaking capabilities and Salamence (or Iron tail dreigon), but with salamence gone the biggest offensive threat to the team isn't going to be wreaking havoc anymore lol. Breaking walls isn't super difficult with CB conk + CB metagross, but it requires prediction, and a pokemon like milotic can disrupt them both (though conkeldurr can 1v1 it with some ease). Gligar's kinda sucky in the meta but I think spdef has a cool niche since it fully walls things like defensive Sylveon and can't be OHKO'd by almost anything in the tier, so it's a pretty reliable hazard setter. u-turn also allows you to pivot into conkeldurr or metagross, which can be death for some teams.
----------
Thank you for your time and the great interview, Omfuga! 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!
Omfuga
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name's Ryan and I'm an 18 year old soon-to-be college student attending Rowan University. I live in New Jersey and have been playing pokemon competitively for 5 years... As much as I hate the game sometimes (and am having a particularly low point with it currently), I can never stop loving competing and playing every different tier I can. I have a true love for the game that I can't deny even when I hate it D: I hope to keep playing and competing on Smogon for the next few years as well (and I want my indiv trophy ;_;). Though I'm kind of taking a break and not taking gslam seriously, I'm preparing for OLT and hoping to outplace what I got last year.
Most known for?
Being 16k in SPL and going 1-3, obviously. Really though, I definitely have a history of hotheadedness, but also I think I'm a very upfront person and am appreciated for it :P. Otherwise, I went 5-5 in SPL this year (not the record I wanted :/) and 5-1 in wcop in total, on top of making top 5 of the recent OLT (although I was robbed from winner's bracket with some ridiculous probability). Uh oh yeah I also made smogtours playoffs which I forgot about since it was such a failure lool. I made top 8 (top 4? not sure) of UU open 2 years ago which was my first tournament on Smogon, which kind of started my time in the UU tier. Maybe I'm known for harshly criticizing the tiering process that has happened in UU recently, but imo the crawdaunt suspect was a major failure and UU is the worst it's ever been. I'm really happy about the mence ban though, and I hope the UU tier will continue to get better :)
Favorite Pokemon?
Tha queen...
Most Used Pokemon?
In UU that'd probably be Conkeldurr because it's fucking amazing or maybe Sylveon. Sylveon feels like a must to me on teams so I don't really count it, but Conk is so bulky and strong, with great priority and the ability to check Suicune. What more could one ask of a pokemon?
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I was brought to competitive Pokemon through youtube videos from some dude named TheKillerNacho (lol), and eventually spending time on PO everyone started to migrate to Smogon and I made kind of a storm, doing really well initially. I used to talk about how PO was superior to Smogon, and that's why it was my motivation to make a splash in the community haha. Honestly it was more fun as an unknown PO player for a while, but now I'm more known as a large personality here :/
What is your favorite playstyle?
My favorite playstyle is probably straight-up offense (not bulky offense) or balance, but offense is kind of impossible to run these days lol. I like to be able to play aggressively or patiently, and these styles generally give you both options moreso than any other.
Do you think any playstyle is blatantly dominant or weak in the metagame?
Yeah, stall is god awful. Shoutouts to pokeisfun though the king stays makin it work...
Are there any specific Pokemon that you think are unhealthy for UU and may be deserving of a Suspect Test in the future?
Lol Mamoswine and Hydreigon are stupid-broken but UU council refuses to suspect broken things for long periods of time so idk. Sylveon is broken as well, but the wish set is so useful I'd be really disappointed if I couldn't use it ;_;. Crawdaunt will become broken if the tier reverts to a point where bulky pokemon are viable and more than 1 strategy is worth using. NP celebi is stupid as hell too, and SD pass is an aneurysm but it's definitely easier to handle than NP. The tier's quite unbalanced atm :/
Congrats on winning UUPL with your team! What do you think brought you and your teams together the most over the last two years to consistently put up dominant performances and why?
Thanks so much man :). Honestly drafting friends is always the best strategy. If you put faith into your friends they'll win eventually. If I watched my players lose constantly without any HUGE chokes (just overall small misplays or bad team choice) I was honestly very forgiving and willing to give them more chances I think. I don't know if my UUPL team will vouch for me on this but I think I've definitely been lenient sometimes. But still, it sets me off so badly when people just make 1 or 2 HUGE chokes and I'm like "if you thought about this play for two fucking seconds you'd not have made it." I hate seeing mistakes that no one should make because I know they stem from impatience rather than lack of talent. But if I saw people simply not getting the grasp or making inoptimal decisions opposed to huge chokes, I gave them multiple chances to redeem themselves. I was always there to help with testing and I built like 10 BW teams over the course of the season, as well as a few ORAS. Also adding good friends who are also good at the game helps (shoutouts Hogg). Good team environment is key to a successful team, so drafting people who like each other (and most importantly, who you like a lot) is important to me.
You're an SPL player and are known for being good at just about every tier you play! Is there any advice that you can give to newer players who are interested in the tournament scene and learning multiple tiers?
Thanks man :). The only advice I can give is to constantly practice. Once you get the hang of this game, as I feel I finally did sometime recently, every other tier just comes so easily compared to the first tier you ever played. Once I felt that I was really good at UU and RU, OU just came naturally to me. And then so did BW OU, and PU, GSC, and Ubers, and everything I continued to play. You'll know once you're a truly good player when every tier feels just as easy as your first tier. Building multiple teams for a tier has also helped me a lot to get a "feel" for what's what. Make sure to watch all SPL + wcop games, and major tournament matches, and think to yourself "where could the loser of this game have won this game if he was more aggressive/if he played better? (if possible)". A lot of becoming good comes with recognizing others' mistakes so you don't repeat them and can truly understand which situations require aggressive play.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
long list but...
Joey, Teal, Blunder, Anti, Tesung, PDC, Teal, TDK, Shake, Dodmen, ABR, Soulgazer, Metaphysical, New Breed, FLCL, Tom Bus, Isa, TonyFlygon, Sken, Hogg
Love you all guys :P
Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
Gligar @ Eviolite
Ability: Immunity
EVs: 248 HP / 16 Def / 244 SpD
Impish Nature
- U-turn
- Roost
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
Blastoise-Mega @ Blastoisinite
Ability: Mega Launcher
EVs: 192 HP / 252 SpA / 64 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Ice Beam
- Dark Pulse
- Rapid Spin
Sylveon @ Leftovers
Ability: Pixilate
EVs: 252 HP / 240 Def / 16 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Wish
- Protect
- Heal Bell
Roserade @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Technician
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Leaf Storm
- Sludge Bomb
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Dazzling Gleam
Metagross @ Choice Band
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Bullet Punch
- Zen Headbutt
- Earthquake
Conkeldurr @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 232 HP / 252 Atk / 24 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Drain Punch
- Mach Punch
- Knock Off
- Poison Jab
I love this team because of the CB metagross + CB conkeldurr core, which destroy offense with ease due to their priority. A strong bulky core with good hazard removal and wallbreaking capabilities, plus scarf rose as a surprisingly fantastic offensive check to Gyarados (OHKOs with hp elec and outspeeds). Good typing synergy-wise, and a lot of offensive checks to some of the common threats. This team's 2 biggest weaknesses were wallbreaking capabilities and Salamence (or Iron tail dreigon), but with salamence gone the biggest offensive threat to the team isn't going to be wreaking havoc anymore lol. Breaking walls isn't super difficult with CB conk + CB metagross, but it requires prediction, and a pokemon like milotic can disrupt them both (though conkeldurr can 1v1 it with some ease). Gligar's kinda sucky in the meta but I think spdef has a cool niche since it fully walls things like defensive Sylveon and can't be OHKO'd by almost anything in the tier, so it's a pretty reliable hazard setter. u-turn also allows you to pivot into conkeldurr or metagross, which can be death for some teams.
----------
Thank you for your time and the great interview, Omfuga! 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!
What's in the water that makes New Jersey produce such powerful, handsome and brilliant pokemon players?
If you had to design a Smogon Tour of your choosing, which 3 metas would you include?
Best/worst team tour experience?
Once you've reached a certain level of playing ability, what do you think separates the trophy-winners from the rest of us? Is it possible to hard-work through that divide?
If you had to design a Smogon Tour of your choosing, which 3 metas would you include?
Best/worst team tour experience?
Once you've reached a certain level of playing ability, what do you think separates the trophy-winners from the rest of us? Is it possible to hard-work through that divide?
What is your favorite flavor of ice cream
Favorite burger toppings
Favorite color
Chocolatey kinda desserts or like fruit kinda things
Salami or pepperoni
Do favorite way to cook burgers / steak (like rare medium)
Beyoncé or Shakira
Is there any Pokemon in UU that you think can just be slapped on a team and it'll fit / make it better
Favorite burger toppings
Favorite color
Chocolatey kinda desserts or like fruit kinda things
Salami or pepperoni
Do favorite way to cook burgers / steak (like rare medium)
Beyoncé or Shakira
Is there any Pokemon in UU that you think can just be slapped on a team and it'll fit / make it better
Grilledclawitzer stealin my questions smh
Are you a pokemon go savant?
How many porygon2s are in your bathtub, now that it has lost a lot of popularity?
How many other ryans do you know in this community?
And most importantly, how did this Snow dude or whoever manage to slam you down in this uu open?
Are you a pokemon go savant?
How many porygon2s are in your bathtub, now that it has lost a lot of popularity?
How many other ryans do you know in this community?
And most importantly, how did this Snow dude or whoever manage to slam you down in this uu open?
