[Bloo**]

Originally Posted by Fat JRank

Great issue guys, but I had one question. With the Smog awards how do I cast my vote? (I know, n00bish question but I didn't see it mentioned)

Look here. I've listed it below, taken right from that article:

Please be aware of the following issues when voting:

1. To nominate, your account must have been registered on or before October 1, 2010.
2. You may nominate a single user for up to five categories.
3. You may nominate up to three users per category.
4. You may not nominate yourself.
5. You may abstain from any category you wish.
6. You may not use more than one account to submit a nomination.
7. A copy / pastable form will be given at the end of the article. You must follow this format so that the nominations can be easily counted.
8. Past years don't count. These awards are all about recognizing Smogon in 2010!

To nominate users for awards, make sure you have read the above rules, then PM user The Smog with your list. Nominations must be in before Issue 13 is published. Late submissions will not be accepted.

Here's the required format:

Format

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Battling

Best OU Battler
Best UU Battler
Best Ubers Battler
Best VGC Battler
Best Little Cup Battler
These categories recognizes the elite players of Smogon's respective metagames, those who have risen above the rest in 2010.

Best Tournament Player
This category is for consistent, successful tournament players. To be a great tournament player, you need to be a good team-builder, skilled at adapting to a variety of environments, and a keen strategist.

Best Ladder Player
This category is for the players you always see high on the ladder. To be a great ladder player, your teams need to cover an extremely wide array of threats, you need to be good at rematches, and you need dedication.

Best Old-School Player
This category is for the best at old generations <strong>during 2010</strong>: RBY, GSC, and ADV. There have been a number of old-gen tournaments in 2010, such as the Smogon Premier League, (You Can Not) Advance, and the old-gen mashup, in which old players have some to defend their titles, and some new players have proved their competence.

Best Team Builder
This category is for the players who make the best teams, solid teams that handle a lot of threats and have effective game plans.

Most Influential Player
The Most Influential Player is a trendsetter. Think of someone whose teams and strategies shaped part of a metagame in 2010. An example from past years is obi, whose stall team was ubiquitous in DP.

Most Gimmicky Player
Think of this as a tongue-in-cheek creativity award. Picture a player who constantly employs innovative, unique strategies and is willing to try pretty much anything.

Biggest Upset
In 2010, there have been a few shocking and noteworthy moments in competitive Pokémon. A 2009 example was Oceania winning the World Cup. This category is for triumphant underdogs and dark horses.

Luckiest Player
Battling this player makes Jirachi's Iron Heads look tame.

Best All-Around Player
This category recognizes players who specialize in multiple tiers and who succeed in many metagames at the same time.

Best Overall Player
The best Smogon player in 2010.

Users

Nicest User
To be nice to many people requires tolerance, kindness, and a willingness to look on the bright side, something this award seeks to recognize. Smogon's Nicest Users make the day just that more pleasant for everyone.

Meanest User
On the other hand, while generally quite controversial, our Meanest Users add spice to the community, and sometimes they say things we all wish we had but would never dare to.

Wittiest User
Smogon is home to a number of amusing people who always have a good joke or clever observation to make - these are our Wittiest Users.

Most Helpful Poster
Part of what keeps the forum so lively and worth returning to is that there are a number of helpful posters on it. These are posters who patiently answer questions, provide resource threads, and point lost users in the right direction, all while staving off the sarcasm.

Most Improved User
This user started out terrible, and now they're not. Or maybe it wasn't that bad, but either way, there are a lot of people who could take a leaf from the Most Improved User's book. From cringeworthy people to good users, the Most Improved User award recognizes the effort that goes into reforming your behaviour.

Most Overlooked User
Who? The Most Overlooked User is someone who does a lot behind the scenes but is not recognized as much as they deserve.

Most Persuasive User
The Most Persuasive User is an insightful poster who knows how to compose a skilled argument and diplomatically bring other people to their point of view, a truly valuable talent indeed.

Most Influential User
Kind of like a celebrity, the Most Influential User's influence spreads all over Smogon. Their opinions and ideas are rarely ignored, and they often have a hand in happenings all around the community.

Most Promising New User
A new user is here defined as somebody who first joined Smogon on or after January 1, 2010. Welcome to Smogon - we're glad to have you!

Most Awesome Veteran
A veteran is here defined as somebody who first joined Smogon on or before December 31, 2007. One of Smogon's defining traits as a community is that even after our old members quit Pokémon, they tend to stick around. Thanks for still being here!

Up-and-Coming User
This user isn't necessarily new, but their contributions have made them recognized everywhere in 2010. Perhaps they're new to contributing in various facets of the site, or perhaps they've only just now been recognized. These are the rising stars of Smogon 2010.

Worst Username Change
With the advent of self-done name changes, 2010 has seen some amazing new usernames, but also the just plain terrible name changes.

Best Avatar / Signature / Custom Title
Some people express themselves extremely creatively in their avatar, signatures, and/or custom titles. For your nomination to count, you must name the user, the field, and what it is. For an example of an avatar from last year: Mekkah's Animals pun avatar. Make sure it's clear so we know what you're referring to so we can count your vote! 'Um... you know that avatar with the cool effects and the Squirtle?' won't cut it.

Member of the Year
The best member in 2010, loved by many, whose ideas, contributions, and posts number among the greatest in the year.

Community

Best Forum Staff Member
Credit where credit's due - the tasks of a moderator, super moderator, or admin are at times stressful and time-consuming. The Best Forum Staff Member recipient is someone who moderates and/or leads the forum and users particularly well, with defining traits being activity and fairness.

Best Shoddy Battle / PokéLab Staff Member
Taking care of the chat is not an easy task, and because of our Shoddy / PokéLab moderators, the simulators are enjoyable and relatively trouble-free; these mods weed out trolls, engage users, and keep the chat tolerable for all.

Best Discussion Sparker
This category is for those who are excellent at bringing up thought-provoking, well-laid-out topics that spawn a lot of constructive conversation.

Best Stark Mountain Poster
This category recognizes those whose posts in Stark Mountain are well-written, well-informed, and interesting.

Best Uncharted Territory Poster
This category recognizes those whose posts in Uncharted Territory are well-written, well-informed, and interesting.

Best Warstory
This category recognizes the most entertaining warstories posted on Smogon in 2010 - tight battles with illuminating commentary. For your nomination to count, you must nominate the warstory's writer and link to the thread.

Best Wi-Fi User
This category recognizes the pride and joy of the Wi-Fi forum. These members are great to trade with, maintain their threads well, and uphold the rules that are so important to an effective Wi-Fi lobby.

Best CAP Poster
This category recognizes the intelligent, mature posters in the Create-a-Pokémon strategy, whose posts lay out their points clearly, show understanding of the subject, and bring up important ideas.

Best Congregation of the Masses / Internet Renaissance Poster
This category recognizes the best posters in Smogon's more serious off-topic forums, those who consistently make rational, reasonable, eloquent posts about a wide range of real-life and cultural topics.

Best Firebot Poster
This category recognizes the best posters in Smogon's history-enriched Firebot forum, where humor and wittiness are vital and 'getting it' is the key to fitting in.

Best Mafia Player
This category recognizes the quick-witted, devious, scheming players of mafia, an extremely popular game medium in Circus Maximus. Their plans are thorough and lead them to success, and their communications with other players exemplify the psychological tactics necessary to win.

Best Mafia Game
This category recognizes the most fun, well-hosted mafia game of 2010.

Best Team Rater
This category recognizes those who take the time to improve other people's teams with solid advice, constructive critique, and intelligent suggestions.

Best RMT Thread
This category recognizes the best RMTs of 2010. The best RMTs are those of fantastic teams, and good presentation and coherent, comprehensive explanations are vital.

Best Tournament
This category recognizes the best non-official tournaments of 2010. To clarify, tournaments that yield trophies (World Cup of Pokémon, Smogon Premier League, Smogon Tour, and the Official Smogon Tournament) do not qualify for this awwad.

Best Thread
This category is for the best thread on Smogon in 2010. For your nomination to count, you must link to the thread and name the user who posted it.

Best Post
This category is for the best post on Smogon in 2010. For your nomination to count, you must link to the post and name the user who posted it.

Best Trou du Cul Thread
This category could be considered the inverse of the above! It's up to you whether this is a good thing or a bad thing, but either way, for whatever reasons, these threads were the most entertaining in Trou du Cul 2010. For your nomination to count, you must link to the thread and name the user who posted it.

Best Poster
This category is for the overall best poster in Smogon in 2010.

Contributions

Best Set Poster
The Best Set Poster is someone who always posts fantastic and effective movesets in Contributions & Corrections.

Best Editor
The Best Editor is someone who frequently makes accurate, comprehensive grammar/prose checks in Contributions & Corrections and The Smog.

Best Writer
The Best Writer is someone whose prose in Contributions & Corrections and The Smog is always worth reading - it's clear, to the point, and entertaining.

Best Contributor
This award is for the best contributors in Contributions & Corrections during 2010.

Best Smog Contributor
This award is for the best Smog Contributors in Contributions & Corrections during 2010.

Best Researcher
With the release of the new generation, research in 2010 is absolutely critical to establish a metagame and corresponding simulator. These users put time and effort in to ensure their research is comprehensive and enlightening.

Best Artist
In Smeargle's Studio and The Smog alike, a number of talented and creative artists post their works. Art is subjective - pick your favorite!

Best Contribution
Whatever it was, this was the best contribution to Smogon in 2010. Some examples from past years are X-Act's damage formula research article and DougJustDoug's damage calculator.

And great issue, guys!