Issue #21 Released!

***Setsuna***** · Aug 18th, 2012, 8:30:53 PM

Almost the whole summer has gone by since our last release of The Smog, the world's best Pokemon magazine for competitive and entertaining articles. Here we are, once again, to bring you our latest chapter, The Smog issue #21!

As with our last two releases, this one carries a lot of content -- 43 articles to be exact, making it our biggest rollout ever in the more than three years The Smog has been running. Similarly, the amount of artwork spread all over this issue's content is impressive, and our artists continue to be prolific at what they do. As you can imagine, planning and organizing this amount of work, which involves a lot of detail in a variety of aspects, is far from being a simple task. So I'd like to take a few seconds to thank and congratulate all of our hard-working contributors (this includes those who helped out catching last minute errors!) for making this possible! While I'm at it, I want to mention a few names that stood out and whose help was invaluable in bringing this issue to completion, they are: Birkal, Omicron, and sandshrewz. Big thank you and I hope to see you around next time!

Among the articles we are featuring this issue, we have of course our recurring series of Featured RMTs, Featured Pokemon, the Interview, as well as many other new and up and coming titles such as Pokemon Biology, Underrated Movesets, Metagame Analysis, CAP Report. We are also bringing back our series of Ask the Admins, which we plan to feature every issue from now on. All in all, I'm sure you're all going to have some fun and learn quite a bit while reading through this issue of The Smog. Go check it out and don't forget to leave a comment down below and give this thread a thumbs up!

Cheers!

**Furai** · Aug 18th, 2012, 8:37:02 PM

Birkal, Omicron, Setsuna, DTC, verbatim -- it was a pleasure having the last minute check with you! I also took part in 5 articles, 4 of which that I had to get done before my trip to US, and heck it was so fun! Fantastic issue guys!

DTC · Aug 18th, 2012, 8:45:37 PM

Fantastic Smog issue. Great job everybody -- there are many brilliant articles.

Sayonara · Aug 18th, 2012, 8:46:25 PM

Wow, great job guys!

Danmire · Aug 18th, 2012, 9:48:57 PM

Great read :)

PDC · Aug 18th, 2012, 10:03:51 PM

Great job on the issue guys, really liked the Top 10 least threatening Pokemon, nice read.

Foster · Aug 18th, 2012, 10:09:08 PM

Looks awesome, but I haven't gotten through all of it yet. Thanks a ton as always.

You might want to check the nu rmt though, it uses skarm's sprite instead of swellow's.

Chou Toshio · Aug 18th, 2012, 10:24:19 PM

For those of you looking for JAP-- a lot of stuff happened. Half the team leaving Smogon, or facing big changes in their lives, and I in the midst of a move back to Hawaii from Japan. I'd like to apologize to the readers for not being able to bring it through this time, but I promise that we'll be back in it in the next issue.

Thanks,

Chou

Everyone else: nice job pulling together another great issue!

Electrolyte · Aug 18th, 2012, 11:11:29 PM

fantastic issue! Great work everyone!

**RitterCat** · Aug 18th, 2012, 11:15:30 PM

Had great fun working on it, especially all the last minute art sandz coerced me into doing haha!

ChaoticaMortis · Aug 18th, 2012, 11:42:31 PM

A very good read! Thanks Smog crew!

***Jellicent**** · Aug 18th, 2012, 11:47:09 PM

Damn it, I missed release again ;-;

Great work everyone! This was a ton of fun to work on, and I think one of the strongest Smog issues yet! I can't wait to get rolling on issue 22 ^.^

**sandshrewz** · Aug 19th, 2012, 3:16:47 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat RitterCat

Had great fun working on it, especially all the last minute art sandz coerced me into doing haha!

xDD Thanks a lot for your art Ritter <333 Also to Birkal, Kythro, Danmire, Komodo, Rocket Grunt! :D Great issue and learnt a lot of stuff working with everyone. Good job everyone and thanks ^_^

Smog is getting so big with 40+ articles @.@ haha

Edit: ahhh sorry I left you out Bummer >.> oops.

Anyway, here's to an even better issue ahead! ^_^

SkullCandy · Aug 19th, 2012, 4:13:36 AM

My first time writing for the Smog and I must say it was great fun! Everyone was so helpful getting my articles off the ground, and the art done for them was incredible.

edit: When is the feedback poll going up?

Level 51 · Aug 19th, 2012, 4:28:51 AM

Even more excellent than usual.
/yetanothercompliment

You should totally interview Zarel for the next one :P

Mr.E · Aug 19th, 2012, 12:49:38 PM

No evidence I'm the best? Dude I have a trophy.

Reader · Aug 19th, 2012, 3:05:38 PM

I always look forward to reading the Smog

KOTR · Aug 19th, 2012, 3:36:57 PM

Dislike the 'Bottom of the Barrel' article a lot.

Mylo Xyloto · Aug 19th, 2012, 3:49:24 PM

Really cool. Thanks for that Porygon article.

The Knights of Wario Land · Aug 19th, 2012, 4:03:29 PM

This article needs an edit, all the text is a link to Gerard's profile.

Overall, good issue, I really enjoyed how you finally confronted the issue of stupid movesets. I wasn't really as impressed by the art in this issue, however, but the reading material was, once again, top-notch.

EDIT: Also, I think that Klink has some danger value to it. I mean, getting crunched by two spinning gears really isn't the most happy situation out there.

DTC · Aug 19th, 2012, 4:04:02 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat KOTR

Dislike the 'Bottom of the Barrel' article a lot.

What's wrong with it? You're not being helpful if you just say "I dislike x" without reasons why! I personally thought it was an excellent article that was very informative.

MikeDecIsHere · Aug 19th, 2012, 4:23:45 PM

The fact that there was no mention of Metang in the bottom of the barrel article is extremely upsetting to me. Obviously the NU writers of this issue are in support of Metang then! Molk will be very pleased.

Seriously though, good issue guys. Pretty entertaining read.

Django · Aug 19th, 2012, 5:02:17 PM

Well it would have made no sense to include Metang, considering it wasn't even NU!

I blame the RU writer

WarioAkuma · Aug 19th, 2012, 5:26:06 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Fat DTC

What's wrong with it? You're not being helpful if you just say "I dislike x" without reasons why! I personally thought it was an excellent article that was very informative.

Ignoring how I've managed to use Scrafty quite well on my teams, I find it funny that Metagross is in that article, and the VERY NEXT ARTICLE is titled "Best of the Best" and Metagross is on that list as well.

SpecsX · Aug 19th, 2012, 5:43:44 PM

The worst thing about the Smog is that I read it too quickly and have to wait another 2 and a half months to read something new.
Seriously, though, great work everyone.

Aug 18th, 2012, 8:30:53 PM	#1
*Setsuna* Above & Beyond Administrator** Join Date: Jan 2009 Posts: 1,090	Issue #21 Released! The Smog #21 Almost the whole summer has gone by since our last release of The Smog, the world's best Pokemon magazine for competitive and entertaining articles. Here we are, once again, to bring you our latest chapter, The Smog issue #21! As with our last two releases, this one carries a lot of content -- 43 articles to be exact, making it our biggest rollout ever in the more than three years The Smog has been running. Similarly, the amount of artwork spread all over this issue's content is impressive, and our artists continue to be prolific at what they do. As you can imagine, planning and organizing this amount of work, which involves a lot of detail in a variety of aspects, is far from being a simple task. So I'd like to take a few seconds to thank and congratulate all of our hard-working contributors (this includes those who helped out catching last minute errors!) for making this possible! While I'm at it, I want to mention a few names that stood out and whose help was invaluable in bringing this issue to completion, they are: Birkal, Omicron, and sandshrewz. Big thank you and I hope to see you around next time! Among the articles we are featuring this issue, we have of course our recurring series of Featured RMTs, Featured Pokemon, the Interview, as well as many other new and up and coming titles such as Pokemon Biology, Underrated Movesets, Metagame Analysis, CAP Report. We are also bringing back our series of Ask the Admins, which we plan to feature every issue from now on. All in all, I'm sure you're all going to have some fun and learn quite a bit while reading through this issue of The Smog. Go check it out and don't forget to leave a comment down below and give this thread a thumbs up! Cheers! __________________

Aug 18th, 2012, 8:45:37 PM	#3
DTC Join Date: May 2011 Posts: 1,069 Mentor	Fantastic Smog issue. Great job everybody -- there are many brilliant articles. __________________ Pokemon Showdown! #pokemon

Aug 18th, 2012, 10:03:51 PM	#6
PDC A coward dies a thousand deaths, a soldier dies but one Join Date: Mar 2010 Posts: 609	Great job on the issue guys, really liked the Top 10 least threatening Pokemon, nice read. __________________ Leave me a visitor message if you want me to rate your team!

Aug 18th, 2012, 10:09:08 PM	#7
Foster Join Date: Jun 2009 Posts: 745 CT	Looks awesome, but I haven't gotten through all of it yet. Thanks a ton as always. You might want to check the nu rmt though, it uses skarm's sprite instead of swellow's. __________________ so hazy

Aug 18th, 2012, 10:24:19 PM	#8
Chou Toshio Hmmm... A name for the plan... Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 6,946 Sea Forest	For those of you looking for JAP-- a lot of stuff happened. Half the team leaving Smogon, or facing big changes in their lives, and I in the midst of a move back to Hawaii from Japan. I'd like to apologize to the readers for not being able to bring it through this time, but I promise that we'll be back in it in the next issue. Thanks, Chou Everyone else: nice job pulling together another great issue! __________________ "Hmmm... a name for this plan..."

Aug 18th, 2012, 8:37:02 PM	#2
Furai standing in the eye of the hurricane Moderator Join Date: May 2010 Posts: 2,104	Birkal, Omicron, Setsuna, DTC, verbatim -- it was a pleasure having the last minute check with you! I also took part in 5 articles, 4 of which that I had to get done before my trip to US, and heck it was so fun! Fantastic issue guys! __________________ *#gohard* \| Wolfpack (Ubers RMT)

Aug 18th, 2012, 8:46:25 PM	#4
Sayonara into the new world Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 720	Wow, great job guys!

Aug 18th, 2012, 9:48:57 PM	#5
Danmire Like a rolling stone Join Date: Jun 2010 Posts: 1,048 Miami, FL	Great read :)

Aug 18th, 2012, 11:11:29 PM	#9
Electrolyte Cause you keep me coming back for more Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 1,056 And I feel a little better than I did before Mentor	fantastic issue! Great work everyone! __________________ Stuff (Click!): l l l l l l l l l l VM me for an OU / LC team rate! MURKBRO MAFIA

Aug 18th, 2012, 11:15:30 PM	#10
RitterCat Overlord of all Animals and Paintbrushes Moderator Join Date: Aug 2010 Posts: 1,837 Queen of iSketch Mentor	Had great fun working on it, especially all the last minute art sandz coerced me into doing haha! __________________ GP TEAM \| VM/PM/IRC/TELEGRAM/CARRIER PIGEON FOR A CHECK \| I DO ART TOO

Aug 18th, 2012, 11:42:31 PM	#11
ChaoticaMortis Join Date: Jun 2011 Posts: 519 Texas	A very good read! Thanks Smog crew!

Aug 18th, 2012, 11:47:09 PM	#12
*Jellicent is 60% water Super Moderator** Join Date: Sep 2011 Posts: 1,658 (80 PROOF) Mentor	Damn it, I missed release again ;-; Great work everyone! This was a ton of fun to work on, and I think one of the strongest Smog issues yet! I can't wait to get rolling on issue 22 ^.^ __________________ ^.^

Aug 19th, 2012, 4:13:36 AM	#14
SkullCandy She Bangs The Drums Join Date: Feb 2010 Posts: 558	My first time writing for the Smog and I must say it was great fun! Everyone was so helpful getting my articles off the ground, and the art done for them was incredible. edit: When is the feedback poll going up? __________________ C&C The Smog I <3 the Stone Roses Last edited by SkullCandy; Aug 19th, 2012 at 7:07:22 AM.

Aug 19th, 2012, 4:28:51 AM	#15
Level 51 barely clinging on Join Date: Dec 2011 Posts: 758 Location: Singapore ^.^	Even more excellent than usual. /yetanothercompliment You should totally interview Zarel for the next one :P __________________ Back to school, gg contribution rate [15:59] <&@chaos\|away> i hence forth make it official: im better than arcticblast [15:59] <&@chaos\|away> spread the word Last edited by Level 51; Aug 19th, 2012 at 10:08:56 AM.

Aug 19th, 2012, 12:49:38 PM	#16
Mr.E im the best Join Date: Dec 2004 Posts: 2,742	No evidence I'm the best? Dude I have a trophy.

Aug 19th, 2012, 3:05:38 PM	#17
Reader Join Date: Nov 2011 Posts: 15	I always look forward to reading the Smog

Aug 19th, 2012, 3:36:57 PM	#18
KOTR Join Date: Jul 2011 Posts: 35	Dislike the 'Bottom of the Barrel' article a lot.

Aug 19th, 2012, 3:49:24 PM	#19
Mylo Xyloto Join Date: May 2012 Posts: 426 RSA	Really cool. Thanks for that Porygon article.

Aug 19th, 2012, 4:03:29 PM	#20
The Knights of Wario Land Join Date: Jan 2012 Posts: 818 Philadelphia	This article needs an edit, all the text is a link to Gerard's profile. Overall, good issue, I really enjoyed how you finally confronted the issue of stupid movesets. I wasn't really as impressed by the art in this issue, however, but the reading material was, once again, top-notch. EDIT: Also, I think that Klink has some danger value to it. I mean, getting crunched by two spinning gears really isn't the most happy situation out there. __________________ Newark VGC 2011: First round loss Philadelphia VGC 2012: 3-4 74th place Philadelphia VGC 2013: 5-3 29th place Art Thread

Aug 19th, 2012, 4:23:45 PM	#22
MikeDecIsHere Laying the Groundwork for the Pound Work Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 1,840 Staten Island Mentor	The fact that there was no mention of Metang in the bottom of the barrel article is extremely upsetting to me. Obviously the NU writers of this issue are in support of Metang then! Molk will be very pleased. Seriously though, good issue guys. Pretty entertaining read. __________________

Aug 19th, 2012, 5:02:17 PM	#23
Django Hear me Roar Join Date: Oct 2009 Posts: 1,671	Well it would have made no sense to include Metang, considering it wasn't even NU! I blame the RU writer __________________

Aug 19th, 2012, 5:43:44 PM	#25
SpecsX Join Date: Aug 2012 Posts: 372 Starfing with Harvest	The worst thing about the Smog is that I read it too quickly and have to wait another 2 and a half months to read something new. Seriously, though, great work everyone. __________________ <awaychuck> alk your mom is so stupid that she thought the chain rule was used by antebellum mathematicians in the South On Patrat: <Dracoyoshi8> i like to imagine its cheeks are full of semen