Yagura
Favourite Pokemon: Gallade
Most Used LC Pokemon: Mienfoo
Known for: Tutoring, Team rating, bring a Driver in the PS LC room, and 237893245 projects in the sub-forum.
Long time no see, readers! It's everyone's favourite LC Bot, QuoteCS! In this long-awaited LC Player of the Week Interview, I talk to Yagura, a very prominent contributor in the LC community. Along with everything I mentioned above, he's also just a fun person to chat with, and a good battler, too!
QuoteCS: Hello Yagura! Before we really grind into this interview, please tell me a bit about yourself.
Yagura: Hi Quote, I'm a 17-year-old Moroccan senior year student. I study physics, chemistry, and general science as I'm planning to go to some medicine faculty so I need to earn high marks to get in and I'm doing my best to make that happen! For my hobbies I usually spend my free time playing mons, chess (I've been playing it since I was 4 years old lol), basketball, or just watching anime.
QuoteCS: With the name Yagura, I'm not entirely surprised you watch anime. What are some of your favourites?
Yagura: My favorites would be Naruto (which was the first anime I started watching as I had the idea that it's just some kids cartoon), Death Note, Attack on Titan, HxH, Akame Ga Kill, and of course the best anime ever: High School DxD.
QuoteCS: Interesting choices! I was always a DBZ nut myself but I really loved Nodame Cantabille.
So how did you get your start in LC?
Yagura: As most of you already know I used to be a PO player. I remember I started playing LC there after I got bored of OU and how it was a weather tug of war, so I got into LC in late 2012 but I didn't understand it much and quit playing it. I started playing it again around April of 2013 by using a team that consists of CB Murkrow and Shell Smash Omanyte (those are the only two I remember) which turned out to be surprisingly successful, so I thought "hey I don't suck at this meta, I should play it more," and I did. What really got me into LC was the unbanning of Yanma on PO in late BW2 which I heavily abused along with BU Timburr. I even won a forums tour on PO which gave me some fame there as an LC player, so yeah, that's the story.
QuoteCS: So is there anything you really enjoy about the current LC metagame?
Yagura: I'm really enjoying how balanced the metagame is at the moment. There isn't broken stuff like the metas we had before which makes a lot of Pokémon usable and viable. Players should just start being more innovative and not stick to the same Pokémon again and again which can make LC stale and boring.
QuoteCS: Is there perhaps anything you would change about the meta if you were in a position to do so?
Yagura: I wouldn't do anything to be honest, except possibly unbanning some Pokemon such as Yanma and Meditite (knowing that they'll get banned again) to change how stale the metagame and the activity in the LC sub-forum are at the moment.
QuoteCS: It would be interesting to retest a few Pokemon, just so we can get a new perspective on them at least.
So before we go any further, Congratulations on your Community Contributor badge! It's been a long time coming, because quite honestly, it's difficult to navigate the LC sub-forum and not see your work somewhere. You've definitely put in the time and effort. Which of those projects would you say is your favourite to work on?
Yagura: Thanks man, glad I'm helping this great community!
The teambuilding workshop would be my favourite, I do like building around underrated stuff and I also enjoy building alongside other people. This is also a great time to thank you and the other people that participate in it for all your help, because the project wouldn't be as successful as it is now without you guys.
QuoteCS: I'm more than happy to help out, and I'm sure many of the others are, too. It's a fun activity that helps brings us together. With that in mind, we've now done 3 sessions of it and well, the teams that have come out of it are certainly interesting, but I'm sure you've heard the same complaints as I have concerning them. Do you have any ideas or plans to improve the system to allow for better cooperation as well as making the best teams possible?
Yagura: Indeed I have some plans to improve how the workshop operates. There are a few flaws, such as someone saying that the team we're working on is weak to something the entire time we're doing it (before we're even finished), or they say that the team is weak to something and they don't actually give any advice to fix that which I don't really understand, so I should probably do something to fix that.
QuoteCS: I have a couple of idea for it which I'll be submitting to you later in time.
So it's unfortunate that you didn't end up making the playoffs for LC Swiss, although you still did very well. How do you feel about your performance overall?
Yagura: I actually wanted, like all people who signed up, to make the playoffs so that I could stand out more for SPLC but I ended up making some shitty plays in the last two battles which ruined my record and my chances to get into the playoffs. I did like how simple, yet entertaining the basis behind it and how it uses challonge, great job on hosting it man.
QuoteCS: Thank you, it has been very fun to host and I hope to do another one some day.
Looking at the bracket now, who do you think has the best chance to win it all?
Yagura: The top 16 are all solid players, so it's hard to predict who will end up winning it but I can see macle being the one that does it. he took this tour seriously and most people that face him choke because he leads the meta lol.
QuoteCS: macle has been playing very well in this tour so I could very well see him win it.
So you've taken on the task of being Tier Leader of the very under-appreciated LC UU. Why did you want to become Tier Leader, and what is your ultimate goal for the tier? Are you perhaps hoping for it to be as legitimate as LC OU, or maybe just something fun to do on the side?
Yagura: I just want to see LC UU be as fun as possible and have a lot of options in it be fun to use. It's just a side metagame so it shouldn't hurt that much, however I'll be taking as serious as possible with my communist tier leadership!
QuoteCS: So the SPLC draft has finished, and we'll all getting settled and ready for our Week 1 match-ups. Are you doing any special procedures to get ready for the coming weeks?
Yagura: I have a few solid teams ready and I've done a bunch of laddering to improve my plays a little bit, so I hope I do well in it. Good luck to all users participating in SPLC, just remember to have fun and don't forget: It's just a game!
QuoteCS: Just a couple more questions before we wrap this up. Are there any LC players that you look up to? Any that you admire or respect?
Yagura: I've always had respect for fitzy72, Mylo Xyloto, and Artemisa for being some of the best LC players on PO when I was there, and I always will. For the Smogon community I admire most players in it except Fiend Hound and Mambo (hahaha :P) but the ones that I admire the most would be Heysup, Goddess Briyella, who was the first one to welcome me here, and GlassGlaceon, who suggested that I come over here, a decision that I haven't regretted.
QuoteCS: Before I let you go, I understand that because of SPLC, I won't ask you for anything new, but do you have an old team that's a favourite of yours that you'd like to share with us?
Yagura: I've been using this team on the ladder for the past few weeks. It's Voltturn ft. Diglett which works really well, the only threat I can see is BU Timburr and Abra but the team can play well around them:
Chinchou @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 56 Def / 232 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Larvesta @ Eviolite
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Def / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Acrobatics
- Morning Sun
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Fletchling
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Atk / 92 Def / 64 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
- Roost
Diglett @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
Archen @ Eviolite
Ability: Defeatist
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 100 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
Ability: Volt Absorb
Level: 5
EVs: 56 Def / 232 SpA / 220 Spe
Modest Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hydro Pump
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Larvesta @ Eviolite
Ability: Flame Body
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 236 Atk / 156 Def / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Acrobatics
- Morning Sun
Mienfoo @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
Level: 5
EVs: 196 Def / 76 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Taunt
- Drain Punch
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Fletchling
Ability: Gale Wings
Level: 5
EVs: 156 HP / 196 Atk / 92 Def / 64 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Acrobatics
- Roost
Diglett @ Focus Sash
Ability: Arena Trap
Level: 5
EVs: 236 Atk / 36 SpD / 236 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Sucker Punch
- Rock Slide
Archen @ Eviolite
Ability: Defeatist
Level: 5
EVs: 76 HP / 100 Atk / 76 Def / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Defog
- Roost
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
QuoteCS: Thank you very much for this interview, Yagura! It was a please to have the opportunity to do this. :]
Yagura: No problem man, and thanks for interviewing me! I hope I can keep contributing and doing more for this wonderful community! =)
That's my interview for this time around. If you guys have any additional questions for Yagura, feel free to ask them and he'll do his best to answer them. For now, I'll cya next time!
