approved by alexwolf
Banner by me
Welcome to the second installment of OU’s Player of the Week! This week we have McMeghan, a renowned tour player who is currently ranked #1 in mien’s ATP Tour rankings (seen here). If you have any suggestions for players you want to be seen interviewed in the future, drop me a PM. So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Best Known for:
I guess other people's answer would be best there, but I'll say probably for constantly doing well in Tournaments for a bunch of time now. I also try to be nice with a maximum of people.
Favorite Pokémon:
Charizard / Articuno
Most used Pokémon:
If it had to be across generations, that'd be Tyranitar without a doubt. In XY OU? Probably Latios and Heatran.
Where did you get your name from?
Meghan was a password in Ratchet & Clank 3 on Playstation 2, a franchise I'm a huge fan of. I just added Mc so it wouldn't sound too girly, and because I thought it was cool. I went by the name Roro 97 on french Pokemon websites in the past.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
I originally started in early 2006. I had just discovered Internet and I looked up some tips I could learn for Pokemon Emerald. I came across the competitive section on a french website and it was talking about NetBattle and the different roles in a team (Sweeper, Staller, Heal Beller, etc). It looked pretty interesting, especially the fact that I could face humans and friends online. I played a lot of ADV, and a bit of DP when it came out, but shortly after DP's release, I lost my interest in Pokemon in general.
I came back for a brief amount of time during Platinium to see how things were going (that's when I made my Smogon account), but I only stayed for something like two weeks before school kicked back in and I didn't feel interested enough to stay around.
Later on, when Black&White came out in Europe, I bought the game and wanted to look up some information online. I once again read the competitive section and Gen 5 looked pretty interesting so I downloaded PO and laddered a bit (Blaziken had just been banned on Smogon, so mid 2011). I distinctly remember wanting to use Espeon and Magic Bounce because it'd abuse the usage of SR by my opponent.
I found some friends from the ADV days online and little by little, my interest for competitive Pokemon kept growing. I haven't left since then.
What’s it like being known as one of, if not the best tour player around?
It feels good I guess? I still enjoy playing Pokemon and I fixed myself some goals as I got into Tournaments. As I started doing well on the competitive scene, I reached some of them and made some new one. I'm satisfied regarding my achievements now, even though I still have some more under my sleeve.
What is your mindset when you play an important match for a tour?
I never go into a game thinking I have 0 chance to win. That was already the case when I started facing big names when I was a lot worse. I think every game is winnable if the match-up isn't impossible and you don't get too unlucky. Other than that, I just try to be as focused as possible and think through all my moves when I consider the game important (and even then, chokes still happened and happen from time to time n_n).
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
I tried pretty much every playstyle over the course of my "career", and the styles I like the most are Balance and Bulky Offense. I think Stall is too match-up reliant, while HO is too "guess-reliant". Balance and Bulky Offense gives you the most room to plan a game as well as possible while giving you some options to come back if you find yourself in a tough position or with a bad match-up.
How do you deal with Counter Teams / strategies when facing an opponent of high skill during a major tour?
I used to always use the same teams, then I learned my lesson the hard way. Now, I just try to come up with different teams every time I have to play a "Big Game". Having group of friends to motivate you building or co-building (which makes it more entertaining and faster) helps a ton there.
I always found CounterTeaming way too risky, and people rarely do it. CounterStyle is a lot more present, but even then, I usually blame myself for using a team so prone to getting destroyed by X or Y threat/playstyle rather than saying I solely lost because my opponent counterstyled/teamed me.
What's your favorite tournament, Official or Unofficial (like the more ‘fun’ ones), that you’ve participated in?
I have many! Smogon Tour is definitly the best tournament. Live Tour are just something else to me. It's also what got me into Smogon in the first place.
SPL is pretty fun and makes you learn a lot as you get to know and discuss with people you better than you or that you didn't know much.
As for the Unofficial, there are so many I could mention I wouldn't know where to stop. I really liked the Battle Factory Tournament hosted by FireMage and the FFTA2 hosted by Oglemi recently.
What's players do you look up to the most, if any?
I'm gonna be honest, I never really looked up to anyone, as I would rather focus on myself and my own improvement (and still do). If there is one player I actually looked up to, it would have to be Earthworm. Facing him for the first times in test battles for SPL made me realize the importance of considering every scenario in a game and that a lot of seemingly lost games are actually winnable if you try.
Other than him, I'd like to mention two players in particular that shaped my experience the most: Bloo for being one of the most constant and successful players here. I consider him both as a great friend and a rival (in a healthy way). The other player is Ojama, who made me realize how much hard work and motivation pays off in the long run, in the same way than Bloo, he's one of the player I respect the most and I learned a lot from him.
What's it like being a mod here on Smogon, and have there been times when you wish you weren't one?
There isn't much to "feel" about this. I try to make the tournament scene as enjoyable as possible for everyone, and I feel like my work is appreciated. The only drama I dislike dealing with, even though it happens all the time, is related to people being shaddy (or they just straight up lie) on purpose during team tournaments.
If you could change one thing in OU, be it through a ban or unban, what would you pick and why?
Nothing honestly. I genuinely like OU as it is right now, and it's as enjoyable as it's ever been to me.
Do you have any advice for players who are newer to the XY OU Metagame?
Don't use full stall! Also, like aim said, the better your knowledge is, the most chances you'll put on your side in the battle. Give yourself some goals if you wanna become as good as possible. Try to learn from both your wins and your losses.
Finally, is there a team that you could show us that reflects your playstyle that is a good fit for this metagame with a brief explanation of how it works?
This is a very standard Bulky Offense team that I've made shortly after MegaMawile got banned, but I still use and like it!
Long story short, the team has everything I want when I use bulky offense: a good defensive backbone (Rotom/Landorus/Heatran/Latios), some ways to beat Stall (Taunt Gard, Taunt Heatran, Keldeo), and the ability to play the trade & kill game when facing HO (everything is either bulky or can take a hit and fights back hard enough to not give too much advantage to my opponent if he gets something I'm weak to on the field). It also has an abusable Volt-Turn core to put dangerous threats such as Keldeo and Gardevoir as much as possible.
------
So there we have it. As he said, McMeghan will be answering questions in the thread. Id like to thank him once again for doing this. Once again, if you have any suggestions for who you wanna see in future installments, shoot me a PM. See y’all next week!
Banner by me
Welcome to the second installment of OU’s Player of the Week! This week we have McMeghan, a renowned tour player who is currently ranked #1 in mien’s ATP Tour rankings (seen here). If you have any suggestions for players you want to be seen interviewed in the future, drop me a PM. So without further ado, let’s get to it!
Best Known for:
I guess other people's answer would be best there, but I'll say probably for constantly doing well in Tournaments for a bunch of time now. I also try to be nice with a maximum of people.
Favorite Pokémon:
Charizard / Articuno
Most used Pokémon:
If it had to be across generations, that'd be Tyranitar without a doubt. In XY OU? Probably Latios and Heatran.
Where did you get your name from?
Meghan was a password in Ratchet & Clank 3 on Playstation 2, a franchise I'm a huge fan of. I just added Mc so it wouldn't sound too girly, and because I thought it was cool. I went by the name Roro 97 on french Pokemon websites in the past.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
I originally started in early 2006. I had just discovered Internet and I looked up some tips I could learn for Pokemon Emerald. I came across the competitive section on a french website and it was talking about NetBattle and the different roles in a team (Sweeper, Staller, Heal Beller, etc). It looked pretty interesting, especially the fact that I could face humans and friends online. I played a lot of ADV, and a bit of DP when it came out, but shortly after DP's release, I lost my interest in Pokemon in general.
I came back for a brief amount of time during Platinium to see how things were going (that's when I made my Smogon account), but I only stayed for something like two weeks before school kicked back in and I didn't feel interested enough to stay around.
Later on, when Black&White came out in Europe, I bought the game and wanted to look up some information online. I once again read the competitive section and Gen 5 looked pretty interesting so I downloaded PO and laddered a bit (Blaziken had just been banned on Smogon, so mid 2011). I distinctly remember wanting to use Espeon and Magic Bounce because it'd abuse the usage of SR by my opponent.
I found some friends from the ADV days online and little by little, my interest for competitive Pokemon kept growing. I haven't left since then.
What’s it like being known as one of, if not the best tour player around?
It feels good I guess? I still enjoy playing Pokemon and I fixed myself some goals as I got into Tournaments. As I started doing well on the competitive scene, I reached some of them and made some new one. I'm satisfied regarding my achievements now, even though I still have some more under my sleeve.
What is your mindset when you play an important match for a tour?
I never go into a game thinking I have 0 chance to win. That was already the case when I started facing big names when I was a lot worse. I think every game is winnable if the match-up isn't impossible and you don't get too unlucky. Other than that, I just try to be as focused as possible and think through all my moves when I consider the game important (and even then, chokes still happened and happen from time to time n_n).
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
I tried pretty much every playstyle over the course of my "career", and the styles I like the most are Balance and Bulky Offense. I think Stall is too match-up reliant, while HO is too "guess-reliant". Balance and Bulky Offense gives you the most room to plan a game as well as possible while giving you some options to come back if you find yourself in a tough position or with a bad match-up.
How do you deal with Counter Teams / strategies when facing an opponent of high skill during a major tour?
I used to always use the same teams, then I learned my lesson the hard way. Now, I just try to come up with different teams every time I have to play a "Big Game". Having group of friends to motivate you building or co-building (which makes it more entertaining and faster) helps a ton there.
I always found CounterTeaming way too risky, and people rarely do it. CounterStyle is a lot more present, but even then, I usually blame myself for using a team so prone to getting destroyed by X or Y threat/playstyle rather than saying I solely lost because my opponent counterstyled/teamed me.
What's your favorite tournament, Official or Unofficial (like the more ‘fun’ ones), that you’ve participated in?
I have many! Smogon Tour is definitly the best tournament. Live Tour are just something else to me. It's also what got me into Smogon in the first place.
SPL is pretty fun and makes you learn a lot as you get to know and discuss with people you better than you or that you didn't know much.
As for the Unofficial, there are so many I could mention I wouldn't know where to stop. I really liked the Battle Factory Tournament hosted by FireMage and the FFTA2 hosted by Oglemi recently.
What's players do you look up to the most, if any?
I'm gonna be honest, I never really looked up to anyone, as I would rather focus on myself and my own improvement (and still do). If there is one player I actually looked up to, it would have to be Earthworm. Facing him for the first times in test battles for SPL made me realize the importance of considering every scenario in a game and that a lot of seemingly lost games are actually winnable if you try.
Other than him, I'd like to mention two players in particular that shaped my experience the most: Bloo for being one of the most constant and successful players here. I consider him both as a great friend and a rival (in a healthy way). The other player is Ojama, who made me realize how much hard work and motivation pays off in the long run, in the same way than Bloo, he's one of the player I respect the most and I learned a lot from him.
What's it like being a mod here on Smogon, and have there been times when you wish you weren't one?
There isn't much to "feel" about this. I try to make the tournament scene as enjoyable as possible for everyone, and I feel like my work is appreciated. The only drama I dislike dealing with, even though it happens all the time, is related to people being shaddy (or they just straight up lie) on purpose during team tournaments.
If you could change one thing in OU, be it through a ban or unban, what would you pick and why?
Nothing honestly. I genuinely like OU as it is right now, and it's as enjoyable as it's ever been to me.
Do you have any advice for players who are newer to the XY OU Metagame?
Don't use full stall! Also, like aim said, the better your knowledge is, the most chances you'll put on your side in the battle. Give yourself some goals if you wanna become as good as possible. Try to learn from both your wins and your losses.
Finally, is there a team that you could show us that reflects your playstyle that is a good fit for this metagame with a brief explanation of how it works?
Gardevoir @ Gardevoirite
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 12 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpD / 200 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
Ability: Trace
EVs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hyper Voice
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast
- Taunt
Rotom-Wash @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 12 SpD / 44 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hydro Pump
- Pain Split
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Draco Meteor
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
Landorus-Therian (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- U-turn
- Superpower
- Stone Edge
Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 1 Atk / 30 SpA
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Heatran @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 252 HP / 56 SpD / 200 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Lava Plume
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
This is a very standard Bulky Offense team that I've made shortly after MegaMawile got banned, but I still use and like it!
Long story short, the team has everything I want when I use bulky offense: a good defensive backbone (Rotom/Landorus/Heatran/Latios), some ways to beat Stall (Taunt Gard, Taunt Heatran, Keldeo), and the ability to play the trade & kill game when facing HO (everything is either bulky or can take a hit and fights back hard enough to not give too much advantage to my opponent if he gets something I'm weak to on the field). It also has an abusable Volt-Turn core to put dangerous threats such as Keldeo and Gardevoir as much as possible.
McMeghan said:
------
So there we have it. As he said, McMeghan will be answering questions in the thread. Id like to thank him once again for doing this. Once again, if you have any suggestions for who you wanna see in future installments, shoot me a PM. See y’all next week!
Last edited:
