Approved by WhiteDMist
OP stolen from Leer in RU, who stole it from Lord Alphose and xzern from NU.
Past Players of the Week: Magnemite, galbia, gasquakee, scorpdestroyer
Welcome to an experience unlike any seen before (bar in every other tier and some OMs), PU Player of the Week. This weekly thread hopes to capitalize and promote good players in the metagame, while helping newer players by giving advice and showing effective strategies in the metagame.
OP stolen from Leer in RU, who stole it from Lord Alphose and xzern from NU.
Past Players of the Week: Magnemite, galbia, gasquakee, scorpdestroyer
Welcome to an experience unlike any seen before (bar in every other tier and some OMs), PU Player of the Week. This weekly thread hopes to capitalize and promote good players in the metagame, while helping newer players by giving advice and showing effective strategies in the metagame.

Anty
Most Known For: Being Bad, PU Council Member and C&C Mod, duck, "everything is bad", hosting Creative / Effective Sets Thread, former host of PUPL replays thread, Unfezantyranitar
Favorite Pokemon: Swalot / Wormadam-T
Most Used Pokemon: Piloswine / Zebstrika
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi, Im an edgy teen and I enjoy spending time with my friends (yeah i dont do much outside of smogon). I also really like animals, i have a cat and a dog, as well as music and sport
Where did you get your name from?
Runsescape (before mag/nova made it cool). Im not sure how I got the name, but I think after many attempts of getting better names which were taken, I just listed a bunch of words and when i typed ant, anty(numbers) came up. When i joint smogon I was anty208 (different to my runescape one), and then got changed to Anty since who wants numbers on their name
How did you come to discover and join PU?
I played a bit of OMs in gen5, and I especcially enjoyed PU since i could use some of my favourite pokes, like dodrio and wormadam. Then one day in gen6 i saw that PU was a thing again, joint irc, and saw fagtron (who i already knew a bit) and galbia, and built a team.
What is it like to be on the PU Council and being a self proclaimed C&C Goderator?
Being in council is nice to make plebs like Kingler12345 know that you are better than them. Seriously though, its nice to be a part of the tiering, and make more respected posts (I used to be a lot worse). Modding is nice, though that adds to the work load and i havent been able to infract anyone yet :(
Do you feel anything in the metagame in unbalanced? If so, what?
Carracost and Barbaracle are two mons which I (like many others) feel are definitely suspect worthy (so far im leaning towards ban on both). Otherwise I don't think anything else is broken, but if the two smashers go, the spotlight may shift onto other mons like floatzel
Building off of that, what changes would you make to the tier if you could?
Outside of banning barbaracle/carracosta, a hazard suspect (either spikes or stealth rock) would be fun due to the centralising and our lack of solid hazard removal although i doubt that will happen. A more realistic one would be a ban of dynamic punch, but I don't think that is too much of a problem.
What is your favorite playstyle in the metagame?
Definitely bulky offense. PU is clearly an offensive metagame due to how many amazing offensive threats we have, but having a defensive backbone is also helpful for a lot of those threats (particularly zebby). Lately I have been enjoying hyper/heavy offense (not sure on the exact definitions of both), with one tank rocker (like pilo) then jumpluff (usually), a couple set up sweepers and wallbreaker, as well as a RKer
What are some underrated and overrated Pokemon in your opinion?
Underrated: Monferno (not just SD set), Dodrio (this may be a-rank but not enough people use it), Purugly, and Metang
Overrated: Stoutland, defensive Tangela, and non-venipede suicide leads
Who are some rising stars in the metagame from your perspective?
Zstaffo has come out of nowhere and made intelligent posts, and also cycliccompund who has recently come back recently (not sure if he will stay at PU, but hopefully he will n_n)
Who are some of your favorite people from the Smogon community?
Ah there are so many people. I met galbia and Magnemite at the start of gen6 PU and have been in chats with them for a long time. Through them i got into other chats and met users like Kingler12345, along with the legendary Minus and many more. Not gonna list everyone cuz that would take ages
What is some advice to newer players to the tier?
Obviously look at the viability rankings and read wdm's guide, and also lurk a bit on the forums instead of jumping right in and dont be afraid to ask questions on PS or even ask for battles.
Can you provide a team that reflects you as a player with an explanation of how it works?
Fraxure @ Eviolite
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Low Kick
- Iron Tail
Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
Sawsbuck @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Seed Bomb
- Facade
- Baton Pass
Mr. Mime @ Choice Specs
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Focus Blast
- Healing Wish
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Outrage
- Low Kick
- Iron Tail
Piloswine @ Eviolite
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Ice Shard
Sawsbuck @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Double-Edge
- Seed Bomb
- Facade
- Baton Pass
Mr. Mime @ Choice Specs
Ability: Filter
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Focus Blast
- Healing Wish
Politoed @ Leftovers
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Modest Nature
- Scald
- Hidden Power [Electric]
- Ice Beam
- Toxic
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Overheat
I havent really been motivated to build lately, but this is a team i have been using a lot. It is basically wearing down the foes team in hopes to clean with fraxure (runs iron tail since my team is walled by clef) or even zebstrika. Specs mime is excellent at doing this due to its ability to come in on double switches then pressure the opponent hard since there isnt much that can switch in (I personally like baiting in rose with politoed, then doubling to mime). It is a bit weak to Jolly barbaracle and can be annoyed by roselia, but its fun to use.
What are your thoughts on this week's interview? If you have extra questions for Anty, feel free to ask them in the comments, and if you want a player interviewed, feel free to leave a post on my profile.
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