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#noidols, but ur an inspiration to me for sticking to ur guns, keepin the numbers where fairweather folk like kamikaze n co fell short. stay gold bruh bruh
in casual observation of ur nick game, there's some deviation, but "mr fahrenheit" seems to be a real mainstay. aside from being curious to what that alludes to, id luv to know if you bump up ur usage of fires for the sake of inclusion, cuz i swear it plays into ~90% of games I've seen from u
What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a player and how do you emphasize your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses?
I think I'm really good at making fast decisions. I need only a couple of seconds to think about every alternative, so I'm not often surprised by the opponent. As a bonus, it also gives me a perfect management of the timer, allowing me all the time I'll need if I don't have the calculation in mind for that specific turn. It also prevents the opponent to cancel their move, which is also very nice.
My biggest weakness is probably my inability to make a long run. I tire quite fast, which means that I often tend to choke on the ladder or during Smogon Tour. I try to take some breaks to avoid those situations, but you all know how hard it is to stop when you are in a streak (being either a winning or losing one).
What qualities do you think make a player great?
Once again, I'd bank on the experience. The most situations you already lived, the most ready you are. Otherwise, another think many people lack (myself included depending on my state of mind) is the ability to keep their cool in every situation. I can't count how many people I've seen lose because they just give up after getting critted, without noticing which plays would have overcome the bad luck.
Who are some UU players that you believe will find success in upcoming UU tournaments and why (i.e. the standard "who are the underrated/up-and-coming players" question)?
I am too recent in the UU community so I'm probably not qualified to answer this... But I'll still give it a try. Is Dr. Reuniclus considered as a good player? Because he should be, even though I heard about him very recently. He smashed our group in UU majors, and he deserved it.
Do you prefer team tournaments or individual tournaments?
I really like both, for different reasons. Individual tournaments are better to feed my "I wanna be the very best" appetite. It's me and myself vs the world, I don't owe anything to anyone, and that's something really cool. On the other side, team tournaments are by far funnier, and winning with teammates feel more awesome.
All-in-all, I'd say I prefer individual tournaments because I like the freedom associated, but it does not mean that I don't like team tours.
What did you like the most about your SPL and other team tournament experiences?
The people I met. Playing with friends in a team tournament is amazing. Playing with people you don't know and it happened to work perfectly is even better. TonyFlygon in wcop is the best example out there: at first, I was like "who's that guy Pearl picked instead of Alexander?", but it took me about two days to realize how wrong my doubts were.
What players do you believe SPL managers should consider drafting for UU if the draft were to take place right now?
Valentine would kill me if I reveal any plan we might have, so I'll be pretty general: King UU is the first one who comes in mind. He is really good, and even lucky. Otherwise, I'd really hope to see Pearl playing, as well as Sacri', ZoroDark, teal6, and Dr Reuniclus.
What changes do you hope that Sun and Moon will bring to the competitive scene?
It removed mega from VGC and added a better timer, so for me, Sun and Moon started perfectly. Otherwise, I don't really know what to expect so I won't be disappointed either. Z-moves can look both amazing and terribad depending on the point of view but I like the idea to add some fresh stuff. I hope it will be in the middle of the balance, so we can all enjoy some awesome metagames.
I was about to play pif in UU Open, so I was expecting some solid stalls from him. Trap is still one of the best ways to stallbreak, and the magic or arena trap means that you don't care about coverage or anything. You just take the moves to remove whatever you want to remove. In OU, I used to play band Gothitelle because that was the best item to trick to the stuff I wanted to trap (Clef, Starmie, Heatran). And here, I wanted to trap Blissey and Alomomola, so I gave it the tools to win against Blissey and Alomomola, allowing the rest of my team to sweep more freely. Speed is for adamant Entei so it can still achieve something if my opponent brought offense. I can tank espeed, I can tank scald from Empoleon, I can tank three Seismic Toss, and I can tank ScaldCrit Scald Scald from -2 Alomomola.
The first time I started to use the Internet on a regular basis, they asked me a nickname. I think that was for Ogame (or whatever it is called, a game where you build your space colony and smashes other players). Vincent was already taken, Vinc as well, so I added my birthday. That's how Vinc2612 started.
#noidols, but ur an inspiration to me for sticking to ur guns, keepin the numbers where fairweather folk like kamikaze n co fell short. stay gold bruh bruh
in casual observation of ur nick game, there's some deviation, but "mr fahrenheit" seems to be a real mainstay. aside from being curious to what that alludes to, id luv to know if you bump up ur usage of fires for the sake of inclusion, cuz i swear it plays into ~90% of games I've seen from u
Thank you very much :)
Mr. Fahrenheit comes from the Queen song "Don't Stop Me Now". With a couple of friends from the university, we have our private jokes on that song ever since we randomly bumped into David Armand making the interpretative dancing of the song. The song stayed, the nickname is perfect for any fire-type.
I often use fire types because I think burn is the best status to inflict. That's why you'll often see me with Talonflame in OU and Entei in UU, but I don't think I've ever picked a fire type specifically for the nickname (I mean for a battle I take seriously)
I acknowledge that Ciele might take one game vs me, if that was the question
How often do people think your name is Vink?
I am pretty sure everyone knows that my name is Vince. People are just bully :'(
Favourite genre of music?
I listen a bit of everything, but if you ask me to pick the songs, I'll mostly go for rock. But even there, I listen to every kind of rock, from hard rock to classic rock to alternative rock to idontknowthename rock. Random bands I listen a lot are: REM, The Strokes, Black Sabbath, Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, Me First and the Gimme Gimmes, Jet...
What Pizza toppings do you go for?
I like Pepperoni Pizza because it is 1000 units worth. Otherwise, I like mushrooms, pepper, olives, mozzarella, and pepperoni or ham.
What Shakespearean play is your life most like: Hamlet, Macbeth, or Taming of the Shrew? Why are you the Shrew?
I'll start by admitting that theater is a big loophole in my general knowledges. While I like improvised theater and go to events sometimes, I might have seen two plays otherwise. The following answer will be based on the Wikipedia pages of these plays.
From those three plays, the Shrew is the only comedy while others are tragedies. I like my current life and I could easily adapt some part to make a typical sitcom, so by default, it can only be the Shrew.
Chocolate or Vanilla?
Vanilla all day, except maybe with coffee. It includes ice creams, girls, cakes, wafles...
What went into your thought process behind creating Vincune and other innovative sets?
Do you have any thoughts for an aspiring player who can't break past the 1600s despite having read up a lot about mons thanks to lurking on this site for a while?
I love you the way we love an autistic friend: I know there are those moments you'll go full retard and embarass me, but at the end, the other moments make you worth of my love.
What went into your thought process behind creating Vincune and other innovative sets?
Do you have any thoughts for an aspiring player who can't break past the 1600s despite having read up a lot about mons thanks to lurking on this site for a while?
You can't learn how to fly on a broomstick in books, Hermione.
If you're like me, maybe ladder is just not the best place to start. Have you tried room tours, forum tours or even random challenges on showdown? I found those to be the best teachers.
Otherwise, I think the worst feeling in a battle is to be helpless against a stall during 100+ turns. That's why most of my builds start with a solid stall answer, and that's where Vincune comes from: when I made the team, the most relevant stall was ABR's (m-sableye chansey skarm amoonguss quagsire weavile) so I imagined a set that would set up on its usual checks (here Chansey and Amoonguss)
You can't learn how to fly on a broomstick in books, Hermione.
If you're like me, maybe ladder is just not the best place to start. Have you tried room tours, forum tours or even random challenges on showdown? I found those to be the best teachers.
Otherwise, I think the worst feeling in a battle is to be helpless against a stall during 100+ turns. That's why most of my builds start with a solid stall answer, and that's where Vincune comes from: when I made the team, the most relevant stall was ABR's (m-sableye chansey skarm amoonguss quagsire weavile) so I imagined a set that would set up on its usual checks (here Chansey and Amoonguss)
That makes sense. I've long thought that maybe getting a tutor for competitive would help, and maybe I'll try just that. I feel like I've come as far as I can on my own, and maybe having someone point out issues with my gameplay/advice with building would help. Thanks for your words, Vinc.
I also have an unrelated to mons follow-up question. How's working the IT department? I've been debating going into computer science as a major in college(high school senior) because I have an interest in computer and love the high salary, lol. But I'm just curious to hear what you think of your job, since any and all opinions are nice to hear.
I also have an unrelated to mons follow-up question. How's working the IT department? I've been debating going into computer science as a major in college(high school senior) because I have an interest in computer and love the high salary, lol. But I'm just curious to hear what you think of your job, since any and all opinions are nice to hear.
There are actually so many thing you can do in the IT department, but the main sellingpoint is that you'll always find a job. This is probably the best field for that.
I am personally in the testing field, which is perfect for me since I don't need any IT prerequisites. But I have talked with my Human Ressources Director lately, and she told me she'll gladly find me anything else the company can provide if I want to try out something else. That's how much liberty I have in picking my favorite field. I'll probably have a more precise point of view in a couple of years, but at the moment, my goal is to change on a regular basis to be sure I won't miss anything.
It's both amazing and terrible. Especially since we were one win away of reaching the playoffs without tiebreaking, one win away from winning the tiebreak. It means that any "better" different decision from me would have bring the playoffs. And I still feel guilty about this.
On the other side, I loved the part when Valentine and I drafted the team. We managed to make the team of our dreams, with amazing players, amazing team spirit, etc etc. The season was perfect from that point of view, and I am really proud of that. The feeling of being the keystone and starting point of the Cryonicles was really unique.
It really depends on the badge. Tiering Contributor is the only "mathematical" one (it's the only one where if you do your stuff, you're 100% sure to get your badge). But if there were any trick, it would be taking benefits of the next generation: there is so much more to contribute at the beginning of a generation. More suspects, more analysis to write, more teams to rate due to the beginning hype. If you catch the SuMo train, you'll put all odds on your side.
Who was your favorite player on SPL 7 Cryos haha maybe it was the one who got the most wins lol can't remember exactly who that was but that guy sounds cool and handsome, and like someone you probably look up to a lot in UU perhaps lol just spitballing here
You let us down in the last week when we were expecting you to win and bring the playoffs. My favourite player was Star., at least he never failed my expectations by getting haxed every other week
But I'd say he ties with pretty much everyone else :]
-Do you think UU opens/majors were successful in attracting new players, innovating teams etc?
I didn't follow it with the Slam preparation so I'm starting the interview with an "I don't know", really sorry :x
-Any good memories from UU?
Being relatively new to UU, Slam is my main source of memories. I remember most of my battles though, and oddly enough, the winning ones are better memories
-Any gimmicky/innovating set that you find good but lacks usage?
Subpunch Toxicroak is great against balanced and stalls. It hits hard, it has a free sub against the bulky water, it knocks off a lot of stuff and Gunk Shot is the perfect needed coverage to hit the fairies (especially Sylveon, since it hits through the sub).
-Replay of a memorable battle? http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-uu-192023
This is probably my most memorable battle. Even if it didn't end the way I hoped, it was high-leveled and rather open from the beginning to the end.
-Can you name some players who, according to you can be aces in future?
The future being SuMo, it's virtually impossible to guess yet. But I expect the rising stars of 2016 to be back full power, especially since this time, they will get the chance to start the generation at the same time as anyone else.
-Who, did you first interacted with in the UU room?
I honestly don't know. I'd bet on GrilledClawitzer since he is the one I interact the most often with, so the odds are better... I guess
-Favorite mon, that you like to use in uu?
Mr. FaEhnrteeniheit
-Looking at your avatar, is articuno is your favorite mons?
It's definitely in the top, but my favourite Pokémon is Victini. My avatar comes from the SPL Team I managed last year, the Cryonicles.
Hey, everyone! I just wanted to let you all know that the project isn't dead, it's just been a bit difficult getting more interviews. I am looking for more people to interview though, so if you're interested in being picked for this project then feel free to send me a PM saying so! If you're fit for the project, I'll get back to you with a response and the interview questions. Sorry for the delay!
I've finally got another interview for you all! I also have some people in mind for the next few interviews, so the project should be running smoothly again :P. Anyways, I'll leave the interview down below, but feel free to look for it in the OP as well.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi, I'm xMarth, can't forget the 'x' as I think I'm the last of my kind. I'm a 21 year old guy from New Jersey currently studying anthropology. I like to spend my free time either playing Ultimate Frisbee or gaming. Some of my favorite games are Destiny, Smash bros., Fire Emblem, and can't forget Pokemon.
Most known for?
On Smogon I'm probably most known for being a relatively new tournament player that somehow got purchased during last SPL and did pretty well. I was also a UU room mod for a while and have played my fair share of ladder games.
Favorite Pokemon?
Meganium
Most Used Pokemon?
Whimsicott
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
A few years ago I came across Smogon while looking for cool sets for my in-game mons, eventually this lead me to PS, where I found I really enjoyed laddering. After a lot of practice I became pretty good and wanted to play more challenging matches. So I made my Smogon account and started signing up for a tournament here and there.
What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
2nd gen was my first and is my favorite generation. Silver was one of the first video games I played as a kid and it gave me a lot of trouble. My first play through it took me over an hour just to get out of the first room, and after that I was going at a good pace until I wanted to find out what 'release' does and lost my starter Totodile. Ended up restarting, choosing Chikorita, and did not release it.
Thoughts on the current metagame of ORAS UU?
I really dislike the current state of the metagame. There are so many threats that require very specific checks that it makes team building tedious and games are very match-up reliant.
What is your favorite playstyle?
I like to use a somewhat more offensive style of balance that gives me more opportunities to make plays while still having a solid defensive backbone to fall back on.
Do you think any playstyle is blatantly dominant or weak in the metagame?
Semi-stall feels very weak to me in this kind of meta due to how many threats offensive teams have at their disposal that, when combined, can easily overwhelm common walls and breakdown semi-stall cores.
Thoughts on the Baton Pass / Celebi suspect?
I'd like to see Baton Pass get banned first, but even after that I think Celebi should be suspected because I still think it will be a problem in the tier.
How would you reflect on your experience playing UU in SPL during Gen 6? Do you plan on continuing to play UU in SPL during Gen 7?
SPL was the most fun I've had on Smogon. I learned so much while building teams, playing and watching games and the support my team gave me was fantastic. I Would definitely be excited for the opportunity to play in SPL again.
What advice would you give to newer tournament players who strive to reach high level of play?
Follow and watch high level tournaments, play as many games as you can against players better than you, and use all the resources available on Smogon to help you build your teams.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
Sid, Dreuniclus3, dodmen, pearl, BKC, Sam, and innovamania are a few off the top of my head. Everyone on UU room staff and everyone that was on the Scooters last SPL are included as well.
Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works? http://pastebin.com/LprU7Mnc
Basically the most important mon on the team is Rotom-H. His general bulk makes him very difficult to Ohko from high HP, allowing him to pivot/spread burn on most offensive mons in UU. Keeping rocks off the field is a high priority for this team to function well but that doesn't mean you want to send in Empoleon in a losing match-up just to get rocks off. Sylveon is important for keeping Rotom-H and Empoleon healthy and free of status. Krookodile, Celebi, and M-Aerodactyl give the team a solid mix of power and speed. This team functions best against other balance squads that often are very annoyed by Rotom-H's antics.
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Thank you for your time and the great interview, xMarth! If you have any questions that you would like to ask him, feel free to leave them below. I'll be back next week with another interview!
I don't know if you have been watching Pokeaim lately, but what do you think of all the recent nerfs and buffs to these pokemon? Pretending that these buffs and nerfs happened now (before SuMo), what pokemon(s) do you think would be affected the greatest in the current meta? Here is a quick recap of what I'm talking about:
Dark void is 50% accuracy
Gengar now has cursed body instead of levitate
Pelipper has Drizzle
Gale wings nerf to only priority flying type moves when at full hp
Dodrio has 110 speed and jump kick
Flygon has dragon dance
Destiny bond behaves like protect where it has 50% chance to fail if used consecutively
Beartic has 130 base attack and snow rush (hail swift swim)
It seems like SuMo has an agenda to be pushing weather wars again. What are your thoughts on that?
Haven't been keeping up with all the latest leaks but I'd be happy to give my thoughts on that list
Dark void is 50% accuracy - VGC is saved from the dark lord Smeargle
Gengar now has cursed body instead of levitate - probably staying ou
Pelipper has Drizzle - much better than politoed cause of roost/hurricane and solid defensive typing
Gale wings nerf to only priority flying type moves when at full hp - gale wings was way too good
Dodrio has 110 speed and jump kick - still low tier
Flygon has dragon dance - banned from ru, average in uu
Destiny bond behaves like protect where it has 50% chance to fail if used consecutively - still not worth the risk to attack something that just used dbond
Beartic has 130 base attack and snow rush (hail swift swim) - still low tier
I didnt like perma-weather in gen 5 and as long as SuMo doesn't bring that back weather will be fine in OU.
What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a player and how do you emphasize your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses?
What qualities do you think make a player great?
Who are some UU players that you believe will find success in upcoming UU tournaments and why (i.e. the standard "who are the underrated/up-and-coming players" question)?
Do you prefer team tournaments or individual tournaments?
What did you like the most about your SPL and other team tournament experiences?
What is your favorite Fire Emblem title and why?
Do you like to read for pleasure? If so, what books/genres do you prefer?
What do you think your strengths and weaknesses are as a player and how do you emphasize your strengths and mitigate your weaknesses?
What qualities do you think make a player great?
Who are some UU players that you believe will find success in upcoming UU tournaments and why (i.e. the standard "who are the underrated/up-and-coming players" question)?
Do you prefer team tournaments or individual tournaments?
What did you like the most about your SPL and other team tournament experiences?
What is your favorite Fire Emblem title and why?
Do you like to read for pleasure? If so, what books/genres do you prefer?
- I'd say my biggest strength is being unpredictable, especially during the early-game, and my most annoying weakness is if I take an early lead I start to play too safe and it becomes predictable. I like to think that my team building helps to emphasize my strengths and I try to mitigate my weaknesses by gaining an early advantage that is as tough as possible for opponents to overcome.
- Having a complete knowledge of the metagame your playing goes a long way to making a player great. Also luck is huge.
- Hard to say as I haven't been keeping up with recent tours so no idea who might do well in future tours.
- Team tours 100%. I personally don't find it easy to get motivated for individual tours and team tours are just more fun.
- My favorite part about SPL is hard to pinpoint. Definitely one of the best aspects was how much support I had while team building. Team tours in general just feel very rewarding because your part of something bigger than just one player. It simultaneously takes pressure off one single player to do well because the teammates can make up for a loss, while also adding motivation to not let your teammates down.
- FE7 is my favorite because Hector is an axe wielding badass.
- I occasionally read when I have some spare time. I really enjoy adventure genre.
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hi! I'm Tony, 22 years old and I want to become a doctor one day. I was born and raised in the Netherlands, Europe, and I'm a huge Pokemon nerd. Other than Pokemon I enjoy playing and watching sports and spending time with my loved ones (this includes Omfuga).
Most known for?
Within the UU community I'd say winning UUPL undefeated, my current UU Majors run, being an official UU council member (-UUTL), my goofy team building and being a shameless shitposter/likewhore (not as much as Pearl, tbf). Overall speaking, I'm mostly known as a washed up old school Pokemon YouTuber, though :P.
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
Pokemon in general would be the anime, which I absolutely adored (I still adore the first few seasons, for the record). After getting my hands on my first ever Pokemon game (which was Red, fwiw) I never really quit. Then with Pokemon Battle Revolution coming out for the Wii I got more and more into the competitive aspect of the game. Unfortunately, my sister's Wii tragically stopped working, so I starting battling on my DS in Xat rooms and Serebii Wi-Fi chat. Then I found out about Shoddy, then PO and ultimately after that PS.
Smogon, however, is all Omfuga. I'm not joking. Omfuga and I go way back since he first knocked me off of #1 on the PO UU ladder with Sandslash balance when he was like 13 years old (which is still depressing to me frfr wallahi). When I started university, I decided to mostly quit actively playing Pokemon and uploading to my YouTube channel, but I did lurk every once in a while. Omfuga and I, who followed each other on Twitter still (again, not a joke) started DMing each other during SPL7, for which Omfuga was playing UU. He mentioned that to me as we were talking so I decided to take a quick look at how UU was looking and hit up my boy with the brilliant suggestion of Mega Ampharos + Escavalier as a starting point for a team, since Escavalier matches up really nicely vs. almost everything that M-Amphy Volt Switches out of. Omfuga called my bluff, actually built a team with it, and haxed current Grand Slam champion Ice Tea for a nice SPL win for his team (I'm sorry you had to find out this way Ict). Omfuga mentioned NUPL would start soon and convinced me to sign up, not long after that I made Team Europe's WCoP team, we won UUPL with one of my oldest Pokemon friends aim (I love you Joey :J) and I met some of my favorite people in life along the way. So yeah, probably not the most standard of stories, but that's how I got here hehe.
tl;dr I slid right into Omfuga's DMs and he's literally top 1 Wallah Allah bop dash space Kyou
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What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
For starters, I love all of them. I think competitively I gotta go with BW, while in-game I'd most likely choose RSE (and Colosseum!). I think BW ended up with some really good metagames, with BW Ubers, BW OU and BW UU ranking high for me as all-time favorites. As for the in-game, I really enjoyed Hoenn as a region, the Emerald Battle Frontier and holy shit Pokemon Colosseum, that game might be my favorite Pokemon game of all time.
Favorite Pokemon?
Shocking revelation in 3.. 2.. 1..: Flygon! I love its design (especially shiny Flygon!) and the blend of being both adorable and cool is just right, in my opinion. :D
Most Used Pokemon?
Unfortunately, Sylveon. I'm not proud to admit it, but it's just so damn useful. More often than not I end up using it, especially the support set. I feel it really blows the alternatives out of the water and is downright hard to ignore when building a team, specifically the kind of teams I like to build, which I'll get into more later on. I wish Hydreigon got banned. D:
Thoughts on the current metagame of ORAS UU?
I actually quite enjoy current UU. :O Maybe it's because I don't ladder or play many games at all, but I'm not experiencing the same lack of enjoyment as some of the others. I also feel there's plenty of room for creativity and interesting builds (as shown in my Majors run), but I also feel there's room for change, too. I think a few UU Pokemon require too much special treatment (*cough*Hydreigon and Entei*cough*), which means Sylveon + bulky Water-type or Diancie has become a staple on most of my teams. Not because I want to, but because I feel like I have to. Aside from those, though, there's plenty of room for movement and trying out fun stuff, so I encourage you all to do while you still have the chance!
What is your favorite playstyle in ORAS UU?
Bulky offense, by far. It suits me naturally, I guess. I'm actually pretty repetitive when it comes to building patterns, but I just use a lot of different colors to distract from that fact, so to speak. I can enjoy balance and hyper offense too, and I've used and built both of those for tournaments, as well, but bulky offense is the favorite.
Do you think any playstyle is blatantly dominant or weak in the metagame?
I'd say hyper offense is the only weaker playstyle in UU at the moment. I don't really understand where the negativity around stall's viability comes from, as it clearly is viable. UU has Pokemon like Blissey, Alomomola, Sableye, Chesnaught, Suicune, Cresselia, Sylveon, Mandibuzz and more that make for excellent defensive backbones. Balance and bulky offense are by far the most commonly used styles and are probably the best overall, but stall is very viable and sleeping on it when building a team would be a mistake, in my opinion. Hyper offense would get a nice viability boost should a certain key chain drop down to UU, though. Speaking of which…
Thoughts on the Klefki suspect vote?
I’m all for Klefki dropping down, to be honest. I don’t think it’s broken, I just acknowledge it will be annoying. I don’t think Klefki would be anywhere near the level of Hydreigon or Entei, for example. The two arguments against it seem to be the lack of hazard control options in UU and the fact that priority Thunder Wave is supposed to be broken. I don’t agree with either of those things, to be honest. Especially considering how well UU's hazard control options actually match up vs. Klefki. We’ll get an alternative to Sylveon (which UU desperately needs, imo), it’ll force certain Pokemon to re-consider their coverage options (Hydreigon in particular), which in turn promotes smart team building AND it greatly supports the viability of offense as a playstyle. More diversity on both the ladder and the tournament scene is very much welcomed, in my opinion.
Oh, and should it drop, Donphan boutta be elite oml. :P
You're doing a great job in UU Majors so far! What are your thoughts on the tournament so far, and which one of your potential opponents are you looking out for the most?
I’m honestly unsure how I even made the top 8 players out of 160, but I guess I’m still in somehow. Looking back on my run I’d consider it inconsistent. I wasn’t pleased at all with my games vs. Stallion and my second game vs. Pak was played rushed and sloppily, too. On the upside, the final game vs. Pak was a personal highlight within the tournament, as well as a couple of the other games I’ve played. I think Stallion is going to win the tournament if he commits enough to prepping and playing well, but Ice Tea is still in as well and he doesn’t seem to lose much these days. I’ll also be rooting for my LTPL teammate DrReuniclus, he’s really impressed me with his diverse builds and he’s proving to be a great UU player (cost me only 3k in LTPL, you’re all suckers @ other managers).
What advice would you give to newer tournament players who strive to reach high level of play?
As a relatively new tournament player myself I can say just join as many tournaments as you can. Yes, Level 56 will give you a reality check or two, but the experience is crucial, trust me. I was absolute ass during NUPL and now I’m slightly less ass. :D
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
I’ve come to love a ton of people over the past few months. I’ve had the privilege to get to know Pearl and KratosMana during my first tournament thanks to Godfulord, and for that I’m grateful as I love you guys a ton. <3 Then after meeting Pearl in NUPL I worked my way into Team Europe’s WCoP team, which was a great experience for me. I pretty much love all of you except The Tree King. :P Oh, and Jimmy Turtwig is winning Smogon Tour this season, fyi. :D And then after UUPL I kind of settled in the UU community, where I got to know a number of great people as well (especially Hogg and Ice Tea <3). There’s a ton of you I’m missing out on right now, I’m aware, but I’m already making this way too long as is. Aside from Fugalicious and J his name is Joey I wanna give one special mention to Edgar, who is one of my favorite people period and someone I've always kept talking to even when I wasn't actively playing Pokemon. K ]
How hyped are you for the S/M release? Thoughts on the games from all the spoilers so far?
Incredibly. Unfortunately, I have to endure what's known as 'the European release', so I have to wait a few days longer than American players. Then again, I don't refer to my country's leader as President Trump, which puts things in perspective. :D I don't want to go into detail too much in case there's people reading this who don't wish to be spoiled, but some of the new mechanics and things are very interesting. I'm particularly interested in testing out Ubers, since a couple of the downgrades to previous staples, as well as the new title legendaries joining the party people promise an interesting new metagame for sure. :D
Finally, can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
I love this team. It’s built around Specs Exploud, but with Soundproof instead of Scrappy to beat up your bread and butter Sylveon balances. Mega Absol is the Mega of choice since it’s a Pursuit trapper that can trap pretty much every Ghost-type, including Sableye. It’s also a Pursuit trapper that can actually trap Celebi, something Krookodile can’t, for example. This is especially valuable considering Exploud doesn’t have Scrappy on this team. Choice Scarf Mienshao is a great partner to provide speed control, it lures in Sylveon to Knock Off its Leftovers, which greatly supports Exploud, as does U-turn to grant Exploud safe entry. Sylveon, Crobat and Seismitoad provide the defensive backbone as the other three have little to no defensive utility whatsoever. Crobat and Seismitoad grant hazards and the control of it, Sylveon cures Entei burns on Seismitoad, as well as keeping it healthy though Wish. U-turn on Crobat as well to grant Exploud entry, while I opted for itemless to have a better Knock Off switch in should I not want Sylveon or Seismitoad’s Leftovers to be removed. Seismitoad over Swampert for role compression reasons, btw. It’s a Stealth Rock user, a Mega Aerodactyl switch-in, a Water-type resistance (or immunity, in this case), a Suicune check (it beats Suicune through Power-up-Punch, although Roar variants are still a pain to play around) and an Entei switch-in. I recommend keeping Seismitoad in mind as an alternative to Swampert. Swampert will mostly be the better fit, but in situations like this one Seismitoad is just better.
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Thank you for your time and the great interview, Tony! If you have any questions that you would like to ask him, feel free to leave them below. I'll be back next week with another interview!
