UU Player of the Week #6: Hikari

Approved by Hikari and Sam

Hello, and welcome to UU's player of the week where I interview
some of Smogon's most accomplished and well knowns players in the tier to give
some insight on who they are and their views on some aspects of the metagame.
If there's someone you want to see interviewed next week, shoot me a PM!​
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm 22 year old Venezuelan (here is Venezuela, for the ignorant people). I'm really into fitness and I like running; I have done bunch of official 10k races, lately I've been trying to find a decent official half marathon, and currently training to be able to do full marathons. I used to play football (soccer) seriously when I was younger, but I fucked up my ankle and got kicked out from my school's team, so I stopped caring; RIP unrealistic dream. My main hobbies are playing Pokemon, watch sports (specially football and MMA), and working out. I'm sorta introverted, not in the "I'm socially awkward as fuck and I can't handle human interaction" aspect (which is not really introversion, that's being socially retarded), I just like being alone for long periods of time. I'm really thick skinned (not being 14yo probably helps here) and I'm usually "nice" towards most people, but I can be quite an abrasive cunt in certain situations.

Most Known For:

Being a former PO Admin and BW UU TL. Runner-up in POT 1, won POCL 1, and that same year I won SPL 3 with the Ruiners. In SPL 3 I managed to piss off the entire Scooters team because I complained about a crit (I won the match in the end), and got Aldaron to call me a classless cunt. People here seem to know me "that person who plays decently in SPL and then disappears for a year", but I'm not planning to go anywhere this time. Also known for being able to play any playstyle, being pretty much impossible to counterteam / counterstyle, and using unorthodox Pokemon.

Recently known as "Person who got promoted to UUTL after contributing for like 2 months". I know this pissed off some people, but lol.

Favorite Pokemon:

Mega Ampharos. Banner hype

Most used Pokemon:

Right now probably Suicune, because it fits in every playstyle.

How and when did you get into competitive battling?


My brother needed help getting Eevee in Pokemon Diamond, so I googled it for him. Doing this I somehow ended up reading about competitive Pokemon, and found Smogon and Shoddy Battle. This was in 2007 or 2008, I don't remember. I was pretty bad at the beginning and I only played casually for a couple years, until I decided to stop sucking and actually learned how to play this game.

What is your favorite Pokemon game?


Pokemon Snap

Thoughts on the No Scald Ladder? Do you think this move should be suspected?


It's a fun test ladder, wish I could play it more but busy with rl + SPL :[. Mindlessly spamming Scald to threaten switch in isn't an option, which means Pokemon like Mega Ampharos and Mega Abomasnow are much better. Less games turning into "whoever burns Tenta / Empoleon first gain the upper hand". Suicune can't "counter" Dragons with just Scald, which some people seem to believe is a bad thing, because they don't want to use a real counter that doesn't rely on a 30% to not lose.

In my opinion, it should be suspected. But suspecting Scald is an extremely controversial subject, so I would only push for that if a huge portion of the playerbase and UU council support the idea.

How is it being one of the new UU Tier Leaders? (congrats btw)

Not gonna lie, it's nothing especial for me. Not my first time with internet "powers", so I really don't care about that part.

Don't get me wrong, I like contributing, being helpful, and dedicating to projects I care about, and being an UUTL allows me to do that. But being a mod and having people "working" for me mean absolutely nothing and don't excite me at all, I only care about making the UU tier and forums better, and encouraging new users to contribute.

Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon community?

kokoloko, I explained why here:http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/my-loyal-subjects-the-time-has-come.3530195/#post-6056539

Sam for being a cool co-leader. Didn't really speak with him before getting promoted, but we get along and we have similar views about some tiering related stuff

Rich HOMiE CA$ED for being bad

blarajan for being Indian

Oglemi for changing my name last year. Fuck my old name.

Many other people, but they are too many to mention.

I'm sure many people are wondering this; are you a guy or girl?

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/share-your-deepest-secrets-here.3531530/#post-6083764

and

http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/share-your-deepest-secrets-here.3531530/page-2#post-6085673
You decide.

Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?

I don't focus on any specific playstyle, but I already posted my stall so let's show something different:
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Crunch
- Waterfall
- Destiny Bond
- Protect

Kingdra @ Life Orb
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Rain Dance
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Dragon Pulse

Nidoqueen (F) @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 160 HP / 252 SpA / 96 Spe
Modest Nature
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Wave
- Earth Power
- Ice Beam

Shaymin @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Seed Flare
- Dazzling Gleam
- Healing Wish
- Psychic

Cobalion @ Chople Berry
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- Close Combat
- Taunt

Cresselia (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 224 Def / 32 Spe
Bold Nature
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Psyshock
- Moonlight


Fairly offensive team I was considering using vs Jabba. It was between this and the Pidgeot team I ended up using, which is also a fun team because Pidgeot is god. Note that I was not expecting Jabba to use a defensive team, so this team is a bit weak to stall, but Toxic Spikes + Sharpedo + Kingdra can pressure all defensive cores.

The team is based around sweeping with RD Kingdra or Cresselia. Nidoqueen gives the team some important resistances, threatens lots of Pokemon, and can setup Toxic Spikes to wear down Kingdra checks and counters. Sharpedo is able to weaken or straight up beat every bulky water, especially with Toxic Spikes support, and with Destiny Bond it can take Florges and Aromatisse down; all these Pokemon can give Kingdra problems, and Cresselia appreciates not having to deal with bulky waters. Shaymin gives Kingdra a second life, which is huge because most offensive teams struggle to handle Kingdra once, and twice is borderline impossible. Cresselia is an easy win condition against offensive teams, which is what I was expecting Jabba to use, and with Toxic Spikes support + Healing Wish Shaymin makes it really hard for most teams to beat it late-game.

This team is "weak" to many things, which is normal for an offensive team (people who try to cover everything with an offensive team end up with shitty balance), you just need to find out what is your best win condition during team preview, and play accordingly.
---

Thank you for reading! If you have any questions for Hikari leave them down below. See you next week.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

Kink

it's a thug life ¨̮
is a Tutor Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
I was wondering when this would pop back up!

Hikari you should teach me about running, no joke.
 

Finchinator

-OUTL
is a Tournament Directoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past WCoP Championis the defending OU Circuit Championis a Two-Time Former Old Generation Tournament Circuit Champion
OU Leader
girl? oo

If you had to predict the future in as realistic a fashion as possible, what do you foresee being the fate of the move Scald (specifically in UU)? Is it possible that there will be sufficient support and reasoning for it to get banned or at least suspected and draw a close vote, or do you think it won't go much of anywhere?

Since you've played lower tiers (UU and RU) dating back to generation five, if you had to pick the three or so most consistent UU and/or RU players on the tournament level, who would they be (can include yourself) and why?

Thoughts on your upcoming Smogon Premier League Semi-Final battle with your colleague, user: Sam :o

what do you think is the most noteworthy difference between leading a tier on here and on PO (I know there are countless differences, but which plays the biggest role on how you do you job and such)?

why do you resort to tactics like counter-teaming when facing no-name opponents in powc? sigh, dirty mexican.

grats on uutl again and player of the week
 
I was wondering when this would pop back up!

Hikari you should teach me about running, no joke.
Only way of "learning" how to run is doing it. Setup some small goals for yourself and work from there.

FREE BAD ROMANCE
die pls

no wonder why reymedy hates you

Sogeking :]

If you had to predict the future in as realistic a fashion as possible, what do you foresee being the fate of the move Scald (specifically in UU)? Is it possible that there will be sufficient support and reasoning for it to get banned or at least suspected and draw a close vote, or do you think it won't go much of anywhere?
It's definitely possible it'll get suspect in the near future, the Scald thread seems to be decently popular so far and there aren't many other possible suspects we can do right now. I can't accurately predict if it'll get banned or not, but if it goes to a vote I guarantee it won't be one sided.

Since you've played lower tiers (UU and RU) dating back to generation five, if you had to pick the three or so most consistent UU and/or RU players on the tournament level, who would they be (can include yourself) and why?
four*

In no particular order:

Ginku is always consistent in the SPL

Bad Ass not really into ORAS lower tiers, but he's good enough at them, and he's easily is one of the best DPP UU and BW UU players. He had a great SPL run last year, won grand slam and has been doing fine in tier he doesn't play this year.

New Breed and Afro Smash they are quite different players, but they have achieved basically the same and not feeling like typing the same thing twice. Both are great BW and ORAS lower tier players with success in both PO and Smogon.

kokoloko but only after he learned how to not suck dicks in tournaments. Did well in SPL and slams runner up the year bad ass won

Thoughts on your upcoming Smogon Premier League Semi-Final battle with your colleague, user: Sam :o
I'll slay an UUTL in SPL playoff again.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen5uu-3369

:]

what do you think is the most noteworthy difference between leading a tier on here and on PO (I know there are countless differences, but which plays the biggest role on how you do you job and such)?
Lots of more people willing to contribute to projects here, which means not everything has to be done by the TLs. POTW for example, I didn't do much to get this project running, I just approved Hairy Toenail proposal and asked him some questions.

why do you resort to tactics like counter-teaming when facing no-name opponents in powc? sigh, dirty mexican


That image shows how much I cared about counterteaming with Croak. Lazy ass HO core I've been using to win ladder matches quickly for a long ass time. Last version was literally the same I used in my POWC game, except I used Mega Swampert because Metagross got banned.

grats on uutl again and player of the week
n_n
 
hi br I still love you even though you left us :c

as someone who's been TL on both po and smogon, which playerbase do you feel is more informed when making tiering decisions?

do you prefer any specific types of pokemon or teamstyles?

have you shown your ass to anyone on smogon?
 

Cased

Banned deucer.
Ugh I have to make my questions UU-oriented

You've been playing UU pretty avidly since Generation 4, how would you rank DPP, BW, and ORAS UU in terms of fun to play? 1. __ 2. __ 3. __ etc

What are your strengths and weaknesses regarding playing? Tier Leading?

What do you think is the best thing you bring to the table as a tier leader?

Would you have stayed contributing if Kokoloko decided to give Tier Leader / Co-TL to anybody else? Or would you have stopped if there was no chance of you getting Tier Leader?

When you're looking for people to become added to the Sr. UU council, what do you look for in their suspect arguments? What impresses you? What doesn't? (Any examples?)

What do you suggest to players who find themselves sitting out of big tournaments due to their lack of reputation or non-sharpened skill? Anybody can say "Go win something" what would you advise a player do to get better?

Why do you test 90% with me and 10% with me as well for SPL instead of your team with 6 UU players

OPINION ON STEELWING HONCHKROW AND WONDER ROOM PORYGON2
 
How did you pick your user name "Hikari"?
"Dawn is cute af but that name is registered, so I'll use the jap name instead"

hi br I still love you even though you left us :c
Meow

as someone who's been TL on both po and smogon, which playerbase do you feel is more informed when making tiering decisions?
Neither. Talking about the general playerbase, of course.

do you prefer any specific types of pokemon or teamstyles?
HO and Hard Stall are my favorite styles, but I can use anything in between. I like Pokemon that work consistently and that don't fully rely on team matchup to do anything.

have you shown your ass to anyone on smogon?
I posted it in #uucouncil on irc in like December. Everyone likes my ass

favourite UU metagame? (inb4 dpp uu)
BW UU probably, I had / have like 200 teams. I liked DPP UU but I was bad for like 3/4 of my DPP experience.

What football team do you support?
Barcelona

You've been playing UU pretty avidly since Generation 4, how would you rank DPP, BW, and ORAS UU in terms of fun to play? 1. __ 2. __ 3. __ etc
BW > DPP (Fuck perm weather and Rain) > ORAS

I still like all three.

What are your strengths and weaknesses regarding playing? Tier Leading?
Playing: I'm good at studying my opp's and predicting their teams before the game (ask Classiest), I can handle playing under pressure, and I know how to take advantage of unorthodox / unexpected strats. I leave teambuilding for last minute and I don't decide what team to use until literally minutes before my games.

Tier Leading: Experience, knowledge and good at dealing with ~~politics~~. I cannot stand using PS as "social media", at least I'm regularly on irc.

What do you think is the best thing you bring to the table as a tier leader?
Tier Leading: Experience, knowledge and good at dealing with ~~politics~~

Would you have stayed contributing if Kokoloko decided to give Tier Leader / Co-TL to anybody else? Or would you have stopped if there was no chance of you getting Tier Leader?
I contribute because I like it. I had like a month contributing before koko told me he was planning to quit.

When you're looking for people to become added to the Sr. UU council, what do you look for in their suspect arguments? What impresses you? What doesn't? (Any examples?)
Good players, who regularly participate in discussions and projects in the UU subforum.

What do you suggest to players who find themselves sitting out of big tournaments due to their lack of reputation or non-sharpened skill? Anybody can say "Go win something" what would you advise a player do to get better?
Watch replays of big tournament games and learn from them, learn the difference between building for laddering and building for a specific opponent, and start participating in tournaments to gain experience.

Why do you test 90% with me and 10% with me as well for SPL instead of your team with 6 UU players
Because we have been testing buddies for like year and a half

OPINION ON STEELWING HONCHKROW AND WONDER ROOM PORYGON2
Literally kill yourself

Whats your fastest 5K tme. Im sure with your insecurities of being a girl with a penis that you are a very fast runner!
iirc my last 5k official time was Sub 24 min. Not sure about the fastest because I stopped giving a shit about running 5k fast awhile ago.
 
are you gonna lose on finals and let all of us down?
lol eat shit, user formerly known as for the troll

why don't you support madrid
Because I have standards

Do you play any tiers beaides UU?
I play most lower tiers from DPP to ORAS, DPP and BW Ubers, RBY, Doubles (washed up as fuck atm, but w/e)

Would you recommend Venezuala as a good tourist destination/vacation
No, it's a shit country.

If you could ban blunder again, would you?
In a heartbeat
 

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