UU Player of the Week #16: kokoloko

Approved by Sam and Hikari


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 certain aspects of the metagame.
If there's someone you want to see interviewed next week, shoot me a PM!

kokoloko
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

hello, my irl name is dave. im a 23 year old chef/restaurant supervisor with a business degree who is going back to school this upcoming fall to get another degree in restaurant/hospitality management. my orininal plan was to get a masters in economics but i realized i hated econ during my second semester of my junior year in college, hence how i ended up in the restaurant business.

pokemon-wise i've been around since late dpp. i started my "poke-career" here on smogon shortly after the dpp garchomp ban, then one day during a laddering session i got really fed up with some ridiculous amount of hax that happened and decided to quit pokemon again (i also played semi-competitively briefly during GSC)... only to find myself going to back to it a couple months later. however, this time i joined the pokemon-online community and quickly rose in rank there to become the uu tier leader and someone with a lot of say in general policy making (i kinda take credit for PO having their own tiers even if no one remembers it was my idea, oops). then one day, differences between me and coyotte508 (basically the chaos of PO) drove me back into smogon where i got involved in the uu community.

the at the time tier leader, jabbathegriffin, made me a council member a couple weeks after i came back to smogon, then shortly after, snunch, the then second-in-command of the tier quit and jabba made me his replacement, which eventually led to me becoming tier leader, and the rest is history.

Most Known For:
i guess being the guy who came up w/ a new tiering system for gen 6. some hate it, some love it. i personally think it yielded neither better nor worse results than the standard tiering system would have, but the amount of shit we learned from it was incredible, so it was more than worth it. i also managed the current SPL champions, so that's that.

Favorite Pokemon:

competitively, within UU, its gotta be either feraligatr or lucario. everyone knows why these two are amazing, especially gatr, but there's something appealing to me about mons that are really good but also look really cool.

if we're talking from a purely aesthetic perpective, then quilava, scizor, flygon, mega absol, and swampert are my favorites.

Most used UU Pokemon:

if we're talking currently, probably feraligatr. not cause its too good not to use, but because i have yet to build a team i consider good around it so i keep on trying lol. if we're talking all-time since the start of gen 6 its probably crobat. even though i havent used it in a really long time now, it was literaly on all my teams up until the time heracross left the tier, so yeah pretty sure that one wins.

Where did you get your name from?

its something my cousin used to call me when i was a little kid. in spanish, coco loco means "crazy head" and when i was making my first online account (which was in a yugioh forum) thats the first thing that popped into my head. i've used it ever since.

How and when did you get into competitive battling?

i briefly mentioned this earlier but back when GSC was the main gen i stumbled upon some "pokemon of the week" articles that went into competitive pokemon, so i read up on them and tried it out. i was not very good though, and i got bored, so i quit shortly after.

my second time around, which was during late dpp, i was very very bored one day after i had quit playing yugioh and i remembered competitive pokemon was a thing, so i looked it up and came across smogon. i lurked for a while and played on shoddy battle and did pretty well. one day i decided to make an account and post a team i had made and then just kept learning and getting better.

Favorite generation to play competitively and why?

honestly i've always been a fan of the current gen, dunno why exactly. i guess it might have to do with the fact that ever since the ver beginning of BW i've had a huge say in how to shape the metagame i play primarily, so i'm obviously going to like it more.

Opinions on ORAS compared to XY?

hm, i dunno. XY had some really high points and some really low points, like when the ladder got infested with pink cores for like two months, but so has ORAS, so i'm not really comfortable picking one i prefer. i dont really like the current meta though, but i'm not sure why.

What is your favorite playstyle and why?

i've always leaned towards offensive balance or bulky offense. i think pure offense and hyper offense rely way too much on prediction and they have this thing that if you miss one crucial move, you pretty much lose the game on the spot. hard stall and defensive balance tend to have a hard time overcoming bad matchups and whats worse is that they're prone to them. bulky offense and offensive balance don't really have this problem because a well built team of that archetype can usually play around pretty much any threat.

Thoughts on the Victini test?


free victini pls

Do you like having public suspects or would you prefer having council suspects again?

this is a shitty question to ask me since i both started the council system and turned it back into suspect tests. in an ideal world where there were 12 people who are not just good at the game but capable of making good decisions without personal bias or being heavily influenced by what the first person to post a half-intelligent post in the council PM says, then i'd prefer council because shit gets done faster. alas, this is not the case, so it makes no difference, but at least w/ suspect tests the general playerbase has no one to blame but themselves for making dumb calls.

Favorite moment of SPL?

winning it :]

What is some advice you can give to new players who want to get noticed?

win a couple tournaments. getting #1 on the ladder isn't getting you anywhere. don't believe me? ask 8 random tournament players who the #1 player on the uu ladder is right now and see how many know lol

How do you go about preparing for tournament matches?

i dont perpare as much as most people tbh. if i know my opponent's playstyle, i'll try to build a team that matches up well vs that, but otherwise im perfectly fine going in with a team that everyone knows as long as i know its solid.

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

the people i have on my skype contacts list from here lol

Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects you as a player with a brief explanation of how it works?

Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Aerial Ace
- Roost
- Earthquake

Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 240 HP / 192 Def / 76 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: null Atk
- Scald
- Roar
- Rest
- Calm Mind

Florges (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flower Veil
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: null Atk
- Moonblast
- Wish
- Synthesis
- Aromatherapy

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Inner Focus
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Nasty Plot
- Vacuum Wave

Krookodile @ Lum Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Pursuit

Forretress @ Leftovers
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 248 HP / 96 Def / 164 SpD
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Gyro Ball
- Volt Switch
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin


havent used this one in a while but it was probably the most solid team i built in oras thus far. krook + forry controls hazards. cune/florges form a great defensive backbone, and lucario + aero are great offensive mons. the combination of the six checked the meta pretty well before the drops and probably still does a pretty good job aside from being unable to switch into mamo and they work really well w/ each other. there's really not much more to explain here but if you wanna know something about the team ask me and i'll tell you if i can remember lol

------

Thanks for reading! If you have any questions for koko leave them down below.
 
What inspired you to use the council tiering system at the start of XY?

Thoughts on any other suspects you'd like to see?

What do you think Victini's most potent set is?
 

kokoloko

what matters is our plan!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
What inspired you to use the council tiering system at the start of XY?

a couple of things, mainly that the regular system is too slow and makes the faulty assumption that a decent ladder player can make good tiering decisions. mostly the slowness though since the other thing usually averages out.

Thoughts on any other suspects you'd like to see?

assuming victini rightfully stays, i think the only thing that is a little too good right now is pidgeot. i dont understand all the gatr is broken hype honestly, its just very good.

What do you think Victini's most potent set is?

Victini @ Charcoal
252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naughty / Naive
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn / Glaciate / Dazzling Gleam
- Energy Ball / Glaciate / Dazzling Gleam
Where are your shoutouts?
lost somewhere in cyberspace when my browser decided to crash when i had like 75% of it finished.
 

kokoloko

what matters is our plan!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
What kind of shit did you learn from your new tiering system?
ima make a list:

1. after a while, even an unstable council will begin to lose interest and just give in to groupthink, thus leading to results that are just as bad, if not worse, than regular suspect testing.

2. people don't give a fuck about preserving the "minimal-bans pls" nature of traditional suspect testing. what they don't like, however, is change. once the bans were done and we started trying to UNBAN shit, people decided to bitch and complain about that instead.

3. we will absolutely have to change the way we handle tiering on a macro scale in the future--there's just too many good pokemon and our resources to handle them do not change (6 pokemon, 4 moves each, 1 item each, etc). the problem will obviously get worse as each new set of games comes out, so doing what i did was absolutely a learning experience for when this time comes. what each person gets out of it is completely up to them.

How do you feel about UU going back to the traditional suspect method?
that was literally my last act as tier leader, so i obviously wanted it to happen.
 

kokoloko

what matters is our plan!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
what do you want to see from a new pokemon game (mons, game modes, outfits, etc.)
i absolutely loved the whole character customization thing that XY had going on, so i'd love to have that back.
i also liked the HUGE amoount of pokemon that you could very early in the game in XY, so that'd be nice.
i want mega flygon, mega milotic, and mega slowking.
a move that gives +1 Def +1 SpA and a move that gives + 1 Atk + 1 SpD
i want scald to not exist or get nerfed to ~40 bp
water absorb suicune to be released.
a mexican pokemon that i can nickname Edgar

also i'd honestly love it if they deviated a bit from the standard "get 8 badges -> beat pokemon league -> small postgame -> over" standard somehow. that'd be cool.
 
that was literally my last act as tier leader, so i obviously wanted it to happen.
Question: Why did you feel the need to betray all that was good in UU?

Actual question: If you could go back to UU Beta/February 2014 now knowing how a Council Vote would have worked as a suspect system, how would you have approached the suspect system?
 
Best ORAS UU player?

Opinion on current UU council vs older UU council (flareblitz, psych, RT, kitten-whatever, Mazz, etc )?

Ban gatr?!

Hypest moments of UU open/gslam?

Future winners of WCOP?

Worst council decision?

Favorite ORAS UU meta?

Most overrated UU pokemon?

Best RU pokemon in UU? (hint: rotom-c,,)

Do you ever intend on re-taking your position as tier leader (assuming it opens up again fsr)?

Remember when you said you'd buy me in SPL? What happened to that...?????

Best UU game of SPL?

Most underrated UU mon (p-z, nidoking, somethin like that)?

Best UU contributor of all time?

Best UU player of all time?

BW UU or XY/ORAS UU?

Will water absorb Suicune and flash fire Entei make p2 more popular?
 
i absolutely loved the whole character customization thing that XY had going on, so i'd love to have that back.
i also liked the HUGE amoount of pokemon that you could very early in the game in XY, so that'd be nice.
i want mega flygon, mega milotic, and mega slowking.
a move that gives +1 Def +1 SpA and a move that gives + 1 Atk + 1 SpD
i want scald to not exist or get nerfed to ~40 bp
water absorb suicune to be released.
a mexican pokemon that i can nickname Edgar

also i'd honestly love it if they deviated a bit from the standard "get 8 badges -> beat pokemon league -> small postgame -> over" standard somehow. that'd be cool.
Ludicolo says hola.
 
meant to post this right after i posted this potw, but im gonna be taking a short break from this project
 

kokoloko

what matters is our plan!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Is that the only team you've ever made without a Nidoqueen?
chill i only use nido when i use mega blaster

Actual question: If you could go back to UU Beta/February 2014 now knowing how a Council Vote would have worked as a suspect system, how would you have approached the suspect system?
would probably tried a little harder to avoid voting on things that werent actually broken and watched the council more closely but in all honesty i think the results would have been the same.

Best ORAS UU player?

me

Opinion on current UU council vs older UU council (flareblitz, psych, RT, kitten-whatever, Mazz, etc )?

the FIRST uu council was the fucking bomb with limitless, pana, snunch, etc, after that it kinda went downhill.

Ban gatr?!

chill

Hypest moments of UU open/gslam?

idk i didnt follow it after i lost despite being the host hue

Future winners of WCOP?

brazil is lookin strong but east is always good. anyone but metro tbh.

Worst council decision?

not banning scald :[

Favorite ORAS UU meta?

the one right before starmie and jirachi left the tier. after that it all went downhill.

Most overrated UU pokemon?

idk in all honesty i wanna say gatr but not cause its bad just cause people insist its broken when it isnt.

Best RU pokemon in UU? (hint: rotom-c,,)

chill nigga that title belongs to reuniclus.

Do you ever intend on re-taking your position as tier leader (assuming it opens up again fsr)?

absolutely not im nowhere near interested or active enough anymore. i would def wanna have some kind of influence at the start of gen 7 though.

Remember when you said you'd buy me in SPL? What happened to that...?????

16k was too much :[

Best UU game of SPL?

idk i wasnt paying attention tbh

Most underrated UU mon (p-z, nidoking, somethin like that)?

shaymin idk why its nowhere its still a lord

Best UU contributor of all time?

probably ace emerald back in bw

Best UU player of all time?

hate to admit it but i think RT

BW UU or XY/ORAS UU?

about the same at their peaks.

Will water absorb Suicune and flash fire Entei make p2 more popular?

nope cause it will still lose to cune and entei wont see usage with victini back :]
 

kokoloko

what matters is our plan!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnusis a Top Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a Two-Time Past SPL Champion
Who will be Smogon's owner after Chaos retires?

no one

Favorite food?

tacos, funnily enough

What do you like to cook?

anything

Is Edgar mexican?
very
Why did you resign as UU leader?

got way too busy irl

Why do you think you lose every time we play? What is it about the way I play that makes things so difficult for you?

turns out i was wrong, i've won the past like 3 times i've played you on the ladder. but before that i really was 0-x vs you and i rly don't know why.
 

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