Project Player of the Week: Karnisbroke

[Platinum God n1n1]

art by 13ulbasaur

Community Spotlight

The Doubles community has a bunch of prominent players and personalities, each unique in their own right. Community Spotlight attempts to get us know each other better in the way of lengthy interview with a split focus on competitive Pokémon and personal life.

We attempt creating meatier and more interesting interviews personalized for each interviewee, with other community members contributing with potential questions and other fun tidbits.

If you have any questions to ask the interviewee, feel free to just reply to the post doing so! Community interaction is a large part of the fun and allows for more informal and humor than the main interview does.

The Archives
Below are all the interviews, player of the weeks, and community spotlights conducted over time. Give them a read! They're fun time capsules...

Archives, click on the name

August 2019 Blood Totem and DaAwesomeDude1 (by bunny)
August 2019 Stratos (by bunnyy)
May 2019 - Kiichikos (by DaWoblefet)
April 2019 - lord death man (by bunnyy)
April 2018 - GenOne (by miltankmilk)
March 2018 - SMB (by miltankmilk)
December 2017 - Level 51 (by bunnyy)
September 2017 - Snake Draft (by bunnyy)
August 2017 - nvakna (by Toxigen)
July 2017 - frania (by Toxigen)
June 2017 - EmbCPT (by Toxigen)
June 2017 - Charlotte (by Toxigen)
May 2017 - Matame (by Toxigen)
May 2017 - Mishiimono (by Toxigen)
May 2017 - DaAwesomeDude1 (by Toxigen)
April 2017 - Demantoid (by Toxigen)
April 2017 - I Am a Rookie (by Toxigen)
September 2016 - stax (by bunnyy)
September 2016 - miltankmilk (by Yoda2798)
August 2016 - Dawg (by bunnyy)
July 2016 - Braverius (by bunnyy)
July 2016 - n1n1 (by bunnyy)
June 2016 - clius (by Yoda2798)
May 2016 - Yoda2798 (by bunnyy)
May 2016 - Kaori (by bunnyy)
April 2016 - MajorBowman (by bunnyy)
March 2016 - TUO (by bunnyy)
March 2016 - talkingtree (by bunnyy)
December 2015 - Lohgock (by Yoda2798)
December 2015 - GiraGoomy (by Yoda2798)
December 2015 - Croven (by Yoda2798)
December 2015 - Yellow Paint (by Yoda2798)
November 2015 - n10sit (by Yoda2798)
November 2015 - Nido-Rus (by Yoda2798)
November 2015 - shrop05 (by Yoda2798)
November 2015 - TGMD (by Yoda2798)
October 2015 - xzern (by Yoda2798)
October 2015 - Pastelle (by Yoda2798)
October 2015 - Checkmater (by Yoda2798)
September 2015 - iliketrains11 (by Yoda2798)
September 2015 - 13ulbasaur (by Yoda2798)
September 2015 - Electrolyte (by bunnyy)
August 2015 - Mizuhime (by bunnyy)
August 2015 - Level 51 (by bunnyy)
August 2015 - Laga (by bunnyy)
August 2015 - qsns (by bunnyy)
July 2015 - Audiosurfer (by bunnyy)
July 2015 - Arcticblast (by bunnyy)
July 2015 - Hashtag (by bunnyy)
June 2015 - deoxys speed (by bunnyy)
June 2015 - Memoric (by bunnyy)
June 2015 - shaian (by bunnyy)
June 2015 - kamikaze (by bunnyy)
June 2015 - KyleCole (by bunnyy)
May 2015 - Stratos (by bunnyy)
May 2015 - SpaceBass (by bunnyy)
May 2015 - finally (by bunnyy)
May 2015 - BLOOD TOTEM (by bunnyy)
May 2014 - Arcticblast (by Ultimathunder)
May 2014 - Audiosurfer (by Ultimathunder)
April 2014 - Darkmalice (by Ultimathunder)
April 2014 - Stratos (by Ultimathunder)
March 2014 - Braverius (by Ultimathunder)
March 2014 - Level 51 (by Ultimathunder)
March 2014 - Pocket (by Ultimathunder)
February 2014 - Mizuhime (by Ultimathunder)

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Interview #1 - DLT JRL BELL​

Most of the readers know who you are by now, but could you introduce yourself by telling a little bit about yourself?
Hey everyone! My name is Jose, mostly known as JRL. I'm from Spain and I'm in process of becoming a policeman. I love Pokemon since I was a little boy, I was one of those who always tried to complete the pokedex, those were fun times...


What does your username mean and why did you choose it?
JRL is a combination of the first letter of name, the second letter of my first surname and the third letter of my second surname, it's quite a mess actually, can you guess my actual name? But my smogon name (DLT JRL BELL) it's a mistake, I'm so eager to reach to 100 posts to change it.


Congratulations winning Seasonals! Compared to past tournaments, did you make any changes to the way you prepare for your matches which helped you win?
Thanks a lot! I'm aware that I have had a huge development in a short period of time. I owe this to Tenzai , who show me everything about this tier in the first place. The key to won this seasonal has been building and preparing teams alongside Tenzai and Voltix , the three of us have made a great tournament run thanks to that.


You had some experience in team tours through DPL, however Snake gets a lot more viability across Smogon. Do you feel more pressure and how are you enjoying it so far?
Playing DPL was a huge surprise to me, since I didn't have any experience in team tours or in XY DOU. It was also a great chance and a great experience for me, since I could share team with some of the greatest players. About the Snake, well, it was a tournament I thought I would never get to played, since the level is so big, so yeah, I'm gonna enjoy it, with no pressure and always giving my best.


Is there anyone you look up to as a player?
Of course! There are top tier players which I looked up to. Ezrael is one of the best players, with a great style and with a lot of success, I learn a lot from him during the DPL. SMB is the best Spanish DOU player, I really enjoy his builds, they are very creative. Lastly, my sensei Tenzai without his advice I would never reached this level.


Fall seasonals have just kicked off, do you think there are any less known players we should keep an eye on?
I think there are some players that can do a great tour taking into account his potential. First of all, Voltix, if he managed to play at his 100% he would be a hard opponent. My personal bets are papiloco , who I like his playstyle and can get some serious wins; and sawamura , who I expect to take this seriously to reach far.


Is there anything worth suspecting right now to ban or unban?
Honestly, I think the meta right now is pretty balanced after urshi and volcarona's suspects. I don't think there are going to be any other changes until the second DLC. Unbanning things before the DLC isn't an option either.


What do you consider the most underrated Pokemon or playstyle in the metagame?
TrickRoom is rising right now and I also want to highlight some pokemon as Necrozma or Scizor who I found them really strong.


Could you give us a team that resembles your playing and building style and give a little explanation about it?

Importable

Keldeo @ Choice Specs
Ability: Justified
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Air Slash
- Muddy Water
- Hydro Pump
- Secret Sword

Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 16 Atk / 84 Def / 120 SpD / 36 Spe
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off

Zeraora @ Life Orb
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Plasma Fists
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Protect

Mew @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Fake Out
- Stealth Rock
- Psychic
- Tailwind

Weezing-Galar @ Black Sludge
Ability: Neutralizing Gas
EVs: 248 HP / 24 Def / 16 SpA / 196 SpD / 24 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Toxic Spikes
- Sludge Bomb
- Dazzling Gleam
- Protect

Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 240 HP / 44 Atk / 184 SpD / 40 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Fake Out

I like balanced teams like this overall. This one is based on zeraora's offensive power next to mew and weezing's hazard support which makes a dent on a lot of teams. Specs keldeo, rilla and incineroar make a powerful WFG core, being the last two great supporters who are able to pivot around the opponent's team meanwhile hazards do their job.


Do you have any advice for players that are new to the tier?
My main advice is to watch matches from the best players of the tier and just analyze their builds, their plays, see what pokemon are the most used and understand what they did and why they did it. It can be a tedious process but if you get to enjoy it, results will probably catch up soon or later.


What are your hobbies outside of playing Pokemon? What do you like to do in your free time?
Besides Pokemon, I like to party hard and go to the gym (fuck Covid), I also like playing games like chess and action movies.


Is there anything you would like to add to the interview?
Just want to thank you n1n1, for doing me this interview, I really enjoyed it and hope to you guys get to know me a bit more. I also want to say I'm pretty happy with the DOU community, I have always felt like I'm a part of it and everyone has always been nice with me. Proud of all the mates who played and share this wonderful hobby. Stay safe everyone!!

 

[Bless]

You started playing dou when sm was the current meta so i wanted to ask you who was the toughest opponent you've played in bracket during gen7? I would also like to know your answer for SS

 

[shrop]

How does someone who doesn't speak English as their first language get introduced to competitive pokemon play on a pokemon forum that uses English as its primary language?

 

[KyleCole]

| I also like playing games like chess

What openings do you play? You should swing by the doubles chess club (fire_emblem in discord) and play some games with us :).

 

[JRL]

You started playing dou when sm was the current meta so i wanted to ask you who was the toughest opponent you've played in bracket during gen7? I would also like to know your answer for SS

I think the strongest opponent I played with in SM is Stax, I was humiliated very easily XD. In SS I think my strongest opponent was Memoric, it was a very difficult semifinal

 

[JRL]

How does someone who doesn't speak English as their first language get introduced to competitive pokemon play on a pokemon forum that uses English as its primary language?

For tenzai, if it were not for him I would never have played any tournament

 

[JRL]

| I also like playing games like chess

What openings do you play? You should swing by the doubles chess club (fire_emblem in discord) and play some games with us :).

Well, it should happen to me;). I haven't played in a while, but I love the English opening and of course the Spanish one.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

what is your favorite food from Spain that people from other countries might not know about and should try?
¿Cual es tu comida favorita de España que otros paises tal vez no conozcan sobre esta y deberian probarla?

what is your motivation to become a police?
¿Cual es tu motivacion para ser Policia?

 

[JRL]

what is your favorite food from Spain that people from other countries might not know about and should try?
¿Cual es tu comida favorita de España que otros paises tal vez no conozcan sobre esta y deberian probarla?

what is your motivation to become a police?
¿Cual es tu motivacion para ser Policia?

My favorite food that I think is not consumed in other countries are LAS MIGAS.

My biggest motivation to be a police officer is the idea of being able to help people and of course, having financial stability.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Interview 2 - Paraplegic​

Most of the readers know who you are by now, but could you introduce yourself by telling a little bit about yourself?
Hi everyone, Para/Steven here. I'm a 20 year old dude with far too much free time on his hands who spends a large fraction of it playing/talking about this tier.


What are your hobbies outside of playing Pokemon? What do you like to do in your free time?
Besides mons I play borderlands 3, watch a lot of youtube, or sit around playing different mobile games when boredom really strikes.


What does your username mean and why did you choose it?
Well, one day back in 2015, younger me was sitting in his room on pokemon showdown while listening to music. The song "Because I Got High" by Afroman came on, and in verse 5 he talks about running from the cops and becoming a paraplegic. Me, being a dumbass 15 year old, didn't know what the word meant at all, but I thought it sounded really cool and so after figuring out how to spell it, I went on showdown to check if it was available as an alt and lo and behold, it was. I registered it and just never stopped using it even after I eventually realized what it meant because by then people knew me as para and I didn't feel like going through the necessary channels for a name change.


I've always considered you a good player and builder but recently you have ascended, what do you attribute to taking your game to the next level?
Practice, lots and lots of practice. The more you play this game, the better you will get provided you're making an earnest effort to improve. That is just a fact. I've been slowly but surely getting better and better over the years, and it just so happened that around when ss dropped happened to coincide with when I started winning a lot more than I was losing.


How has your experience in Snake been so far? Which opponent(s) do you think will be the most challenging for you and Human to prepare for and why?
Snake has been a ton of fun for me, having always wanted to appear in trophy tours and now getting the opportunity is incredible! As far as who is the most difficult to prep for, I think preparing for any individual player(and sometimes the handiwork of their support too) presents its own individual set of challenges that makes it hard to pick who is exactly the most difficult to prep for. Gun to my head, forced to choose though, I'd probably go for Frania and Qwello Lee with Z Strats supporting him because Frania and Z Strats know me better than anyone else in the field and what my comfort zone in mons is the best. Prepping around my opponents knowledge of me is something I always find a bit difficult and taxing.


Is there anyone you've looked up to as a player?
Pure playing ability-wise at this point, the only person I overly look up to is Ezrael , because that dude is on another level I swear. Other people who I've looked up to in the past but now consider my peers and friends are MajorBowman , frania, Memoric , qsns , and the original person who I looked up to whos youtube got me into the tier, KyleCole .


Gen8 is still relatively new and continually changing due to DLC and more than usual amount of bans through suspect. Are you enjoying the relatively rapid change of the meta or wish it was more steady like past gens? And what play styles or mons do you think are underrated in the current state?
I think the ever changing meta is both a blessing and a curse for myself. On one hand I enjoy fresh metas because it really allows my creativity and love for team building to shine through and its how you get things like smashpass in week 1 of dpl. On the other hand, stability would most definitely be a good thing and I'm really looking forward to when the next dlc drops and we can finally try to reach a fully stable point until gamefreak throws some more curveballs at us. For mons that I think are underrated rn, I think hatterene is probably still slept on a bit too much because omg its so dangerous. I also think the indeedees both are a bit underrated because everyone just uses rillaboom but psy terrain is also very good in this meta, and provided you pack ways to win the terrain war on your team, can let you just expanding force your way through whole teams.


Could you give us a team that resembles your playing and building style and give a little explanation about it?

Importable

Zeraora @ Assault Vest
Ability: Volt Absorb
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Fake Out
- Plasma Fists
- Knock Off
- Volt Switch

Togekiss @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 192 Def / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Dazzling Gleam
- Air Slash
- Tailwind

Excadrill @ Life Orb
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- High Horsepower
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Tyranitar @ Safety Goggles
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 124 SpD / 88 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Taunt
- Crunch
- Rock Slide
- Protect

Kommo-o @ Throat Spray
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clangorous Soul
- Clanging Scales
- Flamethrower
- Protect

Rillaboom @ Assault Vest
Ability: Grassy Surge
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Atk / 212 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Grassy Glide
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Its a sample but whatever, its fairly typical for a para build and it fits my play style nicely. Its built around the offensive potential of kommo+steel type, steel in this case being excadrill, and just focuses on supporting those two through having a solid backbone to cover the general metagame as I see it and with a cool little surprise set in the form of safety goggles tyranitar, which is a funny ass set that works lol.


And how about a past gen team?

Importable

Kommo-o @ Kommonium Z
Ability: Soundproof
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Clanging Scales
- Flamethrower
- Substitute
- Protect

Gothitelle @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 252 HP / 108 Def / 68 SpD / 80 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Helping Hand
- Trick
- Protect

Tapu Koko @ Magnet
Ability: Electric Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Dazzling Gleam
- Volt Switch
- Protect

Landorus-Therian @ Iapapa Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 252 HP / 44 Def / 176 SpA / 28 SpD / 8 Spe
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Stealth Rock

Incineroar @ Mago Berry
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 76 Atk / 16 Def / 68 SpD / 100 Spe
Careful Nature
- Fake Out
- Flare Blitz
- Knock Off
- U-turn

Metagross-Mega @ Metagrossite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Ice Punch
- Thunder Punch
- Protect

old reliable for me in sm, I was using this kommo goth way before everybody replaced the kyube on the bowman team. The whole point is to use trick scarf goth to create some advantageous scenario for yourself where youre playing 2v1, and from there find a way to get kommo in, clang, and win. Really simple, really fun, and really punishes misplays so Ive always found this team to be a delight.


You've been a long time player and have seen lots of changes in the community overtime. What do you like about Smogon Doubles and what would you like to see changed?
I think the community is in a very great place right now in all honesty, our leadership is great and does a fantastic job of fostering a welcoming, open, and friendly community so no complaints here. If I could change one thing about dou as a whole, it would honestly be how much it gets promoted because I'd love to see more fresh faces get involved. I myself have no idea how this could really be done but its the one thing I would change if I could.


Do you have any advice for players that are new to the tier?
Ask for help. If you approach the more experienced players with a friendly attitude and an actual willingness to accept their advice, plenty of people are very willing to help. Also practice. The more games you play, generally the better you will get provided you're actively trying to improve. Ask for games vs good players, or just climb the ladder, when you're new either is honestly fine for your purposes. Save your replays so you can watch them and learn where you're messing up so you don't just repeat the same mistakes over and over again and instead can learn from them. If you develop a good enough relationship with someone you view as better than you, ask them for help with this because it can honestly make it way easier especially when you're still new. Also, watch as many high level replays as you can, see how the top level players do things, make note of their plays, and try to understand why they click what they click and how it benefits them and their gamestate overall. The final thing I can advise is to use the calc whenever you need to, try not to get lazy and just guess how much something is gonna do if you don't already know. Knowing how much something is gonna do goes a huge way towards determining your best move and calcing just goes a huge amount of the way towards successful game planning. I tried answering this as comprehensively as I could, and if need be I also encourage any new players who need help to reach out to me if they have questions about any of this or want help because Im more than happy to assist with most of this stuff!


Is there anything you would like to add to the interview?
First and foremost, thank you n1n1 for interviewing me, and thank you to anyone who took the time to read this! I want to shoutout all my friends (y'all know who you are) for being cool, the dou community in general for being awesome, and god weezing just because I love it so much. Finally, clang clang.

 

[Amaranth]

My man. I have fond memories of "teaming" with you on the wolfpack, very happy to see you actually make it to officials.

I have a question: how stoned were you when you decided that Sableye / Heracross / Ninetales was the way to go, and have you ever tried to recreate the conditions which lead to that masterpiece? It's still the only BW team I can ever actually win with, please do more like that.

Good luck in Snake

 

[Fran]

I know you dislike the current metagame, yet still are for the dynamax ban. In your mind is there anything we could do / could've done to make it better?

Who do you expect to have the best record in Snake?

Favorite Water?

 

[Paraplegic]

My man. I have fond memories of "teaming" with you on the wolfpack, very happy to see you actually make it to officials.

I have a question: how stoned were you when you decided that Sableye / Heracross / Ninetales was the way to go, and have you ever tried to recreate the conditions which lead to that masterpiece? It's still the only BW team I can ever actually win with, please do more like that.

Good luck in Snake

Awooooo, I will always cherish those couple years in the wolfpack dou chat, some of my fondest memories I have associated with mons!

As for your question: Probably incredibly, STUPIDLY so. That team looks so terrible and yet it finds a way to win often enough where its one of my favorites haha, I'm glad you enjoy it. I can one day try to sit down and make more stupid teams that have the capability to win, but not any time too soon cause I don't really focus on bw right now, I kind of solely focus on ss and its going pretty well so I don't want to cut into that, you know?

Thank you!! :D

I know you dislike the current metagame, yet still are for the dynamax ban. In your mind is there anything we could do / could've done to make it better?

Who do you expect to have the best record in Snake?

Favorite Water?

Well, if I had my way, shifu wouldn't be dubers and in all honesty for this gen I'd be very for reinstating sleep clause cause sleep is fucking stupid, but otherwise I think the state of the meta is just a result of the dlc and I actually do expect it to get better when the next dlc drops and we're working with a more complete field again(read: the legendaries will probably make a lot of the currently stupid stuff a lot more manageable and its a lot easier to point the fingerat any individual legend mon thats shows itself to be borked than most of the issues we currently face, where there isn't an overly clear culprit).

For who I think is gonna end up with the best snake record, I'm going to cheat a bit and give 2 answers, with the knowledge of how the first 2 weeks have gone at my disposal of course. Maybe it'll be a bit of a hot take, but I'm going to go ahead and predict umbry and qsns to have the best records come the end of it, both are phenomenal, are off to good starts, and despite qsns having an L to umbry herself, I expect him to bounce back and for her to keep chugging along, and I personally don't foresee either slowing down.

My favorite water type as a whole is wooper, because its adorable and my second favorite mon in general. Competitively, its toise, because its kit is insane and its so flexible, so I find it very enjoyable to pilot.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Interview 3 - Nails​

Most of the readers know who you are by now, but could you introduce yourself by telling a little bit about yourself?
Hey I'm Nails. I've been playing competitive mons since 2010 and in that time I've done a bit of everything in our game. I'm an established RBY OU main and went 13-5 in the past two SPLs, I finished the 2017 VGC season ranked #1 in North America, and I was the RU Tier Leader at the start of BW. I started playing DOU last Snake and the tier is super cool so I've stuck around.


What are your hobbies outside of playing Pokemon? What do you like to do in your free time?
My main hobby outside of Pokemon right now is Hearthstone. I'm currently not much more than a ladder hero in that game but I consistently hang out in high legend on NA, I've finished the past 2 months ranks 44/66. I often nickname my mons after cards from a deck that I enjoy playing at the time; this past week in snake my mons were named after Turtle Mage.


What does your username mean and why did you choose it?
I picked Nailincoffin as my RuneScape username when I was 13 because a college football announcer in the other room said the phrase and it sounded cool. Friends in that game called me Nails and I stuck with it.


It seems like you have been spending more time playing Smogon Doubles as your main tier this gen. Are there any changes from gen7 to gen8 that your particularly enjoy in Smogon Doubles?
The changes from gen 7 to 8 are crazy. I didn't play much DOU when Dynamax was legal since I was primarily focused on VGC and RBY OU at that point in time, but my stance is that the council and the community were too hasty in their decision to ban it. I don't think the tier is much worse without it, but I think it's a shame that we're no longer using the gen's flagship mechanic. Aside from that, the movepool changes from TRs and other things are crazy; Fake Out Gothitelle and Pollen Puff Mew are still crazy to me after many months. Changes like those do a great job of keeping the game fresh, and overall I'm a big fan of what Game Freak has done the past 2 gens.


In a previous interview you did I found it interesting that in the early days of Smogon, ghosting was a big factor in your development as a player. Do you think Smogon should start introducing some ghosting tours so new players can benefit like you did? If so, what type of tournament formats would you like to see?
It's hard to say. I think more than organized tournaments it's often easier to just play games with friends, either with each other or against ladder opponents and talk through the positions that come up, and think deeply about game states and which actions have the best results.


Also related to the previous interview, you mentioned you learned a lot from hugo. Are there any VGC/Doubles players you have looked up to or learned a lot from?
Not really? I'm not trying to throw shade, but I generally have tried to play Pokemon my own way, at least from the time I started playing 2v2 formats in 2015. With that said, friends have still helped me out a ton of course; there are too many to name in this space but I'll give a special shoutout to Tub Nation.


How has your experience in Snake been so far? Which opponent(s) do you think will be the most challenging to prepare for and why?
I think my prep through the first 3 weeks has been pretty excellent to be honest, I'm really happy with every team that I've shown up with and that is not an easy feat. Cranking out a new DOU team every week is Hard (though I recycled Sun for one of those weeks). I'll pick the easy answer for the second half and say that Ezrael will be my hardest opponent to prepare for since I work so closely with him.


For the doubles players who do not have experience in singles but would like to try, could you give us a singles team and explain how to use it? (gen of your choice)

Importable

Starmie
Ability: Illuminate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 2 Atk
- Psychic
- Thunder Wave
- Recover
- Thunderbolt

Snorlax
Ability: Immunity
- Body Slam
- Self-Destruct
- Reflect
- Rest

Chansey
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 2 Atk
- Sing
- Soft-Boiled
- Ice Beam
- Counter

Tauros
Ability: Intimidate
- Body Slam
- Hyper Beam
- Blizzard
- Earthquake

Alakazam
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
IVs: 2 Atk
- Psychic
- Seismic Toss
- Thunder Wave
- Recover

Cloyster
Ability: Shell Armor
- Blizzard
- Clamp
- Explosion
- Rest

As hard as it is to explain how to play RBY in a paragraph, I'll try my best. One of the main priorities in an RBY early game is fighting over sleep, and this team aims to get its sleep off before statusing any other Pokemon; the turn 1 play is ideally switch to Chansey on a Thunder Wave and Sing until you hit one. This Chansey is the "triple OHKO move" variant, with Sing/Ice Beam/Counter all capable of taking a Pokemon out of comission, and it's the main engine which creates progress for the team. Reflect Snorlax is in my opinion mandatory on RBY OU teams; this one carries Self-Destruct to allow it to trade off threatening mons that might otherwise run away with a game, such as Zapdos or Slowbro. Starmie and Alakazam are very potent all around contributors, capable of spreading paralysis and trading damage favorably with many mons. Try and keep at least one of them clear from status, having something faster than Tauros can be decisive in endgames. Cloyster is the most consistent check to Normals (Tauros/Snorlax) in RBY OU, and it's a luxury that this team can afford thanks to Sing Chansey providing phenomenal role compression. Blizzard can fish for freeze, Clamp can force progress to chip things into range for teammates or act as a pseudo last-ditch wincon, and Boom functions like it does for Snorlax. Tauros is the final piece of the puzzle, and my advice for piloting your bull is generally take the more conservative line. Tauros is a monster in an endgame, capable of taking damage trades with anything else in the format when it wants to, so preserving its health so you can leverage your bull later often pays dividends. And to just hit that point home, focusing on setting up winning endgames is often one of the best ways to frame thinking about RBY play.


Do you have any advice for players that are new to the tier?
Think more. This is the advice both Ezrael and I give to players at all levels of play all the time, including each other. Pokemon is hard, and consistent success is a result of analyzing the game better than your opponent and clicking better buttons than them because you understand the position better. Run calcs to inform your gameplay. Think about paths to victory and what needs to happen to achieve them. Rewatch games, both your own and others', and consider what you would do in positions. The skill ceiling in Pokemon is incredibly high, and covering for as much of your opponents' range of options as possible is both challenging and deeply interesting. Learn from others, but always strive to understand things for yourself. And lastly, make friends and work with them. Pokemon is a team game and having friends is broken.


Is there anything you would like to add to the interview?
I'll just give a brief shoutout to The Tub, and a thanks to the people who have helped me. The list is way too long to do it justice, but I appreciate all of you.

 

[Amaranth]

Pokemon is a team game and having friends is broken.

Big facts, you became a much better rbyer after you started talking to me

But nah fr if you don't love Nails what the FUCK are you doing. Nails is the best. Good luck in Snake

e: wow lame the forums have a different : shaymin :

 

[sawamura]

I have always thought and underestimated Nails the presence of nails in this Format but the truth is that it has surprised me and the way it plays is Very In the style of the Greats of this Format. At the Time of Buildear In which gen7 which mon does First come you to mind? What do you think of when you have to do something in a serious and complex way?

 

[Nails]

I have always thought and underestimated Nails the presence of nails in this Format but the truth is that it has surprised me and the way it plays is Very In the style of the Greats of this Format. At the Time of Buildear In which gen7 which mon does First come you to mind? What do you think of when you have to do something in a serious and complex way?

It's been a year since I seriously prepped gen 7 DOU, and I only really played one tournament in the format. It's probably Tapu Koko or Landorus-T though. Koko's the fastest mon in most games that it's in, one of the most consistent damage dealers, and the best offensive pivot. As for Lando, this calc and related image basically sum up gen 7 DOU Lando imo:

252 SpA Charizard-Mega-Y Overheat vs. 252 HP / 216+ SpD Landorus-Therian in Sun: 318-375 (83.2 - 98.1%)

Fat Lando is one of my favorite mons to use in SM DOU, this is probably the best showing it'll ever get but it's one of my favorite replays for that reason.

As for how I teambuild, it's something I've practiced for over a decade at this point. I basically just consider the options that are available and decide which of them is most preferable. It's a really abstract question so it's tough to answer, I don't try to be needlessly complex when I'm building or optimizing a team if the end goal isn't better than something simpler. Feel free to follow up if I didn't give the answer you were looking for, I'm not totally sure what you wanted.

 

[sawamura]

the truth is the answer that a great player like you would give, I hope to continue seeing him on tour

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

Interview 4 - DaWoblefet​

Most of the readers know who you are by now, but could you introduce yourself by telling a little bit about yourself?
Hi! My name's DaWoblefet, and I'm a competitive doubles player and mechanics researcher. I'm an admin on PS, which helps me synthesize those two major interests by reporting and helping to fix mechanics bugs. Also on Showdown, I manage the VGC room and its bot. I do YouTube stuff, uploading whenever I feel like it with whatever content I feel interested in at the time, mostly mechanics videos and tournament match replays. I got into Doubles OU back in 2016 by way of n10sit back in 2016, during the late XY meta, but I've settled in more as a BW DOU player who occasionally dips his toes in modern gens.


What are your hobbies outside of playing Pokemon? What do you like to do in your free time?
I'm a big fan of ping-pong, and I love playing it during my lunch break at work with students (I work as a website administrator at a college). The foreign exchange students are always better than the Americans, so I try to time my breaks to play with them when possible.

I love studying Christian philosophy, researching whether there are good reasons to think God exists, examining the coherence of theism, things like that. I own several books related to the matter, but more frequently I'll listen/watch debates and discussions between top theist and atheist thinkers that occur at universities around the world. If you have questions about whether or not Christianity is an intellectually credible option in a modern world, feel free to ask!


What does your username mean and why did you choose it?
There's a newsletter in Pokemon Red/Blue Mystery Dungeon that has the title "Wobby Wobbuffet Wanders", and I thought the alliteration was clever so I combined the first two words together. I thought "Da" made it sound even cooler, so I was originally going to be DaWobblefet with two b's. However, on Flipnote Studio, a popular DSi app that allowed you to draw and create animations, there was a 10-character restriction on usernames, so I dropped a b and went with DaWoblefet. I liked how unique the username was, so I kept it when I originally signed up for Nugget Bridge, an old VGC forum, and I've used it ever since for consistency across platforms.

As an aside – many people in the doubles community in particular call me dawob, but I much prefer wob or woble as shortened versions of my username.


You have been active in Smogon Doubles and VGC, which do you prefer and why?
There are good things about both, but I'll always prefer in-person VGC tournaments. The pumping of your heart as you're in a tense situation, the satisfaction of pulling off a read after conditioning the opponent, the joy of celebrating victories with friends between rounds, things like these all feel so much more real when you're playing in person as opposed to on a computer. I also much prefer team-locked best-of-three play. In a DOU setting, you always have time to prepare for a specific opponent and teambuild specifically for them, effectively winning 2 or 3 best-of-ones rather than a single best-of-three. During live VGC tournaments, your team has to respect many more playstyles and team matchups than a single match would prepare you for, which emphasizes consistency at the cost of a specific particular advantage. I personally think this is why so many VGC players have a very easy time finding success in Doubles OU – look at emforbes , EmbCPT , as obvious examples, or Bopper or James Baek as players who played in a couple of DOU tournaments, won stuff, and got bored and went back to VGC. They develop a level of natural consistency that makes it difficult to counterstyle directly, and their exposure to high-pressure situations in irl matches makes the stress of online tournament play easier to manage. If I'm honest, I think one of the reasons I like playing DOU is because it's comparably easy for me to succeed at it, as someone with lots of prior VGC experience.


What is your most memorable experience in VGC?
Many great memories are from hanging out with friend groups during the non-tournament parts of an event, but I'll stick with a strictly competition-oriented memory. The St. Louis Regional in 2018 was probably one of the best times I've ever felt playing Pokemon. I started 0-1 for the day and won seven in a row to top cut the event, taking victories over a local rival who I frequently traded wins with, as well as the fellow who knocked me out of Worlds invite contention in 2017 with ScarfChomp + Aerodactyl clicking Rock Slide a lot. I had not top cut a major event in over a year, despite putting forward my best effort at 4 different majors in the VGC 2017 format. I cried for joy after my final win because I was so happy. It was also the first and only tournament so far that I have won a physical trophy (brick) from.


Are there any players which you have looked up to or learned a lot from in particular?
VGC-side, far and away Wolfe Glick, no question. At the start of my VGC experience in 2013, I studied his 2012 Worlds team report and learned about how little I actually knew the game. I would search for hours trying to find a single replay of him playing so I could try to play more like he did. His attitude and philosophy about the game very much shaped my own. Lessons such as taking personal responsibility for losses rather than making excuses, using offensive pressure to generate low-risk plays, and the importance of managing the clock are some examples of this.

DOU-side, stax has always been the non-VGC doubles player that has impressed me the most with his consistency and understanding of the game. There are many good DOU players that don't play VGC, but stax stands out to me for his ability to incorporate unique, independently viable sets into tournament-viable teams. Sets like these work fine if the opponent knows about them, but they are exceptional if the opponent doesn't know, as you get the surprise factor without the teambuilding cost of being gimmicky.


Could you give us a BW Smogon Doubles team that resembles your playing and building style and give a little explanation about it?

Importable

Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 28 HP / 252 Atk / 48 SpD / 180 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower

Latios @ Dragon Gem
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 2 Atk / 30 SpA / 30 SpD
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Protect

Thundurus @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 252 HP / 24 Def / 16 SpA / 168 SpD / 48 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Thunder Wave
- Taunt
- Protect

Metagross @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 188 Atk / 60 SpD / 8 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Mash
- Zen Headbutt
- Substitute
- Protect

Jellicent (M) @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Def / 156 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 4 Spe
- Scald
- Will-O-Wisp
- Recover
- Trick Room

Tyranitar @ Chople Berry
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Rock Slide
- Crunch
- Low Kick
- Stealth Rock

Far and away this is my most consistent and balanced team in modern BW. Ezrael , for example, utilized this team heavily in BW Cup to generate a 2nd-place finish, and Frania used a similar build to also place in the top 8. Originally built as a "generally solid team" vs. Mizuhime in DPL, the team flows incredibly well together, offering multiple checks to common archetypes and strategies while utilizing core "good BW Pokemon". To give a few examples: Metagross with Sub is very powerful, walling a number of support Pokemon, trading well with both variants of Kyurem-Black, and offering a good offensive typing against non-Steels. Heatran, however, is a popular Pokemon that gives Metagross a lot of trouble, especially with Sub. This team has multiple ways of pressuring Heatran, however, between Scarf Lando EQ and three Fire-type resists that can hit it back for super-effective damage in Tyranitar, Latios, and Jellicent. Latios itself is really cool, taking big knockouts with the extra stats that Timid Latios struggles to reach. To compensate for the worse Latios mirror matchup, Scarf Lando's U-turn, Tyranitar and Metagross all offensively threaten it with large damage, and Jellicent and Thundurus can take its Draco and apply Speed control (note: this is the other 5 Pokemon on the team). It has good rain answers with Thundurus and Tyranitar stripping sand of its speed, Jellicent walling Steel + Water-type cores, and generally having bulky Pokemon that still pressure the rest of rain. I could drone on for a while about how fun it feels to play, but put simply, I've been very pleased with the general synergy of the 6.


What do you like about Smogon Doubles and what would you like to see changed?
Easily the best thing about Smogon Doubles is that you have community-lead bans and unbans. It was every VGC player's wet dream in 2016 to do something about Dark Void Smeargle and the fact that in DOU it's like "lol of course that's stupid" is a welcome addition. The community also is really good with identifying what's actually problematic in a metagame.

I would like to see more significance placed on exclusive tournaments specifically relevant to DOU, like circuit playoffs. The last couple in SM felt like it really didn't mean much of anything to the players in the tournament itself, let alone spectators. Because the format is near identical to pretty much every DOU tournament ever on Smogon, and there was nothing really distinguishing it further besides the title of the tournament, I feel like what should be a hype showcase of top DOU talent ended up being just another DOU tournament (not to say the matches were mediocre, but it felt like the tournament itself meant nothing).


What are your responsibilities as a &? Are there any cool perks that come with it which you can share?
Each admin has self-assigned focus areas that they tend towards. I am a tech admin with a focus on bug report triage and management, which encompasses things like mechanics research, working with devs on mechanics implementation, verifying that bugs reported are really bugs, etc. Like other Showdown staff, I also do a good bit of moderation work – a take a lot of help tickets to process appeals or punish players on ladder for harassing their opponents, using slurs, etc.

This probably sounds very cliché, but one of the biggest perks of having moderation powers is seeing justice served to bad users. When you use racist slurs or other bigoted language on Showdown, harass the opponent in PMs after losing a battle, or pick sexual usernames, it feels good to know I've removed one additional bad user on PS and made PS ever so slightly better for the VGC playerbase, and PS users as a whole. If you're looking for a fun sort of admin perk, I occasionally troll the Lobby with fake buttons that log you out of Showdown and then I laugh when I see the chat's reaction.


Do you have any advice for players that are new to the tier?
Perhaps not so much for brand-spanking new players, but here's some advice for improving in Pokemon generally:

1. Watch replays of top players in tournament matches. Put yourself in their shoes. What would I do here if I were them? Why did they make the play that they did? How did they predict their opponent was going to do x? Fortunately in DOU, you may well have the opportunity to reach out specifically to those players to ask them questions on the match. You want to understand the why and how.

2. Watch replays of yourself, especially your losses. Many players peak at Pokemon because they won't acknowledge where they went wrong and instead blame external factors, such as team matchup or hax. The vast, vast majority of games which players claim to lose via "hax" had many factors well within their control, and it is unhelpful to focus on elements which you cannot control. They never improve because they're too proud to investigate the reasons they're losing.


Is there anything you would like to add to the interview?
go Demantoid

 

[sawamura]

Mish

 

[Grandmas Cookin]

mish

 

[HeatEdgeSword]

On the scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate n10sit (no mish btw)

 

[DaWoblefet]

On the scale of 1 to 10, how would you rate n10sit (no mish btw)

10/10 fellow, he's let me stay over at his place for VGC events more times than I can count, for free too.

 

[Platinum God n1n1]

some follow ups for DaWoblefet

What is the most interesting quirk you have come across in your research?

As the DUbers TL, Do you have any plans to help grow the meta? Its more popular than DUU on the ladder but far less popular amongst us tourny bros, so it seems like there is opportunity for it to grow. Maybe a forum tour after DLC?
Do you think DLC will have a big impact on the DUbers, any mons in particular that interest you in the next drop for DUbers?