Sign-Up Apprentice Program Signups: SV OU

[Thor]

Welcome to Battling 101! If you're seeking a tutor for SV OU, you are in the right place. Please read all the rules carefully and fill out every part of the application.

RULES​

• You must be able to access Discord, or whatever your tutor wants as the primary form of communication.
• You must be willing to use Pokemon Showdown! even if you are being tutored in a cartridge format such as Battle Spot or VGC.
• You, the tutee, should have at least 15 posts before signing up AND your account's age should be a minimum of at least 1 month old before signing up.
  • This is not a strict requirement meaning you may still be paired without satisfying it, so no matter what, DO NOT spam post elsewhere in the forum. That is an infractable offense and we do not encourage such behavior from potential Tutees.
• You must have battled competitively for a decent amount in at least ONE of the Smogon tiers or Battle Spot / VGC to sign up. Playing 10 or so matches on the PS! ladder is not substantial enough, ~70 or so is more reasonable. This experience does not need to be for the format you sign-up for; this is just to weed out people who have never played competitively that can improve themselves simply by using resources already available to them without needing a tutor to hold their hand.
• You, the tutee, are responsible for setting up times with your tutor. When you receive the Smogon notification informing you of the pairing, please take the initiative and post on their VM wall first. Continued scheduling and communication is key to a successful pairing!
• Use the Tutee Talk forum to complain about your tutor (or praise them if they're doing a good job). These are no longer mandatory, but if your tutor is ridiculously inactive or is a complete jackass, COMPLAIN HERE. Nobody can see your tutee talk posts except for you and the Battling 101 Staff; everything is confidential.
• Signups older than 4 months or 1 month since last login will be considered inactive. These will be moved to the Inactive Posts thread, and can be returned back to this thread by request.
• Tutors can and will drop you if sessions go badly, and significant violations may result in a ban from B101. Be active, be enthusiastic, be respectful. Make the best of your time together!

Here is the signup template, and an example sign-up post.

Username:
PS! Username:
Signup Format:
Your timezone:
Usual Hours of Availability:
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences):
Are you able to use Discord?:

Username: Shiba
PS! Username: Big Sean
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: EST (GMT -5)
Usual Hours of Availability: weekdays 8 PM - 12 AM, weekends 12 PM - 12 AM
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I started playing competitively in early XY and spammed Baton Pass on the ladder. I was pretty skilled I guess. I then got more involved with Smogon and started to play in various tournaments like UUPL and later on Snake and SPL. I could use a bit more practice in this tier though, so I'm looking to get help
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes

Signup template for Chinese language tutoring:

你的Smogon ID：
你的PSID：
想报名学习的分级：
你的时区：
通常空闲的时间：
简单介绍你的宝可梦对战经历(至少三句话)：

 

[Jertsi]

Returned: 07/29/2025

Username: Jertsi
PS! Username: jertsi
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT+2
Usual Hours of Availability: Weekdays 9-15, few evenings a week, but cant guarantee a regular time, but I am flexible.
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I do not have a lot of messages on the forum as I am mostly a lurker and enjoy reading. I only started competitively playing in Gen 9 OU in 2024 and I am currently hovering around 1400. I have enjoyed it a lot and am looking to get better. I am comfortable playing HO but would like to get some guidance on balanced or otherwise more defensive teams and overall battling. I am also interested in team building and want to mostly use my own teams.
Are you able to use Discord?:Yes.

 

[phosphor]

Signups for Chinese language tutoring is now available for this tier!

Use this template to sign up for it:

你的Smogon ID：
你的PSID：
想报名学习的分级：
你的时区：
通常空闲的时间：
简单介绍你的宝可梦对战经历(至少三句话)：

 

[Gochan]

Username: Gochan
PS! Username: Gochan
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: -4
Usual Hours of Availability: Mostly I'm available on nights after 8 pm
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I've been playing pokemon showdown since Gen 5, when this new gen came up I tried to adapt the first time actually got some good records and when the OLT started this gen in specific I got to 1700-1800 unfortunately couldn't qualify, I literally dropped this gen after wcup 2022 when it was the last time playing full current gen I went 1-1 with team Venezuela, I'm getting again this gen and would like to improve my builds and gameplan since OLT is coming again and I don't wanna miss it. Also to help me with other tours would definitely be a big plus getting better this tier
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes, Gochan_n

 

[liquidrelief]

Username: Surmen6781
PS! Username: Surmen6781
Signup Format: SV OU
Timezone: GMT +3
Usual Hours Of Availability: 16.00-22.00 (weekdays)
Currently Unavailable on Saturdays
Free on Sundays
Tell us a little about your competitive pokemon history: I started playing PS! for Gen 2 OU and my elo stood around 1100. Out of rage, I decided to jump to other generations (my most successful one was Gen 6 with 1250 but then I underperformed and got to 1100 again) and then tournaments. It's safe to say I sucked at them. I only joined two and at both of them, I lost against the first opponent two rounds in and my second opponent called act on me. Because of this, I gained an excessive amount of doubt, carelessness and rudeness (go up a few lines and you'll see proof) against everything PS! related. In fact, before writing this signup post, I punched my roomates balls because he dared to show me a video.
Are you able to use Discord?: yes (surminader)

 

[Alxiz]

Username: Max op boy
PS! Username: 0Rose Thorns
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT +10 (aka Australia, Victoria)
Usual Hours of Availability: on weekdays and Saturday I’m available at 1PM - 5PM on Sundays 2PM - 6PM
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences):
I have been playing competitively since after the Dracovish ban in SS OU. I have recently bottomed out at around 1500 Elo,
I still have a lot to learn and have lots of room for improvement, I’m decent at team building and would say good at battling. I have hopes to become a top notch player, building great teams and clutching up tournaments.
Are you able to use Discord?: yes, (0rose_thorns)

 

[yunino]

Username: yunino
PS! Username: yunino
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT -4
Usual Hours of Availability: all day every day except monday and tuesday
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I've been playing since gen6 i think, never got to the point to really deep learn everything. Im pretty good with the basics and been able to win some tournaments matchs (other tiers). im also a fan of climbing ladder and getting top 500, done that before but never in OU
Are you able to use Discord?: yes, disc: venezolana

 

[LB]

Username: LB
PS! Username: longestbanana
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT +1
Usual Hours of Availability: During the week from 5pm onwards, weekend im free if im not doing anything and prefer to do everything at night time from like 11pm -3am but idm in the day is fine as well
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I play a lot of sv ou, i’ve peaked #8 on ladder which was ALMOST 2000 elo but i haven’t hit that mark yet, i’ve played in many pls and gained wins over many notable players. i can also build and build for some of my teamates and friends for their games. but this year i wanna get drafted in scl and also hopefully qualify for olt so i figured getting a tutor may help, i know effort = results and i’m ready to put in effort
Are you able to use Discord?: yes, my discord is astralys.

 

[PixelBob]

Username: PixelBob
PS! Username: UKRyD
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT+1
Usual Hours of Availability: 4pm-10pm GMT+1 on weekdays, more flexible on weekends
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): Been a ladder player for multiple generations having started in gen 7, Gen 9 is where i really started to learn and enjoy mons having reached Top 7 on ladder with a peak elo of 1986 not managing to break the 2k elo mark however consistently able to hit 1900s, Recently started to join the Smogon side of competitive having joined my first tours recently however didnt preform as well as i would like. Able to slightly build and have given good suggestions to finish teams however looking to improve my building to be able to help out more when it comes to that area and improve my clicking so I can have a better chance at entering and performing well in tournaments, Will put the effort in to improve
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes my discord is ukryd

 

[SwordIsBored]

Username: SwordIsBored
PS! Username: SwordIsBored
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT 0
Usual Hours of Availability: Weekdays: 3pm - 6pm Weekends: Just about whenever
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I've been playing competitive mons for a while and now I'm trying to really put my foot into current gen OU. I've had moderate success in other tiers and my climb up the ladder has been going well so far though I have never been the type to build a team- that I want to change. I'd also like to get tutoring to know the metagame better, I feel as if my play is solid but my knowledge is sometimes not there.
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes

 

[mariner]

Username: mariner
PS! Username: S/D/D Yugo
Signup Format: SV OU
Timezone: EST / GMT -4
Usual Availability: 9-11 AM and 10 PM onwards on weekdays, 10 PM onwards on weekends
Experience: I used to play a LOT few years back, usually SS OU and custom games (I played a lot in a Galar-themed server with no EVs/IVs or natures, which, in retrospect, neutered my understanding of the game quite a bit even now). Once I started college, I stopped playing due to a lack of time, but have since started playing some random battles for fun. I used to play teams with some sort of gimmick/theme (weather, terrain, monotype), but I really like rain teams. I've mostly netdecked a lot of the teams I used in Gen 8 OU, and I want to change that by learning how to build teams. In terms of actual battling, I'm pretty mid and I never really broke past 1500 even when I used to play a lot, and I didn't really know the metagame too well either - I can only imagine how much more complicated it has gotten in Gen 9.
Discord: aquam4riner

 

[Dusk Mage Necrozma]

Username: Dusk Mage Necrozma
PS! Username: Dusk Mage Necrozma
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT-4 (EST)
Usual Hours of Availability: Weekdays from 3:30 PM
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I've been playing OU on and off since Sword and Shield to mixed results. I've played quite a lot - I have over 800 games of OU logged between my accounts - but never at even a decent level, until I recently pushed to 1600 elo, where I now flounder. I've also dabbled in CAP, pet mods, and a bit of VGC. Bulky balance is my lifeblood, especially with Boots spam and/or Wish.
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes (duskmagenecrozma)

 

[Vortex!]

Username: Vortex!
PS! Username: Voortex!
Registration format: SV OU
Your time zone: -3
Normal availability time: Evenings
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokémon (min. 3 sentences): I've played in some tournaments, like OUFL, Masters (being champion), PUWC, but I didn't get good results in all of them, I need to learn more about the tier to become a good player
Can you use Discord?: I can, davixn.i7p

 

[GOATED im_m0rtal.]

Username: GOATED im_m0rtal.
PS! Username: GOAT im_m0rtal.
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: +5.5
Usual Hours of Availability: pretty free besides exam, very flexible
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): started around 7/8 months ago. Used to play SV then transitioned into ORAS and SM where ive had some success. Looking to get back into SV. I have peaked 1830 on SVOU ladder. I can build decently, but want to click better and reach a ladder peak. Been drafted for 2 PLs till now (not in sv) but i want to increase that.
Are you able to use Discord?: yes

 

[Toryyy]

Username: Toryyy
PS! Username: Tory4
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT-3
Usual Hours Of Availability: 2PM to 11PM
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I started playing Showdown about two years ago, frequently playing ladder in National Dex and SS OU. I signed up for Smogon six months later and wanted to learn how to play SV OU. I'm currently looking to improve in the format.
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes

 

[Bxlu]

Username: W80
PS! Username: W80
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT+1
Usual Hours of Availability: 4pm-10pm GMT+1 on weekdays, more flexible on weekends
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): Been a ladder player in 2023 and I quit the game that year I wasn’t that good and I came back to the game in 2025 and still not very good lol. I want to become better at the game and actually get a good elo when I ladder. I don’t know a lot about team building for sv ou but I do know some things about it. My main goal is to get good enough to dominate in tournaments not get knocked out in the first round again :) I hope someone could make me there apprentice.

 

[passionfruit_fan]

Username: passionfruit_fan
PS! Username: passionfruit_fan
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT-4 (east coast US)
Usual Hours of Availability: ~6pm onwards Wed-Fri (and every other Monday), flexible on Weekends. Can sometimes make time in the 2-5pm range on weekdays
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I got into comp mons playing in a friend's draft league, and picked up ladder to practice between seasons. I've been enjoying laddering, and want to commit to really getting better at the game. I cracked top 500 OU once, but otherwise have been between low 1700s (good day) or mid 1500s (real bad day). I also play rands (peaked 2100s) and UU (peaked 1500s), but would really like to focus on OU. I'd like to get good enough to be closer to 1800, 1900 level, maybe compete in some tournaments down the line. I enjoy keeping up with the tourney scene (SPL, WCOP, and OLT have been really cool), and I've only played with samples + teams shared from those tournies. My priority is learning how to pilot better; learning more about teambuilding would definitely be cool too, but isn't top of mind for me just yet.
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes!

 

[bwarang]

Username: bwarang
PS! Username: I'll dm you, because my usual account is a name I use across multiple stuff online
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT-7 (Pacific Time)
Usual Hours of Availability: 8am-12pm Pacific Time
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences):

Hi, irl I'm currently running an educational services microbusiness (think: tutoring+counseling, <10 employees, <100 clients) and I don't understand Pokemon. I understand other games, like Teamfight Tactics and League of Legends, both of which I've gotten Challenger in (top 0.0125%). I am more of a TFT player than League player and peaked Challenger in League really early in Season 3 and 4. Despite being a longtime strategy/macro-heavy gamer, I've consistently hovered around ~1300-1400 elo on Showdown.

In Showdown, I definitely haven't played enough to really get good. For TFT, I've easily played ~4000 games over the years. In League, I've probably played ~1500. I've probably played ~450 games of Showdown total in my life. Still though, I don't really learn enough game-to-game in Showdown. I don't have a real understanding of the underlying concepts in both teambuilding and piloting.

I'm vaguely familiar with terms like tempo, positioning, core, archetype (BO, HO, Stall, etc), and viability. I read the Viability rankings, Sample team threads, some YouTube videos from people/channels like Finchinator, Smogon's official channel, and BKC quite often. I've played like 90 games over a few nights once, trying out a sample team by Blunder. My teambuilding is pretty laughable, and I basically copy/paste the S- and A- rank mons onto a single team lol. In general, I don't know how to properly choose a lead, or manipulate switches in order to gain advantage, or set up an endgame.

I do want to try taking Pokemon as seriously as I do the other games I've played. I probably won't become a tourney-worthy player, but if I do fall in love w/ Showdown as I have with other games, I might try to reach that point. I'm not really committed to any games/hobbies right now, and I'd try to prioritize Showdown for two/three months at least. I've wanted to be good at Showdown since I was in middle school, lol. So, if any tutors want to take a chance on me, I'd be a dedicated student and eager learner. I would prefer someone a little older, though, like 25 yo+. Sorry for asking for so much, but I'm getting a bit older myself, so it'd probably be for the best. Thank you for reading!

 

[Jethin 10]

Username: Jethin 10
PS! Username: Jethin 10
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT +5.5
Usual Hours of Availability: I am free most of the time and super flexible
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I started Pokemon in the middle of SV OU . I have peaked 1830s but I want to improve even more I feel like I hit a wall and i make hard reads rather than safe plays that's more my style and i use bo or bb teams more
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes

 

[sn00syw00sy]

Username: sn00syw00sy
PS! Username: sn00syw00sy
Signup Format: svou
Your timezone: +10
Usual Hours of Availability: after 4 pm
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): i started comp mons a couple months ago so im relatively new i think i make okayish plays but i need help understanding teambuilding and how to build properly and understanding team comps im also bad with finishing of games and making plays that effect later outcomes and im horrible with terra
Are you able to use Discord?: yea

 

[fvkumean]

Username: fvkumean
PS! Username: fvkumean
Signup Format: sv ou
Your timezone: -3
Usual Hours of Availability: weekend at morning and at night in middle of the week
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): Im new at smogon but i already get drafted in rupl as a helper and builder and played rugl (i made 4-4 in sm ru) and im trying to start play in smogon team tours. Im a RU main but I want to learn another tiers and another gens (since i just play sm and a bit of ss)
Are you able to use Discord?: yes

 

[ItsScaryCary]

Username:itsscarycary
PS! Username:itsscarycary
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone:edt -4
Usual Hours of Availability: 2:30-10:30pm
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): well I have been competitively battling since March shortly after my birthday when I started off I strictly did randbats. when I got discord is when my formats I played started to expand starting with SV OU and I just couldn't win so I started playing vgc and found out I was better at still bad but better and I soon discovered some great draft leagues and have had a blast doing them ever sence. recently I have been wanting to get back into SV ou but the same problem I had before is happening I keep losing and I really want to get better but it seems no matter what I do I cant win.
Are you able to use Discord?: yessir

 

[david.nrj_]

Username: david.nrj_
PS! Username: davidipro08
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: GMT +2
Usual Hours of Availability: 17:00-22:00
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I'm huge fan of pokemon since i was little and i wanted to take the next step in competitive, not just doing the main history of the games. I've never played competitive seriously before, and i wanted to know how can i builld a solid team and start having experience.
Are you able to use Discord?: yes

 

[reeebok]

Username: reeebok
PS! Username: brobrubro
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: Eastern (GMT -4)
Usual Hours of Availability: 8pm-11pm on some weekdays, after 5pm-11pm on weekends
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokemon (min. 3 sentences): I've played VGC on cart casually for a few years, followed VGC for a while. Please ignore the 15 year old posts on this acct, I was literally a child back then (my apologies if they're cringe, not gonna read them). I've gotten to mid 1300-mid 1400 off of playing carefully and watching a few pinkacross videos. I'd like to improve at building and battling, comfortable with learning from basic concepts and won't get easily frustrated doing things the slow but correct way.
Are you able to use Discord?: yes

 

[Clajm]

Username: Clajm
PS! Username: clajmk
Signup Format: SV OU
Your timezone: CEST (GMT +2)
Usual Hours of Availability: On weekdays from 4 PM to 11 PM, and on Sundays from 8 AM to 11 PM.
Tell us a little about your experience in competitive Pokémon (min. 3 sentences):
I discovered the competitive scene this March, and since then I’ve been grinding on Showdown to improve. I’ve watched several videos covering the basics of Pokémon battling, and I’m currently hovering around the 1300–1400 range. Right now, I’m focusing on improving my lead choices and learning to make better middleground plays, as I tend to get too hasty or greedy, which often puts me in bad positions, I also lack consistency - I feel like I have some really well games and then some terrible ones. I would really love to improve both my battling skills and my teambuilding. I enjoy picking up new things, which I think helps me improve faster. I don’t have any posts on my profile yet, as I mostly lurk in RMTs and sample threads.
Are you able to use Discord?: Yes