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Project National Dex POTW #8: Velcroc
- Thread starter Illouri
- Start date
yeah it’s actually gonna be [REDACTED]
Hey y’all! National Dex POTW is officially back! To kick off its return, the next interview is going to be between the 2 grand finalists of the National Dex Invitational, Seth and Suzuya!
Firstly, What do you both do outside of Smogon and PS!?
Suzuya: Im studying economics and law in college.
Seth: Working and tending to my mothers garden
Both sound pretty interesting! What got you into National Dex and competitive Pokémon as a whole? When?
Suzuya: I was told by an IRL friend about "competitive" mons in middle school when i was 12 or so. I really picked up PS during 2020 lockdown and here we are now. I started playing natdex mainly because Ryuji harassed me to for his discord tournaments in 2021. I got drafted last year as starter in NDPL because Ryuji reached me out on Instagram (yeah this is a true story lol) and you probably now the rest.
Seth: i watched mons when i was younger and got back into it like early 2022 but didnt join smog till late 2022, i got into nd originally cus it had all the megas/full dex and gen8 ou looked like a snoozefest
It’s crazy how so many people got into Pokémon in so many different ways, isn’t it? What other National Dex tiers do you play that you’d like to shout-out?
Suzuya: I'm a known National Dex Ubers player, but i used to play gen 6 OU and pre dlc Gen 8 OU back when I started to play on PS. I'd say that I can play any tier at a decent level now, so I do not really have any specific tiers I’d call my favorite or better than others
Seth: ndru is fire, ndnfe is the greatest tier ever conceived
I’m definitely going to try those tiers out more often. Since you’re both finalists for the National Dex Invitational, why don’t you share some thoughts on your experience while playing?
Suzuya: I think a swiss format would be better than double elim. I find this format a bit long and it's gets difficult to stay hype for a tournament after rounds after rounds of a 10 week tournament. If I'd been asked to sign up for this tournament today, id have say no. don't get me wrong, this tournament is def enjoyable as a player especially since I can play the mons I like the most and somehow it (almost) always work out.
Seth: i didnt think id do very well especially after being hospitalized by adriyun so im pretty satisifed with my run so far.
What was your favorite match?
Suzuya: My favorite set was against omar for sure. playing wise i think it was the most competitive I've played since the beginning of the invitational. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nationaldex-774498 this game vs entro is an honorable mention, it was not a close game but i felt very confident in my plays.
Seth: favorite match was def vs weaselfie that was a game i rly wanted to win after a crushing lt loss so mmx and i went super hard in prep.
Good stuff all around! Even though I wasn’t following too closely, this tour has been a blast to watch as a spectator. On a more fun side, what’s your favorite “junk food” Pokémon? This would be a niche or unranked Pokémon you use for fun?
Suzuya: Idk if primarina is ranked but I find it pr underrated in offensive structures. it could open the gates to let another pokemon sweep (cf game g1 vs luthier) or have a nice defensive role compression which creates a defensive balance for your team while prioritizing offense (cf g1 vs omar).
Seth: enam turtle i love that little shitter even if hes an ass fish
I like both of these answers! On a wider spectrum, what’s your favorite pokémon to use in general?
Suzuya: My favorite mon to use by far was Scarf tran. good typing + surprise factor and it brings speed control to ur team. only green flags in my eyes
Seth: z gouging prob, that mon is a legend of the game, https://pokepast.es/185cc8455dd616ff old team but this probably still fucks
Scarf Tran is something I’m going to have to try sometime! And even though I’ve spoken against it as of recent, I still think Gouging Fire is a cool ass mon. Completely unrelated, but what do you think of the National Dex community as a whole?
Suzuya: I got messaged by some natdex users during the tournament and they all looked nice to me. People on the discord are all crazy guys but they're mostly fun and passionate.
Seth:
Any closing remarks you’d like to leave for us? Could be anything you’d like :)
Suzuya: It's a pain I started to discover Natdex when my irl projects catch up with me. my number of objectives on the game is dwindling, but you can still be sure I'll still be around to play some natdex games if I get the chance.
Seth: #PRC #GCN #AAA #NE
feel free to ask any questions you may have for these two! could be anything from their favorite foods to their hobbies. have fun!
Firstly, What do you both do outside of Smogon and PS!?
Suzuya: Im studying economics and law in college.
Seth: Working and tending to my mothers garden
Both sound pretty interesting! What got you into National Dex and competitive Pokémon as a whole? When?
Suzuya: I was told by an IRL friend about "competitive" mons in middle school when i was 12 or so. I really picked up PS during 2020 lockdown and here we are now. I started playing natdex mainly because Ryuji harassed me to for his discord tournaments in 2021. I got drafted last year as starter in NDPL because Ryuji reached me out on Instagram (yeah this is a true story lol) and you probably now the rest.
Seth: i watched mons when i was younger and got back into it like early 2022 but didnt join smog till late 2022, i got into nd originally cus it had all the megas/full dex and gen8 ou looked like a snoozefest
It’s crazy how so many people got into Pokémon in so many different ways, isn’t it? What other National Dex tiers do you play that you’d like to shout-out?
Suzuya: I'm a known National Dex Ubers player, but i used to play gen 6 OU and pre dlc Gen 8 OU back when I started to play on PS. I'd say that I can play any tier at a decent level now, so I do not really have any specific tiers I’d call my favorite or better than others
Seth: ndru is fire, ndnfe is the greatest tier ever conceived
I’m definitely going to try those tiers out more often. Since you’re both finalists for the National Dex Invitational, why don’t you share some thoughts on your experience while playing?
Suzuya: I think a swiss format would be better than double elim. I find this format a bit long and it's gets difficult to stay hype for a tournament after rounds after rounds of a 10 week tournament. If I'd been asked to sign up for this tournament today, id have say no. don't get me wrong, this tournament is def enjoyable as a player especially since I can play the mons I like the most and somehow it (almost) always work out.
Seth: i didnt think id do very well especially after being hospitalized by adriyun so im pretty satisifed with my run so far.
What was your favorite match?
Suzuya: My favorite set was against omar for sure. playing wise i think it was the most competitive I've played since the beginning of the invitational. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen9nationaldex-774498 this game vs entro is an honorable mention, it was not a close game but i felt very confident in my plays.
Seth: favorite match was def vs weaselfie that was a game i rly wanted to win after a crushing lt loss so mmx and i went super hard in prep.
Good stuff all around! Even though I wasn’t following too closely, this tour has been a blast to watch as a spectator. On a more fun side, what’s your favorite “junk food” Pokémon? This would be a niche or unranked Pokémon you use for fun?
Suzuya: Idk if primarina is ranked but I find it pr underrated in offensive structures. it could open the gates to let another pokemon sweep (cf game g1 vs luthier) or have a nice defensive role compression which creates a defensive balance for your team while prioritizing offense (cf g1 vs omar).
Seth: enam turtle i love that little shitter even if hes an ass fish
I like both of these answers! On a wider spectrum, what’s your favorite pokémon to use in general?
Suzuya: My favorite mon to use by far was Scarf tran. good typing + surprise factor and it brings speed control to ur team. only green flags in my eyes
Seth: z gouging prob, that mon is a legend of the game, https://pokepast.es/185cc8455dd616ff old team but this probably still fucks
Scarf Tran is something I’m going to have to try sometime! And even though I’ve spoken against it as of recent, I still think Gouging Fire is a cool ass mon. Completely unrelated, but what do you think of the National Dex community as a whole?
Suzuya: I got messaged by some natdex users during the tournament and they all looked nice to me. People on the discord are all crazy guys but they're mostly fun and passionate.
Seth:
Any closing remarks you’d like to leave for us? Could be anything you’d like :)
Suzuya: It's a pain I started to discover Natdex when my irl projects catch up with me. my number of objectives on the game is dwindling, but you can still be sure I'll still be around to play some natdex games if I get the chance.
Seth: #PRC #GCN #AAA #NE
———————————
Thank you so much for both seth and suzuya taking time out of their days for this interview! i had a lot of fun talking to the two and starting this project as a whole. i look forward for future interviews!
feel free to ask any questions you may have for these two! could be anything from their favorite foods to their hobbies. have fun!
Yeah…as a lifelong NatDex Interview Fan. I gotta say- this is an L.
Hey y’all! Welcome back to POTW! For Week 5, I decided to interview one of our tier leaders, Kyo!
Let’s get straight into the interview!
1. What do you do outside of Smogon?
Kyo: i work full time doing data analytics for a sporting goods retailer. it's alright, I certainly dont mind the work and it pays the bills. outside of work and smogon ive been going to a climbing gym and learning to golf in my free time
2. What got you into competitive and pokémon as a whole?
Kyo: i got into pokemon after my grandmother bought me a copy of pokemon pearl as a birthday present. i didnt have that many games on my ds but pokemon was like the only thing i wanted to play anyways. i was definitely obsessed with it for a while. at some point though i had beat the game and i was getting to that point as a kid where pokemon wasnt "cool" so i forgot about it for a while. near the end of gen 5 i found out that some of my friends still played pokemon or had picked it back up recently. i actually learned about smogon from one of my friends after we played a friendly battle and he pointed out i was using physical nidoking (classic mistake lol). i think i lurked on the smogon forums for a year or maybe longer because i just liked reading what was going on there and the different tournament games. didnt make an account until 2016 but if u count the end of BW as my start in playing competitive i think that puts me at around 11 years of experience?
That’s a crazy long time! Would you consider yourself any other tiers before you started playing NatDex?
Kyo: i would consider gen 7 ou to be my best tier. when i was learning competitive in oras i wasnt all that good and i think the highest i ever got in ou was around 1500 elo but i didnt learn too much because i was nervous about joining tours for most of that gen. i also learned gen 8 ru around the same time i started playing natdex which is one of my other favorite tiers.
Do you still play Gen 7?
Kyo: i still play gen 7 ou for tours when i get the chance, mainly SMPL and sometimes other tours or seasonals. i had a top 3 placement in the SM global champs tour about 2 years back before losing to skypenguin in finals. top 3 because it was something with how the bracket worked out but skype cooked both of us
3. Let’s jump straight into the action. How would you feel if Tera was suspected a third time around?
Kyo: i can only speak for my own opinions on this but im fairly opposed to testing for a third time. not because i dont think that tera is pretty unhealthy, i mean i did vote to ban it in the last two suspect tests. there are really two main issues i have with further action on tera. I dont like the idea of repeatedly re-testing mons, mechanics, etc because it feels like trying to force an outcome despite what's been previously voted for. every time this topic comes up im particularly uncomfortable with some of the comments i see about how users who voted to keep tera arent active or arent part of the community. at the end of the day their votes mattered equally as much as anyone elses. more than two suspect tests on the same topic in one gen is kind of unheard of and it's hard to imagine that tera would have been given the same leniency in being re-tested if it had been immediately banned at the start of the gen as some players want to give it now. the other issue obviously is just the effort involved in revamping the tier in a hypothetical situation where tera *does* get banned and we have a vastly different meta late in the gen or potentially leading into circuit finals
Fair Enough, despite my opinions I do see the implications it may have on future NatDex Gens
Kyo: i much prefer to focus on testing and letting the community decide on the most broken abusers of tera rather than trying to force change on the tera mechanic at this point. the early and mid gen when the two tests took place were the time to make a decision on tera so i dont feel that we should be making that kind of massive change now after most of the previous bans were centered around tera abusers with i guess the notable exceptions of dragapult and darkrai being more z move abusers. it's like you kind of have to choose a path at some point and that was after the second tera test. trying to back track on all that tiering action now isn't realistic
4. This leads to my 4th question: What kind of tier shifts do you expect to see if tera gets banned? What do you expect to see if it doesn’t?
Kyo: it's pretty hard to encompass all the shifts id expect with tera being banned. i think the first order of business would naturally be revisiting bans. mons like regieleki and melmetal, i see no reason why they couldnt be immediately unbanned without a test. there are more complicated mons though like roaring moon, walking wake, and gholdengo which probably tread the line but have a good chance of being unbanned via testing. maybe even palafin, that would be an interesting one to see.
as far as next steps with tera remaining in the tier, council mostly wants to see community opinion which is where chris' thread comes in. id be interested in seeing gouging fire or bolt tested if there's clear preference for one of them. funny that the timing works out this way because that thread went up before OU's gouging fire suspect test but it would probably look like we are copying their tiering action. gen 9 has been very interesting in that some of the best mons in both ou and natdex are just the newly introduced SV mons so we've seen similar tiering action across both tiers for a lot of the generation
5. I honestly agree with both of those predictions. Dialing back to a fun note, What’s your favorite “junk food” pokémon?
Kyo: in terms of actually ranked pokemon corv is something i have a pretty low opinion of but i really enjoy using it and ive built a number of different strange sets just to make it work. last gen when magnezone was king i was running 220 speed corv to uturn out of modest magnezone and i have a fat team this gen with sub defog corv. but when it comes to really trash mons i like using obstagoon or anything with electric seed that i can build around koko screens. stuff like calm mind hatterene or aroma veil alcremie, unburden acro sceptile, etc. ive got over 80 koko teams this gen i think
6. What’s your favorite pokémon to use overall?
Kyo: koko alomomola and iron crown are probably my 3 favorite mons to use right now. id probably give it to mola for being the most fun to use. I like unaware clef a lot as well
Honestly I might build this core when I’m done with this interview
Kyo: throw a lando on that and you’re good to go
7. Which player do you love to fight the most in a tourney
Kyo: peap or pannu are always good for an entertaining game. i also just like when i get the chance to play against any up and coming players, ive had some nice games this gen with arty and soul king
Speaking of Pannu, how was your recent ssnl game with them?
Kyo: i got the win which is what matters but im happy with how i played for the most part. i second guessed myself in game 2 not clicking frustration with ursa against the tera flying raging bolt and it probably cost me the game but brought it back in the third for a win. in the moment i guess i thought he could try to save tera for volcarona and i was concerned about that but it wasnt the best play
8. Nice to know, always nice to hear some insight on how players think in their games. Any commentary you’d like to add on the NatDex community?
Kyo: really happy to see the hype around NDPL, we're closing in on like 400 signups which is just crazy. and on that same note seeing the other natdex tiers besides ou doing so well is nice. nd mono ubers and doubles have done really well for themselves, i think those tiers exceeded my expectations
As in player counts or the meta’s flourishing?
Kyo: likely both but im not too familiar with doubles or ubers meta personally as those tiers arent really within my skillset. the number of games played each month has been pretty respectable.
Ah gotcha. Well, Do you have any closing statements for this Interview?
Kyo: thanks for taking the time to talk with me. going forward i just hope people can continue to enjoy natdex for what it is even when there are complications and bumps in the road. nobody ever said developing a hypothetical tier with 1k+ mons is easy but it can at least be fun
—
All thanks goes out to Kyo this weeks for taking time out of their busy schedule for the interview! I’d say this week was quite successful. As always, feel free to ask any additional questions you may have for Kyo. Could be related to pokemon, or could be something completely different. That being said, I’ll catch you all next week!
Let’s get straight into the interview!
1. What do you do outside of Smogon?
Kyo: i work full time doing data analytics for a sporting goods retailer. it's alright, I certainly dont mind the work and it pays the bills. outside of work and smogon ive been going to a climbing gym and learning to golf in my free time
2. What got you into competitive and pokémon as a whole?
Kyo: i got into pokemon after my grandmother bought me a copy of pokemon pearl as a birthday present. i didnt have that many games on my ds but pokemon was like the only thing i wanted to play anyways. i was definitely obsessed with it for a while. at some point though i had beat the game and i was getting to that point as a kid where pokemon wasnt "cool" so i forgot about it for a while. near the end of gen 5 i found out that some of my friends still played pokemon or had picked it back up recently. i actually learned about smogon from one of my friends after we played a friendly battle and he pointed out i was using physical nidoking (classic mistake lol). i think i lurked on the smogon forums for a year or maybe longer because i just liked reading what was going on there and the different tournament games. didnt make an account until 2016 but if u count the end of BW as my start in playing competitive i think that puts me at around 11 years of experience?
That’s a crazy long time! Would you consider yourself any other tiers before you started playing NatDex?
Kyo: i would consider gen 7 ou to be my best tier. when i was learning competitive in oras i wasnt all that good and i think the highest i ever got in ou was around 1500 elo but i didnt learn too much because i was nervous about joining tours for most of that gen. i also learned gen 8 ru around the same time i started playing natdex which is one of my other favorite tiers.
Do you still play Gen 7?
Kyo: i still play gen 7 ou for tours when i get the chance, mainly SMPL and sometimes other tours or seasonals. i had a top 3 placement in the SM global champs tour about 2 years back before losing to skypenguin in finals. top 3 because it was something with how the bracket worked out but skype cooked both of us
3. Let’s jump straight into the action. How would you feel if Tera was suspected a third time around?
Kyo: i can only speak for my own opinions on this but im fairly opposed to testing for a third time. not because i dont think that tera is pretty unhealthy, i mean i did vote to ban it in the last two suspect tests. there are really two main issues i have with further action on tera. I dont like the idea of repeatedly re-testing mons, mechanics, etc because it feels like trying to force an outcome despite what's been previously voted for. every time this topic comes up im particularly uncomfortable with some of the comments i see about how users who voted to keep tera arent active or arent part of the community. at the end of the day their votes mattered equally as much as anyone elses. more than two suspect tests on the same topic in one gen is kind of unheard of and it's hard to imagine that tera would have been given the same leniency in being re-tested if it had been immediately banned at the start of the gen as some players want to give it now. the other issue obviously is just the effort involved in revamping the tier in a hypothetical situation where tera *does* get banned and we have a vastly different meta late in the gen or potentially leading into circuit finals
Fair Enough, despite my opinions I do see the implications it may have on future NatDex Gens
Kyo: i much prefer to focus on testing and letting the community decide on the most broken abusers of tera rather than trying to force change on the tera mechanic at this point. the early and mid gen when the two tests took place were the time to make a decision on tera so i dont feel that we should be making that kind of massive change now after most of the previous bans were centered around tera abusers with i guess the notable exceptions of dragapult and darkrai being more z move abusers. it's like you kind of have to choose a path at some point and that was after the second tera test. trying to back track on all that tiering action now isn't realistic
4. This leads to my 4th question: What kind of tier shifts do you expect to see if tera gets banned? What do you expect to see if it doesn’t?
Kyo: it's pretty hard to encompass all the shifts id expect with tera being banned. i think the first order of business would naturally be revisiting bans. mons like regieleki and melmetal, i see no reason why they couldnt be immediately unbanned without a test. there are more complicated mons though like roaring moon, walking wake, and gholdengo which probably tread the line but have a good chance of being unbanned via testing. maybe even palafin, that would be an interesting one to see.
as far as next steps with tera remaining in the tier, council mostly wants to see community opinion which is where chris' thread comes in. id be interested in seeing gouging fire or bolt tested if there's clear preference for one of them. funny that the timing works out this way because that thread went up before OU's gouging fire suspect test but it would probably look like we are copying their tiering action. gen 9 has been very interesting in that some of the best mons in both ou and natdex are just the newly introduced SV mons so we've seen similar tiering action across both tiers for a lot of the generation
5. I honestly agree with both of those predictions. Dialing back to a fun note, What’s your favorite “junk food” pokémon?
Kyo: in terms of actually ranked pokemon corv is something i have a pretty low opinion of but i really enjoy using it and ive built a number of different strange sets just to make it work. last gen when magnezone was king i was running 220 speed corv to uturn out of modest magnezone and i have a fat team this gen with sub defog corv. but when it comes to really trash mons i like using obstagoon or anything with electric seed that i can build around koko screens. stuff like calm mind hatterene or aroma veil alcremie, unburden acro sceptile, etc. ive got over 80 koko teams this gen i think
6. What’s your favorite pokémon to use overall?
Kyo: koko alomomola and iron crown are probably my 3 favorite mons to use right now. id probably give it to mola for being the most fun to use. I like unaware clef a lot as well
Honestly I might build this core when I’m done with this interview
Kyo: throw a lando on that and you’re good to go
7. Which player do you love to fight the most in a tourney
Kyo: peap or pannu are always good for an entertaining game. i also just like when i get the chance to play against any up and coming players, ive had some nice games this gen with arty and soul king
Speaking of Pannu, how was your recent ssnl game with them?
Kyo: i got the win which is what matters but im happy with how i played for the most part. i second guessed myself in game 2 not clicking frustration with ursa against the tera flying raging bolt and it probably cost me the game but brought it back in the third for a win. in the moment i guess i thought he could try to save tera for volcarona and i was concerned about that but it wasnt the best play
8. Nice to know, always nice to hear some insight on how players think in their games. Any commentary you’d like to add on the NatDex community?
Kyo: really happy to see the hype around NDPL, we're closing in on like 400 signups which is just crazy. and on that same note seeing the other natdex tiers besides ou doing so well is nice. nd mono ubers and doubles have done really well for themselves, i think those tiers exceeded my expectations
As in player counts or the meta’s flourishing?
Kyo: likely both but im not too familiar with doubles or ubers meta personally as those tiers arent really within my skillset. the number of games played each month has been pretty respectable.
Ah gotcha. Well, Do you have any closing statements for this Interview?
Kyo: thanks for taking the time to talk with me. going forward i just hope people can continue to enjoy natdex for what it is even when there are complications and bumps in the road. nobody ever said developing a hypothetical tier with 1k+ mons is easy but it can at least be fun
—
All thanks goes out to Kyo this weeks for taking time out of their busy schedule for the interview! I’d say this week was quite successful. As always, feel free to ask any additional questions you may have for Kyo. Could be related to pokemon, or could be something completely different. That being said, I’ll catch you all next week!
If we're talking about only megas returning then I wouldn't consider it a major issue for the identity of National Dex. However, a situation where a future generation features a full dex is a pretty tricky scenario. There would have to be some tough discussions about whether National Dex can really distinguish itself properly from standard tiering at that point in time. While I think this would be one of the least ideal outcomes for the future of National Dex, I'd like to also preface that statement by saying I believe it to be an extremely unlikely scenario. The way I see things, the Pokemon devs went through quite a bit of headache and backlash removing the complete dex in gen 8 to begin with. If they didn't reverse that decision after one gen with a limited dex, I don't think they'll be doing so now as the total number of Pokemon continues to grow. Either way, only time will tell.
Since you're know for building wild sets, what is the wildest set you've built that can actually work?
Raikou @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 112 Def / 156 SpA / 240 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Scald
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
This one is pretty funny, I used it while qualifying for ladder tour. Because I couldn't use Suicune reliably with Waterpon around, I came up with a different option. This set attempts to do a lot of things that are really only effective with screens support but in that given team structure I wouldn't say it's all too bad. I liked Raikou's speed tier and with a favorable defensive matchup against Koko and Torn there's really only a small subset of mons that naturally out speed it which you'll have to worry about. Both attacks have a 30% chance to inflict status that is situationally useful for setting up subs to snowball extra calm minds. You can either burn to weaken physical attackers or paralyze and sub spam to fish for a full para, PP stalling with pressure is an option too. Discharge and scald have really nice coverage besides grass and dragon types. Grass types mostly get walled after you tera and Raging Bolt can be PP stalled. Given EV's outspeed up to serp which you can sub on to avoid glare and PP stall leaf storm. Def EVs live two tera water Wellspring hits and avoid Ferro's power whip breaking your sub. Wouldn't recommend using this outside of screens, pairs well with a healing wish mon too.
Welcome back to POTW! I apologize for my absence, as I had irl business to deal with. That being said, I’ve returned with an interview with NatDex’s very own: hidin!
1. What do you do outside of smogon?
Im a sophmore in high school (yes im young) who plays for football for fun/track teams and trying to get my future set up to go into the astronomy field. Ive gotten into cooking lately too and ive been having fun with that. Also trying to get my permit soon
2. What got you into competitive and pokémon as a whole?
Back in 2017 i got pokemon ultra sun because i begged my mom to get it in a gamestop when my brother got smth like luigis mansion/some zelda joint i dont really remember. After that i grinded it to oblivion and one day wanted a shiny kommo o so I looked up how to get free shinies and pkhex was shown to me. As I was 9 and very young and eager, i thought that because of this computer my mom didnt use anymore in the basement that had a slot like a 3ds slot, i stuck it in there and tried to put a shiny kommo o imported from showdown. I was quite sad when i found out it wasnt there, but after that i went back on showdown and started playing ag because i could use any shiny mon I wanted. I peaked like top 10 on ladder before i turned 10 (wow) and played ag only until gen 8 came out. When gen 8 came out i kinda got off of showdown for a bit but then came back in 2022 when i was sick and stumbled upon natdex ou. I tried being a ss ru and ss pu main but those metas stunk, so i went with something that reminded me of usum. Ever since then, ive been back on the mons grind
Would you say USUM is your favorite mainline game?
When it comes to nostalgia yeah Id say so, but when i got older i got other games like oras platinum and emerald which i also enjoyed
3. How is your experience with hosting NDFL II ? Which team do you predict to win?
Its been quite alright, the pool this year was quite different from last years and seeing new faces perform well is good to see. I've been liking what users like Fleance and RTM have been doing in the tour so far. When it comes to teams winning though I'd prefer to have some neutrality on that, but the poliwhirls have been pretty successful
Completely fair for the neutrality. I just threw it in the pot to make the question more interesting.
4. What are your thoughts on NDPL V?
My lawyers have advised me to not comment on my personal performance so far, but otherwise the tour has been nice and seeing new weird innovations and discoveries in ndou like Kyurem being an obnoxious pos and weirdly brambleghast having a 3-0 record. Being on my team is funny tho, laid back and work always gets done there even though theres quite some jokes.
I think your lawyers are lame personally. Regardless, the innovation within NDPL is quite surprising, but I personally welcome it.
5. Which NDFL/NDPL team has your favorite team name? (This is by FAR the most important question I have prepped)
Shiesty shell smashers is pretty hillarious
6. What’s your favorite junk food mon?
Now this is a great question, Id prob have to say suicune since that guy carried me hard in 2023 lt and won me a wc game and somehow manages to still be a ladder demon. Besides that though theres things like lycandusk staka and even vileplume that i liked using in the past
Honestly suicune sounds like a fun mom to use on a fatter team. Vileplume… idek how you use that
He checks lop shifu and rott AND has effect spore…trust the young bloke
7. What’s your favorite mon to use overall? Can you provide a team to go along with it?
My favorite mon to build with is probably iron crown. Hes like the magearna of sv nd and just a terrific mon who wont dissapoint when you put him on a team. Av is tried and true and so is cm stored power, but specs has been rising in usage along with these new weird sub cm sets that exploit gking. Overall though hes pretty dang good and i like his presence in the meta handling lele val kyurem and also hitting hard with tachyon and other things like psynoise fblast etc.
https://pokepast.es/ab35fdb0a4a9c699
This is my best team with crown i can find, hasnt dissapointed me in tours except one time vs a bo3 against omar where bolt got an extremely low roll against a ferro on like 20. Pretty simple offense team, lead lando or crown pivot into clicker then go to town
You know magearna and iron crown being compared to each other wasnt on my bingo card this year but now that you mention it, i can’t say you’re wrong
8. Who’s a rising player the NatDex community should look out for?
In my opinion i dont think theres any new blood that has came around and done some crazy things, but one guy whos been doing pretty good is my good pal yonmd. Guys 4-0 in pl loading some wack shit every week and has the Luck of the Tiger on his side along with some solid in game play. Id keep an eye out on him if he actually wants to continue playing this tier
That’s pretty awesome to hear. i’ve seen him around and he seems like a fun spirited guy
9. Thoughts on the NatDex community as a whole?
I think theres a lot of unique people but theres obviously friend groups that kinda split things up in the community at times. Induvidually though, everyones nice and enjoyable to be around and even when things seem annoying theyre likely not and its just jokes. Theres been some bad rep about natdex users in general these days but i dont think its true, we're all like a big family that will undoubtably be weird at times but at the end of the day all care about each other at least a little bit.
That’s pretty nice to hear, considering you have a big role in the community. definitely inspiring and heart warming
Yeah i havent been around for too long but ive seen the community get shapened up across a few years and its been interesting to see new faces and all of that. Hopefully more start to come later down the line this gen
10. Any closing statements?
Eh i would leave some sappy metaphor here but I suck at those. But here's one thing to know on this site: things are just as serious with comp mons as much as you make it out to be. When you start to loosen that care you will definitely have much more fun playing the game in general. Also get some good friends while youre here too, I got my crew in GCN and theyre the best people ive met online. Overall though Im looking forward to whatever comes next in the future for natdex and hopefully i can qualify for circuit soon too since im already in the top 16 at the moment. Thanks for the interview!
—————
Thank you Mr Flames for the fun interview! This one felt quite engaging, and I thank you for that. As always, feel free to ask hidin any questions you may have that I didn’t cover today. I’ll catch you all next week!
1. What do you do outside of smogon?
Im a sophmore in high school (yes im young) who plays for football for fun/track teams and trying to get my future set up to go into the astronomy field. Ive gotten into cooking lately too and ive been having fun with that. Also trying to get my permit soon
2. What got you into competitive and pokémon as a whole?
Back in 2017 i got pokemon ultra sun because i begged my mom to get it in a gamestop when my brother got smth like luigis mansion/some zelda joint i dont really remember. After that i grinded it to oblivion and one day wanted a shiny kommo o so I looked up how to get free shinies and pkhex was shown to me. As I was 9 and very young and eager, i thought that because of this computer my mom didnt use anymore in the basement that had a slot like a 3ds slot, i stuck it in there and tried to put a shiny kommo o imported from showdown. I was quite sad when i found out it wasnt there, but after that i went back on showdown and started playing ag because i could use any shiny mon I wanted. I peaked like top 10 on ladder before i turned 10 (wow) and played ag only until gen 8 came out. When gen 8 came out i kinda got off of showdown for a bit but then came back in 2022 when i was sick and stumbled upon natdex ou. I tried being a ss ru and ss pu main but those metas stunk, so i went with something that reminded me of usum. Ever since then, ive been back on the mons grind
Would you say USUM is your favorite mainline game?
When it comes to nostalgia yeah Id say so, but when i got older i got other games like oras platinum and emerald which i also enjoyed
3. How is your experience with hosting NDFL II ? Which team do you predict to win?
Its been quite alright, the pool this year was quite different from last years and seeing new faces perform well is good to see. I've been liking what users like Fleance and RTM have been doing in the tour so far. When it comes to teams winning though I'd prefer to have some neutrality on that, but the poliwhirls have been pretty successful
Completely fair for the neutrality. I just threw it in the pot to make the question more interesting.
4. What are your thoughts on NDPL V?
My lawyers have advised me to not comment on my personal performance so far, but otherwise the tour has been nice and seeing new weird innovations and discoveries in ndou like Kyurem being an obnoxious pos and weirdly brambleghast having a 3-0 record. Being on my team is funny tho, laid back and work always gets done there even though theres quite some jokes.
I think your lawyers are lame personally. Regardless, the innovation within NDPL is quite surprising, but I personally welcome it.
5. Which NDFL/NDPL team has your favorite team name? (This is by FAR the most important question I have prepped)
Shiesty shell smashers is pretty hillarious
6. What’s your favorite junk food mon?
Now this is a great question, Id prob have to say suicune since that guy carried me hard in 2023 lt and won me a wc game and somehow manages to still be a ladder demon. Besides that though theres things like lycandusk staka and even vileplume that i liked using in the past
Honestly suicune sounds like a fun mom to use on a fatter team. Vileplume… idek how you use that
He checks lop shifu and rott AND has effect spore…trust the young bloke
7. What’s your favorite mon to use overall? Can you provide a team to go along with it?
My favorite mon to build with is probably iron crown. Hes like the magearna of sv nd and just a terrific mon who wont dissapoint when you put him on a team. Av is tried and true and so is cm stored power, but specs has been rising in usage along with these new weird sub cm sets that exploit gking. Overall though hes pretty dang good and i like his presence in the meta handling lele val kyurem and also hitting hard with tachyon and other things like psynoise fblast etc.
https://pokepast.es/ab35fdb0a4a9c699
This is my best team with crown i can find, hasnt dissapointed me in tours except one time vs a bo3 against omar where bolt got an extremely low roll against a ferro on like 20. Pretty simple offense team, lead lando or crown pivot into clicker then go to town
You know magearna and iron crown being compared to each other wasnt on my bingo card this year but now that you mention it, i can’t say you’re wrong
8. Who’s a rising player the NatDex community should look out for?
In my opinion i dont think theres any new blood that has came around and done some crazy things, but one guy whos been doing pretty good is my good pal yonmd. Guys 4-0 in pl loading some wack shit every week and has the Luck of the Tiger on his side along with some solid in game play. Id keep an eye out on him if he actually wants to continue playing this tier
That’s pretty awesome to hear. i’ve seen him around and he seems like a fun spirited guy
9. Thoughts on the NatDex community as a whole?
I think theres a lot of unique people but theres obviously friend groups that kinda split things up in the community at times. Induvidually though, everyones nice and enjoyable to be around and even when things seem annoying theyre likely not and its just jokes. Theres been some bad rep about natdex users in general these days but i dont think its true, we're all like a big family that will undoubtably be weird at times but at the end of the day all care about each other at least a little bit.
That’s pretty nice to hear, considering you have a big role in the community. definitely inspiring and heart warming
Yeah i havent been around for too long but ive seen the community get shapened up across a few years and its been interesting to see new faces and all of that. Hopefully more start to come later down the line this gen
10. Any closing statements?
Eh i would leave some sappy metaphor here but I suck at those. But here's one thing to know on this site: things are just as serious with comp mons as much as you make it out to be. When you start to loosen that care you will definitely have much more fun playing the game in general. Also get some good friends while youre here too, I got my crew in GCN and theyre the best people ive met online. Overall though Im looking forward to whatever comes next in the future for natdex and hopefully i can qualify for circuit soon too since im already in the top 16 at the moment. Thanks for the interview!
—————
Thank you Mr Flames for the fun interview! This one felt quite engaging, and I thank you for that. As always, feel free to ask hidin any questions you may have that I didn’t cover today. I’ll catch you all next week!
we don’t care
I think urs would feel more at home on one of those.. tbh.
Question for Mr. Flames. You mentioned getting your permit soon. What’s your dream car/truck?
Y'all I dont think hes gonna answer our questions
Both have had three total games; the rest is up for you to find out.
They're neat but I think we need just a smidge more effort of getting things done in NDOT as a whole for it to become active. Ubers and Doubles are the most active but Im not involved with those much but the lower tiers and AMs have a few more steps to take before greatness in my eyes
I dont really have a favorite fictional plot but I enjoy the plot of One Piece a lot. Older gens are something not quite my tempo and things I'd only rlly play if a friend asks me to for a tour or something else. I like gen 3 the most though
I have a cybertruck so probably that
Think at this point it is near guaranteed to happen and if it does I'll be voting ban. YouTube is a good question but I'd like to get some new stuff in order to record better videos
Well, it’s certainly been longer than a week
Hello everyone and welcome back to the long awaited return of National Dex Player Of The Week! I’m quite excited for this interview, so let’s waste 0 time and jump right into the interview with National Dex’s beloved: Lameflame !
1. What do you do outside of Smogon?
Professionally, I’m an Attorney and primarily do a mix of civil defense work and federal court appeals. Outside of work, I’m a huge tennis fan and actively play in leagues or tournaments every week. I also used to be a part-time Krav Maga instructor (self-defense) and once my schedule settles a bit I’d love to get back into that as well. Mostly I’m an incredibly competitive guy and any one-on-one individual sports or competitive activities (including competitive pokemon) has always been deeply motivating for me.
2. What got you into competitive Pokémon as a whole?
So I’ve been involved in some form with competitive pokemon for around 21 years now. As a kid I played the original Gen 1 games when they came out along with Pokemon Stadium and Stadium 2, but there wasn’t any reliable way to play with people back then the way we have now. At around 9 years old (around 2003-2005 time period) I was looking for a way to play people online and stumbled upon SuperCheats forums, which still exists today, mostly to discuss competitive mons and some other games. I ended up becoming a forum mod there and got into competitive pokemon through PBS (Pokemon Battle Simulator) and NetBattle until they became a bit outdated with new game releases and mechanics making them obsolete.
Later on, around 2009-2011, I really took interest in some content creators like TheKillerNacho posting his DPP/HGSS wifi battles, and scavenging places like Abra’s Asylum looking for games. Couldn’t tell you precisely when since the forums don’t exist anymore (approx. 2010?), but that led me to Pokemon Online which is where my identity as “Lameflame” began. BW UU was my favorite tier to play at the time and I always had a love for posting about competitive mons, which I developed and refined during my time there. Ended up meeting some great people during my time there, and also the first tier leader of National Dex who I served on VR with for a brief time.
When it became clear that PO’s best days were in the rearview mirror, I officially migrated over to Smogon around early 2014. I played some tournaments here and there but my passion back then was primarily in sharing thoughts on the forums and playing with my college friends. When National Dex was created in December 2019, I recognized a few people running the tier at that time and also that the general power level was far greater than Gen 8 OU and that Genesect wasn’t on the initial banlist, so that piqued my interest. I’ve been with the tier since day 1 and that brings me to today.
3. What was your favorite tournament you participated in?
My favorite tournament was undoubtedly NDWC II. I was planning on quitting from competitive mons quite literally within moments of Isza hitting me up on my wall and later asking if I would be interested in being a sub on that year’s US Northeast + South team. The team that year featured an entire roster of killers (crying, Finch, Isza, Sage, Kate, jon, peap - basically the whole team went positive including subs) and I ended up subbing in Week 1 and helping us win against West/Midwest. Definitely changed the trajectory of my playing career and it’s one of the more memorable experiences I’ve had.
4. What were some of the most memorable moments?
There have truly been so many memorable moments in the last five years, good and bad, that it’s impossible to rank or pick just a few, but I’ll try.
- NDLT I, Round 1 vs Guard: I remember qualifying for the first NDLT somewhat unintentionally, and ended up getting seeded 32nd against #1 Guard in his playing prime. I won 2-1 and game 3 was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been playing a tournament game – just purely out of respect for how much I looked up to Guard as a player and a person and how lopsided the skill differential was at that time. Obviously miss him dearly and a piece of my love for this activity left with him.
- SV ND Winter Seasonal #1: The first Winter Seasonal of Gen 9 (the chaotic early Tera metagame) was the best individual tournament performance I had. Ended up making it to Winner’s Finals only dropping a single game, and played Grand Finals and then “True” Finals against Latiasboy. I should have rescheduled or prepared more teams for the bracket reset as I wasn’t really prepared to play both back to back and probably left a yellow trophy ring on the table there, but you live and you learn.
- NDPL II Week 2 vs Pannu: Subbed in on short notice and brought a LopGar fat that caused Pannu to cancer the remainder of the tour (s/o Sputnik for drafting me that year).
- SV ND Winter Seasonal #2 R1 vs Ineros: Really fun environment for all three games with each one linked in the ND room and some hype in the chat. Also formed the basis of a friendship I’ve had since that time that I truly value. We didn’t have ND 2024 Awards but he would have had my vote for multiple categories (person of the year, most improved, newcomer of the year, etc.)
5. Thoughts on the current Post-Tera meta? (this was asked prior to moon suspect being announced)
I think the current meta is overall in good shape, with very few notable constraints on building, and I hope we take a more mindful approach to tiering moving forward to preserve the current balance to the extent possible. There are some constricting forces with usual culprits like Zard Y, Tapu Lele, and Pult to some extent, but nothing that can’t be outplayed in practice. I also wouldn’t take the position that any style is completely unviable. I’ve seen about six or seven variations of the Zama/TingLu/bird-of-choice/steel-of-choice/water/breaker builds in both ssnl and blind draft and I think those teams, while lacking in some regards, are probably a fair representation of the current meta.
6. Any changes you’d personally make? Unbans? Bans? (this was asked prior to moon suspect)
I personally don’t think anything is currently banworthy. Of the current council members and generally in the community, I’m probably a bit more of a loose in what I’d let into the tier, but that’s largely based on my belief that most of the mons that are scheduled for forthcoming suspects have at least some genuine counterplay in the tier as it exists today. Can’t say for sure what I’d unban without testing them first, but I have an open mind to all of them.
7. Gen 8 ND or Gen 9 ND; Which do you like more and why?
Having played some SS games again in NDPL, I do think that Gen 8 does an overall better job at rewarding long-term planning and is a bit more accessible of a tier to pick up and play if your basic fundamentals are strong. That being said, I definitely prefer Gen 9, candidly due to the fact that Gen 8 is a bit stale for me at the moment and I appreciate getting to use some of the mons I enjoy in this tier. I also think Gen 9 does a comparatively better job at rewarding creative teambuilding and aggressive gameplay than Gen 8 ever did, which is more in line with how I enjoy and approach playing.
8. Favorite Junk Food Mon?
In the current meta I’d definitely say LO Iron Valiant, or really any Val set that’s not stuffed by 4MSS. The dopamine hit from those 6-8 turns of Eterrain where you outspeed most of the meta and can click buttons hits different… (also the Stored Power sweeper era was quite amusing)
9. Favorite Mon Overall? Do you have a team to show for it?
I’d probably rank my top 3 as Genesect, Necrozma and Iron Valiant, of which the first is banned and the second is basically unviable, so I’ll share a standard Eterrain with LO Val.
https://pokepast.es/5520f0c4a7ae452e
Pretty standard stuff but this was a build I liked with LO Val prior to the Moon suspect. Not sure how well it handles Moon but perhaps it could be tweaked a bit to do so.
10. Thoughts on the NatDex community as a whole?
For all the noise about the tier being perceived as less-than and some self-inflicted negative PR we’ve brought upon ourselves at times, I do feel that the community at large is one of the most welcoming and active across Smogon. The level of play and the depth of the playerbase seems to rise every year and I think we’ve got all the resources to help people develop and grow as players at whatever pace they’d like to. I also think the Discord is generally welcoming and the active room staff does a lot to provide a friendly environment. For as many top players we’ve lost due to age/other priorities I feel the community does a good job at keeping the veterans coming back and growing the playerbase year to year. It seems the Tera ban was a popular decision and I hope the tier continues to grow at this rate in the years to come.
The only negative is the ladder. But I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.
11. Any closing statements?
My career is closer to the end than the beginning, but I’ve truly loved my time in this community these last five years and I can honestly say I’ve given my best effort to give back in my own way. I don’t speak much and that’s something I should generally work to improve on, but I’ve tried to contribute in other ways in terms of 28 suspects played, the lengthy forum posts over the years, VR and OU council work, NDLT every year, always being available for team tours and generally being accessible to people on Discord/in PMs to discuss the meta, build teams together, run test games, etc. This community has given me absolutely everything I’ve wanted from this experience and then some.
Ask anything you like.
—————
All of the thanks goes to Lameflame this week for taking time out of their busy schedule to my questions! This week was by far one of my favorites, and I’m glad I could have this opportunity. Shout out to sealoo for the idea on interviewing Lameflame when I was having writers block. That being said, If anyone has any questions for Mr. Lame, feel free to ask. Thank you all for being patient with me, and I’ll be seeing y’all for the next one!
Hello everyone and welcome back to the long awaited return of National Dex Player Of The Week! I’m quite excited for this interview, so let’s waste 0 time and jump right into the interview with National Dex’s beloved: Lameflame !
1. What do you do outside of Smogon?
Professionally, I’m an Attorney and primarily do a mix of civil defense work and federal court appeals. Outside of work, I’m a huge tennis fan and actively play in leagues or tournaments every week. I also used to be a part-time Krav Maga instructor (self-defense) and once my schedule settles a bit I’d love to get back into that as well. Mostly I’m an incredibly competitive guy and any one-on-one individual sports or competitive activities (including competitive pokemon) has always been deeply motivating for me.
2. What got you into competitive Pokémon as a whole?
So I’ve been involved in some form with competitive pokemon for around 21 years now. As a kid I played the original Gen 1 games when they came out along with Pokemon Stadium and Stadium 2, but there wasn’t any reliable way to play with people back then the way we have now. At around 9 years old (around 2003-2005 time period) I was looking for a way to play people online and stumbled upon SuperCheats forums, which still exists today, mostly to discuss competitive mons and some other games. I ended up becoming a forum mod there and got into competitive pokemon through PBS (Pokemon Battle Simulator) and NetBattle until they became a bit outdated with new game releases and mechanics making them obsolete.
Later on, around 2009-2011, I really took interest in some content creators like TheKillerNacho posting his DPP/HGSS wifi battles, and scavenging places like Abra’s Asylum looking for games. Couldn’t tell you precisely when since the forums don’t exist anymore (approx. 2010?), but that led me to Pokemon Online which is where my identity as “Lameflame” began. BW UU was my favorite tier to play at the time and I always had a love for posting about competitive mons, which I developed and refined during my time there. Ended up meeting some great people during my time there, and also the first tier leader of National Dex who I served on VR with for a brief time.
When it became clear that PO’s best days were in the rearview mirror, I officially migrated over to Smogon around early 2014. I played some tournaments here and there but my passion back then was primarily in sharing thoughts on the forums and playing with my college friends. When National Dex was created in December 2019, I recognized a few people running the tier at that time and also that the general power level was far greater than Gen 8 OU and that Genesect wasn’t on the initial banlist, so that piqued my interest. I’ve been with the tier since day 1 and that brings me to today.
3. What was your favorite tournament you participated in?
My favorite tournament was undoubtedly NDWC II. I was planning on quitting from competitive mons quite literally within moments of Isza hitting me up on my wall and later asking if I would be interested in being a sub on that year’s US Northeast + South team. The team that year featured an entire roster of killers (crying, Finch, Isza, Sage, Kate, jon, peap - basically the whole team went positive including subs) and I ended up subbing in Week 1 and helping us win against West/Midwest. Definitely changed the trajectory of my playing career and it’s one of the more memorable experiences I’ve had.
4. What were some of the most memorable moments?
There have truly been so many memorable moments in the last five years, good and bad, that it’s impossible to rank or pick just a few, but I’ll try.
- NDLT I, Round 1 vs Guard: I remember qualifying for the first NDLT somewhat unintentionally, and ended up getting seeded 32nd against #1 Guard in his playing prime. I won 2-1 and game 3 was probably the most nervous I’ve ever been playing a tournament game – just purely out of respect for how much I looked up to Guard as a player and a person and how lopsided the skill differential was at that time. Obviously miss him dearly and a piece of my love for this activity left with him.
- SV ND Winter Seasonal #1: The first Winter Seasonal of Gen 9 (the chaotic early Tera metagame) was the best individual tournament performance I had. Ended up making it to Winner’s Finals only dropping a single game, and played Grand Finals and then “True” Finals against Latiasboy. I should have rescheduled or prepared more teams for the bracket reset as I wasn’t really prepared to play both back to back and probably left a yellow trophy ring on the table there, but you live and you learn.
- NDPL II Week 2 vs Pannu: Subbed in on short notice and brought a LopGar fat that caused Pannu to cancer the remainder of the tour (s/o Sputnik for drafting me that year).
- SV ND Winter Seasonal #2 R1 vs Ineros: Really fun environment for all three games with each one linked in the ND room and some hype in the chat. Also formed the basis of a friendship I’ve had since that time that I truly value. We didn’t have ND 2024 Awards but he would have had my vote for multiple categories (person of the year, most improved, newcomer of the year, etc.)
5. Thoughts on the current Post-Tera meta? (this was asked prior to moon suspect being announced)
I think the current meta is overall in good shape, with very few notable constraints on building, and I hope we take a more mindful approach to tiering moving forward to preserve the current balance to the extent possible. There are some constricting forces with usual culprits like Zard Y, Tapu Lele, and Pult to some extent, but nothing that can’t be outplayed in practice. I also wouldn’t take the position that any style is completely unviable. I’ve seen about six or seven variations of the Zama/TingLu/bird-of-choice/steel-of-choice/water/breaker builds in both ssnl and blind draft and I think those teams, while lacking in some regards, are probably a fair representation of the current meta.
6. Any changes you’d personally make? Unbans? Bans? (this was asked prior to moon suspect)
I personally don’t think anything is currently banworthy. Of the current council members and generally in the community, I’m probably a bit more of a loose in what I’d let into the tier, but that’s largely based on my belief that most of the mons that are scheduled for forthcoming suspects have at least some genuine counterplay in the tier as it exists today. Can’t say for sure what I’d unban without testing them first, but I have an open mind to all of them.
7. Gen 8 ND or Gen 9 ND; Which do you like more and why?
Having played some SS games again in NDPL, I do think that Gen 8 does an overall better job at rewarding long-term planning and is a bit more accessible of a tier to pick up and play if your basic fundamentals are strong. That being said, I definitely prefer Gen 9, candidly due to the fact that Gen 8 is a bit stale for me at the moment and I appreciate getting to use some of the mons I enjoy in this tier. I also think Gen 9 does a comparatively better job at rewarding creative teambuilding and aggressive gameplay than Gen 8 ever did, which is more in line with how I enjoy and approach playing.
8. Favorite Junk Food Mon?
In the current meta I’d definitely say LO Iron Valiant, or really any Val set that’s not stuffed by 4MSS. The dopamine hit from those 6-8 turns of Eterrain where you outspeed most of the meta and can click buttons hits different… (also the Stored Power sweeper era was quite amusing)
9. Favorite Mon Overall? Do you have a team to show for it?
I’d probably rank my top 3 as Genesect, Necrozma and Iron Valiant, of which the first is banned and the second is basically unviable, so I’ll share a standard Eterrain with LO Val.
https://pokepast.es/5520f0c4a7ae452e
Pretty standard stuff but this was a build I liked with LO Val prior to the Moon suspect. Not sure how well it handles Moon but perhaps it could be tweaked a bit to do so.
10. Thoughts on the NatDex community as a whole?
For all the noise about the tier being perceived as less-than and some self-inflicted negative PR we’ve brought upon ourselves at times, I do feel that the community at large is one of the most welcoming and active across Smogon. The level of play and the depth of the playerbase seems to rise every year and I think we’ve got all the resources to help people develop and grow as players at whatever pace they’d like to. I also think the Discord is generally welcoming and the active room staff does a lot to provide a friendly environment. For as many top players we’ve lost due to age/other priorities I feel the community does a good job at keeping the veterans coming back and growing the playerbase year to year. It seems the Tera ban was a popular decision and I hope the tier continues to grow at this rate in the years to come.
The only negative is the ladder. But I’ll keep those thoughts to myself.
11. Any closing statements?
My career is closer to the end than the beginning, but I’ve truly loved my time in this community these last five years and I can honestly say I’ve given my best effort to give back in my own way. I don’t speak much and that’s something I should generally work to improve on, but I’ve tried to contribute in other ways in terms of 28 suspects played, the lengthy forum posts over the years, VR and OU council work, NDLT every year, always being available for team tours and generally being accessible to people on Discord/in PMs to discuss the meta, build teams together, run test games, etc. This community has given me absolutely everything I’ve wanted from this experience and then some.
Ask anything you like.
—————
All of the thanks goes to Lameflame this week for taking time out of their busy schedule to my questions! This week was by far one of my favorites, and I’m glad I could have this opportunity. Shout out to sealoo for the idea on interviewing Lameflame when I was having writers block. That being said, If anyone has any questions for Mr. Lame, feel free to ask. Thank you all for being patient with me, and I’ll be seeing y’all for the next one!
Is there a Pokemon in a tier which you think absolutely sucks but everyone else says is good?