NU Player of the Week - Lax [week 8]

Earth

Earth

is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Past SPL Champion
logo.jpeg

Lax
Favorite Pokémon: Mega Abomasnow
Most used Pokémon: Slowbro
Most known for: Since I returned to competitive Pokemon only recently, I'm probably most known for being the first person to solidify their qualification in Smogon Grand Slam this year and getting picked for snake cuz of it. In the NU community, I'm probably most known for my room tours with meeps and all the joking "cteaming" going on
​
Earth: Hello, Lax! How are you?
Lax: Hey earth I'm doing pretty good, how are you?

Earth: Me as well, thanks for asking! Alright, it seems like you have been starting to play NU seriously in SM, and you have quickly got your name out in our community. What attracted you?
Lax: It was really a random "why not" kind of moment. I was in a chat with friends who played NU like meeps and ADVANTAGE during alpha and it just seemed like a pretty fun tier. I played a ton of room tournaments since then trying out lots of ideas and constantly losing to meeps.. I noticed the community was also pretty open compared to others so I fit in fine

Earth: Interesting! What do you think of the metagame? Do you think anything should be tested, or banned currently?
Lax: Honestly, the metagame as of right now is pretty lame to build for because there are too many threats to deal with. There's room for innovation that we've seen in Snake Draft but still pretty hard to build for in this meta. I've talked with some council members and they agree with me that Barbaracle is broken and way too good right now with the Rock-Z jolly set. If/when that gets tested, mons I expect to be tested next are Vanilluxe and Emboar (the order may be different) because of how restricting they are as well but that's really it.

Earth: How was your NUPL experience this year? What was your favorite battle?
Lax: NUPL was a really fun experience because I had dope teammates but personally I don't think I performed up to par at all. I think I went 3-4 or something terrible and some games I just played pretty poorly. My favorite battle was probably Hootie vs solidsweeps which is weird because Hootie missing Fire Blast means we got knocked out of playoff contention. Sweeps' team was really whacky which was fun and it was the final game for us so it was pretty hype.

Earth: You’re known for popularizing Wormadam-Trash when the likes of Meloetta and Sceptile were still very common. Are there any other hidden gems you enjoy using nowadays?
Lax: I wouldn't say Wormadam got a spike in usage but it fulfilled its niche quite well so it deserved a ranking at the time. Not sure how "hidden" these sets are but 4 attacks Life Orb Whimsicott is a favorite right now with HP Ground. I've always been a fan of expert belt Emboar, life orb unnerve Houndoom and scarf Houndoom, both with pursuit. There are some other cool things that'll pop up in some of my games soon too o0

Earth: What advice would you give to people trying to get known in the tournament / NU community?
Lax: Getting known in tournaments is all about results. I'm not integrated with the tour community much but if you're just chill and can win games vs big names or accomplish things then you'll eventually get picked up in tours. In fact, I think the first thing I was known for was that new guy who would have qualified for stours if he didn't join 3 tours in one week early on and take a point deduction.. As for the NU community, I was already talking with a few people from there and just joined a ton of room tours like I mentioned earlier and it seemed to work.

Earth: What’s your favorite playstyle to use in NU currently? Why?
Lax: Balance for sure. I like using HO but that's just high risk high reward that requires you to play off your ass every single turn. In balance, you can still afford some mistakes but do fine in applying pressure to the opponent and win from that. Balance is more about long term thinking.

Earth: Could you tell us more about yourself outside of Smogon?
Lax: I'm 18 years old and a sophomore in college under a Psychology major looking into psychotherapy for now. Mostly I'm pretty chill irl and like to go out with friends and mess around. I love music, especially rap and some pop and like to play music in the background while I'm doing random things like going on PS and such. I have a random interest in competitive esports that I can ramble with people for a while even if I don't play the games itself too often. If you're ever in Cali you can hit me up to watch the emoji movie with rozes and tko..

Earth: Who's your favorite musical artist? Favorite albums?
Lax: I really have 2 artists that I'd classify as my favorite, Childish Gambino and Chance the Rapper. For Gambino, I followed him around since he acted in Community (a tv show I recommend everyone to watch :O) and his transition into rap was great as well. Favorite album from him is Because the Internet with some of my favorite songs he's done like Pink Toes and 3005. I only got into Chance this year (no idea how I'm so late though) and his variety is amazing. Favorite album is Acid Rap and some of my favorite songs from him across are Favorite Song, Summer Friends and a freestyle he did called Fool Wit It.

Earth: Can you give us a team that fits your playstyle and explain it?
Lax:
500.png
080.png
689.png
547.png
208.png
178.png

watermelon viagra (Emboar) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Earthquake

behind the couch (Slowbro) @ Leftovers
Ability: Regenerator
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 236 Def / 20 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Slack Off
- Psyshock
- Toxic

pet the apple (Barbaracle) @ Rockium Z
Ability: Tough Claws
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Shell Smash
- Razor Shell
- Stone Edge
- Frustration

raw vegan (Whimsicott) @ Leftovers
Ability: Prankster
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Leech Seed
- Moonblast
- Energy Ball

fast millionaire (Steelix) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 HP / 48 Atk / 180 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Heavy Slam
- Earthquake
- Roar

vaccination (Xatu) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Magic Bounce
Happiness: 0
EVs: 244 HP / 176 Def / 32 SpD / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
- U-turn
- Psychic
- Grass Knot
- Roost
This is the team I used vs Blast in my first snake game that fits my style pretty well. It has a pretty basic feel to it and has the most basic NU defensive core of Slowbro, Xatu, and Steelix. Everything is pretty straightforward, standard scarf Boar, toxic Bro for other bros/kings and to whittle stuff down. Broken mon Barbaracle that takes advantage of a ton of scarf Fire mons like Emboar and Delphox. It has Jolly so scarfers can't revenge it, outspeeds Xatu right away etc. Interesting Whimsicott set that can bait encore for opposing Barbaracles and scouts scarf revenge killers like Phox and Boar for Barbaracle to sweep. Really annoying to offense teams in general if you safely get a leech or sub up. Standard Lixx and Xatu to round it up. The team can have some difficulties with Sneasel and a lot with Vanilluxe but they are manageable. Once again, pretty easy team to use but pretty fun as well.

Thanks for your time, Lax! I hope you enjoyed this interview, if you have any question, feel free to ask them. If you want me to interview anyone in particular, PM me.
 
Tangelo said:
LAX

how are u the best who ever lived?

when are we watching emoji movie?

what mon do u want most irl (
torterra.gif
)??
Click to expand...
1. that's u tanguino
2. whenever you want ;w;
3. do you want a torterra irl???
DurzaOffTopic said:
who do you fuckin hate in smogon
whos the shittiest player uve played
Click to expand...
z0mOG for both
Z+V said:
Do you like Sandslash-A ?
Click to expand...
cool design shit mon
Yoshizilla315 said:
Is Finchinator bad?
Click to expand...
nah he's p good
TJ said:
should nu free veil
Click to expand...
never really cared about it personally, just seemed like a gimmicky playstyle. it is pretty low skill high reward though which is unhealthy for the metagame
Twix said:
laxtry?
Click to expand...
twixtry
lolbro said:
Whats ur obsession with my name
Click to expand...
Idk what you're talking about bro, lol
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top