Welcome to the SM version of OU Player of the Week! This project will feature interviews from some of the most accomplished and influential users in the tier so that we can learn more about them.
If there is a user that you would like to see interviewed be sure to let me know.
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Kory2600
most known for: playing for OLT Playoffs right now, reached top 8 in ST24, have played in several smogon teamtours with an ok record (i think its 11-11 or 10-10 atm)
favorite pokemon: serperior
most used pokemon: tornadus-t
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of Smogon?
I'm an 18 yr old Frenchie who lives in Saint-Etienne. I'm currently trying to get into an animation school right now in order to get a degree since I dropped school for private reasons. I'm someone who loves almost any type of sports (football, basketball, handball, tennis, badminton etc) and in fact I play basketball at a decent level right now (i also played football at a decent level but dropped because of medical reasons).
Where did you get your name from?
Kory is my IRL name and 2600 was supposed to be 260 aka a random number but someone stole my main acc so i just decided do create another account with a 0
How and when did you get into competitive Pokemon?
I started to play pokemon games with diamond/bw and i searched some tips to catch some pokemon on youtube. The youtuber i was looking at also played competitive mons "at her level" i would say without being like patronizing. I was curious of what competitive mons was so i just viewed one of his competitive videos and i was just fascinated by her vids (in fact i viewed like 15 of her other competitive vids on the same day lol) and i think you know what happened next : she linked in the description the site was called pokemonshowdown.com and i clicked it
What’s your favorite generation of OU and why?
I would say sm ou because that's where i started playing competitively on smogon or either the french community (i played oras on the ladder before sm came out but from what i remember it was super boring with stall n stuff so i wouldn't say oras, although i think oras is a better tier than sm right now). All that being said, the tiers a lot more fun rn than it was during SPL imo and i hope it will be more fun with some changes.
What’s your favorite playstyle to use and why?
I'm more comfortable with balance and bulky offense rn because i really like to make microplays which makes the game easier to me. I feel like when you play these type of teams, esp balance, microplays are way more important than just making a big play sometimes because that what gives you the upper hand on the longterm. If you're able to keep a sack thanks to your microplays for example, it makes a tough endgame really easier bc you know you have an extra sack. Thats the type of plays i like the most in pokemon and i'm able to do it with balance especially
What are your thoughts on the current metagame?
I think some mons like mega mawile are just ridiculous and should be at least suspected. Matchups are also really important which makes any capable player able to beat a strong player if they have the perfect matchup; i mean, any capable player can beat any player anyway but, sm has too many threats and you can't really prep for all of them without being weak to 1 or 2 of them.
Are there any Pokemon that you believe are overrated/underrated in the current metagame. Why?
Alakazam is the example of the overrated mon for me, ppl keep playing tran/pex bullshit and thats why zam works. Zam has a plenty of counterplay imo like trappers, toxic users etc and although don't get me wrong, its a good mon i don't think hes like a top tier mon at all. sg mag is one of the most scariest mons in this tier imo and i'm surprised to not see it that often. it can sets up very easily and destroy every team with the right moveset but i also get that it could also do nothing if your opp has the right mon to check it although you have 5 other mons to either try to lure it or try to win without the help on mag.
Which OLT matchups would you be most interested to watch? Who do you predict to make finals (or top 4)?
it would be interesting to see a matchup like Ojama vs ABR, Empo vs Kick or either Kick vs ABR/Empo/Ojama. I would predict the 4 mans i just mentioned to be the top 4 if i don't make it (Ojama, ABR, Kickasser, and Empo). Finals can be whatever (rooting for Kick and the kingpin though)
Which of the official tournament formats do you enjoy the most? Why do you enjoy that format?
I think the olt playoffs format is one of the format i enjoy the most, otherwise SPL format is aight (i'd put 14 tiers over 12 for this year though but its just my opinion) Stour is pretty entertaining too and Snake is better than last years for sure but it could be better in my opinion. For the explanations i'd say that i find the swiss idea rly fresh for olt, spl is simple but effective so its cool and Stours format is kind of ladder but with more "competent" people and i like that
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone trying to break into the tournament setting?
Don't focus on trying to get into tours quickly, i think the most important part to being in the tour scene is playing for having fun instead of results. Don't think about what "elite" players are thinking about you or your gameplay/teams/whatever. Like i said earlier just play for the games instead of playing for the spectators (but i get sometimes when ppl are saying too much negative things about your game(s) to be angry n stuff and i guess its fine). Also try to not regret anything in your game, even tho it might be some ballsy plays if you think its worth the risk then go for it. I ain't like the best for giving tips but i hope it'll help some players
Who are some of your favourite people in the Smogon community?
Of course i'm gonna mention my boys from CCLM, vous savez déja ce que je pense de vous j'pense pas que j'ai besoin d'ecrire un paragraphe pour vous dire que vous etes juste géniaux et que je kiffe jouer a vos cotés. Also s/o to team france esp Ojama to give me a chance in wcop despite my lack of experience. My SPL team as well, we'll win next spl bros. S/O to my former and my actually snake team as well, we'll gettem bros. Also s/o to den for the support and s/o for the former CCLM fellows B and P. I think thats it considering that i don't "know" a lot of players in this community
Finally, can you provide us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle, with a brief explanation of how it works?
Thats the team i used in snake vs Welli0u. Volc is the main wincon but can also support the team with roost so i can switch into stuff like bulu or mawile. However, since its a fire/bug mon, its of course really weak to rocks so thats why i have defensive drill + fini which can spin/defog on top rockers like heatran and clefable if its not cm. the main problem is this volc can't touch heatran so that why my clef is hp ground; hp ground at +1 does a lot of damages so i can defog/spin easier later and volc can do a lot of damages (thunder clef + earthquake steela also works). Lopunny gives some speed control on my team bc as you can see i don't have a scarfer so lop's help is highly appreciated; steela is the standard spreads which allows him to check psychic types without zone with ease with leech seed. Fini is my ashgren/tran check and can annoy a lot of stuffs with taunt although it doesn't have nm to punish like ferrothorn; scald can burn the incoming bulu and helps clef a lot though
