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Most known for: spicy pokemon opinions and spicier tournament games
"LOT #880, THE IRON FISTERS' RETAINS........... SOLD TO THE GENTLEMEN WITH THE ENTEI!!"
4 months had passed since my last encounter with the supercomputer, but i was finally at the place I needed to be.
Once every year, the world's elites would gather at the Secret Underground Mafia Auction in order to conduct their shady business deals. Usually i paid no heed the inner workings of the mafia, but this year was different. A fragment from the Feliburn Chronicles, disguised as lot #884 was to be auctioned off. I needed that fragment, no matter what.
"LOT 882, Lime's SCL week 1 team, SOLD!"
2 more.
"LOT 883, RUGL 2's title sponsor, SOLD!"
1 more. This was it. If i could get my hands on this, I-
"LOT 884, TRADED TO THE FELLOW WITH THE LUNAR BROOCH FOR 2 TALONFLAME FLAME BODY PROCS AND A HIGH HORSEPOWER PP!!!!"
Daylight robbery. The Auction was rigged. I had no chance of bidding for the chronicles in the first place. Immediately, I scrambled to catch the person who'd stolen the fragment, knowing that this was perhaps my last shot at finding anything substantial. Finally, I managed to corner them near the auction exit.
I needed answers, so I began to ask them questions.......
You're well known in the community but for those who may not be aware, would you mind introducing yourself?
Names LBN, though Luna works too. Beyond playing RU and Ubers I mainly spend my online time playing souls games or metroidvania's.
(Souls gamer is based af what build do you usually main) And how did you get into pokemon, then later smogon and ps?
(depends on the game, its not like ive done a run w everything so idr have a bread n butter, i just use what i think feels fun for the run, but ig it'd prolly be dex shit)I got into pokemon from the mainline games, watching my sister hatch a togepi and knowing I needed him in my life. As for smogon, that'd be TheFlamingSpade that got me into competitive, but I only actually participated in smogon near the end of gen 8. Did do some very small mediocore stuff in ORAS but eh, not rlly worth mentioning those rmts stunk lmao
Hold on I'm searching for lbn oras rmts. Anyhow, how do you find the current sv ru metagame?
I think its very good, I'd wager RU is in the best shape out of the SV tiers atm. Not that that's a particularly high bar. I think the variety and threat saturation levels are healthy even if some mons are a bit more dumb than others.
What pokemon are the ones you consider to be contentious and why so?
I've done a couple posts on the matter but I think Bisharp and one member of the combination of Zoroark-Hisui/Volcanion/Zapdos-Galar are the main ones. Armarouge is silly in its own right and i'd probably vote ban on it too but I think swinging on it doesn't really accomplish much. Bisharp's ability to run away with games without some of the very specific measures to it (none of which are assured vs all of its viable tera types), feels very reminescent of Blastoise where when you get the right tera its practically lights out. As for the trio, I mainly point to Zoro as the culprit of making just about any switch around the 3 a risk of getting your gapdos check blown up by a disguised zoroark, and its specs set is also incredibly strong in its own right. Volcanion can be dumb on its own but its longevity issues can force it to have some problems, same w the speed.
Fair yeah counterplay to most of these pokemon (bisharp especially) is to just roll your dice and hope they don't have the tera that owns you, so I'd also like your thoughts on tera as a mechanics and it's place in competitive pokemon.
Tera i think its a mixed bag, its got positives and I think its a fun mechanic to interact with. When I question whether or not the gen would be better without it, I'd have to say no. While its most certainly dumb, and OU in particular is a practical joke in regards to stability I think its mostly a fine enough mechanic, its just theres often alot of tera merchant mons that make playing around them nightmarish with tera in the picture across tiers. RU Bisharp, OU Kingambit, Gouging Fire in any capacity, Volcarona you get the idea.
That makes sense yeah. Coming back to you though, you said that you got into smogon at the end of gen 8. What was it that clicked with you in those later stages of ss going into sv that made you the player you are today?
As cocky as it sounds, I've always hovered around roughly the same skill level from gen 7 to the beginning of gen 8 I just never really touched smogon. I've always played mons competitively since gen 6 but joining tournaments wasn't usually what I did, it was mostly ladder and stuff like pixelmon leagues that I'd mess around with. I think I've gotten better since later stage SS but I also don't feel like the improvement is that drastic, but it's kinda hard to retrospectively tell
LMAO fairs speaking of ss, how do you feel about the way ss ru has developed as an ROA meta?
I think its aged like fine wine, SS was already fairly comfortable in CG and despite people complaining about Reuniclus somehow I think its a welcome presence in the tier. Very easily the best SS tier overall, and I say that without a lick of bias.
I agree w u there fuckin love ss ru. You spoke about how flaming spade got you into smogon. Were there any other youtubers or smogon users that you believe also influenced you to some degree?
Pokeaim, Blunder, the entire heatah fajitah crew definitely did. There were others but they uh, dont deserve to be named anymore for reasons that I wouldn't exactly call savory so
Icic. And is there anyone newer in the community who you think is promising?
Honestly, I'm gonna actual say flam. Despite how cringe I found the bellibolt memes early in he's gotten infinitely better and his skills at the game are undeniable, he's chill. I'll shoutout lyra as well, they've slowly been gettin better and they aren't that far away from an actual breakout performance
Hazard removal has been a pretty contentious topic this gen, so I'd like your two cents on that as well
I think hazard removal options suck for the most part. Cyclizar is good, so is Noivern and G-weez. The rest pmuch all suck and donphan would be so good if UU could allow it to drop but unfortunately thats prolly never happening
lol Donphan is doing the forretress gimmick. It goes without saying that you're an accomplished tour player. What goes through your head when you're playing a game, and are there any pre game rituals you end up doing lmao.
Generally the feeling of really not wanting to lose, honestly its mostly going through the motions, trying not to throw/tilt and just knowing how to win the game and doing everything to make that happen. as for pre game rituals, no not really, i usually just play music and try to win lmao
Favorite song to play when you're running a game?
Aight so its usually just whatever touhou remixes i fancy for the day
oh sick! I'd also like to talk about what goes through your head when building a team. is there a specific checklist you follow, or does everything just fall into place naturally? of course, feel free to share a team you've built that you think is cool.
generally i go with
1: mon i wanna build with
2: assistant defensive core if its BO, if its HO i grab the staple HO memes
3: check for my ghost resists / my steels / grounds
4: make sure im not mono physical to get cooked by IDBP
5: then check for individual threats
What individual threats do you usually keep in mind while building?
Depends on the tier really, or what im trying to accomplish with the teamsomething ppl seem to not agree with is the idea that sometimes a team will just lose to some things. Obviously straight 6-0d is no bueno but having a hard time with some things in the B tier is like, fine
Right that makes sense. Lastly, I'd like to ask if you have a particular replay of a game that you found funny and would like to share.
1. LBN bfr ur a weeb right?
2. How can you dunk on SS UU and NU and say SS RU is good
3. What toppings do you like on pizza? I got intel that u love pineapple on pizza.
cavs vs warriors 15/16, last ptpl 1-5 to 7-5 final, do u think this rupl can produce a similar upset? if so which team based on personnel has that x factor in your opinion.
1. LBN bfr ur a weeb right?
2. How can you dunk on SS UU and NU and say SS RU is good
3. What toppings do you like on pizza? I got intel that u love pineapple on pizza.
1: Yes I'm a weeb but lord knows you are too
2: Honestly I don't even dislike SS UU, its just not as good as RU... and SS NU just fucking blows LMFAOOOO
3: And What Of It
Honestly fuck GK but he's right I'm not the best person to ask but, probably trial and error really. Not everyone will instantly make good teams and even good players can overlook things or tunnel vision in the builder.
cavs vs warriors 15/16, last ptpl 1-5 to 7-5 final, do u think this rupl can produce a similar upset? if so which team based on personnel has that x factor in your opinion.
1: SM
RU's best. Arguably the best SM tier and for once thats a bar that means something. Very balanced, flavorful variety of mons. No egregious bullshit, minimal luck factor. Good removal but also decent setters, tons of fun niche picks. Z Moves are still one of the best things game freak has cooked up for build expression. It's just fire.
2: SS
The best SS tier without question, though that bar is significantly lower than the above. Nothing is broken, and that includes Reuniclus. Sorry, that mon just isn't broken. Build variety is on point, removal is good and the variety is solid. For spectators its a bit less fun, admittedly because people love defog crobat a little too much (something i was extra guilty of before), but when people load the fun shit the tier is godlike. And most the time, people load the fun shit.
3: SV
SV is in a decent spot atm. There's some stupid shit still around, Bisharp H-Zoro and Volcanion are all mons I'd like to see disposed of, and soon. Beyond that though, its fine. Flavor picks are on point, removal is on the acceptable side thanks to how good G-Weez is, and Bike isn't that shabby either. Also helps the setters for spikes aren't that good. Gapdos is a very nice centerpiece for the tier and Slowbro is some nice glue. Overall, needs some stuff done but its not in a bad spot.
4: BW
Spectators dream whenever people dont load fucking clefables. The moment that shithead shows up this tier gets significantly worse. Honestly its fun as fuck without stakes, but with them you might just rather do a dolphin dive onto incoming traffic. Because there is ALOT of luck involved in the tier, and that includes being inbuilt to the top tiers. Durant and Moltres need no introductions, and while I think durant isnt that broken and Molt has never given me a performance that makes me smile the luck factor is undeniable. Loading heat here is great to have fun, but as a competitive gen? yea uhh...
5: ORAS
Stinky doodoo. Just kidding its like... ok. I do think this tier needs some tiering action of some kind to change the landscape because this shit is dry as fuck. I dont care if its unbanning shuckle / Sableye / Noivern / whatever the fuck people feel like or banning scrafty but honestly the entire tier feels like its VenuAloRegiGon + 2 and then whatever substitute sweepers fuck this group in return. SubPUP Seismitoad, SubCM Meloetta, SubBU Braviary, Sub Hone Claws Salacgon, SubTox Emboar the list goes on. I don't despite this dynamic but it gets old, very fast. And as a spectator this tier is just shit im sorry theres not much to see here most of the time. When people break the mold its like, fine but even then it's still the worst we have excluding ADV which... ill get to that. It's still kinda fun but yeah this tier needs something to change
Unranked: ADV
Honestly this is just a case of me not rlly giving a shit about the tier, and its eh approachability. The tier is very new, and I find the opportunities to justify playing it as subpar. The luck factor i talked about in BW feels worse here, in part due to how few pokemon are in the tier; which leads to alot of speed ties among the top tiers; namely Dash. If this was the only issue it'd be next to SV and its Gapdos Fiesta but its not. Strictly speaking I just dont really care about ADV, and the opportunities to play it are so benign that I feel like skipping it is the best pick, but tbh its either going before or after ORAS even if i did rank it.
