Project Player Of The Week Revived: Week 16 - Urusius

[TJ]

Urusius
Favorite Pokemon: Poliwrath
Most used Pokemon: Hitmonchan
Most known for: PU Room Voice, building support in PUPL
​

TJ: Hey Urusius, how are you doing today?
Urusius: I’m doing very well, thanks for asking, what about you?
TJ: Im doing great, thanks!

TJ: Can you tell us a little about yourself?
Urusius: I am a Canadian living in Quebec of Haitian origin. I like to read, write, and cook. Right now, I'm studying in literature and cinema. One of my life goals is to run 10km a day. A healthy mind is a healthy body, right? Otherwise I spend a lot of time on the Internet in PU. I do PU analysis for a French site, I teach others how to play the tier and I enjoy building lots of teams, whether for me or for others.

TJ: Where does the name 'Urusius' come from?
Urusius: I love bears and I wanted my nickname to be related to that. I could not find anything relevant. However, I soon learned that "bear" in Latin meant "ursus". When you utter Ursus quickly, you could hear "Urusius" and I was very happy with the result. So I kept that name.

TJ: How and when did you get into competitive pokemon? What drew you to the PU community?
Urusius: I started the strategy 4 years ago by following the videos of a French woman named Azelma who was talking about this subject. My first tier was the NU, but my interest quickly turned to ORAS UU where I peaked regularly. And then, Gen 7 has arrived and I stayed in RU because it was the only playable tier. The metagame quickly disgusted me because everything was too powerful for my taste. The early UU Gen 7 was nothing different. I stayed in the OU tier for a while because the tier pleased me. However, the extreme bulk and the multiple bans of Pokemon that pleased me quickly made me leave. I finally arrived in PU and I was immediately charmed. The tier was new and had lots of potential because there was so much to test and experiment. I planned to stop the game once the excitement passed but I crossed the path of a guy named Ktütverde with whom I spoke a lot. He had arrived long after me so I decided to teach him everything I had learned about tier. Ktütverde at the time was interested in the competitive scene and seeing him grow up in the middle to become one of the best in PU filled me with joy and gave me a good enough reason to stay on Pokemon.

TJ: How does it feel being the newest PU voice?
Urusius: It's always good to be congratulated when you have not necessarily looked for it. I appreciate the fact that my investment in tier is recognized. Thanks again!

TJ: We recently banned Guzzlord. Do you think it was the right decision?
Urusius: Thank God, this thing has been banned. We speak of a mon with gigantic movepool that touched the whole tier, which had a hallucinating longevity by its bulk and its interesting type and especially and this versatility in terms of roles that was not legit ... For example, it can be AV, Specs, Mixed, AOA with Z, Defensive, physically offensive, etc. In addition, putting pressure on him was very hard at times. If it was not Silvally-F in front or a fight type like Hitmonchan, the thing could stay and make a big fat Draco Meteor that atomized your family over 5 generations. He was putting a lot of pressure on teambuilding too. You could not play Fros without Ice Beam / Destiny Bond or Lilli without Z-Hyper Beam (and even there he could tank it ez with the proper spread). And do not try to play Mesprit / Lanturn / Jellicent etc. without Dazzling or U-turn, it is hardly lost in my opinion. Obviously, this is only my opinion.

TJ: If you could unban one thing from PUBL what would it be and why?
Urusius: That’s a big nay nay, no unban. I think that all of them in PUBL are still too strong for PU.

TJ: What are your predictions for PU Snake Starters?
Urusius: Unfortunately, I have very little chance of being caught. I believe that the most popular / outstanding players in terms of performance in competition recently like Megazard, TJ, Teddeh, Taskr, tlenit1, or even Rexus have all their chances.

TJ: Can you name any up and coming players showing good potential?
Urusius: Since Ktütverde, I have followed very few people for their competitive performance. However, a friend of mine named Squash17 ^_^, has every chance of reaching the top. We have often teamed up for the PULT / PU Open with my teams and he has not ceased to impress me with his amazing talent. I cannot wait to see where he can go if he continues to do so. In my opinion, you will probably hear about him one day.

TJ: What advice would you give to people trying to get involved in PU?
Urusius: Experiment and do not rely on trends to make your own opinion. Never be afraid of losing, that's how you must do this to learn effectively. It's a classic, certainly, but failure is part of success. PU is a tier that is constantly changing and consequently, threats too. So do not just rely on top tier. The PU room is very friendly and offers good advice, so do not hesitate to ask your questions. Do not be disconcerted by the ladder if you lose often. It does not mean that you are bad. Several factors can play on this. For example, your team. A team can always be improved or reworked. Anyway, climbing the PU ladder is very complicated because of the few players who invest in it. You must know how to be patient. Play as smartly as possible to do not have any regrets.

TJ: Who are some of your favorite people in the PU community?
Urusius: Oh boy! So, to begin, I would like to thank my closest friends with whom I spend most of my time online and who are tlenit1, Squash17 ^_^, and yandaud. There are also those that I often see on Showdown and that I particularly appreciate, like PhantomHurious, Sir Pin, Toxicologyy (panda muu), TJ, sketchy ecchi, KellyKafka, tom holland, and PTF. I love you all, thank you for being so kind and nice to me (sorry in advance if I forgot anyone, there is so many good guys in Pokemon Showdown lmao)

TJ: Favorite TV show/movie?
Urusius: I really like the Canadian series "Mary kills people". In addition to being exciting to follow and brimming with twists and turns, it raises all kinds of relevant ethical and moral issues. I recommend it to anyone interested!

TJ: Finally, could you give us a cool team and briefly explain it?
Urusius:

Importable

Froslass @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Cursed Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Spikes
- Frost Breath
- Shadow Ball

Silvally-Fairy @ Fairy Memory
Ability: RKS System
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- U-turn
- Multi-Attack
- Flame Charge

Omastar @ Waterium Z
Ability: Weak Armor
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shell Smash
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Substitute

Dodrio @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Early Bird
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Brave Bird
- Jump Kick
- Return
- Pursuit

Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch
- Leaf Storm
- Brick Break

Stunfisk @ Red Card
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 108 SpA / 148 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Discharge
- Earth Power
- Endeavor

So, this is a HO that I’ve built recently. It’s based on spike stack and Oma+Dodrio. Stunfisk punishes a lot of things for me like Dodrio, Scyther, Primeape and Silvally-F mostly. The set is weird but funny to use. The purpose is to counter Eel leads. Enough investment in speed allows you to outspeed every 50 based speed mons. When the Eel is against you, it should normally click Giga Drain. When you’re putting the rocks, the Red Card will force it to leave the field, which is helpful for the team since this Pokemon is really threatening. Endeavor is here to put in range of kill a lot of stuff (mostly Muds, Regi, Eel, etc.). The Red Card can also be used to chip the opponent with your hazards, prevent an incoming sweep from the opponent or even to neutralizes a U-Turn from Meape/Vally-F/Scyther. Fros spin block, set up the Spikes and can pressures well any kind of hazard removal. Also, Frost Breath is preferred over Ice Beam just to RK more effectively the Oricorios. Silvally-F is the fight resist and act as a decent sweeper + pivot due to U-Turn. Shiftry punishes the bulky Water types and deals well with Eviolite/AV users. Plus, the priority and the Dark type for Sableye are always appreciate. Dodrio outspeed literally every Scarf user and both Ludicolo and Sand-A under their respective weather. Pursuit is a great move to weaken stuff for Oma. Speaking of it, Oma is the main breaker. Waterium-Z is excellent to KO Kanga and a lot of Pokemon once you switch on them. The Sub is here to improve the MU against TR teams, weather in general and passive teams. It is also interesting if you’re able to RK something when you’re behind a Sub since you can easily abuse of your foe while it tries to break it.

Thanks for your time, urusius! As always, if you guys have your own questions, feel free to ask them below! ​

 

[Leni]

-We have never seen you losing, how do u keep your winning streak only growing?

-Favorite "unset" and why?

-When you make your own youtube channel to share your knowledge?

-I think tjay missed this one; who do you hate most in the PU showdown and why it is Specs Jigglypuff?

 

[UberSkitty]

Make a post so I can like it instead of liking TJ's

Also what is your favorite abomination fusion? I'm thinking some Poliwrath on Wurmple action here

 

[PH]

Why should glaceon be S tier?
Were you expecting to be voted for in BOTW
Why is stunfisk top 3 pu mons?

ps: u smell :3

 

[PTF]

Hi Uru!!

I love your nicknames - which ones are your favourite?

Why is Throh hideous?

When teambuilding, what is your thought process?

 

[Urusius]

-We have never seen you losing, how do u keep your winning streak only growing?

-Favorite "unset" and why?

-When you make your own youtube channel to share your knowledge?

-I think tjay missed this one; who do you hate most in the PU showdown and why it is Specs Jigglypuff?

1- Yeaaaaah sure Do not make others believe that I am so strong lmao. But I guess that my builds help a lot :D
2- Probably my Altaria-Z set! I know it's not that strong offensively but still, it has its place in the current meta (the purpose of this set is not to sweep anyway, unlike the DD one). It pressures well any Mudsdale, Victreebel, Simisear, semi hail teams and even Eelektross. The fight resist is also really useful. It's sad that the Z-Move on Alta is mandatory but it's worth in my opinion. I like this technique because it offers you a way to play Altaria if you do not want/love its defensive set in your team. Since I like Altaria but dislike sometime the bulky set, it is only good for me!
3- Hahahaha... Actually, I was thinking about it. Maybe it will happen sooner or later, with a friend named Tlenit1
4- Hahahaha well, Specs is more than fine, he is good fella. Honestly, I don't really hate anyone, except our dear TL Megaclown :]

Make a post so I can like it instead of liking TJ's
Also what is your favorite abomination fusion? I'm thinking some Poliwrath on Wurmple action here

Naaaaaah, Jynx+Poliwrath is even worse imo. Imagine a blue Kim Kardashian under steroids with the gloves of Mickey Mouse... Y i k e s

Why should glaceon be S tier?
Were you expecting to be voted for in BOTW
Why is stunfisk top 3 pu mons?

ps: u smell :3

1- Glaceon cuteness deserves the S rank by itself. Glaceon Z-Celebrate is not that bad actually. I've already tried it recently and it pulled out some good work. I wouldn't say it's the set of the year yet hahaha. Free tip: always weaken the opponent Hitmonchan before boosting yourself since you only have one chance to activate your Z-Move ofc :)
2- At first not at all, I didn't even know that was a thing... But of course, because of that sneky snek of Tlenit, I was the chosen one for the fights :x I'm glad that it happen against you, our battles were funny as hail!
3- Bruh, recently I'm spamming so much this pancake thing... I dunno why people don't love it, it's fucking bulky, punishes (in some kind of way) the dangerous VoltTurn and the rocks + the Electric type to counter the Flying types is good. It clearly deserves more love (but people are having waaaay too much fun with Mudsdale instead ).

Hi Uru!!

I love your nicknames - which ones are your favourite?

Why is Throh hideous?

When teambuilding, what is your thought process?

Hi PTF :D
1- You're talking about the nicknames that I put on mons right? If it's the case then I really like to make a little list of specific nicknames for every species of Pokemon. Some of my favorites are:
Greninja: BungeeByTheNeck
Excadrill: Holey Moley!
Pyroar: Burger King
Simisage: Elvis Grassley
Raichu-A: RaichTheWave
Gardevoir: GoogleMe:]
Noivern: That (b)ass
Exploud: SteppedOnLego
2- I mean, if being OP is hideous, then it's reaaaally ugly indeed. We're talking of a Pokémon that is directly born with a Black Belt :p
3- Good question. When you want to make a brainless team that every elitists will approve, you simply put: hazards, hazard control, a way to block both specially/physically offensive things, a breaker/set up mon, speed control, offensive and defensive synergy in terms of typing (fight resist for example y/n), a way to counter the popular archetypes like hail, stall, etc + some A/B rank mons on it and there we go. I generally do this when I don't have any specific idea/strat to build around. But hey, if it was that boring to build a team, I wouldn't bother myself to make so many of them. Everyone wants to CT everything but guess what? It's impossible. Honestly, since you can't counter everything, I generally focus my attention on a Pokemon/technic that I want to try and then, if I have the will, I try to correct a minimum the defects of the team face trends. Every playstyle has its needs that others are not looking for, right? For example, an HO team won't necessarily have hazard control or a an excellent defensive synergy since it's not necessary for the build to be effective. So you have to find what your will absolutely needs. To give you an idea, I've built recently a Sticky Web, it looks like this https://pokepast.es/91acafea0ef946d5 (OMG IT'S NOT VIABLE HOW DARE YOU)

Like I said previously, I recommend you to find the immediate flaws that annoy the kind of PU playstyle you're building on. For the Sticky Web, it was mostly Primeape/Servine (fuck Contrary), Defog/Rapid Spin users, Levitate/Flying type, Trick Room, a good abuser and opponent own Sticky Web (you never know). First, choose your Web setter since the team is based on this. I took Leavanny because fuck Masquerain honestly. Knock Off, Magic Coat and the speed are too useful. And don't even mention Swirlix or shit stuff like this lmao. Overcoat is here to beat Aurorus lead since they do like to spam semi hail now :c The invest in Special Defense helps to tank a Sludge Bomb + Poison chip from Roselia at 1HP. I swear, they really liked to do this when I was testing the team so it was interesting to Knock Off them after setting the Web. Lycanroc is a good abuser of Sticky Web since it outspeeds the whole meta after the malus of speed and it beats every Flying types/Cryo that you could face. It brings the rocks, which is nice and the Lum Berry helps against Sableye, Fros wow and any other random status from the oppo honestly. Jellicent is my spin block as well as a Defog block in some kind of way. With its invest in speed, you're more faster than Silvally-F after its malus of speed so you Taunt it to prevent the Defog and gg (Taunt Spam to CT Trick Room y/n). The Ghost type is also really cool for Primeape and fight resist in general. Pawniard is here to set up the rocks mostly but it is also a second great wincon, abuses of the opponent Defog with Defiant+walling Skun if no Fire type moves and offers a great way to neutralize the opponent Eviolite/AV with Knock Off. The investment in HP allows it to tank two Return from Stout and help to deal better with Kanga, Lycanroc, etc. You have enough speed to creep Qwilfish. Pom-Pom doesn't give a fuck about the Web of your opponent and beats random Grass types, especially Servine. Taunt is excellent to stallbreak and pressures Defog users/Trick Room setters. You also appreciate the Flying resist that Pom-Pom provides. Finally, the weirdest set of the build, Scarf Claydol. I know, it sounds fucking dumb, but listen well. I don't say that it's a good set. The thing is that it works well in the team. As I said, always experiment and don't be afraid to try new sets. They call me a weirdo for playing with Squash17 Scarf Sandslash-A at the PULT back in the days and now they are doing an analysis for this set since it's now decent apparently LOL. The PU needs to always innovative since the metagame is never the same... So
1) Rapid Spin to hazard control without taking off your own Web. 2) A Scarf for the speed control and to outspeed Meape Scarf (and the whole meta in fact) after the malus and then OHKO it with Pyschock (this move hits well Eelektross and Cryo, threatening Levitate users). 3) Levitate + Ground/Psychic Type to beat more easily Mudsdale, Regirock, Hitmonchan, Lycanroc, etc. Ice Beam is a nice coverage that touches Tangela, Dodrio/Scyther and Mudsdale mostly. Tadam, this is the team xd I hope my answer was enough for you and that it will help you in your futur builds ^-^ Don't forget, never stop learning.