Project PU Player of the Week - Akir

[ishtar]

Approved by Akir
Inspired partially by the previous iteration of Player of the Week as well as Player Interview

Akir
Favorite Pokemon: Parasect.
Most used DPP PU Pokemon: Victreebel
Most used BW PU Pokemon: Jumpluff
Most used ORAS PU Pokemon: Monferno
Most used SM PU Pokemon: Primeape
Most used SS PU Pokemon: Mawile

Most known for: PU Tier Leader, hardworking old gens enthusiast, PUPL VI host.
​

Hello, Akir. How are you doing on this wonderful day?

Pretty good, just got back from a nice walk. How about yourself?

Doing well too, thank you! Can you tell us a bit about yourself outside of Smogon?

Well I am a 27 y/o guy who is currently waiting out the pandemic with my wonderful GF of 5 years and my newly-acquired cat. Other games I play...well I am an avid MMO person. Been playing a lot of WoW Classic and PSO2. I also like racing games! People refuse to play Mario Kart with me now cuz I got so good :(

Aw, whats the name of the cat if you don't mind me asking? Thats gr8, ill hit ya up if I end up getting Mario Kart for sure lol!

Her name is Lady Mochi, but we call her Lady for short. Adopted her about a week ago and she is 5 years old. She is a very refined cat! You don't come to her for petting, she will come to you.

Also absolutely, I love talking time trials with people!

Wonderful, im sure we'd all love to see Lady Mochi in the disc at some point! On the topic of....time (awful transition, ik), how did you get started in the tier?

I got started a long time ago during XY. A buddy of mine named November Rain (my eternal rival you see) told me to play in this tournament for "PU". I was feeling pretty burnt out at the time due to me really hating megas, and I remember PU from BW and wasn't impressed much, but I joined anyway. I actually did really well, beating multiple tournament players and a guy on the council, so I decided to stay. I have been here for...7 or 8 years now.

Thats awesome. Humble beginnings for a humble tier. This is a question that I had asked Specs but that interests me a lot in noticing the development of our tier. What's something you miss about those old days in which PU was developing and what's something that you're happy has changed over the years?

The big thing that I miss is the old community. Had a lot of great friends, and PU was small enough that just about everybody knew everybody. The council was half of the mains at the time haha. Back then too, there was a lot more leeway given for just trying really weird ideas just for the fun of it. Nowadays PU is much bigger, and the competitive aspects of PU has blossomed into something to be proud of.

Looking back at your time as a new PU player during XY, who was a sort of communicative and lead figure in the community that helped you find your place as well as pave the way for what we have now?

The person that sits in my mind was Galbia, who was TL for probably the longest stretch out of everyone with the title. Funny enough it was them that gave me the opportunity to host PUPL II, which is where I really started to get into leadership roles in the tier. I also have to give shoutouts to 2xTheTap and PTF for all of the long conversations into the night that let me grow into the player that I am now. Also, Shuckledeath was my first true friend in the tier and growing with him was a great time way back during ORAS.

I've always thought that those around you are as relevant to the player you are now as your own person sometimes. After all, you're the connections you make. Evolution will be a topic of discussion through this whole interview, so lets get started with some SS. While SS PU seems to be finding a bit more stability in these last weeks, we know that a huge chunk of drops as well as the occasional DLC are just around the corner. What are your thoughts on the current SS PU meta?

I think the current metagame, while flawed, still has a lot of merit to it. However, at this point I am of the opinion that we should try to let the tier sit and organically figure itself out as much as possible. Constantly changing the format, while necessary at times, leaves the metagame in a state of flux that hinders it as much as broken mons. So while there are still mons like Throh and Lilligant...and my attempts to get rid of Gapidash are also well documented at this point...I think that letting the tier adjust to their presence and then judge them is a privilege we have earned and should use.

Of course, im right with you on that Gorse motion lol. Lets move this over now to another important aspect of the tier right now and thats our community! With an ever evolving group of people and a new gen that has been sure to bless the tier with new faces, what are some of the goals of the tier regarding improvement of the community that you'd wanna share as tier leader?

The biggest thing that I want to accomplish now is reinforcing the idea of the greater PU Community and how we are all a part of it. I will be the first to say that many people, both past and present and including myself, have fallen short of making everyone in PU feel like they are all a part of the same community. The same gears all working together towards the same goal. I have seen cracks in our community, splinters even, that I think are a result of many people feeling disenfranchised or unsure about their place. However, everyone in PU is my friend by virtue of being in the community. We may fight, we may disagree heavily, but it is those disagreements that make us better. No one person or one group can have the perfect solution to any problem, so it is our ability to discuss and compromise and debate that makes the tier better. But the most important part of all of that is knowing that we all debate in good faith, and after all of the dust settles we are still all a part of PU. Perhaps this is a dream, and maybe I'm not the man for the job, but it is my dream and I will do what I can to get there.

I really appreciate that response, and im sure others will as well. We just gotta aim towards that goal together! Regarding tiering, an initiative like Council Minutes has been a great way of keeping everyone up to date with what's in the mind of council. For you personally, whats the next step to take towards making SS PU a better tier? How are you guys preparing to handle the upcoming DLC?

The next step is more events for me, things to get people excited again for the format. WCOPU is coming soon, and I have a few more ideas in the works to flesh out but I'm confident that they will at least be worth a laugh. As for tiering, I think a valuable lesson was learned for myself with the first wave of DLC. I personally would rather ban more in a giant pile and then heavily entertain the idea of which ones to retest then banning in weekly updates. Even if the tier does have a big outlier...well, what tier doesn't have a few outliers? It is more important that we allow the tier to grow organically, so we need to buy that time.

Exciting! Many things to look forward to for PU after PUPL Working as a host for PUPL allows you to have a great overview of what happens in the tier competitively as well as community wise. What do you look forward to the most with the start of a tour like this? Do you think that your expectations were reached?

The biggest thing that I look forward to is the huge amount of new ideas and great battles that happen. As far as that is concerned, this PUPL was a huge success! Heck, DPP PU alone had about 2 major shifts of meta development during PUPL. That is crazy! Not to mention all of the new ORAS ideas (people thinking Rotom-Frost is broken is new!) all of the new BW ideas (Scraggy is cute haha) and all of the further refinement of SM PU (it really felt like we didn't lose any time at all). Huge success on that front.

Mhm, we definitely got plenty of those. This PUPL also brought a good amount of first time PUPL players to stand out from some of the great established faces of the tier or outside of it. Who have been some of your favorite new people in the scene?

Well hey, you did pretty well this year! Our horribly-named friend twitch.tv/Bag_of_Trixx also has a pretty decent run, and SpacialRendevous was also an interesting watch. Also I am old enough to recognize good ol SOMALIA, and be excited to hear his thoughts on the tier.

Trixx is quite close to his goal of 100 post, this really is quite exciting news. On the topic of development, With PUPL finally coming to an end, the constant meta shifts in SS have often been a theme of discussion, but of course old gens have evolved greatly too. Can you tell me your thoughts on the development of each old gen after this PUPL?

Well I have to admit that I don't have nearly as interesting opinions on SM and ORAS, since they can't be changed anywhere near as easily as the other two. However they still had good showings. DPP imo proved that it has staying power, going through multiple shifts in both meta development and meta opinion and still having solid play throughout without anything coming forward as obscenely broken. On that front, I honestly do not want to change much of anything about DPP. People have been asking about a Roselia resuspect (it was banned way back in 2016) and I am willing to field that but I personally am not hopeful. BW deserves its own big post that I'm working on, but basically we either ban nothing or ban about 5-7 mons. BW has gotten better every PUPL since I took up its revival, but it has been incremental. How BW got to this point is a great story though for another time.

Surely these developments are only possible by great players who have been willing to experiment and get the upper hand in some of their MUs. Which have been some of your favorite performing old gens players? What are some of their techs that you've enjoyed the most?

LST still stands as one of my favorite SM players. His willingness to push boundaries and really go beyond the norm always makes him a treat to watch. For BW, EviGaro has been bleeding edge for years and their record just proved that further. Watching Lilburr slowly learn BW was also fascinating, since I am always interested in what newer players think and do within these older generations. And of course, the highlight oldgen match of Drud vs GeneralAnnoyance was one that I even put the time of it in my calendar.

Lots of talent and love for old gens from old as well as newer players was quite pleasant to follow along. Now in our new segment, "Spill the Sinistea", ive decided to stir some controversy! Name one overrated and underrated mon from every PU gen. You can elaborate on the whys's if you consider it appropriate.

DPP: Underrated is Armaldo and Overrated is Torkoal. Armaldo is the better spinner atm and I will stand by that. I would say Magmar but people caught on to that a while ago.

BW: Underrated is Simipour and Overrated is Bronzor. Bronzor is finnicky, but Simipour is a few steps away from being a complete menace.

ORAS: Underrated is Chatot and Overrated is Mawile. Mawile lost Baton Pass so it isn't as good as it was, and I think people forgot that Chatot can just blow through offense like a hot knife through butter.

SM: Underrated is Combusken and Overrated is Pom-Pom. People have been talking about Simisear but not enough about Combusken, and I think Pom-Pom's winrate speaks for itself.

SS: Underrated is Mime-G and Overrated is Gourgeist-Large. Mime-G has a lot of untouched potential, but Gourgeist-Large is just stuck in between its better sized brethren and doesn't have a niche because of it. I voted to UR personally.

Thats a cool list, let's see how hot the discussion about this becomes below the interview kek. This might overlap a bit with the previous question, but can you give us some hot takes regarding the old gens? Whichever you might wanna refer to.

Team Preview was a mistake. That's all.

Hard hitting words from Akir. If you could only play one tier for the rest of your life (in this scenario your choice has a solid player base and community, events, etc.), which would it be? Why? Doesn't have to be a PU tier ofc.

BW1 OU or DPP OU. BW1 was a hot mess but it was my mess, and that's when I played a lot with my college friends and those are some great memories. DPP OU is where I began though, so it makes since that that's where it all ends as well.

Awesome. Thank you so much for your answers. Would you wanna mention some of your favorite people in the community?

That is a lot of tags! First one will be November Rain. I know he won't see this but I still hope he will return someday. Will also mention MZ and 2xTheTap for being the other admins that stop me from taking on too much on and going crazy haha. There's also Specs , PTF , and ShuckleDeath who always stop by and say hello...even years later. But man if I could tag everyone I would lol

Ofc, you've always been welcoming and friendly to approach and im sure that the people in the community appreciate that, even if they remain untagged lol. Finally, is there any last words you'd like to say regarding this PUPL, now that it's all over?

It was very fun and I'm always happy to host, but I am looking forward to an uneventful Sunday lunch with my GF and my phone off lol

You deserve it, thank you so much for your time.

In the spirit of old and new, Akir has been kind enough to send us a BW and a SS team!


Here is a SS PU team I have been using as of late just to play around. Originally it was a Morpeko/Klinklang Voltturn core but Volt Switch on Klink fell out of style. Drifblim is there for Defog (it's imo the best hazard remover in the format atm) and has boots for it but if you wanted to run no item with Acrobatics for a second Lilligant answer and Poltergeist immunity then thats very reasonable. Lilligant is here as the potential wincon, and the Scarf Gourgeist actually makes a pretty interesting Grass Spam core. You can use Scarf Gourgeist as a midgame revenge killer and then win with QD Lilligant, or you can use Lilligant midgame and then use the Scarf Gourgeist as the wincon...all depending on the match! Drednaw is there to round everything out: defensive typing to soak up holes in synergy and rocks, and with an extra Shuca Berry to lure in greedy Dugtrio-As and murder with a quick Liquidation. Overall pretty fun with a lot of room still for improvement and customization.



Here is a pretty standard BW PU team that I made during PUPL. Actually this has been panned as being very standard, but that only makes it a good team for beginners. The wincon is SubSalac Simipour, who can choose how they want to win. If you want speed, Salac is easy and gets you Torrent as well. Need to break walls? Nasty Plot. Greedy? Go for both, its easier than you think. After that you have a Voltturn core with Natu and Zebstrika (Natu is the best hazard control in the format and walls half the rock setters, and Zebstrika is further speed control) and you have Throh as a backup set-up wincon while being the special sponge (trust in it). Torterra is there, notably without Grass STAB but instead with Stone Edge to better round out coverage, as your rocker and physdef wall. The Beheeyem is pretty simple: the EVs make it so that Psychic kills Audino on the switch...even if it Protects for the extra Leftovers. Try the tier out, tell me what you think!

Shoutout Akir for hosting PUPL VI and having the time to interview him.

As always, hmu if you have some feedback on the project!

ASK MR. AKIR SOME EPIC QUESTIONS!​

 

[Spacial]

Thanks for the shoutout! The burning question I've had for a while is this: where did your love for Parasect come from?

 

[Specs]

Dear, Akir:

Least favorite thing about Competitive Pokemon, and Favorite thing?
Wooloo or Lapras?
If you could change something about Smogon (any part of it) what would it be and why?

Love, Specs

 

[War Incarnate]

Have you tried other metagames outside of PU? What was it like?

What is your favorite archetype to play? Your least favorite?

What is your favorite pokemon to use? Your least favorite pokemon?

What was the funniest hax you've witnessed in a given battle?

Have their been moments when team preview has actually helped you?

What has been your favorite pokemon that you've used in PU throughout each gen?

Do you hate Snom?

Liked the interview, 9.9/10

 

[ShuckleDeath]

How long have i been trying to guess your name?
Does your name start with an A?
Does your name start with a B?
Does your name start with a C?
Does your name start with a D?
Does your name start with an E?
Does your name start with an F?
Does your name start with a G?
Does your name start with an H?
Does your name start with an I?
Does your name start with a J?
Does your name start with a K?
Does your name start with an L?
Does your name start with an M?
Does your name start with an N?
Does your name start with an O?
Does your name start with a P?
Does your name start with a Q?
Does your name start with an R?
Does your name start with an S?
Does your name start with a T?
Does your name start with a U?
Does your name start with a V?
Does your name start with a W?
Does your name start with an X?
Does your name start with a Y?
Does your name start with a Z?
What word or words does your name rhyme with?

 

[BP]

Hey Akir, been a long time m8!

I noticed that you may be into speedrunning. What games do like to Speedrun or watch other gamers Speed run?
Will Driblimb ever be retested for DPP PU?

 

[SergioRules]

Finally someone who realizes the True Power of Chatot in ORAS. Really such a great mon. I'm asking the same questions I always do but adding one since you're the Old Gens PU guru of sorts

1. What's your favorite shiny Pokemon and why?
2. What was the first Pokemon generation/game that you played?
3. If you could learn one game competitively that you don't already know and be good at it, what would you pick?
4. If you had to choose only one TV series to watch for the rest of your life, what would it be?
5. If you could make a change to one old gen, whether through ban, unban, or bringing a mon back that left due to recent usage (like Poliwrath/Lickilicky/etc. in DPP), what would you do?

 

[Akir]

Thanks for the shoutout! The burning question I've had for a while is this: where did your love for Parasect come from?

It's not my favorite favorite but it has turned into a mascot of sorts over time. I used to console people in the PU room that just learned that their favorite is bad with Parasect. The line was: "hey man i get it, Parasect is my fav and its trash too." If you are wondering what my overall favorite is, it would actually be Heracross.

Dear, Akir:

Least favorite thing about Competitive Pokemon, and Favorite thing?
Wooloo or Lapras?
If you could change something about Smogon (any part of it) what would it be and why?

Love, Specs

Dear Specs,

My favorite part has always been, looking back, how player interactions work. While you are building your team, you have full reign over how you want the match to go. But when you get into the match, there is not a single thing that you do that your opponent cannot respond to. It is that ebb and flow of the players acting and responding to each other that has always intrigued me. Also it is one reason why I don't like megas/z moves/dynamax: these are all actions that the opposing player cannot respond to. It goes against the original game design.

Lapras! Lapras conveys the entire range of human emotion, whereas Wooloo is but a simple celebration.

I would turn down some of the egos by like...5 notches. Can't really think of anything else atm lol

Love, Akir

Have you tried other metagames outside of PU? What was it like?

What is your favorite archetype to play? Your least favorite?

What is your favorite pokemon to use? Your least favorite pokemon?

What was the funniest hax you've witnessed in a given battle?

Have their been moments when team preview has actually helped you?

What has been your favorite pokemon that you've used in PU throughout each gen?

Do you hate Snom?

Liked the interview, 9.9/10

Besides PU, I actually played a good portion of OU to quickly get up to speed on generational differences. I thought it was an ok experience, but I left before they banned Darm-G so maybe it has gotten better!

Fav archetype will always be Voltturn HO. Spikestack HO was also my favorite before HDB joined the fray.

Favorite Pokemon to use atm would have to be Morpeko, thanks to its extremely bizarre ability that makes every game interesting just by having to puzzle together how I'm going to work with it. Least favorite...to use I suppose would have to be Non-Shuca Drednaw cuz it somehow always feels like it comes up short.

Watching an Explosion miss in RBY will never not be funny, even when it happens to me lol

Team Preview helps yeah but my problem with it is how it changes how the game is played. And how the lead metagame is just non-existent with any generation past 4 and that is an absolute shame.

S-Snom? What? Why woul I hate Snom? I must be missing something...

Liked the questions, 16/17

How long have i been trying to guess your name?
Does your name start with an A?
Does your name start with a B?
Does your name start with a C?
Does your name start with a D?
Does your name start with an E?
Does your name start with an F?
Does your name start with a G?
Does your name start with an H?
Does your name start with an I?
Does your name start with a J?
Does your name start with a K?
Does your name start with an L?
Does your name start with an M?
Does your name start with an N?
Does your name start with an O?
Does your name start with a P?
Does your name start with a Q?
Does your name start with an R?
Does your name start with an S?
Does your name start with a T?
Does your name start with a U?
Does your name start with a V?
Does your name start with a W?
Does your name start with an X?
Does your name start with a Y?
Does your name start with a Z?
What word or words does your name rhyme with?

About 6 years at this point I think? Oh wow...

You know what, it does start with one of those!

Your name rhymes with "Your Game" or "Surname" but do these count? Are they cop-outs? I was never good with rhymes :(

Hey Akir, been a long time m8!

I noticed that you may be into speedrunning. What games do like to Speedrun or watch other gamers Speed run?
Will Driblimb ever be retested for DPP PU?

Oh dang, long time no see indeed! Hello again!

I'm actually the newest RO of the Speedrunning room, so I certainly hope I'm into speedrunning haha. I speedrun Metroid games, most notably Zero Mission, but I have been meaning to pick up speedrunning Fallout 1 without the combat glitch and maybe WoW Classic. I guess I also speedrun Mario Kart, depending on how you may view Time Trials.

Unfortunately not, Drifblim was moved to DPP NU after the shifts.

Finally someone who realizes the True Power of Chatot in ORAS. Really such a great mon. I'm asking the same questions I always do but adding one since you're the Old Gens PU guru of sorts

1. What's your favorite shiny Pokemon and why?
2. What was the first Pokemon generation/game that you played?
3. If you could learn one game competitively that you don't already know and be good at it, what would you pick?
4. If you had to choose only one TV series to watch for the rest of your life, what would it be?
5. If you could make a change to one old gen, whether through ban, unban, or bringing a mon back that left due to recent usage (like Poliwrath/Lickilicky/etc. in DPP), what would you do?

You know, I actually don't really like shinys. I think a lot of the templates look weird. But my favorite would be Seedot since that was my first.

I actually played Blue when it came out! Could barely read at the time but I made an effort lol

Probably chess, so I could play against my rival again. Also that is a respectable nerd game

How It's Made. So soothing...and so many episodes. Always something new to learn about with that one.

In BW I would ban Gothorita, Beheeyem, Duosion, Throh, Simipour, and Sleep. That would be my big change!


Keep the questions coming imo

 

[MZ]

What're you reading/watching/playing/listening to/etc.? Whatever media you're into right now. Not WoW.

 

[rien]

how have u been keeping yourself sane during quarantine? have you managed to pick up any new hobbies?
what's your favorite kind of food/cuisine?
what do you think about TAS (tool-assisted speedruns)?
who's your least favorite member of the pu community and why is it Specs ?

this was a great read, thank you for being you and thanks to keppy for killing it every single time

 

[Bag of Trixx]

Thanks for the kind words Akir!

1) Who do you think will win the RR DPP tournament?

2) Are you the type of person who can listen to the same song over and over and over again? Or do you have to change it once the song is over?

3) Have you shared your personal opinions on the potential re-suspect of Roselia for DPP PU? (if you have, I must have missed that)

4) Will you do a best-of series vs MZ in all the PU gens in order to assert dominance PUTL vs PUTL? (honestly would be pretty exciting to see this as some fun rivalry)

 

[Akir]

What're you reading/watching/playing/listening to/etc.? Whatever media you're into right now. Not WoW.

Aww man why not wow? Funny note though, my gf read my interview and went "Why did you describe yourself with just video games? YOU WENT TO JAPAN!!!" So I guess that is fair. I don't do much reading besides the news and such, but I did recently beat Subnautica and that was fun. I have also been told plenty that my taste in music is terrible so ill leave it at that. oh and last minute edit: one thing i have really been enjoying watching lately is PoV videos on Youtube of roller coasters. I really miss riding those

how have u been keeping yourself sane during quarantine? have you managed to pick up any new hobbies?
what's your favorite kind of food/cuisine?
what do you think about TAS (tool-assisted speedruns)?
who's your least favorite member of the pu community and why is it Specs ?

this was a great read, thank you for being you and thanks to keppy for killing it every single time

To be honest, since I'm just sitting around now i had to start working out to keep myself fit. So now i go to the gym and watch battles while i work out and i guess that is my new hobby. The exercise is also key for keeping myself from going stir-crazy.

im a sucker for ice cream and chocolate cakes. luckily i also really love stuff like green beans and sweet peas and black eyed peas and corn and okra so it hopefully balances out

I think TAS are fun but they are definitely not for me lol more than anything, they are a nice tool for showing what is possible and that is valuable for speedrunning

its specs cuz now i have to compete with him for global ticket #s

Thanks for the kind words Akir!

1) Who do you think will win the RR DPP tournament?

2) Are you the type of person who can listen to the same song over and over and over again? Or do you have to change it once the song is over?

3) Have you shared your personal opinions on the potential re-suspect of Roselia for DPP PU? (if you have, I must have missed that)

4) Will you do a best-of series vs MZ in all the PU gens in order to assert dominance PUTL vs PUTL? (honestly would be pretty exciting to see this as some fun rivalry)

Drud is out for blood and on a hot streak while GA might have to drop due to RL obligations, so im gonna go with Drud

I do have to change it after a while, yeah. If the song is new then ill listen to it over and over until i choke the joy out of it, but then ill throw it into a playlist eventually

i have but i will post it again just to be clear. i am willing to field the suspect but if i were to vote right now i would say no. a lot of the tier lives in the margins, meaning that 3HKOs and 4HKOs that are barely achieved are the standard for defensive play. Having a mon that is so extremely effective at setting up Spikes really cuts down on that barely living thing and makes defensive play even harder to pull off than it actually is. If the tier reacts the same as it did in 2016, the meta is about to get a whole lot faster

for fun maybe but i dont really want to be a "dominant" TL. We are a team after all, and a pretty good one administratively at that

 

[Leni]

-PU is not used to have terrain setters in earlier generation. Now gen8pu have had couple to set electric terrain and grassy terrain. Terrains can create gimmicks with terrain seeds and support team mates in very different way than eg. auto-weather setters. What is your opinion about terrains? Is it good to have them down here or would you rather see similar situation to SM PU where we only needed to prep for weather teams?

-as a follow up question, do you think PU is still in growing progress to handle and adapt against terrain set uppers. If yes, what do you recommend to tackle terrains? If no, is it because it makes the supported mon go over the line or something else?

Also, good interview, enjoyed it :>

 

[Darkinium]

What are some of your other favorite Pokemon that you haven't mentioned so far? How about least favorites? Personally, I mean, not in the context of competitive mons.

What type of music do you listen to (even if people tell you it's bad haha)? Genre, artists, albums, songs, drop anything really.

 

[BulbaBrain]

Hi Akir. We've been in close contact recently haven't we? (i wont specify for what)

qs:
1) What are ur fav NFEs in PU history
2) Should Parasect be in SS?
3) How would u rate Parasect in SS PU if it were in SS?
4) Which pokemon is better in DPP? Parasect or Armaldo?

e: I forgot a question:
5) do u have a approximate date for the start of WCoPU?

 

[Specs]

If i see you answer Parasect for #4 I stg

 

[Akir]

-PU is not used to have terrain setters in earlier generation. Now gen8pu have had couple to set electric terrain and grassy terrain. Terrains can create gimmicks with terrain seeds and support team mates in very different way than eg. auto-weather setters. What is your opinion about terrains? Is it good to have them down here or would you rather see similar situation to SM PU where we only needed to prep for weather teams?

-as a follow up question, do you think PU is still in growing progress to handle and adapt against terrain set uppers. If yes, what do you recommend to tackle terrains? If no, is it because it makes the supported mon go over the line or something else?

Also, good interview, enjoyed it :>

From a gameplay perspective, i think terrains are a more boring weather. A lot of buffs have happened to them in the last 2 generations (lol gen6 terrain) so they are good now but i still don't think they are close to the same level as weather. Not to mention that our terrain setters are...ok...and I just don't think they have the same punch as weather can. We did get Swoobat back though, but I still don't think you need to go out of your way to cover terrains quite yet.

We are definitely growing but we also used to have much better setters. Losing Thwackey and Pincurchin was a pretty nasty blow to terrain, so now we are stuck with mons like Grookey. And while yeah, Grookey can hit pretty hard in terrain, it isn't quite to the point where it has the ability to overcome regular switchins.

Overall weather is still cooler

What are some of your other favorite Pokemon that you haven't mentioned so far? How about least favorites? Personally, I mean, not in the context of competitive mons.

What type of music do you listen to (even if people tell you it's bad haha)? Genre, artists, albums, songs, drop anything really.

Let's see...Exeggutor, Hariyama, Magneton, Abomasnow, Weezing, Escavalier, Falinks...I've been told that I have odd taste in mon favs lol

Hmm...way back in 2007, I "went" to a Daft Punk concert and that was neat. So there you go I suppose lol

Hi Akir. We've been in close contact recently haven't we? (i wont specify for what)

qs:
1) What are ur fav NFEs in PU history
2) Should Parasect be in SS?
3) How would u rate Parasect in SS PU if it were in SS?
4) Which pokemon is better in DPP? Parasect or Armaldo?

e: I forgot a question:
5) do u have a approximate date for the start of WCoPU?

Venipede has a special place in my heart thanks to all of the ORAS fun I had with it. Back then it was better than Whirlipede thanks to the speed. Vibrava also sticks out in my mind because it was 2x and i that figured out that physdef was the better of the 2 versions in chat one day. Good times!

It would make sense? England has crabs and mushrooms. I think. Parasect even has a VGC presence so it would have made perfect sense!

Armaldo has spin and walls Purugly while being able to also run a decent DoubleDance set as well, so it is the better mon. Parasect has a pretty decent niche on stall thanks to Dry Skin and Aromatherapy, but that isn't at splashable or as handy as Armaldo.

We have a host and are working on formats and regions, so soon-ish! Until then, join the ADV PU Tour.

If i see you answer Parasect for #4 I stg

Nvm can I change my answer? Parasect is the greatest mon in DPP PU ever. Bring it specs

 

[Akir]

A few bonus questions people have asked me recently and over the years:

1. Why don't you join your own tournaments?

During college I got some experience TOing Smash tournaments, and there were a few people who put these tours together who would intentionally give themselves better seedings and favorable rulings. After a while, it mucked up the entire scene to the point where everyone had to be double or triple checked just to make sure everything was valid. This experience has given me the belief that any tour where the TO is also in the tournament has questionable validity. After all, how can a TO be truly neutral if they have a stake in the matter? I don't really push this philosophy on to others, but I'm very serious about it for myself.


2. Does your GF play?

Yes! Occasionally! Some people in PU have even met her.


3. Why do you primarily focus on oldgen PUs?

Well honestly, I don't. I'm just very vocal about them because they really needed a cheerleader on their side for the longest time. How much progress in Gen5 do you think there would be if I wasn't so adamant about fixing it instead of abandoning it? Do you think Gen4 would have taken off to the point that it has had I not pushed for its inclusion in Classic and PUPL? Do you think there would be an ADV PU tournament at all had I not stressed about having one for so long? The answer to all of these is maybe, but I certainly made things a lot smoother. It is true that I prefer older gens (my % in roa proves that), but I still take the newest gen as seriously as I can. I am TL after all!


4. You don't ladder on Akir anymore?

Generally no, I do not. The reason for this is because I usually get absolutely swamped with conversation, battle requests, tickets, modding, and such while I'm on my main and there is so much crap on my screen at once that my focus can't juggle all of that. People also got into the habit of following me around when I didn't want them to, and that wasn't fun. I used to have alts for just doing forum stuff (Akir Working PUPL comes to mind), but when I got g% and met tickets I realized that it was simply more economical if I just used 1 alt, that alt being Akir, for all admin stuff and teambuilding entirely. I ladder a lot on random alts so I have a nice layer of privacy, but I recently have picked back up my alt of Hibike Euphie for laddering. You will still see Akir in some tournaments though!


5. Best Animal Crossing?

Can't beat the GC one


The new PotW should be up later today, so thanks for the questions everyone!

 

[PTF]

Mr Akir,

One of my favourite users to exist! I have a couple of questions:

1. Your name used to be Al Akir and now it’s Akir. What’s the story behind it?

2. Do you go to the gym? If so how much is your deadlift?

3. What’s your very first experience playing Pokémon? What’s the story behind you playing your first game?

4. We’ve been on here for donks, how did you first get into showdown?

5. What’s the last three songs you’ve had on repeat?

I love you so much Akir! This interview was a great read

 

[Akir]

Mr Akir,

One of my favourite users to exist! I have a couple of questions:

1. Your name used to be Al Akir and now it’s Akir. What’s the story behind it?

2. Do you go to the gym? If so how much is your deadlift?

3. What’s your very first experience playing Pokémon? What’s the story behind you playing your first game?

4. We’ve been on here for donks, how did you first get into showdown?

5. What’s the last three songs you’ve had on repeat?

I love you so much Akir! This interview was a great read

Hello friend!

Well ppl used to mess up the tag for Al'Akir so after enough times i just shortened it to Akir to make it easier on people. If you want the full story, the name Al'Akir is the Wind God (not really but close enough) in WoW. Neat boss fight so I stole the name.

I do! I used to be able to do about 280 iirc in my peak, but a weaker back and quarantine took its toll so my current rate is closer to like 190 last I checked. Not great but I'll get there.

That...is a long time ago. The earliest memory that I have on Pokemon is playing it in a car and wondering if I wanted a Pidgey. I was about 4 or 5 at the time?

I actually joined Shoddy Battle! Then moved to Pokemon Online when they started hosting the new Gen5 Pokemon (man I still remember some Japanese names), and stayed there for a long time until I heard of a new sim called Pokemon Showdown. I checked it out and have been here ever since.

ngl I've had Night Running stuck in my head for a while now so I will answer that. It's anime song btw so be warned.

Glad you liked it friend!