Multi Gen Ubers Player of the Week · [Week #8: Sweep]

[Arii Stella]

Approved by Sweep
Based on other Player of the Week threads

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Art by NicoReaper ​

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Welcome everyone to Ubers Player of the Week! This will be a weekly project where I interview well known players to try and see into their mind a bit. If anyone has any suggestions on who I should interview, feel free to shoot me a PM. Anyways, lets get to it!

Sweep

Favorite Pokemon(s):

In Gen 5, Omastar of course! Unlike some other shit I liked using, like Charizard and Moltres, Omastar is actually really good in BW2. In Gen 6, I would say Mega Lucario. It is a really solid wallbreaker with a very nice Speed tier. It very much enjoys all of the bulkier EKiller running around.

What would you say you're most known for?

Uh spamming Omastar, Stunfisk, and Charizard in various room tournaments, and being incredibly unlucky in Ubers tournaments against everyone except Blim and Krauersaut (who I have extremely good luck against fsr o.o)
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If you could describe the Ubers community with 3 words what would those be?

SO MUCH BETTER

Since you have played many tournaments, what of these was your favourite? Can you tell us about your experience in that tour?

SPL 5 on the Tigers. I really enjoyed playing (and winning) on the highest stage, and helping my teammates playtest as well. I played really well 1st half of the year and deserved my all-star appearance; a shame MM2 last turn crit my Palkia as I was about to end his reign of terror Week 8. I also enjoyed UPL in 2013, and enjoyed assistant managing the Tigers in SPL 7.

From your perspective, which do you think is the easiest Ubers metagame to grasp?

They are all probably equally difficult to to achieve mastery at (I only consider myself to have mastered BW2 tbh), but I found DPP Ubers was probably the easiest to grasp / get competent at of the metagames I have played enough to form an opinion on. There simply are not as many Pokemon to deal with and so long you use disgustingly good pkmn (Darkrai / Palkia / Kyogre) chances are you can get some match-up wins even without grasping more difficult concepts, such as trying to figure out what Pokemon your opponent has yet to reveal and playing accordingly so you don't sacrifice your check to it before it comes in, identifying their sets / spreads, etc. DPP is awesome and I highly recommend it.

What's your stance on team match-up in ORAS Ubers?

It exists but it is overstated. To be honest, if your team matches up really well with, say, physical offense, but gets maimed by certain CM / offensive Arceus and Primal Kyogre, your team probably isn't very good. (granted teams like this can work in tour play as a "counterstyle" but even then I'd rather just bring something solid) The sample HO does have some good match-ups but again, if your team is completely overwhelmed by it at preview, it is your fault as a teambuilder, not the fault of the tier itself. A good team should have a solid chance to win against any playstyle; I know my Alomomola team did, and some of my first attempt at weilding Mola did not.

What do you think that was the best game you've ever played?

Final Fantasy 7, although I played that when I was very young (elementary school years). I don't really play any games other than Pokemon, although I played MarioKart in HS with some friends and enjoyed that. In terms of Pokemon metagames, my favorite tiers are, in order:

1. BW2 Ubers
2. DPP OU
3. DPP Ubers
4. ORAS RU
5. ORAS LC

Do you think Ubers should be in SPL 8? Why?

Yes, the tier is balanced enough (even if it is pretty boring IMO, albeit not as boring to watch as multiple other metagames that WERE in SPL last year) and the playerbase is clearly superior to RU and NU while being comparable to tiers like UU and LC. I wish I could see players like L56 / Lacus / Astounded get their first break, and Hack and Blim are gonna be taking lives.

Favourite to win Seasonal Play Offs.

Level 56, Hack, Steve are definitely favorites. There are a lot of people that have a chance but if I had to pic one, I'd pick Level 56 just bc he is such a strong all around player.

What are your expectations from Sun&Moon based on what we have seen "Solgaleo, Lunala, Zygarde"?

No expectations whatsoever. Solgaleo is retarded, fuck being a Sun legend WEAK TO FIRE. Lunala has a sign around its neck reading: "pls pursuit trap me," and Zygarde looks like Mega Rayquaza all over again.

What are your goals now that you're quitting?

Become a really good teacher, woo a mate once a get a job and start a family. I hope to be more of an outdoors person down the line.

Can you tell us what were your funniest/favourites moments in the ubers community?

No, because most of them probably involve me getting very angry at hax. ,__,

What are some players to look up to?

ORAS:
Level 56, Omfuga, Steve Angello, Steeljackal, Gunner Rohan, ZoroarkForever, March Fires, many others.

XY:
Melee Mewtwo. Only XY player worth mentioning.

BW:
trickroom (i love you :__:), Blim, Hack, Edgar, Probs, Imma Fly, Polop, Astounded, Soviet, and perhaps even hyw. Avoid MM2 he was awful at this tier.

DPP:
Iris, absdaddy, WreckDra, BKC, Jirachee, shrang.

Since your favorite pokemon is omastar, can you provide us a bw team with it and a brief explanation on how it works?

Hide

Arceus-Psychic @ Mind Plate
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Spacial Rend
- Recover

Omastar @ Choice Specs
Ability: Swift Swim
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Surf
- Ice Beam
- Earth Power

Ferrothorn @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Barbs
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Leech Seed
- Protect
- Spikes
- Gyro Ball

Giratina-Origin @ Griseous Orb
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 152 HP / 252 Atk / 104 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Tail
- Aqua Tail
- Shadow Sneak
- Outrage

Tentacruel @ Leftovers
Ability: Rain Dish
EVs: 248 HP / 148 SpD / 112 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic Spikes
- Ice Beam

Kyogre @ Leftovers
Ability: Drizzle
EVs: 240 HP / 252 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
- Scald
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Roar

This team is really fun and quite good. I had a better version with Sand Force Hippowdon somewhere but lost it when my old laptop broke. Mixed Rayquaza and HP Fire Latios are difficult match-ups, so just be aware of that (although they are not completely impossible). Omastar is really good on stall, as it can serve as a very powerful revenge killer, can break through last mon CM Arceus with TSpikes support meaning I could afford to put SR over Perish Song on support Psychic Arceus, and check stuff better than any other swift swimmer (barring the dreadful Ludicolo) can. I guess Kabutops can work on stall, but I already had a spinner here and I don't like how Kabutops cannot switch into Ho-Oh as effectively, as a burned Kabutops is a useless Kabutops. Kabutops is better than Omastar 99% of the time on offense, but I sincerely prefer Omastar on this style of team; being outsped by most Choice Scarf users means little because this team handles them so easily.

Now that I am done singing Omastar's praises for a final time, I will talk about the team. It is pretty standard, except for the Spacial Rend Psychic Arceus; I like 2HKOing Palkia after SR while still hitting other dragons. SR on Arceus is a necessary evil, although I find it is very reliable at getting the hazard up. It really wants to run Roar, but that's really too bad for poor Psychic Arceus. Specially defensive Kyogre grants Rain, an OK Darkrai check that will lose to good sets anyway bc fuck Darkrai, and an excellent CM Arceus check. Tentacruel's set is cute and can cheese out neutral natured Rayquaza; if Rayquaza is fast, it has a much harder time with Psychic Arceus anyway. Toxic Spikes and Rapid Spin are absolutely integral to this team's success because Omastar needs them late game to finish off CM Arceus. Even if the Arceus has Refresh, they still have to burn a turn using it by which point they will hopefully be in range to die to a Hydro Pump. Ferrothorn does Ferrothorn things, and although this team would like Power Whip or Toxic, it really likes Ferrothorn being alive, so I went with Protect. Giratina-O is offensive because of Latios mostly, I needed help disposing of it. Sneak can also finish off weakened Rayquaza, which is a big help. The team is built to allow Omastar late-game, and indeed Omastar has done so countless times.

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Thanks again to Sweep for taking out time to complete this interview, good luck in life!
Ask him any questions you have below!

 

[Fireburn]

Do Octillery and Malamar appeal to you as well, being similarly tentacled creatures?

 

[SparksBlade]

ZMOVE OMASTAR????

 

[Steve Angello]

Sweep help me building new teams for seasonal playoffs n__n

 

[AzureRaptor]

Sweep are there any last contributions you'll leave for the Ubers community before you leave? (If there are any at all ex: updated analyses, etc. etc)

Best of the best to you in everything you do. We'll all miss you man ouo

 

[Deoxymoron]

Hey Sweep, I played very little BW ubers but from my time on Smogon/Showdown I always admired how you treated everyone in the community, old and new. As someone starting to get into XY ubers, do you have any universal teambuilding advice you could pass on?

 

[Sweep]

Do Octillery and Malamar appeal to you as well, being similarly tentacled creatures?

Malamar is a cool squid, but Octillery is garbage.

Evidence of Malamar's beastness (DO NOT TICKLE IT): http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-ru-61273

ZMOVE OMASTAR????

IDK what this is but I bet it's anime related, so I would not get the reference unless this is a Pokemon or a mamodo.

Sweep help me building new teams for seasonal playoffs n__n

Steve <3 if I catch you today or tomorrow I'd be happy to help you build / edit / etc, gl in playoffs and pens.

Sweep are there any last contributions you'll leave for the Ubers community before you leave? (If there are any at all ex: updated analyses, etc. etc)

Best of the best to you in everything you do. We'll all miss you man ouo

Yes; after you posted this, Ubers QC forum was completely cleared for the first time in forever. You're welcome for the help, Nayrz,,, (OK Nayrz had as much to do with that as me)! And ty.

Hey Sweep, I played very little BW ubers but from my time on Smogon/Showdown I always admired how you treated everyone in the community, old and new. As someone starting to get into XY ubers, do you have any universal teambuilding advice you could pass on?

Thanks, I was pleasant to anyone that didn't hax me on the ladder...the people I did yell at on the ladder are probably scarred for life. In regards to XY Ubers, I don't remember enough about it to be of much help, but I will say Mega Aerodactyl and offensive variants of Ghostceus are extremely unexplored there, especially together. In terms of universal team advice for an intermediate and budding tour player, I'd say use stuff over something you're most comfortable with over something that might seem more "solid" on paper that you are not as adept using in practice. More often than not, playing ability can overcome potential holes in your team, and if you use something you are not comfortable using you are liable to misplay anyway. To quote GSC lord Karen:

"Truly skilled trainers try to win with their favorites."


Anyway, thanks for the well wishes and I wish you all the best going forward. I bid you a final goodbye...farewell.