Project Ubers Player of the Week #4: Icemaster

[byulharang]

Approved by Nayrz with idea from Arii Stella
Banner by my good friend Six

Welcome to Ubers Player of the Week! I'll be interviewing top Ubers players that have had success and are respected in the community. You will be able to ask questions to the player I interview by commenting on this post. Everyone cannot be interviewed but you can VM me or DM on Discord suggestions, hope you enjoy!

Icemaster

Favorite Pokemon?


I like Kyogre's design a lot and it's just very broken. My first battles on PS involved me loading up scarf kyogre and battling in the 1100s on the XY ubers ladder. I didn't win many games but the ones which I did were generally Kyogre hard carrying me. Pokemon ORAS was a bit of a letdown, but Primal Kyogre was added which is basically kyogre but dialed up to 11.

Most known for?

Winning UPL with the Dapper Dracovish, being on Ubers Council and participating in other Ubers tournaments

Any backstory on your name?
​

Not much of a back story, I simply made this account when I was young and thought the name Icemaster was cool, but Icemaster was already registered on PS so I used icemaster523 instead until I gained enough smogon points to claim the name Icemaster :sunglasses:

How did you get into competitive Pokemon?
​

I played pokemon quite casually up until the 6th gen. It was easier to get competitive pokemon in gen 6, and so I started getting interested in competitive battling and played online battles quite a bit in game. In 2014 I found pokemon showdown and started by mainly playing the OU ladder, and a few others, which was a lot more convenient as training the pokemon you use isn't required. I stopped playing after a few months though until late 2018 when I started playing again when I got into AG, and in late 2019 I got into Ubers.

Favorite and least favorite Ubers generations?​

Favourite: Gen 8 ubers. There's a very large variety of playstyles - 3 viable weathers, hazard stacking, balance, screens and webs. I think that it can be difficult to build as a result of having to account for so many playstyles, but with careful key plays, bad MUs can be completely turned around which really keeps the meta fun and fresh.
Least favourite: I haven't played Ubers prior to gen 7 much, but my least favourite is probably oras because of how powerful offense is. Threats like Xerneas, primal groudon, mence, rai are just too powerful. The tier isn't too accessible to new players imo, I think it really takes a lot of skill to build your own good ORAS teams rather than just grabbing broken HO.

Thoughts on the current state of SS? Excited for the next DLC?​

SS ubers is in a decent state right now. Dynamax is broken though, oftentimes you just have to outplay them in order to beat their dynamaxers, as it is impossible to prepare for them all. KB, gyarados, cinderace, pult + the weather abusers are scary, but with DLC 2 it'll just get worse with kart, lando, zyg. I think DLC 2 will be a pretty unbalanced meta without Support Arceus though, and might turn out extremely offensive but hopefully I am proven wrong.

What do you think about the current Dynamax restrictions? Do you think it should be altered ?​

Definitely. It's definitely consensus between ubers players that Dynamax is broken - even with a banlist and I think it's a matter of when it will be banned rather than if. There's only really two acceptable things to be done imo: expand the banlist enormously, or ban the entire mechanic. The first option is largely not very possible due to the number of suspects which will be required. DLC 2 will just overwhelm that system.

Do you have a favorite playstyle to use in Ubers?​

My favourite playstyle in all tiers is balance. It's the most flexible playstyle and has nearly no instant loss matchups (even the worst MUs are outplayable). Balance containing breakers such as Lunala or Dracovish is just really nice as either is able to pretty much dismantle any defensive cores given you predict well, which makes winning with them really satisfying.

AG and Ubers are very often compared and its not uncommon for an AG player to find great success in Ubers, what do you think is the biggest difference between the tiers? Any thoughts on the Zacian-Crowned vs Mega Rayquaza discussions?​

The greatest difference between USUM AG and Ubers is definitely the presence of multiple Arceus formes, and Rayquaza-Mega. The effect of these can be seen in pokemon like Primal-Kyogre (A+ Ubers, A- AG) and Yveltal (S- Ubers, A- AG) being far worse than they are in Ubers. This gen there are 2 AG formats really, Galar AG and National Dex AG. Galar AG's main difference compared with Galar Ubers is Dynamax, which is just so broken. Necrozma-Dusk-Mane is broken beyond belief and imo is better than Mega Rayquaza ever was. National Dex AG is a completely different thing, and is more comparable to USUM Ubers but + Zacian-C, Eternatus and Dynamax. Ironically, National Dex AG is more balanced than Galar AG. When most people think of AG, they probably think of Spore/BP/OHKO/Evasion, but these are extremely uncommon strats to find in tournament games or even just above 1700 on the ladder because of how inconsistent they are.

Zacian-Crowned is definitely more viable and splashable than Mega Rayquaza, but Mega Rayquaza is certainly more "broken". Zacian-C functions as an extremely good offensive check and sweeper, but Mega Rayquaza is a far more powerful wallbreaker and is much more nightmarish in the teambuilder given that no true counters exist, unlike for Zacian. Rayquaza also has a high level of bulk and is a great revenger as well as sweeper. It's like comparing Dragapult and Dracovish in OU. As far as I know, Dragapult is more viable but Dracovish is certainly more broken.

Congratulations on winning UPL with the Dapper Dracovishes! How was your experience throughout the tour and what you think it took getting your incredible 8-2 SS record?​

Thanks! UPL was a really great tour for me as the Vishes had a really great environment. The meta developed quite a bit so it was important for me to pay attention to the other SS games which occurred, and take note of what was doing well in order to prepare good teams. Me and Cromagnet particularly noticed how potent Screens HO was towards the later end of the tournament, resulting in us bringing it quite a bit (I think we went 4/4 with it too). In fact, I owe my record in no small part to Cromagnet, for repeatedly giving me useful ideas to build around or what to use (for example he told me to bring Screens HO vs Manaphy in the tiebreaker Semis), which was great. S/O Purple Gatorade and Skysolo too for the test games, and Skysolo for really helping build my finals team.

You participated in Ubers newest team tour Most Wanted, what were your overall thoughts on it? Anything you would change?​

I think Most Wanted was a pretty nice tournament. It let noobs like me play higher level tournament games and get my name out there, as team sizes were large and everyone was forced to play weekly (only one benchable player). The biggest issue though was the bounty system being too lopsided and possibly that there were only 3 lives, by the final week we had 5 players left and because we had so many alive, 2 of our players - Catalystic and Goat Heart didn't even get matchups - basically getting punished for having so many survive. We couldn't win the tournament as soon as the final week matchups went up, which kinda sucked.

There has been talk in the community about if we had an Ubers Wcop, what do you think about it ?​

I'm quite indifferent about it. It sounds doable, although we have two other team tours. I'd probably play in it but France would be quite dominant, so I guess it's time to apply for French citizenship

Do you look up to any Ubers players?​

Playing wise, for SS Ubers I look up to Goat Heart, Fc04, Crucify KyogreF4N, TrueNora and Cromagnet. These guys really know what they're doing and it's always interesting to see what they're using and the plays they're making. Other figures in Ubers I look up to are Skysolo, the Dracovish Managers and Zenithial. Skysolo was a great manager in MW (and drafted me although I was unproven!), also he helped me build my UPL finals team vs Royal. Stone Cold & abs were great managers, the vishes was just a great team environment. Zenithial (an USUM Ubers player) helped me a ton to git gud in terms of my overall play and building with frequent games back when I was very bad, more so in AG though.

Favorite game you've witnessed?​

The UPL tiebreaker BW game with Eternal Spirit vs March Fires. It was 1-1 at this point in the semifinals tiebreaker, and so was extremely tense going into the game. It was also a risky play to put Gama in a gen which he hadn't played yet vs one of the best BWers. Gama played really well, landing the +2 EQ on the Ferrothorn on the switch and coupled with an unfortunate missclick from his opponent managed to sweep with Ekiller obtaining a crucial win for the vishes enabling us to make it to the finals. https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen5ubers-515232

Any advice to new players looking to break into Ubers?​

I think the best way to get noticed is to put up good results in tournaments and even ladder. I was fortunate to start playing ubers around the start of a new gen, with Most Wanted coming up which doesn't have a very high bar to get into and allows everyone to play. I did tryouts with a few managers and managed to get drafted as a last round pick, and it ended up being a breakout tour as I went 4-2. So, new players should try take every opportunity they can to play in tournaments, eg signing up for ssnls, doing tryouts and qualifying for ladder tour. With a few solid records and impressive wins over good players and showing building skills and interest in the tier, you'd be able to be drafted for UPL and get your name out there as many players did in this upl.

Could you provide us with a team you've made and explain the thought behind it?

(click for import)​

This is a Kyurem Black balance which I built for UPL, for my Semifinals game vs Reje. Reje was up until this point a balance goon, so KB would perform well vs him in theory. The rationale behind this team is that every (balance) team has one of two Zacian counters, Quagsire or NDM. Teams which have Quagsire won't have NDM, so KB will be able to tear it up, and teams which have NDM won't have quagsire so one of KB or Zacian can setup up to break through NDM allowing the other one to sweep. Washtom is the best fogger imo, to improve the HO MU. In the end, Reje did bring screens and defeated me, but I think if I played more optimally, eg volt switching on Mew with washtom turn 1, this game was winnable.

Personal Question: Will you ever fully get into old gens?​

No I probably won't get into old gens, as I'm quite occupied with both AG and Ubers. If I did play an old gen I'd probably try out USUM Ubers though due to how similar it is to USUM AG.

=



Thanks Icemaster for answering these questions! Feel free to ask more in the thread below!​

 

[Ainzcrad]

Yo ice grats on getting this man well deserved now into the heat
1. Which Anime character do u simp for?
2. How was upl in terms of stress and bullshit that has happened?
3. What are u plans forward for ubers?

 

[The Number Man]

Hello ice-master-523, I have some important questions.

1. I would like to inquire about your position at the fabled Based Department. Rumor has it you have recently been promoted?

2. A follow up question, you mention you are most known for winning UPL and being on Ubers council, how come you didn't mention the Based Department and equally as important, the fact that you are a CIA agent?

3. Where would you rank the midnight fox on the Ubers (or AG if thats more appropriate) VR? Does it compare at all to Luxray and Chandelure?

4. Who is your favorite smogon/PS celebrity?

And a more serious question:

5. While you were by no means a bad player a year ago, it seems to me that you have vastly improved in the last year, enough to be considered one of the best players in SS Ubers and NDAG at the moment, which you have demonstrated both in team tours and individual tours. What would you say was the key factor that enabled you to reach such a high level?

 

[Lasen]

Gratz on UPL W and interview! Onto the questions:

1) Will you ever stop being the face of Ubers Zoomers?
1b) if yes, will you finally become funny?
2) Favourite food?
3) What's worse; Welsh or Irish?
4) Worst way to die?
5) How is USM an old-gens lmao stop being 13 years old.

 

[Icemaster]

Yo ice grats on getting this man well deserved now into the heat
1. Which Anime character do u simp for?
2. How was upl in terms of stress and bullshit that has happened?
3. What are u plans forward for ubers?

Ty!
1) the one in your pfp
2) Luckily for me there was no bullshit. I didn't get haxed. Both my losses were a combination of being outplayed in builder and game. In terms of stress I think the tour was quite chilled until the semifinals. The tiebreaker game vs Manaphy especially was stressful and of course the finals (the last 2 hours or so when pg, Melle and I played was very tense and cool)
3) No major plans! Just gonna keep playing how I am now, will definitely continue playing into DLC 2. After that no guarantees, if the meta is not fun I may not continue playing (I play Gen 8 Ubers and AG though so I have a high tolerance for unpopular metas )

Hello ice-master-523, I have some important questions.

1. I would like to inquire about your position at the fabled Based Department. Rumor has it you have recently been promoted?

2. A follow up question, you mention you are most known for winning UPL and being on Ubers council, how come you didn't mention the Based Department and equally as important, the fact that you are a CIA agent?

3. Where would you rank the midnight fox on the Ubers (or AG if thats more appropriate) VR? Does it compare at all to Luxray and Chandelure?

4. Who is your favorite smogon/PS celebrity?

And a more serious question:

5. While you were by no means a bad player a year ago, it seems to me that you have vastly improved in the last year, enough to be considered one of the best players in SS Ubers and NDAG at the moment, which you have demonstrated both in team tours and individual tours. What would you say was the key factor that enabled you to reach such a high level?

1) yep, I'm the most based user on smogon currently (I'll be old news next week though when I'm not player of that week)
2) didn't want to mention that I work in the based department; already a well known fact.
3) Absol is currently banned from AG as it isn't accessible in game. As such, it wouldn't feature on the VR. Yes, it's just that broken.
4) either the founder of the agency, or the founder of the academy
5) I'd say I started really improving when I could build good teams frequently. I think my actual playing ability hasn't improved massively. Back when I wasn't very good (late USUM), I really struggled to build well consistently, pretty much randomly grabbing mons together and maybe 15% of my teams turned out good? By the start of the new gen, I started improving a lot at building my own teams, and I work best using my own stuff, and the fact that a new gen started was very useful. The meta was new, everyone was learning, and so I could really get a grip on both NDAG and Ubers which has allowed me to actually build good teams. Now, when I build and have an idea, usually the team turns out to be pretty good.

Gratz on UPL W and interview! Onto the questions:

1) Will you ever stop being the face of Ubers Zoomers?
1b) if yes, will you finally become funny?
2) Favourite food?
3) What's worse; Welsh or Irish?
4) Worst way to die?
5) How is USM an old-gens lmao stop being 13 years old.

Ty!
1) never, ubers has users who used to carve their teams into stone tablets and carry out matches by smashing rocks together. 1b) I earnt the funny badge back in the Tag if your stupid era
2) Fish and chips
3) I like both; prefer the Welsh simply because I know more Welsh people
4) Impalement.
5) usum will be a boomer tier in 2 years at the rate gamefreak pumps out games.

 

[Best Gal]

hi frostybaron, big fan

1. what advice would you have for any aspiring based department interns?
2. what advice would you have for anybody who finds themselves drafted for 3k with no clue what they're doing? (basically, advice for first team tour?)
3. marowak, absol, or metagross? who would win in a steel cage match
4. this isnt a question but 8-2 is really impressive good shit man
5. what is your favorite sub-ubers/ag tier, i.e. one that features none of the box legends?

 

[Cynara]

1. Favourite anime? If you simp for Chika Fujiwara, surely it's Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, right?
2. Thoughts on the shoegaze genre?
3. Who do you hate the most in Ubers, and why?
4. Will I ever get a Fall Guys Crown?
5. Are you actually British or French?

 

[Ron]

Hello Ice do u know me?

 

[ShionShadows]

Omg big fan uwumaster.

1. What plans do you have contributing to the based department?
2. not a question but ily man and I really look up to you as I try to improve myself.
3. Favorite Mega(Primals DON'T count for this purpose since they dont use mega stones. Rip Blue Orb pod in MnM)
4. Why pokemon of all games? We know how you got into it, but definitely not the why.
5. How does someone like me, i.e complete shit in the builder, improve in a metagame? Afaik it's hard to try and improve when the teams you build are barely comptent.

thanks for your time

 

[SiTuM]

what do you think of LE CHOUINAY :joy:

 

[Icemaster]

hi frostybaron, big fan

1. what advice would you have for any aspiring based department interns?
2. what advice would you have for anybody who finds themselves drafted for 3k with no clue what they're doing? (basically, advice for first team tour?)
3. marowak, absol, or metagross? who would win in a steel cage match
4. this isnt a question but 8-2 is really impressive good shit man
5. what is your favorite sub-ubers/ag tier, i.e. one that features none of the box legends?

1) no advice. If you're based enough you'd already be on the department.
2) You almost certainly won't make the starting lineup, but there's still a ton of ways you can contribute, test games, helping build. Also, it's a good time to learn from other players.
3) Metagross will go down first as it's weak to both of the other two's STAB moves. From there, all absol has gotta do is koff marowak to deliver the W.
4) ty
5) I haven't seriously played a non box legend tier in a while, but USUM OU is pretty decent. I think it's pretty nuts how gamefreak botched Kyurem Black so much that even with its crazy stat line, it's still allowed in OU and isn't even dominant. Same stands for hoopa unbound, USUM OU has a lot of insanely fun wallbreakers to use.

1. Favourite anime? If you simp for Chika Fujiwara, surely it's Kaguya-sama wa Kokurasetai: Tensai-tachi no Renai Zunousen, right?
2. Thoughts on the shoegaze genre?
3. Who do you hate the most in Ubers, and why?
4. Will I ever get a Fall Guys Crown?
5. Are you actually British or French?

1) I don't watch Anime anymore, but I liked anime a few years back, and DBZ was pretty good.
2) no opinion
3) there's one or two people I dislike, but nobody I care about enough to actively hate, except the guy who haxed me and outplayed me to defeat me with a rillaboom on the ladder today.
4) I haven't played the game, so I don't know. Good luck, ig.
5) I live on an island off the coast of France + I'm a member of UFG.

Hello Ice do u know me?

yep.

Omg big fan uwumaster.

1. What plans do you have contributing to the based department?
2. not a question but ily man and I really look up to you as I try to improve myself.
3. Favorite Mega(Primals DON'T count for this purpose since they dont use mega stones. Rip Blue Orb pod in MnM)
4. Why pokemon of all games? We know how you got into it, but definitely not the why.
5. How does someone like me, i.e complete shit in the builder, improve in a metagame? Afaik it's hard to try and improve when the teams you build are barely comptent.

thanks for your time

1) well, currently my team name in agtt is the based department, hopefully I can contribute some wins.
2) thanks man, you're a great friend
3) If Rayquaza-Mega doesn't count, then it's gotta be mega garchomp
4) I find turn based strategy games fun, and pokemon is afaik the most popular one - has a large competitive community + I like the pokemon themselves, so I play it competitively.
5) once your play improves in one tier between both building and playing, your skill will improve universally, you'll find it easier to do well in a new tier. So, just find a tier with enough competition which you like and keep playing until you're good, and you'll find picking up new metas and being able to build much easier, once you learn the meta.

what do you think of LE CHOUINAY :joy:

 

[Fc]

Congrats on winning upl, joining tiering council, and the interview! (damn that's a lot in a short time)

1. Favourite mon to use in gen 8 ubers and why?
2. What mon are you least looking forward to having to deal with in dlc 2?
3. What do you think is better rn, rain or sun?
4. What are your blissey sets lmao

 

[Icemaster]

Congrats on winning upl, joining tiering council, and the interview! (damn that's a lot in a short time)

1. Favourite mon to use in gen 8 ubers and why?
2. What mon are you least looking forward to having to deal with in dlc 2?
3. What do you think is better rn, rain or sun?
4. What are your blissey sets lmao

Ty
1. Specs Lunala one of the best balance breakers while also helping contribute to improve the HO MU - Rain can't cope well, Sun us forced into a predictable play and Screens only has grimmsnarl usually as their Lunala resist even though they have to generally conserve it in order to get 2 rounds of screens
2. Zacian, Zygarde and Kyogre will be absolutely horrible to deal with, but I think Kyogre will be the worst offender especially as Rain weakens the best zac/xern check, NDM. I think bc of the existence of specs kyogre alone, the meta will gravitate away from balance a lot, since there's literally no longterm checks except random unviables or utility umbrella blissey, which dies if there's rocks anyway. Scarf and CM I think are troubling too.
3. It's pretty close but I think Sun is marginally better
4. Confide for CM lunala/Volc, twave to cripple Eternatus mainly and to deter zacian switch ins (I think toxic is really weak right now), Softboiled, Wish (functions as a pseudo teleport I guess by making it easier to switch into a different mon). Isn't this a standard set

 

[Inspirited]

Vishmaster:

1. Are you sad to see DLC 1 meta go?
2 .If you had to order these dynamax abusers in terms of hardest to deal with (difficult to not difficult) when it comes to playing around them in both the teambuilder and in game, how would you order them? Kyurem-B, Excadrill, Charizard, Cinderace, Volcarona, Gyarados, Dragapult
3. Do you think people have realized just how good Rocky Helmet is yet?
4. What pieces of the DLC 1 metagame do you think people fail to understand as a whole?
5. What pieces from the Tundra are you most excited to see return?
6. Congrats on the UPL win and for achieving 97% GXE on the AG ladder of all things!

 

[Icemaster]

Vishmaster:

1. Are you sad to see DLC 1 meta go?
2 .If you had to order these dynamax abusers in terms of hardest to deal with (difficult to not difficult) when it comes to playing around them in both the teambuilder and in game, how would you order them? Kyurem-B, Excadrill, Charizard, Cinderace, Volcarona, Gyarados, Dragapult
3. Do you think people have realized just how good Rocky Helmet is yet?
4. What pieces of the DLC 1 metagame do you think people fail to understand as a whole?
5. What pieces from the Tundra are you most excited to see return?
6. Congrats on the UPL win and for achieving 97% GXE on the AG ladder of all things!

1. Slightly so, as it was an enjoyable meta to play in. However, after UPL the meta has kinda stagnated - the best teams are still the best, screens HO is still exceptionally powerful etc. I guess a meta shakeup would be nice at this point, although I'm worried that DLC 2 may be incredibly unbalanced.
2. This is a pretty tough question since they're all so extreme but:

1. Kyurem Black, if it gets a free DD and the opposing Zacian has taken rocks damage + NDM (if they even have one) is slightly chipped, it literally is Gg. No escaping it unless you have Magearna or Zamazenta or something (unmons), and so it forces you to bend over backwards to make sure it cannot DD. Eg: You can't afford to defog on those stacked spikes on your side with Rotom-Wash, lest KB come in. why can this dyna. Good in weather MUs
2. Gyarados, late game becomes exceptionally hard to contain it from snowballing, even washtom is not reliable due to power whip. Quag is setup fodder for taunt unless you get the 30%. Good in HO MUs
3. Excadrill, all good teams pack a check but it's not too hard for it to muscle past them bc of Max Phantasm. Good in HO MUs
4. Dragapult, more so in the builder, Most common defensive cores struggle, their best counterplay being TTar/Mandibuzz/Quag, quagbuzz get broken and ttar is easy to force rest on. Sets up on corvi, bliss, washtom and just puts a lot of pressure on stuff like dm, forcing them out to land a free DD. Good vs Rain and Sun
5. Charizard, Sun teams are quite restricted and it won't be breaking ttar + washtom or etern/bliss/other special wall teams. It does 2HKO blissey, and it is still insane, but not as much as the above imo.
6. Volcarona is overrated imo
7. Cinderace, good, literally the bane of all ladder teams I build but it's relatively hard to fit and bring into a position for it to dyna and claim 2.

3. Rocky Helmet is amazing, but it's just hard to run on NDM who would be the best user because of this calc:
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 160-189 (40.2 - 47.4%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(Minimum chip + Rocks or a Spike and it may be over.)
+1 252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 144+ Def Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: 174-205 (43.7 - 51.5%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(TWave DM spread - needs lefties)
As for other defensive mons, eg Quag, Shed Shell or HDB is kind of a must. As it stands, helmet is more of a luxury item to have. I guess steel birds can fit it as their main item slot though, if goth isn't a worry.

4. Most ladder players usually build weird mishmashes of teams, I think when building for this meta, you have to choose a playstyle and stick with it. Oftentimes I see a random Grimmsnarl on a balance on the ladder, Webs with defensive walls (s/o Ackesh) or Melmetal, Darm G, Mewtwo, Marshadow, Zamazenta-Crowned (worst offender) and Cinderace being incredibly overused when other options would just do better. Also, I try to account for playstyles in the builder as well as individual mons. If I have a good MU vs screens, all weathers, and have wincons vs fat balance, the classic switchins for threats (zac, ground resist, tspike absorber, fight resist, special wall... etc) then I'm happy with the team

5. Defensive mons like Ho-Oh, Lugia, Zygarde-C and Giratina are nice to have. Lando T and Kart returning are nice to have too, as they'd be absolutely nuts with Dynamax, and so a full dyna ban would be implemented hopefully lol

6. Ty!

 

[shadowpea]

So anyone can ask questions... okay, nice place to get good advice from a pro

1. Congrats on winning UPL and surviving an interview! (not like I know anything about them and no offense to Holy Ghost)
2. Which is more friendly for a medicore (read: not newbie) player - USUM Ubers or Natdex AG
3. Not a question but I think Volcarona is ridiculously awesome, though this is coming from me, who is extremely biased toward it (in case you couldnt tell from my pfp)
4. Which mons do you want to see return?
5. What are your views on Megas and Z-Moves, especially in conjunction with Dmax/Gmax (kinda a natdex style question)?
6. Favorite Gmax?
7. Which Ice-type would you nominate for the title of Ice Master?
8. Which underrated/uncommon set is nice to use in this meta? As an extension, which sets would you think will be underrated/uncommon but still be good after DLC 2?
9. Are chicken nuggets awesome (yes or yes)

 

[Icemaster]

So anyone can ask questions... okay, nice place to get good advice from a pro

1. Congrats on winning UPL and surviving an interview! (not like I know anything about them and no offense to Holy Ghost)
2. Which is more friendly for a medicore (read: not newbie) player - USUM Ubers or Natdex AG
3. Not a question but I think Volcarona is ridiculously awesome, though this is coming from me, who is extremely biased toward it (in case you couldnt tell from my pfp)
4. Which mons do you want to see return?
5. What are your views on Megas and Z-Moves, especially in conjunction with Dmax/Gmax (kinda a natdex style question)?
6. Favorite Gmax?
7. Which Ice-type would you nominate for the title of Ice Master?
8. Which underrated/uncommon set is nice to use in this meta? As an extension, which sets would you think will be underrated/uncommon but still be good after DLC 2?
9. Are chicken nuggets awesome (yes or yes)

1. Ty!
2. Probably USUM Ubers. Although I struggled to get into USUM Ubers myself (I never fully did so) it's quite similar to some other metas, but Natdex AG is really slightly unrecognisable every other tier primarily due to dynamax; learning how to use dynamax well is really important.
3. Volcarona is awesome and has a great design, but I don't think it is that awesome in Ubers
4. Mega Sableye, Ultra Necrozma, Primals, Arceus for competitive reasons. All my favourites are returning anyway
5. I really like Megas and wish there were more, Z moves are nice too although I don't really mind them being gone. As for megas in conjunction with Dynamax, its probably an interaction never intended to happen. Unfortunately I don't think Megas will return this gen, and any gen where Dynamax returns, I don't see Z moves or Megas returning, Natdex basically created mechanics which would be likely to happen and intuitive (not letting Z movers dynamax, not letting Megas dynamax based off of the Rayquaza Z Move and Dragon Ascent interaction). Either way, Dynamax utterly outclasses Z moves, and makes them largely useless except on very specific cases (Ultra Necrozma, or wanting to preserve the Dyna for a different sweeper - generally on HO). And the best Dynamaxers are better than every mega by far except MRay.
6. GMax Hatterene, it hits extremely hard
7. Kyurem Black has definitely earnt the title of Ice Master this gen
8.
This set is absolutely broken but people don't know how to use it yet. Beats a few of the most threatening Dynamaxers 1v1 depending on movepool (Pult, KB, Drednaw), is probably the most incredible defensive maxer in the tier (can stop the sweep of virtually a lot of sweepers - Mewtwo, Marsh, Zek) while contributing to defeating other sweepers (Gyara, Lunala, Zacian). For teams without haze, this is impossible to stop once it has got going, and Confide Chansey won't work. Since it is like a 1 time check to something given its Defensive Dyna is so good, you can pair it with like Specs Lunala and maybe ditto and you end up with a consistent ladder team.