Approved by Sam and Hikari
Hello, and welcome to UU's player of the week where I interview
some of Smogon's most accomplished and well knowns players in the tier to give
some insight on who they are and their views on some aspects of the metagame.
If there's someone you want to see interviewed next week, shoot me a PM!
Sam
Alright I'll start with the generic 'a bit about myself' bit
I'm a 21 year old college student studying Chemical Engineering. I'm also a huge sports fan, following pretty much every major sport in the US. I'm also somewhat in to fashion, much to the chagrin of certain users. In my free time, I like playing racquet sports (squash is my favorite) and enjoying nice beers. I say haha a lot.
Most Known For?
Being a UU Tier Leader, owning 12 colognes
Favorite Pokemon?
Starmie
Most Used Pokemon?
Hydreigon
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
When I was younger I played Gens I and II, but after that didn't pick up another Pokemon game until Platinum came out. One of my friends on an old IRC server hyped up PO when that came out so I tried it out. For the most part, we just screwed around for a while doing things like monocolor and other random stuff like that. Eventually I made an account here and started getting in to actual tiers.
What is your favorite generation of Pokemon competitively and why?
I've become a pretty big fan of ADV. I don't really know exactly what drew me to it, but it's just so fun. I feel like the games are a lot less dependent on matchup. Almost every playstyle is viable and there's just so much you can do.
Do you think any mon is suspect worthy atm? If yes, which mon and why?
Well, if I thought anything was suspect worthy it would probably be suspect. So no, I don't think anything is suspect worthy right now.
Who do you think is the most underrated UU player?
Hmm. I don't know if I know of anyone who's really 'underrated' right now. Maybe McMeghan, he's undefeated in UU SPL.
Favorite moment of SPL?
Definitely beating Omfuga week 1. I wasn't really too sure about how the season was going to go for me but that really set the tone for the rest of the season.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon community?
All of my BIGs family such as ium , Funkasaurus , McMeghan , etc.
kokoloko he pretty much put up with me when I was new and insufferable
IronBullet93 has always been a bro
Bouffalant , Meru , and the rest of the UU gang who's been around pretty much this whole gen
Hikari for being a chill co-leader
Finally, can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
I don't know how much of a current playstyle I have, but I'll share this one
This is the team I used week 6 of SPL against Meru. It's a very Hyper Offensive team with a little bit of a volt-turn core. Obviously Custap Forry is there to get up as many hazards as possible. At the time of this battle, Encore Zammer wasn't incredibly popular. However, I felt that it fit nicely on this team, especially since Meru is known for bringing balance (which he did bring). Mienshao/Chand/Aero form a really nice offensive core, covering almost everything between them. Since the team has a pretty tough time breaking through Florges, I decided to run Iron Tail on Aero to catch it by surprise. While the surprise part didn't work out too well, Iron Tail was actually able to take out Florges. Bulky Rotom-C may seem like an odd choice on this team, but it works so well. It's a nice bulky pivot that acts as a free switch for the tier's many bulky waters, and the slow Volt Switch allowed me to get my offensive threats in safely.
---
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions for Sam leave them down below. See you next week.
Hello, and welcome to UU's player of the week where I interview
some of Smogon's most accomplished and well knowns players in the tier to give
some insight on who they are and their views on some aspects of the metagame.
If there's someone you want to see interviewed next week, shoot me a PM!
Sam
Alright I'll start with the generic 'a bit about myself' bit
I'm a 21 year old college student studying Chemical Engineering. I'm also a huge sports fan, following pretty much every major sport in the US. I'm also somewhat in to fashion, much to the chagrin of certain users. In my free time, I like playing racquet sports (squash is my favorite) and enjoying nice beers. I say haha a lot.
Most Known For?
Being a UU Tier Leader, owning 12 colognes
Favorite Pokemon?
Starmie
Most Used Pokemon?
Hydreigon
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
When I was younger I played Gens I and II, but after that didn't pick up another Pokemon game until Platinum came out. One of my friends on an old IRC server hyped up PO when that came out so I tried it out. For the most part, we just screwed around for a while doing things like monocolor and other random stuff like that. Eventually I made an account here and started getting in to actual tiers.
What is your favorite generation of Pokemon competitively and why?
I've become a pretty big fan of ADV. I don't really know exactly what drew me to it, but it's just so fun. I feel like the games are a lot less dependent on matchup. Almost every playstyle is viable and there's just so much you can do.
Do you think any mon is suspect worthy atm? If yes, which mon and why?
Well, if I thought anything was suspect worthy it would probably be suspect. So no, I don't think anything is suspect worthy right now.
Who do you think is the most underrated UU player?
Hmm. I don't know if I know of anyone who's really 'underrated' right now. Maybe McMeghan, he's undefeated in UU SPL.
Favorite moment of SPL?
Definitely beating Omfuga week 1. I wasn't really too sure about how the season was going to go for me but that really set the tone for the rest of the season.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon community?
All of my BIGs family such as ium , Funkasaurus , McMeghan , etc.
kokoloko he pretty much put up with me when I was new and insufferable
IronBullet93 has always been a bro
Bouffalant , Meru , and the rest of the UU gang who's been around pretty much this whole gen
Hikari for being a chill co-leader
Finally, can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
I don't know how much of a current playstyle I have, but I'll share this one
Forretress @ Custap Berry
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def
Naughty Nature
IVs: 0 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Tail
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Trick
Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Def
Naughty Nature
IVs: 0 SpD
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Rapid Spin
- Explosion
Aerodactyl @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Tail
- Stone Edge
- Aqua Tail
- Earthquake
Chandelure @ Choice Specs
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Shadow Ball
- Fire Blast
- Energy Ball
- Trick
Mienshao @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
- U-turn
- Poison Jab
Alakazam @ Focus Sash
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Encore
- Psyshock
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
Rotom-Mow @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Leaf Storm
- Volt Switch
- Pain Split
This is the team I used week 6 of SPL against Meru. It's a very Hyper Offensive team with a little bit of a volt-turn core. Obviously Custap Forry is there to get up as many hazards as possible. At the time of this battle, Encore Zammer wasn't incredibly popular. However, I felt that it fit nicely on this team, especially since Meru is known for bringing balance (which he did bring). Mienshao/Chand/Aero form a really nice offensive core, covering almost everything between them. Since the team has a pretty tough time breaking through Florges, I decided to run Iron Tail on Aero to catch it by surprise. While the surprise part didn't work out too well, Iron Tail was actually able to take out Florges. Bulky Rotom-C may seem like an odd choice on this team, but it works so well. It's a nice bulky pivot that acts as a free switch for the tier's many bulky waters, and the slow Volt Switch allowed me to get my offensive threats in safely.
---
Thank you for reading! If you have any questions for Sam leave them down below. See you next week.
