Project ZU Player of the Week: Week 3 - Funbot28

[Oathkeeper]

Funbot28
Favorite Pokemon: Toucannon
Most used Pokemon: Electivire/Swanna
Most known for: Driver, Untier-er Talk host, silent guardian
​

Oathkeepre: Hi Funbot, how are you today?
Funbot28: Very good, just started my first year at university this week so am excited yet terrified for this new experience. I had just moved into my dorm not too long ago.

Oathkeepre: Tell us about yourself.
Funbot28: I am a 19 year old girl originally born from Italy (in a small town in Sicily though lol so I am technically not a true Italian) that moved to Canada when I was 7 years old. I currently live in Montreal Quebec and am studying animal sciences with the hopes of becoming a veterinarian. I adore birds and love travelling.

Oathkeepre: Can you tell us your name origins?
Funbot28: Ok so this is embarrassing but I guess I have to say the truth..... I chose my smogon username based off my first Club Penguin username. I was really young when I chose it so like there is not much reason or context besides the name "Funbot" but I am born on the 28th so that has always been my fav number.

Oathkeepre: How did you get into competitive battling?
Funbot28: I started watching youtube videos on OG battlers such as The Flaming Nachos and Haydunn and always was interested in competitive side of game once I started getting bored of main series. I then learnt of PS back in December of 2013 and decided to make a Smog account in the start of 2015 after lurking for many months prior.

Oathkeepre: So, many of us know you're the host of ZU's Untier-er talk, what topics do you like to discuss the most?
Funbot28: Just general metagame discussion, I like to hear other's different viewpoints on the meta itself which is why I like to invite a host of people to have a "healthy" discussion on such.

Oathkeepre: What do you think of old gens for ZU? (Favorite gen, mon, etc)
Funbot28: My favorite old gen of ZU is for sure ADV even though I got my start of the format in ORAS. I like the diverse pool of unorthodox mons and feel the meta is at a pretty fun state thanks to the recent Gloom ban. My favorite mon in the format to use has to be Castform since it can do so much.

Oathkeepre: ZUBL has some fun mons. If you could bring one back, what would it be?
Funbot28: Hands down Gorebyss, Shell Smash sets were so good yet so broken. It also made rain 10x more fun to use.

Oathkeepre: Could you tell us your thoughts on the 1st ever ZUPL going on right now? You being a member of LPY's Sovereign Swannas and all!
Funbot28: It's honestly been a fun ride so far despite our poor performance of of yet (which we will turn around!). I think the highlighting of older gens is really what makes this tournament special since I feel a lot of metas such as DPP and BW have more room for growth and we have been seeing some really fun games of those formats because of that.

Oathkeepre: Do you have your eyes on any up and coming players?
Funbot28: I think players such as Rav3ndan and uhuhuhu7 have a lot of potential as of late with their respective performance. Another highlight player is Ho3nConfirm3d, taking his laddering skills to the big scene with great success!

Oathkeepre: Any advice you would give people who want to get into ZU?
Funbot28: Definitely watch replays of high level games and keep up to date with the ZU sub-forum since the leaders and project organizers have done an excellent job providing pool of info. Also watch my youtube vids!

Oathkeepre: Who are some of your favorite people in the ZU community?
Funbot28: Mainly staff such as Xayah, 5gen, Tack :] (aka knockoff Taskr), kay, and a fruitshop owner. But i generally get along with everyone in our community.

Oathkeepre: Big question here. What is your go-to snack when you're hungry?
Funbot28: I usually eat Celery and carrots lol

Oathkeepre: Could I ask you to share a meaningful team to you and explain what it does?
Funbot28:

Importable

Ditto @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Imposter
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Relaxed Nature
IVs: 30 Atk / 30 SpA / 0 Spe
- Transform

Lickilicky @ Leftovers
Ability: Oblivious
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Seismic Toss
- Wish
- Heal Bell
- Protect

Sandslash @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Veil
EVs: 252 HP / 160 Def / 96 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Knock Off
- Protect

Avalugg @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 164 Def / 92 SpD
Impish Nature
- Avalanche
- Rapid Spin
- Toxic
- Recover

Vullaby (F) @ Eviolite
Ability: Overcoat
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Foul Play
- Toxic
- Roost
- Defog

Mareanie @ Eviolite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 248 Def / 8 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Haze
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes

A fun little stall team that utilizes Ditto as an anti-measure to setup and as a general tool to scout opposing sets and act as a counter measure against opposing stalls thanks to the combination of Imposter + Regenerator due it potentially being able to PP stall. This however means that it lacks Unaware (aka Pyukumuku) which can be an issue due to threats such as Combusken and Simipour, but with the combination of Haze Mareanie and Ditto can aid with that. The rest is all pretty standard stuff with some more unpopular picks such as Vullaby which helps check both Shiftry and Exeggutor which is really nice and Sandlash which can check Electric types and offensive Golem.

Oath: Alright, thank you so much for your time Funbot. You are definitely a lady of few words but you are most certainly a good interview. Have a great day!
Funbot: Thank you for choosing little ol' washed up me :> Have an excellent day yourself! ​

 

[5gen]

Hey Funbot.

Mons related questions:

How effective do you think stall is in the current metagame?

Seeing as you play stall, what are the stallbreakers that catch your attention most in the builder?

In your opinion, which Pokemon is more centralizing, Swanna or Shiftry? Would you want to suspect either?

Which Pokemon do you think are overrated/underrated in ZU?

What has been your favourite phase of ZU this generation?

If you could bring back a former ZU Pokemon, which would you choose? By the same token, any drops in particular you think would make ZU more fun?

As a player and from a skill standpoint, how you sum up the competition you/your team has faced this ZUPL?

Two weeks of ZUPL are behind us. As such, has anything changed for you in how you've prepped for week 3 (bar the new opp/team thing)?

Other questions:

What languages do you speak? If you speak more than one, which language do you most often think in?

Any hobbies outside of mons?

What does a typical day off look like for you?

If you could change your ZUPL team name (keeping the Swanna theme), what would you go with?

What's your opinion so far on the new gen of Pokemon?

What's your go-to form of entertainment?

What kind of music are you into? Movies/shows as well.

 

[czim]

Considering 5gen is already doing a 2nd interview here i dont have many questions but :(

How does it feel to be confused with the room bot from time to time?

Favorite silvally form? Anything you wanna highlight on this mon considering its a central part of the metagame?

How is it being a girl in ps/smogon? Anything u wanna highlight on people talking down on you or being annoying?

Which gen did you start playing on? Favorite games?

Why was the Black Swannas a much better name for your zupl team?

What kind of food are you into?

 

[Tack]

1. Who's the cutest user in zu?
2. What do you think of guillotines?

 

[Funbot28]

Ok so would just like to state that I did not receive notifs from this thread even though I specifically set them on but alas... Sorry for getting to the responses kinda late but I guess it's better now then never.

Hey Funbot.
Hola 5gen

Mons related questions:

How effective do you think stall is in the current metagame?
I actually think stall is quite viable in the current meta despite what many people might think. Even when we have wallbreakers such as Shiftry, Swanna, CB Komala, and Eggy that can make the playstyle seem impossible to pilot at times, new variations from the "typical" stall teams that have been showing it's success in many touney games showcase how flexible the playstyle can be. Most notable examples being the use of mons such as Togetic, Ditto, Vibrava, and Vullaby/Zweilous.

Seeing as you play stall, what are the stallbreakers that catch your attention most in the builder?
Definitely breakers such as CB Golem, CB or Bulk Up Komala, SD Shiftry, Vigoroth (Taunt or Sub + BU) and any variant of Taunt Elemental Monkey are the most threatening for the majority of stall teams. However, all the aforementioned threats can be played around with careful play so it is not as bad.

In your opinion, which Pokemon is more centralizing, Swanna or Shiftry? Would you want to suspect either?
I would definitely still suspect the ladder. You can still play around Shiftry and it's not gonna be wallbreaking the opposing team completely every game but the impact it has on teambuilding is getting pretty ridiculous, especially when subpar mons such as Shiinotic, Togetic, and Vullaby are seeing usage to mainly check it. I think having a suspect for it would be a great way to end of SM ZU personally. Swanna is annoying, but more manageable in the teambuilding phase.

Which Pokemon do you think are overrated/underrated in ZU?
Overrated: Gourgeist-Super
Underrated: Kecleon

What has been your favourite phase of ZU this generation?
For sure the Torterra metagame (at it's peak viability). Even with FrostRom everwhere at that time, Torterra was just such a fun and splashable mon to use that I generally enjoyed building during that time.

If you could bring back a former ZU Pokemon, which would you choose? By the same token, any drops in particular you think would make ZU more fun?
I would bring back Liepard since it was really fun to abuse on weather and had other offensive sets which were really cool to use. I really want and still hope that Clefairy can drop at some point as I feel having another Fairy would be really nice for the meta, but I doubt it will ever happen.

As a player and from a skill standpoint, how you sum up the competition you/your team has faced this ZUPL?
Um, for me I think the hax from the first week and consecutive other weeks have been getting to me and really impacting my performance (which has not been ideal at all to say the least). For the rest of my team, they all have been putting in great work and I am happy upon how we are playing despite our standing.

Two weeks of ZUPL are behind us. As such, has anything changed for you in how you've prepped for week 3 (bar the new opp/team thing)?
Now in week 4, um no I generally try to just scout replays and see what my opp likes to bring in terms of playstyle to take advantage of it. But with school starting, I have admittedly not have enough time to prep as much as I wanted to which def had a factor in a lot of my games thus far.

Other questions:

What languages do you speak? If you speak more than one, which language do you most often think in?
I was born in Italy, so my mother tongue is italian and is definitely the language I speak most at home. When I moved to Canada, I was forced to learn both French and English (in that order) since I moved to Montreal. I learned Spanish in highschool as well. So yeah that tallies up to 4 languages spoken fluently. I wanna learn Portuguese though. (@lyd helpin me with dat)

Any hobbies outside of mons?
I dive competitively and I like singing in acapella groups. Despite that, I work a lot and go to school as a full time student so I usually don't have enough time for other stuff lol, but other things include reading, playing video games, and I love me some board games.

What does a typical day off look like for you?
Hanging out with my many pets or calling up one of my frens to chill either online or offline.

If you could change your ZUPL team name (keeping the Swanna theme), what would you go with?
Seductive Swannas ;)

What's your opinion so far on the new gen of Pokemon?
Not a huge fan tbh. Not even mentioning the stupidity of not bringing all the mons back, the removal of megas + Z-moves in favor of the gimmicky and lazy idea of dynamaxing is really stupid and boring to me. I really hope the cast of new mons can make up for all the stupid decisions they are making but ye thats my opinion going into SWSH.

What's your go-to form of entertainment?
Netflix and Stephen King Novels

What kind of music are you into? Movies/shows as well.
I love spanish/italian Reggaeton songs. I also like r&b and trap music too to hype me up, with some ballad songs here and there to help me focus on studying or get past a break-up lol. My fav shows are the Handemade's Tale, Will and Grace, American Horror Story, Scream Queens, and the first 4 seasons of the Walking Dead.

O also we stan Ariana

1. Who's the cutest user in zu?

2. What do you think of guillotines?
They are not my kind of thing unless it's used in some form of BDSM fashion :0

Sorry again for late responses, I still don't mind taking more questions for rest of week

 

[CrazyStevy]

My question: why did you skip over czims questions

 

[Funbot28]

Considering 5gen is already doing a 2nd interview here i dont have many questions but :(

How does it feel to be confused with the room bot from time to time?
I am pretty used to it so it does not bother me as much :p

Favorite silvally form? Anything you wanna highlight on this mon considering its a central part of the metagame?
Definitely Silvally-Dragon is my favorite form to use currently. Great offensive pivot that lacks many switchins besides sturdy stuff like Muk and Licklicky.

How is it being a girl in ps/smogon? Anything u wanna highlight on people talking down on you or being annoying?
um it's pretty cool I guess since I am a rare breed on this site. Can be annoying at times since dudes be in ur PM's consistently (who guys know who u are ;)) but ye it's p cool.

Which gen did you start playing on? Favorite games?
started playing mons Gen 2, my all time favorite game is for sure Emerald since I have the most memory of it.

Why was the Black Swannas a much better name for your zupl team?
no comment

What kind of food are you into?
i don't really like eating food, but if I would have to choose one it's def salad since I eat that the most.