Project Anything Goes Player of the Week #1: Geysers

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cromagnet

cromagnet

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Thanks to Holy Ghost and mc56556 for the idea
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ANYTHING GOES PLAYER OF THE WEEK
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Welcome to Anything Goes Player of the Week! In this series, I will be interviewing accomplished and respected Anything Goes players in the community. You will be able to ask questions and interact with these players by commenting in this thread. Interviews will be limited, but I am open to suggestions on Smogon or Discord. Have fun!

:Zekrom: Geysers :Volcanion:

Most known for
​
Honestly, I think it's probably still spamming that one koko team from Robyn on USUM ladder. I had like 5k games with it lmao. Also, I think my automatic teambuilder has overall had pretty good responses and it seems to be something that a lot of people are aware of, at least within the AG community.

Favorite Pokemon

:Zekrom:​
I absolutely love its design and it was my first EX card, which is neat. I'm really glad that it's actually usable in Natdex, unlike gen7.

Where did you get your name from?​

It started off as a trivia room inside joke. I would constantly ask questions about geysers to the point that the questions got banned sometimes, and I eventually regged the account SteamboatGeyser, before realizing that Geysers wasn't taken and grabbing it. I also just really love Yellowstone National Park

How did you get in to competitive Pokemon?
​
In elementary school, I was really into the TCG, and then in 7th grade, one of my friends who I got to know through the TCG told me about PS. I played for a few months, then intermittently popped back in over the next few years and gradually got more and more involved in AG.

Favorite and least favorite generation of AG?​

Honestly my favorite is probably Natdex since I feel a lot more comfortable building for it than USUM, and least favorite (no surprise) has to be ORAS. I just hate Darkrai and keys so much.

Thoughts on the current state of the Natdex metagame? ​

It's pretty healthy, I like that there's innovation going on with stuff like SD Groudon and CM LO Ogre, although I can't say I enjoy having to assume that every single team has a perishpool arc.

Favorite playstyle to use?​

Early on I was a big fan of semistall since I felt like it best allowed me to have solid outs to big threats while also being able to not be entirely passive, although I've shifted more towards bulky offense as defensive cores have shifted to be more favorable to stuff like Eruption Don.

Are you excited for the switch to Galar dex with the Crown Tundra DLC?​

I was at first since we're getting a bunch of cool mons, but honestly I think the meta's gonna be barely playable since support arcs and pdon won't exist anymore, and both of those were really nice to be able to check Kyogre and Zacian and soft check Yveltal. I have a hard time seeing a meta in which Kyogre + Gothitelle cores aren't insanely dominant, and imo any meta where gothitelle is that important is gonna be borderline unplayable.

Favorite game you've witnessed?​

I think the coolest game I've ever watched was probably PinkDragonTamer vs 64 Squares in week 1 of AGPL, since I'd been working really hard with PDT to get some ag practice, and it felt good to see him do well, especially against such an established name, after all that hard work.

What are your favorite moments from the big AG tours this year?​

Beating MZ in AGTT this past week was really great, my set against Ktut in r8 of spring ssnl also felt really good, my Galar dex game against pigeons in grand prix finals was awesome, the bacon v ice finals of the spring ssnl were just overall insane games to watch. Another really fun moment was when Cam got all the way to Galar cup finals using just teams that I'd passed him that you'd passed me, which was pretty amusing.

You’ve been around in AG for a while, what do you think of AG’s progression over the years?​

I think it's been interesting how the tier has grown and become more formal just in the last couple of years. In ORAS, AG was firmly in the other-metas area, without much in the way of dedicated resources or information. In USUM, it gained a lot more formality, yet remained within the OMs for a while, before being lumped into the UMS. I'm not entirely sure where it is in right now, since natdex AG appears to be under the same umbrella as NDOU, NDUU, and NDBH, and galar AG appears to still be an OM. I also think it's kinda interesting how AG has progressed from just like "the mega ray tier" to something far more real. Another thing that I've found interesting is watching as staff climb up the ranks, then resign. A lot of the staff that I knew for a while are barely active, such as Zeni, GrnBln, and Xynix. It's been kinda sad to watch them leave one after the other.

What was your motivation for creating the builder bot?​

I was reading through the technical projects forum and found a thread from someone who'd made a program to build teams using usage stats, but for whatever reason it didn't work anymore, so I decided to make my own. Additionally, I'd been frustrated at a lack of original ideas for team compositions, since it felt to me like every single team was just the same 4-5 mons.

Do you look up to any other AG players?​

I see players like Fardin and Skarph as just all-around amazing players, and I also especially respect Ice and Chloe for being cool players that are willing to innovate. Note: I don't disrespect anyone, these are just the players that I respect extra.

Any advice to new players looking to get started in AG?​

I'd suggest that they make sure to recognize that the ladder is not really representative of the meta, and that roomtours are a potentially better place to get a grasp of what teams should actually look like. Imo it's really important to keep in mind that ladder success is not a good indicator of skill, and that just because someone is high on the ladder doesn't mean you should try to mimic their teams. The #1 most important thing to keep in mind is that the ladder meta is very different from the tour meta and as such it's not very helpful for stuff like testing teams

Finally, can you provide us with a team of yours and explain it?

:Gengar-Mega: :Arceus: :Arceus: :Ho-oh: :Necrozma-Dusk-Mane: :Lunala:
(click on team for import)
​
This is a team that I built for Sitonaii after they asked me for an anti-balance team. I feel like it really takes advantage of a lot of common balance and stall team structures with threatening breakers like perishpool waterceus and specs lunala, while Mega Gengar clears out stuff that could otherwise cause trouble and prevent CM Darkceus from sweeping. I've used it a bunch in roomtours and it's performed very well. I feel like it's pretty illustrative of the current natdex meta as well, although Mega Gengar is a little bit off-beat.

===

Thank you for your time Geysers! Feel free to ask questions in the thread below!​
 
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Fardin said:
Why on earth do you like mmy so much?????
Click to expand...
It's a super fun breaker that shreds a lot of common balance cores and also helps to beat cheese. I also really like how it's super easy to improof and can take advantage of Zacian-C pretty well.
Archiiiie17 said:
Geysers, i think u might already know my question, but still. What is ur fav set for the following mons ?

1. :diancie-mega: 2.:zacian-crowned: 3. :rayquaza-mega: and finally the geysers mon :necrozma-dusk-mane: (list more than one sets if u really like them)

say that megadiancie is the best pokemon
Click to expand...
Diancie @ Diancite
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
- Heal Bell
- Stealth Rock
- Power Gem
- Rest
Zacian-Crowned @ Rusted Sword
Ability: Intrepid Sword
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Wild Charge
- Behemoth Blade
Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Dragon Ascent
- V-create
- Extreme Speed
Necrozma-Dusk-Mane @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Def
Impish Nature
- Moonlight
- Stealth Rock
- Sunsteel Strike
- Thunder Wave

E:
Monsareeasy said:
Pineapple on Pizza y/n
Click to expand...
HELL NO - Pineapple on pizza is a crime and should never have been invented.
 
Skarph said:
1. Worst moment laddering AG?
2. Favorite Pokemon game?
3. ARE YOU READY FOR THE WINTER? (I also live in CO lol)
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  1. geting sniped by Satanic Beast with his koko cteam on usum ladder
  2. I have to admit that I've never actually played any of them aside from 5 minutes of Red on a friend's TI-84.
  3. Hell yeah, skiing time (assuming the resorts actually open)
Shivam3299 said:
1) If you had the opportunity to be any person in the AG community for one day, whom would you choose and why?
2)If you could go back in time to change any play you've ever made in an AG game, what is the single play your would have chosen?
Click to expand...
  1. Bacon- I want to feel what it's like to actually be good at mons
  2. I would click dark void on turn 70 of this game
jerryl309 said:
1) If volcanion had a mega, would it be viable in ag?
2) If I was laddering and brought a cteam specifically for you, would you still ladder?
~~mega luc and ttar are heat~~
Click to expand...
  1. Probably, given that the base form already has 600 bst, although it would be trivial to come up with a stat boost allocation that would still keep it unviable. Imo it would probably hinge on whether or not there was a typing change and / or a good ability.
  2. Yeah, I'd just cteam the cteam.
jerryl309 said:
do you like snowboarding too?????
What's your Fav mega?
Click to expand...
(see below)
I'm a skier, not a snowboarder. I really dislike snowboarding because of how less-skilled snowboarders just scrape all the snow off.
Gotta be Mega Aerodactyl. It has a super cool design that I really like and I think it really fits well thematically with it, and it also gains a cool ability. Unfortunately, it just doesn't have the movepool or bulk to be usable in AG.
 
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Given you're primarily a gen 8 player, I'll focus mostly on that.

1. What's your favorite "unviable" mon to build with?
2. What has been your favorite metagame trend of this gen so far?
3. Similarly, what has been your least favorite metagame trend?
4. You're obviously a prolific builder. So how do you build? Like what goes through your mind when you're building a team? Do you ever get halfway through a team and just scrap it?

Then some off-topic ones...

5. What are some IRL skills you wish you had, given you had the time, money, and/or motivation?
6. Pick one world city (not your current) you'd want to live in for a year.

I thought of one more!
7. What's your least favorite mon (that's common in the metagame) to build with?
 
Bread Sandwich said:
1. If you could pick one pokemon to permanently get rid of what would it be?
2. Why do you think tournament players are so unwilling to use shell smash Power trip smeargle even thought it beats 90% of tournament teams?
3. How was your day?
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  1. Is this really a question you need to ask? It’s smeargle lol.
  2. Because they’re scared that they’ll lose to the omnipresent ho-oh or stuff like mmy or sub zacian.
  3. Pretty good, although I had a reasonable amount of homework I had to do.
Unicorns said:
Given you're primarily a gen 8 player, I'll focus mostly on that.

1. What's your favorite "unviable" mon to build with?
2. What has been your favorite metagame trend of this gen so far?
3. Similarly, what has been your least favorite metagame trend?
4. You're obviously a prolific builder. So how do you build? Like what goes through your mind when you're building a team? Do you ever get halfway through a team and just scrap it?

Then some off-topic ones...

5. What are some IRL skills you wish you had, given you had the time, money, and/or motivation?
6. Pick one world city (not your current) you'd want to live in for a year.

I thought of one more!
7. What's your least favorite mon (that's common in the metagame) to build with?
Click to expand...
  1. Kommo-o is super fun to work with. Clangorous Soul + Throat Spray sets have a surprisingly decent amount of firepower and can catch a lot of teams off guard while also being self-improof.
  2. I've really enjoyed the resurgence of Calm Mind Arceus Formes, since I feel that they add a lot more depth to play since you need to play very carefully with them in mind when playing with defensive mons, while a lot of common offensive mons don’t really care so much about them, which I think has moved the meta in a healthier direction and away from the same fixed cores.
  3. In a similar vein, I have disliked the recent uptick in Perishpool Arceus formes. I think that they constrict teambuilding and play to an unhealthy degree by forcing extremely agressive doubles or suboptimal sets to avoid them. The one positive of this trend, however, is that it makes Teleport Chansey way more splashable, which in turn helps to reduce overall team passivity by allowing aggressive slow pivots.
  4. When I’m building a team, I often take one of two approaches. One of those approaches is to find a unique tech, select a teammate or two for it that should work well, and then just expand on that until I have a solid defensive core, then toss on a couple of breakers. The other approach is to have my builderbot cook up a few teams to get ideas for interesting cores, then tweak sets and / or Pokemon for better synergy and hopefully overall improving the team.
  5. I wish I were better at French. I’m taking French in High School currently and it just goes straight through my brain because I’ve got so much other stuff on my plate that I can’t really focus on it. It’d be really nice to have the time to just actually learn the language.
  6. I think Seattle would be super nice. It’s a nice area that I’ve visited a few times, and there’s a great Aerospace museum there. Also, the political climate in the area is nicely liberal, which is a big draw.
  7. I find it incredibly hard to build around special Yveltal. It just doesn’t have that many useful synergies which means it can be hard to find good teammates for it. Interestingly I don’t really have this issue with the Band set, since it has a set of reasonably well defined mons that can really appreciate its breaking and pivoting capabilities.
Thanks for the great questions!
 
1. Have you played other metagames outside of AG? What was it like? Are there other metagames you’d like to get into?
2. Favorite badge?
3. Nasty Plot Yveltal or Steel / Fighting Zacian-C?
4. Most overrated Pokemon in AG? Most underrated?
5. If you could ban óne Pokemon in AG, which one would that be?
6. Dogs or cats? Answer wrongly & you’re never getting badged
7. Milk --> Cereal or Cereal --> Milk? Answer wrongly & you’re never getting badged
8. Why do you talk so freaking much in the chat?
9. Explain your previous Smogon username. Why did you drop it?
10. Name a Smogon user that terrifies you
11. If you had the task of balancing Dynamax, what changes would you make to the mechanic?
12. Why am I so bad at this game ;-; ?
 
Normally I'd wait to respond until another couple of questions had popped up in order to preserve my like ratio, but I feel attacked by this post, so I'm going to answer it now.
Guardsweeper said:
1. Have you played other metagames outside of AG? What was it like? Are there other metagames you’d like to get into?
2. Favorite badge?
3. Nasty Plot Yveltal or Steel / Fighting Zacian-C?
4. Most overrated Pokemon in AG? Most underrated?
5. If you could ban óne Pokemon in AG, which one would that be?
6. Dogs or cats? Answer wrongly & you’re never getting badged
7. Milk --> Cereal or Cereal --> Milk? Answer wrongly & you’re never getting badged
8. Why do you talk so freaking much in the chat?
9. Explain your previous Smogon username. Why did you drop it?
10. Name a Smogon user that terrifies you
11. If you had the task of balancing Dynamax, what changes would you make to the mechanic?
12. Why am I so bad at this game ;-; ?
Click to expand...
  1. I played a fair bit of usum BH and was fairly decent at it. I also tried to get into 1v1, but the highly toxic community made me decide that wasn't where I wanted to be. I'm interested in the CAP metagame, and I've been trying to get involved a bit in the CAP creation process. I'm also kinda trying to get into NDBH a little.
  2. I think the Community Contributor badge is pretty nifty.
  3. Definitely the former, because it still hopefully loses to ttar / diancie / clefable, as opposed to Zacian, which would lose to nothing.
  4. I feel like one of the most overrated mons in AG right now is Zygarde. Its offensive sets hate that perish song arcs are everywhere, and its defensive sets hate that they can't provide the utility that support arcs can since they not only can't fog, but they also can't set rocks or pivot into Yveltal or do anything except check a handful of physical attackers that would rather just switch out anyway. I feel like Shedinja is mad underrated atm. It can pivot pretty freely into a lot of common offensive mons such as most Zacians, and most Xerneases and punish them or force them out and use that to gain momentum with BP.
  5. I'd ban Smeargle because it's a little piece of irritating shit.
  6. Cats. Attached find a picture of one of my cats.
  7. Cereal --> Milk. It's so much easier to get a good idea of the volume you're working with, rather than having the cereal displace the milk and send milk everywhere. Also, isn't putting the milk in first really splattery when you add the cereal? Like why would anyone even do that?
  8. Because I'm active a lot and I have this habit of hitting enter a few times each sentence in order that it looks like I'm on top of answering questions, which leads to an artificially high linecount. I also feel duty-bound to point out that sash ray is terrible every time it comes up, which probably accounts for like 5% of my total lines.
  9. I honestly don't remember why I selected it, but it probably has something to do with the fact that I was an edgy 13 year old when I made my account. I dropped it because I wanted my smogon and PS names to be the same, and I didn't want to look like an edgy 13 yr old.
  10. Pigeons is / are very scary.
  11. I'd reduce the HP buff to 50%, reduce all the move BPs by 10, and make healing moves actually heal you. I'd also make it so that hp draining effects still did damage based off of the dynamax %, so leech seed would effectively take 24%, LO would still do 10%, and stuff like endeavor would still drop dynamaxed mons to 1 HP. I'd also remove the flinch immunity. I feel like allowing dyna mons to still flinch would allow for a lot of interesting strategies where less-used mons could get some play just to shut down dyna.
  12. You're not bad at this game lol.
Apologies if my answers were wrong.
47778CFF-05AE-42C5-9212-52E77A209FA7.jpeg
 
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what career field would you like to enter in the future?

favourite music artist/movie/book?

what aspect of Pigeons makes him so scary to you?

if the post-DLC metagame does turn out to be the same as what you currently expect it to be, do you think you'll still be as involved in ag community/competitive pokemon as a whole?

imo cm arceus is equally, if not more restrictive in teambuilding than perish song, and one of the reasons that perish song is so popular is to combat common cm arceus formes. it might just our differing views on the metagame, but is there anything else about cm arceus that you believe makes it healthier than whirlpool + perish song?

why do you like using knock off + rocks on the majority of your defensive dusk-manes?

favourite geyser?

who is a celebrity that you absolutely despise?

what are some of the pet peeves you have?

how often do you consume bacon?
 
BaconEatinAssassin said:
what career field would you like to enter in the future?

favourite music artist/movie/book?

what aspect of Pigeons makes him so scary to you?

if the post-DLC metagame does turn out to be the same as what you currently expect it to be, do you think you'll still be as involved in ag community/competitive pokemon as a whole?

imo cm arceus is equally, if not more restrictive in teambuilding than perish song, and one of the reasons that perish song is so popular is to combat common cm arceus formes. it might just our differing views on the metagame, but is there anything else about cm arceus that you believe makes it healthier than whirlpool + perish song?

why do you like using knock off + rocks on the majority of your defensive dusk-manes?

favourite geyser?

who is a celebrity that you absolutely despise?

what are some of the pet peeves you have?

how often do you consume bacon?
Click to expand...
  1. I hope to go into aerospace engineering.
  2. I’m honestly not really a music person, but I suppose probably U2. Movie - I really like The Princess Bride. Book - Ender’s Game is amazing, although the author is a despicable person.
  3. The fact that I have literally no idea how many of him there are. For all I know, he might be a sea of hundreds of birds climbing on a keyboard.
  4. I think I’ll probably remain involved with AG, although I’ll probably still be more focused on Natdex AG, assuming it sticks around in any capacity.
  5. I feel like that there’s more defensive counterplay to CM arcs, since they can still be beaten by slower stuff like Ho-Oh, or punished more easily with mgar since they have 3 status moves. I feel like perishpoolers have almost 0 defensive counterplay outside of like pdon and teleport chansey.
  6. Knock Off helps to deter Ho-Oh from coming in while also removing helmet from opposing DM, which is suuuuper handy in the long game. Also, Rocks provide super neat role compression allowing me to free up a slot that I’d otherwise have used for a dedicated rocker. Lately, I have been experimenting with Thunder Wave, although I dislike that it leaves no options to cripple Chansey, which can just sit there and PP stall.
  7. Beehive Geyser
  8. Idk if this counts but I think Donald Trump is an absolutely despicable excuse for a human being.
  9. I hate when people use phrases like “me and my friends.” I also really dislike sash mega ray, and detest people who paste their teams in the ag chat and then refuse to take any kind of advice whatsoever.
  10. On average once or twice a week, although that rate is bound to increase once I head off to college in like two years.
ADF Test said:
how old were u when u saw ur first geyser

and have u been to yellowstone

and do you plan on using vish again anytime soon??
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  1. I think like 7 or 8
  2. Yeah, I have, like 5 or 6 times.. It’s really amazing and I’ve been pushing to get my family back there again once the corona stuff ends.
  3. I’ve been messing around with it and it’s been working ok but I don’t intend to use it as much as I used to.
 
Hello Geysers, I hope you are having a great day!
  1. What are some tips to help yourself brainstorm innovative teams?
  2. Ever since SwSh released, people have immediately noticed power level parallels between Zacian-C and Mega Rayquaza. Do you think Zacian-C will get suspected/banned to AG eventually, even in future gens from potential meta trends/movepool buffs?
  3. Since you seem interested in engineering, what engineering field would you suggest me to do if I good at Multivariable calculus and art? It has been a struggle trying to find a balance for me.
  4. Who is your favorite non-Ubers pokemon?
  5. How do you play around mind games and cheese teams on the ladder? This is AG, after all.
  6. Tomorrow, Crown Tundra news will drop. What do you hope that brings and doesn't bring to the Natdex AG meta?
I really appreciate your time reading and answering theses questions!
 
HanSoloIndie said:
Hello Geysers, I hope you are having a great day!
  1. What are some tips to help yourself brainstorm innovative teams?
  2. Ever since SwSh released, people have immediately noticed power level parallels between Zacian-C and Mega Rayquaza. Do you think Zacian-C will get suspected/banned to AG eventually, even in future gens from potential meta trends/movepool buffs?
  3. Since you seem interested in engineering, what engineering field would you suggest me to do if I good at Multivariable calculus and art? It has been a struggle trying to find a balance for me.
  4. Who is your favorite non-Ubers pokemon?
  5. How do you play around mind games and cheese teams on the ladder? This is AG, after all.
  6. Tomorrow, Crown Tundra news will drop. What do you hope that brings and doesn't bring to the Natdex AG meta?
I really appreciate your time reading and answering theses questions!
Click to expand...
  1. I’ll often try to mash together good but non-standard sets to create interesting builds, combining slightly off-meta stuff like Assurance Zacian with, say, CM + LO Ogre and then building a team around that, or trying out potentially new / underused sets that lure checks, like CM earth power Waterceus, which lures and pressures / beats Primal Groudon. Often once I’ve got a full 6 mon team I’ll look back over it and swap one or two mons out in order to help it better deal with meta stuff.
  2. I’m not an ubers player, but I have a vague feeling that Zacian-C might be too opressive in post-dlc ubers with so few good checks that it’ll be hard to fit them, so it miiight get banned from there, although I don’t think it’s likely.
  3. Architecture might be a good field for you since it’s the most artistic of the engineering fields as far as I know.
  4. I really like Volcanion, for what should be obvious reasons.
  5. I honestly just slab a sub sweeper or haze goggles zyg on every single ladder team I build and that often helps a lot.
  6. I hope that it gives more info on the new regis. Quite frankly, I don’t think it’ll bring anything since we aren’t getting the mons yet regardless of what’s announced.
WolfishOne said:
1) Most underrated pick atm
2) Fave food?
3) Invisibility or Teleportation?
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  1. I think Shedinja is really good right now and isn’t used as much as it should be.
  2. Baaaaaaaaaacon, extra crispy.
  3. Teleportation, since it’s functionally the same thing since you can just pop in and out of places super fast. Also it would make getting places sooo much easier.
MegaBanette69 said:
Hope you're having a good day!

1) Hobbies?
2) Burger or Pizza?
3) Fav mega?
4) Any pets?
5) Country or City? (Favorite)
Click to expand...
  1. AG, model rockets, Kerbal Space Program, Minecraft, and coding.
  2. Pizza, duh, but only if it DOESN’T HAVE PINEAPPLES.
  3. I answered this a ways up, but it‘s Mega Aerodactyl. I really like its design and flavor.
  4. 2 cats and a bunch of fish. Scroll up a bit for a cat picture.
  5. I‘d definitely prefer a more urban environment to a rural one, since they tend to be more liberal. The sububs are a nice compromise, though.
Spyro said:
Hey don't know you but seen you on the ladder and here ocassionally.

1. Wishlist for gen 9 or DPP remakes?
2. What Pokemon would you give a mega or ability to make it more viable?
3. Favorite anime?
4. Do you believe in the afterlife?
5. Favorite Yugioh card?
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  1. I want a really strong dedicated mixed trick room user, with like 700 bst and insane offensive stats, and potentially some kinda ability to make Trick Room last longer.
  2. I’d give Volcanion a mega with like Levitate or something and some movepool buffs and recovery so that it could be a really threatening sweeper that abuses pdon as setup fodder.
  3. I’m not a weeb. The last time I watched any sort of Anime was when I watched like a half episode of the pokemon anime at a sleepover in 4th grade.
  4. I do not. I’m an atheist.
  5. I have never played yugioh and don’t remember anything about it.
Thanks for all the questions, guys!
 
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