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Welcome to OU's Player of the week, a thread where I interview well known players to gain insight on how they battle, as well as get to know some things about them. The goal of this thread is to have these high level players give insight to other players in this community in hopes of creating a better overall experience in the OU environment. As always, if theres someone youd like to see interviewed, feel free to shoot me a PM. So without further ado, lets get to it! (Just a note: Anyone tagged in this post was tagged in the interview by CBB)
Most Known For:
mad outbursts, especially on the ladder and especially when confronted with people of the lucky and bad variety. I think people also used to know me for using Mega Venusaur on every single team of mine although that habit has worn off by now.
Favorite Pokémon:
Gengar
Most used Pokémon:
Probably Greninja because it's the best Pokemon in the metagame and is incredibly easy to slap onto every single offensive team. Used to be Venusaur though, as previously mentioned.
How did you get your name?
Back when I was younger I played Earthbound for the first time and it had PK Thunder or some shit described as a "Crashing Boom Bang attack". I have absolutely no recollection about why that name stuck to me the way it did but I assume it was because absolutely no one even had a name similar to it.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
Back in 2008 or whenever I was just browsing Gamefaqs on a bored afternoon. After finding my way into the Pokemon FireRed section I found a FAQ about competitive strategies. It mentioned Netbattle and, fortunately, back then the download link given still worked. I was mostly lurking back then (and on different names), but I eventually migrated to 2010-ish PO and finally to Smogon in 2012 (?).
What was it like being a Frontier Brain this season?
To be perfectly honest, it was not really a pleasant experience. While I honestly didn't think I would suffer from brain fatigue, it does get really annoying when you get lucked out of what should be a clear win multiple times in a row. It also loses a lot of its appeal when you see how far some people went to cheat the system (signing up under multiple alts to scout teams and spread them within all of Italy, lying about sets to gain an advantage during a rematch) and how disrespectful some people acted towards us when we didn't want to battle. Like, honestly, doing these battles is bad enough at times and it just loses all its remaining appeal when you have some random nobodies calling you and the other brains Johns for not wanting to battle. What I did, however, enjoy was talking to and doing stuff with my fellow brains, especially Stathakis whom I talked to a lot during Frontier.
What was it like playing in SPL and WCoP, and who do you think are some up and coming players that we may see participate next year, if any?
SPL is probably the most fun tournament just because the team atmosphere is guaranteed to be great. Like honestly, unless your manager is a total goober and drafts a bunch of garbage, you're guaranteed to have a good time. Making new teams can be a bit stressful, but overall I don't regret playing. WCOP is less fun because I don't really feel as connected to the german community as I do to many other people, although 2013 World Cup was fun too (I really lost interest in mons around WC 2014 so I only played one game). As for up-and-coming players, I consider most of the "ladder heroes" borderline terrible so there really shouldn't be many new faces this year. Someone who should make a good impression, however, is ben gay who earned my respect as both a player and a person. If someone is gonna come "out of nowhere" and dominate this SPL, it's him.
PO or PS, and why?
I used to be strongly against PS, but I've grown accustomied by it by now. Once the annoying visual glitches (such as mons dying from sand at 8%) are taken care of, it's not going to be a bad sim. I still probably prefer PO for its interface and because I hate in-browser shit, but that's whatever.
What players do you look up to / are good friends with?
Pretty sure most people I consider "good" are friends in one way or another (that's just how it works when you have a game with a huge wolfpack/people sticking together mentality like Pokemon), but two people I really look up to as a player are the two obvious picks: my good friends McMeghan and Bloo. They're just on their own level way above everybody else right now, and I'm pretty sure that one apart from themselves would really have a chance fo beat them without haxing the fuck out of them. I love how those two can be as consistent as they are through sheer skill and thinking ahead, while still going for plays if the need arises, and it's really a joy to watch the way they battle and strategise at times :). Also shoutouts to bro fist for being a sick player who doesn't play the game enough to make most people realise how good he is. Maybe he should.
How do you innovate sets such as CBBNite? (Like your thoughts when creating these new sets)
Check what the metagame is like, check what the top threats are and how to beat them. Check if there's anything in particular your team/many teams struggle to beat and build around beating said threat. When CBBNite came to mind, I was looking for an offensive glue Pokemon that could handle all 3 of Mega Charizard Y, Landorus-I and Aegislash. That meant being resistant/immune to both Fire Blast and Earth Power as they are by far the strongest attacks, not weak to any other commonly used move (Solarbeam, Focus Blast/Sacred Sword, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flash Cannon), reliable recovery to avoid being worn down and the movepool and stats to actually take them on. Dragonite fit the bill perfectly, so I figured out a set and the EVs to take those Pokemon on in almost every situation.
If you could change on thing in OU, be it through ban or unban, what would it be and why?
While right after the Mawile ban I was heavily thinking about a Thundurus suspect, people have since stopped using it for only its ability to Thunder Wave shit and fully para them on the same turn so it's managable now. That said, I honestly think the metagame is fine as it is and I wouldn't suspect anything (except Magnet Pull right LOL jesus that thread was so stupid). I might get rid of Baton Pass just because it's so boring to play against and the people using Baton Pass also seem to be the luckiest goddamn people playing this game, dodging every move and getting ridiculous critical hits, so I guess it would reduce the luck factor somewhat.
What are you most looking forward to in ORAS?
First two weeks or so of Salamence causing chaos. After that it's gonna be boring but once we, hopefully, get a balanced metagame again it will be fun again. The beginning and the end basically.
Do you have any advice for players that are newer to the XY OU Metagame?
Watch good players play, learn from them and from your own mistakes, learn the metagame and whats good and whats bad. Learn how to handle said stuff with whatever team you're using. It's simple stuff really, and it obviously won't make you a great player over night, but the most important thing is learning from your mistakes and knowing the metagame and its current trends so you know how to handle as many threats as possible in any given scenario. If you're just going around stealing other peoples teams without knowing how they work or how to handle certain threats, that's not helping anyone.
Finally, is there a team that you could show us that reflects your playstyle that is a good fit for this metagame with a brief explanation of how it works?
Pretty standard stuff, and I'm pretty sure everyone has either stolen or faced this team on the ladder at some point. Lay the hazards you need, apply offensive pressure with hazards + Greninja + Latios, sweep with Scizor and Bisharp while weakening each others checks. As easy as that sounds, some people just do mindblowing stupid things when using this team that I simply can't behind so I guess it's not that standard. Some people also like changing shit around for no reason like putting Knock Off on Landorus over Superpower; don't fucking do that there's a reason it has Superpower (Balloon Excadrill and Mega Gyarados). It's really easy to play and has a ton of good matchups once you know how exactly it works though, and pretty much an autowin against "Italian Offense" (Magnezone, Diggersby, Azumarill, Pinsir, Latias, Garchomp). Autoloss against rain but that's the case for most HO teams. Once you learn when to sac stuff, when not to sac stuff, when to set up, when to send out what and when to get what hazards, it becomes a very powerful team though.
---
So there it is. If you have any questions for CBB, feel free to ask him in the thread. Id like to thank him once again for doing this. See you next week!
Banner by me
Welcome to OU's Player of the week, a thread where I interview well known players to gain insight on how they battle, as well as get to know some things about them. The goal of this thread is to have these high level players give insight to other players in this community in hopes of creating a better overall experience in the OU environment. As always, if theres someone youd like to see interviewed, feel free to shoot me a PM. So without further ado, lets get to it! (Just a note: Anyone tagged in this post was tagged in the interview by CBB)
Most Known For:
mad outbursts, especially on the ladder and especially when confronted with people of the lucky and bad variety. I think people also used to know me for using Mega Venusaur on every single team of mine although that habit has worn off by now.
Favorite Pokémon:
Gengar
Most used Pokémon:
Probably Greninja because it's the best Pokemon in the metagame and is incredibly easy to slap onto every single offensive team. Used to be Venusaur though, as previously mentioned.
How did you get your name?
Back when I was younger I played Earthbound for the first time and it had PK Thunder or some shit described as a "Crashing Boom Bang attack". I have absolutely no recollection about why that name stuck to me the way it did but I assume it was because absolutely no one even had a name similar to it.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
Back in 2008 or whenever I was just browsing Gamefaqs on a bored afternoon. After finding my way into the Pokemon FireRed section I found a FAQ about competitive strategies. It mentioned Netbattle and, fortunately, back then the download link given still worked. I was mostly lurking back then (and on different names), but I eventually migrated to 2010-ish PO and finally to Smogon in 2012 (?).
What was it like being a Frontier Brain this season?
To be perfectly honest, it was not really a pleasant experience. While I honestly didn't think I would suffer from brain fatigue, it does get really annoying when you get lucked out of what should be a clear win multiple times in a row. It also loses a lot of its appeal when you see how far some people went to cheat the system (signing up under multiple alts to scout teams and spread them within all of Italy, lying about sets to gain an advantage during a rematch) and how disrespectful some people acted towards us when we didn't want to battle. Like, honestly, doing these battles is bad enough at times and it just loses all its remaining appeal when you have some random nobodies calling you and the other brains Johns for not wanting to battle. What I did, however, enjoy was talking to and doing stuff with my fellow brains, especially Stathakis whom I talked to a lot during Frontier.
What was it like playing in SPL and WCoP, and who do you think are some up and coming players that we may see participate next year, if any?
SPL is probably the most fun tournament just because the team atmosphere is guaranteed to be great. Like honestly, unless your manager is a total goober and drafts a bunch of garbage, you're guaranteed to have a good time. Making new teams can be a bit stressful, but overall I don't regret playing. WCOP is less fun because I don't really feel as connected to the german community as I do to many other people, although 2013 World Cup was fun too (I really lost interest in mons around WC 2014 so I only played one game). As for up-and-coming players, I consider most of the "ladder heroes" borderline terrible so there really shouldn't be many new faces this year. Someone who should make a good impression, however, is ben gay who earned my respect as both a player and a person. If someone is gonna come "out of nowhere" and dominate this SPL, it's him.
PO or PS, and why?
I used to be strongly against PS, but I've grown accustomied by it by now. Once the annoying visual glitches (such as mons dying from sand at 8%) are taken care of, it's not going to be a bad sim. I still probably prefer PO for its interface and because I hate in-browser shit, but that's whatever.
What players do you look up to / are good friends with?
Pretty sure most people I consider "good" are friends in one way or another (that's just how it works when you have a game with a huge wolfpack/people sticking together mentality like Pokemon), but two people I really look up to as a player are the two obvious picks: my good friends McMeghan and Bloo. They're just on their own level way above everybody else right now, and I'm pretty sure that one apart from themselves would really have a chance fo beat them without haxing the fuck out of them. I love how those two can be as consistent as they are through sheer skill and thinking ahead, while still going for plays if the need arises, and it's really a joy to watch the way they battle and strategise at times :). Also shoutouts to bro fist for being a sick player who doesn't play the game enough to make most people realise how good he is. Maybe he should.
How do you innovate sets such as CBBNite? (Like your thoughts when creating these new sets)
Check what the metagame is like, check what the top threats are and how to beat them. Check if there's anything in particular your team/many teams struggle to beat and build around beating said threat. When CBBNite came to mind, I was looking for an offensive glue Pokemon that could handle all 3 of Mega Charizard Y, Landorus-I and Aegislash. That meant being resistant/immune to both Fire Blast and Earth Power as they are by far the strongest attacks, not weak to any other commonly used move (Solarbeam, Focus Blast/Sacred Sword, Sludge Wave, Psychic, Shadow Ball, Flash Cannon), reliable recovery to avoid being worn down and the movepool and stats to actually take them on. Dragonite fit the bill perfectly, so I figured out a set and the EVs to take those Pokemon on in almost every situation.
If you could change on thing in OU, be it through ban or unban, what would it be and why?
While right after the Mawile ban I was heavily thinking about a Thundurus suspect, people have since stopped using it for only its ability to Thunder Wave shit and fully para them on the same turn so it's managable now. That said, I honestly think the metagame is fine as it is and I wouldn't suspect anything (except Magnet Pull right LOL jesus that thread was so stupid). I might get rid of Baton Pass just because it's so boring to play against and the people using Baton Pass also seem to be the luckiest goddamn people playing this game, dodging every move and getting ridiculous critical hits, so I guess it would reduce the luck factor somewhat.
What are you most looking forward to in ORAS?
First two weeks or so of Salamence causing chaos. After that it's gonna be boring but once we, hopefully, get a balanced metagame again it will be fun again. The beginning and the end basically.
Do you have any advice for players that are newer to the XY OU Metagame?
Watch good players play, learn from them and from your own mistakes, learn the metagame and whats good and whats bad. Learn how to handle said stuff with whatever team you're using. It's simple stuff really, and it obviously won't make you a great player over night, but the most important thing is learning from your mistakes and knowing the metagame and its current trends so you know how to handle as many threats as possible in any given scenario. If you're just going around stealing other peoples teams without knowing how they work or how to handle certain threats, that's not helping anyone.
Finally, is there a team that you could show us that reflects your playstyle that is a good fit for this metagame with a brief explanation of how it works?
Garchomp (F) @ Focus Sash
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
Greninja (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Dark Pulse
- Spikes
Scizor (F) @ Scizorite
Trait: Light Metal
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Bisharp (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
Landorus-T (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower
Trait: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SAtk / 252 Spd
Naive Nature (+Spd, -SDef)
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Fire Blast
- Stealth Rock
Greninja (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Protean
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Grass] / Dark Pulse
- Spikes
Scizor (F) @ Scizorite
Trait: Light Metal
EVs: 20 HP / 252 Atk / 236 Spd
Adamant Nature (+Atk, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Bullet Punch
- Superpower
- Bug Bite
Bisharp (F) @ Life Orb
Trait: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Swords Dance
- Sucker Punch
- Knock Off
- Iron Head
Latios (M) @ Life Orb
Trait: Levitate
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SAtk / 252 Spd
Timid Nature (+Spd, -Atk)
- Draco Meteor
- Psyshock
- Thunderbolt
- Roost
Landorus-T (M) @ Choice Scarf
Trait: Intimidate
EVs: 24 HP / 252 Atk / 232 Spd
Jolly Nature (+Spd, -SAtk)
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- U-turn
- Superpower
Pretty standard stuff, and I'm pretty sure everyone has either stolen or faced this team on the ladder at some point. Lay the hazards you need, apply offensive pressure with hazards + Greninja + Latios, sweep with Scizor and Bisharp while weakening each others checks. As easy as that sounds, some people just do mindblowing stupid things when using this team that I simply can't behind so I guess it's not that standard. Some people also like changing shit around for no reason like putting Knock Off on Landorus over Superpower; don't fucking do that there's a reason it has Superpower (Balloon Excadrill and Mega Gyarados). It's really easy to play and has a ton of good matchups once you know how exactly it works though, and pretty much an autowin against "Italian Offense" (Magnezone, Diggersby, Azumarill, Pinsir, Latias, Garchomp). Autoloss against rain but that's the case for most HO teams. Once you learn when to sac stuff, when not to sac stuff, when to set up, when to send out what and when to get what hazards, it becomes a very powerful team though.
---
So there it is. If you have any questions for CBB, feel free to ask him in the thread. Id like to thank him once again for doing this. See you next week!
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