Approved by Anty
OP stolen from Leer in RU, who took it from Lord Alphose and xzern in NU
Past Players of the Week: Magnemite, galbia, gasquakee, scorpdestroyer, Simipour, Anty, Raiza, 2xTheTap, TONE114, Megazard, Dundies, RawMelon, Kay, amber lamps, ShuckleDeath, Marogod
Hello everyone, welcome back to theweekly appointment with PU Player of the Week. This time, we're gonna know a little bit better Haund !! Sit back, play the music video (kindly offerend by Haund himself) and enjoy!!
Most Known For: Getting to roomtours finals using random/monoletter/monocolor/confuse ray spam teams and losing the last match playing with a good team, exquisite memes, :ok_hand:
Favorite Pokemon: Articuno
Most Used Pokemon: Gourgeist-XL, Lapras
Can you tell us a bit about yourself outside of PS?
Italian guy studying economics, playing dota 2 with my boys Inflikted and LuckOverSkill and watching tv shows in my free time (which i wish was more, especially in winter).
Where did you get your name from?
My original intention was to have Haun as my nick, which means absolutely nothing, but I ended up adding a "d" for no reason whatsoever. I'm thinking about changing it to either Haunder or Harambe, though.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
Uh I started playing BW Ubers in 2013 (I was actually pretty good!!), but I don't remember how I ended up finding PS. I quit like half an year later for irl reasons and came back last summer.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
Uhm I think bulky offense? I just feel the need to have some defensive presence on a team, though PU has some really good offensive threats that it's hard to run a full stall team. Though I enjoy playing some hyper offense from time to time, making those lit high risk-high reward plays.
Are there some underrated and overrated pokemons that could shine with those new drops?
Pelipper will overshadow some Defog users like Swanna, which fell out of usage with the Machoke ban anyway. I think Smeargle is a bit overhyped as a lead/hazard setter, so I don't really expect stuff like Golem, Leavanny, or Quilladin dropping too much in usage. I have mixed feelings about Monferno, since Pelipper, Rotom Fan, and Muk aren't easy to get past for it, though it somewhat deals with Cacturne so I'm not sure. A new Fighting-type other than Monferno might arise from the shadows, but stuff like Scraggy, Minefoo, and Meditite (as much as I love it...) seems too underwhelming, but who knows. Gourgeist will not be so popular with Machoke's ban and it doesn't particularly help against any of the new drops bar a couple of Muk's and Cacturne's variants.
Do you think some of the drops have the potential to overcentralize the meta? Will PU benefit from their presence?
A lot of people say Cacturne is a bit too much to handle, though I definitely think it's too early to tell. The other drops seem reasonable enough to me, we have had Pelipper already and it's basically an improved Swanna, Muk is strong for sure but I don't see it being too problematic, and the others are definitely usable too. Belly Drum Smeargle, let's go.
Have you ever played other tiers? If yes, which ones and why?
I played BW Ubers and NU a long time ago, some RU, LC, and OU in ORAS, though now I only play PU more or less. Oh and Battle Factory of course, best format of the sim hands down. PU is definitely the one I enjoy the most out of them all, but I really liked BW NU too back then. I tend to prefer lower tiers in general.
Can you tell us about the Smogon community? Do you like it or would you like it to change?
It's okay-ish? It's hard to get into it though and people often complain about the lack of fresh talent. While I do somewhat agree with this, it's also true that every ties subforum has tens of threads that help people learn a metagame. I also really don't like and understand all this ghosting / cheating stuff that keeps happening, since Pokemon is a shit game anyway due to rolls paras crits etc so just deal with it.
Who do you look up to / admire most as a PU player?
galbia, since he is the one that sort of introduced me to the tier and helped me at the beginning. I also enjoy his trash monoletter mono-whatever meme teams and when we play he always surprises me with some weird set that somehow manages to work. Dundies and Anty are also cool guys.
Can you name a new PU player that has potential to become good?
5gen, cryalot, and VeryPinkPancakes look good, though they are somewhat well known already. Everyone who has time to play, test, build, and read can become a decent player.
If you could make one change to the tier (can be anything), what would it be?
Ban Clefairy lol. It is SO annoying to deal with, though I'm the first one to use stuff like Clefairy, Duosion, and Dusclops and all these setup sweepers that are insanely hard to take down after a couple of boosts.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Literally everything depending on what I'm doing, lately I've been listening to a lot of abba because I casually heard a song of theirs on youtube and I couldn't get it out of my head. Usually I'm more on rock-ish stuff, though.
Can you provide a team that reflects you as a player (pre-shift or current metagame)?
OP stolen from Leer in RU, who took it from Lord Alphose and xzern in NU
Past Players of the Week: Magnemite, galbia, gasquakee, scorpdestroyer, Simipour, Anty, Raiza, 2xTheTap, TONE114, Megazard, Dundies, RawMelon, Kay, amber lamps, ShuckleDeath, Marogod
Hello everyone, welcome back to the
Most Known For: Getting to roomtours finals using random/monoletter/monocolor/confuse ray spam teams and losing the last match playing with a good team, exquisite memes, :ok_hand:
Favorite Pokemon: Articuno
Most Used Pokemon: Gourgeist-XL, Lapras
Can you tell us a bit about yourself outside of PS?
Italian guy studying economics, playing dota 2 with my boys Inflikted and LuckOverSkill and watching tv shows in my free time (which i wish was more, especially in winter).
Where did you get your name from?
My original intention was to have Haun as my nick, which means absolutely nothing, but I ended up adding a "d" for no reason whatsoever. I'm thinking about changing it to either Haunder or Harambe, though.
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
Uh I started playing BW Ubers in 2013 (I was actually pretty good!!), but I don't remember how I ended up finding PS. I quit like half an year later for irl reasons and came back last summer.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
Uhm I think bulky offense? I just feel the need to have some defensive presence on a team, though PU has some really good offensive threats that it's hard to run a full stall team. Though I enjoy playing some hyper offense from time to time, making those lit high risk-high reward plays.
Are there some underrated and overrated pokemons that could shine with those new drops?
Pelipper will overshadow some Defog users like Swanna, which fell out of usage with the Machoke ban anyway. I think Smeargle is a bit overhyped as a lead/hazard setter, so I don't really expect stuff like Golem, Leavanny, or Quilladin dropping too much in usage. I have mixed feelings about Monferno, since Pelipper, Rotom Fan, and Muk aren't easy to get past for it, though it somewhat deals with Cacturne so I'm not sure. A new Fighting-type other than Monferno might arise from the shadows, but stuff like Scraggy, Minefoo, and Meditite (as much as I love it...) seems too underwhelming, but who knows. Gourgeist will not be so popular with Machoke's ban and it doesn't particularly help against any of the new drops bar a couple of Muk's and Cacturne's variants.
Do you think some of the drops have the potential to overcentralize the meta? Will PU benefit from their presence?
A lot of people say Cacturne is a bit too much to handle, though I definitely think it's too early to tell. The other drops seem reasonable enough to me, we have had Pelipper already and it's basically an improved Swanna, Muk is strong for sure but I don't see it being too problematic, and the others are definitely usable too. Belly Drum Smeargle, let's go.
Have you ever played other tiers? If yes, which ones and why?
I played BW Ubers and NU a long time ago, some RU, LC, and OU in ORAS, though now I only play PU more or less. Oh and Battle Factory of course, best format of the sim hands down. PU is definitely the one I enjoy the most out of them all, but I really liked BW NU too back then. I tend to prefer lower tiers in general.
Can you tell us about the Smogon community? Do you like it or would you like it to change?
It's okay-ish? It's hard to get into it though and people often complain about the lack of fresh talent. While I do somewhat agree with this, it's also true that every ties subforum has tens of threads that help people learn a metagame. I also really don't like and understand all this ghosting / cheating stuff that keeps happening, since Pokemon is a shit game anyway due to rolls paras crits etc so just deal with it.
Who do you look up to / admire most as a PU player?
galbia, since he is the one that sort of introduced me to the tier and helped me at the beginning. I also enjoy his trash monoletter mono-whatever meme teams and when we play he always surprises me with some weird set that somehow manages to work. Dundies and Anty are also cool guys.
Can you name a new PU player that has potential to become good?
5gen, cryalot, and VeryPinkPancakes look good, though they are somewhat well known already. Everyone who has time to play, test, build, and read can become a decent player.
If you could make one change to the tier (can be anything), what would it be?
Ban Clefairy lol. It is SO annoying to deal with, though I'm the first one to use stuff like Clefairy, Duosion, and Dusclops and all these setup sweepers that are insanely hard to take down after a couple of boosts.
What kind of music do you listen to?
Literally everything depending on what I'm doing, lately I've been listening to a lot of abba because I casually heard a song of theirs on youtube and I couldn't get it out of my head. Usually I'm more on rock-ish stuff, though.
Can you provide a team that reflects you as a player (pre-shift or current metagame)?
Zebstrika @ Life Orb
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Golem @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Acid Armor
Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Knock Off
Ninjask @ Insect Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- X-Scissor
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Def
- Volt Switch
- Thunderbolt
- Overheat
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Golem @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Toxic
Duosion @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Recover
- Psyshock
- Acid Armor
Monferno @ Eviolite
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Close Combat
- Mach Punch
- Flare Blitz
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Freeze-Dry
- Rapid Spin
- Recover
- Knock Off
Ninjask @ Insect Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- X-Scissor
- Aerial Ace
- Swords Dance
Team around Duosion, Monferno deals with Pawniard, Metang, Mawile, and generally just hits and weakens stuff. Golem sets Rocks and hits decently hard and is an additional check to Metang; originally I went with a specially defensive spread to better take on the likes of Raichu and Zebstrika, which can get annoying if Cryogonal is low. Zebstrika hits Vullaby and is generally a nice, fast Pokemon to have around. Cryogonal spins away hazards, which is crucial considering Ninjask on the team. Cryogonal helps with Rotom-F and special attackers in general, though it can be dangerously be worn down by repeated switch ins. Knock Off is nice to have to remove Leftovers or Eviolite from the likes of Pawniard and Monferno. Lastly, SD Ninjask is not really something a lot of people expect, and with a well placed Swords Dance on the switch to something like Gourgeist it can become extremely problematic for the opposing team.
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