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Welcome to the OU Player of the Week Project: Rebooted! For those of you that don't know, this is a project where I interview a tournament player and have you, the readers, leave any questions you may have down below for them to answer. The ultimate goal is to gain insight as to how they play this skillful and strategic video game. If any of you have a suggestion for who I should interview, feel free to VM/PM me, and I will take your suggestion into consideration. Now, enough of this boring intro. Let's get to it!
henry
Most Known For: Idk man I wish I knew what to put here.
Favorite Pokemon: Laprassssss. Also Metagross.
Most used Pokemon: Probably a tie between Lati@s, Manaphy and Hippowdon throughout all of ORAS OU. For mega evos I use Altaria, Alakazam, Metagross and Venusaur the most.
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
I'm an 18 year old from the United States (NJ) and am now a freshmen in college. I have a habit of getting really interested in random topics and learning things about them like counting cards, chess, reading, skiing etc.
Where did you get your name from?
My dad!
How and when did you get into competitive battling?
I have probably the weirdest story out of anyone that's done this. A few days before my forum date I saw some random kids in my high school German class playing random battles on PS. I had no idea what the fuck they were doing because I had never played a cartridge game and hadn't ever thought about trying pokemon before this, so I knew nothing. They taught the format to me and I lost every single time I played against them.
I spent the weekend learning the typechart and the meanings of base stats and abilities just to try to beat them. I learned about the Smogon tiers after registering for the the forums, and started messing around on the ladder for a few days before i found "cpg." I stole a generic deosharp team from them and after playing pokemon for only a few weeks I peaked top 10 on an ELO ladder (I know it doesn't matter now). From there I learned about competitive pokemon from people in cpg like y4 (metagamesecrets), Bedschibaer (jk he's fucking useless), Outrageous Fortune, McMeghan and ash borer.
How do you feel about how ORAS plays compared to XY?
Almost every balance team I've seen in current ORAS has a flaw that can't be repaired without making another pokemon much more threatening. I don't think I can say the same for XY. ORAS is encouraging more and more extremes like hard stall with goth+sableye or hardcore HO with ridiculous ways to beat the extremes of another playstyle. Both metagames have different pros and cons so I don't think there's one i definitively like more, but XY was more balanced.
To add onto the above, thoughts on the team matchup issue?
I think any potential team-matchup advantage stems from people overcompensating the process of dealing with a certain core or team archetype, which can bring about easy wins or crushing losses that seem impossible to deal with in hindsight. To me it's more self-induced than an inevitable part of ORAS OU.
Do you feel that there is anything that is suspect worthy at the moment?
I'd like to see a suspect ladder for Mega-Sableye without Mega-Sableye allowed on it, but I don't know if I want it banned right now.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
When I used to ladder my answer would've confidently been balance, but I don't really have one anymore. I like to use all playstyles although I probably use stall the least often.
What's your favorite generation of OU and why?
XY is the only tier I've played so I guess that's my answer. Sometimes I randomly ask people to play DPP but I don't really know the tier.
How do you go about preparing for tournament matches? Does the process differ depending on the tournament?
Aside from a few occasions I never actually prepare for tournament matches, so I can't really answer either question. I guess ideally I'd just focus on what I would bring if I was playing myself, and try to build a team that would bother that mindset. If I was playing in a competitive team tournament precedent tells me that I should talk to my transcendent poke-god teammates, like in SPL.
Favorite to win STour and OLT?
I expect Tesung/PDC to win OLT because I think they're the most consistent and knowledgeable players in ORAS OU. STour I know less of because I only understand 1/3 of the tiers in it, but I wouldn't be surprised if McMeghan won again.
If you could change one thing about OU, what would it be and why?
There isn't really anything that I'd want to permanently change. I'd like to at least try OU without momentum-based moves and Regenerator because I think they're both dumb and give thoughtless advantages to the user. Maybe scald.
Do you have any advice for newer players for playing, and for Smogon in general?
Never get lazy when teambuilding. To assume your new team is perfect is also to assume you will lose.
If you could change one thing about Smogon as a whole to make it better, what would it be and why?
Cash prizes for major tournaments, I guess. I don't really have an answer.
What players do you look up to / are good friends with?
Tokyo Tom, Stathakis, Tesung, Sugarhigh, 49, TDK, Kushalos, Dallaren, Crestfall, Ium, BKC, Cased, liberty32, Reverb, AM, McMeghan, c0mp and the rest of cpg.
I don't really match many tournament matches so I don't know much, but players like Tesung, McMeghan, Heist, Ojama and BKC are people that I know can play.
Finally, can you provide us a team that's a good fit for this metagame and reflects your playstyle, with a brief explanation of how it works?
Kyurem-Black @ Life Orb
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Iron Head
- Outrage
- Focus Blast
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 16 Def / 180 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Superpower
Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Recover
Ability: Teravolt
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Ice Beam
- Iron Head
- Outrage
- Focus Blast
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Force
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Slack Off
- Stealth Rock
- Stone Edge
Scizor @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 64 Atk / 16 Def / 180 SpD
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Bug Bite
- Roost
- Swords Dance
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Superpower
Talonflame @ Leftovers
Ability: Gale Wings
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Careful Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Bulk Up
- Roost
- Brave Bird
Starmie @ Leftovers
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Scald
- Rapid Spin
- Psyshock
- Recover
generic bulky offense team with lures in kyurem-b and tornt with support from starmie, talonflame and hippowdon.