Approved by Sweep
Based on other Player of the Week threads
Co-hosted by Gunner Rohan
Art by NicoReaper
Welcome everyone to Ubers Player of the Week! This'll be a weekly project where Gunner Rohan and I interview well known players to try and see into their mind a bit. If anyone has any suggestions on who Gunner / I should interview, feel free to shoot us a PM. Anyways, lets get to it!
Nayrz
Favorite Pokemon(s):
Linoone
What would you say you're most known for?
Most likely analysis writing and other C&C work, but I've also been a 3 time finalist (once as manager, that counts right?) of the VERY prestigious Ubers Premier League. Or maybe I'm just known as one of the mods, I've never really heard much about myself from others to really say "that's what i'm known for"
Based on other Player of the Week threads
Co-hosted by Gunner Rohan
Art by NicoReaper
Welcome everyone to Ubers Player of the Week! This'll be a weekly project where Gunner Rohan and I interview well known players to try and see into their mind a bit. If anyone has any suggestions on who Gunner / I should interview, feel free to shoot us a PM. Anyways, lets get to it!
Nayrz
Favorite Pokemon(s):
Linoone
What would you say you're most known for?
Most likely analysis writing and other C&C work, but I've also been a 3 time finalist (once as manager, that counts right?) of the VERY prestigious Ubers Premier League. Or maybe I'm just known as one of the mods, I've never really heard much about myself from others to really say "that's what i'm known for"
Tell us a little about yourself.
I'm a 20 year old dude from Scotland living the lazy student life until the next school year starts - i'm working my way towards a career in the computing industry but have 0 idea what to "specialize" in as of yet. I spend a lot of time on video games and chatting away on IRC/PS! to everyone in my spare time. I'm a huge fan of electronic music but can listen to a lot of genres without complaints.
How did you choose the name Nayrz?
Its just my name backwards with a Z at the end. I have no idea how but nobody has ever made the connection without straight up asking me the origins of my username. Best theory I heard was that it was somehow related to "Naysayers" back in XY but I don't remember who said it :( I went by terrible usernames like most under 16s but ended up settling on Nayrz for most things not long before I started competitive mons. Its pronounced "N-air-z" as an answer to a popular question. My username gets typo'd at least once a day!
How and when did you get into the Ubers community?
I was originally a huge CoD/console player and was the teenager that watched the youtube videos back in their ""prime"". This was around mid 2013 and at the time I didn't have a computer capable of playing PC games. During this time I watched BlameTruth who slowly shifted away from CoD and towards using Showdown on a secondary channel. Being the nostalgic kinda dude and realizing "wow, these guys play with legendaries like its nothing" I hopped onto the site and had 0 idea what anything was. Being too clueless about competitive mons outside of youtube videos and how the tiers worked I started playing Ubers. I found the PS chatroom and met with all the XY guys that know me today. After a lot of shitposting, battling, and meeting cool guys I eventually found myself really loving the place and kept coming back. Melee Mewtwo gave me voice in the room later on and I then felt like I should start posting on the forums, then I eventually heard of C&C and thought I should better my writing while also contributing to the site. I also got drafted to the Drizzlers by MM2 in UPL 2 where I was then introduced to IRC, and things just went from there.
Which generation of Ubers is your favorite and why?
I enjoyed my XY days but looking back at the teams I made (I still have them in my builder!) and seeing UPL 2 replays I question if I was actually good at it. My better teams were collaborations with MM2 where we made things like Toxic Spikes + Mega Kangaskhan (I think we were first? if not, one of the original teams was made by us) as well as created the abomination known as Rest Geomancy Xerneas, which could have potentially cheesed Steeljackal in a UPL match but I played it terribly and got a LITTLE unlucky. ORAS isn't exactly the worst that I can imagine current gen Ubers being (see: before Mega Rayquaza ban) but it does experience centralization to an entirely new degree. Somehow we still have occasional meta shifts which still surprises me honestly.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
I like my bulkier offense teams, or at least balance that doesn't force a reactive playstyle by using mostly unthreatening mons. Reactive teams in general will just get rolled by competent players with good teams in ORAS as you are always on the back foot. Really enjoying Deoxys-A balance atm though. I made a fun (subjective) version of it myself that I'll post at the end - it isn't exactly meta changing... but its FUN.
If you could change two things in any generation of Ubers, what would they be?
Only things I'd change would have been doing something about Baton Pass in XY and get the memories of Swagger GeoXern outta my head...aaaaaaaaaaa
Your UPL team DaReal Drizzlers had a solid run reaching finals this year. How was your experience as manager? Do you intend to manage again?
After spending 2 years in the Drizzlers channel I decided to take up the task as manager after the ban of the fallen angel, rather than let the Drizzlers die out. Managing was an amazing time and I'll happily do it again. I brought some new guys into the spotlight and with the channel's constant discussion and being surrounded with great players I imagine they got a lot out of it. One thing that is weird about managing though... you feel just as nervous watching your own players as you would if you were the one playing, probably due to how you have no control or influence over the match once its started. Picking between people is also difficult and it can feel bad to be forced to pick someone over another, but that's how it is I suppose.
You've been working as an Ubers C&C moderator for quite some time now. What motivates you to keep contributing so much to this section of Ubers?
My main focus was to better my own writing while also putting my knowledge into the site's dex to help other new guys out. I also had the motivation to consistently chase mods and QC to get things going. Once I became a moderator I still felt that way, because after spending so much time contributing to it, I wanted to make sure it keeps on running smoothly. I still write analyses!
Do you still remember your first Ubers analysis? If you do, what was it?
My way into C&C was actually in early 2014, doing the shitmons that nobody really cared about. I felt that they at least deserved an analysis that properly explained why they were so terrible and give a set that -potentially- works, although some mons just are that terrible. I also saw it as "taking one for the team", as it let the better writers of that time get working on the important mons. The good ones were usually badgeholder only anyway. My first two analyses were Arceus-Ice and regular Deoxys. Iceceus was a true shitter in XY compared to its niche in ORAS. I did Arceus-Fire shortly afterwards. Reading over these analyses again i definitely see how my quality has changed for the better when compared to my newer write ups.
Do you have any favorite games that you've played?
I've been playing games for like...forever. I'd probably end up with a long ass post just based on the classics so I'll settle for what I tend to play outside of mons these days - Overwatch, Rocket League and an assortment of single player games... god bless the steam sales.
If this is referring to competitive mons games then all my UPL matches were memorable in their own way and taught me a lot. As for an actual replay here is a match (not UPL, fun tour iirc) against Melee Mewtwo and his barrel of fun, where I first showcased the almighty Misty Terrain Xerneas.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon/Ubers community?
That would be a pretty big list... I can (and do) get along with anyone that doesn't talk to me with their head up their ass. I have a lot of respect for the Ubers players that came before my time such as Sweep, Fireburn, dice, Hack and Melee Mewtwo as they have all supported me as I was starting out. Shoutouts to all those I chat with on IRC (especially #dodriobrate) and PS though - both platforms have done a lot for me as a person as well as forum user and its an amazing thing to experience.
Do you have any advice to newer users getting into Ubers?
My advice is a little different to what I commonly see being suggested. Smogon has as many social avenues as it does battling avenues. The "way into Smogon" isn't just to spam ladder, git gud and win some tours afterwards. You can meet people and make friends, and also contribute to Smogon / competitive mons without being some godlike Smogon Tour winner. Naturally being half decent at battling is the ideal starting point, but you don't have to be SPL material or even have an interest in tournaments at all to make your time on Smogon worthwhile. Many new users get hung up on trying to be the best and letting their abrasive 'tournament-bred' attitudes rule their relations with other people they meet on the forums and PS, and it certainly hurts them in the short and long run. Battling isn't everything, not even close.
Lastly, could you provide us with a team of yours?
[17:29] Hack: yea the misty is honestly pretty cool
This is a new team I made that uses Misty Terrain to assist nearly all its mons in tearing shit up. For those unaware, Misty Terrain stops status for 5 turns similar to Safeguard, so in practical terms, this means that nobody can be paralyzed or hit with Toxic for a while which can REALLY fuck up balance teams and give 5 turns of mayhem. If you Misty as Klefki comes in on Xerneas then it can't do anything and shit starts dying. Primal Groudon can set up boosts a little safer without worrying about a supportceus hitting it with Toxic. Another mechanic behind Misty Terrain is that Dragon-type moves used against grounded Pokemon are 50% weaker, even if the user isn't affected by Misty Terrain itself (Latios, Latias, Giratina-O). Salamence can also avoid status and take less from Dragon-type attacks if it uses Roost but practical use of that is limited. Misty generally functions in a more up front way to Aromatherapy, which is more reactive. I even used it way back in XY Ubers but it never caught on, understandably. Dialga is the SR and Mence check as well as Defog pressure. Deo-A is the bane of HO. Ekiller is pretty standard and fits well. Salamence is less pressured to run Facade or Refresh thanks to Misty Terrain making it easier for others to take status, and can run EQ to catch out those that assume Rock/Steel-types are safe checks now, but it can be changed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again to Nayrz for taking out time to complete this interview.
Ask him any questions you have below!
I'm a 20 year old dude from Scotland living the lazy student life until the next school year starts - i'm working my way towards a career in the computing industry but have 0 idea what to "specialize" in as of yet. I spend a lot of time on video games and chatting away on IRC/PS! to everyone in my spare time. I'm a huge fan of electronic music but can listen to a lot of genres without complaints.
How did you choose the name Nayrz?
Its just my name backwards with a Z at the end. I have no idea how but nobody has ever made the connection without straight up asking me the origins of my username. Best theory I heard was that it was somehow related to "Naysayers" back in XY but I don't remember who said it :( I went by terrible usernames like most under 16s but ended up settling on Nayrz for most things not long before I started competitive mons. Its pronounced "N-air-z" as an answer to a popular question. My username gets typo'd at least once a day!
How and when did you get into the Ubers community?
I was originally a huge CoD/console player and was the teenager that watched the youtube videos back in their ""prime"". This was around mid 2013 and at the time I didn't have a computer capable of playing PC games. During this time I watched BlameTruth who slowly shifted away from CoD and towards using Showdown on a secondary channel. Being the nostalgic kinda dude and realizing "wow, these guys play with legendaries like its nothing" I hopped onto the site and had 0 idea what anything was. Being too clueless about competitive mons outside of youtube videos and how the tiers worked I started playing Ubers. I found the PS chatroom and met with all the XY guys that know me today. After a lot of shitposting, battling, and meeting cool guys I eventually found myself really loving the place and kept coming back. Melee Mewtwo gave me voice in the room later on and I then felt like I should start posting on the forums, then I eventually heard of C&C and thought I should better my writing while also contributing to the site. I also got drafted to the Drizzlers by MM2 in UPL 2 where I was then introduced to IRC, and things just went from there.
Which generation of Ubers is your favorite and why?
I enjoyed my XY days but looking back at the teams I made (I still have them in my builder!) and seeing UPL 2 replays I question if I was actually good at it. My better teams were collaborations with MM2 where we made things like Toxic Spikes + Mega Kangaskhan (I think we were first? if not, one of the original teams was made by us) as well as created the abomination known as Rest Geomancy Xerneas, which could have potentially cheesed Steeljackal in a UPL match but I played it terribly and got a LITTLE unlucky. ORAS isn't exactly the worst that I can imagine current gen Ubers being (see: before Mega Rayquaza ban) but it does experience centralization to an entirely new degree. Somehow we still have occasional meta shifts which still surprises me honestly.
What's your favorite playstyle and why?
I like my bulkier offense teams, or at least balance that doesn't force a reactive playstyle by using mostly unthreatening mons. Reactive teams in general will just get rolled by competent players with good teams in ORAS as you are always on the back foot. Really enjoying Deoxys-A balance atm though. I made a fun (subjective) version of it myself that I'll post at the end - it isn't exactly meta changing... but its FUN.
If you could change two things in any generation of Ubers, what would they be?
Only things I'd change would have been doing something about Baton Pass in XY and get the memories of Swagger GeoXern outta my head...aaaaaaaaaaa
Your UPL team DaReal Drizzlers had a solid run reaching finals this year. How was your experience as manager? Do you intend to manage again?
After spending 2 years in the Drizzlers channel I decided to take up the task as manager after the ban of the fallen angel, rather than let the Drizzlers die out. Managing was an amazing time and I'll happily do it again. I brought some new guys into the spotlight and with the channel's constant discussion and being surrounded with great players I imagine they got a lot out of it. One thing that is weird about managing though... you feel just as nervous watching your own players as you would if you were the one playing, probably due to how you have no control or influence over the match once its started. Picking between people is also difficult and it can feel bad to be forced to pick someone over another, but that's how it is I suppose.
You've been working as an Ubers C&C moderator for quite some time now. What motivates you to keep contributing so much to this section of Ubers?
My main focus was to better my own writing while also putting my knowledge into the site's dex to help other new guys out. I also had the motivation to consistently chase mods and QC to get things going. Once I became a moderator I still felt that way, because after spending so much time contributing to it, I wanted to make sure it keeps on running smoothly. I still write analyses!
Do you still remember your first Ubers analysis? If you do, what was it?
My way into C&C was actually in early 2014, doing the shitmons that nobody really cared about. I felt that they at least deserved an analysis that properly explained why they were so terrible and give a set that -potentially- works, although some mons just are that terrible. I also saw it as "taking one for the team", as it let the better writers of that time get working on the important mons. The good ones were usually badgeholder only anyway. My first two analyses were Arceus-Ice and regular Deoxys. Iceceus was a true shitter in XY compared to its niche in ORAS. I did Arceus-Fire shortly afterwards. Reading over these analyses again i definitely see how my quality has changed for the better when compared to my newer write ups.
Do you have any favorite games that you've played?
I've been playing games for like...forever. I'd probably end up with a long ass post just based on the classics so I'll settle for what I tend to play outside of mons these days - Overwatch, Rocket League and an assortment of single player games... god bless the steam sales.
If this is referring to competitive mons games then all my UPL matches were memorable in their own way and taught me a lot. As for an actual replay here is a match (not UPL, fun tour iirc) against Melee Mewtwo and his barrel of fun, where I first showcased the almighty Misty Terrain Xerneas.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon/Ubers community?
That would be a pretty big list... I can (and do) get along with anyone that doesn't talk to me with their head up their ass. I have a lot of respect for the Ubers players that came before my time such as Sweep, Fireburn, dice, Hack and Melee Mewtwo as they have all supported me as I was starting out. Shoutouts to all those I chat with on IRC (especially #dodriobrate) and PS though - both platforms have done a lot for me as a person as well as forum user and its an amazing thing to experience.
Do you have any advice to newer users getting into Ubers?
My advice is a little different to what I commonly see being suggested. Smogon has as many social avenues as it does battling avenues. The "way into Smogon" isn't just to spam ladder, git gud and win some tours afterwards. You can meet people and make friends, and also contribute to Smogon / competitive mons without being some godlike Smogon Tour winner. Naturally being half decent at battling is the ideal starting point, but you don't have to be SPL material or even have an interest in tournaments at all to make your time on Smogon worthwhile. Many new users get hung up on trying to be the best and letting their abrasive 'tournament-bred' attitudes rule their relations with other people they meet on the forums and PS, and it certainly hurts them in the short and long run. Battling isn't everything, not even close.
Lastly, could you provide us with a team of yours?
Xerneas @ Power Herb
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 212 HP / 28 Def / 224 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Misty Terrain
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Geomancy
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
Dialga @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Deoxys-Attack @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
- Extreme Speed
Arceus @ Life Orb
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake
Ability: Fairy Aura
EVs: 212 HP / 28 Def / 224 SpA / 44 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Misty Terrain
- Moonblast
- Focus Blast
- Geomancy
Groudon-Primal @ Red Orb
Ability: Desolate Land
EVs: 168 HP / 252 Atk / 32 SpD / 56 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Precipice Blades
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Rock Polish
Dialga @ Shuca Berry
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 124 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Thunder
- Flash Cannon
- Stealth Rock
Deoxys-Attack @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Rash Nature
- Psycho Boost
- Superpower
- Ice Beam
- Extreme Speed
Arceus @ Life Orb
Ability: Multitype
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Extreme Speed
- Shadow Claw
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
Salamence-Mega @ Salamencite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 80 HP / 252 Atk / 176 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Double-Edge
- Dragon Dance
- Roost
- Earthquake
[17:29] Hack: yea the misty is honestly pretty cool
This is a new team I made that uses Misty Terrain to assist nearly all its mons in tearing shit up. For those unaware, Misty Terrain stops status for 5 turns similar to Safeguard, so in practical terms, this means that nobody can be paralyzed or hit with Toxic for a while which can REALLY fuck up balance teams and give 5 turns of mayhem. If you Misty as Klefki comes in on Xerneas then it can't do anything and shit starts dying. Primal Groudon can set up boosts a little safer without worrying about a supportceus hitting it with Toxic. Another mechanic behind Misty Terrain is that Dragon-type moves used against grounded Pokemon are 50% weaker, even if the user isn't affected by Misty Terrain itself (Latios, Latias, Giratina-O). Salamence can also avoid status and take less from Dragon-type attacks if it uses Roost but practical use of that is limited. Misty generally functions in a more up front way to Aromatherapy, which is more reactive. I even used it way back in XY Ubers but it never caught on, understandably. Dialga is the SR and Mence check as well as Defog pressure. Deo-A is the bane of HO. Ekiller is pretty standard and fits well. Salamence is less pressured to run Facade or Refresh thanks to Misty Terrain making it easier for others to take status, and can run EQ to catch out those that assume Rock/Steel-types are safe checks now, but it can be changed.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Thanks again to Nayrz for taking out time to complete this interview.
Ask him any questions you have below!
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