Hello everyone, welcome to another Smogon Doubles Player of the Week! This project is for newer people to be more acquainted with some of the most knowledgeable players of Doubles.
Featured Player: Audiosurfer
Favorite playstyle: Goodstuffs
Most known for: Ballin avatar, being in a leadership position in every dubs related thing lol, one of the more visible doubles players, and team E Rank which is the greatest team ever. also my spectacularly awful SPL performance lol (#audi0-5 reppin)
Signature Pokemon: Sub Lando-t (sub ground types in general is a thing i used to do a lot)
This week, I've interviewed Audiosurfer. Audio has been around since before doubles was official, and has gotten all his badges for his doubles work. He organized this gen's leaderboard, created the PS doubles team, created the doubles newsroom, and created some other projects for doubles. He's a doubles subforum and C&C mod, and written a numbe rof doubles articles for The Smog. He also plays Yugioh, which makes him cool :].
Tell me a little about yourself: I'm a teenager, I enjoy reading and listening to a lot of music (last.fm in my sig so hit me up if you listen to anything), I write, would like to learn web design sometime. i quit some months ago but it lasted for exactly one month lol. I'm pretty relaxed, but I can be pushy when it comes to executing a vision when I need to be. Also I'm known for being a fan of non-played formats (doubles lc, doubles highlander). Am a user and a fan of elementary OS (link to that in my sig too, it's cool, check it out). I also would love to surf someday, and am a recent watcher of competitive surfing, thanks to the updated ASP website making it easier to do.
Why did you join the doubles community, and what was the first team you made?: I initially wanted to get into VGC since it seemed really cool and interesting, but the whole play on a system thing seemed intimidating since I expected a lot of grinding and such, so simulator play seemed more appealing (while im aware it's not how VGC is now, I didn't know that at the time). I remember seeing the most recent post being from the Doubles megathread they had in OM a while back when it had just started, so I decided to go over there and check it out. I hopped on IRC from there, played a game, and enjoyed the tier. There used to be a leaderboard back then to keep track of contributions, and I remember wanting to be on it alot, so I started posting my thoughts and findings on the thread and became a regular contributor. After a while I was asked to help lead the tier by Pocket, and from there it just kinda continued. Now I've been involved with a bunch of different aspects of the site thanks to my doubles work, and I would definitely call it my home on the site. I've met a lot of cool people in this tier who I'd never have interacted with otherwise (for example Pwnemon , who was my first good friend onsite, and Pocket , who was an excellent mentor to me when I was learning the ropes contribution-wise.
What major contributions to the progression of the doubles tier have you made?: Oh god, don't want this to be a bragfest, but I guess it's inevitable. I was one of the main posters back in the early days (was the first to get 100 points on the Doubles leaderboard back then), picked up a lot of responsibilities when school was ramping up during the beginning of the year, i mod c&c and the main forums, i played a role (albeit a relatively minor one) in the whole "get doubles in SPL thing", I'm one of the only people (one of 3) to have a Doubles team in the RMT archive, am a Sop on the IRC channel and a Room Owner in the PS Room. I was also one of the first people to get a Community Contributor badge for Doubles work (tied with lucariojr for first there).I've helped tutor people, host tournaments, write Smog articles, encourage people to try the tier out, etc. in order to help get people attracted to the tier. In general I just try to help make the tier more visible and increase the amount of users trying it out, although now I play a more active role policy-wise and my actually playing the tier competitively has started to take a backseat as I focus more on the leadership end.
What are some of your favorite elements of the Doubles metagame?:Well for starters I just love the mechanics of Doubles, they're just really cool and unique. One thing I like about Doubles (and that it can be frustrating at time to not see taken advantage of) is the amount of variety there can be in terms of what is viable. I've had success with things such as Misdreavus and Diggersby before, and others have also used plenty of underused or unutilized Pokemon or strategies before, which is just really cool to see. Also, there are many more potential plays to process in Doubles. In singles there are like 9 different options in terms of the way a turn can go at any given turn, whereas in Doubles that number grows significantly. It really does help give Doubles a depth that singles play can miss out on. Two other small things I enjoy are the fact that Gamefreak basically designs for Doubles, so the tier doesn't suffer from the balance issues that can plague Singles tiers. The other small thing being that different nuances in terms of game mechanics that often go unnoticed in Singles come out in Doubles. For example, I didn't know Speed was set at the beginning of the turn before I played Doubles, since it never comes up in Singles, but in Doubles that knowledge (or the lack thereof) can turn the tide of a game.
What is one thing about the current rules (banlist, metagame structure) that you would want to change?: Honestly, the current list is pretty perfect. I'd like to see some of the less blatantly broken Ubers (aka not like Xerneas or Arceus) tested to make sure that they belong in Ubers, but I'm pretty contented with the state of the tier right now (so please don't muck it up by banning Kangaskhan guys). In terms of rules, maybe some changes to help set it apart from VGC a bit more, but I don't know what form those changes would take exactly.
What are some Doubles players you think are good examples for newer users to look up to?: I think just about all of the leaders make fantastic examples for people to look up to, but for the sake of examples users such as Pocket, Mizuhime, Pwnemon, Laga, and Nollan would be fantastic examples of users who are involved with multiple aspects of the tier (Nollan not so much now but in the past yeah) while still being active posters and effective leaders within the tier. Users such as finally and Blood Totem also seem to be doing well in terms of contributions, and they're less established names so they might be more relatable. There are plenty of other people I could name within the tier too, but those are some names that jump out contribution wise.
What do you think is the most successful Pokemon, core, and strategy in the current meta?: Most successful Pokemon would probably be Kangaskhan. Bisharp has been experiencing a bit of a drop in usage recently but it's still good. Skymin is an excellent example of a previously underused mon coming into the limelight, as it's terrifying to face and can threaten many cores. Type stacking cores are things I'd like to explore more. I made a Double fairy team a bit back and while the team had some flaws, the general principle of using two mons to break down each others checks is highly effective in the Doubles universe (in any Pokemon meta I guess).
Can you give some advice to new doubles players?:
Can you provide a sample team with explanation on how to use for new players?: I haven't build a team in a while actually, but this one that I posted in the Sample Teams thread is great for new players since it contains a wide variety of Doubles strategies, allowing it to serve as a good introduction to the different elements of the tier. Also, Charizard X is a complete baller since no one ever expects it so you can catch your opponent offguard and wreck. The link comes with the team and explanation, so I won't reiterate it here.
Editor's Note: So, that was our 7th Featured player, Audiosurfer! Feel free to PM me who you think should be the next featured player, and thanks for tuning into another Smogon Doubles Player of the Week!
Featured Player: Audiosurfer
Favorite playstyle: Goodstuffs
Most known for: Ballin avatar, being in a leadership position in every dubs related thing lol, one of the more visible doubles players, and team E Rank which is the greatest team ever. also my spectacularly awful SPL performance lol (#audi0-5 reppin)
Signature Pokemon: Sub Lando-t (sub ground types in general is a thing i used to do a lot)
This week, I've interviewed Audiosurfer. Audio has been around since before doubles was official, and has gotten all his badges for his doubles work. He organized this gen's leaderboard, created the PS doubles team, created the doubles newsroom, and created some other projects for doubles. He's a doubles subforum and C&C mod, and written a numbe rof doubles articles for The Smog. He also plays Yugioh, which makes him cool :].
Tell me a little about yourself: I'm a teenager, I enjoy reading and listening to a lot of music (last.fm in my sig so hit me up if you listen to anything), I write, would like to learn web design sometime. i quit some months ago but it lasted for exactly one month lol. I'm pretty relaxed, but I can be pushy when it comes to executing a vision when I need to be. Also I'm known for being a fan of non-played formats (doubles lc, doubles highlander). Am a user and a fan of elementary OS (link to that in my sig too, it's cool, check it out). I also would love to surf someday, and am a recent watcher of competitive surfing, thanks to the updated ASP website making it easier to do.
Why did you join the doubles community, and what was the first team you made?: I initially wanted to get into VGC since it seemed really cool and interesting, but the whole play on a system thing seemed intimidating since I expected a lot of grinding and such, so simulator play seemed more appealing (while im aware it's not how VGC is now, I didn't know that at the time). I remember seeing the most recent post being from the Doubles megathread they had in OM a while back when it had just started, so I decided to go over there and check it out. I hopped on IRC from there, played a game, and enjoyed the tier. There used to be a leaderboard back then to keep track of contributions, and I remember wanting to be on it alot, so I started posting my thoughts and findings on the thread and became a regular contributor. After a while I was asked to help lead the tier by Pocket, and from there it just kinda continued. Now I've been involved with a bunch of different aspects of the site thanks to my doubles work, and I would definitely call it my home on the site. I've met a lot of cool people in this tier who I'd never have interacted with otherwise (for example Pwnemon , who was my first good friend onsite, and Pocket , who was an excellent mentor to me when I was learning the ropes contribution-wise.
What major contributions to the progression of the doubles tier have you made?: Oh god, don't want this to be a bragfest, but I guess it's inevitable. I was one of the main posters back in the early days (was the first to get 100 points on the Doubles leaderboard back then), picked up a lot of responsibilities when school was ramping up during the beginning of the year, i mod c&c and the main forums, i played a role (albeit a relatively minor one) in the whole "get doubles in SPL thing", I'm one of the only people (one of 3) to have a Doubles team in the RMT archive, am a Sop on the IRC channel and a Room Owner in the PS Room. I was also one of the first people to get a Community Contributor badge for Doubles work (tied with lucariojr for first there).I've helped tutor people, host tournaments, write Smog articles, encourage people to try the tier out, etc. in order to help get people attracted to the tier. In general I just try to help make the tier more visible and increase the amount of users trying it out, although now I play a more active role policy-wise and my actually playing the tier competitively has started to take a backseat as I focus more on the leadership end.
What are some of your favorite elements of the Doubles metagame?:Well for starters I just love the mechanics of Doubles, they're just really cool and unique. One thing I like about Doubles (and that it can be frustrating at time to not see taken advantage of) is the amount of variety there can be in terms of what is viable. I've had success with things such as Misdreavus and Diggersby before, and others have also used plenty of underused or unutilized Pokemon or strategies before, which is just really cool to see. Also, there are many more potential plays to process in Doubles. In singles there are like 9 different options in terms of the way a turn can go at any given turn, whereas in Doubles that number grows significantly. It really does help give Doubles a depth that singles play can miss out on. Two other small things I enjoy are the fact that Gamefreak basically designs for Doubles, so the tier doesn't suffer from the balance issues that can plague Singles tiers. The other small thing being that different nuances in terms of game mechanics that often go unnoticed in Singles come out in Doubles. For example, I didn't know Speed was set at the beginning of the turn before I played Doubles, since it never comes up in Singles, but in Doubles that knowledge (or the lack thereof) can turn the tide of a game.
What is one thing about the current rules (banlist, metagame structure) that you would want to change?: Honestly, the current list is pretty perfect. I'd like to see some of the less blatantly broken Ubers (aka not like Xerneas or Arceus) tested to make sure that they belong in Ubers, but I'm pretty contented with the state of the tier right now (so please don't muck it up by banning Kangaskhan guys). In terms of rules, maybe some changes to help set it apart from VGC a bit more, but I don't know what form those changes would take exactly.
What are some Doubles players you think are good examples for newer users to look up to?: I think just about all of the leaders make fantastic examples for people to look up to, but for the sake of examples users such as Pocket, Mizuhime, Pwnemon, Laga, and Nollan would be fantastic examples of users who are involved with multiple aspects of the tier (Nollan not so much now but in the past yeah) while still being active posters and effective leaders within the tier. Users such as finally and Blood Totem also seem to be doing well in terms of contributions, and they're less established names so they might be more relatable. There are plenty of other people I could name within the tier too, but those are some names that jump out contribution wise.
What do you think is the most successful Pokemon, core, and strategy in the current meta?: Most successful Pokemon would probably be Kangaskhan. Bisharp has been experiencing a bit of a drop in usage recently but it's still good. Skymin is an excellent example of a previously underused mon coming into the limelight, as it's terrifying to face and can threaten many cores. Type stacking cores are things I'd like to explore more. I made a Double fairy team a bit back and while the team had some flaws, the general principle of using two mons to break down each others checks is highly effective in the Doubles universe (in any Pokemon meta I guess).
Can you give some advice to new doubles players?:
- Come on IRC. It's a great way to meet people, get advice from great players, and start to build a reputation within the tier.
- Read. Read all the resources you can, they're written well and are a great way to amass knowledge as well as learn about trends.
- Play on the ladder. The ladder gets a lot of flack from veterans of the tier but it's a great way to start to hone your skills when you're new and get back into form when you're feeling rusty, since you get much more practice than just playing one tour match in awhile.
- Post. Contributing is a great way to stand out and make a name for yourself, and can lead to promotions in the future. Also, once you're involved with the community more heavily, it's a nice way to give back to the tier.
Can you provide a sample team with explanation on how to use for new players?: I haven't build a team in a while actually, but this one that I posted in the Sample Teams thread is great for new players since it contains a wide variety of Doubles strategies, allowing it to serve as a good introduction to the different elements of the tier. Also, Charizard X is a complete baller since no one ever expects it so you can catch your opponent offguard and wreck. The link comes with the team and explanation, so I won't reiterate it here.
Editor's Note: So, that was our 7th Featured player, Audiosurfer! Feel free to PM me who you think should be the next featured player, and thanks for tuning into another Smogon Doubles Player of the Week!
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