OU Player of the Week #2: Poek

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maybe this is heaven
is a Tournament Directoris a Forum Moderatoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Admin Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Media Contributor Alumnusis a defending SPL Championis a defending SCL Champion

Welcome to the SM version of OU Player of the Week! This project will feature interviews from some of the most accomplished and influential users in the tier so that we can learn more about them.
If there is a user that you would like to see interviewed be sure to let me know.

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Poek
Most known for:
 Current gen OU player, beating TDK in WCoP
Favourite pokemon: Flygon
Most used pokemon: Scizor

Can you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of Smogon?
I am a 19yo spanish weeb, my real name is Jesús and I'm currently getting an english grade to make sure I have more chances to get a job if I can't get one in Spain (rough times here :pirate: ). I'm looking forward to start robotics in september as well. Outside of that on my free time I like to go out with friends or play PS4, watch anime and obviously play Pokemon.

Where did you get your name from?
It's a long story but I'll sum it up. Back in 2009 I was friends with someone in Super Smash Bros Brawl as it just got released. We decided to name ourselves Soek and Poek. The dude quit in 2010 but I kept this nickname since then. I have been using this nickname for so long that changing it doesn't make sense anymore so I'm still rocking with it.

How and when did you get into competitive Pokemon?
Before I got into competitive mons I was a Mario Kart Wii player and in late BW2 a friend of mine from that community showed me Smogon and we started playing BW2 occasionally but I didnt really get into Smogon until early XY, where I started playing Ubers since I thought XY OU wasn't really a good meta with Aegislash around and XY ubers was actually a fun tier where you could use shit like Weezing or Gastrodon viably. ORAS came out with Primal Groudon and I started disliking Ubers so I started playing OU consistently, won an individual spanish tournament that got me a WCoP spot that allowed me to stablish myself in the community and here I am n_n

What’s your favourite generation of OU and why?
RBY OU. Even though it's not a tier where I excel in, every time I play it nostalgia comes back to me when I used to play Pokemon Stadium 1 in my younger days and I love it. ORAS OU would be my second most favorite gen, everyone shits on it lately but I think its a pretty balanced tier rn outside of Mega Medicham and theres not as many matchup issues as people make it out to be.

What’s your favourite playstyle to use and why?
Balanced/Bulky Offense because I think slow win cons are much more consistent at winning if you know how to pull them off. I like using pretty much anything though.

What are your thoughts on the current metagame? How do you feel about SM in comparison to ORAS?
SM is definetely underdeveloped. There is a lot of shit to be done before it reaches a healthy state. I believe things like Zygarde, Greninja and Volcarona need to be looked at particularly. It is a fun metagame regardless but I personally like playing ORAS more as it's a more consistent tier, my opinion could change with time though.

What are your thoughts on the current Mega Metagross suspect test?
It's deserved and everyone knew it would happen sooner or later. Mega Metagross is bulky, fast and has all the tools it needs to be able to dispose of his counters. Suposed counters like Mega Scizor get nailed by Hidden Power Fire nowadays, not to mention that attack raises from Meteor Mash and flinches from Zen Headbutt are stupid to deal with and can fuck up your game plan at any given moment.

Do you believe anything else is suspect-worthy at the moment?
I think Zygarde, Volcarona and Greninja need to be looked at. Zygarde pretty much forces Tangrowth or defensive Landorus-T on every team and it can still win with Spikes support or toxic, it can run pretty much any move it wants because all it needs is Thousand Arrows to be a threat. Volcarona is a mon that you can't really be sure anymore if you can check it or not, due to the vast of viable sets there are. You might have a Toxapex and get OHKOed by Shattered Psyche. You might have a scarfer faster than it at +1 with a rock move, but then it's charti berry and you lose the game anyway. The fact that it forces you to run a scarfer faster than it at +1 is pretty ridiculous to begin with. Greninja is a given, it has coverage for every single one of his counters and they added a new viable ability in Battle Bond this gen for more mind games, so it's just a matter of time until they suspect it. I am kinda curious how are they going to deal with it, since I believe Battle Bond isn't as busted as Protean but yeah, we will see.

You had a great record in SPL and also a deep run in OST. Which tournament did you enjoy more and why?
Definetely SPL. The hype for SPL games is much more bigger than for OST until like, OST finals so it makes it much more exciting for me. The chat going wild whenever you play games even if its just regular season, the people you get to meet on your team, the memes... Even though my team wasnt able to reach playoffs and like half the team quitted even if we had a really big chance of making playoffs, I wouldn't change the experience for anything else.

How do you usually prepare for tournament matches?
I usually tend to use something I'm comfortable with and that works well generally against my opponent. I don't believe in counterteaming, as it can easily backfire and it only really works if your opponent uses only one team/playstyle and doesnt ever mix it up, which I dont expect in high level play.

What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone trying to break into the tournament setting?
Play tournaments and don't rush your plays, think long term. If you're good you'll eventually be noticed by your results. Don't expect to be picked in SPL or WCoP just by winning a tryout game. A tryout is a mere formality just so people shut up thinking "everyone has a chance". In reality you only get picked if you consistently do well in tournaments, that's just the truth. No one is going to pick you if you do well in one tryout game, Pokemon is a game of odds and you need to show your consistency throughout a period of time in order to be noticed, just work hard and you'll eventually get there as I previously said ^^

Who are some of your favourite people in the Smogon community?
There are a lot to mention them all, I'm pretty sure they all know who they are anyway and I love every single one of them >/////<

Finally, can you provide us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle, with a brief explanation of how it works?
Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Discharge
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Roost

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 240 HP / 56 Def / 8 SpA / 140 SpD / 64 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Will-O-Wisp
- Soft-Boiled
- Psychic

Scizor-Mega (M) @ Scizorite
Ability: Light Metal
EVs: 248 HP / 120 Def / 124 SpD / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
- Bullet Punch
- U-turn
- Roost
- Defog

Garchomp (M) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Toxic
- Dragon Claw

Toxapex (F) @ Black Sludge
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 116 Def / 144 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Scald
- Recover
- Toxic Spikes
- Haze

Pheromosa @ Fightinium Z
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 36 Def / 216 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Focus Blast
- Bug Buzz
- Ice Beam
- Double Kick
This is a team my good friend TDK made for me and I used it in OST vs NJNP. It has the combination of Zapdos, regen user and a hazard remover in Mega Scizor which I absolutely love. What this core does is not only wall a ton of Pokemon, but also beat stall long term if you know how to play with Zapdos' pressure correctly. Once it gets burned it can sit pretty much on any mon in stall and proceed to get rid of everyone's pp by switching around toxapex and getting rid of the hazards with Mega Scizor when needed. This team also introduced offensive Zapdos which is an anti-meta set currently, being able to take out by surprise offensive Landorus-T, outspeed Tapu Lele, Heatran, Bulu, speed tie with Zard Y, Volcarona and the like, and also hit like a truck, as Zapdos is no pushover either, it also spreads paralysis which is always a good thing. Mew is there to provide rocks for the team, spread burns and tank Zygarde somewhat. Scarf Garchomp is pretty much self explanatory, team needed a revenge killer in order to be able to beat Volcarona. Pheromosa... everyone knows what it does, it got banned for a reason, it also had double kick just in case NJNP decided to bring Sticky Webs as it OHKOes Smeargle through its sash.
 
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Posho

local gaymer weeb
is a Tiering Contributoris the Smogon Tour Season 23 Championis a Past SCL Champion
Hey tocayo, congrats for ending up in here, you've proven to be an extremely solid player ever since I met you(still remember when I haxed you in the ladder years ago lmao) and results show that :)

Did you ever expect to get this far playing mons back in 2015 when you were having your first NACIO run?

Who's your favourite builder and why?

Eres el rei
 

Poek

squadala
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnuswon the 3rd Official Ladder Tournamentis a Two-Time Past SCL Champion
Big Chungus Winner
Hola, Jesús. Here are the real questions:

who do you fuckin hate in smogon
I don't hate anyone over the internet, it's not that serious. if i have beefs with some people it's for pure entertainment

whos the shittiest player uve played
I'm not going to call out anyone sry :pirate:

thats me :pimp:

who r u rooting for in ost finals?
I'm rooting for ABR since he's a fren, although I wouldn't mind benjamin gasworks winning either

Hey tocayo, congrats for ending up in here, you've proven to be an extremely solid player ever since I met you(still remember when I haxed you in the ladder years ago lmao) and results show that :)

Did you ever expect to get this far playing mons back in 2015 when you were having your first NACIO run?
Thanks for the kind words breh. No I didn't really expect it to happen, by that time I was one of those dudes asking for SPL tryouts thinking it would work without precedents :pirate: .

Who's your favourite builder and why?
As you might have already guessed by the team I posted, it is TDK. The fact that he can build well in different gens/tiers and is able to come up with crazy shit from time to time really amazes me. I also like NJNP's crazy way of building and Trosko's (atleast back in ORAS, haven't seen much from him in SM).

thoughts on everyones favourite archetype aka baton pass
What can I say, it's just a matchup based playstyle looking for cheap wins so it's garbage. Might as well use broken ass volcarona and win every game lol.

how do you feel about stall, more specifically sableye/dug
It depends on how you look at it. I feel like MSableye was banned in ORAS more for being an annoyance than being broken, which is not necessarily a bad thing, but rather a way to look at future bans. Do we only ban the broken mons? Or do we also ban what makes the metagame not fun at all?
I think that the banning of Sableye back in Gen 6 made the gen more fun to play overall, but I don't think it was broken so yeah I don't know what to feel about it, specially since what makes it so powerful is the fact that the core of sableye + dug is a thing, but the mons by themselves aren't broken at all so it's tough to deal with the matter.
 

Ricardo

Banned deucer.
Ay, good to see you here buddy :]

I got the 1 million dollar question.

When's the weeb meetup?
 

Colonel M

I COULD BE BORED!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
I figured I should ask - have you been to anime conventions before?

Sorry you answered all the PkMn questions I could think of so I went for broke.
 

Poek

squadala
is a Tiering Contributor Alumnuswon the 3rd Official Ladder Tournamentis a Two-Time Past SCL Champion
Big Chungus Winner
top 5 mkw players
i don't remember many and there's a difference between doing well in wars and in TTs however i guess i'll name timeless classics
1. NMeade
2. suiryu
3. Shaun
4. JaK
5. rusoX

Ay, good to see you here buddy :]

I got the 1 million dollar question.

When's the weeb meetup?
got free time on most of the summer, idk about the others

I figured I should ask - have you been to anime conventions before?

Sorry you answered all the PkMn questions I could think of so I went for broke.
Ya, i went p much every year except this 1. Last time i regret it because it was so expensive and theres nothing special that you couldn't buy on the internet so ya i decided not to go this time around. still a huge ass weeb tho. and don't worry i love these questions

Thoughts on the Mega Metagross suspect?
on the main post

Thoughts on sd buzzwole in the current meta?
I'm afraid that doesn't exist sir nice meme though
 
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