[AMA] ShakeItUp

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Username: ShakeItUp

Areas of Expertise: RU, RMT, Tournaments, C&C, IRC

Background: I've contributed a great deal to C&C in general, and did various things across various areas of the site. I got started by rating a large amount of teams, and then doing Grammar / Prose for analyses and went on from there. I mainly just talk on IRC (mainly on #pokemon), and do major tournaments on Smogon, such as SPL and World Cup. I play pretty much every tier post-DPP (besides LC), so there you go o.o

Hobbies: Pokemon is my main hobby, but I also like to play video games and love sports as well :]
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
What would you say the biggest difference is in a team tour as opposed to a tour you have to play by yourself?
 
What is your full name ;)
This is a question I will ignore for the moment until my associate, jasonpwn, finally decides to give you the answer you've been searching for. I have no control over when that will be.

What would you say the biggest difference is in a team tour as opposed to a tour you have to play by yourself?
Team tournaments are often more fun, and you know that even if you lose, your teammates will still be there to carry you. There's a great deal of teambuilding that goes on in team tournaments as well, and scouting, although most players teambuild with a group of players and scout for individual tournaments anyway. There's also a lot of ghosting in team tournaments. Obviously the biggest difference is that you can play absolutely terribly in a team tournament and still get a trophy, whereas in an individual tournament, it's all up to you. You can also play extremely well and still not get a trophy, sadly. Still, team tournaments are more fun for me personally.
 
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do you, like bkc, consider sacrificing goats before your games an acceptable practice?
I personally don't see the point in it, but I suppose mere mortals without the luck I have need some way of communicating with Satan to help them win a game of pixels. So I suppose it's an acceptable practice.
 

Mizuhime

Did I mistake you for a sign from God?
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
and with that answer, would you say a Team Tour Trophy holds the same level of prestige as a tour you have to play by your self?
 
and with that answer, would you say a Team Tour Trophy holds the same level of prestige as a tour you have to play by your self?
Depends on who you ask, but I personally will say yes. Most members of a team contribute greatly to the outcome, and one's record often isn't everything since there's always things such as teambuilding and scouting involved. Obviously, not everyone will contribute equally, however, and some people just get a trophy simply for being on the team. However, almost all successful individual tournament players will have other people help them make teams, test, scout, and other things, so it's not like they are truly doing everything by themselves.
 

Nails

Double Threat
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Social Media Contributor Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Three-Time Past WCoP Champion
What's it like to be so overrated?

For bonus points answer without saying "hello" or "smh". Or referencing your wcop trophy.
 

Pocket

be the upgraded version of me
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
What is the secret formula to ur teams? What Pokemon do you like to use the most and why??

Of the lower BW tiers + Uber, what made you choose RU as your tier-of-choice?

The current top 3-5 Smogon players (excluding urself)? Is there a trophy that you must have in your trophy case?

Thoughts on the current XY metagame? Anything you dislike about it in particular? What is your favorite thing / Pokemon from XY?
 
What is the secret formula to ur teams? What Pokemon do you like to use the most and why??

Of the lower BW tiers + Uber, what made you choose RU as your tier-of-choice?

The current top 3-5 Smogon players (excluding urself)? Is there a trophy that you must have in your trophy case?

Thoughts on the current XY metagame? Anything you dislike about it in particular? What is your favorite thing / Pokemon from XY?
1. Honestly, usually it's just picking a hazard lead + spinblocker and going with it. Other times I just use a Stealth Rock Pokemon with no spinblocker. Also, usually no weather. No stall either (NEVER STALL!) Near the end of BW2, I used Jirachi on almost every team since it was so good, and fit in well with my luck :p XY's just starting but I use popular Pokemon such as Garchomp, Aegislash, and Mega Kangaskhan a great deal. I also use Mega Pinsir a lot since I find it fun to use.

2. I wanted a Tiering Contributor badge, and RU was the one with an ongoing suspect test at the time. I ended up getting #1 in a day with my TR Endeavor Hail team, and went on from there. The community is great, and I'm glad I chose it :P

3. BW2 is so matchup and teambuilding based there are so many players around equal skill level it's hard to pick. I don't have much experience with the other tiers, but the people good in those tiers are obviously different than those in BW2. Everyone on US East was amazing, but obviously the other consistent tournament battlers and big-name players are good too. Impossible to pick a top 3-5 ;o I'm the best though, for sure :] There's not really a particular trophy I really desire the most, although I suppose an SPL trophy would be nice this time...I'm going 11-0 this year btw.

4. It's fine right now and I like it. Obviously I hate Defog since I can't spam Deoxys-D anymore (NOOOOOOOOO), but it's not too big of a deal. I can still just run 5 sweepers with something like a Suicide Garchomp Lead for Stealth Rock, so it's not like it matters too much. The Mega Pokemon are my favorite things from XY atm, since they make the game a lot more interesting and, sometimes, can add more surprise factor to the battle that Team Preview cannot take away (ie: people have more than one Pokemon that can Mega Evolve, or have a Pokemon such as Charizard that can Mega Evolve into two completely different Pokemon with different checks and counters).
 
Is rating a team something just anyone can do, or is demonstrated knowledge of and expertise in the relevant tier necessary to present a valid criticism?
 
I used to lead with this in Diamond and Pearl:

Gengar
Focus sash
max speed, max sp attack
- attack, + speed nature

-shadow ball
-focus blast
-Thunderbolt
-destiny bond

Basically was an anti starter/suicidal
Usually I attacked until focus sash let gengar stay the most......and then I just used destiny bond when I knew I could use it effectively....and take at least one Pokemon (usually the lead)....

How we'll would this gengar still wreak havoc??, gengarite worty??
 
  1. What got you into competitive battling?
  2. How do you learn/adapt to different metagames?
  3. What drives you to stay active competitively?


    Number 2 is a vague question, I just wanted to compare and contrast what the "top tier" battlers do to learn/adapt to different meta games.
 
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