TJ
Banned deucer.
TSR
Favorite Pokemon: Typhlosion
Most used Pokemon: Clefairy
Most known for: Being a UU guy, occasionally tearin it up in GSC OU and PU
TSR: I'm almost 21, major in chemical engineering and live in Colorado. Between school and working 30+ hours a week, playing Pokemon is really the only hobby i regularly enjoy, but I enjoy anime / manga, longboarding (mostly high-speed stuff), and outdoor stuff like fishing, hunting, and hiking but again, don't get to do that very often.
TJ: Where did you get your name from?
TSR: I first joined Smogon in may 2015 after graduating high school, so keep in mind I was almost 18 at the time. I somehow decided the name ShiningFire08 was a good choice, needless to say, I quickly realized this was pretty silly of me and I decided that I needed to change it ASAP. So looking around for inspiration, I began getting accustomed to the Smogon community as a whole and saw many exceptional players with 3 letter acronyms such as PDC, BKC, and TDK. I was pretty new to internet communities as well, so I decided it must be a cool idea to emulate their epic coolness by changing my own username in a similiar fashion. To this day, TSR doesn't have an offical meaning, though most of my friends on this site regularly call me The Shit Rag
TJ: How and when did you get into competitive Pokemon?
TSR: Nothing all too special really, I had been playing Pokemon since I was a kid, and eventually I wanted more out of the game. I searched the internet, found Smogon right away and gave it a spin, and since then have managed to stick around for almost 3 years now.
TJ: You had a strong individual record in Smogon Exhibition, how do you usually prepare for tournament matches?
TSR: For most games I play in tournaments, I usually try to analyze exploitable tendencies in my opponent's teambuilding and use them to my advantage. I honestly think I'm pretty shaky in the playing department, so I often find myself trying to push advantages in the teambuilder before the game even starts. A good example of this was in my second ever team tour game in UUPL IV, in DPP UU vs my now self proclaimed anime rival Kushalos, where I decided to lead with a Choice Scarf Houndoom with HP Rock, since I saw him leading Moltres literally every week prior (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen4uu-165197 - I lost from being thoroughly outplayed later as well as me not bringing Curse + EQ Registeel). As far as Exhibition was concerned, I didn't really prep hard for any of my opponents outside of Raiza, in which both games I brought some form of offensive Electric-type that could beat Lanturn, since he was often extremely weak to them very often. For most of my games, I decided to work some creative sets into otherwise fairly solid builds since I knew that the rest of the PU pool in the tour didn't have very consistent data on me, and using stuff like Electrium Z Electivire or offensive Articuno could put me in a good position from team preview.
TJ: What were some of the most/least enjoyable aspects of playing in Exhibition?
TSR: Playing in exhibition was really fun on Finch and Kratosmana's team. Despite the army memes, I think they actually ended up drafting a pretty solid lineup. We took a couple weeks to realize that there was a big chunk of people who didn't really care for the tour and we mostly solidified a regular lineup despite us expecting everyone to play in the beginning. The team environment was a lot of fun for us, since with 35+ people in a discord channel there was always someone to cheer you on whenever we were playing. On the other end, no one else really cared about PU on our team, so a lot of the tour I was on my own for building and testing. I never really hopped outside of my comfort zone because of this, but I ended up doing pretty well regardless.
TJ: Do you consider getting back to playing soon, perhaps in PUPL?
TSR: I'll definitely sign up for PUPL, team tours are a lot of fun for me and I tend to try harder during them than I do in individual tours or casual play. Because of me having RUPL, RoAPL, POWC, and soon to be UUPL lined up, I haven't had a lot of time to play other a lot of other tiers outside of ORAS RU, GSC OU, and various (not garbage GSC) UUs. PUPL looks like fun if I can get drafted since I've enjoyed DPP and ADV PUs a lot as well as SM.
TJ: Is there anything you’d like to see freed from BL4?
TSR: Not particularly, I was pretty impartial to the Passimian ban and I don't think PU would be fun in the slightest with Charizard and Gallade running around. On the flipside, I wish PU would get Altaria and maybe Malamar back. Altaria was my go-to glue mon for 90% of my teams if that wasn't obvious from before lmao, and Malamar was pretty good in alpha, very versatile and strong but I never found it too ridiculous to play around (though Quagsire was in the tier at the time too).
TJ: Who do you think will win PU Seasonal?
TSR: Taskr, HJAD, and Teddeh are all super heat, I'd say one on of them has the best shot at winning the whole thing. I know you're still in too, so you've got a pretty good shot as well, best of luck! n_n
TJ: Thanks! Who do you love in Smogon?
TSR: First off, my guys that I talk to pretty much every day: Ark, eden's embrace 's, CKW, and Kreme. They all live on the opposite side of the planet as me or have equally screwed sleep schedules, so talking with them's always nice to unwind after I've been at work and school all day. Obviously can't get everyone in this short blip either, so other guys that have made my time on Smogon a lot better in no particular order: Pak, Sacri', Amaroq, Shiba, Aquadext, YABO, Accelgor, Trace, Bouff, HT, Snowy, ADVANTAGE, my new Italian friends LuckOverSkill , H.M.N.I.P, Renny, amber lamps and the whole Umbreon EGL crew. I am also Eyan 's #1 fan!! Sorry if I forgot anyone!!!
TJ: Favorite movie / tv show?
TSR: I actually don't watch a whole lot of TV since we haven't had any service in my house since I was like 12, but off the top of my head, I will be bingeing the next season of Trailer Park Boys on Netflix as soon as I get the chance.
TJ: Finally, can you provide us a team with a brief explanation of how it works?
TSR:
Eelektross @ Choice Band
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Miltank @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 172 Atk / 84 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Fire Punch
- Power-Up Punch
- Milk Drink
Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Healing Wish
Palossand @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Shore Up
Swanna @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Roost
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Wild Charge
- Superpower
- Knock Off
- U-turn
Miltank @ Leftovers
Ability: Thick Fat
EVs: 172 Atk / 84 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Return
- Fire Punch
- Power-Up Punch
- Milk Drink
Mesprit @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Hidden Power [Fighting]
- Healing Wish
Palossand @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Water Compaction
EVs: 252 HP / 200 Def / 56 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Earth Power
- Toxic
- Stealth Rock
- Shore Up
Swanna @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Keen Eye
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Surf
- Hurricane
- Defog
- Roost
Clefairy @ Eviolite
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 248 SpD / 8 Spe
Calm Nature
- Moonblast
- Knock Off
- Thunder Wave
- Soft-Boiled
This is a team I've been screwing around with on ladder and casual roomtours etc lately since I didn't join the current PU seasonal (and probably woulda lost by now anyway). I rolled off an idea 49 had during exhibition of Power-Up Punch Miltank, only I took it one step further and used a fully offensive variant, though gave it a chunk of SpD since Aurorus and Hail in general is super fun to play against. I decided to experiment with CB Eelektross since I find this thing criminally underexplored since it has stupid good coverage and really good offensive stats on both ends of the spectrum, and I've never been a fan in general of the standard Assault Vest set with Volt Switch as its only STAB move. I have Swanna as a solid offensive Defogger that doesn't give up any momentum to Magmortar, which I struggle with defensively (though what team doesn't lmao). Running Pallosand and Clefairy fills out some general defensive roles such as the Rock Resist and catch-all fighting checks. Unfortunately this team requires Clefairy to blanket check things like Drampa and Pyroar, which it's perfectly capable of doing but can get dicey sometimes. It helps to have rocks on Pallosand since I can afford extra utility on Clefairy reminiscent of Clefable's disgusting DPP OU and UU SpD sets. Mesprit is another really spammable mon in the tier too, and Scarf Healing Wish is a great offensive glue for this team since I have Fighting checks out the ass and didn't need it to be a defensive set. No U-turn seems kinda funky to most, I'm aware, but gotta hit those Alolan Sandslash ya feel.
Thanks for your time! As always, if you guys have any questions feel free to ask them below!