HJAD
Favorite Pokémon: Spiritomb
Most used Pokémon: Xatu
Most known for: that guy who's been around forever and not really done anything
HJAD: I'm doing well :3 I just got back from Holiday in Spain yesterday so I'm recovering from that currently. Also preparing to go to University soon, so I'm quite busy. But it's gonna be a great time hopefully, yourself?
Earth: I'm doing well too, thanks! How did you come up with your username?
HJAD: This question has been asked too many times over the years. People expect some kinda crazy warstory or some super crazy definition for my name but honestly, it's nothing close. When I was busy lurking around late DPP / early BW I used to have a tonne of alts such as shucklestime69 and warlord23, but I could never have any ladder success with them. The old ladder system meant that, after a while, your alt basically died the more games you played. So when it was time to make a new alt, I put caps lock on, closed my eyes, and typed out something random. It stuck since then so I decided to use it as my main alt through multiple generations and my username on Smogon.
Earth: You play a couple of tiers outside of NU in tournaments. What's the tier you enjoy the most besides NU?
HJAD: I love playing a variety of tiers in tournaments, since sticking to one can get boring and repetitive after a while. I would probably say GSC OU is my favourite tier to play in a tournament setting. The fundamentals of GSC OU make it so that, most of the time, the person making the better plays wins majority of the times. People criticise it for being stally, but that's the type of tier I usually like and excel in, and tbh it's only really a stall fest if you bring a bad team which I have been guilty of in the past lol. Apart from this though, PU is an extremely fun tier that I play quite often, ORAS PU was one of my favourite tiers of all time since you could bring so much variety in teams and still be viable and good. But recently I've also been playing SM PU as well as UU, they play quite nicely despite the shitstorm that is SM.
Earth: How does it feel to be a PUPL manager? Do you feel some kind of pressure because of that?
HJAD: Feels great man, I like having the ability to pick and choose my teammates as well as scout for hidden gems in tryout matches. Not really. Obviously as a manager you want to win PUPL or any tour for that matter, but I think the main thing is having fun. Team tours can get stale quick without a good team environment, so making sure your team chemistry is good is the only real pressure you feel apart from making sure you draft a capable team.
Earth: What's your favorite way to contribute on Smogon (Team Rating, Subforum Contributing...) ?
HJAD: My favourite way of contributing to Smogon has to be making Metagame posts. Discussing Pokemon that have potential due to a metagame trend is something that I always look for in a Metagame thread; in my opinion, it really helps give the spotlight to certain Pokemon that may have been under utilised in the meta. Of course you will get some wrong, when you try and give the spotlight to a certain Pokemon and it instead turns out that the metagame shifted away from it but keeping tabs on whats trending in the meta and how to best take it on is an important aspect as a player / builder since you can utilise these strategy or prevent any oversights vs it in the teambuilder. An example of this would be rise in Specs / Buginium Vikavolt to really pressure Slowbro Balance teams since the amount of switchins it has is extremely limited. Without someone pointing this Pokemon out, it may have taken longer for it to get the fame it truely deserves.
Earth: Could you tell us more about yourself outside of Pokémon?
HJAD: I'm an 18 yr old student about to go to University to study Business Mathematics and Statistics. I love Maths academically, it's my favourite subject since it's extremely formulaic and little creativity is needed unlike other subjects. In terms of my hobbies, I love playing Football (Soccer), my favourite team is Arsenal (Wenger Out) and I also love watching Formula 1 because I love cars and racing. I love travelling, visiting new cultures and places is something I've grown to love. I also love gaming, apart from Pokémon, I play mainly FPS games such as Call Of Duty and Battlefield because I get a sense of satisfaction when I go on massive tears or get long range snipes. Other games I've played include the MGS series and Persona 5 (I haven't played the older games in that series tho).
Earth: Who are you rooting for in NUPL / NU Open?
HJAD: I would love to see my friends on the Lilligants win NUPL. Rapture / Sacri are absolute babes as well as my fidazanto Tricking and veteran Kushalos. Seeing any of them win would make me happy. In terms of NU Open, I would love to see Gunner Rohan, Kingler12345 or snagaa make some waves. Meeps too because he is Musharna and a quality player too.
Earth: What advice would you give to people trying to get involved in NU?
HJAD: I would definitely say the most important thing is to lurk for a while, for about a month I would say. I think too many players nowadays contribute to a Metagame thread or VR thread without a real idea about what the meta is at all, and based on their experience on ladder. I think a big part of contributing is making sure what you write can helps develop the metagame, or make points about it that haven't been brought up yet. Apart from lurking, I would say just playing a lot is the most important thing. Whether that be the ladder, tours or challenges Vs good players or friends. Playing as much as possible and gauging how you can improve as a player and builder is an extremely important aspect of NU and any tier.
Earth: Lastly, could you provide us a team and give a brief explanation?
HJAD:
Sceptile @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
Swoobat @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Simple
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Air Slash
Vileplume @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Grassy Terrain
Druddigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 188 Def / 72 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Taunt
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 16 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Reflect
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
Emboar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
Ability: Unburden
EVs: 240 HP / 252 Atk / 16 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leaf Blade
- Acrobatics
- Rock Slide
Swoobat @ Grassy Seed
Ability: Simple
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Stored Power
- Roost
- Air Slash
Vileplume @ Terrain Extender
Ability: Effect Spore
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Sludge Bomb
- Giga Drain
- Synthesis
- Grassy Terrain
Druddigon @ Leftovers
Ability: Mold Breaker
EVs: 248 HP / 188 Def / 72 Spe
Impish Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Dragon Tail
- Earthquake
- Taunt
Cryogonal @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 168 Def / 16 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Freeze-Dry
- Reflect
- Recover
- Rapid Spin
Emboar @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Reckless
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Superpower
- Wild Charge
- Sucker Punch
this is my favourite fun team to use at the moment, it utilises the broken strategy that is grassy terrain.
when sceptile comes in on grassy terrain it gains +1 defense making it hard to revenge kill with priority, unburden boost to make it impossible to revenge kill using speed, and powered up leaf blade stab. swoobat gets +2 boost from simple grassy seed when it comes in, which allows you to deal a huge chunk of damage after a calm mind towards stuff that sceptile doesnt neccesarily like such as steelix. vileplume is the main setter since it cores really well with druddigon and cryogonal. druddigon is their to gurantee rocks vs xatu teams, since bulky flyers can be hard for sceptile to break through even after a swords dance. cryogonal for hazards control as well as an ice resist (consider the team has got 4 ice weak pokes at this point), and emboar to be a late game cleaner / virizion check, overall this team is super fun to use and quite effective as well if you manage to settup a swords dance with sceptile.
Thanks for your time, HJAD! If you guys have any questions, as always, feel free to ask them down below. If you have anyone in particular you'd like me to interview, PM me.
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