Welcome to 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.
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Lavos
most known for: Winning Classic / being the best GSC OU player in the world for the last ~2 years or so
favorite pokemon: Hitmonlee
most used pokemon: Snorlax, lol
Can you tell us a little bit about yourself outside of Smogon?
I'm 21, studying history and economics in college. Aside from Pokemon I play some other games like LoL, Civ, and working through Zelda BotW now. My hobbies outside of gaming include lifting and reading, I'm mostly a solitary person. I also work some 30 hours a week which keeps me busy in addition to school work. I listen to a lot of podcasts, some of my favorites are the FiveThirtyEight politics podcast, Planet Money, and MBMBaM. My favorite author is Brandon Sanderson, and as for good books lately, the best I've read is "The Undoing Project" by Michael Lewis.
Where did you get your name from?
My name is from Chrono Trigger, one of the greatest games ever made. "Lavos" is the final boss, but I won't say more if you haven't played it.
How and when did you get into competitive Pokemon?
II played all the Pokemon games as a kid, starting with FireRed version although I did go back to play Red and Crystal. I was hooked on the competitive aspect, I'd do link battles with my brother and friends all the time. After learning about EV training and IVs which coincided with my ability to use a computer, I stumbled across Pokemon Online and downloaded it eagerly, that's how it started.
What’s your favorite generation of OU and why?
Gen 2 OU / GSC OU is my favorite, I think I enjoy it because even in the worst of matchups, you're never in a situation where you have almost no chance to win at the start of the game. The matches tend to take a bit longer, and winning is more about the accumulation of small advantages over time to capitalize on the opponent's weaknesses. I also enjoy the lack of Team Preview, which I think has its place in some newer gens but would ruin GSC, because a lot of the skill involved is intuiting your opponent's remaining Pokemon and extrapolating movesets based on what you've already seen. For me, GSC also has the perfect balance of strength and diversity in terms of the Pokemon you see, where nothing (even Snorlax) is too overwhelming at once, and there's room to switch things up and innovate without creating such a massive pool of viable options that every game feels radically different from the next. Its simple appearances belie a hidden complexity, not to mention the dozens of minor mechanics differences and specific knowledge that comes naturally with practice. Maybe that's another reason, because with other tiers I've played endlessly such as BW OU, I felt that I reached a point where I couldn't get much better and my games would be decided by matchups and luck when skill was roughly equal, whereas in GSC I truly think that I get a little bit better every time and I'll never stop learning and improving in this tier.
What’s your favorite playstyle to use and why?
I don't have a favorite playstyle, but for whatever reason, some Pokemon just "feel right" to use, and others don't, and that's something I've never been able to figure out. I can't explain why it's this way, but if you go through some of my replays you should be able to identify trends. I'll leave it at that.
What are your thoughts on the current metagame?
The current metagame feels like a handful of people are miles ahead of everyone else, but at the same time a single instance of unfortunately timed luck can swiftly close the gap between good and great players, so I'd say it's volatile.
Are there any Pokemon that you believe are overrated/underrated in the current metagame. Why?
I run the viability rankings, so if something is overrated or underrated, I wouldn't know much about it. I think the way I have things rated is correct.
Despite being known primarily as an Old Gens player; you played SM OU Smogon Snake Draft II, finishing with a positive record. What was most interesting about that experience? What were the easiest/toughest parts of the transition?
The most interesting thing about Snake was how easy it is to learn SM OU. I didn't play Gen 6 and I barely even knew the new type effectiveness charts, let alone any of the new Pokemon, Z-Moves and Megas, all that. But with only a couple dozen games of practice, it became pretty simple. The fundamentals of Pokemon still haven't changed. I was able to post a 3-1 record and be proud of my wins, and I think my loss was due to lack of experience, since I crumbled once my gameplan didn't execute as I'd hoped. So I wouldn't say it was a tough transition. However, my team was ranked #1 in the power rankings, and it was very disheartening to not even make it out of the preliminary stage after being hyped up like that. It barely felt like a team tour, it was over so quickly. Anyway, I'll try to keep up more with the current generation in the future.
What have been some of your favorite moments from SPL so far? Who has surprised you most with their performance?
Favorite moments from SPL...hmm, probably all of my wins? I'm very proud of my play this year. I'm making very few mistakes and picking good teams. And my team, the Alpha Ruiners, hasn't lost a week yet - we are the only undefeated team at the time of writing this, which is great. I hate losing so it's nice not to deal with those feelings this year. I hope we can bring home the red trophy, these guys deserve it. The most impressive performance, although perhaps not surprising, of any individual player in this SPL would have to be thelinearcurve's incredible 6-2 ADV record. He has looked nothing short of dominant in all his wins, and his only 2 losses were both to absurdly poor luck. He's been the better player in all 8 games so far, I hope his team makes it to playoffs so we can see some more spectacular ADV play (another of my favorite tiers).
Which of the official tournament formats do you enjoy the most? Why do you enjoy that format?
I enjoy Smogon Tour the most. Live tours can be excellent, with little time to scout and counterteam it turns into a true test of skill. The only downside is bo1 of course, if it were up to me everything would be bo3 at the least, but I guess some of these people who spend 20+ hours a week on discord can't be bothered to build 2 more teams than usual.
What’s one piece of advice you’d give to someone trying to break into the tournament setting?
To break into the tournaments scene, win tournaments. It's really that easy. If you get a couple significant victories under your belt, people will start to take notice and you'll end up drafted in some official tour. Also, and this applies especially if you're unknown currently, you have the luxury of being able to avoid scouting since you're not a recognized name yet, so you can use the same handful of teams in each tier and just practice getting really good with those before branching out.
Who are some of your favourite people in the Smogon community?
During my long stay on Smogon I've been in a bunch of different social groups, so there are many I'd consider favorites or friends. I'll just list them off here, sorry in advance if I forget you. My teammates on US West such as undisputed, z0mOG, lax, and Philip7086 are at the top of the list. I've also gotten to know some cool people on the Alpha Ruiners like FriendOfMrGolem120, Croven, and Pearl. Stone_Cold for always being down to scrap, we go way back. Same with dice, one of my first friends online. Guys that I met through the GSC community like Earthworm, sulcata, choolio, Conflict, and Mr.378. Everyone I met in BSP, the most powerful jerk of them all. The edgelords in CPG and FPOA. And people don't fit into a category but who I appreciate anyway, such as Nails, Heroic Troller, Astamatitos, UD, thelinearcurve, Hogg, and unfortunately elodin. As for players I look up to and respect, I have to mention Ojama and BKC as the two that I've always felt to be a cut above the rest, I learned a massive amount from watching both of them over the years and I can credit a ton of success to getting my ass kicked by them and having to push myself to get better.
Finally, can you provide us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle, with a brief explanation of how it works?
Sure, this is the team I used vs dice in week 8 of this SPL. It's a powerful offensive build with mixed Selfdestruct Snorlax creating pressure right off the bat, and a solid pivoting core of Cloyster/Zapdos/Steelix to set things up for sweepers Machamp and Tentacruel. The team has a few innovative twists that give it a leg up over standard offense, namely Light Screen Machamp allowing it to safely handle enemy Electrics and provide support for Tentacruel, and the unconventional Rest+Iron Tail Steelix instead of the usual Earthquake+Explosion, sacrificing some immediate power for the ability to play the long game if the initial blitz of momentum doesn't break through the opponent's defenses. It's perfect for my style, allowing me to constantly stay a step ahead when I have the advantage, while still giving me options to play from behind if something goes wrong.
Thanks for the interview, it was fun!
