Project Player Of The Week Revived: Week 15 - tom h0lland

TJ

Banned deucer.
is the Smogon Tour Season 34 Championis a Past SPL Championis a Two-Time Past SCL Champion
Muk GIF

tom holland
Favorite Pokemon: Ludicolo
Most used Pokemon: Primeape
Most known for: making top 8 in PU open, getting into the pu community really quickly, PU voice
TJ: Hey Tom, how are you doing today?
tom: I am doing well, thanks for asking. Just enjoying the end of my summer break.

TJ:
Can you tell us a little about yourself?
tom: Sure thing. Funnily enough, actual name is Zach, not Tom. I am a college student in Kentucky, USA and my major is Mathematical Economics. I love math, music, good times, and cute animals. I have a boyfriend who I visit every week even though he lives 3 hours away; I have a picture of us in the Smogon Photo Album thread btw. I play piano and violin, do math for fun because I am insane, and love going out with friends. Oh and I’m 19.

TJ:
How and when did you get into competitive pokemon? What drew you to the PU community?
tom: So I remember watching competitive pokemon when I was really young. I watched this guy on youtube named “The Killer Nacho” and that’s when I was first exposed to it, that was when I was like 10. From there I kept watching competitive mons whether it was him or VGC, and eventually I was hooked on watching Aaron Cybertron Zheng and his VGC videos. I never truly played competitively though until I began college and wanted a fun brain-stimulating game when I had alone time. It turned out Smogon and Pokemon Showdown existed, and I honestly have no idea how I never stumbled upon it until a year ago. I was immediately hooked and began learning how to play in OU and UU first actually. I hated OU because all the mons were either ugly or overrated, and I for whatever reason sucked at UU (probably because I new to this outside of watching content). Slowly I kept trying lower tiers until eventually I stumbled upon PU and realized it has my favorite pokemon, Ludicolo. I made this really shitty Ludicolo team and from there on my PU life began. I continued to play on showdown on my own and learn through trial and error, and eventually when I decided I wasn’t a god-awful player I made a smogon account to begin making online friends. The PU community is so friendly, and it was incredibly easy to feel welcome and get involved, so that’s where I stuck it out and still am.

TJ: What are your thoughts on the current PU metagame? Is there anything you think needs to be resuspected after the PU open?
tom: A summarized sentence of my thoughts is, I love seeing new threats rise up and I hate Eelektross. Seriously I hate Eelektross and really hope people find more easy counterplay to it besides leading your strong physical attacker and praying. I don’t know enough about the banned mons to say anything about most of them, but one which I KNOW I want to see a retest on is Abomasnow-Mega, and after that maybe Cincinno. I found them both overwhelming when they dropped but also we had no time to see how the metagame would change or react. I don’t think there is any harm in doing resuspects when the tier is stable, so I am all for these two being tested.

TJ: How does it feel being the newest PU voice?
tom: It feels great honestly. When you get thumbs ups without really looking for them, it feels that much more satisfying. I have just been enjoying mons and making friends and sharing my experiences, and I am glad people have found good things come out of that.

TJ: We recently banned Guzzlord. Do you think it was the right decision?
tom: Yes. As one of the big supporters of this I am very happy with it gone. The meta felt uneasy with it in the tier, and it was near impossible to build teams with proper Guzzlord preparation, and so I am very happy with its absence.

TJ: Who are some of your favorite people in the PU community?
tom: Wow I will preface by saying I love literally everyone in the PU community. But as for ones in particular, I absolutely love and appreciate my friends gum and KellyKafka. They are not only smogon friends to me but irl friends and I am thankful to have met them both. I also really love Urusius and tlenit1 and am thankful they kinda took me under their wing and helped me improve at a faster rate. I love Teddeh as a stronger rival (emphasis on stronger) who is also a great character and presence, and I love ShuckleDeath's humor and innovation in the tier. Finally, a couple more people I adore in this community are Specs, royesk, Scizorphobic, Taskr, and Many. Sorry for anyone I left out there is just a lot of people.

TJ: What are your predictions for PU Snake Starters?
tom: So I think by far the best player and first PU player that will get picked is Teddeh. I also think that Tricking, Taskr, and HJAD will get picked up unless he chooses to not pick himself. I think that both TJ and LordST have a very strong chance at getting chosen, and I think that tlenit1 and I are on the bubble for getting drafted. Oh, and Megazard probably will. Unfortunately I think the last couple slots will get filled by tour players rather than PU mains.

TJ: Who do you fuckin hate on smogon?
tom: Definitely KellyKafka what a nerd

TJ: Whos the shittiest player you’ve ever played?
tom: The guy that uses twave confuse ray volbeat on the ladder I really hate that guy

TJ: Favorite TV show/movie?
tom: Spiderman far from home duh

TJ: Finally, could you give us a cool team and briefly explain it?
tom:

Primeape @ Choice Band
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- U-turn
- Stone Edge
- Gunk Shot

Floatzel @ Choice Band
Ability: Water Veil
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Liquidation
- Ice Punch
- Pursuit
- Aqua Jet

Eelektross @ Assault Vest
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Quiet Nature
IVs: 0 Atk / 30 Spe
- Volt Switch
- Giga Drain
- Flamethrower
- Discharge

Oricorio-Sensu @ Flyinium Z
Ability: Dancer
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Roost
- Toxic
- Taunt
- Hurricane

Stunfisk @ Leftovers
Ability: Static
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Discharge
- Earth Power
- Protect

Sandslash-Alola @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Slush Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Iron Head
- Icicle Crash
- Earthquake
- Rapid Spin


I LOVE this team. I used it vs Adaam in r6 of PU open and the idea is that Band Primeape and Floatzel on the same team are not only unexpected but surprisingly filled with synergy, able to break down teams with proper prediction and plays. It is extremely satisfying to u-turn out of froslass with your primeape and then pursuit it with floatzel. It is also paraspam too to make it easier for one of the bands to clean if needed, and it features one of my favorite pokemon in this tier, Stunfisk.

TJ: Thanks for your time, tom! As always, if you guys have your own questions, feel free to ask them below! :blobthumbsup:
 

PTF

girl
is a Tiering Contributor
You and your bf are bloody cuties, I love it. How did you meet him and how long have you been together?

On Pokemon related discussion - how do you approach teambuilding.

Grats on getting voiced!!!!
 

LordST

Dormi Bene Duce
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributor
RBTT Champion
If there was one change you could make to the VR right now what would it be?

Favorite fast food chain?

If you had full control over gen8, what changes would you make pertaining to competitive?

Beach or mountains?
 
You and your bf are bloody cuties, I love it. How did you meet him and how long have you been together?

On Pokemon related discussion - how do you approach teambuilding.

Grats on getting voiced!!!!
I actually met him on campus once when I was visiting a friend at the University of Louisville, it was completely by chance. We had dinner, he stayed the night and we've been together ever since. We have been together for four months now, and I am feeling incredible about it.

I approach teambuilding with an idea, usually a core of two mons. From there I have a checklist of things i need to have on every team, and then added bullets of things I need to make the core perform at its full potential. Right now I think the meta requires the checklist to have two fighting type answers (checks or counters), a Victreebel answer, a hailcore answer, a combusken/simisear answer, and a normal resist. Also, I test often and am not afraid to make changes. Every team we make is just a rough draft that needs to be polished.

Thank you!

If there was one change you could make to the VR right now what would it be?

Favorite fast food chain?

If you had full control over gen8, what changes would you make pertaining to competitive?

Beach or mountains?
I would move Oricorio-Sensu up to A- because it is incredible right now in my opinion. With the checklist I stated above, this covers Victreebel and Fighting Types well, and for many team archetypes Oricorio-Sensu is a great fit that is way more than just glue for the meta. I think Pom Pom is great, but Sensu is really overlooked.

It used to be Steak and Shake but now I am lactose-intolerant RIP so I would say Wendy's now (yeah i'm crusty).

Honestly, I would change nothing! I am one of the very few people who is very accepting of these changes. I just think change can be exciting, and as long as there are enough mons to keep PU solid I am happy. So I guess the only change I would make is have an adequate amount of pokemon to have a great PU tier in gen 8. I do feel for the people who don't like this though. I understand.

Mountains for sure, beautiful view and fun hikes. I hate water and I hate sand unpopular opinion but beaches suck.
 
How would you paint a succinct yet comprehensive picture of the PU tier for someone like myself who is not familiar with its intricacies but finds it intriguing from a glance?

Underrated sets/Pokemon/cores in the current metagame?

What was the impetus behind CB Victreebel?

How good is Floatzel? I really want it to be amazing, but I'll settle for good

Why is Eelektross so difficult to deal with? Every game I see it just seems crazy

Do you see yourself delving deeper into the tournament side of Smogon? You've signed up for Snake, which looks to be within your reach in light of your recent success. I have no doubt you'll make more of a name for yourself in the tier via seasonals and whatnot, but no other big tournaments have PU, and with the new generation coming it'll be a while before that exists. Do you plan to jump into other tiers so you can join more of these tournaments?

Now for the fun stuff

When you battle, do you exclusively listen to the old Spider-Man theme performed by the Ramones?

Why is your avatar not Tom Holland?

What specific event(s) inspired you to make your username what it is?

What makes you prefer Far From Home to Homecoming?

Top 5 Holland Spider-Man moments from any film

Top 5 Tom Holland moments

Is Zendaya x Tom otp?

Are you a fan of Spidey as a whole?

Sorry for all the Holland/Spidey questions, I've just been very curious ever since I saw your username. Best of luck, I thought you played quite well in that series vs. Teddeh
 

EviGaro

is a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
RU Leader
You're fairly new so instead of who do you hate on smogon I will settle for who could you see yourself hate on smogon?

Is Victreebel broken?

Despite being culprit to using hail Snowslash as speed control, I'm still rofling about Scarf being legitimate speed control, change my mind.

Why is Victreebel broken?

Favourite non Tom Holland actor from the MCU?

What forum tour would you like to see?

Thoughts on trying to prove people wrong with using unexpected threats? You're friends with Urusius so I can guess the answer I suppose.

What are you voting on Victreebel?
 

Leni

formerly tlenit
is a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Past SCL Champion
RUPL Champion
Whats the biggest step you think you have took as a player in PU lately? You have popped up almost out of nowhere and done really well, but what's your real secret there?

Cheers buddy and grats on getting voiced!
 
Congratulations on your current Voice status Tom! I commend how much you’ve grown

But for the questions:

What Pokémon do you find to be massively underrated in PU currently?

What’s your favorite core to use in PU?

For Snake Draft if you do end up getting drafted, which team would you like to work with the most judging by the current roster?

Which Pokémon in PU gives you the best Tom Holland vibes so to speak?

You’re an artsy guy, but what kinds of physical activities do you enjoy doing?
 
How would you paint a succinct yet comprehensive picture of the PU tier for someone like myself who is not familiar with its intricacies but finds it intriguing from a glance?

Underrated sets/Pokemon/cores in the current metagame?

What was the impetus behind CB Victreebel?

How good is Floatzel? I really want it to be amazing, but I'll settle for good

Why is Eelektross so difficult to deal with? Every game I see it just seems crazy

Do you see yourself delving deeper into the tournament side of Smogon? You've signed up for Snake, which looks to be within your reach in light of your recent success. I have no doubt you'll make more of a name for yourself in the tier via seasonals and whatnot, but no other big tournaments have PU, and with the new generation coming it'll be a while before that exists. Do you plan to jump into other tiers so you can join more of these tournaments?

Now for the fun stuff

When you battle, do you exclusively listen to the old Spider-Man theme performed by the Ramones?

Why is your avatar not Tom Holland?

What specific event(s) inspired you to make your username what it is?

What makes you prefer Far From Home to Homecoming?

Top 5 Holland Spider-Man moments from any film

Top 5 Tom Holland moments

Is Zendaya x Tom otp?

Are you a fan of Spidey as a whole?

Sorry for all the Holland/Spidey questions, I've just been very curious ever since I saw your username. Best of luck, I thought you played quite well in that series vs. Teddeh

Thank you for your questions, these are all great and I appreciate your interest.

1. PU is a balanced but fast-paced tier where there is an abundance of team variety but also a lot of threats you must take into account in builder. I think it is one of the most momentum-reliant tiers honestly, where strong doubles and slow pivots win games, and I think this is largely due to the number of nukes in this tier which appreciate having momentum to get in safely. A short list of prominent threats in the tier consists of Froslass, Victreebel, Eelektross, Gurdurr, Stoutland, and Hailcore.

2. As far as underrated sets and cores go, I could really talk about this forever and I just might LOL. But for now I'll give you a few. My FAVORITE core is Stoutland+Victreebel, and while it isn't necessarily unnoticed it is still underrated in my opinion. I firmly believe it is the strongest offensive core in the game and everyone should have a solid Stoutland+Victreebel team, and I think it is one of the easiest teams to learn the metagame with. I also adore Band Primeape+Band Floatzel and while most people probably don't like the sound of that it gives results and it is very unexpected (unless you see me use the two mons together then it is obvious). As for singular mons, I think Grumpig and Musharna have a lot of unexplored potential and I am still busy optimizing Grumpig to share with the community in my opinion the most viable and useful Grumpig set. And finally, the most underrated sets imo are the physical Victreebel sets those are beautiful to use and is a huge screw you to Eelektross. I hate Eelektross.

3. Speaking of Band Victreebel, the reason I used it is because in my opinion, every team should have Eelektross right now. Anyone who disagrees with me just know you are wrong LOL. With that said, I think the best possible way to deal with Eelektross is either leading with your own and giving it lower speed (24 speed iv eelektross is my go-to LMAO) so that way you outpivot and get the momentum, or using a powerful physical breaker and using it as an opportunity for a free attack. I actually regret using Band Vic though and if I was smart and did not rashly play my match early this round, I would have used physical Z move Vic which I think is massively underexplored. This is why:

252+ Atk Victreebel Bloom Doom (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Eelektross: 354-417 (94.6 - 111.4%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

This is a higher likelihood of nuking it out of existence compared to Band which is 25% I think (that is off the top of my head). You also get the luxury of strength sap to try to recover later if u get unlucky with the roll, and it acts an actual fighting switchin still and can use sleep powder instead of coverage. I am going to be using this set on my own for testing actually even though I'm out of PU Open because I am intrigued. But yes Victreebel is just such a threat right now and I think people are underselling it when they just use the special sets. And I hate Eelektross.

4. Floatzel is good and people underrate it massively. While the special sets are good I think the Choice Band set is absolutely fantastic. I recommend trying out my team if you wanna use Floatzel in PU. Here is a replay vs Adaam using it.

http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen7pu-953563667

but yes, floatzel is great in my opinion.

5. Eelektross is stupid and I hate it and the reason why is because it is so damn slow and I've never seen something take advantage of being slow so well without trick room LOL. It can tank any special attack and pivot out, giving you a huge momentum swing in a tier where there is a plethora of breakers at your disposal to abuse. Not only that, but its coverage is beautiful and so everything that blocks volt switch is threatened and cannot switch in. It is essentially free momentum in the early game and that is absolutely huge if you know how to harness that energy and use it well. I don't think it is broken which is why I hate it even more because it means I have to tolerate its presence for the rest of gen 7 probably.

6. I am glad you asked this question. I actually am going to branch out in the future, in fact I am going to look to get into RU more at the end of this generation and pick it up in gen 8. I will also play the other tiers as they come out in gen 8 and if I enjoy them I will stick with them, but do know that PU will always be my home. I am looking to make it into Grand Slam Playoffs next year so I will definitely be branching out, and hopefully known for more than PU. I like the tour scene even if some people are toxic, so I am very ready to jump into more tours.

7. I don't know why this has never crossed my mind and not kidding you when I say yes I am going to start doing that now.

8. I have not found a satisfying gif or image to use for tom holland, I want something iconic. I love Ariana Grande too and she has very iconic photos. If you find an iconic image or gif of tom holland I will use it though!

9. So when I decided to make my account I did not know what to do with my name, and so I just decided it would be fun to play under the name of my favorite actor/famous person. And it really does make things more enjoyable I love being called spideyman lol.

10. Not to spoil anything but the ship I have been waiting for has finally happened, and also there was an insane fight scene at the end that made me pee my pants.

11. too many amazing moments i can honestly say I cannot rank them.

12. okay this is the same but the best moment is DEFINITELY his lip sync with zendaya that was epic.


13. yes as a gay man i do not wish that he was gay he and zendaya are everything, though he is incredibly attractive.

14. As a whole I am a big spidey fan but really only when tom holland became the modern spider man.

--
Thank you so much for the questions they were great questions! If you ever do wanna get into PU more, while I am sure you are capable of learning on your own if you want any help/someone to learn with hmu!
 
You're fairly new so instead of who do you hate on smogon I will settle for who could you see yourself hate on smogon?

Is Victreebel broken?

Despite being culprit to using hail Snowslash as speed control, I'm still rofling about Scarf being legitimate speed control, change my mind.

Why is Victreebel broken?

Favourite non Tom Holland actor from the MCU?

What forum tour would you like to see?

Thoughts on trying to prove people wrong with using unexpected threats? You're friends with Urusius so I can guess the answer I suppose.

What are you voting on Victreebel?
1. No beef no shade but probably August and any tour player in the discord chat that unironically makes fun of PU mains and PU as a whole.

2. No but it is nuts and borderline S rank

3. Scarfslash is not legitimate speed control I just had confidence Adaam would not bring any sweepers that beat the team I used it on due to my prep, and I also know that my team had enough offensive pressure that it was at the very least not an auto-lose. A bigger rofl is that the only speed control I ever use is scarf primeape.

4. Idk you tell me EviGaro LOL

5. Sophie Turner playing Dark Phoenix I love her so much she is a goddess.

6. I want to see another PULT even though it won't happen :( :( Free PU blitz, and free a PU mons draft tour where you draft a pool of pokemon to use on your teams for the duration of the tour. Idk how that could work but we could find a way. And finally, a swiss tour free a PU swiss cut tour

7. I think there is a balance. You cannot use nonsense for the sake of using nonsense and expect it to work, but if you say "hey I have this problem and there is no clear solution to it" while in builder, I think this is a golden opportunity to look past just the standard stuff and innovate. Innovation is a weapon and using it in the right balance will always pay out.

8. I will be voting no in this fake suspect until you convince me otherwise :)

Whats the biggest step you think you have took as a player in PU lately? You have popped up almost out of nowhere and done really well, but what's your real secret there?

Cheers buddy and grats on getting voiced!
So I actually was not very good at this tier a month ago. What was a big game changer for me was the sheer number of friends I made that were willing to hold my hand in the beginning rounds of PU open. While I built all my teams myself for PU open, I also had sucky teams in rounds 1-3 and I only got through them with my battling skills. After that is the same time tlenit1 and Urusius began giving me advice and analyzing/building teams with me, and also when KellyKafka became a very close friend and we constantly battled, built, and tested together. My tipping point was round 5 vs gum , where I knew the only way I would win is if I prep very hard and increase my play another level. Literally the threat of gum in r5 I think made me learn so much as a player and builder, and by the time I got through that week I genuinely felt like a different player from before. From then on building became natural and battling has always been my strong suit. I'd say the secret is the community itself, and immersing yourself in competition.

Congratulations on your current Voice status Tom! I commend how much you’ve grown

But for the questions:

What Pokémon do you find to be massively underrated in PU currently?

What’s your favorite core to use in PU?

For Snake Draft if you do end up getting drafted, which team would you like to work with the most judging by the current roster?

Which Pokémon in PU gives you the best Tom Holland vibes so to speak?

You’re an artsy guy, but what kinds of physical activities do you enjoy doing?
1. Floatzel, Stunfisk, and Combusken are the big three that first pop in my head. If any of you want a team with them I have a couple to share.

2. Stout+Vic :heart:

3. So I will preface this answer by saying I would be overjoyed to be on any team, however I will admit I have favorites. I would love to work with HJAD and EviGaro because HJAD is in my opinion the best possible manager a PU player could ask for. His PUPL team performance is factual proof, and I think he can bring out the potential of his players. My biggest weakness as a player right now is that while I am independent and build all my teams on my own, there are still minute details that I miss on them which can give me small disadvantages, and having HJAD and Evigaro as my managers means I have two strong PU players proofing my teams for me, and I am confident in my battling skills. Basically I think my maximum potential would be brought out with HJAD and Evigaro. However, there are some others in particular I really like. I love that Pearl and Sabella recognize and see potential in me and their confidence and interest in me gives myself confidence and hope for Snake Draft. And finally, I feel the same way about Lycan and Jacob and would love to be picked up by them.

4. Definitely Ludicolo bc I am lively jolly dude and it is my favorite mon.

5. I actually play soccer and tennis! I try to stay active and healthy.

I love you.
I love you too :heart:


Thanks for the questions! Keep them coming friends.
 
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