Editor's Note

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The last weeks have been quite busy on Smogon! Details on the next games, C&C / Smog work, games in Circus Maximus, tournaments—in particular, the conclusion of the 6th Official Smogon Tournament (congratulations to both hanke and Earthworm for getting so far, and additional kudos to hanke for taking the prestigious trophy!)—and a wide array of other activites have ensured that anyone who wants something to do can find it.

For those who haven't been keeping up with Gen V news, the titles of the games have been announced as Pokémon: Black and White Versions. We're also getting new events in summer, including Flare Blitz / ExtremeSpeed Entei and Nasty Plot Celebi. Sadly, I'm not joking about the latter, because I really think Shaymin should've gotten the move to set it apart from Celebi a bit more... but that's Pokémon!

Closer to home, Stage 3-4 has ended with Manaphy being permanently sentenced to stay in Ubers, and Stage 3-5, which will determine the fate of Latias, is about to commence voting. Meanwhile, UU voting is drawing closer, as are tier updates based on the stats that DougJustDoug works hard to provide every month. The Smogon Tour 9 finals have begun, this being the first year of 16-player finals, and the exciting new Smogon Premier League is in bidding stages! The next 10 weeks should be quite interesting, as the stars of Pokémon fight it out from RBY to DPPt. Speaking of tournaments, let me take this moment to plug the spiffy new #stark cups, which are impromptu small tournaments with a points leaderboard. Why not drop by IRC, meet everyone, and have a chance to play some live tournaments in a number of metagames?

I've been sitting on this information for the entirety of this note, but now I'd like to mention that this is the anniversary issue of The Smog! Work on the first ever issue began around late March, and the first issue was released on May 13, 2009. We've expanded significantly since then, thanks to the hard work of the writers, artists, proofreaders, editors, HTMLizers, and new recruits, as well as the support of our readers. If you enjoyed this issue, or even have constructive criticism, please consider posting in The Smog's forum board. Input is always appreciated, and praise really means a lot after the hard work that goes into producing each article. I'm personally really happy with the volume and quality of this issue. Two new articles have been added to our repertoire as well; given the success of Featured Pokémon: OU, I hope all the UU players out there enjoy the new Featured Pokémon: UU column! Philip7086's new tutoring tips section, Phil's Protips, is also not to be ignored. The article even comes with handy advice from veteran battler zerowing!

Oh, yes, and thanks to Jimbo, who was generous enough to let me write this issue's Editor's Note. Happy reading!

—jumpluff

P.S. If you can't get enough of The Smog, stay tuned for the first episode of The Smogcast, Smogon's very own podcast!

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