This week, we have none other than National Dex's own forum moderator and council member,
Guardsweeper!
What do you do outside of Smogon?
I’m an aspiring surgeon currently doing a double bachelor programme in Medicine and Biomedical Science. Studying has taken away most of my free time, but when I do have some I like to watch / play tennis, draw, and learn languages, beyond the cliché stuff like watching movies and TV-shows of course.
What are you most known for inside the National Dex community?
I’d hope as a forum moderator, OU and AG councilman, and the guy that oversees the C&C side of the spectrum, but it could just as well be as the guy that didn’t sign up for NDPL, never talks in the PS! room, hardly ever chimes in in public Discord discussions, and makes unnecessarily long and often boring Smogon posts.
How did you get into National Dex?
Pre-gen 8, I actually wasn’t interested in the competitive side of Smogon much at all. As a matter of fact, I was an avid collector, of which you can see the remnants in Smogon’s Wi-Fi subforum
here. Fast-forward to SwSh, Pokemon infamously got dexited out of existence, and it’s not hard to imagine how that came as a huge blow to me as a collector. Dexit created a huge ‘what if?’ situation for me, in the sense that I’d never know the full scope of a Gen-8 Pokemon’s capabilities in an environment that hosted every Pokemon, Mega Evolution, Dynamax, and the Z-Move mechanic. National Dex curbed that interest, and therefore got me hooked from the start. I had to still get the hang of competitive intricacies of course, being a relative rooky in that domain, but once I understood terms like ‘double switches’, ‘momentum’, and ‘wincons’, and learned how to harness those, I developed a great interest for the format, and that fire still burns to this day.
What do you like the most about the format and community?
National Dex bridges the gap between USUM and SwSh in an attempt to create a setting in which as many Pokemon and mechanics can coexist in a competitively healthy environment, which is something incredibly unique throughout Smogon. A lot of people take issue with how the format is set up, sustaining Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves with ‘made-up mechanics’ as the supporting pillars. To me, however, this is a beautiful aspect of our metagame that highly increases what we have to offer as a format and, as the cherry on top, further secures our future in case GF decides to keep Mega Evolutions and Z-Moves on the side-lines for longer.
As for the community, I definitely think it is one of the most engaging and active ones you’ll find throughout Smogon, which I find to be crucial to the overall experience in our subforum.
How do you feel about the state of the National Dex metagame right now? Any Pokemon that stick out as issues to you?
I despise Dragapult’s ability to clean up just about any team with little to no support and a few good guesses. It feeds onto the matchup issue in the metagame; you simply cannot afford to check Dragapult outside of a select few builds. I also don’t like how potent and brainless Slowbro + Blissey as a core is. It’s a very hard-to-consistently-punish core that dominantly dictates battles and defines the metagame to a significant degree: Pokemon like Weavile, Mega Medicham, Cinderace, Mega Charizard Y, and Choice Specs Magearna are much more potent than they otherwise would’ve been, and Pokemon such as Hydreigon, Volcarona, and non-U-turn Ash-Greninja have turned into massive momentum drains.
As I alluded to above, I think the metagame is a little matchup-heavy; it is nigh impossible to maintain a versatile output of team structures that can handle all relevant threats, which makes teambuilding more linear than I’d like to admit. This stems from a multitude of presences that constrain the teambuilder to a degree, such as Future Sight, Mega Latias, Calm Mind Clefable, Mega Medicham + Pursuit, and Magearna. I’m not willing to admit that these are broken, but I can very well see some of them suspect tested down the line.
As for Cinderace, its star has been dimming ever since Z-Move variants dropped off a cliff, which has taken away some of its versality and potential to surprise checks: currently, whenever you face Cinderace outside of hyper offense, it’s safe to assume that it’s a 4-attack Heavy-Duty Boots variant. This predictability has made it a lot easier to respond to provided you take some precautions in the teambuilder of course, although it is still painful to manage alongside Future Sight.
Are there any Pokemon you don’t think are rated enough / rated too highly?
Mega Lopunny and Volcarona are overrated. They really fail to make progress against the overmajority of current structures housing cores such as Clefable + Toxapex, Slowbro + Blissey, Mega Tyranitar + Zapdos etc.
On the other hand, Tapu Koko has been incredibly underrated for the most part of the generation, and it evidently showed in the way Tapu Koko retaliated in NDPL.
What is your favorite Pokemon and kind of team to use in National Dex?
In general, I heavily enjoy incorporating Pokemon that double down as potent wincons in my teams and building around them. This includes the likes of Dragon Dance Dragapult, Calm Mind Clefable / Mega Latias / Reuniclus, Kyurem, Magearna, and Choice Specs Tapu Koko. As for playstyles, I’m not picky either. I enjoy using anything ranging from hyper offense to bulky balance. I’m not a stall player, but I have respect for players that are capable of piloting it efficiently, since that is something I’m incapable of.
Would you mind sharing a team that reflects that?
I unfortunately cannot share some of my newer builds on the off chance I make it into the circuit championships, but I do think this sample team built by me clearly shows my tendency to gravitate towards long-term wincons, in this case Calm Mind Mega Latias + Swords Dance Gliscor + Pursuit.
As someone who also plays tiers like Anything Goes, how do you think the shift from National Dex back to the Galar Dex has affected the metagame? Has it affected it for the better or the worse?
This thread should go a long way in painting a general picture of what my perceptions are regarding the shift AG went through. To summarize and add onto this thread, Calyrex-S lives up to its hype and more. Even though its movepool doesn’t seem great at a first glance, it is still capable of rocking a high variety of sets in Nasty Plot 3-Attacks, Substitute + Nasty Plot, Nasty Plot + Baton Pass, Substitute + Leech Seed, Choice Specs, and Choice Scarf. Add its stats, ability, and Dynamax into the picture, and you have what is undoubtedly one of the most disgustingly potent presences in competitive Pokemon history. Beyond the addition of Calyrex-S, AG also lost Arceus forms and Primal Groudon with the shift, which has taken away what were possibly the two largest defensive components of teambuilding. This has made Yveltal, Zygarde-C, and Calm Mind + Rest Kyogre tremendously threatening presences, with Yveltal in particular arguably being the most explosive threat in AG history. To add onto that, the likes of Zacian-C, Xerneas, and Eternatus continue to be centralizing presences after the shift too, with Eternatus in particular rising to stardom with Primal Groudon’s departure. On top of all, the shift to Galar Dex was also accompanied by the emergence of additional wallbreakers that take advantage of the lack of Arceus forms (Marshadow & Palkia) and Primal Groudon (Zekrom & Swords Dance + Aerial Ace Groudon). Overall, there’s a lot you have to account for with the few slots you get, which results in a very linear way of teambuilding, so I’m inclined to say that the shift has affected AG for the worse.
Can you share a team you’ve been liking in Anything Goes?
This team’s built around the incredibly fun core of Baton Pass Calyrex-S + Yveltal + Eternatus. Both Yveltal and Eternatus become humongous threats with a Nasty Plot boost, and are by far the best recipients. Eternatus is EV’d to outspeed Marshadow and avoid the 2HKO from Choice Scarf Kyogre and the OHKO from Adamant Zacian-C after Stealth Rock. Tyranitar imposter-proofs all three of these wallbreakers, which is way too useful to pass on. Necrozma-DM is mandatory to check Zacian-C and Xerneas, as well as Zekrom with Earthquake, and for Stealth Rock support. Substitute + Calm Mind Kyogre serves as the Dragon Dance Zygarde-C check, and doubles down as a potent wincon that is more than capable of washing away teams with little to no support. This team notably lacks a Defogger, hence why Calyrex-S is wearing Heavy-Duty Boots to improve the matchup versus Sticky Web.
Any last things you want to leave us with?
Stay in school, think stuff through before acting on it, be mindful of Covid-19 (especially on Black Friday), aim highly throughout your academic and professional career, and most of all, don’t forget to enjoy life!
I would like to thank Guardsweeper for his time and feel free to ask him any questions in this thread!