approved by: boltsandbombers Kiyo
Kiyo
favourite Pokemon: Shedinja
most used Pokemon: Garbodor
most known for: Being the best NUer alive
Shadestep: So, Kiyo, where does your name come from?
Kiyo: I’m terrible at coming up with usernames, nicknames, etc. so when I was trying to come up with one for Smogon I ended up just searching for lesser known characters in the anime that I could model myself after (at the time I thought it’d be cool to have a lance avatar and talk like he does in-game all the time). Anyways Kiyo’s a really cool dude in the one or two episodes he appears in in the anime, in fact I think he splits a gigantic boulder in two with his foot o.o But yeah I was on Bulbapedia and Kiyo owns the Fighting Dojo in Saffron and he’s the guy who hides in Mt. Mortar and gives you a Tyrogue in GSC.
Shadestep: You have been around on Smogon for quite a while now, almost 4 years. When and how do you know of Smogon? What interested you enough for you to make an account and start contributing?
Kiyo: I’ve been playing Pokemon since my 4th or 5th birthday, it’s just something I’ve always done. In high school there were some kids playing at lunch and I figured it’d be cool to try and play too. So I went on serebii and looked at some cool sets and made a dpp team with Lead Yanmega because based on their article I was convinced it was the best, lol. Turns out the dude I played brought 4 different lvl 100 arceus’ and most of my team wasn’t at 100 yet D: Anyways at some point I decided I wanted to get better so I did some googling, found smogon and shoddy battle and started playing. I never really got good at dpp and ended up taking a break until bw, but I made a few good friends in high school while playing.
Shadestep: You have recently been promoted to the esteemed position of NU Co-Leader. Congrats! Do you think there are any flaws with the current NU system regarding bans, suspect tests, council members, etc.?
Kiyo: Thanks! I actually really like this metagame, and I think it’s stable and diverse enough to last a while. I think our tiering system is fine and I’m confident in our council. There’s an inherent challenge with tiering lower tiers just because of the 3 month drop fucking everything up, but I’ve been pleased with how we’ve done this generation and I don’t really think theres a great way to deal with the drops halfway through the gen ( I do think UU’s system went really well overall and I’d be interested to see what we come up with for Sun and Moon).
Shadestep: In all your years on Smogon, how did you get where you are now?
Kiyo: I actually started getting good at mons during my time on PO, I got to be really good friends with Omfuga, Blunder, FAJI, TonyFlygon, and a ton of other users that have either quit or I’ve left out cuz I’m lazy.
I don’t think what I did to get here was really all that special I just sat down one day and said I was gonna commit myself to a tier and try to get really good at it. From there I got involved in community projects, started contributing to different areas of the sight, and got my name out there by playing tournaments.
I think the biggest problem new users struggle with is they want everything to happen to them overnight, when in reality most of the people ‘in power’ have been around a while and nothing was handed to them.
Shadestep: If you would have total control of the current NU, would you change something? If so, what would it be?
Kiyo: Yeah I’d ban Knock Off in a heartbeat. It’s an inherently broken mechanic in gen 6 that really restricts teambuilding. It also has this uncanny way of making a small group of Pokemon way more viable while making a much larger group less viable. Going hand in hand with a Knock Off ban I’d probably retest Sawk and Sneasel and just quick drop Gurdurr because I really doubt it would stay RU for long without Knock Off.
Shadestep: Congratulations on leading your team to victory in the NU Premier League! What were your thoughts on the drafts? Why did you draft your team as it is? How was the team chemistry?
Kiyo: I definitely thought our team had the strongest draft (I’m sure every manager would have said that post draft tho so I’m not sure how important that is). My overall goal was to get really solid #1 guys in each metagame to help less involved players build teams, test, etc. while having a really strong backbone of solid players. I think the two biggest things we struggled with were finding a way to use all the talent we had (I could have started any different number of combinations with the guys we had i.e. oglemi in adv or dpp, inno in the tier oglemi didn’t pick, sweep in oras/dpp/bw or even bo3, finch in w.e, goomy in oras/bw, blaziken in bw or oras). The other trouble I think we ran into was that we all couldn’t really agree on teams for our games. A lot of our guys traditionally build the exact opposite way from me and I was totally fine with my guys taking riskier teams into battle if they were confident with them (see: blaziken and I forgetting Fighting resists, goomy bringing a sticky web team that’s like 2 years old, etc.) When it worked it was great, but before and even during the games it caused a lot of tension. I actually think it was worth it because we got a nice balance of creativity and standard teams out of it that made us a little harder to prepare for.
Team chemistry was overall really solid imo, we all got along and I consider everyone on our team a friend. That being said we definitely had some internal conflicts. Tennis and I disagree on a lot of things pertaining to NU and we’re not private about our disagreements, we both get salty when we get haxed or when we disagree with anothers plays and it carried into our team chat more than I’d have liked. I didn’t even talk to him about it the week I benched him which made him leave for a few days. It was a really shitty decision on my part and just because we’re friends I shouldn’t have assumed it was gonna be ok.
Despite all that we had a lot of fun and I’m glad it didn’t go perfect, I think everyone involved learned a lot and we’re all gonna be better for it in the long run.
Shadestep: Who do you look up to / admire most as an NU player?
Kiyo: Okay time to kiss some ass. I’d say I admire Raseri the most as an NU player. He really wants the best for NU and works hard to do it. I know he gets a lot of flak for not being a great player or whatever, but that’s bullshit. I don’t think I’ve played a serious game vs Raseri where I wasn’t caught off guard or felt in control the entire game, he can be a really dynamic builder when he wants to be and you simply don’t stick around as long as him without being a good player. His tournament records have improved greatly over the last few months and I really hope he starts getting the respect he deserves.
Shadestep: Do you have problems or ‘beef’ with anyone in the NU community? If so, do you mind explaining how and what?
Kiyo: I think I’ve had my fair share of disagreements with every NU community member at one point or another (I come off as pretty abrasive, lol). One thing I’ve learned is that the people I thought I hated, I never really knew all that well. It’s too easy to judge someone based on a log somebody drops or when they say something stupid, I think we’re all guilty of that at some point in time. The more I interact with people on PS and Smogon, the more I realize theres a ton of cool people on here that I’m much happier being friends with than enemies.
Shadestep: What is your opinion on the recent changes in the NU tier? (Starting from the Sawk-ban, Sceptile-ban, Omastar, Charizard, Steelix, etc.)
Kiyo: I’d been pushing for a Sawk suspect test for more than a few months before the test, it was difficult to finally convince the other council members to push it through but ultimately I’m glad it happened. If you asked everyone on the council if they thought sawk was gonna get the boot before the test started I think the majority of us thought it was gonna stay. I miss using the thing because it was so good, but ultimately I do think the tier is better off.
Shadestep: Do you have any advice for newer players trying to get into NU?
Kiyo: Get used to playing the metagame before you try and build your own teams, see what people use against you, what works? What doesn’t? why? The more you understand about the game the easier it will be for you to build your own teams and play more effectively against a variety of different teams. If all that fails go watch my youtube channel to see what not to do.
Shadestep: Oh yeah, you have a YouTube Channel. What about it?
Kiyo: I might be the worst youtuber alive, I never upload consistently and I have some of the greatest ideas that I never put to use. That being said my content is quality, so go click the ads!
Shadestep: What do you do outside of Smogon? (work, hobbies, school)
Kiyo: I’m a full-time student at a local community college right now. I’m on track to graduate with Oregon. Still not sure what I want to do but something in math, physics, or physical education / health seems right up my alley.
I’m also a competitive swim coach for 11 months out of the year, I coach 12-14 year olds at the club level and I coach a high school team as well. Keeps me busy, helps with the bills, and I could see myself doing it for a very long time. At some point I hope to run my own club team, but that’s a few years down the road at least. Fun fact: I almost took a coaching job in Saskatchewan to live with my good friend CanadianWifier but it didn’t pan out D:
Shadestep: What kind of music do you listen to?
Kiyo: I legitimately listen to every type of music, I don’t think theres anything I actually dislike. I’ll just list the last 10 songs I played on Spotify to give you an idea:
1. Polarize- Twenty-One Pilots
2. Country Road- James Taylor
3. Hallelujah- Panic! At The Disco
4. Record Year- Eric Church
5. Fat Bottomed Girls- Queen
6. Dirty Diana- Michael Jackson
7. Life’s a Bitch- Nas
8. RGF Island- Fetty Wap
9. Order More- G-Eazy
10. Whistle for the Choir- The Fratellis
Shadestep: Which of the newer NU Subforum contributors has great potential, in your opinion?
Kiyo: Take Azelfie, PrinceLucian, Watchog, Quizel, Eternally, Holiano, and Oda are all people who’ve caught my eye as making some pretty intelligent posts at one point or another. I’m really excited to see all of these guys develop.
Shadestep: Lastly, is there a life advice that you would like to share with us?
Kiyo: Don’t be a procrastinator, it’s my worst quality and it’s shit up my life more than I care to explain. Yesterday you said tomorrow, JUST DO IT.
Thanks again for your time Kiyo! If you have any questions for Kiyo or want to drop a funny meme, go ahead!
EDIT: SUB TO KIYO ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/gottagokiyo
Kiyo
favourite Pokemon: Shedinja
most used Pokemon: Garbodor
most known for: Being the best NUer alive
Shadestep: So, Kiyo, where does your name come from?
Kiyo: I’m terrible at coming up with usernames, nicknames, etc. so when I was trying to come up with one for Smogon I ended up just searching for lesser known characters in the anime that I could model myself after (at the time I thought it’d be cool to have a lance avatar and talk like he does in-game all the time). Anyways Kiyo’s a really cool dude in the one or two episodes he appears in in the anime, in fact I think he splits a gigantic boulder in two with his foot o.o But yeah I was on Bulbapedia and Kiyo owns the Fighting Dojo in Saffron and he’s the guy who hides in Mt. Mortar and gives you a Tyrogue in GSC.
Shadestep: You have been around on Smogon for quite a while now, almost 4 years. When and how do you know of Smogon? What interested you enough for you to make an account and start contributing?
Kiyo: I’ve been playing Pokemon since my 4th or 5th birthday, it’s just something I’ve always done. In high school there were some kids playing at lunch and I figured it’d be cool to try and play too. So I went on serebii and looked at some cool sets and made a dpp team with Lead Yanmega because based on their article I was convinced it was the best, lol. Turns out the dude I played brought 4 different lvl 100 arceus’ and most of my team wasn’t at 100 yet D: Anyways at some point I decided I wanted to get better so I did some googling, found smogon and shoddy battle and started playing. I never really got good at dpp and ended up taking a break until bw, but I made a few good friends in high school while playing.
Shadestep: You have recently been promoted to the esteemed position of NU Co-Leader. Congrats! Do you think there are any flaws with the current NU system regarding bans, suspect tests, council members, etc.?
Kiyo: Thanks! I actually really like this metagame, and I think it’s stable and diverse enough to last a while. I think our tiering system is fine and I’m confident in our council. There’s an inherent challenge with tiering lower tiers just because of the 3 month drop fucking everything up, but I’ve been pleased with how we’ve done this generation and I don’t really think theres a great way to deal with the drops halfway through the gen ( I do think UU’s system went really well overall and I’d be interested to see what we come up with for Sun and Moon).
Shadestep: In all your years on Smogon, how did you get where you are now?
Kiyo: I actually started getting good at mons during my time on PO, I got to be really good friends with Omfuga, Blunder, FAJI, TonyFlygon, and a ton of other users that have either quit or I’ve left out cuz I’m lazy.
I don’t think what I did to get here was really all that special I just sat down one day and said I was gonna commit myself to a tier and try to get really good at it. From there I got involved in community projects, started contributing to different areas of the sight, and got my name out there by playing tournaments.
I think the biggest problem new users struggle with is they want everything to happen to them overnight, when in reality most of the people ‘in power’ have been around a while and nothing was handed to them.
Shadestep: If you would have total control of the current NU, would you change something? If so, what would it be?
Kiyo: Yeah I’d ban Knock Off in a heartbeat. It’s an inherently broken mechanic in gen 6 that really restricts teambuilding. It also has this uncanny way of making a small group of Pokemon way more viable while making a much larger group less viable. Going hand in hand with a Knock Off ban I’d probably retest Sawk and Sneasel and just quick drop Gurdurr because I really doubt it would stay RU for long without Knock Off.
Shadestep: Congratulations on leading your team to victory in the NU Premier League! What were your thoughts on the drafts? Why did you draft your team as it is? How was the team chemistry?
Kiyo: I definitely thought our team had the strongest draft (I’m sure every manager would have said that post draft tho so I’m not sure how important that is). My overall goal was to get really solid #1 guys in each metagame to help less involved players build teams, test, etc. while having a really strong backbone of solid players. I think the two biggest things we struggled with were finding a way to use all the talent we had (I could have started any different number of combinations with the guys we had i.e. oglemi in adv or dpp, inno in the tier oglemi didn’t pick, sweep in oras/dpp/bw or even bo3, finch in w.e, goomy in oras/bw, blaziken in bw or oras). The other trouble I think we ran into was that we all couldn’t really agree on teams for our games. A lot of our guys traditionally build the exact opposite way from me and I was totally fine with my guys taking riskier teams into battle if they were confident with them (see: blaziken and I forgetting Fighting resists, goomy bringing a sticky web team that’s like 2 years old, etc.) When it worked it was great, but before and even during the games it caused a lot of tension. I actually think it was worth it because we got a nice balance of creativity and standard teams out of it that made us a little harder to prepare for.
Team chemistry was overall really solid imo, we all got along and I consider everyone on our team a friend. That being said we definitely had some internal conflicts. Tennis and I disagree on a lot of things pertaining to NU and we’re not private about our disagreements, we both get salty when we get haxed or when we disagree with anothers plays and it carried into our team chat more than I’d have liked. I didn’t even talk to him about it the week I benched him which made him leave for a few days. It was a really shitty decision on my part and just because we’re friends I shouldn’t have assumed it was gonna be ok.
Despite all that we had a lot of fun and I’m glad it didn’t go perfect, I think everyone involved learned a lot and we’re all gonna be better for it in the long run.
Shadestep: Who do you look up to / admire most as an NU player?
Kiyo: Okay time to kiss some ass. I’d say I admire Raseri the most as an NU player. He really wants the best for NU and works hard to do it. I know he gets a lot of flak for not being a great player or whatever, but that’s bullshit. I don’t think I’ve played a serious game vs Raseri where I wasn’t caught off guard or felt in control the entire game, he can be a really dynamic builder when he wants to be and you simply don’t stick around as long as him without being a good player. His tournament records have improved greatly over the last few months and I really hope he starts getting the respect he deserves.
Shadestep: Do you have problems or ‘beef’ with anyone in the NU community? If so, do you mind explaining how and what?
Kiyo: I think I’ve had my fair share of disagreements with every NU community member at one point or another (I come off as pretty abrasive, lol). One thing I’ve learned is that the people I thought I hated, I never really knew all that well. It’s too easy to judge someone based on a log somebody drops or when they say something stupid, I think we’re all guilty of that at some point in time. The more I interact with people on PS and Smogon, the more I realize theres a ton of cool people on here that I’m much happier being friends with than enemies.
Shadestep: What is your opinion on the recent changes in the NU tier? (Starting from the Sawk-ban, Sceptile-ban, Omastar, Charizard, Steelix, etc.)
Kiyo: I’d been pushing for a Sawk suspect test for more than a few months before the test, it was difficult to finally convince the other council members to push it through but ultimately I’m glad it happened. If you asked everyone on the council if they thought sawk was gonna get the boot before the test started I think the majority of us thought it was gonna stay. I miss using the thing because it was so good, but ultimately I do think the tier is better off.
Shadestep: Do you have any advice for newer players trying to get into NU?
Kiyo: Get used to playing the metagame before you try and build your own teams, see what people use against you, what works? What doesn’t? why? The more you understand about the game the easier it will be for you to build your own teams and play more effectively against a variety of different teams. If all that fails go watch my youtube channel to see what not to do.
Shadestep: Oh yeah, you have a YouTube Channel. What about it?
Kiyo: I might be the worst youtuber alive, I never upload consistently and I have some of the greatest ideas that I never put to use. That being said my content is quality, so go click the ads!
Shadestep: What do you do outside of Smogon? (work, hobbies, school)
Kiyo: I’m a full-time student at a local community college right now. I’m on track to graduate with Oregon. Still not sure what I want to do but something in math, physics, or physical education / health seems right up my alley.
I’m also a competitive swim coach for 11 months out of the year, I coach 12-14 year olds at the club level and I coach a high school team as well. Keeps me busy, helps with the bills, and I could see myself doing it for a very long time. At some point I hope to run my own club team, but that’s a few years down the road at least. Fun fact: I almost took a coaching job in Saskatchewan to live with my good friend CanadianWifier but it didn’t pan out D:
Shadestep: What kind of music do you listen to?
Kiyo: I legitimately listen to every type of music, I don’t think theres anything I actually dislike. I’ll just list the last 10 songs I played on Spotify to give you an idea:
1. Polarize- Twenty-One Pilots
2. Country Road- James Taylor
3. Hallelujah- Panic! At The Disco
4. Record Year- Eric Church
5. Fat Bottomed Girls- Queen
6. Dirty Diana- Michael Jackson
7. Life’s a Bitch- Nas
8. RGF Island- Fetty Wap
9. Order More- G-Eazy
10. Whistle for the Choir- The Fratellis
Shadestep: Which of the newer NU Subforum contributors has great potential, in your opinion?
Kiyo: Take Azelfie, PrinceLucian, Watchog, Quizel, Eternally, Holiano, and Oda are all people who’ve caught my eye as making some pretty intelligent posts at one point or another. I’m really excited to see all of these guys develop.
Shadestep: Lastly, is there a life advice that you would like to share with us?
Kiyo: Don’t be a procrastinator, it’s my worst quality and it’s shit up my life more than I care to explain. Yesterday you said tomorrow, JUST DO IT.
Thanks again for your time Kiyo! If you have any questions for Kiyo or want to drop a funny meme, go ahead!
EDIT: SUB TO KIYO ON YOUTUBE: https://www.youtube.com/user/gottagokiyo
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