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PokéCommunity Tutoring Program

Anti

return of the king
  • 10,818
    Posts
    16
    Years
    PokéCommunity Tutoring Program

    Introduction

    This is the new PokéCommunity Tutor Program! This was suggested in this thread, and the Strategies and Movesets staff has decided that we are going to implement PC's first ever Pokémon tutoring program! S&M's lack of activity and new members has been a problem that the S&M staff has been trying to combat recently, and this seems like a good solution to both problems. We're trying to kill two birds with one stone here, but it will only work with your help! Since this will be run on ShoddyBattle (more on this later), it is important to have it on your computer in order to participate. You can download ShoddyBattle here.

    How It Works

    Some of you might be familiar with Smogon's Battling 101, and this is kind of like our own little version of it, but with some significant changes due to PC's forum-specific needs. The basic structure of this program is that after we have selected our tutors and a large enough amount of students have signed up, we will begin the program. The program will be run not on PC or in private, but on PC's ShoddyBattle server. This makes communication much easier, and we hope it will enhance the learning experience of the students.

    So how exactly will the actual teaching and learning take place? There will be six students and six tutors to start this off. It is small-scale right now mostly because it is still an experiment, but if it works, we might expand it. Anyway, each student will be assigned a tutor who can help with the individual needs of the student. The tutor will be useful for teaching anything the student wants to know as well as the student putting what he or she has learned to the test on the Smogon ladder. This one-on-one approach to learning about competitive Pokémon will hopefully not only address the student's individual needs as a battler, but also help build new friendships. After all, we are a Pokémon community. Being able to have a laid-back chat on the PC Server will hopefully make the experience that much more fun and friendly.

    However, there is a second part of the program! A lot of battlers have trouble with certain aspects of competitive Pokémon, from team building to simple basics. To give a general lesson on each of these important aspects of the game, each tutor will host a "class" on the PC Server about a certain subject. The six subjects covered will be competitive battling basics, making use of EVs and natures, strategies, team building, prediction, and adapting to the metagame. The tutors will decide amongst themselves who will cover each subject, and once that happens, the teacher of a class will organize a time where all students interested in hearing that lesson will get on the PC Server and be taught in a group discussion format. Classes will hopefully be more of a discussion than a lecture, as questions are common and need to be answered. The atmosphere will be fun, friendly, and laid-back, but students will hopefully learn a lot from a group format as well as a one-to-one style of tutoring.

    Once all six classes have been completed and there has been a substantial amount of time for individual instruction (which will be determined based on how things progress), the tutoring program will close. We might have some sort of competition at the end to see what student can come out on top, but again, that will be determined later. However, we are not ruling it out. Depending on how things go, we will either do it again, modify the program as we see fit and then try it again, or simply not do it again if the program is a total failure. We will try to be pretty flexible as this experiment goes on to help it be successful, and we hope that all participants will do the same!

    Participating

    This program cannot possibly exist without members to participate, so that's why we need you! However, we have had problems in the past. For those who were around to experience tournaments in the Shoddy Lounge, you know what I'm talking about. We have had problems with members not being responsible before. Students and especially tutors will be expected to put in a significant amount of time and effort into this program. If you neglect your responsiblities enough, we actually aren't going to threaten to infract you or anything like that. Instead, how well members handle the responsibility of this program will be the main factor in determining whether ot not we bring this back. If this program becomes stagnant like tournaments did, that will be the end of it, and we aren't going to try anything like it again when we know what the result will be. The people who participate are the people who can make or break something like this, but we have confidence that you guys will make this work, as we would not be trying it otherwise. Most importantly, let's have fun with this program. After all, if it's not any fun, there is no use in having it (which is a big reason why tournaments were dumped).

    As the above paragraph strongly implied, only join if you actually can put in the time and effort to get a lot out of this. This thread is for signing up to be either a student or a tutor. At the top of your post, please indicate in bold text which position it is that you are signing up for. Once we get six students, we will delete any more applications to be a student, but will will accept up to six applications to become a tutor (the 3 moderators of S&M are all going to be tutors this time to ensure that things flow smoothly). Dark Azelf, Britney Spears, and myself will determine who the last 3 tutors will be. Also, if you are an established member of the community, we urge you not to sign up as a student, as the purpose of this project is to increase activity. This is for newer players who need help adapting to competitive battling. Lastly, if you are banned on the PokéCommnity Server, you are not eligible to be a tutor or a student, and your post will be deleted.

    The sign-up forms for being a tutor or student are below. Some parts ask for basic information, and others will ask a question that should be answered thoughtfully and thoroughly. That doesn't necessarily mean your answer should be long--it just needs to answer the question. Good luck!

    Tutors

    To apply to be a tutor.

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):
    Time Zone:
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]:
    What makes you qualified to be a tutor? In other words, why should we choose you?
    What do you consider to be your specialty when it comes to competitive Pokémon?

    Students

    Sign-Up Form

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):
    Time Zone:
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]:
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional]
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively?
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?

    Participants

    Tutors

    1. Dark Azelf
    2. Anti
    3. Britney Spears
    4. Jake♫
    5. Aurafire
    6. Wolf.

    Students

    1. Vrai
    2. .Aero
    3. Skip Shot
    4. natedogg
    5. ƒαstεr thαŋ α bullεt
    6. yankee0724

    Pairings

    Dark Azelf / .Aero
    Anti / ƒαstεr thαŋ α bullεt
    Britney Spears / natedogg
    Jake♫ / yankee0724
    Aurafire / Skip Shot
    Wolf. / Vrai
     
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    Vrai

    can you feel my heart?
  • 2,896
    Posts
    15
    Years
    • Age 29
    • Seen Oct 24, 2022
    ; A ;

     
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    Izanagi

    Jesus Saves.
  • 467
    Posts
    14
    Years
    • Age 28
    • Seen Mar 14, 2011
    I take it you need wifi to participate D:
     

    Denzer

    Why so serious?
  • 381
    Posts
    15
    Years
    • Seen Jul 19, 2013
    STUDENT!
    No, the server I run, that PC uses is where this is held. Requesting Dark Azelf

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Dark Abyss, Solstice, Super Luigi
    Time Zone: GMT -7
    How active are you? Pretty active. Online at least 2 hours a day.
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional] I run the server this is held on XD.
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? I've won some tourneys on Teamuber and can get over 1300 on Smogon.
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? Team Building >_>
     
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    Jake♫

    ► My Happy Little Pill 
  • 2,941
    Posts
    16
    Years
    TUTOR

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):
    Jake♫
    Time Zone: GMT -5 (EST)
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: Very active, on for at least a few hours daily.

    What makes you qualified to be a tutor? In other words, why should we choose you? :
    (Excuse my paragraph-age)

    I've been battling for ~a year now (I think at least), and I think I've become a rather good competitive battler. I know the ins and outs of the current metagame, I keep up with it. I know how to build teams (But I always look for/need help, as I'm not perfect. I can get the job done though.), and how to attempt to cover type of play-style (Except stall kills me, re: DA owning my butt twice with it earlier), whether it means having a certain counter for a threatening Pokemon, or it means entry-hazard proofing a team so stall doesn't totally run through it. I know which threats are huge, and I know when novelty things should be little slivers in one's head when it comes to team building. My prediction is decent, and I try to attempt to know when to play conservatively or go full-out prediction to effectively counter the opponent's thought process.

    But I will say this: I'm not the best battler that PC has to offer, and I'm well aware of that. In fact, other people that will probably apply for the job are most likely better than me (Wolf, Pokedra, etc.). But if there is one thing I do have, it is total and complete determination. I'm determined to this project, and I have since the idea was brought up (Although I DID share some skepticism with Anti, it's understandable). And if there is anything I want to get out of this program, there are really two things: To help people, and to earn more knowledge myself. Helping people is something I love to do (Which would explain why I want to become a counselor lol), and passing knowledge on something as simple (On the world-level at least, but competitive battling is quite complex lol) as knowledge of competitive battling is a step in the right direction. Plus, working with some of the community's best battlers will ensure that I personally will learn more myself.

    All-in-all, I guess it comes down to my determination to help people, the knowledge I have, and my drive to get better by both helping people, learning a little along the way, and talking with the more experience battlers of S&M to help my student.

    What do you consider to be your specialty when it comes to competitive Pokémon? I'd have to say (I'm going through the categories you provided in the OP) either the basics of competitive battling or adapting to the metagame.
     
  • 197
    Posts
    14
    Years
    • Seen Aug 8, 2012
    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Bedlam Beldum

    Time Zone: GMT -5

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: Monday - Friday: 4pm - 8pm. Saturday & Sunday: All day mostly, though I'm in and out at times, but I'll receive messages sent.

    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional]: I'm amazing

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively?: Um...I've been playing Pokemon for about a year, though in these last 3 months is where I feel I need the most help. Oh and if you guys are gonna use ladder rankings, I can get to 1500 on Smogon pretty easily...though it's not relevant to why I'm signing up.

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?: How to utilize different team styles mostly.
     

    .Aero

    Tell Me I'm A Screwed Up Mess
  • 1,767
    Posts
    16
    Years
    I'm an established member and such...but I highly doubt you guys actually want me to be teaching people. xD *has low self confidence*

    And is this PC Server true? :D Has my dream become a reality?

    Student Sign-Up

    PokéCommunity Server Username(s):
    Aero (although I'm not sure...is the PC Server same as before? If not, it will be Aero...)

    Time Zone: EST (-5:00, Anti and I live in the same general area I believe)

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: Active enough to do this. xD No. I'm highly active. :P It may not seem so anymore, but I do visit about 5-10 times a day. There hasn't been much to do lately. I think I should point out that I work from 5-9 on Wednesdays and 1-5 on Saturdays (assuming it's a normal schedule).

    Is there anything you want us to know about you? I liek mudkipz. And I really need help in utilizing my team, and I think it'd be nice to learn a bit more about exact changes that natures and EVs can do by memorizing what OHKO's, 2HKO's, ect.

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? Quite a bit...ever since D/P came out, I hopped right in I guess. It's pretty easy for me to makes teams, I just can't use them.

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? Utilization!
     

    Izanagi

    Jesus Saves.
  • 467
    Posts
    14
    Years
    • Age 28
    • Seen Mar 14, 2011
    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Izanagi

    Time Zone: EST

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]:
    I log on everyday

    What makes you qualified to be a tutor? In other words, why should we choose you?
    Because I'm the best when it comes to battles!

    What do you consider to be your specialty when it comes to competitive Pokémon?
    Brute power and overwhelming force
     

    Aurafire

    provider of cake
  • 5,736
    Posts
    16
    Years
    TUTOR

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):
    Aura

    Time Zone:
    GMT -5

    How active are you?
    I go on PC when I should be playing attention in class =/

    In other words, PC is very important to me and I pride myself in being very active in S&M and in the community as a whole.

    What makes you qualified to be a tutor? In other words, why should we choose you?


    So I've been battling for well over a year now and I'm pretty confident in the skills I've acquired during that time. S&M of course is my favorite forum on PC, and by lurking/posting in the many different RMTs and discussion threads we have, I think my grasp of the metagame is pretty solid. A lot of it is second nature to me by now since I go on shoddy quite a bit and browse over movesets on Smogon when I'm bored (/no life). When I'm checking out a RMT or a moveset in the sticky thread, I can identify problems and common threats pretty easily and I'm always confident in the advice I give to newer players.

    In terms of the actual tutoring program, I liked and supported the idea from the beginning. I love helping people out with competitive battling, and I'm glad we're doing this on the Shoddy server instead of over a thread on PC. You guys know I'm on there a ton, and if I'm chosen to be a tutor you won't have to worry about me being inactive or anything. I'm confident I could help you guys out a lot ;D

    What do you consider to be your specialty when it comes to competitive Pokémon?


    Team building for sure. I can usually whip up pretty decent teams in no time at all that aren't horribly metagame weak with good flow/synergy. Many of the crapload of teams I have saved on my computer have served me very well, whether I'm battling casually or battling for a tournament. A few of them I'm confident could do very well on the ladder if I actually put my mind to it...lol.
     
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    Skip Shot

    I'm back. I think.
  • 1,196
    Posts
    16
    Years
    STUDENT

    PokéCommunity Server Username(s): Skippy

    Time Zone: PST (GMT-8?)

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: I'm online mostly on weekends, unless I'm off at a water polo tournament or other event. I can also show up sometimes on weekdays when I have little homework.

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively?
    I've been a member of PokeCommunity for over a year, the last 4 months of which I have really become better in competitive battling. I don't ladder around much due to my computer having some technical errors with Shoddy (1 battle every 3-4 hours or so), but I have gained a lot of experience from watching some of the top battlers in PC and Smogon battle, and reading several of their battle logs/warstories.

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?
    The only successful teams I have ever been able to build are hyperoffensive teams, and in the OU environment. I could really use help in the Uber and UU tiers, and learn how to effectively utilize stall or bulky offense.
     

    natedogg

    Ahhh, it's so hot...
  • 154
    Posts
    15
    Years
    • Age 29
    • Ohio
    • Seen Nov 16, 2011
    Student

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): natedogg, WaffleCopter

    Time Zone: Eastern Time(Which I think is -5 GMT)

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: I'm pretty active. I'm on everyday. At least 1 hour. Most of the time more than that.

    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional] Nothing really. Just some pokemon help

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? I have been playing pokemon competitvely for about 6 months now. I watch ALOT of youtube battle videos to help me get better. I got that basics down and now I just need to learn how to create good teams and learn how to use them. I also need to learn about different play styles.

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? Learn how to create good teams and use them. Learn different play styles.
     

    Valarauca

    I > U for all real values of U
  • 282
    Posts
    16
    Years
    Student Sign up


    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):
    -Valarauca
    -"-{:.:^:.:}-"

    Time Zone:
    -GMT -5 or USA Eastern Standard

    How active are you?:
    -Depends on several things, Classes (workload, classload), 1337 club (don't talk about it), WoW (not really a problem), Codename 'Fogre' development (side tracked), and If I feel like working on Shoddy Battle 2 today
    -Can normally be on 2 to 3 hours per day, at the very least one. My activity can will increase pending acceptance

    Is there anything you want us to know about you?
    - I'm fairly crazy

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively?
    - I've played on and off, broken smogon top 50 twice I think but that was in the old garchomp days

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?
    - Remembering counters and checks, and doing team rates to check for weaknesses, basically simple stuff
     
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    Pokedra

    Retired
  • 1,661
    Posts
    15
    Years
    • Seen Aug 21, 2016
    Tutor

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Pokedra, Unholy Darkness

    Time Zone: GMT +10

    How active are you? I check on PC everyday and I always drop by S&M first.

    What makes you qualified to be a tutor? I've been playing for nearly a year now and I ladder on Smogon regularly and also check out random RMT's and read articles on competitve battling when I have little else to do.

    I like giving advice to new people, I'm also very patient so I don't mind if the student likes to learn slowly. When we had the old server I was usually on and I'll do the same for the new server. If you do need some sort of ranking, I'm currently hovering around 1500 (1506 to be precise) but I could get higher if I had more time to ladder :<

    What do you consider to be your specialty when it comes to competitive Pokémon?
    My specialty is probably showing them what the metagame is like since I ladder heaps and read up too much junk on it lol. I can also help them with different tiers since I play most of them.
     
    Last edited:
  • 780
    Posts
    14
    Years
    PokéCommnity Server Username(s):RayquazaLv.X
    Time Zone:+9.30(Adelaide's time.)
    How active are you?:Very active.
    Is there anything you want us to know about you?:Well,I'm bad at calculating some stuff.
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively?:I feel like I'm a newbie.
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?:EV Training,IV Breeding,calculating EVs and IVs.
     

    Alternative

    f i r e f l y .
  • 4,262
    Posts
    15
    Years
    Sign-Up - Student
    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Faster than a bullet
    Time Zone: GMT+9:30
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: I try to get on for at least 3-4 hours everyday
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional] Not really :P
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? I have made a couple teams, that always fail because they all have a theme.
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? The whole thing, but I'd really like to improve on my Team-building skills and move-sets.
     

    Anti

    return of the king
  • 10,818
    Posts
    16
    Years
    Thanks for the applications, guys! We are actually going to accept more than 6, contrary to what the OP says (though judging by some of the applications I have a feeling a lot of people didn't even read it). We'll close this down sometime tomorrow, so make sure to apply if you haven't already. Also, I would like to stress this:

    Original Post said:
    Also, if you are an established member of the community, we urge you not to sign up as a student, as the purpose of this project is to increase activity.

    This is not a requirement or anything, but we're only going to take one or two "S&M regular" members for the reason in the quotation.
     

    Salvation

    To be saved.
  • 392
    Posts
    14
    Years
    Students

    Sign-Up Form

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Thoughts
    Time Zone: Utc-4 / GMT-5

    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: Im on nearly everyday lurking PC and Smogon and my weekends are all dedicated to Shoddy (and my life).

    Is there anything you want us to know about you? No not really but I guess if it helps, I really like it and I just generally want to get more rounded skills.

    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? I have a fair amount, I play on shoddy often, I've posted a few teams here and there (:

    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? I think i need to learn to have a more offensive mindset as I generally play Stall and fail at any offensive progress =(
     
  • 154
    Posts
    15
    Years
    Sign-Up - Student
    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): yankee0724
    Time Zone:US Eastern idunno the GMT +/- stuff.
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: I lurk the forums a lot,too lazy to log in most of the time. on shoddy quite a bit,probably like 3-4 hours a day in total?
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional]: im too sexy for my shirt?
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? like 6 months since i found out about shoddy?im at like 1120ish but I've used the same account from when I started so yeah.
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?pretty much countering threats I don't think of and knowing when to stay in or switch.
     
    Last edited:
  • 824
    Posts
    16
    Years
    Students

    Sign-Up Form

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Dr Gregory House
    Time Zone: GMT +10 (AEST)
    How active are you?: As active as possible on the forums... have never used shoddy before... I feel totally new to all these acronyms and everything...
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? I really suck at battling...
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? None really...
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler?
    Being able to know when to use which movesets against which Pokemon.
    Acutally, just everything about competitive battling and battling itself.
    XD
     
    Last edited:

    Phoenix2389

    ex-Gym Leader and Ice Warrior
  • 56
    Posts
    14
    Years
    Student

    PokéCommnity Server Username(s): Pokerangerphoenix
    Time Zone: -6/Central
    How active are you? [NOTE: "Active enough to do this" is NOT an acceptable answer.]: Pretty Active, Im on during the week and weekends
    Is there anything you want us to know about you? [optional]I just strated experimenting in the UU and NU Tiers but if my tutor needs me to go back to OU I can.
    What experience do you have playing Pokémon competitively? Ive battle a few poeple here but have gotten beat down, I also participated in The OU Get-Togerther singles tourny
    What do you feel like you need to improve on to become a good battler? Team Support and movesets and Coverage.
     
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