EonX / Molk
Now on Sundays!
Hello and welcome to Player of the Week. This thread hopes to increase the visibility of prominent RU players to the community and the outside world while promoting both users and the strategies that they find to be effective in the metagame. If there is someone you would like to see interviewed, feel free to drop me a PM.
SilentVerse
Favorite Pokemon: Surskuit
Most known for: Co-leading the RU tier
Favorite Playstyle: Semistall
Most used Pokemon: Alomomola
Now on Sundays!
Hello and welcome to Player of the Week. This thread hopes to increase the visibility of prominent RU players to the community and the outside world while promoting both users and the strategies that they find to be effective in the metagame. If there is someone you would like to see interviewed, feel free to drop me a PM.
SilentVerse
Favorite Pokemon: Surskuit
Most known for: Co-leading the RU tier
Favorite Playstyle: Semistall
Most used Pokemon: Alomomola
Leer: What is it like being Co-leader, what do you do, and how did you get there?
SilentVerse: Hmm, well, being a co-leader is a pretty cool experience. I was Co-leader for BW RU in certain parts of it though, so it's not a totally new experience! Basically, what I most do is talk with Molk about what Pokemon we feel deserve to be suspected, and whether or not we should suspect them We also talk about stuff involving subforum activity, who to badge, etc. Basically, my job as tier leader is to give Molk someone to bounce ideas off to help him straighten out his thoughts and stuff. Before I officially became Co-leader, I did this anyway haha, and once it was decided that it was preferred that tiers had co-leaders rather than just one person leading the tier, Molk just made me co-leader :).
Leer: So you're pretty well known for liking bug types, which one has been your favorite to use?
SilentVerse: In terms of shitty bugs, Butterfree will always be my fave because just beating people with a Butterfree is such a rewarding feeling lmao (like seriously, try it). However, if we're talking about bugs that I'm actually going to use in a competitive match, I'd probably say Durant, because it's a surprisingly versatile mon imo that has a lot of cute things that it can do even with its limited movepool.
Leer: What non-bug is your favorite in RU?
SilentVerse: Cobalion is probably one of my favorite mons rignt now in RU, and it finds its way on basically all my non-stall teams lol (ok that's not a lot of teams but still). I like how it's a fast Stealth Rock setter with Volt Switch and a great typing, which lets it pivot effectively while setting up rocks. It's also a decent sweeper with Swords Dance, and can surprise things like Doublade pretty effectively with things like Calm Mind and Hidden Power Ghost
Leer: What pokemon has given you the most trouble in battle?
SilentVerse: This is probably a bit of a lame answer, but I would have to say RU suspect candidate Moltres. Hurricane off its Special Attack just is extremely hard to deal with barring Assault Vest Slowking, and a well-played Moltres can outmanouever Slowking by doing things like luring it in then double switching to trap it with Pursuit. It's a super strong Pokemon that is very difficult to deal with right now imo.
Leer: How, in your opinion, does this gen compare to last?
SilentVerse: Mmm, in all honesty, I'm not a fan of this gen. I think that a lot of the changes managed to fix some of the glaring problems of BW (broken sleep, broken dragons, overly hazard reliant meta), but they also introduced a lot of problems of their own that have made this gen kinda meh (Knock Off being basically the best move in the game, overly matchup-reliant games, etc). Maybe it's just me being salty about all the changes that have occured in the past two gens (I did start in DPP after all). As a result, I do have to say I enjoyed BW2 RU more than XY RU atm, but XY RU is a still a decent metagame in its own right.
Leer: What do you think RU has over other tiers, and what do you think RU has that players would like?
SilentVerse: Hm, if I'm to be honest with you, I think a really cool thing about RU is that it has a really awesome community that's super fun to be a part of. #rarelyused is super active a lot of the time, and there's a lot of really cool discussion both about mons and not about mons that goes on there. #rarelyused's community is a big draw to RU imo, and if you haven't got on the chan before I'd recommend that you do! In terms of the tier itself, RU has a different flavor than UU and NU that is pretty interesting. It's not quite like NU which is a lot of bottom of the barrel mons, nor is it like UU which is mostly standard Pokemon that don't quite get enough use in OU because of the recent power creep; it has somewhat solid Pokemon that are a kinda good, but not amazing. There's also a lot of creativity that springs up because of this, which I'm sure any player who enjoys using different things will enjoy. I dunno what else to say tbh, RU is just a fun tier haha, and I think that there's just a lot of things for people to enjoy about it :).
Leer: If you could change one thing about your overall experience, what would it be?
SilentVerse: I guess I'd have liked to have gotten into the community a bit sooner than I did. I didn't really get that involved on Smogon until user: Nails invited me into #rarelyused back when BW RU was still young. However, I'd been playing DPP UU way before then and did reasonably well on the ladder (though I can't say I was honestly that great of a player). Had I gotten into the community then, I probably would've been able to be a better player. That being said, I've enjoyed my time on Smogon and with Pokemon quite a bit, and even though I'm less active nowadays due to my newfound passion for League of Legends (which may or may not be consuming me, rip), I still enjoy just chattin with people in #rarelyused and watching ShakeItUp donk people with his legendary RU pride teams. So in that sense, I don't think I'd change a thing :).
Leer: What advice do you have for new players?
SilentVerse: Don't be too afraid to jump into the tier! Lurking is always good, but honestly the best way to get into the tier or community is to talk to people who play it. Getting on #rarelyused and just hanging out is a great way to get into the community, since even though Smogon might come off as a bit pretentious, we're really just a bunch of cool dudes who play a game we find fun. In terms of becoming a better player, it's all about learning from your mistakes. Watch replays of good players playing, and reflect on games you've lost / won and see where you could improve. Maybe you made an overly risky play that cost you a lot of momentum or you played too passively and let your opponent walk all over you. Just take note of what you can improve, and try to put that into practice in your next games. And, if you really need it, don't be afraid to ask me or some other players on some advice about your plays, I'm sure we'd be willing to help :).
If you have any additional questions for SilentVerse, you can ask him!
What did you think about this week's interview? And again, if there's a player you want see interviewed, feel free to PM me.
SilentVerse: Hmm, well, being a co-leader is a pretty cool experience. I was Co-leader for BW RU in certain parts of it though, so it's not a totally new experience! Basically, what I most do is talk with Molk about what Pokemon we feel deserve to be suspected, and whether or not we should suspect them We also talk about stuff involving subforum activity, who to badge, etc. Basically, my job as tier leader is to give Molk someone to bounce ideas off to help him straighten out his thoughts and stuff. Before I officially became Co-leader, I did this anyway haha, and once it was decided that it was preferred that tiers had co-leaders rather than just one person leading the tier, Molk just made me co-leader :).
Leer: So you're pretty well known for liking bug types, which one has been your favorite to use?
SilentVerse: In terms of shitty bugs, Butterfree will always be my fave because just beating people with a Butterfree is such a rewarding feeling lmao (like seriously, try it). However, if we're talking about bugs that I'm actually going to use in a competitive match, I'd probably say Durant, because it's a surprisingly versatile mon imo that has a lot of cute things that it can do even with its limited movepool.
Leer: What non-bug is your favorite in RU?
SilentVerse: Cobalion is probably one of my favorite mons rignt now in RU, and it finds its way on basically all my non-stall teams lol (ok that's not a lot of teams but still). I like how it's a fast Stealth Rock setter with Volt Switch and a great typing, which lets it pivot effectively while setting up rocks. It's also a decent sweeper with Swords Dance, and can surprise things like Doublade pretty effectively with things like Calm Mind and Hidden Power Ghost
Leer: What pokemon has given you the most trouble in battle?
SilentVerse: This is probably a bit of a lame answer, but I would have to say RU suspect candidate Moltres. Hurricane off its Special Attack just is extremely hard to deal with barring Assault Vest Slowking, and a well-played Moltres can outmanouever Slowking by doing things like luring it in then double switching to trap it with Pursuit. It's a super strong Pokemon that is very difficult to deal with right now imo.
Leer: How, in your opinion, does this gen compare to last?
SilentVerse: Mmm, in all honesty, I'm not a fan of this gen. I think that a lot of the changes managed to fix some of the glaring problems of BW (broken sleep, broken dragons, overly hazard reliant meta), but they also introduced a lot of problems of their own that have made this gen kinda meh (Knock Off being basically the best move in the game, overly matchup-reliant games, etc). Maybe it's just me being salty about all the changes that have occured in the past two gens (I did start in DPP after all). As a result, I do have to say I enjoyed BW2 RU more than XY RU atm, but XY RU is a still a decent metagame in its own right.
Leer: What do you think RU has over other tiers, and what do you think RU has that players would like?
SilentVerse: Hm, if I'm to be honest with you, I think a really cool thing about RU is that it has a really awesome community that's super fun to be a part of. #rarelyused is super active a lot of the time, and there's a lot of really cool discussion both about mons and not about mons that goes on there. #rarelyused's community is a big draw to RU imo, and if you haven't got on the chan before I'd recommend that you do! In terms of the tier itself, RU has a different flavor than UU and NU that is pretty interesting. It's not quite like NU which is a lot of bottom of the barrel mons, nor is it like UU which is mostly standard Pokemon that don't quite get enough use in OU because of the recent power creep; it has somewhat solid Pokemon that are a kinda good, but not amazing. There's also a lot of creativity that springs up because of this, which I'm sure any player who enjoys using different things will enjoy. I dunno what else to say tbh, RU is just a fun tier haha, and I think that there's just a lot of things for people to enjoy about it :).
Leer: If you could change one thing about your overall experience, what would it be?
SilentVerse: I guess I'd have liked to have gotten into the community a bit sooner than I did. I didn't really get that involved on Smogon until user: Nails invited me into #rarelyused back when BW RU was still young. However, I'd been playing DPP UU way before then and did reasonably well on the ladder (though I can't say I was honestly that great of a player). Had I gotten into the community then, I probably would've been able to be a better player. That being said, I've enjoyed my time on Smogon and with Pokemon quite a bit, and even though I'm less active nowadays due to my newfound passion for League of Legends (which may or may not be consuming me, rip), I still enjoy just chattin with people in #rarelyused and watching ShakeItUp donk people with his legendary RU pride teams. So in that sense, I don't think I'd change a thing :).
Leer: What advice do you have for new players?
SilentVerse: Don't be too afraid to jump into the tier! Lurking is always good, but honestly the best way to get into the tier or community is to talk to people who play it. Getting on #rarelyused and just hanging out is a great way to get into the community, since even though Smogon might come off as a bit pretentious, we're really just a bunch of cool dudes who play a game we find fun. In terms of becoming a better player, it's all about learning from your mistakes. Watch replays of good players playing, and reflect on games you've lost / won and see where you could improve. Maybe you made an overly risky play that cost you a lot of momentum or you played too passively and let your opponent walk all over you. Just take note of what you can improve, and try to put that into practice in your next games. And, if you really need it, don't be afraid to ask me or some other players on some advice about your plays, I'm sure we'd be willing to help :).
If you have any additional questions for SilentVerse, you can ask him!
What did you think about this week's interview? And again, if there's a player you want see interviewed, feel free to PM me.
