RU Player of the Week 2: Molk

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Week 1: EonX
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.


Molk
Favorite Pokemon: Scraggy
Most known for: Leading the RU tier
Favorite Playstyle: Bulky Offense
Most used Pokemon: Moltres
Leer: What's it like being tier leader?
Molk: It's a pretty interesting experience tbh. It's really nice to know that a bunch of players look up to you, but you have to be responsible with the decisions you make. If you mess up even a little bit, it's going to have a pretty big effect on the tier as a whole. A lot of people were annoyed with me that I didnt start up the Yanmega/Zoroark suspect ASAP, but that was because i was unsure of whether or not doing it was a good idea/reasonable at first. Of course it ended up being perfectly reasonable in the end and both ended up getting banned, but there have been times in the past where I've had to flat out say "no" to suspect testing/quickbanning something, most notably in the early period of XY RU when the entire council except for me wanted Escavalier gone, only to realize it was perfectly manageable as time went on. It's also important to note that you have a pretty big influence and that other people will do things you do whether they're good or not

Leer: What's your favorite part of being tier leader, if you had to pick one?
Molk: Knowing that you have so much influence and that so many players look up to you is really nice, especially if you know you're being helpful. It's also nice to see your efforts to improve something pay off when you're a tier leader, just kinda lets you know you're doing it right.

Leer: does XY RU compare to BW/BW2 RU?
Molk: I don't really prefer either metagame over the other, I find both of them fun. Metagamewise they're pretty different imo (I mean how could they not, the changes between BW and XY were quite significant in general, even going down to the type chart), although some of RU's best Pokemon in BW make a return in XY such as Slowking, Moltres, Amoonguss, Durant, Escavalier, and Druddigon.

Leer: What is/was your favorite part of each?
Molk: The relative balance of both makes them enjoyable. Both metagames had some really big offensive and defensive threats, but they were manageable enough to keep the metagame from imploding. BW2 RU had some things that could have arguably warranted a suspect test, but there was never really a massive outcry to suspect something post Hail, although there were times where certain Pokemon were brought up. When it comes to playstyles, XY RU is damn good. I've had had success with pretty much every playstyle from offense to full stall in the current metagame, and I don't think that'll change until ORAS comes around. BW2 RU was a bit more biased towards offense, but more defensive teams (such as the famed augstall) still existed and could be quite effective. Something else cool about BW2 RU was the room for creativity; many of the best mons in the tier could run multiple different sets effectively and a lot of NU and even PU were more than viable in the RU tier even if they didnt see much use, so there was always something new to try, at least in my experience

Leer: What Smogoner(s) has/have been your favorite to work/play/hang out with?
Molk: Most people around here know that I've done all kinds of silly stuff with Trop over the years, although he doesn't really play mons anymore. Some of my other favorite people on smogon include New Breed, Oglemi, SilentVerse, tennisace and many more! There are really too many to all list here. In fact, the last time I tried doing that was in my 3k RMT, the list of shoutouts was so long that it was twice as long as the RMT itself .___.

Leer: You have a lot of high-ranked ladder alts, and can ladder for long periods of time. For the few women of Smogon, does this stamina transfer into...other things? But in all seriousness, how do you ladder so long?
Molk: It just comes naturally to me. I tend to ladder when i'm bored and at this point of my life I'm bored quite a bit. I do tend to use......teams that aren't exactly serious to help break the monotony though.

Leer: If you didn't play RU, what tier or tiers would you play?
Molk: NU probably, there was a period of time where I actually left RU to play NU a lot in BW1. I made a lot of friends there so it probably wouldn't be hard for me to get back into it again. Also, a lot of NU players play RU and vice versa.

What advice do you have for new players?
Molk: Lurking is always a good idea, but don't be afraid to ask questions either on the simple questions thread or on IRC. There are a bunch of resources in every tier, let alone RU that should help you get into the metagame as well. In general IRC is a really good place to get help and to get started imo. A lot of RU's best users happen to be mentors as well, feel free to contact them if you need help (there's a list in the resources thread here). Also, don't use Claydol.

If you have any additional questions for Molk, 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.
 
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where do i find good dads

seriously
<Molk> also
<Molk> i think my dad reads my irc logs
<Molk> :s
<woodchuck> lol
<Molk> because he told the janitor
<TFC> why would your dad read irc logs
<Molk> that he was an insufferable (BAN ME PLEASE)
<Molk> and that he needed to get on his level
<woodchuck> rofl
<TFC> hahahahaha
<Growlithe> your dad manages to get through all the mibbit bs
<alkinesthetase> your dad told someone to goml
<Texas> lol
<alkinesthetase> wtf rofl
<Growlithe> to read logs?
<yee> lol
<Growlithe> and goml irl is hilarious
<Molk> idk
<Molk> a few months ago
<Molk> my dad started saying things i say online
<Growlithe> lol
<Molk> and things trop says too
<Molk> :s
<alkinesthetase> lmao
<yee> lolng
<Molk> oh wait
<Molk> let me see
<Molk> if i can find a letter
<Molk> that was sent to me from the school
<Molk> he put it back in the envelope
<Molk> and wrote on the envelope
<Molk> >implying we give a shit about any event your school is having
<woodchuck> lol
<TFC> no way
<Growlithe> HAHAHAHAHA
<yee> rofl
<alkinesthetase> he greentexted
<alkinesthetase> on an ENVELOPE!?
<Molk> YES
<Molk> HE EVEN USED THE >
<Molk> correctly
<alkinesthetase> that is fucking legit
<TFC> well thats pretty great
<Level-51> LOL OMG
<TFC> yo molks dad
<TFC> youre awesome
<TFC> when you read this
<Texas> ^^
<yee> i love you
<Growlithe> ^
<woodchuck> lol
why is ur dad so cool
 
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atomicllamas

but then what's left of me?
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Molk said:
Of course it ended up being perfectly reasonable in the end and both ended up getting banned, but there have been times in the past where I've had to flat out say "no" to suspect testing/quickbanning something, most notably in the early period of XY RU when the entire council except for me wanted Escavalier gone, only to realize it was perfectly manageable as time went on.
Was Hot N Cold the entire council o.o

As for muh ama's for Molk

Do you like the NP songs I choose?

What pokemon do you most want to drop from UU?

What pokemon is the most underrated atm?
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
where do i find good dads

seriously

why is ur dad so cool
Man he's just weird, not cool o_O.

Was Hot N Cold the entire council o.o

As for muh ama's for Molk

Do you like the NP songs I choose?

What pokemon do you most want to drop from UU?

What pokemon is the most underrated atm?
I don't really listen to the np songs, not gonna lie (except hello kitty because you sang it on skype, that was p. funny tbh).

I'd really like to see a lot of Pokemon drop from UU, Jolteon was RU's first relevant drop in literally *YEARS*, so it's kinda annoying to see everything stay stuck up in UU every time. Some of the Pokemon i'd like to see in RU most include (regular) Houndoom, Milotic, Scrafty, and Diancie.

I'm not sure if i really have a choice for *most* underrated, but i've gotta say that Gurdurr's up there. I haven't seen/used a lot of Gurdurr since the end of the Zoroark metagame, but in my opinion it's still a pretty cool mon that should be seeing some usage, and the few times that i have seen it used since then it's actually been quite threatening. It's still incredibly physically bulky thanks to Eviolite, it's still a solid offensive check to various RU Pokemon such as Sharpedo, Exploud, Heliolisk, Drapion, Shiftry, Rhyperior, Cobalion, and Virizion (it can take +2 CC from both of those and KO both back with Drain Punch+Mach Punch, impressive)! and it's still a pretty solid set up sweeper with great longevity thanks to its aforementioned bulk and passive recovery in Drain Punch. Nothing's changed there. Some Pokemon such as Aromatisse and Moltres are a bit annoying, but murdurr can still work around them.

Some other Pokemon that i've seen around that i think are a bit underrated are Sandslash (solid dedicated spinner, better than Claydol for sure), Sneasel (really fast Dark-type with solid coverage, really cool against offensive teams thanks to the aforementioned Speed), and the two Gourgeists (really physically bulky, XL spinblocks pretty well, small is incredibly annoying with its Subseed shenanigans).
 
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EonX

Battle Soul
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What set / Pokemon that you've used lately has been more effective than you originally thought it would be?
 
What is the most fun joke team you have ever used since you started playing RU in black and white?
Also how does it feel to be a 23 yr old girl on a Pokémon site?
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
What is a normal day in Molk the Great's life?

In all seriousness my life outside of smogon is pretty boring rn, nothing you or anyone else here would wanna hear as it stands now sadly =(.


What set / Pokemon that you've used lately has been more effective than you originally thought it would be?
I'm not sure if there's anything recent but i've gotta say that Fletchinder really surprised me in how well it performed back when i first tried it on team NFE. Fletchinder was originally a joke Pokemon, it wasn't designed to accomplish much and i didn't really expect it to do much of anything. But lo and behold the standard set that's onsite now (SD, Acro, Wisp, Roost w/ no item) actually did its job as a revenge killer and cleaner pretty well, and ended up carrying the joke team NFE countless times, i was astounded! It got way more set up opportunities than you'd think, even unboosted Acrobatics was enough to threaten frail offensive teams, and Will-O-Wisp was exceptionally effective at crippling resistances to Acrobatics, most notably Rhyperior. Eventually it actually ended up getting popular enough to move up to RU by usage just because of how surprisingly well it performed o_O, and here we are today.

What is the most fun joke team you have ever used since you started playing RU in black and white?
Also how does it feel to be a 23 yr old girl on a Pokémon site?
Pawniard's Wrath for sure. It was honestly a ton of fun to play with during the entirety of the time that i used it (i still use it on occasion now when i'm bored), and despite its silly origins it actually ended up working out pretty well (it landed me at #1 on the *suspect* ladder, let alone the regular one where a lot of great players don't come out to play). The seemingly random build actually ended up being decently antimeta, given i made it during the Shuckle metagame and the team had Toxic Spikes, a Pokemon with Defiant and an 80 BP priority move, and a Pokemon that was as fast as Choice Scarf Braviary even *after* the speed drop. I remember a bunch of people using cookiecutter webs teams actually lost to this lol.

If not Pawniard's wrath, i'd probably have to go with my BW2 RU team *CREATIVITY*, which managed to do well on the ladder and beat some good players in challenge matches just like pawniard's wrath. If you haven't seen that team, it had gems such as Mightyena, Yanma, and Choice Scarf Hidden Power Grass Spiritomb!

to the second question: .____.

what's the cutest viable Pokemon in RU and why is it ROCK WITH EYES
Meloetta Cinccino and Reuniclus are all pretty cute i guess.
 
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If you were an evil professor plotting the end of the world... what RU mon would you use and what set?

And for a srs question.. what playstyle is your least used, and why do you think that is so?
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
If you were an evil professor plotting the end of the world... what RU mon would you use and what set?

And for a srs question.. what playstyle is your least used, and why do you think that is so?
Not an RU mon but i'd use Ditto, it can literally be anything i want at any time so there's no reason not to choose it.

Uhhh.... i'd probably say defensive balanced is my least used playstyle. I don't have anything against defensive balance at all, but it seems that whenever i try to build it i always run into the problem of either turning it into Bulky Offense or Full Stall =/.
 
....
If not Pawniard's wrath, i'd probably have to go with my BW2 RU team *CREATIVITY*, which managed to do well on the ladder and beat some good players in challenge matches just like pawniard's wrath. If you haven't seen that team, it had gems such as Mightyena, Yanma, and Choice Scarf Hidden Power Grass Spiritomb!
...
I remember that, the best thing Kenny (Feranfell)'s set, it outspeeds and ohkos Kabutops. About Molk, a tier leader always willing.
 
Why are PO players so much better than smogon players?

How come you didn't join grandslam or spl?

When are you suspecting Reuniclus and Moltres?

When am I getting on council?

if you could remove 1 mon from RU that isn't banworthy, to make the meta healthier, what would it be? (apart from Doublade :])

If you never found smogon what do u think ud be doing instead?
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Where did your username come from?
It actually used to be a really dumb name (MoltenKyurem) but for whatever reason everyone seemed to call me Molk from day one so i eventually had it changed.

Why are PO players so much better than smogon players?

How come you didn't join grandslam or spl?

When are you suspecting Reuniclus and Moltres?

When am I getting on council?

if you could remove 1 mon from RU that isn't banworthy, to make the meta healthier, what would it be? (apart from Doublade :])

If you never found smogon what do u think ud be doing instead?
idk, if you mean general ladder i guess because PS suggests outright bad mons/sets on occasion.

because i suck

idk

eventually

Claydol and Hitmonchan because banning them would force people to stop using them and find better options.

idk

Arikado said:
when will I be qc?
I've actually asked about this, havent gotten a reply from the rest of QC yet.
 
Why are po players better than smogon players in smogon tourneys?
Best Mon in Ru right now?
Best nu Mons in Ru?
 

Molk

Godlike Usmash
is a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
Why are po players better than smogon players in smogon tourneys?
Best Mon in Ru right now?
Best nu Mons in Ru?
Already answered the first question for Afro Smash, dunno for tournaments tbh.

Moltres and Meloetta are incredible imo.

Gurdurr is a big one, although there are a lot of NU mons that are solid in RU
 
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