approved by forum mods, real logo coming for the next episode next week! Perrin sprite by Ezerart
Welcome one and all to the second episode of Draft Player Interviews! I'm your hostess with the mostess, the superstar of your screen, Tidal! It's been a while since we've had one of these, but we'll be pumping them out more often over the holiday season and more in the future! Today, we have a special guest who was very hard to get a hold of due to insane schedules, but I always do the best for the fans! Last year's Draft Circuit Champion, the maestro of sog and the mightiest of dogs, we have SoggyDoggySage!
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Good morning Sage! How are things going?
Hi Hannah Tidal! (Yeah i can call her that cause we're just chill like that lol, no big deal) I am tired! Sometimes it feels like that's all I can say recently but I don't want it to seem like I'm just begging for pity or anything, the reason is really that I'm just working as hard as I can to save up money in order to escape America. I've been working giga overtime at two jobs which leaves me with not a lot of time for much else but overall I'm content and hopeful.
Sounds like a lot is going on for you, but know that we’re all cheering you on and want the best for you! Especially some rest once you make it out of America. Could you tell us a bit more about yourself for the people at home who might not know?
Hmmm I'm really bad with introductions but I'll try. Well.. uhhh, my name is Sage! I am a girl who sometimes enjoys Pokemon and often times does not. I beat the Silksong high halls gauntlet on my first attempt. My height is currently 5'2 (I'm shrinking for unknown reasons and am closer to 5'1 now). I really enjoy things like music and movies (the good ones). I'm at least like, pretty darn good at wrapping burritos and... uhh... well I'm just not really an interesting person am I lol. Interviews and stuff kinda stress me out because I never know how to present myself in an endearing way and being perceived is terrifying. I usually only interact within very small groups but I promise it's not because I like hate humanity or whatever, I'm just an overly anxious person. Seriously, this whole passage took me like half an hour (sorry Tidal...). Wait was this question supposed to be about draft things? I assumed that was for later.. Yeah, it's probably a later question.
You did a good job though! I doubt anyone could possibly think you’re terrifying after this interview at the very least, and there’s no need to be anxious about an interview and especially not one conducted by me, though your attempt at clarification with hating humanity was. Somewhat threatening. Don’t worry about time too, I’ve got plenty and I’m sure everyone wants to get to know one of the best SV players in recent history! Speaking of some of your accomplishments, like winning last year’s draft circuit and being on the Foxes this DCL (let’s brush past DPL), you’ve also scored yourself an SCL trophy as part of the Shoguns! We’ll talk about that later though. How did you get into Pokémon and Draft to begin with?
I appreciate the kind words! (And also you skimming past DPL (Althooooough I did meet you through it so it's not all bad))
Pokemon has always been a part of my life for as far as my memories go back, the oldest thing I can remember is watching someone in my family playing Pokemon Stadium on a crt. I couldn't tell you what my first game was nor what my first Pokemon was but my heart lies around the gen 3/4 era. Unfortunately I can't trace my history with the series very well because I could never hold a save file too long, I always felt compelled to delete them and start over again and again, all of my memories kind of blend together when I look back.
During my middle school phase the main way I interacted with Pokemon became nuzlocke challenges. The main appeal for me though wasn't just to make the game harder, it was moreso because it allowed me to create emergent stories in my head with all of my Pokemon acting as the characters. Marriland's HeartGold wedlocke challenge shaped my young mind and I kinda became obsessed with trying to recreate that magic for myself lol, I even used to keep a big notepad doc on my phone where I'd write "obituaries" for my fallen Pokemon. (Nickname) the (Species) - Lvl - nature - (all my favorite memories with them). I had a huge record of all my memories and stories that were just for me, It was my main "passion project" throughout school honestly.. The note docs are gone but I still have what remains of my memories.
During this time I also started to get into draft league videos. I don't really remember what my gateway was, I think I found UCL through Patterrz and from there I found Pokeaim who became my main gateway to competitive mons. I forgot what league it was but I just remember watching him vs MegaMogwai and my little baby gamer brain expanding... Also watched a lot of aDrive, I remember him going on a crazy impressive playoffs run in GBA season 5(?) and I was so inspired I was like "Woah.. he stayed in turn 1 with Mega Aggron vs Lando I and just got up rocks even though he could've died? Can he do that? Can you just do that?". I remember NPA season 2 where they had like 24 players in a gen 6/7 draft and every team just looked horrible lol. I used to always imagine what it would be like to play in a draft league but alas, I didn't want to put myself out there on Youtube and that was the only way to get in one... Oh baby Sage you stupid moron.. I stopped following the draft scene come Gen 8 because SWSH decided nobody is allowed to have good things and made the battle timer 20 minutes so the wifi scene kinda died down.
It wasn't until 2023 where I was aimlessly playing rand bats instead of sleeping when I absolutely should've been when I noticed a little advert on the main screen of Showdown. "Signups are now live for OR/AS draft!". Before this I had never even considered the possibility that I could play in a real Pokemon tournament, it had generally not crossed my mind that that was a thing I could just do. My only experience came second hand from watching Youtubers unless you count playing random battles on the school chromebook instead of actually doing what I should've been doing, but that was so low-commitment, and I didn't really have to put myself out there. For the first time I let myself consider what it would be like to give my full effort to something real, something that wasn't just for me or in my head. I had just barely convinced myself to actually click on that link to the signup sheet before nodding off to sleep. When I woke up I decided to make a Smogon account and sign up. I was beyond excited and nervewracked when I got the notification for my draft pool. I remember seeing ultraplayer there and everyone was just talking about how good he was and I was starstruck for someone i never even heard of before lol. When I played my first pools game and won I almost passed out, I couldn't fathom that it was possible for me to win at something.
I ended up making it to top 64 before playing King L5 and this BITCH ASS MOTHERFUCKER CRIT ME TWICE THROUGH SCREENS AND HAXED ME OUT. He literally needed both to win that game.. I was LIVID. His ass is lucky that replay is gone... I will never forget this pain, I had finally learned what it was like to be a competitive Pokemon player.
Seems like a long, long history of pokemon for you, and I always love hearing about how people fell in love with the franchise. I actually think my first draft league video I ever watched was an USUM league with GameboyLuke using some kind of Mega Scizor team in the WBE, so it’s cool to see that kind of similarity between us! I’ll be making sure to ping L5 in the thread so he sees this…Onto more recent events though, like I had previously brought up, your tournament success! What are some of your favourite moments from each of them?
My first tournament win was the GBA fan tournament thingy back in 2023, it was also my first SV tournament. This was right after the first batch of dlc dropped and there was a lot of bonkers stuff available like tera Dragonite, Baxcalibur, and Roaring Moon. Meanwhile my tera was Tusk lmao.. It actually ended up being a very good anti meta pick because it owned all the big Dragon Dancing setupy guys, Eiscue went overtime for similar reasons. I remember being so excited to make top 16 because they actually decided to stream the entire tournament from there, forcing everyone to speed prep for like an hour in between matches. It was easily some of the most fun I've had with draft honestly, having the exact same amount of time to prep as everyone and having the entire thing take place over a day made me feel like a certified esports gamer girl with a sponsorship deal for gfuel and everything (use code SOGGY at checkout for 50% off your order).
Fighting GeniusX is semis was a crazy memory because everyone was hyping him up as the greatest player ever and I remember going outside to like meditate and think on the matchup before coming inside and transcribing it into a paste in like 5 minutes. For transparencies' sake let it be known he was very tired at that point because of timezone shenanigans so I don't really consider it a true victory but at the time I felt very happy with myself and he was awesome to talk to after the game so I had a ton of respect for him. When I won I saw my little sister in chat popping off for me lol, it was very sweet. This was the perfect first tournament for me to win, not just because it made me feel like a #eAthlete but because I also won a physical banner with the GBA logo on it. This is one of my favorite possessions now, a flag of a nostalgic league from my youth to commemorate my first real accomplish in mons. Having tangible proof for my efforts wasn't something I had ever had before.
My first Smogon tournament I won was Low Tier draft of that same year. It may have been a c-tier tournament but there was a ton of big names, the format was also swiss so it lasted like 13 weeks or something insane like that lol. Anyways I lost my round 1 game and it depressed me so much I left the server. I was ready to just stop playing mons altogether but I decided I might as well keep trying. Eventually I made it to my top cut qualifier match and somehow found myself barely making it in. From there I prepped and played better than I ever had and I felt unstoppable. I kinda sorta absolutely destroyed 100p, but that wasn't even my favorite win. I fought Gypsy King in semis and that matchup to me was what I dreamed of. I seen a lot of his vids from back in the day and generally knew of his reputation as being the best ever so I felt more motivated than ever. TO BE FAIR my matchup was VERY good, like 95-5, by no means am I saying I am the bestest ever for winning such a matchup but I will not lie to you I felt incredible.. Also that was the first and only time I got to bring Pikachu and it got like 3 kills. I don't think there's a more satisfying way to get kills than clicking Volt Tackle with Pikachu.
Gonna skip some for the sake of brevity. I also did some team tour stuff as well but I kinda feel like that's its own thing, also I don't particularly feel proud of any of them.
im personally very happy that you continued participating! You’re someone I think a lot of people look towards when it comes to prominence in the tournament scene and I think that you’ve also inspired a lot of people to give it their all this year in competing, so you should be proud of those efforts as well. We love the sog dog.Let’s go a bit outside of mons and more into Sage, what are some of your other favourite hobbies or interests? Maybe a game of the year selection since that seems quite topical for right now as well!
The idea that people idolize me in the way I idolized others 2 years ago kind of scares me and I don't know how to reckon with that lmao. Anyways.. hobbies! I do enjoy me some music, I've flirted with the idea of making music for a long time but I never did end up going through with it yet. I've been highkey slacking on finding new music recently though, as well as movies and books and anime, etc... One of my new years resolutions is going to be forcing myself to find the time to experience more art I know for a fact I'll adore. As for a game of the year list? Well I haven't played a ton of games that RELEASED this year but I have played quite a few games this year I'd already consider all-time favorites. Split Fiction isn't one of those but playing it drunk while in vc with Olivia was one of my favorite memories this year so it gets an honorable mention from me lol.
Hollow Knight Silksong is the big ol elephant in the room so I'll get it out of the way, I adored my time with this big, generous, buffet table of a game. The original Hollow Knight was already a game I adored but I had played it after Silksong was announced so I wasn't exactly anticipating it so much, I just tacitly accepted it would release one day and I'd play it and I'd love it. A lot of words have been spilled about the difficulty but as someone who had 150 accumulated hours in Hollow Knight I very much appreciated the training wheels being taken off the world feels dangerous in a way that was only resesrved for maybe one or two areas in Hallownest. The art direction and music are about as stunning as you'd expect too. The whole game goes down so smoothly for me, this is what a "comfort game" is to me honestly.
Nine Sols is a similar game being a "metroidvania" with soulslike elements but it's one I find myself drawn too even more due to how emotional the story made me. Seeing the otherwise cold protagonist gradually warm up to his de-facto adopted son and nurture his pure childlike curiosity for the world.. Yeah that's just everything to me. There's a TON of cynicism in this game's story and characters but throughout it all there is a pervading hope for future generations to do better. Also yeah these boss battles are pure crack cocaine so there's that. The climax of this game is quite possibly the coolest thing, maybe ever. There's an OLDBOYesque hallway scene man... It's just.. it's so good... it's soooo good.
Z.A.T.O // I Love the World and Everything In It is a free visual novel that released like a month or so ago and it has already rearranged my brain chemistry. I seldom see myself in any protagonist in any story and when it does happen I often wish I DIDN'T see myself in them.. So when I find myself reading actual lines of dialogue that feel so familiar that I could've swore I wrote them I find myself feeling completely humbled, I saw such a close representation of my own mentality in the protagonist and despite that I was able to love her wholeheartedly, it was nice. The overindulgent, melancholic, inner monologue ramblings set to the background of a dead winter in a small town is basically how I spent my whole life lol. I love it when art can give you a new perspective on things you once hated. Am I making any sense right now? Idk man it's 2am lmao. I'm just gonna leave it!
Shout outs Deltarune Chapters 3 and 4 btw, not technically a full game but it's probs my game of the year... I refuse to attempt to articulate my feelings on it though because I would simply need days to do this.
Engaging with art that you love is always a very self-fulfilling experience and it’s never something that can disappoint, and I personally feel like it’s something thats more important now than ever. Lots of games here too, noticeably indies which I love to see. We asked our previous guest this, but what are some of your favourite drafts that you’ve used throughout your career?
DPL season 8 was it? The one where I was on Band Chasers I used Tornadus-T, Hamurott, Glowking, Kyurem, Donphan, Whimsicott, Baby Rotom, Eiscue. It felt like a very generic squad but it was sooo nice to use, had everything I really could want any matchup. Also just had a lot of good memories associated with that team given how that season was kind of my peak team tour performance lol. Also I feel like I might've put Baby Rotom on the map that season. Other than that the REAL broken team tour draft I had was the one I had DCL on Armory. Garchomp, Tera Zarude, Deo-S, Cinderace, Gholdengo, Enamorus-Table, Lapras, Electivire. Really was the dream squad honestly, there was not a single matchup that even felt bad (except one but I meditated on it and solved it completely and utterly). Genuinely unfair combination of mons and it shouldn't ever happen again. I had all the hazard vomitters I could want, resists to everything, Potent offense on either side, endless versatility in any mon, screens, Tera Zarude, perfect speed tiers, screens, Lapras, screens. This wasn't the first draft I used Lapras on but it was the one that fully solidified it as being my favorite Pokemon ever when it was already one I adored. I even got a Lapras sweater when I was in London with Olivia and now it's probably my favorite item of clothing I own lol, I also have a big ol Lapras plush on my desk and a Lapras card in my phone. Throughout all my life I've never been able to say I've had a favorite Pokemon but I think it's solidified now and it's half thanks to this team... I lost exactly one game with this team because I was sick as a dog and forgot how to click the super effective button on the guy in front of me.
Another team that stands out to me is one of my circuit drafts: Great Tusk, Glowking, Iron Bundle, Ogerpon, Thundurus-T, Diancie, Ditto, Sandslash-A. Unlike the other drafts I listed this one's kinda dookie dog butter, I liked it significantly less than my other 2 circuit drafts when bracket began. The team was lacking a ton of crucial resists and it looked awkward as hell to play with but it ended up being SO much fun to prep and play with. Every mon kinda felt like it had an x-factor I guess? Every week I'd look at the matchup and think it was awful but by the end I'd have it completely solved, partly because the counterplay to all these mons was so obvious it was easy to prep and play around. This team ended up performing the best out of all my circuit drafts and all 3 games I played with it are among my favorite I've ever played. The team was awkward as hell and basically all these mons are dropping in points now but for a brief moment in time I made it work and I will always have a big soft spot for it.
I remember watching the circuit finals myself and it was my favourite game of yours I’ve watched! Noticing a surprising amount of snow combos here…just saying....Thank you so much for being with us here tonight Sage! Any other things you’d like to say before we open up the Q&A?
I guess I just want to give out a general big "thank you" to the community. When I first made my Smogon account I truly didn't feel like I had much of anything going for me, now I have a wife, a tightly-knit friendgroup, and lot of random people who like my Smogon posts and @ me to congratulate me on random things and dm me nice comments. It's impossible to stress just how much I've changed as a person in the last few years so I owe a ton to this community that I don't really know if I'm capable of giving back. I have often times wished I could be more active in the community, to help out more and to be a positive person who can answer pings right away but I simply haven't figured it out yet. I have no idea what my future with mons is going to be, I haven't felt motivated to compete in anything in a long while and I simply don't have time to prep or even play my games in a way I can be proud of. Most of the tournaments I've signed up for in the past year I've forfeited out in pools (I reckon I have about 2 more Tour signups to go before Scion starts deleting the posts himself). Last year I saw the movie "Kiki's Delivery Service" for the first time and the phrase "I hope it comes back" has been bouncing around in my skull ever since. My passion for the game wanes and everytime it comes back its stay in my heart gets shorter and shorter. Regardless on if it comes back stronger next time I just want to remind myself how blessed I am to have this experience at all. Signing up for my first tour was the best decision I've ever made.
Anyways as my first grand gesture in learning to Respond To Messages Right Away I hereby promise that every question will be answered IMMEDIATELY (As long as I'm not asleep or at work)
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That concludes our second Draft Player Interview! As you know, now you have the time to ask Sage any kind of questions that you have! The next interviews will hopefully go up right before Christmas, so we'll see you again soon!
