Welcome back to the fourth episode of Draft Player Interviews! I'm your hostess with the mostess, the superstar on your screen, Tidal! Happy New Year to everyone, and we have a very exciting auction for the Draft Winter League right around the corner, which means I've gotta get back in business after enjoying some paradise, paradise. But it looks like today I have a very special guest for you all! She's one of the best and the innovator of modern SWSH, a massive rat fan, and I have got to know where she got those shorts! We've got Addison joining us on the show today!
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Good afternoon Addi! How are things going today, and can you tell us a little bit about yourself for those at home who may not know who you are?
Hihi, things are going pretty well today! Just playing with my pet rats in my living room while I do this interview.
Well like Tidal said, my name is Addi. I've been around the draft league scene for some time now. I originally started playing in a lot of casual leagues then became a frequent wifi draft league player for a couple years. Eventually a few years ago I transitioned to the competitive showdown side of things, playing and sometimes captaining in DCL and DLWC. But every now and then I do still go back to playing wifi draft league on my youtube channel. I suppose my biggest contribution to Smogon Draft is the new and improved Gen 8 Draft League tier, in which I overhauled a very outdated tier list and turning the very boring and frequently despised tier into something now I think a lot of players enjoy!
Outside of mons, I am just a gothy, witchy girl who lives in London with my wife, has 3 beautiful rat sons, and enjoys the outdoors. I'm an enthusiast about various other things, such as urban planning and exploration, social justice, fashion, vegan cooking, reality TV, and some other darker things I probably shouldn't mention on this site! I was born in Michigan, in the States, and underwent the very complicated process of upending my life and moving to the United Kingdom all the way back in 2022, and much of that decision defines my interests, my chosen family, and who I am today as an individual.
Wow, seems like you've got a lot going on, but hopefully you're enjoying everything to the fullest! I think I do recall seeing some photos of your pet rats at some point in time, they're adorable.What originally got you into Draft League and Pokemon as a whole, and what are some of your fondest memories with the franchise? I would assume some kind of YouTuber got you into Draft based on our previous track record of guests!
So when I was a kid I used to collect the trading cards, and I remember I didn't know how to actually play the card game, so I would make up my own games with my brother. I remember one of them involved us literally going back and forth "drafting" cards and battling with them in whichever way we decided to on the day. Eventually I got my first game which was FireRed, but the game I really fell in love with was Pokemon Platinum. I was absolutely obsessed. I would say that game definitely was the main catalyst for my spiralling into the franchise. My favorite Pokemon of all time is Togekiss. Its purely because of nostalgia. I stupidly traded my starter away to a friend at school and then afterwards I remember getting Cynthia's Egg in Eterna City and it instantly became my new "starter", as I literally solo'ed the rest of the game with it, and raised that Togepi from Level 1 all the way to a Level 100 Togekiss.
I definitely did watch a fair bit of draft league, but when I was young I remember being more obsessed with the OG walkthrough guys, like Chuggaconroy, SuperSkarmory, and Marriland. They all dabbled a bit in competitive pokemon though. My interest in Pokemon waned a bit in high school when I was busy with other hobbies. But even though I wasn't playing pokemon much in high school, when I did get the urge to play, I would load up MonoType random battles or find quick catch-and-evolve tournaments, so the competitive itch was there. The full itch returned in 2018 which was the summer between my high school and undergrad.
I remember then starting to watch competitive wifi battles and eventually stumbling upon a ton of YouTubers many of who I am sure have been named by others on here before. Draft League found its way into the mix and I was hooked, particularly on a YouTuber named Kooper Koushiro, who I just absolutely loved his commentary, editing, and unapologetic gimmicky strategies and desire to timer out his opponents which royally pissed off the rest of the league. I remember I scoured the internet looking for publicly listed Draft Leagues to join, and I eventually stumbled across a draft league that I joined and HATED, but I met one nice guy in the community named Mathew who I befriended, he invited me to his casual friends league and the rest is history. And Mathew and I are still incredibly close to this day! In fact he really helped me in my move to the UK.
That's really sweet! I say this every time but learning how people fall in love with the game that we play has got to be one of my favourite parts of the interview series, and seeing how friends are made through shared experience is always heart-warming, major shout out to Mathew.
Since starting your competitive career across DCL, DPL, DWLC and more, you've definitely made a major name for yourself as one of the best SWSH players out there, as well as becoming a very accomplished manager leading The Judgment Day all the way into Finals, what are some highlights of your experience so far and how does it differ from being a player to a captain?
Thank you! Yea when Rye recruited me for DCL 1 my goal was just to not make a fool out of myself, and hilariously I actually did just that in my first ever DCL game. I was playing Toxic and I felt I was playing quite well, but I didn't even know the timer was on (and I hardly even knew how it worked), and I timed out like on Turn 11 or something. I was really grateful that Rye and Xing, my captains for that tour, gave me another shot and I really worked my ass off to finish that season with a positive record. I think had my legacy been that one game I would not be held in the same regard others hold me today.Honestly, being a captain is tough work. Its exhausting, especially handing so many players with different skills, ideas and perspectives every week, but at the end of the day all the decisions come back to you and go well-back into the auction. Sometimes a bad decision you made at the auction will cost you in finals of the tournament. That feeling is incredibly devastating and deeply frustrating. That being said, the highs are immaculate. I haven't won a team tour yet, so I haven't felt it at that level, but even when your player succeeds in a major upset win with your support, its a really really good feeling.
On the other hand, being a player can be freeing in its own way. You can focus much more on yourself, and you can rely on more support in the form of your captains to help you succeed. This flexibility is what allowed me to have my 8-0 season in DCL 2, which has always been a highlight, especially because at the time I still sort of felt like a wild card player. My biggest highlight will always be capping Judgment Day alongside Almighty Rye in DCL 3 though. Even though we didn't win, the team atmosphere was spectacular. And the talent on our team was so strong that I didn't feel like I ever needed to win every week for us to succeed. I told the team if we won finals, that I would get the logo tattooed on my arm. I loved them so much though that I did it anyways in spite of our loss in the end. I guess the only other funny highlight was Team UK in Draft League World Cup last year. Actually my first time ever captaining! We were almost out in the first two weeks and then proceeded to have the flukiest run to finals I think I have ever seen in any team tour. The major sticking point for me will always be the people - I feel like whenever I captain a team I am not only a competitive resource, but I am there for my players in any other way they need as well, and I have developed deep friendships with a lot of my past players as a result.
You've gone through a whole lot over the last few years of draft league from the looks of things, and I'm glad its seemed to all be memorable and fun, especially that insane DCL II run that really cemented your position as one of the best in the SWSH business. The first game as a new player in these high level team tours is always so scary, I nearly got thrashed by a Scarf Krookodile and a Mega Diancie counter lead but I am eternally thankful for not getting swept and being able to hold onto some of my dignity. Speaking of SWSH, your tournament SWSH Champs ended recently, and DWL is just about to kick itself off with the auction tomorrow at the time of the interview, what have been some of your absolute favourite drafts you've used or seen and why, and what fun and exciting things do you think are worth trying this time around?
Here's the thing - I actually haven't really tried to campaign much for certain Pokemon to be used nor theorized what people might have their eye on. There are quite a few players in DWL who I think are quite a bit better than me at drafting and I'm just really interested to see what they come up with. We've made a lot of usage-based drops in the tier again, so I am hoping to see some unexplored Pokemon get trialed out.
Last DCL my best draft by far experimented with Porygon-Z, a Pokemon that had virtually zero usage in the tier prior, but because it was dropped in price, it found a strong niche on my team and was a powerful force. I know there are soooooo many other mons in the low tiers with that capability.
I also think it will be interesting to see the first few picks in the draft. It used to be pretty established that Garchomp was #1 and Tornadus-Therian was #2, with Tapu Koko and Landorus-Therian following, but now you have a lot of people holding opinions that shake up that "established order" of the Top 4, saying Garchomp has fallen off or that Tornadus-Therian or Landorus-Therian is actually #1 in the format. I genuinely have no idea what the order will be and as such I suspect it might end up being more fluid than anytime in recent history. Then obviously its a question of which drafts can actually win. I'm excited to see how it all plays out! Feels fun being a spectator in all of this for once.
I wasn’t aware of the shift up of Landorus-Therian becoming number one, that's super interesting! Im sure that a lot of people will continue experimenting with some of the mid and lower tiers for powerful breakers or interesting utility pieces, I know I have my eyes on a few things…Time for some more fun questions though!
What’s your favourite meal to eat? If you were alone on an island with only one other member of the Draft community, who would you want to be with? What’s some of your favourite kind of music to listen to?
Favorite meal is probably these spicy jackfruit tacos I have been making. I'm also a big fan of Massaman Curry.
I would probably share an island with Rye. We get on super well and I think we would manage okay.
I do listen to a bit of metal and hyperpop like people probably assume but I am mostly frequently caught listening to hip hop and a lot of trap.
Some good taste! That should wrap things up for now though, do you have anything you'd like to say or any shoutouts before we open up the Q and A section?
Thanks for having me and good luck to everyone in DWL!
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That brings our 4th episode to an end, folks! Go ahead and fire away your burning questions, while I try to catch some sleep, enjoy my summer rest, and hopefully finish 100% completing Mario Galaxy 2 before Uni comes creeping up on me! I'll see you all again soon, and stay fresh!
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