Hey, Floss here. I've been tier leader for nearly two years by now, and while it's been an eventful period with its ups and downs, I've made the choice to step down from the position at this moment in time. I feel like now is a better time than any, with the meta-game having a period of time to stabilise after the hectic year of tiering we've undergone. It might come as a surprise, but there are multiple reasons I feel that I can't serve the role of tier leader to a sufficient extent anymore. When I was first promoted, I took on the role with great enthusiasm, since I felt that this tier had been stagnant for a while at the time, and progress was needed to be made. However, I've come to the realisation that there are administrative roles and positions in this community that I have no enjoyment in performing, and nearly considered even quitting Smogon as a whole before I identified the issue. I had been treating the position as my obligation or duty to the community, but it ended up dragging me down with it. In the end, I just want to play 'mons and hang out with people who I consider friends. In that sense, I hope for the community to appreciate the efforts of the current tier leaders in ken and Rio Vidal (terrible name change, by the way), and any people who take on the role in the future, as they have much more involvement in aspects like maintaining the forums and the smooth running of the tier itself, and why I am confident that they will be able to handle my departure with little to no hiccups. At this point in time, there is no plans for someone to take my place.
On a bit of a tangent, one of the goals I had come into the role with was to facilitate the introduction of Monotype into SCL. By the end of my tenure, it seems we have fallen further away from any hope of inclusion in an official team tour, with Draft being set to take up a spot coupled with SCL's expansion to 12 slots. This seems like just another indication that Monotype as a tier is not viewed highly by the people in charge of these decisions. There have been numerous attempts to get Monotype into SCL in the past, and we have been rebuffed at every step for no shortage of excuses. Meanwhile, the TDs are putting their utmost effort into making Draft (an inherently unique format) feasible for inclusion in a team tour, dealing with any potential hurdles as they come, which is an allowance that has not been offered to Monotype in the past.
That being said, I do believe that the Draft community has done an incredible job in growing as they have since their affiliation with Smogon, and I want to congratulate them on their seemingly guaranteed inclusion in the next iteration of SCL. The inclusion of Monotype does not have to rely on the exclusion of Draft, or any of the other lower tiers in the tour. I have spent time in all of these communities at some point or the other in the past, and there are a number of wonderful people in them that I've had the pleasure of teaming up with for numerous team tours. I know some of them would be willing to support Monotype in this endeavor as well, so it is counterproductive to try to get in the tour at the cost of one of these tiers, especially considering they offer value themselves. If there was truly a will to give Monotype an opportunity, the number of OU slots could easily be reduced from 4 to 3 (a past hotly debated topic even in SPL is whether 4 SV OU slots are too much, with the alternative being 2), which would make room for Monotype's inclusion in a new format. I have regrets that I wasn't able to achieve this goal during my time as TL, but I hope the tier can rally together to show the merits of what we can offer to the official tours community. I wish luck to the community in this matter, and hope we can see the inclusion of Monotype in officials in the future.
On a bit of a tangent, one of the goals I had come into the role with was to facilitate the introduction of Monotype into SCL. By the end of my tenure, it seems we have fallen further away from any hope of inclusion in an official team tour, with Draft being set to take up a spot coupled with SCL's expansion to 12 slots. This seems like just another indication that Monotype as a tier is not viewed highly by the people in charge of these decisions. There have been numerous attempts to get Monotype into SCL in the past, and we have been rebuffed at every step for no shortage of excuses. Meanwhile, the TDs are putting their utmost effort into making Draft (an inherently unique format) feasible for inclusion in a team tour, dealing with any potential hurdles as they come, which is an allowance that has not been offered to Monotype in the past.
That being said, I do believe that the Draft community has done an incredible job in growing as they have since their affiliation with Smogon, and I want to congratulate them on their seemingly guaranteed inclusion in the next iteration of SCL. The inclusion of Monotype does not have to rely on the exclusion of Draft, or any of the other lower tiers in the tour. I have spent time in all of these communities at some point or the other in the past, and there are a number of wonderful people in them that I've had the pleasure of teaming up with for numerous team tours. I know some of them would be willing to support Monotype in this endeavor as well, so it is counterproductive to try to get in the tour at the cost of one of these tiers, especially considering they offer value themselves. If there was truly a will to give Monotype an opportunity, the number of OU slots could easily be reduced from 4 to 3 (a past hotly debated topic even in SPL is whether 4 SV OU slots are too much, with the alternative being 2), which would make room for Monotype's inclusion in a new format. I have regrets that I wasn't able to achieve this goal during my time as TL, but I hope the tier can rally together to show the merits of what we can offer to the official tours community. I wish luck to the community in this matter, and hope we can see the inclusion of Monotype in officials in the future.
