Approved by Eien , Acast & Vid
Based off of OU PotW and Gen 6 Mono PotW
Based off of OU PotW and Gen 6 Mono PotW
Welcome to the eleventh edition of Monotype Player of the Week!
(credits to Seo. for the banner)
During this project, I will be interviewing some of the most influential players in Monotype today whether it be based on their exceptional contribution to the metagame or their outstanding performance in tours. If anyone has suggestions on who should be interviewed next, feel free to PM me your ideas.
This week I decided to change things up and interview an up and coming player after being suggested alternating between top players and those. This week we have a veteran player that has been at the top of the tier since BW.
Zukushiku
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
- I live in Viña del Mar, Chile and I'm just starting my freshman year as a medical student at Universidad de Valparaiso. I'm really excited, I've always loved everything involved in this area and met already wonderful people so I feel like this will be an amazing experience. Recently I discovered that I don't only have a passion for science but for airplanes and the idea to fly around the world as well, so it's just matter of time to see what happens.
In my free time I like to watch movies, play some videogames and hang out with friends especially during the summer which is when most of us don't have much else to do, it would be a shame to not go to the beach at least once per week living so close to it.
What are you most known for?
- Probably for my performance in tournaments especially in MPLs with those solid records at BW Monotype and perhaps as a nice dude because I'm a guy that is really easy to get along with.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
- I discovered PS early 2013 around January, I used to play a lot of random battles and joined some monotype tours (back then they were hosted on challonge and monotype wasn't even a tier) pretending to be a gym leader, pretty much the generic idea of people that start playing monotype. I can't really say that was when I started playing "competitively" because I just played for fun and used teams with the first thing I thought of, for example I used a scarf Wormadam-Sand once lol.
I got more serious around February-March when I started playing with better teams and joined a league which made me like monotype even more. Despite the competitiveness was always there, this tier helped me to never drop the true essence of playing pokemon which was have fun and that made me stay and play in a long term. I can't deny that the people I met thanks to monotype is another strong factor as to why I stayed on PS for so long, now that I think about it it's been 5 years already.
What is your favorite Pokemon in general and favorite one to use competitively?
- My favorite pokemon so far is Gengar, I've loved it since gen 1 and no other pokemon could ever replace it, it looks really cool to me and everytime I use it, it never disappoints me. I'd say my favorite competitive pokemon is Gengar too but if would have to choose without being biased then I would pick Latios, it is such a versatile pokemon and can pretty much do anything, it was one of my favorites back in gen 5 too.
What is your favorite type?
- Might be a coincidence or not but it is either Ghost or Poison. Both types are incredibly fun for me to use and I always enjoy using them. Probably in the current metagame I would choose Poison because it is way more consistent and it can be adapted to my playstyle very well, also it has got a lot of pokemon I like such as the obvious Gengar, Nihilego, Venusaur and the unkillable Toxapex. Another type I've enjoyed since Gen 5 is Bug, building and playing with it is also tons of fun.
How about your favorite playstyle?
- I consider myself as a really versatile player because I feel comfortable with most playstyles, even stall but, I must say that bulky offense is my favorite because it gives me more freedom when it comes down to plays allowing me to be more unpredictable, I can either play safe or be really aggressive making the game way more intense.
As someone who has experienced many past Monotype metagames, how do you think the present USM meta fairs compared to BW and ORAS? Do you particularly enjoy any of the new editions or do you miss the way it used to be?
- I think USM Monotype is currently a very interesting metagame, it is fairly balanced and the type diversity for tournament play is really good and you're not really limited to use only standard teams so the metagame feels really fresh, more than ORAS but I'd say that not more than BW. Right now, I personally enjoy BW more than all, this doesn't mean I dislike new mechanics, Z-Moves and mega evolutions but I miss the old BW monotype, mainly because I feel it is a balanced metagame, way more than people think it is, and doesn't actually revolve around 3 or 4 types which makes teambuilding always fun, less restricted and allows me to use innovative teams with success. I'm not exaggerating when I say there hasn't been a single BW battle I haven't enjoyed. I think it is rather disappointing when all you see are Dragon teams in important tournaments because BW is so much more than Dragon and Fighting, I really hope people consider other types next MPL and notice how fun the tier actually is.
ORAS was a stale metagame for me and I hardly ever enjoyed it due to how limiting teambuilding was, I hope things get better after Hoopa-Unbound's ban but only time can tell. I'm looking forward for a Shadow Tag suspect, despite I'm not that experienced in ORAS I feel it can be nearly as uncompetitive as it was in SM so it is definitely something to keep eye on.
(credits to Seo. for the banner)
During this project, I will be interviewing some of the most influential players in Monotype today whether it be based on their exceptional contribution to the metagame or their outstanding performance in tours. If anyone has suggestions on who should be interviewed next, feel free to PM me your ideas.
This week I decided to change things up and interview an up and coming player after being suggested alternating between top players and those. This week we have a veteran player that has been at the top of the tier since BW.
Zukushiku
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
- I live in Viña del Mar, Chile and I'm just starting my freshman year as a medical student at Universidad de Valparaiso. I'm really excited, I've always loved everything involved in this area and met already wonderful people so I feel like this will be an amazing experience. Recently I discovered that I don't only have a passion for science but for airplanes and the idea to fly around the world as well, so it's just matter of time to see what happens.
In my free time I like to watch movies, play some videogames and hang out with friends especially during the summer which is when most of us don't have much else to do, it would be a shame to not go to the beach at least once per week living so close to it.
What are you most known for?
- Probably for my performance in tournaments especially in MPLs with those solid records at BW Monotype and perhaps as a nice dude because I'm a guy that is really easy to get along with.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
- I discovered PS early 2013 around January, I used to play a lot of random battles and joined some monotype tours (back then they were hosted on challonge and monotype wasn't even a tier) pretending to be a gym leader, pretty much the generic idea of people that start playing monotype. I can't really say that was when I started playing "competitively" because I just played for fun and used teams with the first thing I thought of, for example I used a scarf Wormadam-Sand once lol.
I got more serious around February-March when I started playing with better teams and joined a league which made me like monotype even more. Despite the competitiveness was always there, this tier helped me to never drop the true essence of playing pokemon which was have fun and that made me stay and play in a long term. I can't deny that the people I met thanks to monotype is another strong factor as to why I stayed on PS for so long, now that I think about it it's been 5 years already.
What is your favorite Pokemon in general and favorite one to use competitively?
- My favorite pokemon so far is Gengar, I've loved it since gen 1 and no other pokemon could ever replace it, it looks really cool to me and everytime I use it, it never disappoints me. I'd say my favorite competitive pokemon is Gengar too but if would have to choose without being biased then I would pick Latios, it is such a versatile pokemon and can pretty much do anything, it was one of my favorites back in gen 5 too.
What is your favorite type?
- Might be a coincidence or not but it is either Ghost or Poison. Both types are incredibly fun for me to use and I always enjoy using them. Probably in the current metagame I would choose Poison because it is way more consistent and it can be adapted to my playstyle very well, also it has got a lot of pokemon I like such as the obvious Gengar, Nihilego, Venusaur and the unkillable Toxapex. Another type I've enjoyed since Gen 5 is Bug, building and playing with it is also tons of fun.
How about your favorite playstyle?
- I consider myself as a really versatile player because I feel comfortable with most playstyles, even stall but, I must say that bulky offense is my favorite because it gives me more freedom when it comes down to plays allowing me to be more unpredictable, I can either play safe or be really aggressive making the game way more intense.
As someone who has experienced many past Monotype metagames, how do you think the present USM meta fairs compared to BW and ORAS? Do you particularly enjoy any of the new editions or do you miss the way it used to be?
- I think USM Monotype is currently a very interesting metagame, it is fairly balanced and the type diversity for tournament play is really good and you're not really limited to use only standard teams so the metagame feels really fresh, more than ORAS but I'd say that not more than BW. Right now, I personally enjoy BW more than all, this doesn't mean I dislike new mechanics, Z-Moves and mega evolutions but I miss the old BW monotype, mainly because I feel it is a balanced metagame, way more than people think it is, and doesn't actually revolve around 3 or 4 types which makes teambuilding always fun, less restricted and allows me to use innovative teams with success. I'm not exaggerating when I say there hasn't been a single BW battle I haven't enjoyed. I think it is rather disappointing when all you see are Dragon teams in important tournaments because BW is so much more than Dragon and Fighting, I really hope people consider other types next MPL and notice how fun the tier actually is.
ORAS was a stale metagame for me and I hardly ever enjoyed it due to how limiting teambuilding was, I hope things get better after Hoopa-Unbound's ban but only time can tell. I'm looking forward for a Shadow Tag suspect, despite I'm not that experienced in ORAS I feel it can be nearly as uncompetitive as it was in SM so it is definitely something to keep eye on.
You are recognized to be one of the best Monothreat players, but do you enjoy other Monotype OMs? Is Monotype your favorite or just the one you've had more experience with?
- Thanks for the recognition, monothreat is my favorite monotype OM mainly because it is really fun to build for. For the same reason I've been trying other monotype OMs such as STABmons and AAA, both seem to be really enjoyable, however, those are more a casual thing for me as most of the games have been just for fun and I haven't really been that serious with what I have been using. I can't say for sure if I'll keep it that way or try to play them in a more serious environment in the future but for now I'll just stick to room tours and use whatever comes to my mind.
Right now I don't have a favorite tier but definitely monotype and NU are the two I enjoy the most, it is always fun to build for those mainly because you can always find a sick techs you can surprise your opponents with.
You unfortunately had a really rough season, did that effect your mentality in any way?
- I must admit that it did, it's not easy to deal with it when everybody expects such big things from you and even I had high expectatives from myself and then I failed them, I failed my teammates and I failed to live up my own expectatives and that was rough. At first, I took it in a really negative way because I'm a person that hates losing and I tend to be really hard on myself, maybe more than I should but I'm way too perfectionist at everything I guess, and all of that got me really unmotivated and discouraged me a bit from playing, not because of what people would say but I kept thinking that if I did better, our team would've had a better shot at playoffs and I mainly blamed myself for not making it. Then, I ended up moving on and accepting it, there wasn't much I could have done other than move forward and then proposed myself to perform better in the future.
Other than the competitive nature of it all, how was the tournament in general for you personally? Did you enjoy it?
- Although it was a rough season, I enjoyed it a lot mainly because of the atmosphere our team had, everybody was really nice and supportive. We used to talk a lot and discuss teambuilding, fun types or cores to work around and everyone was willing to help, sometimes we even talked about things that aren't related to pokemon at all. Due to all the social nature of our team I got to meet awesome people I didn't even know before or barely talked with such as KevinELF, Tyke and Racool. Definitely, this has been by far a great team tour experience and I'd lie if I said that I didn't enjoy it because I actually had tons of fun.
Speaking about tournaments, BLT is now returning! What do you think about it being brought back? Do you plan on participating, helping or spectating?
- It's really cool that monotype OMs are getting in tournaments and more attention, I think they have a lot of potential as they have been lead in a really good way and this helps most metagames to be developed better by getting more interest and a higher playerbase. I'm looking forward for BLT but mostly as a spectator, I want to take a break of tours in general so I won't sign up for this one. I was thinking about helping a team maybe and I think I know already who I'm gonna be rooting for and they are the Poppin' Hoppips, I can't deny I got captivated by their team name and logo.
Congratulations on being a "surprise" draft in SPL! Can you tell us a bit about how the experience so far? Is NU the only tier you play outside of Monotype? Do you prefer it over Monotype?
- Thanks, I'm pretty sure nobody saw this coming, not even me. I was really excited and surprised when I got drafted because I'm pretty much an unknown for the tournament community and I never really cared about making myself a name there either. My experience in SPL so far has been amazingly good despite I saw some things I didn't like that much such as the mindset some players have because you know, I'm the kind of guy that despises timer wins but either way, I think I couldn't have ended up in a team with cooler teammates and honestly most, if not all of them have gained my respect and the nice atmosphere has made me feel more comfortable and confident despite I'm new to all this. Although I have had good time in this tournament I'm not satisfied with my performance at all especially after my game against Earth and won't deny I was a bit frustrated after but, that made me realize that I still have a lot to learn and at the same time that motivated and encouraged me enough to get better and give the best of me in the future weeks.
Besides NU and Monotype, I used to play RU too but after I started seeing milotic and mandibuzz everywhere I got a bit discouraged from playing it and eventually dropped it. In a near future I would like to try OU and UU, both look appealing to me and I'm gonna have to blame Pak and Pearl for making me want to try UU after looking all those sick builds, I'm not gonna lie but I used to not like UU at all in the past.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype or trying to improve?
- If you need it you should look at the monotype resources and use them as they are really useful, in the same way, if you feel like you need some help you should definitely ask for it, there is a lot of people willing to help, including me. We all needed it at some point. Also never beat yourself up if something doesn't work or if you feel you didn't do well, it'll never help I assure you, instead, I recommend to move on and find ways to improve and do better in the future.
You are known for being an excellent builder, can you walk us through your team building process?
- My teambuilding process is pretty simple, I usually build around ideas that seem cool to me and I try to be able to handle most threats on common types. I know it's nearly impossible to be able to beat all types but at least having a good shot to win in most matchups is fine. If you're not experienced enough with the metagame I would strongly recommend to stick with top tier types as teambuilding is way easier.
Who are some of your favorite people that you met on Pokemon Showdown?
I've met a lot of cool people during the past 5 years that if I name them one by one I would never end but my closest friends on this site are Ticken , Kammi , Ashaury (tristemente dejaste PS), Clearly , Endal and most people in WoA, you all have been such nice dudes. Thanks for all the good moments we've had.
Finally, can you showcase a team that you think represents your style as a player and provide an explanation on how to use it?
- Thanks for the recognition, monothreat is my favorite monotype OM mainly because it is really fun to build for. For the same reason I've been trying other monotype OMs such as STABmons and AAA, both seem to be really enjoyable, however, those are more a casual thing for me as most of the games have been just for fun and I haven't really been that serious with what I have been using. I can't say for sure if I'll keep it that way or try to play them in a more serious environment in the future but for now I'll just stick to room tours and use whatever comes to my mind.
Right now I don't have a favorite tier but definitely monotype and NU are the two I enjoy the most, it is always fun to build for those mainly because you can always find a sick techs you can surprise your opponents with.
You unfortunately had a really rough season, did that effect your mentality in any way?
- I must admit that it did, it's not easy to deal with it when everybody expects such big things from you and even I had high expectatives from myself and then I failed them, I failed my teammates and I failed to live up my own expectatives and that was rough. At first, I took it in a really negative way because I'm a person that hates losing and I tend to be really hard on myself, maybe more than I should but I'm way too perfectionist at everything I guess, and all of that got me really unmotivated and discouraged me a bit from playing, not because of what people would say but I kept thinking that if I did better, our team would've had a better shot at playoffs and I mainly blamed myself for not making it. Then, I ended up moving on and accepting it, there wasn't much I could have done other than move forward and then proposed myself to perform better in the future.
Other than the competitive nature of it all, how was the tournament in general for you personally? Did you enjoy it?
- Although it was a rough season, I enjoyed it a lot mainly because of the atmosphere our team had, everybody was really nice and supportive. We used to talk a lot and discuss teambuilding, fun types or cores to work around and everyone was willing to help, sometimes we even talked about things that aren't related to pokemon at all. Due to all the social nature of our team I got to meet awesome people I didn't even know before or barely talked with such as KevinELF, Tyke and Racool. Definitely, this has been by far a great team tour experience and I'd lie if I said that I didn't enjoy it because I actually had tons of fun.
Speaking about tournaments, BLT is now returning! What do you think about it being brought back? Do you plan on participating, helping or spectating?
- It's really cool that monotype OMs are getting in tournaments and more attention, I think they have a lot of potential as they have been lead in a really good way and this helps most metagames to be developed better by getting more interest and a higher playerbase. I'm looking forward for BLT but mostly as a spectator, I want to take a break of tours in general so I won't sign up for this one. I was thinking about helping a team maybe and I think I know already who I'm gonna be rooting for and they are the Poppin' Hoppips, I can't deny I got captivated by their team name and logo.
Congratulations on being a "surprise" draft in SPL! Can you tell us a bit about how the experience so far? Is NU the only tier you play outside of Monotype? Do you prefer it over Monotype?
- Thanks, I'm pretty sure nobody saw this coming, not even me. I was really excited and surprised when I got drafted because I'm pretty much an unknown for the tournament community and I never really cared about making myself a name there either. My experience in SPL so far has been amazingly good despite I saw some things I didn't like that much such as the mindset some players have because you know, I'm the kind of guy that despises timer wins but either way, I think I couldn't have ended up in a team with cooler teammates and honestly most, if not all of them have gained my respect and the nice atmosphere has made me feel more comfortable and confident despite I'm new to all this. Although I have had good time in this tournament I'm not satisfied with my performance at all especially after my game against Earth and won't deny I was a bit frustrated after but, that made me realize that I still have a lot to learn and at the same time that motivated and encouraged me enough to get better and give the best of me in the future weeks.
Besides NU and Monotype, I used to play RU too but after I started seeing milotic and mandibuzz everywhere I got a bit discouraged from playing it and eventually dropped it. In a near future I would like to try OU and UU, both look appealing to me and I'm gonna have to blame Pak and Pearl for making me want to try UU after looking all those sick builds, I'm not gonna lie but I used to not like UU at all in the past.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype or trying to improve?
- If you need it you should look at the monotype resources and use them as they are really useful, in the same way, if you feel like you need some help you should definitely ask for it, there is a lot of people willing to help, including me. We all needed it at some point. Also never beat yourself up if something doesn't work or if you feel you didn't do well, it'll never help I assure you, instead, I recommend to move on and find ways to improve and do better in the future.
You are known for being an excellent builder, can you walk us through your team building process?
- My teambuilding process is pretty simple, I usually build around ideas that seem cool to me and I try to be able to handle most threats on common types. I know it's nearly impossible to be able to beat all types but at least having a good shot to win in most matchups is fine. If you're not experienced enough with the metagame I would strongly recommend to stick with top tier types as teambuilding is way easier.
Who are some of your favorite people that you met on Pokemon Showdown?
I've met a lot of cool people during the past 5 years that if I name them one by one I would never end but my closest friends on this site are Ticken , Kammi , Ashaury (tristemente dejaste PS), Clearly , Endal and most people in WoA, you all have been such nice dudes. Thanks for all the good moments we've had.
Finally, can you showcase a team that you think represents your style as a player and provide an explanation on how to use it?
Armaldo @ Leftovers
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 168 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Blast
- Knock Off
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Leech Life
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
Araquanid @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 96 HP / 232 Atk / 32 Def / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Sticky Web
- Magic Coat
- Toxic
Volcarona (F) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ground]
Ability: Battle Armor
EVs: 252 HP / 84 Def / 168 SpD / 4 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Rapid Spin
- Rock Blast
- Knock Off
Scizor @ Choice Band
Ability: Technician
EVs: 36 HP / 252 Atk / 220 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Bullet Punch
- Pursuit
- U-turn
- Superpower
Buzzwole @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Beast Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Ice Punch
- Leech Life
- Superpower
- Rock Slide
Heracross-Mega @ Heracronite
Ability: Skill Link
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Pin Missile
- Rock Blast
- Close Combat
- Swords Dance
Araquanid @ Wacan Berry
Ability: Water Bubble
EVs: 96 HP / 232 Atk / 32 Def / 148 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Liquidation
- Sticky Web
- Magic Coat
- Toxic
Volcarona (F) @ Firium Z
Ability: Flame Body
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Quiver Dance
- Giga Drain
- Fire Blast
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- This is a fun bug team I used last week against pcm in exhibition tour. The main reason why I enjoy this bug team so much is because I like to play aggressive and this team allows me exactly to do that. It is a basic webs offense team with Mega Heracross as the main wallbreaker. I'd say most sets are pretty standard except for the weird Araquanid spread which allows it to always like a Choice Band V-create from Victini after rocks.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
- Never forget the main essence of this game which is to enjoy it and have a good time, I can't really understand when people sometimes are so obsessed at winning that forget everything, even that this is just a game.
This concludes my interview with Zukushiku. A huge thanks to him for taking time out of his day and replying all my questions with such detailed answers! Feel free to now ask your own questions to our Player of the Week.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
- Never forget the main essence of this game which is to enjoy it and have a good time, I can't really understand when people sometimes are so obsessed at winning that forget everything, even that this is just a game.
This concludes my interview with Zukushiku. A huge thanks to him for taking time out of his day and replying all my questions with such detailed answers! Feel free to now ask your own questions to our Player of the Week.
