approved by monotype forum mods
inspired by this and this
First of all thanks for taking the time to do this, I'm sure the community will be interested in hearing from one of the tier leaders, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?
Of course, and thank you for the invitation for an interview!
I live in the Bay Area in California and work in biotech-basically meaning I make legal drugs for a living. I got into Pokemon as a kid when my dad was in the hospital for a pretty serious surgery and my mom needed to give something to my brother and I to pass the time, so we each were gifted one of the Gen 1 games to play while we sat in the waiting rooms or my dad's room when he wasn't awake. Outside Pokemon, most of my time is spent casually doing things with friends, ranging from playing other games together to happy hours to picnics to hiking or whatever else. If the company's good, I'm good.
These days, it'd be hard for me to say any Pokemon other than Jigglypuff was my favorite, which at least for me is humorous because it started off as a huge meme with friends in college that somehow manifested into it actually becoming my favorite Pokemon.
How did you get introduced / involved with Pokemon Showdown and the Monotype community?
My graduate work was primarily in organic/medicinal chemistry research, so when doing reactions in lab, there's often times when I'd have downtime with nothing to do but wait for something to happen. I knew of PS's existence from friends that played on their phones while commutting, so that's where I started to pick it up during Gen 6. I didn't really formally start playing Monotype until sometime in Gen 7, I think after USUM dropped, but I laddered randbats on my phone frequently, started laddering on keysmashed alts in Monotype in late ORAS/early SM, but I didn't actually register an account-a1012-on PS until 2019. I was naturally drawn to Monotype because I enjoyed the added challenge of having a team share a weakness and having to account for that, and got involved extraordinarily late with a few side servers, so late that most of them were dead/near-dead when I actually logged on from a real account, and I vaguely remember early ULC days and how chaotic the battlechats would get.
I didn't really involve myself in the community too much beyond offering advice in the room during USUM and immediately post-release for SS since after that I disappeared for a while to focus on grad school and finishing up my dissertation, though.
Do you have a favorite moment or memory that sticks out from your time on Smogon / PS?
I think one of my favorite moments was a few years ago, going into finals of Monotype World Cup III, with two stacked lineups from US West and US East going head to head for the title, and even more specifically in one of the MUs I personally hated in USUM, where ISZA loaded Dragon into mushamu's Steel (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7monotype-680756). Mushamu wasn't looking like he was in too good of a position around turn 20, ended up having his wincon frozen turn 24, but incredibly lucked out with a single turn freeze to get Mega Scizor to +4 and then reverse sweep. Other notable moments that stick out are helping gather info for the Tour Host badge prior to release for the initial nom wave as well as helping to push through MRC + top CC.
If you were the (only) tier leader for a day, what would you ban? Unban? What about an old generation?
Oh boy. If I had to pick something, it'd be Archaludon even though I've been on the meh train about it for months. An actual hot take I have that I think is probably way too early to even consider is Iron Valiant, but that may be biased from all the OU content I've been consuming... I think post-Gouging, Gliscor actually isn't that bad... for now. As for an unban, I think if we really wanted to go all out I'd consider Booster Energy... Is it as bad as it was pre-DLC metagames? Really couldn't tell you, but speculatively, I think we have a ton more tools that could make it less of a nightmare despite writing a whole thesis about it post-release. In old gens, I know it's FINE but Celesteela in SM. The amount of times that thing got one beast boost from me missing a damage roll or double (or even triple...) protect and then walling me... I'm scarred.
Do you have any advice for some players who are newer and trying to get more involved with the community / better at the game? What about someone who wants to get drafted for MPL / MFPL?
Honestly, the way I quickly picked up Monotype initially was by watching tons and tons of ladder games, and I can't recommend that enough, though that was before the don't allow spectator buttons existed. Figuring out cores that work together, archetypes of same-6 teams, how certain Pokemon function together, move sequences are all invaluable tools for beginners. Obviously the resources are helpful, but talking to other players and watching replays from later rounds of tournaments remains, in my opinion, an understated way to learn about the tier, especially since for example the hours in which I'm actually available to ladder the teams I face don't resemble what you'd see in our tournaments. If all else fails, talk to room staff/discord server staff, ask questions. Most of us don't bite too frequently.
If someone's looking for their first time being picked in MPL/MFPL, play individuals and make as deep a run as you can, or even pick up oldgens. We've had similar names for the past few MPLs play oldgens and if you can pick them up and demonstrate your ability in a Mono Cup run for example, your odds get higher pretty quickly. If you're looking to get picked for MFPL for the first time, of course having your name consistently at the top of the ladder helps for visibility, but it's not the end-all-be-all; talk to managers or prospective managers, make a case for yourself, and have a few replays where you really played lines well, not just 6-0ed an easy matchup, in your back pocket in case they aren't doing live tryouts.
Is there a team you wouldn't mind sharing with us that you really enjoy using and showcases your style of play?
Haven't had time to build since the Gouging ban due to work stuff irl and most of my teams were Dragon (unsurprisingly), so I'll share my most-used SM team: https://pokepast.es/ef2b5d836fecc913
In general I really like to play BO, though this team is not really leaning terribly into the bulky bit. Probably >90% of the time I'd be sacrificially leading Garchomp, to usually set rocks turn 1 and then just slow the enemy repeatedly until it died. It was great into Webs Bug, M-Aero/Autotomize Steela Flying, Psychic teams w/ Deoxys (MU still sucks though), most Waters, and especially in Dragon mirrors. Kommo or Mega-Latias each can sweep a few types on their own (bulky MLatias could solo Electric at +1 for example) given a turn to use its Z or set up. This team, admittedly, sucks against TR rock, which shouldn't be too surprising given the double Scarf.
Are there any new events, tournaments, or similar things coming this year that the monotype community can get excited for? If not what is something you would like to see?
While not explicitly for Monotype, there is a new unofficial team tournament that will include Monotype that'll have its inaugural edition this year that TLs from each of the included metagames have been planning for a few weeks now. While it's not completely public yet, it'll be a fun cross-community tournament, so keep an eye out for it in early June!
For Monotype itself, we had initially planned to bring back WCoP this year, but given how heavy our tournament schedule is (especially with the plan to run MFPL annually now, which I'm super pumped for), I think we're going to hold off and consider it for next year or the first year of Gen10. I think running it every 3 years will probably be the plan moving forward. And I'm also super pumped we had prizes to award increased to 3 so that we could do both our annual major team tournaments AND circuit since previously it was always kinda tough to pick between circuit or a second tour.
I would really love to host a live tour of some kind since it's been years since Mono has had one, perhaps in the fall, but I haven't really thought of explicit details or anything of that nature yet, but I would probably donate some money as a prize if I/we can make it happen.
Are you excited about Pokemon Champions? Any very early thoughts about perhaps a champions format being in MPL / other tournaments?
I think Champions is going to be very interesting in that we really just don't know how it's going to play out compared to NatDex and/or what other twists/turns are in store for us. If it ends up being complete mechanic overhauls like PLA, I'm not too sure it'd end up in our team tournaments. I could definitely see an argument for MWP, but MPL without much more information I'd be very cautious of saying yes at this point in time. I definitely think we'll have a "Welcome Champions" tournament, whether that's a 5v5 team tour similar to ongoing ULC or an individual though would definitely need to be discussed more among the forum staff first.
If you were stuck on an island and there were 1 monotype / ps staff stuck with you, who would you want it to be and why? what about who would you not want it to be?
Oh god. I'd pick Azick to be stuck with me since he's a chef and SURELY could rummage up some meals that don't taste too incredibly terrible... right? Hopefully? Plus he's an endless supply of random epiphany "oh.." moments about random things that'd supply constant entertainment. Who wouldn't I want to be stuck with? Probably Sificon. He'd just sit there insulting me and making me do all the work and then tell me I didn't do a good enough job afterwards.
Thank you so much for your time and your diligent answers, I’m sure everybody will appreciate reading and learning a bit more about you. Is there anybody you would like to give a shoutout to?
I'd be glad to shout out some of the Mono people who I've either teased or laughed with continually or had great support from over the years, Azick, roxie, Sificon, Neko, Bka Onon, MPL8 Nidoqueens Attribute, Jojo8868, twinkay, and, though he may not be a mono main at heart anymore, kenn.
inspired by this and this
First of all thanks for taking the time to do this, I'm sure the community will be interested in hearing from one of the tier leaders, would you mind telling us a bit about yourself?
Of course, and thank you for the invitation for an interview!
I live in the Bay Area in California and work in biotech-basically meaning I make legal drugs for a living. I got into Pokemon as a kid when my dad was in the hospital for a pretty serious surgery and my mom needed to give something to my brother and I to pass the time, so we each were gifted one of the Gen 1 games to play while we sat in the waiting rooms or my dad's room when he wasn't awake. Outside Pokemon, most of my time is spent casually doing things with friends, ranging from playing other games together to happy hours to picnics to hiking or whatever else. If the company's good, I'm good.
These days, it'd be hard for me to say any Pokemon other than Jigglypuff was my favorite, which at least for me is humorous because it started off as a huge meme with friends in college that somehow manifested into it actually becoming my favorite Pokemon.
How did you get introduced / involved with Pokemon Showdown and the Monotype community?
My graduate work was primarily in organic/medicinal chemistry research, so when doing reactions in lab, there's often times when I'd have downtime with nothing to do but wait for something to happen. I knew of PS's existence from friends that played on their phones while commutting, so that's where I started to pick it up during Gen 6. I didn't really formally start playing Monotype until sometime in Gen 7, I think after USUM dropped, but I laddered randbats on my phone frequently, started laddering on keysmashed alts in Monotype in late ORAS/early SM, but I didn't actually register an account-a1012-on PS until 2019. I was naturally drawn to Monotype because I enjoyed the added challenge of having a team share a weakness and having to account for that, and got involved extraordinarily late with a few side servers, so late that most of them were dead/near-dead when I actually logged on from a real account, and I vaguely remember early ULC days and how chaotic the battlechats would get.
I didn't really involve myself in the community too much beyond offering advice in the room during USUM and immediately post-release for SS since after that I disappeared for a while to focus on grad school and finishing up my dissertation, though.
Do you have a favorite moment or memory that sticks out from your time on Smogon / PS?
I think one of my favorite moments was a few years ago, going into finals of Monotype World Cup III, with two stacked lineups from US West and US East going head to head for the title, and even more specifically in one of the MUs I personally hated in USUM, where ISZA loaded Dragon into mushamu's Steel (https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/smogtours-gen7monotype-680756). Mushamu wasn't looking like he was in too good of a position around turn 20, ended up having his wincon frozen turn 24, but incredibly lucked out with a single turn freeze to get Mega Scizor to +4 and then reverse sweep. Other notable moments that stick out are helping gather info for the Tour Host badge prior to release for the initial nom wave as well as helping to push through MRC + top CC.
If you were the (only) tier leader for a day, what would you ban? Unban? What about an old generation?
Oh boy. If I had to pick something, it'd be Archaludon even though I've been on the meh train about it for months. An actual hot take I have that I think is probably way too early to even consider is Iron Valiant, but that may be biased from all the OU content I've been consuming... I think post-Gouging, Gliscor actually isn't that bad... for now. As for an unban, I think if we really wanted to go all out I'd consider Booster Energy... Is it as bad as it was pre-DLC metagames? Really couldn't tell you, but speculatively, I think we have a ton more tools that could make it less of a nightmare despite writing a whole thesis about it post-release. In old gens, I know it's FINE but Celesteela in SM. The amount of times that thing got one beast boost from me missing a damage roll or double (or even triple...) protect and then walling me... I'm scarred.
Do you have any advice for some players who are newer and trying to get more involved with the community / better at the game? What about someone who wants to get drafted for MPL / MFPL?
Honestly, the way I quickly picked up Monotype initially was by watching tons and tons of ladder games, and I can't recommend that enough, though that was before the don't allow spectator buttons existed. Figuring out cores that work together, archetypes of same-6 teams, how certain Pokemon function together, move sequences are all invaluable tools for beginners. Obviously the resources are helpful, but talking to other players and watching replays from later rounds of tournaments remains, in my opinion, an understated way to learn about the tier, especially since for example the hours in which I'm actually available to ladder the teams I face don't resemble what you'd see in our tournaments. If all else fails, talk to room staff/discord server staff, ask questions. Most of us don't bite too frequently.
If someone's looking for their first time being picked in MPL/MFPL, play individuals and make as deep a run as you can, or even pick up oldgens. We've had similar names for the past few MPLs play oldgens and if you can pick them up and demonstrate your ability in a Mono Cup run for example, your odds get higher pretty quickly. If you're looking to get picked for MFPL for the first time, of course having your name consistently at the top of the ladder helps for visibility, but it's not the end-all-be-all; talk to managers or prospective managers, make a case for yourself, and have a few replays where you really played lines well, not just 6-0ed an easy matchup, in your back pocket in case they aren't doing live tryouts.
Is there a team you wouldn't mind sharing with us that you really enjoy using and showcases your style of play?
Haven't had time to build since the Gouging ban due to work stuff irl and most of my teams were Dragon (unsurprisingly), so I'll share my most-used SM team: https://pokepast.es/ef2b5d836fecc913
In general I really like to play BO, though this team is not really leaning terribly into the bulky bit. Probably >90% of the time I'd be sacrificially leading Garchomp, to usually set rocks turn 1 and then just slow the enemy repeatedly until it died. It was great into Webs Bug, M-Aero/Autotomize Steela Flying, Psychic teams w/ Deoxys (MU still sucks though), most Waters, and especially in Dragon mirrors. Kommo or Mega-Latias each can sweep a few types on their own (bulky MLatias could solo Electric at +1 for example) given a turn to use its Z or set up. This team, admittedly, sucks against TR rock, which shouldn't be too surprising given the double Scarf.
Are there any new events, tournaments, or similar things coming this year that the monotype community can get excited for? If not what is something you would like to see?
While not explicitly for Monotype, there is a new unofficial team tournament that will include Monotype that'll have its inaugural edition this year that TLs from each of the included metagames have been planning for a few weeks now. While it's not completely public yet, it'll be a fun cross-community tournament, so keep an eye out for it in early June!
For Monotype itself, we had initially planned to bring back WCoP this year, but given how heavy our tournament schedule is (especially with the plan to run MFPL annually now, which I'm super pumped for), I think we're going to hold off and consider it for next year or the first year of Gen10. I think running it every 3 years will probably be the plan moving forward. And I'm also super pumped we had prizes to award increased to 3 so that we could do both our annual major team tournaments AND circuit since previously it was always kinda tough to pick between circuit or a second tour.
I would really love to host a live tour of some kind since it's been years since Mono has had one, perhaps in the fall, but I haven't really thought of explicit details or anything of that nature yet, but I would probably donate some money as a prize if I/we can make it happen.
Are you excited about Pokemon Champions? Any very early thoughts about perhaps a champions format being in MPL / other tournaments?
I think Champions is going to be very interesting in that we really just don't know how it's going to play out compared to NatDex and/or what other twists/turns are in store for us. If it ends up being complete mechanic overhauls like PLA, I'm not too sure it'd end up in our team tournaments. I could definitely see an argument for MWP, but MPL without much more information I'd be very cautious of saying yes at this point in time. I definitely think we'll have a "Welcome Champions" tournament, whether that's a 5v5 team tour similar to ongoing ULC or an individual though would definitely need to be discussed more among the forum staff first.
If you were stuck on an island and there were 1 monotype / ps staff stuck with you, who would you want it to be and why? what about who would you not want it to be?
Oh god. I'd pick Azick to be stuck with me since he's a chef and SURELY could rummage up some meals that don't taste too incredibly terrible... right? Hopefully? Plus he's an endless supply of random epiphany "oh.." moments about random things that'd supply constant entertainment. Who wouldn't I want to be stuck with? Probably Sificon. He'd just sit there insulting me and making me do all the work and then tell me I didn't do a good enough job afterwards.
Thank you so much for your time and your diligent answers, I’m sure everybody will appreciate reading and learning a bit more about you. Is there anybody you would like to give a shoutout to?
I'd be glad to shout out some of the Mono people who I've either teased or laughed with continually or had great support from over the years, Azick, roxie, Sificon, Neko, Bka Onon, MPL8 Nidoqueens Attribute, Jojo8868, twinkay, and, though he may not be a mono main at heart anymore, kenn.
~~~
This thread will remain open in case anyone would like to ask ken any further questions. If you have an idea for who you would like to be interviewed next, please don't hesitate to let me know!
This thread will remain open in case anyone would like to ask ken any further questions. If you have an idea for who you would like to be interviewed next, please don't hesitate to let me know!
