SV OU Player Interview - SirPeanutCronch
OST XXII winner SirPeanutCronch is with us today to talk a bit about their experience in this tour and the OU tier. Despite being relatively new to the site, SirPeanutCronch has already featured as part of Team Africa at WCoP 2025, and as part of the winning team of HPL6. An Arcanine-Hisui appearance in finals concluded their strong run and saw them crowned as the latest OST winner in SV OU.
Thank you tons to SirPeanutCronch for taking the time. Make sure to read their post in the OST finals thread if you haven't already. Congratulations to them for winning OST XXII!!
OST XXII winner SirPeanutCronch is with us today to talk a bit about their experience in this tour and the OU tier. Despite being relatively new to the site, SirPeanutCronch has already featured as part of Team Africa at WCoP 2025, and as part of the winning team of HPL6. An Arcanine-Hisui appearance in finals concluded their strong run and saw them crowned as the latest OST winner in SV OU.
Setsu: Hey, thank you for taking the time. Could we start with something about you? Where does your name come from? How did you find Smogon / PS!?
SirPeanutCronch: Hello, I'm SirPeanutCronch and I've been playing PS pretty casually for a bit now but only really started playing in around 2023/24. I heard about Smogon early on as I used to watch videos about Smogon tournaments but I never really was in the know about the website only until I joined it in around 2023 I wanna say. My name was actually created by a relative and is a reference to SCP lol, I believe it refers to SCP 173 which is like a somewhat peanut shaped entity that eats people (hence Cronch)
Setsu: 2023 is not very long at all, let alone to have an invidivual trophy! Just as past OST winners, I also know that you ladder a lot. Do you feel that ladder has been a good place to improve? Specially lately with all the discourse about bots
SirPeanutCronch: Oh very much, tbh I still consider myself more of a ladder goon than a tournament player at times lol, I have 8.5k+ SV OU games on my main and 10k+ total across all accounts. Ladder is where I improved all my playing skills, especially right in late 2024-2025 before and during world cup I was laddering a lot to help myself learn how to use different teamstyles and how to navigate against different matchups. To me, laddering is like the sandbox for all your capabilities because you can always freely get a game and analyze what you did wrong or right with no stakes. The bot era where players kept getting games into infinite Blim 6, Stresh Rilla Tar and most heinous of all triple weather by ProsodiJ and co. was definitely an annoying time to play lol but I don't catch them on ladder anymore, so I believe they've died down now, heres hoping :pray:
Setsu: Yeah for sure. Since you mention WCoP, how was this OST different than previous tours? Was there a turning point where you realized you could win the entire thing?
SirPeanutCronch: Going into this OST I had little to no expectations, I just wanted to place higher than my previous one where I had got knocked out really early. I think the turning point for me was in the Ro16 where I faced vk, who is a player I really respect and was to me by far the strongest opponent I had faced; being able to triumph over him really made me realize that I actually had a good shot of winning the entire thing, my mindset switched to "just try your best, and no problem if you lose anw" to "theres only a few more rounds left you can do this lock in."
Setsu: Was that your favorite set of the tour as well? What about teams? Since I know more than 1 was surprised to see Arcanine-H in finals
SirPeanutCronch: I think my favourite set was actually all the way back in R2 against bocoaa. They were a player I had only heard of a few times, so I didn't know what to expect, but they clearly showed me how much of a tough tournament OST was going to be. They swept me cleanly G1 and I barely made it through G2 but thankfully my savior Arcanine-Hisui came to the rescue to tank a Gambit sucker and clean up. In G3 they were playing very well, making doubles when it mattered and getting in the drivers seat, while I was getting pressured hard and pushed back. Thankfully my Metal Coat Ghold was able to surprise them and muscle through their Kingambit, barely letting me get through the round. That set really stuck with me and showed me I really needed to give my all to make it far in OST.
For my teams, I got a lot of help from my friends who were able to give me input in teams and advice, I really thank them for giving me the best support I've ever had on the site. I didn't want to play anything outside of my comfort zone, so I played basically only offense throughout the whole tournament aside from a few AV Alo teams. Arcanine-H was actually a last minute choice, I didn't know what to bring for G2 and people told me to bring whatever I was most comfortable with, so I decided to bring the team I've probably played the most games with on ladder, which features my trusty dog.
Setsu: Comfort teams doing it must feel great. What is next for you? With WCoP coming up, are you still full focused in OU or are you more interested in Champions or other tiers?
SirPeanutCronch: I don't actually really play the Pokemon games lol I've only ever played Ruby and Ultra Sun on emulators at negative FPS so probably no Champions for me. I did hear it was coming to mobile(?) so if that ever happens and it runs smoothly I'll tap in fs tho. Right now I'm just aiming to relax and step away from OU ladder for a bit after how much I did during OST and only play for my ongoing tournaments, and then start playing again more often during WCOP. In the meantime I'll be trying to get my team for the 35 Pokes PL to win the whole thing; if you didn't know, 35 Pokes is a tier where you get a brand new set of Pokemon every month to play with keeping the metagame fresh. We actually have a spotlight ladder up right now, so try to play it on the main servers while you can!
Setsu: I have heard about 35 Pokes, it sounds fun. Though you mention relaxing, you still got reqs for the ongoing Tera Blast suspect test! Are there any thoughts you can share about the suspect or some advice for others trying to get them?
SirPeanutCronch: I recall when I got my first suspect reqs for OU, it was during the Roaring Moon suspect and I still remember the feeling of accomplishment and gratification I had from getting all the laddering done. I suggest anyone who wants to have a say in the tier to go and try get the requirements, this could be a seriously gamechanging test for the tier so getting your vote out there could change everything. If I remember correctly the Kyurem suspect test had only a 1 vote difference between DNB and Ban after the votes were recounted, so imagine what you could do with just one vote! On a personal note, I'm probably more on the Ban side for Tera Blast right now, but I have seen some compelling arguments from both sides.
Setsu: Thank you, and thank you tons for your time. Is there anything else you want to mention?
SirPeanutCronch: Thank you for reaching out to me for this interview! I'd just like to say to any aspiring ladderers up-and-comers in the scene to always believe in themselves, you never know how far you can reach in this game if you don't try, and the sky's always the limit.
SirPeanutCronch: Hello, I'm SirPeanutCronch and I've been playing PS pretty casually for a bit now but only really started playing in around 2023/24. I heard about Smogon early on as I used to watch videos about Smogon tournaments but I never really was in the know about the website only until I joined it in around 2023 I wanna say. My name was actually created by a relative and is a reference to SCP lol, I believe it refers to SCP 173 which is like a somewhat peanut shaped entity that eats people (hence Cronch)
Setsu: 2023 is not very long at all, let alone to have an invidivual trophy! Just as past OST winners, I also know that you ladder a lot. Do you feel that ladder has been a good place to improve? Specially lately with all the discourse about bots
SirPeanutCronch: Oh very much, tbh I still consider myself more of a ladder goon than a tournament player at times lol, I have 8.5k+ SV OU games on my main and 10k+ total across all accounts. Ladder is where I improved all my playing skills, especially right in late 2024-2025 before and during world cup I was laddering a lot to help myself learn how to use different teamstyles and how to navigate against different matchups. To me, laddering is like the sandbox for all your capabilities because you can always freely get a game and analyze what you did wrong or right with no stakes. The bot era where players kept getting games into infinite Blim 6, Stresh Rilla Tar and most heinous of all triple weather by ProsodiJ and co. was definitely an annoying time to play lol but I don't catch them on ladder anymore, so I believe they've died down now, heres hoping :pray:
Setsu: Yeah for sure. Since you mention WCoP, how was this OST different than previous tours? Was there a turning point where you realized you could win the entire thing?
SirPeanutCronch: Going into this OST I had little to no expectations, I just wanted to place higher than my previous one where I had got knocked out really early. I think the turning point for me was in the Ro16 where I faced vk, who is a player I really respect and was to me by far the strongest opponent I had faced; being able to triumph over him really made me realize that I actually had a good shot of winning the entire thing, my mindset switched to "just try your best, and no problem if you lose anw" to "theres only a few more rounds left you can do this lock in."
Setsu: Was that your favorite set of the tour as well? What about teams? Since I know more than 1 was surprised to see Arcanine-H in finals
SirPeanutCronch: I think my favourite set was actually all the way back in R2 against bocoaa. They were a player I had only heard of a few times, so I didn't know what to expect, but they clearly showed me how much of a tough tournament OST was going to be. They swept me cleanly G1 and I barely made it through G2 but thankfully my savior Arcanine-Hisui came to the rescue to tank a Gambit sucker and clean up. In G3 they were playing very well, making doubles when it mattered and getting in the drivers seat, while I was getting pressured hard and pushed back. Thankfully my Metal Coat Ghold was able to surprise them and muscle through their Kingambit, barely letting me get through the round. That set really stuck with me and showed me I really needed to give my all to make it far in OST.
For my teams, I got a lot of help from my friends who were able to give me input in teams and advice, I really thank them for giving me the best support I've ever had on the site. I didn't want to play anything outside of my comfort zone, so I played basically only offense throughout the whole tournament aside from a few AV Alo teams. Arcanine-H was actually a last minute choice, I didn't know what to bring for G2 and people told me to bring whatever I was most comfortable with, so I decided to bring the team I've probably played the most games with on ladder, which features my trusty dog.
Setsu: Comfort teams doing it must feel great. What is next for you? With WCoP coming up, are you still full focused in OU or are you more interested in Champions or other tiers?
SirPeanutCronch: I don't actually really play the Pokemon games lol I've only ever played Ruby and Ultra Sun on emulators at negative FPS so probably no Champions for me. I did hear it was coming to mobile(?) so if that ever happens and it runs smoothly I'll tap in fs tho. Right now I'm just aiming to relax and step away from OU ladder for a bit after how much I did during OST and only play for my ongoing tournaments, and then start playing again more often during WCOP. In the meantime I'll be trying to get my team for the 35 Pokes PL to win the whole thing; if you didn't know, 35 Pokes is a tier where you get a brand new set of Pokemon every month to play with keeping the metagame fresh. We actually have a spotlight ladder up right now, so try to play it on the main servers while you can!
Setsu: I have heard about 35 Pokes, it sounds fun. Though you mention relaxing, you still got reqs for the ongoing Tera Blast suspect test! Are there any thoughts you can share about the suspect or some advice for others trying to get them?
SirPeanutCronch: I recall when I got my first suspect reqs for OU, it was during the Roaring Moon suspect and I still remember the feeling of accomplishment and gratification I had from getting all the laddering done. I suggest anyone who wants to have a say in the tier to go and try get the requirements, this could be a seriously gamechanging test for the tier so getting your vote out there could change everything. If I remember correctly the Kyurem suspect test had only a 1 vote difference between DNB and Ban after the votes were recounted, so imagine what you could do with just one vote! On a personal note, I'm probably more on the Ban side for Tera Blast right now, but I have seen some compelling arguments from both sides.
Setsu: Thank you, and thank you tons for your time. Is there anything else you want to mention?
SirPeanutCronch: Thank you for reaching out to me for this interview! I'd just like to say to any aspiring ladderers up-and-comers in the scene to always believe in themselves, you never know how far you can reach in this game if you don't try, and the sky's always the limit.
Thank you tons to SirPeanutCronch for taking the time. Make sure to read their post in the OST finals thread if you haven't already. Congratulations to them for winning OST XXII!!