Project Player of the Week

Without further ado (and a long work day) here is the next CAP PotW: snake_rattler

:Pajantom:
Week 10: snake_rattler
Username: snake_rattler

Tell us a little bit about yourself, outside of Pokemon Showdown:

I'm a rising senior studying civil engineering, deciding between more structural stuff or roadway stuff. I live in southern US. At my university, I have a hand in so planning/running so many events, sometimes I don't know why I do it to myself lol. It's fun though.

Where’d you get your username from?

When I was 9, I had to make a minecraft username. "snake rattler" popped into my head. Why? Couldn't tell you, I've tried to remember for years. Anyway that's where the underscore comes from. Been considering just making it "snake" - thoughts on that?

Favourite CAP:

Despite losing Heal Block and Ghostium Z privileges, Pajantom is still favorite CAP. We did the Ghost/Dragon holding baby thing well before Dragapult.

Favourite Heat Set you've used in CAP?

Shiftry @ Life Orb
Ability: Chlorophyll
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
IVs: 29 HP
- Growth
- Solar Blade
- Knock Off
- Sucker Punch

Before Tomohawk took off again in early gen 8, I used Shiftry on sun teams, which blew past specially defensive walls (i.e. Mollux, remember that?) for Kommo-O and Venusaur to sweep. It was also a ghost resist, which was still necessary before Spectrier. Super fun, but probably unusable at this point.

Underrated mons in the current CAP meta?

I'm glad that Tapu Fini is starting to get more attention because I think it's pretty good. And as much pain Arghonaut brought to me in Gen 7, it's good to see it's getting more attention also in this gen.

How'd you got started in CAP/What drew you in?

I stumbled on it on forums and then just read through the archive. Then I started chatting in the PS! room. Shoutouts to cbrevan and sparktrain for welcoming me in so kindly. Just don't go into the archive finding awful posts from me, of course.

What’s your favourite playstyle to use in CAP and why?

You know it's Trick Room. jk Trick Room bad in Gen 8. I know Future Sight bulky offense is easy to use, but it's felt very natural to pilot for me ever since it first dropped last summer. If my recent battles are any indication, though, I'm a bit rusty.

Favourite CAP concept that wasn't chosen?

Voltage's Limit Break concept was really neat. I hope that returns in future concept submissions Voltage.

Thoughts on the current CAP metagame?

Specially defensive clefable is really annoying me right now, but I like how we have some good wallbreakers like Urshifu and Jumbao which, for the most part, seem balanced.

What are your favorite memories from older team tours? What about more recent ones?

One of my favorite team tours ever was leading Pernicious Pajantoms with SHSP and scheming awful sets. Getting to know Voltage, 2spoopy4u, and Wulfanator72 on the Galactic Astros is also very up there for team tour experiences. Looking forward to CAPPL this year :)

How has being staff in the PS room differed from being forum staff?

The PS room has more levels of authority, so talking about promotions / demotions are more commonplace. On the other hand, forums have more rules to enforce, particularly CAP specific ones. They're both two different experiences but both are really neat.

What was the secret sauce that made the Roaks DOMINATE last PL???

Idk if this was really a secret, but it was stresh.

What is a pet peeve you have in the CAP Meta or PS room?

For the metagame, aside from Clefable, I really don't like what Cawmodore does to teambuilding, even if it's not explicitly broken.

For the PS Room, it doesn't bother me when users come into the room and don't know that CAP isn't a place to share fakemons. What does bother me is that for some very persistent users, 3 roomfaqs and 70 lines of supplemental explanation isn't enough for them to realize that CAP isn't a place to share fakemons. Maybe those moments just stick out in my mind, but I feel like it's happened a good amount of times over the years.

Despite those, though, there's a reason why I've stuck around for so long, y'all are awesome people

Share a particular team you are proud of?

Here's my RMT for Super Camerupt. Not sure if it would still work in the current metagame, but it was a nice break from Mega Mawile Trick Room teams.

Can you give some advice for new CAPers starting off in the metagame?

Experimenting with the CAPs and trying to make them work is very fun, but try sticking with standard teams for a bit. Once you learn the metagame, it becomes much easier to experiment with CAPs because you can more easily find any exploits that an underused CAP might find.
 

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
when will we fight in an epic cap tour
rfn

Strangest part of being a CAP Leader?
Trying to be somewhat familiar with everything that's going on in CAP is a lot at times, but neat.

Top 5 favorite voltage stream moments?
In no particular order:

voltage becomes Tony Hawk
money time
this is why plasmanta doesn’t have surf
turn me down (loud)
ROCK

And a bonus clip for SHSP: don't pull a SHSP

Have you gotten better at piloting balance?
"Hey maybe now I could try being better at balance!" No. It's never worked.

Will Trick Room Return this CAPPL?
idk, will it...?

Favorite fruit?
Not really a huge fruit person. Sometimes I'll really crave clementines, but otherwise I'd probably pick bananas.

What are you’re plans for making Trick room great again?
I haven't thought about it too much, but it's definitely not cooking up a Trick Room concept. That'd be a horrible idea

What kind of snakes do you like to rattle?
rattlesnakes

Why hasn’t there been a 6 snake team yet? (horses are boring)
Steelix, Sandaconda, Seviper, Serperior, Malaconda, Arbok? That's some wack type synergy, but I'll try it I guess.

Hello snake
hi Air

Do you believe in gen 7 jumbao supremacy?
It's kinda problematic with Flame Burst. We almost gave it Overheat. So yes I do
 

Brambane

protect the wetlands
is a Contributor Alumnus
hi snake

Do you remember your first in-game team? And your first competitive team?
Favorite art submission that didn't make the final poll?
What do you listen to when working/studying?
Do you think it is worth changing or otherwise directly addressing Cawmodore despite it not being explicitly broken?
Favorite game as a kid?
Are you planning on staying in US south after uni? If you end up working on roadways, can you fix all these fucking potholes in New Orleans?
If you had the solo design a CAP right now, what would be your final product? Feel free to google anything for your art submission.
Did you find this question?
 

snake

is a Community Leaderis a Top CAP Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
CAP Co-Leader
hi!

Do you remember your first in-game team? And your first competitive team?
I don't remember my first in-game team, and I don't have my Pokemon Diamond cartridge on me. However, here's some funny stories from when I was a dumb kid.

Somehow I got an Ice Beam TM and taught it to my Empoleon. I had no idea what STAB was, so it overwrote whatever Water-type move it had. This is the only decision I remember making on my first team; everything else is lost in my memory.

I must have also had Pearl version (for some reason), but anyways, Palkia came with a Lustrous Orb. Not too far after the Mt. Coronet sequence, an NPC gave me the TM for Fling. I taught it to my Palkia. Anyways, that's how I lost the Lustrous Orb. I think I tried to give it a Pearl item as an apology.

My cousin had to help me beat the Elite Four in some DPPt game. He looked in my bag and, much to his dismay, found basically only Potions in my bag (like the kind that restores only 20 HP). I saved AFTER I went through the looked door, of course.

Running to the west from Lilycove City on Pokemon Emerald, I run into a full-odds shiny, Level 26 Mightyena. By this point, I was smart enough to know how damn lucky it was to run into this thing, but dumb enough not to check that it had Roar in its moveset. My next full odds shiny would be Pokemon Black 2. I ran into a shiny Drifblim, which has a...very special color palette.

Remember how a DS Lite goes into Sleep Mode when you close it? Yeah, GBA games in a DS Lite didn't activate Sleep Mode, so I lost about 4 gyms worth of progress on one of the games I was playing.

Favorite art submission that didn't make the final poll?
wTL0Kl.jpg
DBEhE0.jpg


Don't get me wrong, the current design has grown on me, but I adored DougJustDoug's design.

What do you listen to when working/studying?
Mostly video game music because there's no words, and they loop well. Bravely Default's soundtrack is amazing, Superliminal has some really great piano music, and Professor Layton music is nostalgic for me.

Do you think it is worth changing or otherwise directly addressing Cawmodore despite it not being explicitly broken?
I've never really liked Cawmodore's effect on the metagame. I personally think it feels different from other setup sweepers because it seems like it runs away with games far harder than something like Swords Dance Rillaboom or whatever other sweeper. But it's hard to make that argument compelling when you could apply it to most sweepers anyway.

Favorite game as a kid?
It's a toss up between Mario and Luigi: Bowser's Inside Story and Professor Layton and the Unwound Future. I know those are very different games lol, but I really like them both.

Are you planning on staying in US south after uni? If you end up working on roadways, can you fix all these fucking potholes in New Orleans?
I'm not really sure where I'll end up after university. I actually have some family in New Orleans! But yeah, assuming New Orleans doesn't sink into the ocean by then, yeah, I'll fix the potholes.

If you had the solo design a CAP right now, what would be your final product? Feel free to google anything for your art submission.
I don't think I have the brainpower for this question rn, so I'll revisit it soon.

Did you find this question?
Yep! Can you find a hidden Starmie somewhere in this subforum?
 
Ok, as i think the questions have died down, why not start another PotW? Lets open the Voting period for your next Cap Player of the Week! As they have for a week or so, the questions towards snake_rattler must stop.

You have 48 hours to vote for your top 3 choices
 
:mienshao:
Week 11: D2TheW
Username:
D2TheW aka Death2thewest aka D2 aka D2TW aka D2W aka Death2theW aka D2thewest aka DB Cooper aka DeeToTheDoubleYou aka R2D2TheW aka whatever other one of the million potential variations of my name you wanna use

Tell us a little bit about yourself, outside of pokemon showdown:
I'm a Law and Psychology student, just finished first year of university. I was an avid football and gaeilic football player before the pandemic which rather put the kibosh on both of those hobbies. I also enjoy creative writing and have recently started trying to learn guitar.

Where’d you get your username from?
Back in secondary school (high school to you yanks), in computer classes me and my mates would piss around on PretendYourXyzzy which was basically online cards against humanity. The site was frequented by a lot of your standard 4chanesque trolls, constantly joining games to call people various slurs and other such shite. Me and my mates took to trolling these people by calling ourselves stuff like Death2thewest and asking people to aid in the glorious revolution, overthrowing western culture and destroying the USA in the name of Daddy Marx. This proved to be a lot of fun so when I started playing mons I used it again and stuck with it because I liked the colour tbh. I shortened it to D2TheW for smogon and bobs your uncle.

Favourite CAP:
Design wise, there's so many good ones but Pajantom is sooooo good man, I love that fucker. Favourite to use is also tough but I'm gonna go with Jumbao for now, it's so good for balance and more offensive oriented teams rn, and doing gangbusters to physdef pex with lo leaf storm will never not be entertaining.

Favourite Heat Set you've used in CAP?
There's a lot but this is one of my faves
Space Oddity (Necrozma) @ Life Orb
Ability: Prism Armor
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Photon Geyser
- Stone Edge
- Brick Break/X-Scissor/Earthquake
Watching ladder or roomtour players switch into Blissey or Glowking only to see Crozma ddance will never not be funny

Underrated mons in the current CAP meta?
Pajantom. Cb and more bulky sets are both seriously good rn, they pair super well with pult too if you can work around the type stacking. Cyclohm isn't that good rn but it's still better than people give it credit for, heal bell in particular is so useful in balance wars as my recent game vs Pitmore demonstrated.

How'd you got started in CAP/What drew you in?
I'd been meaning to try it out for ages then Felu told me to sign up for cappl last year. Got picked for pinecos, stuck around and the rest is history.

What’s your favourite playstyle to use in CAP and why?
Big fan of balance, having a defensive backbone is something I really value even on more offensive teams. Mons that still make progress while providing defensive utility like barb clef are my jam.

Favourite CAP concept that wasn't chosen?
Cba to delve into the archives but off the top of my head, Voltage's limit break was pretty cool.

Thoughts on the current CAP metagame?
I enjoy it a lot, lots of different playstyles are viable and there's plenty of room for experimentation in the builder.

Who is an underrated CAP player in your opinion?
A couple of weeks ago I would have said TNM because people weren't putting him in top 5 lists in this very thread and I didn't understand why. Then he went and won playtest so people have come to their senses. Instead I'll just say RSQ because we got him way cheaper than we had any right to in the draft.

Why Mienshao?
Shits and giggles mainly but also I needed something to revenge kill +2 magearna and other stuff like Pult and Zera while also giving me uturn to get reun in safely.

Thoughts on first week of the CAP PL?
We can do better and we will.

What is a pet peeve you have in the CAP Meta or room?
People who complain about how "X is broken or problematic" while not doing anything to counteract them in the builder. People would complain about futureport while using ridiculously passive teams that gave Slowking all the turns it could ever need, or would have Zeraora as their only Slowking switch and mald when it got burned. Same goes for people I've seen in the room complaining about specs pult while still using full physdef clef and teams with no speed control.

Share a particular team you are proud of?
https://pokepast.es/2c49b15024bb525c
This was some very stupid shit I slapped together to annoy shsp when we played. It's obviously atrocious but I still love it.

Can you give some advice for new CAPers starting off in the metagame?
1) Not all caps are viable.
2) Don't use Jumbao or Malaconda as your primary sun setter on dedicated sun teams.
3) Build with a gameplan. Doesn't have to be a complicated one, it can be something as simple as "magnezone traps steel birds and then dd Haxorus (rank Haxorus you cowards) can sweep". Having a proper plan in mind when building makes the rest come so much easier.
 

CallMeDrippyT

Banned deucer.
Dear D2,

Why didn’t you join the cappl Devastating Driplords? I think it would’ve made our team all the more handsome.

You have two options: Former VP Dick Cheney lives to profit off another war in the Middle East, or Naviathan is ranked as S. Which do you choose and why?

spoo told me he wants to engage in spin the bottle with.... just you. But I would also like to join. Reactions?

speaking of that, any favorite party games?

Why do fucking noobs on ladder always give iapapa berries to all of their mons?

Love,
Drippy T
 

dex

10 wolf, 3 shepherd, 1 sheep, led leopard
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Smogon Media Contributoris a Team Rater Alumnusis a CAP Contributor Alumnus
Ah, and the government finally gets to ask questions of D2.

What's your favorite Irish character in TV/movies? (my personal favorite is Fiona in Burn Notice, if only for the "If something seems too good to be true, it's best to shoot it just in case." quote)

Give us the music d2, now.

What is the most heat thing you've witnessed in a CAP match?
 
Last edited:

Tadasuke

Tuh-dah-skay
is a Community Contributoris a CAP Contributoris a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Alright Denzel to the Washington,

If I offered you a few free guitar lessons would you take them?

Do you shed before you shred or were you born to shred regardless of the shed?

If you could request any one CAP tour format what would it be?

Why are you not a CAP leader yet?

If I combined Bailey's, Jameson, and Guinness, would you graciously donate it to a nearby Englishman?

What is your height in cubic acres?

Opinions on Margaret Thatcher?

Which is healthier, brown rice or caoilfhionn rice?
 

D2TheW

Amadán
Hello fellow playtest winner D2,

What's the best mon in the meta rn and why is it big navi?

What's your pick for this week's HL match in CAPPL?

Do you plan on signing up OM snake again this year?
Hi :)

1) Not a very controversial opinion here, pult is godly. Very few teams get worse with a pult added and most get significantly better.

2) I'm not gonna be able to enjoy it as much as the neutrals because I'll be busy chewing through all my fingernails but SHSP vs Jordy should be a ripper of a series. Ofc I wouldn't mind if we loaded 2 unloseable mus and won at preview but it's unfortunately likely to be a much more entertaining affair for the neutrals.

3) I never played om snake you can't prove anything :bustacap:.

Dear D2,

Why didn’t you join the cappl Devastating Driplords? I think it would’ve made our team all the more handsome.

You have two options: Former VP Dick Cheney lives to profit off another war in the Middle East, or Naviathan is ranked as S. Which do you choose and why?

spoo told me he wants to engage in spin the bottle with.... just you. But I would also like to join. Reactions?

speaking of that, any favorite party games?

Why do fucking noobs on ladder always give iapapa berries to all of their mons?

Love,
Drippy T
1) I am loyal to the miasmaws (going to the moon).

2) I would never let Navi be S tier I'm not a monster....

3) spoo stop leaking our plans.

4) Kings and Bullshit are both fun card games that suit parties pretty well.

5) Gotta heal da Malaconda

how many years off the back end of my life do you think ive lost because of you?

how was the transition into CAP coming from a very different meta?

how much would we have to raise for you to have usable internet?
1) At least a decade, probably gonna be multiple decades by the time pl ends.

2) I 'mained' 2v2 before cap but I played a lot of metas like MNM and UU so it wasn't a massive change to what I'm used to.

3) About 4 billion euros, don't check that maths.


Ah, and the government finally gets to ask questions of D2.

What's your favorite Irish character in TV/movies? (my personal favorite is Fiona in Burn Notice)

Give us the music d2, now.

What is the most heat thing you've witnessed in a CAP match?
You'll never take me alive

1) Colin Farrel as the Coach in The Gentleman (2019) was one I really liked. Mainly because he was just a very entertaining character but also he was played by an actual Irish actor and also had a recognisable regional accent rather than a generic Irish accent that nobody here actually has.

I'll edit in links when I have time

Blue Oyster Cult: Don't Fear The Reaper, I love the night
IDKHOWBUTTHEYFOUNDME: (Atrociously named I know): Honestly just everything, more people should listen to these guys.
Bowling for Soup: 1985 especially but again most of their stuff is good.
The Shins:
Arctic Monkeys: Most of their stuff, their new stuff isn't bad btw people just don't like change. 4 out of 5 is really good in particular.
Neil Cicierga: Wacky but genuinely good, especially Smooth
Steady as she goes by the Raconteurs
Hozier: (Irish!) Most of his stuff, especially early stuff, From Eden and Jackie and Wilson are the bomb
Tears for Fears: Everybody wants to rule the world, shout
Lorde: Everybody wants to rule the world (cover), most of her early stuff is good too
Stone Roses: Again, just everything lol this band is hella underrated
REM
Will edit in more, hope this is satisfactory for now

3)
20210324_000042.jpg



Which song would you really like to play on guitar if you could learn it in the blink of an eye?

Dyed hair Y/N

If you had a pet bear, what would it do to annoy SHSP?
1)Don't fear the Reaper by Blue Oyster Cult.

2) Wouldn't dye my own but it can look nice when done well.

3) I'd teach it to top cap ladder with zu mons



Alright Denzel to the Washington,

If I offered you a few free guitar lessons would you take them?

Do you shed before you shred or were you born to shred regardless of the shed?

If you could request any one CAP tour format what would it be?

Why are you not a CAP leader yet?

If I combined Bailey's, Jameson, and Guinness, would you graciously donate it to a nearby Englishman?

What is your height in cubic acres?

Opinions on Margaret Thatcher?

Which is healthier, brown rice or caoilfhionn rice?
Hello Tadahsookee

1) Yes :]

2) "Men only fear bloodshed when it's their blood, in their shed" - Benjamin Franklin

3) Useless moves tour, where you can only use the moves in the "Usually Useless" category on ps

4) It's a conspiracy to stop me from ranking Haxorus

5) As a lifelong teetotaller I have no idea if that combo would be delicious, awful or deadly so idk tbh

6) 0.000128 acres according to my 4 seconds of googling that I didn't verify

7) Not a fan :]

8) Please do not eat my boy Chaoilfhionn he did nothing wrong


fmk: booette, bowsette, super sonico
Go to therapy Rabia, your father and I are worried about you.
 

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