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banner by Seo.
Welcome to the first edition of SS Monotype player interviews! During this project I will be interviewing a lot of influential players and contributors in today's community. I will also be interviewing some older faces in the Monotype community, since a lot changes over the years, both metagame and person wise. This week, I will start by interviewing a top player and one of the current TLs, Chaitanya.
Chaitanya
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
Hey, I'm 21 and I'm going into my Senior year as a Sports Management major. My time is mostly spent doing sport related stuff, playing poker, chilling w friends (fuck covid), mons and a bit of studying. I watch just about every sport and absolutely love talking about them!
What are you most known for?
Think I'm most known for being TL? Maybe Mono Mod idk lmao maybe for being a bit of a dickhead as well. This is a question for the masses.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
My irl friend found showdown in class one day in like 11th grade and half our grade started playing randbats during class. Then he found a league on origin I think or the server before that one. He got me to join a league and fast forward a few years here I am. He managed to quit though rofl. Idk if there’s a sole reason I’ve stayed, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the competition as a hugely competitive person in general. Being a pretty tightly knit mono tour community has probably had a say in keeping me around but I wouldn’t say it is a reason I still play the game.
What is your favorite type in SS Monotype?
It was water, I thought there was so much you could do with Urshifu, enough to where I pushed for a ban since day 1. It’s gone now though which means I’ll have to find another type to abuse :( The other urshifu looks promising however…
What do you think of the SS meta? How do you think DLC has affected the SS meta? What is your opinion on it compared to the SM Monotype meta?
I really like SS, I liked it before DLC dropped too but the new mons has made it even more enjoyable for me. DLC has affected SS in a positive way imo. It’s still not a perfect tier with a couple of potential issues I see down the line, but it is really early and I hope that folks that have written the gen off to be unplayable due to matchup try it again because I don’t think this is the case at all. Obviously, we’re still in a new meta but compared to SM, I think we are going towards the direction SM is going in. With the DLC, we’ve seen a pretty large shift to balance or bulky offense teams. Some HO builds like have bug gained relevance as well due to the most broken item of all time, but for the most part, I think people have found they can go back to using bulky offense or balance. Like SM, I think more and more types are seeing relevance in SS, which is obviously a good thing for the growth of the meta. Very excited to see how it pans out.
Are there any up and coming players that have impressed you or that you think will make a mark in the community?
I think Dieu Amphibien is someone to watch out for. A bit of a bias pick as he’s on my MPL team but he’s definitely got potential. Overall, I think the whole French community has really gotten into the mono tour scene recently which I love, and a lot of them have flashed potential. Other names I’ve been semi impressed by recently off the top of my heard are Kaguya lys, Mateeus, flossed over and Metariolu7. Mateeus always beats me so that’s kinda biased as well. Also don’t think Metas an ‘up and coming’ player but I’ve got him on here cause he’s a baby lmao. There are probably more out there but fwiw I’m pretty hard to impress in general.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype or trying to improve and get more involved in the community?
For people just starting, use our resources. We have plenty of hardworking mono staff that make forums a super helpful place for a beginner. The monotype room on showdown is a great place to ask questions and meet other people as well. I would also recommend watching higher level games. This can be done by surfing forums and watching some MPL or seasonal replays in later rounds, or even high-level ladder games if you are a total beginner. If you’re interested in getting notifications for these mpl games, join our discord and ask for the matches role where you’ll get a notification when there is a game!
Don’t be one of those people saying, ‘I don’t wanna use legendaries’ and expect to get better. If you want to get better competitively that stuff will never work. Also stay off the side servers they do nothing but strangle growth. Our community is rather tightly knit but is quite welcoming. Don’t go looking to make enemies cause you beat someone in one series, it doesn’t make you better than them at all, that’s a surefire way to create a poor impression of yourself.
Bottom line is you have to play more games to improve, but you also have to learn how to build teams by yourself and observe others. There is only so much you can improve by loading up 3000 games on ladder with the same team. Variety and challenging yourself are essential to improving, and improvement leads to greater involvement in the community.
Can you show us a team you've been liking in SS and provide us an explanation as to what the team is about and how to use it?
I don’t have anything post Urshifu Rapid Strike ban that I can really share so I will post my favorite team before it. Maybe people can use it if we give Urshifu Strike another go :D
This was a team I brought in week 2 of MPL vs Decem. I wanted to use a team around future sight with teleport and CB Urshifu. Nothing really switches into future sight + Banded Close combat or surging strikes and thought the idea would be cool to build around and ended up with some sort of stall. Decided on slowking over slowbro due to it being able to take special attacks from psychic teams better. A lot of people asked me where my toxapex was, but I do not think it did anything with double boots + mantine with defog and heal bell. The main way to use the team was pretty simple, and I think I showcased it pretty well in my MPL game. Get slowking in when possible, future sight and/or teleport out to urshifu as much as possible while occasionally wishing and using heal bell if required.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
Free private rooms PS is incredibly worse without private rooms!!!!!
S/o the homies yk who you are
Feel free to ask any Chaitanya any questions in this thread, and expect another interview next week!
banner by Seo.
Welcome to the first edition of SS Monotype player interviews! During this project I will be interviewing a lot of influential players and contributors in today's community. I will also be interviewing some older faces in the Monotype community, since a lot changes over the years, both metagame and person wise. This week, I will start by interviewing a top player and one of the current TLs, Chaitanya.
Chaitanya
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
Hey, I'm 21 and I'm going into my Senior year as a Sports Management major. My time is mostly spent doing sport related stuff, playing poker, chilling w friends (fuck covid), mons and a bit of studying. I watch just about every sport and absolutely love talking about them!
What are you most known for?
Think I'm most known for being TL? Maybe Mono Mod idk lmao maybe for being a bit of a dickhead as well. This is a question for the masses.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
My irl friend found showdown in class one day in like 11th grade and half our grade started playing randbats during class. Then he found a league on origin I think or the server before that one. He got me to join a league and fast forward a few years here I am. He managed to quit though rofl. Idk if there’s a sole reason I’ve stayed, but I’ve certainly enjoyed the competition as a hugely competitive person in general. Being a pretty tightly knit mono tour community has probably had a say in keeping me around but I wouldn’t say it is a reason I still play the game.
What is your favorite type in SS Monotype?
It was water, I thought there was so much you could do with Urshifu, enough to where I pushed for a ban since day 1. It’s gone now though which means I’ll have to find another type to abuse :( The other urshifu looks promising however…
What do you think of the SS meta? How do you think DLC has affected the SS meta? What is your opinion on it compared to the SM Monotype meta?
I really like SS, I liked it before DLC dropped too but the new mons has made it even more enjoyable for me. DLC has affected SS in a positive way imo. It’s still not a perfect tier with a couple of potential issues I see down the line, but it is really early and I hope that folks that have written the gen off to be unplayable due to matchup try it again because I don’t think this is the case at all. Obviously, we’re still in a new meta but compared to SM, I think we are going towards the direction SM is going in. With the DLC, we’ve seen a pretty large shift to balance or bulky offense teams. Some HO builds like have bug gained relevance as well due to the most broken item of all time, but for the most part, I think people have found they can go back to using bulky offense or balance. Like SM, I think more and more types are seeing relevance in SS, which is obviously a good thing for the growth of the meta. Very excited to see how it pans out.
Are there any up and coming players that have impressed you or that you think will make a mark in the community?
I think Dieu Amphibien is someone to watch out for. A bit of a bias pick as he’s on my MPL team but he’s definitely got potential. Overall, I think the whole French community has really gotten into the mono tour scene recently which I love, and a lot of them have flashed potential. Other names I’ve been semi impressed by recently off the top of my heard are Kaguya lys, Mateeus, flossed over and Metariolu7. Mateeus always beats me so that’s kinda biased as well. Also don’t think Metas an ‘up and coming’ player but I’ve got him on here cause he’s a baby lmao. There are probably more out there but fwiw I’m pretty hard to impress in general.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype or trying to improve and get more involved in the community?
For people just starting, use our resources. We have plenty of hardworking mono staff that make forums a super helpful place for a beginner. The monotype room on showdown is a great place to ask questions and meet other people as well. I would also recommend watching higher level games. This can be done by surfing forums and watching some MPL or seasonal replays in later rounds, or even high-level ladder games if you are a total beginner. If you’re interested in getting notifications for these mpl games, join our discord and ask for the matches role where you’ll get a notification when there is a game!
Don’t be one of those people saying, ‘I don’t wanna use legendaries’ and expect to get better. If you want to get better competitively that stuff will never work. Also stay off the side servers they do nothing but strangle growth. Our community is rather tightly knit but is quite welcoming. Don’t go looking to make enemies cause you beat someone in one series, it doesn’t make you better than them at all, that’s a surefire way to create a poor impression of yourself.
Bottom line is you have to play more games to improve, but you also have to learn how to build teams by yourself and observe others. There is only so much you can improve by loading up 3000 games on ladder with the same team. Variety and challenging yourself are essential to improving, and improvement leads to greater involvement in the community.
Can you show us a team you've been liking in SS and provide us an explanation as to what the team is about and how to use it?
I don’t have anything post Urshifu Rapid Strike ban that I can really share so I will post my favorite team before it. Maybe people can use it if we give Urshifu Strike another go :D
lefties (Gastrodon) @ Leftovers
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Mirror Coat
- Recover
- Toxic
bo0ts (Mantine) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Scald
- Roost
- Haze
boooots (Slowking) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Teleport
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
- Future Sight
bandd (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet
boots (Vaporeon) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
band (Azumarill) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Perish Song
- Rest
- Protect
Ability: Storm Drain
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpA / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Mirror Coat
- Recover
- Toxic
bo0ts (Mantine) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpA
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Defog
- Scald
- Roost
- Haze
boooots (Slowking) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Teleport
- Thunder Wave
- Slack Off
- Future Sight
bandd (Urshifu-Rapid-Strike) @ Choice Band
Ability: Unseen Fist
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Surging Strikes
- U-turn
- Aqua Jet
boots (Vaporeon) @ Heavy-Duty Boots
Ability: Water Absorb
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Heal Bell
- Wish
- Protect
- Scald
band (Azumarill) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sap Sipper
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Whirlpool
- Perish Song
- Rest
- Protect
This was a team I brought in week 2 of MPL vs Decem. I wanted to use a team around future sight with teleport and CB Urshifu. Nothing really switches into future sight + Banded Close combat or surging strikes and thought the idea would be cool to build around and ended up with some sort of stall. Decided on slowking over slowbro due to it being able to take special attacks from psychic teams better. A lot of people asked me where my toxapex was, but I do not think it did anything with double boots + mantine with defog and heal bell. The main way to use the team was pretty simple, and I think I showcased it pretty well in my MPL game. Get slowking in when possible, future sight and/or teleport out to urshifu as much as possible while occasionally wishing and using heal bell if required.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
Free private rooms PS is incredibly worse without private rooms!!!!!
S/o the homies yk who you are
Feel free to ask any Chaitanya any questions in this thread, and expect another interview next week!