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Welcome to the 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 player wise. This week, I will start by interviewing arguably the best Monotype player ever, and the win leader on the esteemed monotype sheet, 1 True Lycan
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
I'm 23 years old, working in the civil service in England. I have a degree in maths and physics. In my spare time I enjoy playing games, doing martial arts, and spending time with friends.
What do you think you are most known for in Monotype?
Probably just playing in tours and possibly for trolling on discord sometimes, though I haven't really done that in a while.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
I think I was around 15 or 16 when I first came onto PS. I somehow found out about it through either youtube or a friend, and then wanted to check it out for myself as pokemon held a lot of nostalgia for me. After a few days of playing, a user called Metallica randomly messaged me a link to the frost side server asking me to tryout. I searched a monotype team from the internet, won my tryouts and became the ground type gym leader. From there, the environment on side servers just had me hooked. I could spend hours chilling with friends or doing league vs leagues. Everything was so competitive and its what led me to stay for such a long time. After frost died and we migrated through a bunch of different side servers, I eventually just moved permanently to main where I picked up ou. Until then, I had been a monotype main.
What is your favorite Pokemon in general and favorite one to use competitively?
Favourite mon is probably primeape due to its cool design and memories of watching the anime of it as a kid, while favourite to use is Jirachi. It's so versatile and has been a great option for steel teams through multiple generations. Lowkey it could have been genesect but it's always banned within a week so hard to justify it.
What is your favorite type in SS Monotype?
My favourite type across all gens has been steel, and its the same for gen 8. You can use a variety of playstyles with it and it's a strong type that you can tailor to beat your weaknesses if you really want.
You’ve seen the Monotype community go through a lot during the years, you yourself have changed a lot over this years. What are your thoughts on the present state of it? How do you think the community has changed for the better in the last couple of years, and how do you think the community can improve?
I think the golden age for monotype was in frost side server days. Everyone was invested in monotype and it just felt like a real community. That being said, the current community is still cool. It's less focused on leagues and players manage to branch out more to different tiers which is a good thing. I think we have grown more welcoming to newer players as well, though this could be improved. I still feel there's a stigma on certain players which doesn't need to exist.
Not Monotype related but good luck the rest of snake! How has that experience been?
Thanks! Snake has been cool, my team has a good environment so it's nice to chat in the discord sometimes. I think my play has been pretty good for the most part, though there's room for improvement.
What do you think of the SS meta? What is your opinion on it compared to the SM Monotype meta?
I was more invested in the SM meta than SS so take it with a pinch of salt, but I felt the SM meta gave more room for innovation. Things feel relatively linear in SS. That being said, it is a developing meta and I saw certain techs coming out during the latter stages of MPL. Overall I do think SS Mono is pretty fun, though it is clear that types like Psychic and Water dominate the metagame.
How do you think DLC has affected the SS meta?
Having more options has opened up the metagame a little bit and given more types time in the spotlight.
We're close to the arrival of DLC two. Are you excited about anything returning in particular or do you have any thoughts on how that will impact monotype?
My boy heatran is back. With steel finally having a fire immunity again, along with the general utility that heatran provides, I think steel finally rise to compete with psychic and water. I will also enjoy abusing genesect for a bit before the council unjustly bans it.
Congrats on winning MPL! Could you talk about that experience and how your team came together after a slow start?
Well we had a lot of good players on our team so it was hard to find the best lineup. We spent the first few weeks juggling as some players underperformed, but after that we really hit our stride. Our draft ended up being a lot of tour players (not intentionally) but the support we drafted in jolly togekiss, firnen and yami came in clutch. At first our SS had quite predictable/linear builds but as our players gained more experience in prepping that came together. Sabella and I also started helping more as we became more familiar with the metagame. The good thing about our team was that everyone can play. We weren't too worried about players throwing away unnecessary games which is so important in a team tournament. This meant we just had to focus on prep and getting good matchup.
Are there any up and coming players that have impressed you or that you think will make a mark in the community?
I think jolly togekiss has potential. He's a pretty good builder and clearly very invested in the community. I also want to shoutout the architect. His play is actually very good and he's reliable, I think he can go far if he keeps playing in tournaments. The next one isn't really a super new player, but dugza has been impressive recently and I think he can make the transition from good player to clear standout if he keeps playing.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype and trying to get involved in the community?
Just play in tours like mono ssnls and don't act too cringy. Don't let your ego get in the way - no one wants to draft someone who's annoying or obnoxious.
Any advice on how to become a better player and teambuilder?
Becoming a better player just comes with time. It's important to have the right mindsight. You should try to learn from each loss - even if you got haxed, see what you could have done to minimise odds rather than getting angry. For teambuilding, go through matchups in your head. In monotype especially, you could easily build a psychic team and think 'ok, I have gardevoir to sweep dragon. They can go dragalge on moonblast but I have jirachi for it.' and just carry on like this for each type.
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?
https://pokepast.es/7510951ba260be27
I used this in MPL. Slowbro is nice on psychic to take on threats such as scolipede and can also absorb tspikes which eases the dragon matchup. The stallbreaker mew set is quite underrated, and it paired with slowbro and indeedee let you win the steel matchup even if the opponent is using aegislash. The jirachi is the scarf moonblast set typically seen on steel teams because I don't have gardevoir so wanted something else to pressure dragon alongside hatterene. Celebi really helps with water and normal and I prefer this set to the thunder wave u turn set which I feel is very passive.
Favorite People on PS? Top few players in mono?
Shoutout everyone in woa, these are my day 1s and I doubt I would be here this long without them. Top players rn are the OGs like sabella. Chaitanya is clearly one of the top players, and his trusty rat sidekick waszap isn't bad either. Other than that, there are some good players coming up like floss who I think is a good builder and player.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
Thanks for interviewing me, and thanks to whoever reads this.
Big thank you to Lycan for answering my questions unlike my cowardly Co-TL Waszap (now Zap). Sorry this one took so long. Feel free to ask 1 True Lycan questions in the thread!
banner by Seo.
I'm 23 years old, working in the civil service in England. I have a degree in maths and physics. In my spare time I enjoy playing games, doing martial arts, and spending time with friends.
What do you think you are most known for in Monotype?
Probably just playing in tours and possibly for trolling on discord sometimes, though I haven't really done that in a while.
What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
I think I was around 15 or 16 when I first came onto PS. I somehow found out about it through either youtube or a friend, and then wanted to check it out for myself as pokemon held a lot of nostalgia for me. After a few days of playing, a user called Metallica randomly messaged me a link to the frost side server asking me to tryout. I searched a monotype team from the internet, won my tryouts and became the ground type gym leader. From there, the environment on side servers just had me hooked. I could spend hours chilling with friends or doing league vs leagues. Everything was so competitive and its what led me to stay for such a long time. After frost died and we migrated through a bunch of different side servers, I eventually just moved permanently to main where I picked up ou. Until then, I had been a monotype main.
What is your favorite Pokemon in general and favorite one to use competitively?
Favourite mon is probably primeape due to its cool design and memories of watching the anime of it as a kid, while favourite to use is Jirachi. It's so versatile and has been a great option for steel teams through multiple generations. Lowkey it could have been genesect but it's always banned within a week so hard to justify it.
What is your favorite type in SS Monotype?
My favourite type across all gens has been steel, and its the same for gen 8. You can use a variety of playstyles with it and it's a strong type that you can tailor to beat your weaknesses if you really want.
You’ve seen the Monotype community go through a lot during the years, you yourself have changed a lot over this years. What are your thoughts on the present state of it? How do you think the community has changed for the better in the last couple of years, and how do you think the community can improve?
I think the golden age for monotype was in frost side server days. Everyone was invested in monotype and it just felt like a real community. That being said, the current community is still cool. It's less focused on leagues and players manage to branch out more to different tiers which is a good thing. I think we have grown more welcoming to newer players as well, though this could be improved. I still feel there's a stigma on certain players which doesn't need to exist.
Not Monotype related but good luck the rest of snake! How has that experience been?
Thanks! Snake has been cool, my team has a good environment so it's nice to chat in the discord sometimes. I think my play has been pretty good for the most part, though there's room for improvement.
What do you think of the SS meta? What is your opinion on it compared to the SM Monotype meta?
I was more invested in the SM meta than SS so take it with a pinch of salt, but I felt the SM meta gave more room for innovation. Things feel relatively linear in SS. That being said, it is a developing meta and I saw certain techs coming out during the latter stages of MPL. Overall I do think SS Mono is pretty fun, though it is clear that types like Psychic and Water dominate the metagame.
How do you think DLC has affected the SS meta?
Having more options has opened up the metagame a little bit and given more types time in the spotlight.
We're close to the arrival of DLC two. Are you excited about anything returning in particular or do you have any thoughts on how that will impact monotype?
My boy heatran is back. With steel finally having a fire immunity again, along with the general utility that heatran provides, I think steel finally rise to compete with psychic and water. I will also enjoy abusing genesect for a bit before the council unjustly bans it.
Congrats on winning MPL! Could you talk about that experience and how your team came together after a slow start?
Well we had a lot of good players on our team so it was hard to find the best lineup. We spent the first few weeks juggling as some players underperformed, but after that we really hit our stride. Our draft ended up being a lot of tour players (not intentionally) but the support we drafted in jolly togekiss, firnen and yami came in clutch. At first our SS had quite predictable/linear builds but as our players gained more experience in prepping that came together. Sabella and I also started helping more as we became more familiar with the metagame. The good thing about our team was that everyone can play. We weren't too worried about players throwing away unnecessary games which is so important in a team tournament. This meant we just had to focus on prep and getting good matchup.
Are there any up and coming players that have impressed you or that you think will make a mark in the community?
I think jolly togekiss has potential. He's a pretty good builder and clearly very invested in the community. I also want to shoutout the architect. His play is actually very good and he's reliable, I think he can go far if he keeps playing in tournaments. The next one isn't really a super new player, but dugza has been impressive recently and I think he can make the transition from good player to clear standout if he keeps playing.
Do you have any advice for players new to Monotype and trying to get involved in the community?
Just play in tours like mono ssnls and don't act too cringy. Don't let your ego get in the way - no one wants to draft someone who's annoying or obnoxious.
Any advice on how to become a better player and teambuilder?
Becoming a better player just comes with time. It's important to have the right mindsight. You should try to learn from each loss - even if you got haxed, see what you could have done to minimise odds rather than getting angry. For teambuilding, go through matchups in your head. In monotype especially, you could easily build a psychic team and think 'ok, I have gardevoir to sweep dragon. They can go dragalge on moonblast but I have jirachi for it.' and just carry on like this for each type.
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?
https://pokepast.es/7510951ba260be27
I used this in MPL. Slowbro is nice on psychic to take on threats such as scolipede and can also absorb tspikes which eases the dragon matchup. The stallbreaker mew set is quite underrated, and it paired with slowbro and indeedee let you win the steel matchup even if the opponent is using aegislash. The jirachi is the scarf moonblast set typically seen on steel teams because I don't have gardevoir so wanted something else to pressure dragon alongside hatterene. Celebi really helps with water and normal and I prefer this set to the thunder wave u turn set which I feel is very passive.
Favorite People on PS? Top few players in mono?
Shoutout everyone in woa, these are my day 1s and I doubt I would be here this long without them. Top players rn are the OGs like sabella. Chaitanya is clearly one of the top players, and his trusty rat sidekick waszap isn't bad either. Other than that, there are some good players coming up like floss who I think is a good builder and player.
Any last words you want to leave us with?
Thanks for interviewing me, and thanks to whoever reads this.
Big thank you to Lycan for answering my questions unlike my cowardly Co-TL Waszap (now Zap). Sorry this one took so long. Feel free to ask 1 True Lycan questions in the thread!
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