Approved by 5gen & S1nn0hC0nfirm3d | Amazing Art by Albatross
(Interview Date: 12th of August 2021)
Hello everybody and welcome back to "ZU Player of the Week"!, The project where some of ZU's finest community members are interviewed about their Pokemon and personal lives. I am grateful I have already had the chance to interview so many amazing ZU players, and I hope the interviews in the future will be just as awesome. This time around, I have one of the managers of ZUPL who is looking to take the trophy home this time around...
S1nn0hC0nfirm3d
Favourite Pokemon:
(ZU TL, ZU RO, Manager of the Lucky Stunky, 2nd Seed in ZU Classic III Playoffs, OM C&C Leader, on ZU and NFE QC Team, Global Voice, NU Mod and Council Member, NFE TL, Probably more that I've Forgotten)
Ditto used Transform!
Ditto transformed into Combusken!
*c-c-combusken*
Hi Ho3n, how are you doing today?
I'm doing ok! My ac has been broken and my flight got cancelled so I gotta do a renta car for a wedding now and drive late
Just v busy!
oh damn that's quite a chaotic situation, hope things work out in the end
I'm sure most of our viewers already know who you are (hopefully), but would you mind telling us a little about yourself?
Sure, my name’s Frank, I go by Ho3nConfirm3d, S1nn0hC0nfrim3d, really whatever, idc too much. I’m a law student living in downtown Chicago. I picked up mons back in late BW over 10 years ago now.
Ah that's nice, how is it being a law student? must be a pretty busy schedule
I only finished my first year and yeah it’s a ton of work. I was an english major in undergrad and knew I was going into law, and it’s totally a great experience and opportunity for me. I took this summer off just to decompress everything; year two is right around the corner, we’ll see how busy I am then
Oh i see, that's nice you have a short break now but it's good that you're enjoying it a lot
So how did you first find PS/Smogon and how did you get started in the tier?
Back in BW, I thought I had the best competitive idea ever by combining Eviolite with Eelektrik, cause like, no weakness + buffed defenses = unstoppable x) That didnt fly so well on the wifi matches, so when I tried to learn more about competitive, I stumbled upon PS and pokeaim vids.
I got into ZU because I liked OMs and lower tiers as a sidegrade to my main grind: the OU ladder. I was a very cocky ladder hero and loved bragging about topping lesser played ladders. A little known secret is that I was actually one mute away from a ZU ban back in gen7; apa wasn’t taking my shit. After that though I started taking the tier and mons as a whole seriously. I like to tell this story to a lot of new friends for the tier cause I think it shows how anyone can improve and work hard at what they love.
Ah ye first thing I did after my driver promo was read all the old drama and you were quite the different beast back then LOL
but ye it's great that you really changed and improved, and we all appreciate the hard work you've been doing whether than be more tiering related or with analyses
Speaking of your past, the previous interview you had was pretty much exactly two years ago from now and a lot has changed since then; how has the journey from voice to RO and TL been?
Thank you, I honestly wish I could do more for the tier. There’s a lot of motivation to stick to a room and shoot for promotion. Sure it's a status symbol to some degree but it also shows that you’re a part of a community. That gives you purpose, and in a competitive game that’s so luck based and on-and-off, I don't think I would stick to mons long-term if it wasn't for the community. So I tried my hardest to be helpful and improve myself until opportunities came. Of course I also worked with other tiers, rooms, and forum projects since then too—NU is special for being an official tier and giving me opportunities to play in some of the sites highest calibre tours
That is, until ZU becomes official too ;-;)7
you are stretched super thin between multiple tiers, and still contribute a lot imo but I understand that feeling of wanting to do more. Ye hopefully we grow some more soon and work on our forum activity with side projects but we're definitely getting there as a community
I'm also pleased that despite your progression it hasn't got to you and you still want to strive to make things better
Focusing on ZU itself now, what are your thoughts on the metagame, with the recent ban of Silvally-Ground?
Definitely a better meta than before from what I’ve played so far. I think balance is thriving with TangDash cores, VoltTurn is still okay, and stall / BO has enough tools to take on probably 95% of everything you could possibly run into. Feels fine, excited for the ZUPL meta to iron out anything else like potentially Alcremie.
hmm ye it'll be interesting to see how things pan out
Do you have any last minute tips for players who would like to be picked for the upcoming ZUPL?
Well it is a little last minute. Unfortunately, I did not have time to do tryouts myself, but I would check out with the other ZU managers. We always need more old gen players, so if you’re familiar with say gen5OU or gen4OU and think you can pick up those ZU tiers quickly, then try them out and reach out to a manager.
Ah ye that's probably a good shout
I'm interested to hear your tierlist of the zupl team names
S: Morepekoboos
A: stunkies, flamencos
B: pay day persians
C: humakos
D: pimps
ah ye morpekaboos seem to be a fan favourite atm but this was pretty nice to know
I'm really hyped up for the tour and im sure you are as well, could you explain in 20 words or less why (you believe) the Stunkies will do one better than last year and take the ZUPL trophy home!!
We’ll only use VR mons so we don't get a dq this time lol…
LOL
i mean that works for sure lmao, hopefully teams are more careful this time around but i guess it's been 2 years in a row where an illegal team has been brought in BW so who knows if the trend will continue
You've played in classic, even making it as a runner of the DPP ZU cup and are also one of the most frequent ladder players I believe, which generation do you most enjoy playing and building the most and which one are you most excited to watch during PL?
Gen7 cause z moves are so nutty and u can do a million things with them
Gen7 is also the gen I became serious as a comp player so it's special to me
ah I see, that makes a lot sense, gen 7 is definitely very fun to watch even for someone like me who has never really played it so good choice
Moving away from mons for now, what are some of your hobbies you like to do outside of spending time with the lovely PS communities?
Cooking, running, lifting. Sometimes I like to play bullet chess and Friday night funking. I'm always listening to music. Vaporwave, traumacore, industrial, old rap, some dated techno, and city pop are probs my fav genres.
Ah yes I've heard a fair bit of all of these hobbies lmao, and you've sent pics of your cooking before which has always looked amazing
what are some of your favourite recipes you like to make?
Crab ragoons are an awesome appetizer, wonton soup is my hangover cure, chicken Kiev + mash potatoes are nice, i got a waffle maker for waffles, been making my own ice cream with just heavy cream + condensed milk as a base, and risotto + fried risotto balls the next day is a nice combo
Wow that's quite a lot of variety there, and they all sound delicious!!
Theoretically, if you could invite some guests over from ZU to show off your cooking skills, who would they be and why?
It be funny as hell to meet 5gen after all this time. Same with apa, tuthur, czim, kay… all the old guys here
ah ye meeting up with the people you've been playing with and against over the years would be great for sure
Do you spend any time watching any movies or shows, do you have any recommendations for our viewers if you do!
I don't watch too much. I liked bojack i think you should leave, and invincible. Some movies I like are Drive, American Psycho, Austin Powers Goldmember, and office space
Ah fair enough, still some good stuff there
you mentioned a lot of music genres; some of which some others and myself aren't all too familiar, do you have any suggestions as to what would be some good starter songs to listen in order to get into those genres!
Vaporwave: Macintosh Floral Shop, St Pepsi Hit Vibes, anything prism corp, death’s dynamic shroud - ill try living like this, blank banshee - 0.
Traumacore: Mom - 3, jack stauber - hi lo
Old techno: basement jaxx, ace of base
City pop: this is a Japanese mixtape vol 1-4
I'll be sure to check some of those out once this interview is over, thanks!
I think you’d like mom, check out sugar pool and bloodrush from that album :>
I'll have a listen and hopefully I do :>
Last question about your hobbies then, you mentioned both running and lifting, is this just a personal goal of yours or have you ever participated in any events as such; additionally do you keep up with these respective sports and their professional scenes?
I used to wrestle and that's the only sport I ever cared about. I ran 2 half marathons in my life and one day a full marathon would be phenomenal, but i have way too much stuff in my life rn to train for that. One year I will! As for lifting, I just lift to maintain my strength.
wow that's very impressive, I can definitely tell you put in a lot of effort with everything you do
evidently shown by your everchanging but always wonderful discord avis
Time for the wackier question; we've seen you eat a raw onion to a middling degree of success, if ZU was to host a raw onion eating competition who do you think would finish as the top 3 participants?
Me 100% at number 1 I did that shit once I know I could do it again and actually finish. Rawmelon 2 for obvious reasons. I feel like Greybaum number 3 cause he’s always eating, well, stuff that’s out there
great answer! no onion cabbage jokes today tho u_u
Would you mind sharing a ZU team that you've enjoyed using a lot?
A simple tangdash balance thats heavy on the hazards
Ah looks like a lot of fun and fairly easy to pilot, thanks for sharing
Thanks for taking the time to answer these questions.
That's pretty much all I have to say, any shoutouts or final remarks you'd like to give?
SO to daniYSB , Tuthur , the goat OranBerryBlissey10 got his first badge last week, SO TJ for winning the no johns tour, and 5gen for still bein the goat after all this time
perfect
Thank u for the interview!!!
Feel free to ask to S1nn0hC0nfirm3d any questions you want!
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