Project SM Monotype PotW #1: Eien

Kev

Part of the journey is the end
is a Community Leader Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Approved by Eien , Acast & Vid
Based off of OU PotW and Gen 6 Mono PotW

Welcome to the first Edition of SM Monotype Player of the Week!​

(credits to Seo. for the banner)
During this project, I will be interviewing some of the most influential players in Monotype today whether it be based on their exceptional contribution to the metagame or their outstanding performance in tours. If anyone has suggestions on who should be interviewed next, feel free to PM me your ideas.

This week I have Seasonal Playoffs Winner, Monotype room and forum Moderator and leader of Monotype's C&C QC team.

Eien
Can you tell us a bit about your life outside of Smogon?
- I'm a Computer Science student graduating from UCLA this very weekend and I'm off to join the rat race later this summer. As for hobbies, I unsurprisingly love to play video games. I hadn't actually gotten a new console since the Wii, but I went home last winter and apparently my little brother got a PS4. Mostly been scrambling to play all the games I've been missing out on for like 7 years in my free time now lol.

What are you most known for?
- I'd guess I'm probably most known for either being one of the unfun Monotype room moderators that always cracks down on rulebreakers or a corrupt Steel-using council member. Hopefully, though, I'm more known for leading Monotype's C&C QC team, which is what I'm definitely most proud of!

What made you play Pokemon competitively? What got you into Monotype and made you want to stay?
- I started playing Pokemon competitively because I loved the games as a kid and, well, you're not gonna really be playing uncompetitively online too much. I played completely on my own on the ladder for a month or so every year from like '07 to '14. A friend I used to play Mafia with got me back into Pokemon in '15 and that was the first time I was ever part of a community. It just so happened he brought me to Monotype, so here I am! The community is really what's kept me here. I've spent way too long playing Pokemon on my own and I know for sure if it weren't for everyone I'd definitely be long gone for the some 8th time. Being able to discuss the metagame and make friends really makes this a much more fun game. I'll definitely be sticking around until I've paid you all back for being such a welcoming and awesome community.

What is your favorite Pokemon in general and favorite one to use competitively?
- Mew is my favorite to use competitively, as probably guessed by all the Psychic builds I made. You can't really guess if it's going to be double dance + Genesis Supernova or a stallbreaker set, and some people even use it for utility. It is just a really fun Pokemon to build with because I can choose to build around it or use it as a glue. You'll see it on every single Psychic team I build without question. It also doubles as my favorite Pokemon overall too (with Heracross as a very close second) because it's just damn cute. I really dislike Mega Heracross, sadly!

What is your favorite type?
- That's actually a pretty hard question this generation. I have a soft spot for my CM Magearna Steel team from early-SM and have been making a lot of Steel builds since then, but Psychic takes the crown now. There's so much freedom; so many different Pokemon can be used, each with multiple sets, fitting onto multiple archetypes. It's so versatile and can be played in "your way" no matter what. I will admit playing Ice is reaaally fun, and if you challenge me, there's like a 75% chance I'll load one of my Ice teams up.

How about your favorite play style?
- When it comes to standard Monotype, it's balance for sure. I like my teams to have a defensive backbone I can pivot with. I'm obviously super familiar with HO given the HO Psychic team I RMTed and the crazy HO Steel team Paleo made with me, but it's just not as fun to play to be honest. I will warn you, though. In Mono OMs I just can't be bothered to build real teams, so all you'll see is really terrible stall teams because that's all that's challenging enough and interesting to build for me.

What are your thoughts on Monotype OMs? Do you think they deserve a presence in competitive monotype or do they simply belong in occasional room tours?
- I think Mono OMs are a ton of fun. They bring a flame to building Monotype that sometimes dies a little. I often play the real metagames for fun with a few OM friends. However, I don't think Mono OMs are competitive at all. Certainly they can be balanced and people can invest time to develop the metagames. Most of them will always just be a casual, fun thing for me because I can't really back metagames with stuff like Extreme Speed Mega Mawile and Aerilate-spam Flying. Mono OMs are almost always highly centralized around the very broken teams because that's just how that's going to end up. Certain types are able to capitalize more on the mechanics of each OM, and that's something we can't really fix without significant effort (see ORAS Mono LC's Fighting and SM Mono Ubers's Fairy). As a result, I'd be happy to play them in tournaments and I'd even support Mono OM forum tours here, but I believe moving them away from MPL was the best decison. If enough people put in the time and effort, perhaps they'd be worth having a highly competitive tour in the future, though. I won't rule that possibility out.

What are your thoughts on the current SM Monotype metagame? Are there things you think deserve a suspect, to be banned or unbanned? How does it fair compared to ORAS?
- I think Monotype as a metagame hasn't ever been as balance as it is right now. I'm overall quite happy with the results of the council quickbans, and I guess that shows because we haven't really brought back anything to resuspect yet. While we have a definitive trio at the top of the metagame, I think there's great diversity in the metagame. We saw literally 17/18 of the types represented in the regular season of MPL 3. Even the ladder is also much more diverse than ever in my opinion. The difference between the high and middle tier types is not massive, which is why I think we can see this sort of metagame.

I do think there are some things that should be closely watched. I won't make a conclusive statement on what should be suspected, but I believe that Magearna, Tapu Koko, and Shadow Tag are incredibly powerful for many reasons. It is a bit of a shame that posts that call for a Magearna suspect are almost without exception uncompelling. I don't necessarily disagree with their spirit, but I cannot agree with their arguments, and as a result end up looking like I'm defending Steel or whatever. Tapu Koko is a Pokemon I feel like somehow slips under the radar that is possibly even more problematic than Magearna. Shadow Tag is something I've been against since ORAS. I don't think it's as bad right now, but it's definitely at the top of my watchlist right now.

I find it hard to compare SM to ORAS directly because I was rather unsatisfied by the end of ORAS. I've made my opinion on Hoopa-U public many times, but I absolutely believe it made the metagame much worse. If it weren't for exactly that one Pokemon, I would almost certainly ORAS more. Building ORAS for my MPL teammates was really fun and reminded me how much I missed the metagame. That being said, Hoopa-U is just such a black mark on the otherwise white canvas of ORAS that I have to say I prefer SM.

Do you have any advice for people new to Monotype or people who are trying to improve?
- Don't be afraid to just play games. If you see a tournament like one of our seasonals, join it and do your best. If you see good players just chilling, most of them are usually down to play a game. That also means don't be afraid to ask for help. The best players are those that are always trying to get ahead of the metagame and learn more. This is a community that absolutely thrives on supporting each other. If you ask for help, almost nobody will turn you down. A lot of respected users learned from those that came before them, so there's no shame at all in admitting you need help. That being said, no one can do your work for you. In the end, it's up to you to get your name known the right way. That doesn't just mean getting known as a good player. That also means understanding how to lurk until you've got a good grip on the metagame. You can't lurk too much if you're using that time to learn. I effectively lurked for 8 years after all!

Being the MPL host, what are your thoughts on the season as a whole? This season has been controversial to say the least; does that affect the role you’d list to take during the next MPL? Would you consider hosting again? Or maybe be a manager?
- Oh boy. Yeah this season has really been a rollercoaster. Last year, I was just a player and wasn't really part of the community yet, so I didn't see a lot of what happened in the background. This year I really got to see how badly certain people wanted to win. I am grateful to the managers and players that participated with integrity. In the end, as the host, it's my fault if the managers I chose are unscrupulous and willing to do anything to win. I did my best to not let the drama and things formerly very close friends said affect me, but I very much wish things hadn't gotten so grimy. I actually didn't want to host in the first place, but I ended up cohosting as a result of scpinion's unexpected departure. I'm definitely not hosting again next year. The drama does contribute, but it's just not something I enjoy or want to do, so I think I wouldn't want to host next year either way. I didn't manage this year because that didn't seem like something I wanted to do. I wouldn't say what happened this year would affect my decision, but I'm almost certainly not managing next year either. I have the most fun just playing as just another player. I've learned a lot about how MPL should be run, so even if I'm not hosting, I wouldn't mind helping with the planning as part of the moderating team (if I'm even still around!) I hope next year we have a much cleaner season.

Who do you think are the top 5 SM monotype players right now?
- I think the top five players are TheThorn, 1 True Lycan, Paleo, Clearly, and rnbs in somewhat of a real order. Not only are they all top battlers, they are all top builders. They're all always at the top of any tournament play and almost never lose without some serious hax combined with matchup. TheThorn is more or less agreed to be the best player right now and that really just can't be disputed. 1 True Lycan is another titan whose skill can't be argued either. He never plays badly and is one of the best at playing from behind in matchup. Paleo is the only one on the list who didn't play in the highly competitive SM Bo3 format in this year's MPL 3 but don't let that fool you. He was behind the Meteor Falls Minior's SM success and would have had a perfect record without some bad luck. Clearly's innovative building backs up his top tier skill and somehow always pulls out a new crazy-looking build that just wins. rnbs has always been a really consistent player and somehow never fails to just randomly bring something like Hidden Power Mega Diancie to ruin your day.

What motivates you to be so involved in the development of the monotype metagame? Whether it be moderating the forums, writing and correcting write ups for the Smogon Dex and so much more.
- The biggest thing for me is that I was a new guy in Monotype not even two years ago, so I easily remember what it's like to not know what's up or down or what's left or right. I used the OU, UU, and Ubers analyses a lot back then to sort of figure out sets, but that's not always going to be relevant to Monotype. As a result, contributing to C&C is something that I have personal drive for because I remember a time when I needed that resource and it wasn't there. This is my way of giving back, and every time I do !analysis <name> in the Monotype chat for someone, I'm grateful we have this opportunity. I think Monotype has a bit of a bad reputation and my goal is to turn that reputation around in any way I can. For me, that means dedication to the on-site content we produce and trying to make Monotype as balanced of a metagame as possible.

Finally, can you showcase a team that you think represents your style as a player and provide an explanation on how to use it?



Slowbro-Mega @ Slowbronite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 244 Def / 16 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Scald
- Calm Mind
- Iron Defense
- Slack Off

Latios @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Draco Meteor
- Psychic
- Defog
- Trick

Victini @ Choice Band
Ability: Victory Star
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- V-create
- Bolt Strike
- U-turn
- Trick

Gothitelle @ Colbur Berry
Ability: Shadow Tag
EVs: 248 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Energy Ball
- Hidden Power [Ground]
- Thunder Wave

Mew @ Leftovers
Ability: Synchronize
EVs: 248 HP / 156 SpD / 104 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Knock Off
- Soft-Boiled
- Will-O-Wisp
- Taunt

Jirachi @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 160 SpD / 96 Spe
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Iron Head
- U-turn
- Thunder Wave

-This is the balance Psychic that I brought vs 6ti in MPL recently. The team is all about keeping up momentum and pressure. I originally built this during the Mega Medicham suspect, but it has transitioned quite well since then. Choice Band Victini is my favorite wallbreaker in the metagame due to its insanely powerful V-create. Since I'm not using Choice Scarf Victini, I had to choose between Latios and Meloetta for my revenge killer. I wanted to run non-Defog Mew, which pretty much meant that Defog Latios was the only real choice here. The choice between stallbreaker and Genesis Supernova Mew came down to wanting to improve my matchup against defensive teams. Mega Slowbro stonewalls offensive teams quite well and Choice Scarf Latios's Speed is great, so I chose to run stallbreaker to make Water, Normal, and Poison much easier to handle. This team pretty much needed Gothitelle to even have a chance at beating Steel, and I chose to run Energy Ball to support Mega Slowbro against Ground by trapping and removing the Water-immune Pokemon. Finally, Stealth Rock is a must, so I picked Jirachi to make the Fairy matchup even better. Overall, the team plays exactly my style. Pivot with Mew and Jirachi to bring in Victini and Gothitelle to remove any threats and go for a late-game sweep with Latios or Mega Slowbro. Not much to it, just make the appropriate doubles and click V-create at will.

This concludes my interview with Eien. A huge thanks to him for taking time out of his day and replying with such detailed and thoughtful answers! Feel free to now ask your own questions to our Player of the Week.​
 
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Glad we're bringing these back.

1.
I do think there are some things that should be closely watched. I won't make a conclusive statement on what should be suspected, but I believe that Magearna, Tapu Koko, and Shadow Tag are incredibly powerful for many reasons. It is a bit of a shame that posts that call for a Magearna suspect are almost without exception uncompelling. I don't necessarily disagree with their spirit, but I cannot agree with their arguments, and as a result end up looking like I'm defending Steel or whatever. Tapu Koko is a Pokemon I feel like somehow slips under the radar that is possibly even more problematic than Magearna. Shadow Tag is something I've been against since ORAS. I don't think it's as bad right now, but it's definitely at the top of my watchlist right now.
Why do you think Tapu Koko is even more problematic than Magearna? While I don't think it deserves a ban, Magearna is far more controversial compared to Tapu Koko and seems much more worthy of a suspect test to me.

2. Why is the corrupt council so obsessed with Steel teams and when will they stop ruining our metagame?
 
I'm bored so I'm gonna ask some questions too lol

1. Obviously you enjoy mono otherwise you'd have stopped playing. But if you had to name one aspect of mono that is your least favorite, what would it be?

2. You said you like games well which games are your favorite? Also do you have a switch?

3. Are there any new and upcoming players to keep an eye on?

4. What's your favorite dark/dragon Pokemon that's also an ultrabeast?

5. https://pastebin.com/0HRzvfam thoughts?

Edit: forgot to mention, congrats on graduation fam!
 
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Really insightful stuff.

Little bit over a year ago when MPL II draft happened i remember being somewhat surprised seeing you get drafted. At the time i just thought u were one of those sideserver regulars who have no idea about the metagame and i'm not going to lie, i didn’t think you should have gotten drafted (i was wrong). I don’t think i'm being rude by saying that u were kinda a nobody to the community.

However now, you are one of the key users in this community (Running Monotype's C&C QC team, Forum mod and etc.) and at the same time one of the best players (You shouldn’t be too humble, i think we all know you belong to that top 5).

My question is about the transition period i just talked about. How did a sideserver kingpin transform to the monotype kingpin we all know and love? Also i think there are a lot of people here who want to up their game like you did, so any tips that really helped you take your game to another level? And what does future hold for you as far as PS! is considered: any new tiers that look interesting?

Good Job KevinELF!
 
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Just wanted to say congratulations on graduating, as a fellow Eng student I know how hard it must have been, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your career!

As for asking a question,

You seem to be one of the best builders for SM mono, could you give any tips or walk us through the process of how you make your teams?
 
Thoughts on the following techs/oddball sets on Ice:

15 Speed IV Piloswine to underspeed TR Magearna

Specs Cloyster with 208 Speed and a Naive nature to check offensive Mega Scizor(lives a +2 BP even after Stealth Rock)

Super Fang on Specs Walrein to catch Empoleon, Mantine, Alolan Muk, and Chansey on the switch

Tbolt on Specs Lapras to catch Empoleon and Volcanion on the switch

X-Scissor on Alolan Sandslash to 2HKO utility Mew after Stealth Rock

Scarf Adamant Alolan Sandslash simply to outspeed Choice Scarf Terrakion, Infernape, Gengar, Nihilego, and a few others(credit goes to Breeze Sea)

Taunt on Weavile to keep Magearna from setting up TR in its face



Rotom-Frost @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Pain Split

This Rotom-Frost set specifically built for the sole purpose of beating Mega Scizors of any variant. 80 Speed with Timid outspeeds max Speed variants, letting it Wisp or HP Fire. +2 Bullet Punch won't even be KOing after Stealth Rock. Oh, and it also beats bulky Megazor in a 1v1, so there's that.

Let me know what you think :)
 
Glad we're bringing these back.

1. Why do you think Tapu Koko is even more problematic than Magearna? While I don't think it deserves a ban, Magearna is far more controversial compared to Tapu Koko and seems much more worthy of a suspect test to me.

2. Why is the corrupt council so obsessed with Steel teams and when will they stop ruining our metagame?
1. Tapu Koko is pretty much why almost every single team has an Electric immunity. The very few exceptions are literally Fairy teams, which don't have an option, and teams like Normal that have something like Chansey. Purely for reference, Tapu Koko effectively attacks off of 170 Special Attack when it uses Volt Switch and Thunderbolt. That's not even considering the ridiculous utility that Electric Terrain provides its teammates. To me, Tapu Koko influences the metagame far more than Magearna does. I could see both of them being suspected at some point, and I wouldn't be opposed at all to Magearna being suspected first (if at all), but Tapu Koko has a much larger footprint on the metagame from what I believe.

2. Don't worry. I'll be personally spearheading the effort to quickban Marshadow! Marshadow's Close Combat breaks Steel, and that is unacceptable. Ghost is so irrelevant in the metagame right now, so who cares about it?? Steel forever!

I'm bored so I'm gonna ask some questions too lol

1. Obviously you enjoy mono otherwise you'd have stopped playing. But if you had to name one aspect of mono that is your least favorite, what would it be?

2. You said you like games well which games are your favorite? Also do you have a switch?

3. Are there any new and upcoming players to keep an eye on?

4. What's your favorite dark/dragon Pokemon that's also an ultrabeast?

5. https://pastebin.com/0HRzvfam thoughts?

Edit: forgot to mention, congrats on graduation fam!
1. The thing I dislike about Monotype the most is probably the fact that there's a community of Monotype players that are being constantly misled and blatantly lied to by users that have a history of outright stealing money, cheating, and malice against the metagame. I talk to individuals from that community whenever I can to try to help, but there's only so much that can be done against the power of a deeply ingrained culture and falsehoods.

2. The "Tales of" series is probably my favorite. It's a series I first met over a decade ago. I sadly couldn't play any games for some 5 years because no games came out for consoles I had! I was so happy to play Tales of Zestiria and Tales of Berseria on the PS4 this past year. I don't have a Switch, but I'll likely get one when enough games I'm interested in come out. (The Tales of game, which I believe is confirmed, and the flagship Fire Emblem game that was announced in January or whatever)

3. I'm not sure if there's anyone very new that I can point out. Moosical had an insane MPL run this year, though, after being scouted in Monotype BLT! He literally started every single week and came out with the best record of his format. I think he's a great example of someone who shows how one can break out and become a very respected player (and room moderator!) from pure effort. Big shoutouts to the man who, for some reason, can't make a good username!

4. I'm not sure, but I know Clearly's favorite is Guzzlord.

5. I can neither confirm nor deny the legitimacy of those logs.

favorite music

thoughts on

balanced dark
sandless ground
ladder
I'm a weeb, so I love Touhou and Vocaloid music. Here's a song I've been enjoying lately:

However, as a pianist for 17 years, I've got to say classical music will always have a special place in my heart. In particular, my favorite song is Beethoven's 6th Symphony, Pastoral. I've been a bit partial to his Piano Concerto No. 5, Emperor, lately as well.

Balance Dark is decent. Better than it's given credit for. However, the Fairy matchup completely neuters the type. Just like with Dragon, really.

Sandless Ground is okay. I experimented with it a lot early in the generation and recently, but Sand Rush Excadrill really is too good.

I have a love and hate relationship with the ladder. I don't think enough good players ladder, so the quality of the overall ladder isn't spectacular. However, I do put in the effort and ladder a ton during suspects and MLT. It's fun but sometimes oh so frustrating. Other than that, though, I don't even use it to test teams, since it's just not going to give me particularly useful results. Ladder players aren't bad. I just don't think hitting top 10 on the current ladder is nearly as impressive as winning a tournament, which some would disagree with.

Really insightful stuff.

Little bit over a year ago when MPL II draft happened i remember being somewhat surprised seeing you get drafted. At the time i just thought u were one of those sideserver regulars who have no idea about the metagame and i'm not going to lie, i didn’t think you should have gotten drafted (i was wrong). I don’t think i'm being rude by saying that u were kinda a nobody to the community.

However now, you are one of the key users in this community (Running Monotype's C&C QC team, Forum mod and etc.) and at the same time one of the best players (You shouldn’t be too humble, i think we all know you belong to that top 5).

My question is about the transition period i just talked about. How did a sideserver kingpin transform to the monotype kingpin we all know and love? Also i think there are a lot of people here who want to up their game like you did, so any tips that really helped you take your game to another level? And what does future hold for you as far as PS! is considered: any new tiers that look interesting?

Good Job KevinELF!
I was definitely a nobody back then. I didn't play in any forum tournaments, didn't ladder for the suspect, or really have any serious interaction with the main Monotype community at the time. I thank them in every RMT, but I owe everything to the users that would go to the side server (eos back then) and legitimately give us the time of day. I learned a lot from just battling Sabella whenever he'd ask for someone to play against. Kaiser used to shit talk my league and I all the time for just sitting around on a side server all day playing the same people over and over and never doing anything. His harsh words back then is actually what encouraged me to begin posting on the forums at all. Speaking of my league, Lax joined us for ULC 3 and I think my performance in that tournament contributed to him giving me a chance in MPL.

About more specifically moving from the side server to the main community, I think part of what helped was my attitude towards learning. I knew my relative skill level was low, so I tried to focus on improving rather than immediately trying to be someone. I asked people that I looked up to for help a lot, whether it was just practice battles or team help, I got a lot of help from the people around me, be it those in my league or just my friends. It's really easy to get defensive over your builds or play, but I don't think that's the right way to go. I understand it feels bad to always lose or get criticized, but that's really how we can improve. I'd lose to someone good and then try to figure out why I lost. If I lost a battle, it was often because I made a mistake, so I focused on trying to not make that mistake again rather than making excuses for my misplays.

The first step to getting better is to understand you're not at the top, that you're not alone climbing that mountain, and that there's no rush to get there. I didn't start posting or playing with the goal of being recognized. I even remember looking up at the council long before I started out in the main community and thinking "There's no way people like me that just mess around here on a side server will ever matter like that". I didn't contribute to the (back then) unofficial Monotype analyses with any belief that we'd have actual C&C representation. Things will fall into place on their own. If you keep playing, keep improving, and keep being a contributor to the community, people will see that effort.

If I may be so bold, I think everyone here is happy to see new users come and grow with us, and that's something we'd all like to help with. You're not alone, so reach out and we can all improve as a community together. If you only really play on side servers, I would strongly recommend spending more time on the Smogon forums and the main server to get to know us as well. It's not like you can't still use Azure if you're part of the main community, after all I still talk to my good friends on Azure all the time, but I think one of the absolute worst ways to stunt your growth is to not expand your reach and ignore a much larger, and honestly better, community that you can learn from and play with as well. Even if you don't know anyone at the beginning, we happily welcome everyone, so don't feel afraid or out of place!

About new tiers, I've been playing a decent amount of OU lately, and I still like to dabble in Ubers. I don't really have much time to do mess around in Ubers too much, though, since I have more necessary things to do. As a result, I'm really happy to get to play it in PSPL and force myself to dedicate some time to it again.

mafia 8pm EST be there or be doc
Got it broski. I'll bring my dude Tygastro too.

Just wanted to say congratulations on graduating, as a fellow Eng student I know how hard it must have been, and I sincerely wish you the best of luck in your career!

As for asking a question,

You seem to be one of the best builders for SM mono, could you give any tips or walk us through the process of how you make your teams?
Thanks bro. Keep up the hard work, engineering is rough but the end is so gratifying.

I have no idea if this is what you wanted, but I hope the below hide section is helpful. As a general tip for building in a Monotype tournament, I think it's important to not worry too much about beating everything. Your opponent can only use one type each battle, so don't stretch your team out too far and weaken all of your other matchups trying to cover random things that probably won't matter too much in the end. For ladder, I'd definitely not take this mentality too far, but I think in tournaments you have an idea of what your opponent is bringing, which will allow you to more specifically target their types and focus your team.

When building, I'll choose a set that I want to use before anything else. From there, I try to fill the necessary teamslots before thinking about sets. For example, I really wanted to try out Wobbuffet as an Alolan Muk check. I refuse to build teams without Mew, so that came on immediately. Victini is a must on every Psychic team, and I think Latios is just as important as a Ground immunity and Belly Drum Azumarill check. If I'm running Wobbuffet to remove Alolan Muk, I know double dance Mew has literally no checks on Poison left, so it was easy to just put them together. Because that's my anti-Poison strategy, I don't need Choice Band Victini and really want to use Choice Scarf to sweep Steel teams after Wobbuffet removes Heatran. Normal might be an issue, so I decided here to combine two roles by adding a utility Jirachi. Toxic + U-turn ruins Normal's day when I can pivot into Wobbuffet and Toxic stall them down; Jirachi handles my Stealth Rock need too. Because I have Normal somewhat covered, I can run Choice Scarf Victini to make Bug and Steel much easier. I'm not hazard stacking, so Defog Latios was an easy set choice.

So just by deciding on Wobbuffet being an Alolan Muk check, five sets really just fall into place without much effort. My last Pokemon is something I've been wavering with. I actually didn't like Slowbro here because I didn't think it helped with the threats I was worried about (HO Steel, Diggersby), so I put on Counter Alakazam instead. The other option I've been playing with is a Meloetta to help with Mimikyu and Porygon-Z. We'll see after more testing where I go with it.


Thoughts on the following techs/oddball sets on Ice:

15 Speed IV Piloswine to underspeed TR Magearna

Specs Cloyster with 208 Speed and a Naive nature to check offensive Mega Scizor(lives a +2 BP even after Stealth Rock)

Super Fang on Specs Walrein to catch Empoleon, Mantine, Alolan Muk, and Chansey on the switch

Tbolt on Specs Lapras to catch Empoleon and Volcanion on the switch

X-Scissor on Alolan Sandslash to 2HKO utility Mew after Stealth Rock

Scarf Adamant Alolan Sandslash simply to outspeed Choice Scarf Terrakion, Infernape, Gengar, Nihilego, and a few others(credit goes to Breeze Sea)

Taunt on Weavile to keep Magearna from setting up TR in its face



Rotom-Frost @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 180 Def / 80 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Volt Switch
- Will-O-Wisp
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Pain Split

This Rotom-Frost set specifically built for the sole purpose of beating Mega Scizors of any variant. 80 Speed with Timid outspeeds max Speed variants, letting it Wisp or HP Fire. +2 Bullet Punch won't even be KOing after Stealth Rock. Oh, and it also beats bulky Megazor in a 1v1, so there's that.

Let me know what you think :)
Piloswine idea sounds fine. Cloyster sounds like a waste and useless outside of one matchup. Super Fang is a cool idea I guess, but I don't think it helps enough since those Pokemon are all supported by huge threats that Ice struggles with as well (Toxapex, Skarmory, Porygon2). I'd rather have double Water-type STAB moves on Lapras in most cases but I can see this being fine too. X-Scissor would Swords Dance or Rapid Spin, something I would be really unsure about doing. Could be interesting and might be worth being in Other Options in an analysis after some testing. Choice Scarf sounds pretty bad; Ice needs the damage. Taunt doesn't really stop Magearna, since it can just KO Weavile after and just set up at a different time. The Rotom-Frost set also looks useless outside of Mega Scizor.

In my experience, trying too hard to beat Mega Scizor will cause you to lose too many other matchups. Don't forget Mega Scizor has teammates! Volcarona and Heatran will absolutely ruin most of these sets' day. The best check to Mega Scizor is just playing around it as best you can. The matchup is really rough, and I'd rather be able to win other matchups than beat one Pokemon. This goes back to what I said to waszap: "As a general tip for building in a Monotype tournament, I think it's important to not worry too much about beating everything. Your opponent can only use one type each battle, so don't stretch your team out too far and weaken all of your other matchups trying to cover random things that probably won't matter too much in the end."

y r u so abusive?
The real question is why you aren't using Guzzlord on your stall Dark team. Man really thought he'd get likes without Clearly's favorite Pokemon LUL

Best moment you had in PS?
I don't think anything beats the night we saved Seo's Smogon University scholarship. I'll probably never forget that night.
 

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