Airwind
<3
(Inspired by threads in OU and other forums, co-hosted by SHSP and Airwind , Banner by Centinela )
Hello and welcome to the CAP player of the week! In this project, SHSP and I will interview some of our metagame’s best innovators, builders, and players! This week's interviewee is Snake_Rattler, CAP 23 Topic Leader and top player! If you have anyone who you would like to be interviewed, please PM either SHSP or me!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm 17, from Alabama
What are you most known for on Smogon?
I'm known for my bad puns, and for a little while I was known for my Trick Room teams. On Smogon I'm on the QC Team and VR Team and was Ability Leader for Kerfluffle. Right now I'm TL for CAP23, which is really exciting.
What is your favorite Pokemon, and why?
For design, i really like Landorus, the not therian kind. It stares you down saying "i'm going to unleash these earth powers on you.” For competitive, i'm pretty partial to Mega Pinsir. It matches up really well with the metagame right now, but it still has good hard stops to make it not broken. I like having a good nuking move in Return and priority in Quick Attack to back it up, Swords Dance is really nice, and EQ or CC are good coverage.
What is your favorite CAP?
I’m really liking Revenankh actually. Triage was a really great addition for it, despite what some people might think. It makes offensive rev a cool mon and SpD rev relevant, especially with volkraken and ash-greninja running around. Access to a lot of moves leaves a lot of creativity too
What was your favorite CAP process?
I've only been around for Crucibelle and Kerfluffle, and I think I had a better grasp of what was going on for Kerfluffle, so I'm going to have to go with that one. I learned a lot about leading from being ability leader, and I'm hoping I can apply that for CAP23 as well. Kerfluffle was fun because I felt like I had more to say. I supported Fairy / Fighting typing pretty intensely and special attacking stats as well. I also supported Poison-type coverage.
What is your most used Pokemon?
I find that Tapu Bulu appears on most of my teams. It's a really versatile breaker despite weaker match ups in CAP, and also has super great utility on Trick Room teams by weakening Earthquakes and giving passive recovery. I just wish it had Play Rough, but it's probably good thing that it doesn't have that.
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I've always been pretty invested in Pokemon games. I started playing with Pokemon Diamond, got every main series game since. Started watching YouTube videos on Pokemon and saw that they were using a cool simulator, and figured out it was called Showdown. I didn't really fit into OU because I didn't really understand that much about competitive, then I tried out LC, hung out there for awhile, and then gravitated towards CAP.
How were you introduced to the CAP project?
I actually found it on my own. I read analyses and forums a lot when I was in LC, and somehow I stumbled into the Process Archive on Google. I read through it, figured out the gist of the CAP Project, so I wasn't your average "I want to make my own Pokemon." I also saw that CAP had a metagame when I saw the Naviathan Playtest, so I figured I might as well hop into a different room. Cbrevan welcomed me in, Spark helped me build, and that's about it.
What is the best part of the creation of a CAPmon in your opinion?
Ability. Of course Concept is very important and you can't get anywhere without it, and typing is very important as well, but ability is where you start to give the Pokemon personality. Is it going to be offensive? Defensive? Utility? That starts with primary ability, and secondary ability is really cool because once we've figured out where we're going with the Pokemon, we can give it a really cool complementary ability. I think a good secondary ability can be equal to or less than the primary.
What is your favorite CAP OM? (like cap lc, monotype, doubles)
I really like CAP LC. I’m not too good at battling, but conceptually LC is really intriguing and CAP mixed in makes it very enjoyable to talk to drew and sam-testings.
What made you choose your name?
Way back to when I was 10 years old, I wanted to get Minecraft, and I saw I needed a username. My dad asked me what I wanted, and "snake rattler" just came to mind. I have 0 idea why, but that's why I have the underscore.
What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
I honestly like this gen the best. Competitively, i feel much more engaged than gen 6. Z moves are really fun because they make things unpredictable, and weaken knock off substantially. I liked the games because they had a somewhat engaging story. I mean i had low expectations because of XY, and it was just the first game I had played in a long while, so it was nice to play a laid-back game.
Thoughts at the beginning of a CAP project?
As TL, I'm really excited to lead this process. I've seen lots of new blood submitting concepts, which is really fantastic. We've had a lot of well crafted concepts as well. What i like to see from a project that's broad enough not to be super linear but not too broad. I felt like Kerfluffle was a little too narrow in scope, but i'm going to do my best to slate some concepts that fit in that sweet spot.
Thoughts on the CAP TT? some predictions?
So far, I feel like we should stick to bo1 :P. I wasn't around for the auctions, but i'm really happy with my team. i think my team is going to do very well since we have solid players all around. what i really like about CAPTT is the metagame develops a ton when the whole community is trying to outsmart each other.
What is your favorite CAP Old Gen?
Well there's only ORAS that I've played, and tbh I really hate oras. It just feels boring, so i really don't have a favorite honestly.
Is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building, competing in tournaments, etc?
My advice is to participate as much as possible. If you don't talk in the room or look at forums, you aren't going to know what's good in the metagame. The second piece of advice is to not be afraid to use the good Pokemon. Make standard teams, figure out everything, then branch out and figure out more niche sets.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
sparktrain for helping me learn the ropes of competitive and being really cool, cbrevan for helping me into the metagame and being really cool, Ria for being really fun to talk to in pms (he really needs to post on forums more). cap community in general is really awesome. I haven't met any regulars that i haven't really liked (even snor). There's this awesome guy named airwind...)
Well snake thank you for you time
Hello and welcome to the CAP player of the week! In this project, SHSP and I will interview some of our metagame’s best innovators, builders, and players! This week's interviewee is Snake_Rattler, CAP 23 Topic Leader and top player! If you have anyone who you would like to be interviewed, please PM either SHSP or me!
Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
I'm 17, from Alabama
What are you most known for on Smogon?
I'm known for my bad puns, and for a little while I was known for my Trick Room teams. On Smogon I'm on the QC Team and VR Team and was Ability Leader for Kerfluffle. Right now I'm TL for CAP23, which is really exciting.
What is your favorite Pokemon, and why?
For design, i really like Landorus, the not therian kind. It stares you down saying "i'm going to unleash these earth powers on you.” For competitive, i'm pretty partial to Mega Pinsir. It matches up really well with the metagame right now, but it still has good hard stops to make it not broken. I like having a good nuking move in Return and priority in Quick Attack to back it up, Swords Dance is really nice, and EQ or CC are good coverage.
What is your favorite CAP?
I’m really liking Revenankh actually. Triage was a really great addition for it, despite what some people might think. It makes offensive rev a cool mon and SpD rev relevant, especially with volkraken and ash-greninja running around. Access to a lot of moves leaves a lot of creativity too
What was your favorite CAP process?
I've only been around for Crucibelle and Kerfluffle, and I think I had a better grasp of what was going on for Kerfluffle, so I'm going to have to go with that one. I learned a lot about leading from being ability leader, and I'm hoping I can apply that for CAP23 as well. Kerfluffle was fun because I felt like I had more to say. I supported Fairy / Fighting typing pretty intensely and special attacking stats as well. I also supported Poison-type coverage.
What is your most used Pokemon?
I find that Tapu Bulu appears on most of my teams. It's a really versatile breaker despite weaker match ups in CAP, and also has super great utility on Trick Room teams by weakening Earthquakes and giving passive recovery. I just wish it had Play Rough, but it's probably good thing that it doesn't have that.
What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?
I've always been pretty invested in Pokemon games. I started playing with Pokemon Diamond, got every main series game since. Started watching YouTube videos on Pokemon and saw that they were using a cool simulator, and figured out it was called Showdown. I didn't really fit into OU because I didn't really understand that much about competitive, then I tried out LC, hung out there for awhile, and then gravitated towards CAP.
How were you introduced to the CAP project?
I actually found it on my own. I read analyses and forums a lot when I was in LC, and somehow I stumbled into the Process Archive on Google. I read through it, figured out the gist of the CAP Project, so I wasn't your average "I want to make my own Pokemon." I also saw that CAP had a metagame when I saw the Naviathan Playtest, so I figured I might as well hop into a different room. Cbrevan welcomed me in, Spark helped me build, and that's about it.
What is the best part of the creation of a CAPmon in your opinion?
Ability. Of course Concept is very important and you can't get anywhere without it, and typing is very important as well, but ability is where you start to give the Pokemon personality. Is it going to be offensive? Defensive? Utility? That starts with primary ability, and secondary ability is really cool because once we've figured out where we're going with the Pokemon, we can give it a really cool complementary ability. I think a good secondary ability can be equal to or less than the primary.
What is your favorite CAP OM? (like cap lc, monotype, doubles)
I really like CAP LC. I’m not too good at battling, but conceptually LC is really intriguing and CAP mixed in makes it very enjoyable to talk to drew and sam-testings.
What made you choose your name?
Way back to when I was 10 years old, I wanted to get Minecraft, and I saw I needed a username. My dad asked me what I wanted, and "snake rattler" just came to mind. I have 0 idea why, but that's why I have the underscore.
What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?
I honestly like this gen the best. Competitively, i feel much more engaged than gen 6. Z moves are really fun because they make things unpredictable, and weaken knock off substantially. I liked the games because they had a somewhat engaging story. I mean i had low expectations because of XY, and it was just the first game I had played in a long while, so it was nice to play a laid-back game.
Thoughts at the beginning of a CAP project?
As TL, I'm really excited to lead this process. I've seen lots of new blood submitting concepts, which is really fantastic. We've had a lot of well crafted concepts as well. What i like to see from a project that's broad enough not to be super linear but not too broad. I felt like Kerfluffle was a little too narrow in scope, but i'm going to do my best to slate some concepts that fit in that sweet spot.
Thoughts on the CAP TT? some predictions?
So far, I feel like we should stick to bo1 :P. I wasn't around for the auctions, but i'm really happy with my team. i think my team is going to do very well since we have solid players all around. what i really like about CAPTT is the metagame develops a ton when the whole community is trying to outsmart each other.
What is your favorite CAP Old Gen?
Well there's only ORAS that I've played, and tbh I really hate oras. It just feels boring, so i really don't have a favorite honestly.
Is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building, competing in tournaments, etc?
My advice is to participate as much as possible. If you don't talk in the room or look at forums, you aren't going to know what's good in the metagame. The second piece of advice is to not be afraid to use the good Pokemon. Make standard teams, figure out everything, then branch out and figure out more niche sets.
Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?
sparktrain for helping me learn the ropes of competitive and being really cool, cbrevan for helping me into the metagame and being really cool, Ria for being really fun to talk to in pms (he really needs to post on forums more). cap community in general is really awesome. I haven't met any regulars that i haven't really liked (even snor). There's this awesome guy named airwind...)
Well snake thank you for you time