1v1 Room - The Rising Community

Introduction

In Generation 6, 1v1 was a small community that found itself lost in the shuffle between all other OMs. The community had always been growing slightly, but with the introduction of Generation 7, this growth increased tremendously. With DEG as the new 1v1 Leader, the people of 1v1 started looking for new ways to stay connected. A very simple 1v1 Discord was made, which started off with a limited number of members but with time found itself with over 100 users. The dream of getting a room on PS was closer than ever. A few ambitious users wanted to prove their worth, so a group chat was created. This group chat ended up getting stable activity of up to 30 users at peaks and a solid 15 users in the less active hours.

After seeing the success of this group chat, an application was sent for the creation of a 1v1 room. This letter explained that the 1v1 community was steadily growing, and the group chat had proven to be successful and active. Not only that, but when looking at the OM room, you'd quickly notice that 1v1 discussion had absolutely no presence there. The room also posed a perfect opportunity to develop 1v1 OMs and host competitions, things that 1v1 has always struggled to do. And with that, on April 3rd 2017, our dreams became a reality. The 1v1 room was created!

Now, almost a year later, both the 1v1 room and community are flourishing. Tournaments are being hosted all day, and the chat is home to all sorts of 1v1 discussion. The user count has surpassed the group chat by a lot, ranging from 30 users in the less active hours to at least 50 at its peak. During one of the 1v1 suspect tests when the room was mentioned in the PS news box, the standard would be a whopping 100 users. During this time, the 1v1 room activity surpassed even big public chat rooms sometimes. And even now the room consistently has more users and activity than some of the smaller public rooms.

Room purpose

The main purpose of this room is fairly obvious; the 1v1 room is a place for any discussion about 1v1. People come here to talk about new counters to ladder threats but also to share ideas or find ways to make their ideas possible. This also includes people seeking teambuilding advice and players discussing potential bans/unbans in the 1v1 metagame. Smogon and the room are quite closely linked, as we discuss recent posts in the room and also make posts based on what we just discussed in the room.

A lot of players didn't have Smogon accounts before the creation of the room, so before this, opinions and discussions were lead by the same 1v1 players that had a Smogon account, but after the room's creation, things changed, allowing the rest of the community to have an opinion. This also encouraged a lot of people to make an account on Smogon and post in the various 1v1 threads so their opinion can be stated publicly and saved.

But, there is more to the 1v1 room than you'd think. It's not only a place for discussion about 1v1, we have also developed several 1v1 OMs, and there's always at least one that's being talked about. Most of the OMs are in a pretty early stage of development, so when people have nothing to do, they ask a couple of room members to help them write a resource for one of the various OMs. The most popular 1v1 OMs are UU 1v1, in which the most used Pokémon are banned, and Monotype 1v1, which is pretty self-explanatory. For more detail on 1v1 OMs, you can visit this link.

Room tournaments and events

The 1v1 community wouldn't be the 1v1 community without its great variety of tournaments and events. I'll be going over the most important room tournaments as well as some bigger 1v1 tournaments that have been and are yet to come.

Events

1v1 official tournaments

Imagine you find yourself joining the 1v1 room and community and wanting to participate in something, but you don't think you have the required skill to jump right into a Smogon tournament. Then the 1v1 official tournaments are definitely something for you! These tournaments are held every day at 12PM and 9PM EST (times might change). They're simple single elimination tournaments in the 1v1 room, with one OM and one regular tour every day and the schedule rotating every month so you can enjoy these formats even if one month they fall on a timing that you cannot make. The winner of the monthly leaderboard is granted a temporary room voice promotion (1 month), so it's worth doing your best for.

1v1 Premier League

Other than Smogon and room tournaments, we have events that happen on Discord servers and on our own forum to make it easier to host them. The 1v1 Premier League, shortened to 1v1PL, is the first major tournament in the 1v1 circuit that happened October and November 2017. It was the third hosted tournament after both World Cup of 1v1 and 1v1 Ladder Tournament as a step forward into the competitive scene. It was hosted by Iron Crusher and UnleashOurPassion and worked just like any other Premier League; six teams fought for the win in different 1v1 metagames; this year we included SM, ORAS, UU, and 2v2 Doubles, which were the most popular formats throughout SM. You can join the 1v1PL Discord to catch up on what happened in this first season. However, make sure to stay tuned, as 1v1PL II will be starting sometime in March!

World Cup of 1v1

The first tournament that was hosted and opened the doors to the 1v1 competitive scene was done by dom and was a success. The World Cup of 1v1, shortened WCo1v1, is the second major tournament in the 1v1 circuit, which happened May and June 2017. Six regions fought in the tournament this year, Europe, Asia, US Central, US East, US West, and Canada-Oceana. This tournament ended with Team Europe taking the win. World Cup of 1v1 had two 1v1 generations, SM and ORAS. This is definitely a tournament that will be played again this year! You can join the World Cup of 1v1 Discord to catch up on what happened in the first season.

1v1 Classic

1v1 Classic is the latest 1v1 tournament that happened in December 2017 and January 2018. It is a tournament that regroups 1v1 older generations, USM, ORAS, and BW. We decided to go with the recent generations this year because we do not think we have enough of a playerbase or developed older generations to include them; this might change in the next iteration. It is an individual tournament, unlike the past two tournaments, with 3 "Opens" in the generations specified above. Users can join as many "Opens" as they can and try to advance to accumulate points to reach the playoffs. This tournament is being hosted by dom, Iron Crusher, and Kris. For more information join the 1v1 Classic Discord.

1v1 Ladder Tournament

The 1v1 Ladder Tournament was hosted on Smogon and featured a 4-week race on the ladder. Every week, the top 4 users that had the highest ELO were picked and put in a pool of players. After 4 weeks of fighting, the top 16 participants went to playoffs. After 7 rounds, UnleashOurPassion was crowned winner this year. If you would like to read a recap, the information thread is over here. and the playoffs can be found here.

Tournaments

Monopoké and Randpoké tournaments

I'm sure you've been there, being good or bad at a metagame with no idea what to do next. At times like these you might want to pick a completely random Pokémon and try it out on ladder. Unfortunately you'll soon find that your random pick does not do well against the metagame; in fact you've not won a single match! The 1v1 room holds tournaments that use this, being so-called Monopoke tournaments. The rules for this are fairly simple; a random Pokémon is selected and every user has to use that Pokémon. This makes for interesting matches in which players try their best to outsmart their opponent. This replay is an excellent example of players pushing their Pokémon to its limits. Another randomized tournament is Randpoke, where all users PM an auth member to receive 3 random or arbitrary Pokémon with which they then have to play the tournament.

1v1 OMs

Have you ever wanted to mix two tiers or OMs together? Do you like 1v1? (Answer should be yes.) Then this tournament is made for you! In the 1v1 room, we host various 1v1 variations tournament ranging from OMs (such as STABmons, Anything Goes...) to Tiers (LC, Monotype...), and to old gens (ORAS, BW...); we also have our very own 1v1 UU! :A lot of them are still under development, and the tournaments don’t only let the users have fun, but they help us develop these 1v1 OMs for the tournament circuit. For more information, you can click here.

1v1 Clash

1v1 Team Clash is a team tournament run in the 1v1 room. When somebody announces a 1v1 Team Clash tournament, two managers are selected. Whoever would like to manage may PM the host to be selected as a manager. One may be denied from managing if too many people want to manage. The manager makes a team of four or five people, depending on the activity at the time of the tour. You must PM team managers expressing interest to join their team. Do not PM both managers unless one has denied you from their team!

Once these managers have gathered their teams, they must select formats from a pool that the host selects. The host may pick from any available 1v1 option. Some of these include SM 1v1, ORAS 1v1, AG 1v1, AAA 1v1, Sketchmons 1v1, BH 1v1, Monopoke, Monothreat, Monotype, and so on. The host will announce four or five of these, depending on the number of players per team. The manager must then submit their lineup to the host of who is playing what tier. These people battle each other in the same format as the other team. Whoever wins more battles wins the clash.

Team tournament

A Team Tour is exactly what it sounds like; it is a team tournament in the 1v1 room. Once someone announces that a Team Tour will take place, people who would like to manage will post that they would like to in the chat. The host will eventually pick two managers, and people might have to be denied from managing if there are too many people who want to manage. The manager's job is to create the team. In order to get on a team, you have to PM a manager letting them know you'd like to be on their team. Avoid PMing both managers unless one has already denied you from their team.

Once the managers have gathered enough players for their team, the tour will start. If you're on the team, you will possibly be invited to a private groupchat for the team. The host will randomly pick a player from both teams. These players will play in a format the host decides or randomly generates. This format may not be regular 1v1, as it could be another OM, gen, or way of playing 1v1. The host will also decide or randomly pick whether it's a best of 1, 3, 5, etc.

Once the players have finished battling, the loser is eliminated from their team. The tour goes on, and the host will pick two more players. It is worth noting that yes, there is a chance that players will play repeatedly if they haven't been eliminated. Once every single player has been eliminated from a team, that team has lost and the tournament is over.

There's one rule to follow in both Team Tournaments that is simple: no ghosting. A groupchat will be created for each team so they can communicate, and the host will watch out over both groupchats.

*Note that the 1v1 staff team is accepting more events and tournament ideas, and we also have more ideas in mind but are waiting for the right time to host them. New changes will be announced in the room.

Contributing

The 1v1 room is always welcoming new contributors, as it is still in its early stages and would like any user to believe that they are doing good for the room.

What does it mean to be a contributor in the 1v1 room?

A contributor in the 1v1 room is a user that helps us shape the room and the metagame to a better form. Basically, it involves helping the 1v1 staff take the better road by giving us constructive feedback, helping fellow users if they ever need it, or discussing strategies, sets, and everything that comes to your mind that may seem appropriate to the room. The 1v1 room is also tied with both Smogon and the other parts of 1v1 such as the 1v1 tournament circuits and the Discord.

How to contribute?

The simple answer to that is: discuss and help. The more complex answers is a little bit longer, but I'm going to go over it. The 1v1 room looks for users that are generally nice and chill to talk with. Simple right? Being a user that is easily approachable and is ready to help when wanted is a step forward. By being that kind of user, you contribute to the general ambience of the room, making it a better place. Now, every user is different, and I'm not forcing you to act like this, but this is what we would like. Discussions can be heated, especially in suspect tests, but they should be kept within limits, and the room staff are always monitoring the room. Another way to contribute is to respect others and answer the questions even if the Pokémon they are talking about isn't viable or not generic; we didn't start on the top of the ladder, we had to climb it, holding the ladder to newer users by helping them and not attacking their opinions is a great starting point!

Since the room is heavily linked to our Smogon threads, people can contribute to the threads while discussing changes in the room. For example, when discussing the Viability Rankings on the Smogon thread, users can take it to the room to have a wider platform to communicate and get more insights about the nomination or changes. The discussion thread is the core of the metagame that let us know what people think about a Pokémon or if they have a set they'd like to share, but you have to spend some time writing a post there. That's why there's an alternative in the room where you can start the discussion without the needing of formatting. By creating and/or participating in discussions, you are contributing positively to the room (except if you rage at someone).

Interviews

DEG

The Immortal

Uselesscrab

Why and when did you first start playing 1v1?

I started playing 1v1 back in early generation 6. I was interested in the concept of Other Metagames, and 1v1 seemed easy to pick up. I started up with basic teams, looked up on the threads but at that time 1v1 had no resources, it just had commonly used Pokémon so I started using these Pokémon and battling. Battle after battle I tried to learn new sets from the players until I was able to create my own sets. I created my first team including sets that weren't used before such as Weakness Policy Kyurem-Black and to my surprise it did very well. So I continued to play the metagame, it just stuck in me. There's lot of possibilities, lot of viable Pokémon and different sets. A newcomer might get lost in the shuffle since at first glance 1v1 might seem easy but when you venture deep inside there's lot of possibilities and hidden gems. This is why, I wanted to makes resources to open up the metagame to more users, I got the approval and it started, I played more and more, gathered a community and finished generation 6 on a high note. You know what happens next, I'm glad that I took that decision, I met great people and expanded 1v1 to a lot of new users.

What are your thoughts on leading a rising community, and how does it compare from last generation?

They say that the starting point is the hardest so leading a rising community seems hard, there's little room to error, you have to attract new users, old users and keep the momentum going to form a stable community. It was, like I said, hard at first to see what everyone likes so we started rolling different ways for people to enjoy the metagame, created variations of it: 1v1 OMs, Old Gens..., and put together a schedule of tournaments to keep up the activity of the room, and the metagame as a whole. I'm happy leading the 1v1 community as it is a chill and nice community to begin with, users are friendly, and other staff members are also doing a nice job monitoring the room and helping us.

The 1v1 ladder and userbase was always active in generation 6, but we lacked the unity we have this generation. Last generation, the 1v1 userbase was scattered across the PS! server, the Other Metas room had no to little 1v1 discussion and a good portion of the community had no Smogon accounts so it was hard to communicate. This has changed this generation, what started from a Discord server ended up being a room, a place for various 1v1 players to meet which built communication between all the players and encouraged a lot of them to make Smogon accounts. Right now, 1v1's activity is at its peak, and all of that thanks to the environment we have to go forward and accomplish many things.

What do you look for in potential Voices (+)?

There's a lot of criteria a voice candidate should have, but some are more important than others. First of all, a voice should be active either in the room or Smogon threads since both are heavily linked. Even if the user talks a little bit in the room but is a great poster on Smogon he deserved some recognition since talking in the room can be improved when given the voice as they will feel more encouraged. The user should be helpful and easily approachable; see familiar. I'm not expecting him to respond to every question asked but doing his best to help a few new users in need when they ask to help them integrate the metagame. Last but not least, knowledgeable. I'm not expecting everyone to know all the sets and all the matchups correctly, but they should know what they are talking about and not claim false statements in discussions.

What do you think the future holds for the 1v1 room and 1v1 in general?

I do not really know, guess time will tell. I really do have high hopes for the room, and the metagame as a whole. I have high hopes, because I'm not the only one working on this, we have a whole community and I'm blessed with great staff and co-leaders that also have ambitions. I think that 1v1 has a bright future, there's some things the room lacks like more staff members, and the metagame still needs a little bit of balancing but otherwise we've been doing great! The community been enjoying the tournaments and everything we have in store for them and we wouldn't be there without them. Now, we have continue like that and time will tell what the future hides for us.

Any closing remarks?

You should really come and visit the 1v1 room and try to learn the metagame, it's fun, fast and an easy time killer, and there's tournaments to keep the competitivity around. This is just the beginning and we need your help, we're waiting for you!

Why and when did you first start playing 1v1?

I started playing 1v1 around gen 4. At the time PO was the only sim and I used to ladder OU. 1v1 was fairly similar in terms of what was allowed and so I gave it a shot. I recall Jirachi being the #1 Pokémon, with good reason! Once PS came along, I forgot about 1v1, probably because it wasn’t playable initially. Fast forward and I got into OMs starting with BH, AAA, and then back into 1v1.

What are your thoughts on leading a rising community, and how does it compare from last generation?

I started running 1v1 at the beginning of last gen, when it needed someone to take over. It’s an important metagame because of it’s sheer popularity and how long it’s been around. The community is probably at its highest at this point in time. With Discord, the PS room, and all the resources available and tournaments being held.

What do you look for in potential Voices (+)?

They should be an active contributor to the chat first and foremost. Being knowledgeable about the metagame and being smart in general is something I look for. You don’t want a user representing your room, and to an extent 1v1, if they’re going to misinform users. The last quality I look for is respect. You need to respect everyone, whether they’re a mod or a regular user. One can share differing opinions without being rude and insulting.

What do you think the future holds for the 1v1 room and 1v1 in general?

If the room keeps improving then it’s certainly headed toward being public. As for the metagame, hopefully we can have tournaments in a more official capacity. Right now they’re run out of Discord, and the room I suppose, but they should make their presence felt on Smogon!

Any closing remarks?

I think for 1v1 to further grow the perception about it needs to change. Those who are not experienced 1v1 players claim it’s purely matchup and luck based, which is far from true. Once we can change the mindset, the sky will be the limit for 1v1!

Why and when did you first start playing 1v1?

During the last few months of Generation V, PlatypusVenom, whom I vaguely knew from BH, recommended 1v1 to me. For some reason, my first instinct was to use it as an opportunity to pick up wins on the ladder with stuff like Clamperl and Shedinja and then berate my opponents for losing to such seemingly useless Pokémon. But eventually, I decided to try and take it somewhat seriously, as I liked the highly controlled nature of the metagame, plus the ability to surprise opponents with unexpected sets. Unfortunately, around that time, my idea of a "serious" set was dual status Cresselia with Toxic and Thunder Wave. On the other hand, it was also in this timeframe that I began to use Smogon a lot more frequently, and I picked up some legitimately good 1v1 sets from perusing the boards (I mostly used Golem and Mega Pinsir in those days) and performed respectably on the ladder. It wasn't until the 3v3 team preview era began that I started to construct the truly dumb EV spreads that kind of became my hallmark in 1v1. I was sick of my Mega Charizard X losing to Greninja and Kyurem-B and gave it what would by today's standards be considered an impractical amount of special bulk. For some reason, that set actually worked well, frustrating (for good reason) one high-level player after another, and I realized that the essence of 1v1 was creating sets that would befuddle one's opponents while casting a wide net and beating as much of the metagame as possible—hence the Babiri Berry Whimsicott specially defensive Mega Tyranitar in ORAS, and the Groundium Z Kyurem-B and bulky Keldeo in SM, that have become consistent members of my teams.

What are your thoughts on leading a rising community, and how does it compare from last generation?

Rumplestiltskin and I used to complain endlessly about being unable to transfer the 1v1 community's passion from Showdown to Smogon, since so few of them used the OM room, let alone the forums, and the overall quality of posting in the 1v1 thread was thus extremely low for quite a while. The fledgling 1v1 groupchat, and eventually the 1v1 private room, created a central location for self-selecting, enthusiastic users (just look at the outstanding activity of our analysis project...but RIP that for now) who may never have become engaged with the greater community, and I think it's been the best thing to happen to the metagame in quite a long time. I am honored to be considered worthy of leading such a group and look forward to seeing how the room continues to develop as we near our one-year anniversary.

What do you look for in potential Voices (+)?

I expect a voice to be active without dominating conversations, knowledgeable but not too eager to chastise others, and friendly while not a greetbot. Smogon activity isn't necessary but helps prove one worthy of the esteem inherent in affixing a little plus-sign to one's name. I'd also like to urge anyone frustrated about not having yet received a promotion of which they consider themselves wholeheartedly deserving to take a step back, examine their overall behavior, and consider areas for potential improvement, because particularly with the innovation of roomlogs, it's exceedingly unlikely that upper staff will just ignore a voice-quality user. Occasionally, we will even push users on the brink of voice-worthiness in the right direction.

What do you think the future holds for the 1v1 room and 1v1 in general?

We have come so far in the past eight months since receiving our room that it's hard to tell exactly what the future holds. I think one of the end goals is to become public eventually, following a similar model to AG, but we are a tad bit understaffed at present and the overall activity of the room fluctuates greatly, too. I would also like to get some more feedback from the community on what they want out of the suspect process, because I've experienced some very inconsistent reactions to certain decisions. One option that might help with this is a comprehensive rewrite of our suspect philosophy to eradicate the misconception that we ban things just for being "annoying" or for beating a numerical percentage of the metagame. Finally, I'd like to see if on-site analyses are a possibility for the future. I was not intimately involved with our semi-official analyses of blessed memory, but their activity blew away anything I had experienced during my time working with BH writers and QC teams. Our status as a cartridge-playable metagame may also help us gain some legitimacy in the eyes of a the greater Smogon community, even if our format is viewed as inherently uncompetitive by some.

Any closing remarks?

Echoing DEG here: in spite of all the outreach we've done to promote our room, there are still some excellent players out there who haven't established a presence in our community. Come visit us, maybe get involved on Smogon, and I'm sure you won't regret it.

Conclusion

Swing by the 1v1 room and enjoy your time! We're a growing community and would love to have you by us. We also have a lot of activities for you to have fun and learn the metagame easily! We're waiting for you!

★ ★ ★ ★ ★ — "It's a lovely community, very well deserved spotlight" —ant
★ ★ ★ ★ ★ — "Exhilarating tournaments" —The Immortal

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