art by Brumirage
1v1 Player Interviews
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#10 DenisTheMenace
Favorite Pokemon:
Most used Pokemon:
Most known for: Being a highly successful 1v1 tournament player, as well as winning the recent World Cup alongside South Europe.
A big welcome to the latest guest, DenisTheMenace! It's been a while since the last interview, but there's a reason I tell people not to expect these consistently- Now, getting started, how are you doing? In mons, life, or whatever you feel like sharing.
Thanks for having me, I’m glad to be here! Well, I’d say I’m doing pretty well in both irl and mons. As you know, World Cup ended just a little over two weeks ago and that was obviously a great experience and I’m also trying to make a losers run in the ongoing summer seasonal. As for irl, I finally received my second covid shot last week so hopefully I can actually start going back to some sort of normality
Ooh, nice nice. Hope you didn't get absolutely destroyed by it like I did when I got mine- Now, there's no better place to start from than the beginning; when'd you first get into Pokemon, and how'd you end up getting into competitive?
I actually did get hit pretty hard by both shots ahah but it is what it is, I recovered quickly. Anyway, to answer your question, my first ever experience with pokémon was the TV show that used to air when I was a little kid. I believe I was 4 years old and I clearly remember being fascinated by the pokémon theme song and by the aesthetics of the mons. I also used to watch VHS tapes of Pokémon movies on loop (I still have them) if anyone reading is old enough to remember what those are. Soon after that, my parents bought me a copy of Pokémon Yellow and that’s when I actually started playing pokémon games. As for how I got into the competitive aspect of the game, we need to fast forward quite a bit, till my last year of high school. I was 18 years old and one day I was at home watching some YouTube videos in my free time when I stumbled on a “XY Greninja suspect test laddering video” by pokeaimMD. At the time, I had a really vague idea of competitive but after watching a couple of his videos I got interested and realized there was much more I could do in mons. I didn’t make a Smogon account immediately though but rather I just kept checking the forums on and off for a solid couple years before I finally decided to make one. That happened in February 2016. A couple months prior to that though, while I was idling on PS, I received a PM from a user called Dokkerich who invited me to join a Skype group chat called “Den of Thieves” with other mons players. That’s where I met some of my best mons/online friends and when I actually started to get involved with competitive. I really cherish those memories. Eventually we moved over to Discord and I, alongside a couple others active users from that old group chat, decided to run a mons discord server which gradually turned into a decently big community for both tour players and new players trying to get into the 6v6 scene
YOOOOO I have some of the vhs things too, I completely forgot about them dang. I've gotta see if I can find them/play them again sometime- Also nice, glad you were able to find a good community when starting up! Now, fast forwarding quite a bit, what led you to 1v1? And more importantly, what made you stay?
Ok, so this is actually rather interesting because, unlike most people, I wasn’t led to 1v1 by Elo Bandit’s Youtube videos on the tier, it was actually pure chance. It was summer of 2018 and I had half jokingly signed up as a player for the OU World Cup of Pokémon. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t quite right not to mention I was a complete random in the Italian community at the time so obviously I didn’t end up getting picked. Not too long after that though, while navigating the forums, I saw another player signups thread for World Cup, but this time it was for the 1v1 tier. Naturally, I signed up not excepting anything as, once again, I was a total random in the community and had never really played any games of 1v1. To my absolute surprise, however, I was approached by ggopw (who was the main captain of South Europe) in Smogon PMs and after talking a bit he told me he was gonna get me as a sub because he appreciated my level of activity and interest in the tier and how I acted. So World Cup of 1v1 II was my first ever tour and experience in the 1v1 tier, I had a blast being on the team and I even played 2 games in the end despite being a sub (we don’t talk about how that tour ended for our team). I think what made me stay was definitely the great first impression I got of the tier and the cool people I teamed with, like Close who was my other main reason for sticking around and also sort of a mentor alongside ggopw who showed me the ropes when it comes to 1v1
Oh wow, I knew you were pretty new at the time but I didn't think that was your first ever experience! Glad you enjoyed it and have stuck around since then! Now, jumping back to the present day; with the recent World Cup win, congrats again by the way, this gives you your very first trophy in the 1v1 Hall of Fame after multiple shots across the years in playoffs or just barely not making it. How does this feeling of victory now compare to all those prior tours?
It feels damn good ahah Not having a trophy despite my many attempts never really bothered me too much but I must say it feels good when you rightfully get rewarded for your efforts. It feels especially great because I was able to achieve this goal while teaming with some of my best 1v1 friends and for this reason World Cup was the tour I wanted to win the most. To be frank, after my loss in PL V finals tiebreak I thought about quitting and that I was destined to be a “forever 2nd place” type of player but I’m glad I listened to Close and joined the tour in the end. I like to think that all my previous team tour experiences and all my failed attempts were just stepping stones that led to me to this win
Oh dang- Good thing you didn't give up then and there. So, describe your mindset coming into the tour; if I'm not mistaken, there was a little bit where pretty much half the team now was up in the air as to whether or not they'd sign up, right?
Yes, that’s right. Like I mentioned above, I wasn’t going to join the tour at first and my cringe post in the PL finals thread is proof of that. However Close convinced me so we made a sort of “pact” swearing that we, alongside Carpe, would do our very best to fill a competitive roster that could win the whole thing. Things weren’t easy at first to say the least : we had many slots to fill and a lot of question marks since we thought we had lost players like Stable, Lancer, ACII, Tom etc We didn’t get discouraged though and, when we found out that SoulWind was willing to give World Cup a shot, we were absolutely thrilled and things started to look up for us. Shortly after that, Stable signed up seemingly out of nowhere and that caught us by surprise : I think that was the “trigger”, so to speak, that paved the way for the other key players to sign up as well
I see I see. Happy that things all worked out in the end. Now, once everything fell into place and the tour started up, what was the team dynamic like? We caught a couple glimpses in the shoutouts, but was there anything standout? Any major contributors or other important things throughout the season?
Well, the overall team atmosphere was simply amazing. Every player was active in the team server and it really felt like we were a close-knit group that shared a common goal. Not once was there any instance of flaming or anything disruptive like that. On the contrary, everyone was chill and fun to talk to and we joked around almost daily. I don’t know about standout per say, but I must say having people like Pietro in the team cord, while not officially on the roster, improved the team atmosphere even further. Tricking sharing that copypasta in our chat also gave us a fun, unique way of celebrating after a win so to speak. A big turning point of the tour was when we were down 3-6 then Stable got a win vs OM and we started picking up steam again. I think that made us remember which team we were playing on and our worth as players and so a little bit of pride kicked in as well. Speaking of Stable, he was a major contributor to the team because, despite his bad record, he was active in every channel and always helped me making sure everything was up to snuff. Potatochan was also key during playoffs but I’ve already mentioned that in my shoutout post.
nice nice. If I'm not mistaken, this is your 2nd time managing the team. Was there anything super different between this year and last? Or even prior years where you were just a player?
Honestly, the one big difference compared to last year was our team’s bench. South Europe as a team has historically always lacked in good substitute players and that was the case last year too but this time it was different. South Europe’s bench hasn’t been this good since World Cup II and I’m not exaggerating when I say that was the main reason we did so well. Literally 3/4 players ended up either straight up starting or playing sooner or later and they did a damn good job. I’m especially happy for gorilaa because it was his first team tour experience and for ACII who had seemingly disappeared from the 1v1 scene but decided to join World Cup and stepped up to the challenge in playoffs in a spectacular fashion, absolutely killing it in DPP.
Another important aspect that I can’t stress enough was the team atmosphere, like I’ve already mentioned. Everyone was focused on the same goal and there were no abrasive or toxic presences
Yeah, I'd say there definitely didn't really seem to be a "weak link" in the subs this time around. What was the most challenging thing about managing the team? It can be an event that happened or a general concept or w/e
I suppose the most challenging thing about managing the team was trying to get out of the initial 3-6 slump and rekindle the team’s fire but thankfully I wasn’t alone in that and I could always count on Stable and Close’s support
I see. If you don't mind explaining, what happened with the whole carpe situation? While the case has already been handled now, I'm sure a lot of outsiders are probably curious about the story.
Well, what happened is rather simple : he simply stopped talking altogether in the team cord before pools even started and subsequently left the server, without telling us the reason why, not even leaving a short message. He surely must’ve had his reasons, perhaps irl related, so I just hope he’s doing alright. That whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth though, I cannot lie
Yeah, just seems weird how it all happened. Hope he's doing alright, though. Now, moving on to more of a mons focus, you played a lot of big names throughout the duration of the tour; which series would you say was your favorite to play in?
My favorite series this World Cup was definitely the one vs pqs, for several reasons. Pqs is one of those players I have a “bad matchup” against because of the way he plays so to me that added an extra level of difficulty and excitement that motivated me to do my best. I can’t say it didn’t live up to my expectations since it was an intense one that went to g7 (with a couple lucky breaks) and the outcome of which was uncertain till the end
He really pushed me to my limits
Speaking of g7, as a Bo7 player (gang), I'm sure a lot of people are curious on why you prefer it over the typical Bo5 format, especially given the disdain that a lot of people have had towards it. Do you feel there are any different dynamics to it in comparison to Bo5?
Well, first of all I’m proud to say that I’m one of the few who have always defended the Bo7 slot, I personally quite enjoy playing in that slot because, more often than not, you’re gonna go up against some of the best players. As for the dynamics, some will say that Bo7 is just a couple more games compared to Bo5 but I think that’s a shallow take, it’s more complex than that. In a Bo7 your mental approach is everything, you have to stay hyper focused for the whole series and pay attention to the details and your opponent’s tendencies, even the smallest ones. One upside of Bo7 having intrinsically more games than your regular Bo5 is that you generally can “afford” to have your g1 be a test to get a feel of your opponent’s playstyle. However the biggest selling point in my opinion is the fact that early game hax isn’t as punishing as it would be in a Bo5. It’s also more likely to make a comeback from, say, a 0-2 position compared to a Bo5. I know I have done that in several occasions
I couldn't agree more. Now, moving onto the more prep side of things, in all of the prep for the season, was there a team (or teams) that stuck out to you as a particular favorite? Something that had mons or sets you really liked, something that got a lot of wins, or any other factor; walk us through your process.
Hmm, there actually is a team I’ve built that I’m especially proud of, it’s one of the teams I’ve built vs Nalei in finals. Not because it’s innovative or anything like that, in fact it’s just your common DFS team, but because it served the intended purpose I had in mind while building it which was luring Tyranitar, a mon that Nalei had been using quite a bit
The team featured Naganadel, Aromatisse and Heatran which were 3 mons that I had never used prior to that game, which was a bonus. When I realized the team got destroyed by Tyranitar I had this thought of running that old ID Press Heatran set to lure it. When I loaded the team I was glad to see a Tyranitar on my preview screen but I was also afraid Nalei was gonna totally call the lure out. Thankfully that didn’t happen and I was happy that the Heatran set did its job. I feel like building a team that does what it was originally intended to do is very satisfying and one of the best feelings for a builder
Ah yeah, I remember seeing that team and thinking "there's no way this loses to ttar, right?". Def agree that getting to do exactly what you were going for with a team is super satisfying. Next up, when it comes to 1v1 presence and such, you are certainly one of the most known names for the tournament scene, though when it comes to ps and the more ladder-focused side you don't really seem much too active beyond participating in the occasional suspect test. Is there a reason for that?
Yes, there is actually. I only ever hop on PS when I have to play tours, build teams or ladder for suspects. I know quite a few people use the tool that is PS to talk and socialize but I personally don’t think it was made for that, so that’s why you’ll hardly ever see me in the 1v1 room. I’d rather hang out and talk to people in the community on discord. As for the ladder, I just don’t find it stimulating enough, though I have laddered and peaked in the past. Also, despite being a double elimination tour, LT has never really appealed to me so that’s why I’ve never participated in one
Interesting. Well, as someone with notably more tour experience in comparison to ladder, I'm sure people are curious to hear your take on how playing in one compares to the other. Is there a significant difference in your eyes?
There sure is. Personally when I’m laddering I’m way more laid back and don’t put much thought into my picks, I just grab a team and go. Ladder is also not very indicative of what’s actually good/what the trends are because you’ll find lots of jank or players who don’t bulk their mons for stuff or that are generally just behind the meta. The tournament scene is just a whole different beast, the level of competition is much higher and you want to be as thorough as possible when it comes to your thought process and in game playing
Makes sense. I kinda do the same thing when I go for ladder, just getting whatever and pressing buttons until it works. Now- I think it's time we talk about your new best friend !! Before the tour started, I think it's fair to say you weren't exactly chummy with eblurb, though by the end of it you certainly seemed to change your tune. If you don't mind explaining, where did that initial animosity come from? And how did things end up changing?
Ahah I had a feeling this question was coming. Well, let’s just say that I found eblurb to be annoying because he’d never be 100% transparent. Like, he’d always hide behind some sort of facade or use the “I was joking” excuse. People like that I just can’t take seriously and honestly tick me off. Anyway, I know that going into the tour many people were surprised by the fact that we had decided to draft him, but if you know me, you’d know that when it comes to team tours I always put the team’s needs first and I believed eblurb to be a potentially important asset to the team so it wasn’t hard on me to put our differences aside.
Throughout the tour he impressed me with his level of activity and I must admit my opinion of him has positively changed, he was a great teammate that tried to help every slot he could
I don’t think I’ll ever quite be able to get a read on him but that’s ok
Hah, that definitely sounds like him. Very glad to see things working out in the end despite initial differences. Now, circling back to World Cup, how are you guys feeling about the next World Cup? Do you think you'll be able to pull up another win? Will the italians ever fill out the census? Are you expecting the same signup scare as this year?
Honestly, I don’t know what the future holds for our team. Many of us are adults so it’s hard to say where we’ll be in a year or so from now. Hell I don’t even know if I’ll still be playing by then lol So yeah, I guess in a sense I’m sorta expecting the same scare, but if the whole gang comes back again next year, I think we could have a good shot, provided we can find new motivations, those are everything
I can’t speak for the other players, but I’ll make sure to fill out the census next time ahah
As we start to wrap up, if I'm not mistaken, you've said that World Cup was the tour win you cared about the most; well, now that you've won, what comes next? Back-to-back wins? Sights set on Premier League? Individuals? Championships? Or perhaps non-tour elements like helping out with the VR or analyses? Or maybe even something besides 1v1?
Good question! World Cup was indeed the tour I cared about the most and now that I’ve finally won it I wanna set my sights on PL or a ssnl win. Champs would be cool, but I’d have to make a very deep run in the ongoing ssnl, which is possible I guess. Overall, when it comes to 1v1, the only thing I care about, besides the friends I made, is compete and stay competitive so as long as I can do that, I’ll keep on playing tours. The moment I stop being competitive is the moment I quit. That or if I get too busy
I’m honestly not interested in the non-tour aspects of 1v1 : VR, analyses and all that though I appreciate those who contribute towards that
Any last words for the readers?
Thank you for reading and feel free to ask me anything as long as it’s not overly awkward or cringe. I’ll try and reply to everyone when I have time
Thanks for your time :)
1v1 Player Interviews
#1 | #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9
#10 DenisTheMenace
Favorite Pokemon:
Most used Pokemon:
Most known for: Being a highly successful 1v1 tournament player, as well as winning the recent World Cup alongside South Europe.
A big welcome to the latest guest, DenisTheMenace! It's been a while since the last interview, but there's a reason I tell people not to expect these consistently- Now, getting started, how are you doing? In mons, life, or whatever you feel like sharing.
Thanks for having me, I’m glad to be here! Well, I’d say I’m doing pretty well in both irl and mons. As you know, World Cup ended just a little over two weeks ago and that was obviously a great experience and I’m also trying to make a losers run in the ongoing summer seasonal. As for irl, I finally received my second covid shot last week so hopefully I can actually start going back to some sort of normality
Ooh, nice nice. Hope you didn't get absolutely destroyed by it like I did when I got mine- Now, there's no better place to start from than the beginning; when'd you first get into Pokemon, and how'd you end up getting into competitive?
I actually did get hit pretty hard by both shots ahah but it is what it is, I recovered quickly. Anyway, to answer your question, my first ever experience with pokémon was the TV show that used to air when I was a little kid. I believe I was 4 years old and I clearly remember being fascinated by the pokémon theme song and by the aesthetics of the mons. I also used to watch VHS tapes of Pokémon movies on loop (I still have them) if anyone reading is old enough to remember what those are. Soon after that, my parents bought me a copy of Pokémon Yellow and that’s when I actually started playing pokémon games. As for how I got into the competitive aspect of the game, we need to fast forward quite a bit, till my last year of high school. I was 18 years old and one day I was at home watching some YouTube videos in my free time when I stumbled on a “XY Greninja suspect test laddering video” by pokeaimMD. At the time, I had a really vague idea of competitive but after watching a couple of his videos I got interested and realized there was much more I could do in mons. I didn’t make a Smogon account immediately though but rather I just kept checking the forums on and off for a solid couple years before I finally decided to make one. That happened in February 2016. A couple months prior to that though, while I was idling on PS, I received a PM from a user called Dokkerich who invited me to join a Skype group chat called “Den of Thieves” with other mons players. That’s where I met some of my best mons/online friends and when I actually started to get involved with competitive. I really cherish those memories. Eventually we moved over to Discord and I, alongside a couple others active users from that old group chat, decided to run a mons discord server which gradually turned into a decently big community for both tour players and new players trying to get into the 6v6 scene
YOOOOO I have some of the vhs things too, I completely forgot about them dang. I've gotta see if I can find them/play them again sometime- Also nice, glad you were able to find a good community when starting up! Now, fast forwarding quite a bit, what led you to 1v1? And more importantly, what made you stay?
Ok, so this is actually rather interesting because, unlike most people, I wasn’t led to 1v1 by Elo Bandit’s Youtube videos on the tier, it was actually pure chance. It was summer of 2018 and I had half jokingly signed up as a player for the OU World Cup of Pokémon. Unfortunately, the timing wasn’t quite right not to mention I was a complete random in the Italian community at the time so obviously I didn’t end up getting picked. Not too long after that though, while navigating the forums, I saw another player signups thread for World Cup, but this time it was for the 1v1 tier. Naturally, I signed up not excepting anything as, once again, I was a total random in the community and had never really played any games of 1v1. To my absolute surprise, however, I was approached by ggopw (who was the main captain of South Europe) in Smogon PMs and after talking a bit he told me he was gonna get me as a sub because he appreciated my level of activity and interest in the tier and how I acted. So World Cup of 1v1 II was my first ever tour and experience in the 1v1 tier, I had a blast being on the team and I even played 2 games in the end despite being a sub (we don’t talk about how that tour ended for our team). I think what made me stay was definitely the great first impression I got of the tier and the cool people I teamed with, like Close who was my other main reason for sticking around and also sort of a mentor alongside ggopw who showed me the ropes when it comes to 1v1
Oh wow, I knew you were pretty new at the time but I didn't think that was your first ever experience! Glad you enjoyed it and have stuck around since then! Now, jumping back to the present day; with the recent World Cup win, congrats again by the way, this gives you your very first trophy in the 1v1 Hall of Fame after multiple shots across the years in playoffs or just barely not making it. How does this feeling of victory now compare to all those prior tours?
It feels damn good ahah Not having a trophy despite my many attempts never really bothered me too much but I must say it feels good when you rightfully get rewarded for your efforts. It feels especially great because I was able to achieve this goal while teaming with some of my best 1v1 friends and for this reason World Cup was the tour I wanted to win the most. To be frank, after my loss in PL V finals tiebreak I thought about quitting and that I was destined to be a “forever 2nd place” type of player but I’m glad I listened to Close and joined the tour in the end. I like to think that all my previous team tour experiences and all my failed attempts were just stepping stones that led to me to this win
Oh dang- Good thing you didn't give up then and there. So, describe your mindset coming into the tour; if I'm not mistaken, there was a little bit where pretty much half the team now was up in the air as to whether or not they'd sign up, right?
Yes, that’s right. Like I mentioned above, I wasn’t going to join the tour at first and my cringe post in the PL finals thread is proof of that. However Close convinced me so we made a sort of “pact” swearing that we, alongside Carpe, would do our very best to fill a competitive roster that could win the whole thing. Things weren’t easy at first to say the least : we had many slots to fill and a lot of question marks since we thought we had lost players like Stable, Lancer, ACII, Tom etc We didn’t get discouraged though and, when we found out that SoulWind was willing to give World Cup a shot, we were absolutely thrilled and things started to look up for us. Shortly after that, Stable signed up seemingly out of nowhere and that caught us by surprise : I think that was the “trigger”, so to speak, that paved the way for the other key players to sign up as well
I see I see. Happy that things all worked out in the end. Now, once everything fell into place and the tour started up, what was the team dynamic like? We caught a couple glimpses in the shoutouts, but was there anything standout? Any major contributors or other important things throughout the season?
Well, the overall team atmosphere was simply amazing. Every player was active in the team server and it really felt like we were a close-knit group that shared a common goal. Not once was there any instance of flaming or anything disruptive like that. On the contrary, everyone was chill and fun to talk to and we joked around almost daily. I don’t know about standout per say, but I must say having people like Pietro in the team cord, while not officially on the roster, improved the team atmosphere even further. Tricking sharing that copypasta in our chat also gave us a fun, unique way of celebrating after a win so to speak. A big turning point of the tour was when we were down 3-6 then Stable got a win vs OM and we started picking up steam again. I think that made us remember which team we were playing on and our worth as players and so a little bit of pride kicked in as well. Speaking of Stable, he was a major contributor to the team because, despite his bad record, he was active in every channel and always helped me making sure everything was up to snuff. Potatochan was also key during playoffs but I’ve already mentioned that in my shoutout post.
nice nice. If I'm not mistaken, this is your 2nd time managing the team. Was there anything super different between this year and last? Or even prior years where you were just a player?
Honestly, the one big difference compared to last year was our team’s bench. South Europe as a team has historically always lacked in good substitute players and that was the case last year too but this time it was different. South Europe’s bench hasn’t been this good since World Cup II and I’m not exaggerating when I say that was the main reason we did so well. Literally 3/4 players ended up either straight up starting or playing sooner or later and they did a damn good job. I’m especially happy for gorilaa because it was his first team tour experience and for ACII who had seemingly disappeared from the 1v1 scene but decided to join World Cup and stepped up to the challenge in playoffs in a spectacular fashion, absolutely killing it in DPP.
Another important aspect that I can’t stress enough was the team atmosphere, like I’ve already mentioned. Everyone was focused on the same goal and there were no abrasive or toxic presences
Yeah, I'd say there definitely didn't really seem to be a "weak link" in the subs this time around. What was the most challenging thing about managing the team? It can be an event that happened or a general concept or w/e
I suppose the most challenging thing about managing the team was trying to get out of the initial 3-6 slump and rekindle the team’s fire but thankfully I wasn’t alone in that and I could always count on Stable and Close’s support
I see. If you don't mind explaining, what happened with the whole carpe situation? While the case has already been handled now, I'm sure a lot of outsiders are probably curious about the story.
Well, what happened is rather simple : he simply stopped talking altogether in the team cord before pools even started and subsequently left the server, without telling us the reason why, not even leaving a short message. He surely must’ve had his reasons, perhaps irl related, so I just hope he’s doing alright. That whole situation left a bad taste in my mouth though, I cannot lie
Yeah, just seems weird how it all happened. Hope he's doing alright, though. Now, moving on to more of a mons focus, you played a lot of big names throughout the duration of the tour; which series would you say was your favorite to play in?
My favorite series this World Cup was definitely the one vs pqs, for several reasons. Pqs is one of those players I have a “bad matchup” against because of the way he plays so to me that added an extra level of difficulty and excitement that motivated me to do my best. I can’t say it didn’t live up to my expectations since it was an intense one that went to g7 (with a couple lucky breaks) and the outcome of which was uncertain till the end
He really pushed me to my limits
Speaking of g7, as a Bo7 player (gang), I'm sure a lot of people are curious on why you prefer it over the typical Bo5 format, especially given the disdain that a lot of people have had towards it. Do you feel there are any different dynamics to it in comparison to Bo5?
Well, first of all I’m proud to say that I’m one of the few who have always defended the Bo7 slot, I personally quite enjoy playing in that slot because, more often than not, you’re gonna go up against some of the best players. As for the dynamics, some will say that Bo7 is just a couple more games compared to Bo5 but I think that’s a shallow take, it’s more complex than that. In a Bo7 your mental approach is everything, you have to stay hyper focused for the whole series and pay attention to the details and your opponent’s tendencies, even the smallest ones. One upside of Bo7 having intrinsically more games than your regular Bo5 is that you generally can “afford” to have your g1 be a test to get a feel of your opponent’s playstyle. However the biggest selling point in my opinion is the fact that early game hax isn’t as punishing as it would be in a Bo5. It’s also more likely to make a comeback from, say, a 0-2 position compared to a Bo5. I know I have done that in several occasions
I couldn't agree more. Now, moving onto the more prep side of things, in all of the prep for the season, was there a team (or teams) that stuck out to you as a particular favorite? Something that had mons or sets you really liked, something that got a lot of wins, or any other factor; walk us through your process.
Hmm, there actually is a team I’ve built that I’m especially proud of, it’s one of the teams I’ve built vs Nalei in finals. Not because it’s innovative or anything like that, in fact it’s just your common DFS team, but because it served the intended purpose I had in mind while building it which was luring Tyranitar, a mon that Nalei had been using quite a bit
The team featured Naganadel, Aromatisse and Heatran which were 3 mons that I had never used prior to that game, which was a bonus. When I realized the team got destroyed by Tyranitar I had this thought of running that old ID Press Heatran set to lure it. When I loaded the team I was glad to see a Tyranitar on my preview screen but I was also afraid Nalei was gonna totally call the lure out. Thankfully that didn’t happen and I was happy that the Heatran set did its job. I feel like building a team that does what it was originally intended to do is very satisfying and one of the best feelings for a builder
Ah yeah, I remember seeing that team and thinking "there's no way this loses to ttar, right?". Def agree that getting to do exactly what you were going for with a team is super satisfying. Next up, when it comes to 1v1 presence and such, you are certainly one of the most known names for the tournament scene, though when it comes to ps and the more ladder-focused side you don't really seem much too active beyond participating in the occasional suspect test. Is there a reason for that?
Yes, there is actually. I only ever hop on PS when I have to play tours, build teams or ladder for suspects. I know quite a few people use the tool that is PS to talk and socialize but I personally don’t think it was made for that, so that’s why you’ll hardly ever see me in the 1v1 room. I’d rather hang out and talk to people in the community on discord. As for the ladder, I just don’t find it stimulating enough, though I have laddered and peaked in the past. Also, despite being a double elimination tour, LT has never really appealed to me so that’s why I’ve never participated in one
Interesting. Well, as someone with notably more tour experience in comparison to ladder, I'm sure people are curious to hear your take on how playing in one compares to the other. Is there a significant difference in your eyes?
There sure is. Personally when I’m laddering I’m way more laid back and don’t put much thought into my picks, I just grab a team and go. Ladder is also not very indicative of what’s actually good/what the trends are because you’ll find lots of jank or players who don’t bulk their mons for stuff or that are generally just behind the meta. The tournament scene is just a whole different beast, the level of competition is much higher and you want to be as thorough as possible when it comes to your thought process and in game playing
Makes sense. I kinda do the same thing when I go for ladder, just getting whatever and pressing buttons until it works. Now- I think it's time we talk about your new best friend !! Before the tour started, I think it's fair to say you weren't exactly chummy with eblurb, though by the end of it you certainly seemed to change your tune. If you don't mind explaining, where did that initial animosity come from? And how did things end up changing?
Ahah I had a feeling this question was coming. Well, let’s just say that I found eblurb to be annoying because he’d never be 100% transparent. Like, he’d always hide behind some sort of facade or use the “I was joking” excuse. People like that I just can’t take seriously and honestly tick me off. Anyway, I know that going into the tour many people were surprised by the fact that we had decided to draft him, but if you know me, you’d know that when it comes to team tours I always put the team’s needs first and I believed eblurb to be a potentially important asset to the team so it wasn’t hard on me to put our differences aside.
Throughout the tour he impressed me with his level of activity and I must admit my opinion of him has positively changed, he was a great teammate that tried to help every slot he could
I don’t think I’ll ever quite be able to get a read on him but that’s ok
Hah, that definitely sounds like him. Very glad to see things working out in the end despite initial differences. Now, circling back to World Cup, how are you guys feeling about the next World Cup? Do you think you'll be able to pull up another win? Will the italians ever fill out the census? Are you expecting the same signup scare as this year?
Honestly, I don’t know what the future holds for our team. Many of us are adults so it’s hard to say where we’ll be in a year or so from now. Hell I don’t even know if I’ll still be playing by then lol So yeah, I guess in a sense I’m sorta expecting the same scare, but if the whole gang comes back again next year, I think we could have a good shot, provided we can find new motivations, those are everything
I can’t speak for the other players, but I’ll make sure to fill out the census next time ahah
As we start to wrap up, if I'm not mistaken, you've said that World Cup was the tour win you cared about the most; well, now that you've won, what comes next? Back-to-back wins? Sights set on Premier League? Individuals? Championships? Or perhaps non-tour elements like helping out with the VR or analyses? Or maybe even something besides 1v1?
Good question! World Cup was indeed the tour I cared about the most and now that I’ve finally won it I wanna set my sights on PL or a ssnl win. Champs would be cool, but I’d have to make a very deep run in the ongoing ssnl, which is possible I guess. Overall, when it comes to 1v1, the only thing I care about, besides the friends I made, is compete and stay competitive so as long as I can do that, I’ll keep on playing tours. The moment I stop being competitive is the moment I quit. That or if I get too busy
I’m honestly not interested in the non-tour aspects of 1v1 : VR, analyses and all that though I appreciate those who contribute towards that
Any last words for the readers?
Thank you for reading and feel free to ask me anything as long as it’s not overly awkward or cringe. I’ll try and reply to everyone when I have time
Thanks for your time :)
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Duration of interview: 4 hours, 32 minutes
If you have any questions of your own for DenisTheMenace, feel free to ask them here!
Credits to Emmuffin for the original work on the custom Absol portraits!
As for the next interview, don't expect a consistent schedule behind these-
Duration of interview: 4 hours, 32 minutes
If you have any questions of your own for DenisTheMenace, feel free to ask them here!
Credits to Emmuffin for the original work on the custom Absol portraits!
As for the next interview, don't expect a consistent schedule behind these-
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