CAP Player of the Week #1- reachzero

SHSP

is a Forum Moderatoris a Community Contributoris a Top CAP Contributor
Moderator
(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, Airwind and I will interview some of our metagame’s best innovators, builders, and players! Our first week’s interviewee is Reachzero, TL for Tomohawk, CAP Spring Seasonal winner and consistent top player! If you have anyone who you would like to be interviewed, please PM either Airwind or me!

First, a huge thank you to participating in the first interview for the cap player of the week!

You’re very welcome. :)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Well, most famously, I'm a pastor, 33 years old, from Queens, New York. I'm married, though I don't have kids yet. Pokemon and martial arts are my only real hobbies.

What are you most known for on Smogon?

On Smogon I'd say I'm most known for my contributions during DPP and early BW; I became a Stark (OU) moderator with 74 posts, became one of the first batch of Tiering Contributors, became a Frontier Brain, rose to Supermod, and served as tiering leader for both UU and OU at various times. In CAP, I'm best known for being the TL for Tomohawk, and for writing Krilowatt's concept, Utility Counter.

What is your favorite Pokemon, and why?

My favorite Pokemon is Zygarde. It's powerful looking, versatile, and destroys stuff in basically every metagame it's allowed in. I liked it in ORAS, but I didn't expect it to climb to the heights it has actually reached in SM. It's just a really cool Pokemon.

What is your favorite CAP?

Hmm...probably Krilowatt, it has a lot of unique things going on, like Heart Swap, and the way it is designed is very different from any other CAP. I like it in the present metagame, too, and of course I feel a special connection to it as the author of its concept.

What was your favorite CAP process?

My favorite CAP process was probably Necturna. There was so much to discuss in terms of what a Pokemon would do that could have one of any move--it was difficult to find the balance between giving it enough to be good and not arranging things in such a way that broken sets would be discovered... I'm not so happy with the art, but otherwise I think Necturna turned out really well.

What is your most used Pokemon?

A quick glance through my box confirms what I bet everyone suspects! Zygarde.

What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?

That's a fun story! In 2005, I visited China to teach English at a summer camp run by a university in Zhejiang--while I was there, many of my students gave me gifts. One of these gifts was a Pokemon card. I didn't know what Pokemon it was, so I was curious and looked it up (it was Groudon). That got me curious, and I began exploring the world of competitive Pokemon!

How were you introduced to the CAP project?

I first noticed CAP on the forums during the Syclant playtest--I have always been on the lookup for interesting new metagames, and CAP was about as strange as metagames went at the time. I don't think I really became very involved in the process until much later, though, about the time of Kitsunoh's art stage. At that point, the really interesting art drew me in, and I stayed for a long time.

What is the best part of the creation of a CAPmon?

I'd say the best part is probably concept assessment--it's the purest discussion of competitive Pokemon we have in the CAP process, and the one that is the most abstract and intellectually demanding. Concept assessment is really where every good CAP has been made, and where every bad CAP has failed.

What is your favorite CAP OM? (like cap lc, monotype, doubles)

I haven't played many of those, actually! But I do love Doubles, so CAP Doubles is the one I'd really love to see more of.

What made you choose your name?

It actually goes back to, of all things, the game of Hearts. There used to be a game site where you could play Hearts online, and I made it my goal to attain a rating of zero by losing every game. It was harder than it looked. My username for that account was "reachzero" and it just stuck.

What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?

I know it sounds corny, but my favorite generation of Pokemon is always the current one. I do get nostalgic for DPP and times, but I like playing the most current metagame there is. I definitely hated BW because of auto-weather, though.

Thoughts on the SM CAP metagame so far?

I like it a lot better than ORAS, but I tend to be annoyed at the shallowness of the user base. A lot of players--even good players--have only one or two teams, and there is a general distaste for playing stall. Certain Pokemon, every good Pokemon, just disappear for long periods of time. The metagame is very slow to adapt to change.

What is your favorite playstyle?

I don't think there's any question I've been a bulky offense guy my whole career. I hate losing to stall, so I usually make sure I have enough firepower to burst through it, though.

What is your favorite CAP Old Gen?

Gen 4 CAP was pretty amusing because at high levels it was like 80% stall--Arghonaut, Cyclohm and Revenankh just make breaking through stall so hard to do. The likelihood of stall-vs-stall was pretty strong on the ladder in those days! People complain a lot about stall now, but they also forget that until BW stall was always a pretty dominant force.

You are known to be among the most solid players in the CAP community! Is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building, competing in tournaments, etc?

Watch the really good players play, and don't be afraid to experiment a ton. When things don't work, change. Nothing is worse than keeping your team the same when you find a weakness, and be ready to shift as soon as the metagame shifts.

Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?

To be honest, most of my old Smogon friends are long gone--the likes of Tangerine, Earthworm and Legacy_Raider. I think most of my remaining friends are the CAP project community as this point...

Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?

Tomohawk @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Stealth Rock

Syclant @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mountaineer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Earth Power
- Tail Glow

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack

Necturna @ Psychium Z
Ability: Forewarn
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Sticky Web

Tapu Lele @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast

So this is my best ever attempt at CAP heavy offense. It uses Sticky Web to neuter Scarf-based revenge killers, with the extremely fun lure of Z Psychic Necturna to OHKO Tomohawk after Stealth Rock. Syclant is basically insurance in case anything goes terribly wrong, with its Focus Sash.
 
Last edited:
╔═════════════════╗
♦ ♦ Past Interviews ♦ ♦
╚═════════════════╝
First, a huge thank you to participating in the first interview for the cap player of the week!

You’re very welcome. :)

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?

Well, most famously, I'm a pastor, 33 years old, from Queens, New York. I'm married, though I don't have kids yet. Pokemon and martial arts are my only real hobbies.

What are you most known for on Smogon?

On Smogon I'd say I'm most known for my contributions during DPP and early BW; I became a Stark (OU) moderator with 74 posts, became one of the first batch of Tiering Contributors, became a Frontier Brain, rose to Supermod, and served as tiering leader for both UU and OU at various times. In CAP, I'm best known for being the TL for Tomohawk, and for writing Krilowatt's concept, Utility Counter.

What is your favorite Pokemon, and why?

My favorite Pokemon is Zygarde. It's powerful looking, versatile, and destroys stuff in basically every metagame it's allowed in. I liked it in ORAS, but I didn't expect it to climb to the heights it has actually reached in SM. It's just a really cool Pokemon.

What is your favorite CAP?

Hmm...probably Krilowatt, it has a lot of unique things going on, like Heart Swap, and the way it is designed is very different from any other CAP. I like it in the present metagame, too, and of course I feel a special connection to it as the author of its concept.

What was your favorite CAP process?

My favorite CAP process was probably Necturna. There was so much to discuss in terms of what a Pokemon would do that could have one of any move--it was difficult to find the balance between giving it enough to be good and not arranging things in such a way that broken sets would be discovered... I'm not so happy with the art, but otherwise I think Necturna turned out really well.

What is your most used Pokemon?

A quick glance through my box confirms what I bet everyone suspects! Zygarde.

What brought you to Smogon and competitive Pokemon in general?

That's a fun story! In 2005, I visited China to teach English at a summer camp run by a university in Zhejiang--while I was there, many of my students gave me gifts. One of these gifts was a Pokemon card. I didn't know what Pokemon it was, so I was curious and looked it up (it was Groudon). That got me curious, and I began exploring the world of competitive Pokemon!

How were you introduced to the CAP project?

I first noticed CAP on the forums during the Syclant playtest--I have always been on the lookup for interesting new metagames, and CAP was about as strange as metagames went at the time. I don't think I really became very involved in the process until much later, though, about the time of Kitsunoh's art stage. At that point, the really interesting art drew me in, and I stayed for a long time.

What is the best part of the creation of a CAPmon?

I'd say the best part is probably concept assessment--it's the purest discussion of competitive Pokemon we have in the CAP process, and the one that is the most abstract and intellectually demanding. Concept assessment is really where every good CAP has been made, and where every bad CAP has failed.

What is your favorite CAP OM? (like cap lc, monotype, doubles)

I haven't played many of those, actually! But I do love Doubles, so CAP Doubles is the one I'd really love to see more of.

What made you choose your name?

It actually goes back to, of all things, the game of Hearts. There used to be a game site where you could play Hearts online, and I made it my goal to attain a rating of zero by losing every game. It was harder than it looked. My username for that account was "reachzero" and it just stuck.

What is your favorite Generation of Pokemon and why?

I know it sounds corny, but my favorite generation of Pokemon is always the current one. I do get nostalgic for DPP and times, but I like playing the most current metagame there is. I definitely hated BW because of auto-weather, though.

Thoughts on the SM CAP metagame so far?

I like it a lot better than ORAS, but I tend to be annoyed at the shallowness of the user base. A lot of players--even good players--have only one or two teams, and there is a general distaste for playing stall. Certain Pokemon, every good Pokemon, just disappear for long periods of time. The metagame is very slow to adapt to change.

What is your favorite playstyle?

I don't think there's any question I've been a bulky offense guy my whole career. I hate losing to stall, so I usually make sure I have enough firepower to burst through it, though.

What is your favorite CAP Old Gen?

Gen 4 CAP was pretty amusing because at high levels it was like 80% stall--Arghonaut, Cyclohm and Revenankh just make breaking through stall so hard to do. The likelihood of stall-vs-stall was pretty strong on the ladder in those days! People complain a lot about stall now, but they also forget that until BW stall was always a pretty dominant force.

You are known to be among the most solid players in the CAP community! Is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building, competing in tournaments, etc?

Watch the really good players play, and don't be afraid to experiment a ton. When things don't work, change. Nothing is worse than keeping your team the same when you find a weakness, and be ready to shift as soon as the metagame shifts.

Who are some of your favorite people in the Smogon Community?

To be honest, most of my old Smogon friends are long gone--the likes of Tangerine, Earthworm and Legacy_Raider. I think most of my remaining friends are the CAP project community as this point...

Finally can you provide for us a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?

So this is my best ever attempt at CAP heavy offense. It uses Sticky Web to neuter Scarf-based revenge killers, with the extremely fun lure of Z Psychic Necturna to OHKO Tomohawk after Stealth Rock. Syclant is basically insurance in case anything goes terribly wrong, with its Focus Sash.
Tomohawk @ Life Orb
Ability: Prankster
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spe
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Hurricane
- Focus Blast
- Stealth Rock

Syclant @ Focus Sash
Ability: Mountaineer
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Ice Beam
- Bug Buzz
- Earth Power
- Tail Glow

Greninja (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Protean
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Extrasensory
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Fire]

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
Happiness: 0
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Frustration
- Earthquake
- Swords Dance
- Quick Attack

Necturna @ Psychium Z
Ability: Forewarn
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Shadow Ball
- Giga Drain
- Psychic
- Sticky Web

Tapu Lele @ Twisted Spoon
Ability: Psychic Surge
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psyshock
- Moonblast
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Focus Blast
 
Last edited:

reachzero

the pastor of disaster
is a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Top CAP Contributor Alumnusis a Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Excellent questions! I feel the most defining offensive forces in the metagame are Volkraken, Zygarde and Crucibelle; each exerts a ton of pressure on the opponent, and really affects the way you have to team build. Whenever I see people using Celesteela or Pyroak without Mew or Tapu Bulu, I wonder if they even think about Zygarde.

Defensively, I feel Tomohawk is still the lynchpin holding the metagame together, keeping Z boosting move Necturna from destroying us all. Arghonaut is right there too, getting definite points for covering Volkraken and Battle Bond Greninja with the same slot. After that, I'd say Ferrothorn is really good right now, and a pretty strong motivator for using Zygarde.

An offensive threat to keep your eye on is Kitsunoh. That coverage is insane, and if it's using a boosting item it hits a *lot* harder than you would think. I was pretty skeptical of Iron Fist, but Kit and Naviathan are pretty good arguments for using defensive Pyroak again.

A defensive threat that is criminally underused in CAP is Mew. I know people are afraid of Colossoil, but it is a really good answer to Zygarde, MMedicham and Revenankh, and gets great role compression in with Defog or Stealth Rock.

When I watch OU games these days, the single greater difference I see is Volkraken. Having to have a consistent answer to Volkraken is an incredibly important part of team building, and almost every OU team would die to it. Heatran and Mew are two of the most common and metagame defining OU Pokemon, and both barely exist in CAP. Magearna almost never uses Shift Gear in CAP. The metagames have diverged a ton.
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top