Project Player of the Week

[spoo]

quziel
snake
mx

 

[Wulfanator]

Quziel
D2TheW
denryus

 

[SHSP]

D2theW (for some ungodly reason)
Quziel
MX

 

[Zephyri]

d2
snake
mx

 

[Darek]

Quziel
dex18
Zephyri

 

[Rat With Wings]

againa!

 

[SunMYSER]

By a fairly close margin, our next Cap Player of the Week will be quziel !!!. Congrats to them! As such, questions directed at Atha should cease.

We're going to give Quziel some time to answer the questionaire I have prepared for them. Until then, think of your best questions and such for Quziel.

 

[SunMYSER]

Interview: #7 quziel
​

Username (and how you pronouce it):
Quziel, kyuu-zee-elle roughly

Tell us a little bit about yourself, outside of pokemon showdown:
I'm in the middle of graduate school for Materials Engineering, working on using machine learning to increase the scale at which you can get quantum mechanical level accuracy from materials simulations. Specifically I'm working mainly in hard materials (eg ceramics and metals) for structural applications, that is like, making a better structural support, gear, or insulator, rather than like electronic or biological stuff. Outside of school I'm a fairly avid runner, have been doing so for years at this point, I enjoy bouldering a ton (aka rock climbing for people who are nervous about heights), and fill the rest of my time with cooking and dnd (when covid doesn't stop that).

Where’d you get your username from?
When I was young we had a fairly old PC game called Mechwarrior 4 that I thought was the coolest, specifically the Uziel mech in that game. Sticking q in front of U is a fairly natural thing, and now here we are.

Favourite CAP:
Plasmanta is just super cool from both a design standpoint and playstyle standpoint. Its got a super unique mix of resists and immunities thanks to its typing/ability, and I don't think that "mixed body press wallbreaker" is a thing in like any other format besides that weird Kommo-o set.

Favourite CAP OM/OldGen:
I entered CAP during SM, and it really has a place in my heart for that, so much flexibility in terms of playstyle and building thanks to Z-moves rewarding creativity so much. That said, I've been enjoying ORAS more and more now that I'm figuring it out a bit.

Underrated mons in the current CAP meta?
I've been pushing Colossoil for a bit, and like, honestly I could see it moving up to B+. The mon offers so much role compression in one slot its actually insane, being a soft Pult Check, Cleaner (spin speed boost OP), reliably Toxic'ing Tomohawk, Knocking off everything, and just being a general special tank that can check Zapdos and Heatran.

Rotom-Wash is another mon I've been running a fair bit as of late, cause it compresses a ton of stuff into one slot, eg beating up Heatran and Libra, soft checking Chomp (4 hits and a good roll kills you after a SD), pivoting forever, and it can even beat up Cawm super well. Finally, CM Psyshock/Aura Latios is a super fun set that provides just as much defensive utility as it ever has, can randomly sweep stuff it shouldn't be able to, and also beats up Chromera hard as hell.

Favorite Chromera set?

Chromera @ Leftovers
Ability: Color Change
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Boomburst
- Scald
- Taunt
- Recover

Taunt is something I've been appreciating more and more with Chromera, cause so many people just toss on a Toxic user and consider it countered. Boomburst + Scald is also insane coverage that wears down Heatran/Libra very quick, with Boomburst being able to do dumb stuff like nearly 2HKO Krilowatt. Offensive EVs are the crux of the set by letting you actually do damage up front rather than pretending you're a defensive mon.

Thoughts on the current Voodoom buffs?
25 SpA isn't super elegant but it gets the job done. I would have preferred to have gone down the route of Technician cause a strong Vacuum Wave really is the most unique element of this mon, but c'est la vie. This mon is probably fine with just the SpA.

How'd you got started in CAP/What drew you in?
I joined after seeing people claim that Doom Desire was bad on Libra, and being a SMNU player at the time (the meta was literally just Slowking using FS), I really had to jump in and try to correct that. I sorta managed to fail to do so, but here we are. I stayed after getting drafted in CAP PL, and enjoying the meta a fair bit.

What’s your favourite playstyle to use in CAP and why?
I am forever a bulky offense player as I love being able to play defensively for half the match before making aggressive plays once I feel I can. Bulky Offense is great for that overall, and hence I spam it super hard.

Thoughts on the current CAP metagame?
Honestly we're in a fairly good spot balancewise. There's a few potential issues eg Dragapult being very annoying to switch into, but I think with some good adaptations (Spdef Clef is still very good), we'll be in a good state. The general sorta offensive bent of the meta is also nice, because like, DLC1 CAP was a nightmare with Pex on every team, and earlier with TeleClef being everywhere was not great. I also feel like there's a ton of exploration to be done w.r.t. some of our lesser used CAPs, eg Cyclohm has mad potential with 3A sets, and TNM's Lotl set is a demon.

What are your favorite memories from older team tours? What about more recent ones?
The Smokos from CAPTT V were honestly a great team to be on, and I really loved being able to explore and build a new meta while also competing in a meta where half the folks where doing the same thing lol. As for more recent ones just being able to spam "Double Spookies" and piss off SHSP was great fun.

With PSPL IX, CAPPL VII, Summer Seasonal, and CAP 30 all coming up, what's got you excited about mons right now? What are you most eager to participate in?
I'm always going to favor being in Team Tours over solo ones just cause of the team environment being a blast to be in. Constantly testing and perfecting teams will always be one of the more fun things to do on site, as is trying to craft the perfect matchup for your BO3 slot. That said, I'm mainly occupied with NUPL currently (go mushies).

How has being staff in the room differed from being forum staff?
The expectation of sorta a "leader" of discussion in the room is one difference. When I'm roomstaff I sorta feel like I need to both guide and participate heavily in most room discussions, whereas eg being a forum staff I feel like a lot more of my job is sorta just ensuring that the policy and policing of the forum goes fine.

What is a pet peeve you have in the CAP Meta or room?
Honestly, people really need to look at recent OU trends more often. To go back to an earlier point, there's a reason OU has been using spdef heavy clef more as of late, and we share that reason. Also people have a bad habit of trying to ensure that you can hard counter a threat no matter what, rather than having multiple avenues to check it. A day or so ago I saw a quote where Zapdos didn't check Cawmodore because of a crit would be one example. Basically build your team with multiple checks to every threat so you aren't a single crit/miss away from a loss. (Eg Zapdos + Pult means you can check Cawm with 2 mons if rocks aren't up).

Share a particular team you are proud of?

https://pokepast.es/0e1f4c88173b0ee4

This is a fairly recent team I built that I used heavily in R1 and R2 of CAP 29 Playtest. Its a fairly basic Pult spikestack balance that aims to ensure that you have 2 checks for literally every threat in the meta (barring rain rip). Between spdef heatran, spdef clef, and colo you aren't losing to Pult basically ever (well, potentially CB if they use FS support perfectly), Spikestack means you can end a game fairly quick if needed, CM clef gives you a great way to apply pressure early on, and Torn + Pult + Argh means you generally aren't losing to Cawm. That said, Hawlucha is absolutely a problem, so er, don't ever let Clef take damage in that matchup, or ensure it isn't last mon.

Can you give some advice for new CAPers starting off in the metagame?
Honestly, well, first thing is that you don't need many, or even any, CAPs on a team to succeed in the meta. We're in a state where a ton of the best mons are regular mons, which I love. Also, in terms of improving, really the best way is to grind room tours, then forum tours, and if you get on a team tour (eg CAP PL or Snake), that's really where the most improvement is gonna happen by grinding test games. Barring that, if you can find an established player who you can spam challenge you're gonna learn a ton. Really the most improvement comes from losing often to a player better than you, and then understanding exactly where the issues are, which is always gonna be the difficult part.

 

[Rabia]

thoughts on the need to reform the nu team this cappl

how do you feel about chromera so far

favorite offense archetype

why is latios unviable dogshit

 

[dex]

Hi quz, the government is back and we suspect you in death2thewest’s untimely demise.

What mon would you like to see in the next buff process?

What is your favorite concept that didn’t win a concept poll?

Favorite song for chilling on a porch in a wicker chair drinking sweet tea?

What item do you think is underused and could be viable?

 

[quziel]

thoughts on the need to reform the nu team this cappl

CAP must know the power of all 4 elements

how do you feel about chromera so far

Honestly super well
balanced ime (don't know why there's a linebreak). Very fun to use too cause of the like great timing plays you can make by using CC as hard as possible.

favorite offense archetype

Spikestack HO is the most honesty you can get in a playstyle ever. Super fun too.

why is latios unviable dogshit

Honest CM Roost 2 Attacks is viableish cause people will let you get like +2/+2 and then wonder why Pult doesn't OHKO.

Hi quz, the government is back and we suspect you in death2thewest’s untimely demise.

no comment.

What mon would you like to see in the next buff process?

Pyroak is a mon that I think is like one resistance and a 16 PP recovery move from being viable. I'd love to see it buffed, just cause its unique as shit.

What is your favorite concept that didn’t win a concept poll?

Voltage's one last time of "yo this mon gets better by taking damage" was super cool. Color Change Chromera sorta does that, but stuff like Berserk and Pinch Abilities are always gonna be hyper cool, so I wish it had won.

Favorite song for chilling on a porch in a wicker chair drinking sweet tea?

This song isn't necessarily like porch chilling, but its super cool nonetheless: Cosmic Spice - Lucid Dream and like just saying something off of D'Angelo - Black Messiah wouldn't introduce that many people to new songs.

What item do you think is underused and could be viable?

 

[Atha]

What is your interpretation of quantum entanglement ? I was completely captivated when I heard about it. Do you think it shows that we have to rethink our way of seeing nature (movement by contact), or rather that our way of seeing is the right one and that some concrete elements escape us ? Or do you not care at all and find this (very specific) question pointless ?

Have you ever been in love ? I expect some sort of deep musing on the nature of love please.

Use 3 words to describe COVID19

 

[spoo]

what are your hopes for cap30? is there anyone you'd like to see potentially TL or TLT?

what's the most interesting part about your job?

any weird ghost stories/supernatural encounters?

what's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten from someone else?

if you could magically change one thing about cap - policy wise, some attitude/behavior in the community at large, maybe dealing with leadership, perception, outreach, etc etc - what would it be and why?

what's your favorite part of cap, speaking in terms of it as an entire project and community? could be anything from the people you've met, some overarching philosophy that resonates with you, or even a specific stage

what's been your favorite/most valuable experience across all your time on smogon and staffing various ps rooms? is there any accomplishment that you're particularly proud of?

what do you hope this project will look like down the road, say in three years time? related, but do you have any long term goals for the project/metagame?

is there any really wild idea or drastic policy change that you think would probably never happen, but youd still like to see it implemented in some form in the future or at the very least properly examined? maybe it could be like having cap processes happen back to back really quickly, or if we made some peoples votes count more if they placed highly in tournaments, or maybe like doing away with all the rules against campaigning. these are all my own ideas btw, just spitballing here

sorta on topic to what sunmyser asked, but what's the biggest issue with the metagame atm, and what's your favorite part about playing the tier?

favorite place you've ever lived? (or traveled)

if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

and lastly, who will you be voting for in BATTLE OF THE WEEK?

 

[Lasen]

What is a cuisine you enjoy eating but cba to cook for yourself?
What would you want to bring from CAP into NU? Vice Versa?
Are you looking forward to CAPPL II: good players going negative boogaloo?
You're a man of many cultures. What still feels weird to you living in the US?
How buff can a dog get?
If 2spoopy4u is 2 spoopy 4 you but you also made Double Spookies, then who's piloting the plane?!
Is Moltres Galar even viable?
What animal are we making CAP 30? I think we can import the smogoff horse, it's amazing.

 

[Wulfanator]

I dont have a specific question. I just want your opinion on food. What you like to cook, favorite foods and restaurants, underrated foods, etc. Basically, rant about good food. Thank you.

 

[quziel]

What is your interpretation of quantum entanglement ? I was completely captivated when I heard about it. Do you think it shows that we have to rethink our way of seeing nature (movement by contact), or rather that our way of seeing is the right one and that some concrete elements escape us ? Or do you not care at all and find this (very specific) question pointless ?

It claims that information travels faster than light, which would be spicy, but on the other hand its not really "transmitting" information, but rather just revealing information. Honestly not my area of expertise and I've been busy as hell lately.

Have you ever been in love ? I expect some sort of deep musing on the nature of love please.

Sometimes it works out, sometimes it doesn't.

Use 3 words to describe COVID19

Very Bad Virus

what are your hopes for cap30? is there anyone you'd like to see potentially TL or TLT?

Honestly, I'd love to get a completely fresh TL or TLT. We've not had one of those for a while, and an entirely new perspective would be great.

what's the most interesting part about your job?

Honestly I get to learn a ton of stats, and like, surprisingly I really enjoy stats. Didn't expect to do so after hating it in undergrad, but like incrementally improving a model turns out to be my kinda stuff.

any weird ghost stories/supernatural encounters?

No, but I've stepped on a Portuguese Man o' War

what's the best piece of advice you've ever gotten from someone else?

You get better work done when you're in a space you associate with work. In my case I make sure to go into the office/library to work, and like, keeping boundary between work and home helps me.

if you could magically change one thing about cap - policy wise, some attitude/behavior in the community at large, maybe dealing with leadership, perception, outreach, etc etc - what would it be and why?

Honestly I want CAP to really embrace just flexibility. I feel like people are very stuck in their ways and stuck in their expectations for how a CAP thread should go. I've constantly pushed for more flexibiltiy in the process, and I think those changes helped Chromera like, go sorta smoothly.

what's your favorite part of cap, speaking in terms of it as an entire project and community? could be anything from the people you've met, some overarching philosophy that resonates with you, or even a specific stage

Honestly I just really love creating and sorta optimizing stuff for a goal. Its pretty like, low level as a thing to love, but its what draws me to it.

what's been your favorite/most valuable experience across all your time on smogon and staffing various ps rooms? is there any accomplishment that you're particularly proud of?

Honestly its really watching several people go from room reg to room mod. The growth I've been able to see really makes PS rewarding.

what do you hope this project will look like down the road, say in three years time? related, but do you have any long term goals for the project/metagame?

My long term goals are really to make it so people are well, more willing to contribute to both the CAP Process, and more importantly CAP Tours/The Meta. I'd honeslty love to get a like Farm League going, but we gotta ensure CAPPL is reliably er, full.

is there any really wild idea or drastic policy change that you think would probably never happen, but youd still like to see it implemented in some form in the future or at the very least properly examined? maybe it could be like having cap processes happen back to back really quickly, or if we made some peoples votes count more if they placed highly in tournaments, or maybe like doing away with all the rules against campaigning. these are all my own ideas btw, just spitballing here

I'd love to see a CAP where we like do a fully iterative process. Eg like choose typing, choose ability, go back to typing to see if we need to change, etc. A process like that would be super difficult, but like, I think it could create a super cool CAP at the end.

sorta on topic to what sunmyser asked, but what's the biggest issue with the metagame atm, and what's your favorite part about playing the tier?

I think the meta's honestly super fine atm. I'd love to see more diversity in playstyles but I think that we like need to get a er "school of thought" dedicated to Stall/HO during specific team tours to really optimize them.

favorite place you've ever lived? (or traveled)

I really enjoyed living in Germany. Public Transport was great as a teen (aka not relying on parents car), I legit did enjoy learning the language, and well, it was "formative years".

if you could only eat one food for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Honest, Jian Bing (or similar, aka chinese street crepes)

and lastly, who will you be voting for in BATTLE OF THE WEEK?

I wish to see The Number Man and Rabia fight.

What is a cuisine you enjoy eating but cba to cook for yourself?

I love baked goods, but holy hell I am not a good baker. So probably that, eg stuff like Baklava is amazing, but I cannot make it for shit.

What would you want to bring from CAP into NU? Vice Versa?

I've done by best to ensure all the people I know who play NU are now CAP mains, and vice versa would be good.

Are you looking forward to CAPPL II: good players going negative boogaloo?

I will do my best to farm players in ORAS using Mzor.

You're a man of many cultures. What still feels weird to you living in the US?

Honestly going out in the US sorta sucks compared to Europe. Like, compare having to get a group of friends together, ordering an uber, hoping you can get one back, all that jazz vs just like. Yo, lemme go to a friends apartment and walk to where I wanna go.

How buff can a dog get?

If 2spoopy4u is 2 spoopy 4 you but you also made Double Spookies, then who's piloting the plane?!

Huuh?!?!?

Is Moltres Galar even viable?

Its a Ghost resist that fits on HO, that's like enough to make it 50% viable.

What animal are we making CAP 30? I think we can import the smogoff horse, it's amazing.

Buff Dog.

I dont have a specific question. I just want your opinion on food. What you like to cook, favorite foods and restaurants, underrated foods, etc. Basically, rant about good food. Thank you.

So, one of my favored rant topics is well, pancakes for dinner lol. I'm expanding this a bit, but stuff like Crepes filled with Mushrooms, butter, garlic, parsley, bit of cream is a wonderful dinner, even more wonderful if you add some chicken. Another great option is eg some Korean style pulled pork, slaw, spicy Mayo, crushed crackers is an amazing mix of flavors and textures, while the Crepe offers a bit of crispiness, and also ensure that your meal will not spill onto the plate. Just yesterday I had Scallion Pancakes (make these) with Meatballs, Pickled Veg, and some pepper sauce, and its just great. Basically, Crepes are sorta French Tortillas that you can make in literally 30 seconds, have a really nice texture, and are a fairly nice source of well, Carbs for many dinners.

 

[SHSP]

big bossman, how you doin? glad to see you up for this v much deserved

now for my 2:30 AM delirious thought questions

if you could make one non-OU mon strong enough to be OU, what would it be and why?

whats the highlight battle of your career so far?

how do you feel about Voodoom buffs so far? How has this run shaped your ideas for future buffs?

where's one place you havent gone that you want to go to someday?

what type of bender would you be? air/earth/fire/water

oh and what the hell is a physics????? signed, political "science" major

 

[quziel]

hey quziel,

Like others have said, you are a man of many cultures. Where are you originally from/what is your nationality?

US of A

Where is your favorite place to travel?

Honestly, I really loved visiting Italy in terms of the history, food, and just like, the land itself being amazing.

Favorite and least favorite musical genres?

I am semi-basic, but like a mix of Jazz, Synthwave, Metal, a bit of Drum and Bass, (Agalloch is the perfect walking through a forest music), I don't necessarily dislike any music genres, but Pop Country is not good.

Any particular current CAP players who you believe are underrated/deserve more attention?

Sputnik is someone I want to see in terms of growth as a player.

Who is someone in the CAP community that you feel you have developed a good friendship with?

Snake is a really great dude, though getting him active is always a trouble lol.

Will you win the playtest?

I will get to Semis, realize I have too many tours on my plate, and lose in 3 to HO.

big bossman, how you doin? glad to see you up for this v much deserved

now for my 2:30 AM delirious thought questions

if you could make one non-OU mon strong enough to be OU, what would it be and why?

I am pretty like, blatant in my favoritism of Shiftry, but god damn that mon is fun to use. I love using Sucker Punch mons in general, because of the like super intense mindgames you gotta play with them, but "Sucker Punch based Mixed Wallbreaker that's also a SD Sweeper" is super cool, esp when its got just the coolest typing. Ig the summary here is please rework Malaconda into Mega Shiftry. Oh, and also for Birkal Explosion is a key part of its gameplan.

whats the highlight battle of your career so far?

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen8cap-1255439139 I liked this game vs Againa in CAPSD. Realistically the highlight is probably a past NUPL match, but my memory is forever shot.

how do you feel about Voodoom buffs so far? How has this run shaped your ideas for future buffs?

I honestly would have preferred an ability change, my favorites being Technician or Electric Surge, but 25 SpA is entirely functional, so like, if it works it works. I think we have a lot of work to do on the buff process, esp with making it a 2 stage (Primary Buff vs Supporting Buffs) process so that it flows better. I don't know if Stat buffs are always going to be the way forward, but they're fairly simple, so like.

where's one place you havent gone that you want to go to someday?

I like mountains and ancient architecture, so honestly I'd love to see the Andes, w.r.t. Incan architecture.

what type of bender would you be? air/earth/fire/water

Probably earth given that I've lowkey dedicated years towards what's basically a type of crystal.

oh and what the hell is a physics????? signed, political "science" major

Every model is wrong, but some are useful.

 

[snake]

given how you pronounce your username, what would the acronym "QZL" stand for?

choose wisely

 

[The Number Man]

What's your dream CAPPL lineup?

Who do you expect to have the biggest pricetag this CAPPL? Hard mode: no Stresh and Rabia

Who's a user that you could see going for way too cheap this CAPPL?

 

[D2TheW]

Worst food you've ever tasted?

Weirdest decision made for an older cap in your decision?

How do we eradicate dedicated sun teams that only have Jumbao as a setter?

Favourite German word?

Any nu(or any lower tier) mons with unique playstyles that you'd like to see replicated in cap/ou?

How do we fix ladder

Thoughts on this: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Crawdaunt Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tomohawk: 368-434 (88.8 - 104.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

 

[quziel]

given how you pronounce your username, what would the acronym "QZL" stand for?

Queso Zone London

choose wisely

What's your dream CAPPL lineup?

Aside from the CAP goats (Stresh), I'd love to get some dedicated NU players in on it, eg I've teamed with Luck o the Irish for ages, and frankly, some fresh blood in CAP is something I'd love.

Who do you expect to have the biggest pricetag this CAPPL? Hard mode: no Stresh and Rabia

Barring Stresh I could see Heaven go for a ton per usual thanks to his knowledge of like 15 CAP metas.

Who's a user that you could see going for way too cheap this CAPPL?

Honestly that depends on managers, I could see RSQ being underbid on though.

Worst food you've ever tasted?

My uni's cafeteria once served me a ridiculously undercooked plate of crawfish that left me unable to stand up for 2 days.

Weirdest decision made for an older cap in your decision?

Taking "older" to mean before I was here. I went through Snaelstrom's movesets, and the singular reason the mon doesn't get Knock Off is because the only moveset that had Knock also had Recover.

How do we eradicate dedicated sun teams that only have Jumbao as a setter?

Remind people that you get like 3 teamslots on sun in general, and jumbao doesn't offer enough to ever be run.

Favourite German word?

Tja is a very simple one, but like, it is amazingly fun to say.

Any nu(or any lower tier) mons with unique playstyles that you'd like to see replicated in cap/ou?

Audino @ Audinite
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
- Thunder Wave
- Dazzling Gleam
- Fire Blast
- Healing Wish

This is the weirdest set that has ever gotten a smogdex set.

Hariyama @ Choice Band
Ability: Guts
EVs: 252 Atk / 108 Def / 112 SpD / 36 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- Stone Edge
- Bullet Punch

Burn damage being 0 means this will never actually exist anymore, but the idea of "I must hard in my breaker on scald so I can 2hko Weezing with Close Combat" is hilarious.

Liepard @ Black Glasses
Ability: Prankster
EVs: 4 Def / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Dark Pulse
- Copycat
- Encore

Weird set.

How do we fix ladder

Convince 10 very solid players to spam it for like a month.

Thoughts on this: 252+ SpA Choice Specs Adaptability Crawdaunt Hydro Pump vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tomohawk: 368-434 (88.8 - 104.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 SpA Charcoal Smokomodo Eruption (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tomohawk: 271-319 (65.4 - 77%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

 

[SunMYSER]

Hey guys, lets continue our CAP PotW!

You may still ask Quziel questions, but once our next player is picked, questions directed at him must stop!

Pick your top 3 choices for any CAP player and put your votes below! The nomination/voting period begins! This period will be open for 48 hours!

 

[D2TheW]

Againa
Wulf
The girl reading this

 

[spoo]

d2 snake wulf