Sytho on The Upcoming PP Rework, his osu! Career & Mapping Experience... | Beat Talk Podcast

Storyline / Background

• This episode is a Beat Talk Podcast interview with “speed player Gold” (from the USA scene).
• They discuss:
  • How his life/work changed after starting a full-time government job with a security clearance
  • A trip to South Korea, including surprise meetups with top players
  • His esports/culture interests: gym, hobbies, and his content creation journey
  • A deep dive into his osu! career: speed improvement, mapping, and the major topic of the upcoming osu! PP rework

Gameplay Highlights (osu!)

• Career focus: He’s primarily a speed oriented player (though he originally started as more of an aim player).
• Key learning shift:
  • His early breakthrough came from a notable speed score chain (described later), which pushed him to specialize in speed.
• Notable favorite/strong plays mentioned:
  • “Freedom Dive 2 miss”
  • “NEU” (99% accuracy)
  • “Azuri Mix” (very close to a PP record; he lost expected PP due to “chained 50s/no lock” behavior)
• Major achievements:
  • Reached USA rank #1 and top 10 globally
  • Rank-pressure: getting back to that rank position involved pressure and wasn’t just a one-time peak (he discussed returning after time away)

Strategies / Key Tips for Improvement

Speed practice routine (as described)

• Uses caffeine strategically:
  • Drinks Red Bull or Monster
  • Times caffeine for morning sessions so it doesn’t ruin sleep
• Session method:
  • Plays speed practice maps (often described as “so-go” / practice maps)
  • Focuses on tapping as fast as possible
• Core idea:
  • Speed improvement came from frequent practice on speed practice maps over time

Aim weakness / consistency focus

• His biggest current weakness is consistency, not raw aim.
• He believes his aim ability is already there, but he needs repeatable performance.
• He mentions working on aim with a “new system” and seeing progress.

Energy drink moderation

• He doesn’t use energy drinks much anymore because they’re expensive and “bad for you.”
• He notes people drinking multiple cans a day likely build tolerance, and that too much affects sleep.

Client choice: stable vs lazer

• Preferred stable overall because it “runs smoother” with fewer issues.
• He switches to lazer for specific features (e.g., no note lock sometimes), but dislikes:
  • Audio/offset issues
  • He says lazer’s offset feels “messed up,” and that it hasn’t been fixed adequately for years.

Mapping Discussion (osu! content creation)

How he got into mapping

• Started in 2016:
  • Liked a song but couldn’t find an existing map, so he made one himself
• Continued over time:
  • Kept mapping to create content that didn’t exist yet
  • Gradually sought improvement and received mod advice

Current mapping status

• Mapping is very time-consuming, so he does far fewer maps now:
  • Only ~3–4 completed maps this year (vs. much more previously)
• He frames mapping as something he isn’t heavily focusing on lately.

Favorite map he worked on

• “Speakers Never Learn” (made in November)
  • He calls it his best map
  • Inspired by Ryko
  • Categorized as a tech speed map

Ranked vs graveyarded maps

• He claims his ranked maps are generally strong, but:
  • He has graveyarded projects he thinks are often better
• Recently, he believes many graveyarded maps outperform his ranked ones.

Ego in mapping vs top play (his take)

Mappers tend to have more ego than players because mapping is more subjective, and there’s no objective system that determines map quality the same way gameplay systems do.

Favorite mappers mentioned

• Ryko, Ryuusei, Nathan, James Jan
• Also mentions Rubuchi

PP Rework (main hot topic)

• Strong opinion:
  • He calls the PP rework “stupid” and says it shouldn’t be released.
• Key complaint:
  • He criticizes how values are “cherry-picked” (speed/aim).
  • His example suggests top plays can lose hundreds of PP on average due to inaccurate assumptions.
• Proposed fix:
  • Stop changes that unfairly punish improvement over time—as players get better, PP should reflect that.
• He also expects certain top players (specifically referencing Emery) to regain the top position after the rework.

Ranked / Lazer / “osu is dead” perspective

• On osu! Lazer ranked:
  • He hasn’t tried it much
  • He plays mainly to farm, not for tournaments
• On “osu! is dead”:
  • He doesn’t think it’s “dead dead,” but believes the game is effectively dying in sustainability for players compared to earlier years
  • Making a living from being good used to be easier; now it’s harder unless you’re “top of the top”
• Player count:
  • He suggests concurrent player counts declined in much of 2025, but are slowly increasing again
  • He credits newer lazer developments as helping sustain newer players

Content Creation Highlights (YouTube-focused)

How his style started

• Around 2020 quarantine, he “shitposted” on YouTube.
• In 2021, things started “banging” and he posted more.
• Then he shifted into uploading plays and content more consistently.

Viral milestone

• His first major post with ~1 million views didn’t feel meaningful at first—he was surprised.
• It motivated him to keep posting.

Notable money-making video

• “Who Wants Chatter but osu” made around $1,000
  • He says it was monetized, not copyrighted, and passed the length threshold

Other idea sources

• “Drunk tournament” / challenge series influenced by John Boiler
• He describes these as experiments that worked

Platform preference

• He likes YouTube more than Twitch/Twitter because it feels more peaceful.

Examples of widely-liked videos

• “How not to smell like ass”
  • The idea came from working as a cashier and dealing with customers who smelled strongly
  • He wanted to help people wash properly

Key Goals Mentioned

• Primary goal:
  • Set a 2K (PP) score
  • He hopes to do it before or around the PB rework timeframe
• Final “achievement ceremony” goal:
  • He strongly frames 2K as the main end goal; everything else is “side quest”

Gamers / Sources Featured (mentioned at the end)

• Gold (speed player from the USA) – main guest
• Sytho (podcast title/host context)
• Chikoni
• SoTarks
• WhiteCat
• Ameka
• Vortex
• Ryuusei
• Ryko
• Nathan
• James Jan
• Rubuchi
• Emery
• Toro
• Alif (possibly the person who tweeted during COE about washing)
• John Boiler
• Birch (mentioned as an uploader who stopped)