Welcome to the Featured Rater project! This is a series of interviews where we ask official Team Raters, new and old, several questions about the RMT forum and their experiences within it. We hope that this offers both entertainment and an insight into their thought processes, which aspiring raters can look to incorporate into their own rates. This project is hosted by Analytic, Snowy, and myself. Our fifteenth interviewee and first one of 2016 is Harsha, a former RMT leader who in his time was one of the forum's best raters and most dedicated contributors.
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
I'm a 19 year old sophomore in college who plays a lot of League and watches a lot of TV. I'm currently studying to enter med school and am looking to be a doctor down the line.
What was your main tier when you were actively rating? Did you rate teams from any other tiers?
I rated almost exclusively BW OU teams because that was the metagame I knew best. I played BW UU sporadically, but when I did actively play I would sometimes rate for that.
When did you start rating and why?
I started rating immediately after I joined Smogon in 2011 and did it actively for about 3 years. I'm not really sure why, but I think I really enjoyed looking at cool RMTs that would get posted and wanted to get involved in the section in some way. I also really liked building teams at the time and thought rating teams would help me practice in terms of improving upon my own teams. I wasn't particularly good at it when I started, but after a few months I got the hang of it (though improving at rating went hand in hand with improving at playing Pokemon strategically).
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
Some of the raters I looked up to were franky, San_Pellegrino, and Iconic. All of them had pretty distinct styles but they always managed to make the teams they rated better. Weirdly, Jirachee was the first person to rate my first RMT before he was even badged, and his suggestion actually turned out to be pretty good, so in a way he was my first direct experience with RMT.
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I just liked being able to help people improve upon their teams. You get a good feeling improving upon things, and it's especially nice when the people you help report back to you after trying your changes and tell you they liked the advice!
Do you follow a process with your rates?
I used a modified version of Legacy Raider and Stathakis's old formula to create my own. I made this thread at a time when a lot of raters (badged and unbadged alike) were simply looking for threats and replacing Pokemon on the team for counters to said threat. I noticed a lot of the time people would be trying to throw Slowbro on to offensive teams or Terrakion on to full stall teams and the rates ended up just being silly.
I like to look for the team's goal and check to see how they need to set up for a win in order to accurately rate the team. If there's at least an underlying theme, then you can go about trying to help accomplish the goal more efficiently. I usually check for threats before and after my rate, and a lot of the time the threats can already be eliminated by making the team more efficient. If not, you can patch up weaknesses at the end.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Just keep practicing and make sure you stay in touch with the game. I really think playing the game competitively is important for rating, as you need to know what options each Pokemon gives you and practice is much more important than theorycraft. An easy way to keep up with the metagame is to get near the top of the ladder, which honestly isn't too difficult. If you play every once in a while, you'll develop a better sense of how to make teams more efficient. I think at least watching top tournament players in SPL/WCoP/OST/Smogon Tour is really important, and playing in these tournaments is even better. There's no better way to get in touch with the metagame than to see what the top players are using and how they use their teams.
How do you feel the RMT forum, and rating in general, has developed from when you were leading?
I've noticed that RMT is way more active than ever before which is awesome. I think rates are more acceptable now rather than the old "your team is weak to Dragonite so use a Skarmory" kinds of rates we used to get. Other tiers get way more attention than they used to as well.
As leader, what were the main responsibilities and obligations you had to carry out? What are some of your most memorable moments?
Thankfully before the previous leaders left, they set up a forum for all TRs to talk about the general happenings of RMT. I guess the biggest obligations we had to carry out were badgings and forum updates, but also Jirachee and I came onboard in order to increase TR activity. Luckily, we had good role models coming in (aim, Edgar, etc) and Reymedy really helped out with making sure everyone did their job. I think that the small resurgence then paved the way for current day RMT, which you and Jirachee have done a good job with maintaining. I'm fairly sure RMT is more active now than any time before.
Honestly most of my memorable moments with RMT come from before I was a leader. After I became a leader it was fairly boring—if either Jirachee or I had an idea, we'd just talk and unveil it to the staff to see what they thought. Afterwards we'd just go through with it. There weren't any real major problems while I was a leader so I guess it wasn't that exciting.
My most memorable moments from RMT as a whole come from my big arguments with mostwanted (now LUST), a former team rater and RMT mod, but you can ask someone else about those stories because there are way too many for me to list here.
Do you like the direction the forum is taking at the moment? If you could add or change something, what would it be?
There is currently a huge amount of badged TRs that are active so I think RMT is in a good place. Back when I was leader we were brainstorming ways to make the community more active, and nowadays activity doesn't seem to be a problem, so I'd say you and Jirachee are doing a good job (and Reymedy who makes the boring activity monitoring sheets).
If I could add something I'd get the tournament players to post RMTs once they unveil them to the public. I remember that teams like Toxic Invasion, The Art of Rain Stall, Tabloo, and Eriatarka were the kinds of teams that made me want to start rating in the first place, and not surprisingly, they're all in the RMT Archive. I really wish we saw more of that these days, as the RMTs serve as examples for newer players, and if they make the archive, it's a nice accomplishment to boot.
What are your thoughts on the RMT PS room? Do you have any ideas on how the room could be developed to be integrated more with the forum?
I don't have a real opinion given that I am not very active in the room, but at a glance it seems as though it's at least helpful to people who want advice on their teams. A lot of the time an unqualified user will try to help with other people's teams and the change won't actually make sense, but there's no real way to combat that. I like that you're now holding workshops in the PS room, though, as it exposes what I found to be a pretty helpful activity to more people. I don't know if there's any real way to integrate the room with the forums more other than encouraging activity among active badged raters, as they're the ones who are truly qualified to give help.
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
It has been a long time since I last rated, and with the forum's search engine not being the best, it's kinda hard to find a lot of my rates. That said, I think these two (1, 2) were pretty decent, as they improved the team while still maintaining the same core Pokemon.
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Thanks for taking the time to do this man! Feel free to leave any questions you have for Harsha below
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
I'm a 19 year old sophomore in college who plays a lot of League and watches a lot of TV. I'm currently studying to enter med school and am looking to be a doctor down the line.
What was your main tier when you were actively rating? Did you rate teams from any other tiers?
I rated almost exclusively BW OU teams because that was the metagame I knew best. I played BW UU sporadically, but when I did actively play I would sometimes rate for that.
When did you start rating and why?
I started rating immediately after I joined Smogon in 2011 and did it actively for about 3 years. I'm not really sure why, but I think I really enjoyed looking at cool RMTs that would get posted and wanted to get involved in the section in some way. I also really liked building teams at the time and thought rating teams would help me practice in terms of improving upon my own teams. I wasn't particularly good at it when I started, but after a few months I got the hang of it (though improving at rating went hand in hand with improving at playing Pokemon strategically).
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
Some of the raters I looked up to were franky, San_Pellegrino, and Iconic. All of them had pretty distinct styles but they always managed to make the teams they rated better. Weirdly, Jirachee was the first person to rate my first RMT before he was even badged, and his suggestion actually turned out to be pretty good, so in a way he was my first direct experience with RMT.
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I just liked being able to help people improve upon their teams. You get a good feeling improving upon things, and it's especially nice when the people you help report back to you after trying your changes and tell you they liked the advice!
Do you follow a process with your rates?
I used a modified version of Legacy Raider and Stathakis's old formula to create my own. I made this thread at a time when a lot of raters (badged and unbadged alike) were simply looking for threats and replacing Pokemon on the team for counters to said threat. I noticed a lot of the time people would be trying to throw Slowbro on to offensive teams or Terrakion on to full stall teams and the rates ended up just being silly.
I like to look for the team's goal and check to see how they need to set up for a win in order to accurately rate the team. If there's at least an underlying theme, then you can go about trying to help accomplish the goal more efficiently. I usually check for threats before and after my rate, and a lot of the time the threats can already be eliminated by making the team more efficient. If not, you can patch up weaknesses at the end.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Just keep practicing and make sure you stay in touch with the game. I really think playing the game competitively is important for rating, as you need to know what options each Pokemon gives you and practice is much more important than theorycraft. An easy way to keep up with the metagame is to get near the top of the ladder, which honestly isn't too difficult. If you play every once in a while, you'll develop a better sense of how to make teams more efficient. I think at least watching top tournament players in SPL/WCoP/OST/Smogon Tour is really important, and playing in these tournaments is even better. There's no better way to get in touch with the metagame than to see what the top players are using and how they use their teams.
How do you feel the RMT forum, and rating in general, has developed from when you were leading?
I've noticed that RMT is way more active than ever before which is awesome. I think rates are more acceptable now rather than the old "your team is weak to Dragonite so use a Skarmory" kinds of rates we used to get. Other tiers get way more attention than they used to as well.
As leader, what were the main responsibilities and obligations you had to carry out? What are some of your most memorable moments?
Thankfully before the previous leaders left, they set up a forum for all TRs to talk about the general happenings of RMT. I guess the biggest obligations we had to carry out were badgings and forum updates, but also Jirachee and I came onboard in order to increase TR activity. Luckily, we had good role models coming in (aim, Edgar, etc) and Reymedy really helped out with making sure everyone did their job. I think that the small resurgence then paved the way for current day RMT, which you and Jirachee have done a good job with maintaining. I'm fairly sure RMT is more active now than any time before.
Honestly most of my memorable moments with RMT come from before I was a leader. After I became a leader it was fairly boring—if either Jirachee or I had an idea, we'd just talk and unveil it to the staff to see what they thought. Afterwards we'd just go through with it. There weren't any real major problems while I was a leader so I guess it wasn't that exciting.
My most memorable moments from RMT as a whole come from my big arguments with mostwanted (now LUST), a former team rater and RMT mod, but you can ask someone else about those stories because there are way too many for me to list here.
Do you like the direction the forum is taking at the moment? If you could add or change something, what would it be?
There is currently a huge amount of badged TRs that are active so I think RMT is in a good place. Back when I was leader we were brainstorming ways to make the community more active, and nowadays activity doesn't seem to be a problem, so I'd say you and Jirachee are doing a good job (and Reymedy who makes the boring activity monitoring sheets).
If I could add something I'd get the tournament players to post RMTs once they unveil them to the public. I remember that teams like Toxic Invasion, The Art of Rain Stall, Tabloo, and Eriatarka were the kinds of teams that made me want to start rating in the first place, and not surprisingly, they're all in the RMT Archive. I really wish we saw more of that these days, as the RMTs serve as examples for newer players, and if they make the archive, it's a nice accomplishment to boot.
What are your thoughts on the RMT PS room? Do you have any ideas on how the room could be developed to be integrated more with the forum?
I don't have a real opinion given that I am not very active in the room, but at a glance it seems as though it's at least helpful to people who want advice on their teams. A lot of the time an unqualified user will try to help with other people's teams and the change won't actually make sense, but there's no real way to combat that. I like that you're now holding workshops in the PS room, though, as it exposes what I found to be a pretty helpful activity to more people. I don't know if there's any real way to integrate the room with the forums more other than encouraging activity among active badged raters, as they're the ones who are truly qualified to give help.
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
It has been a long time since I last rated, and with the forum's search engine not being the best, it's kinda hard to find a lot of my rates. That said, I think these two (1, 2) were pretty decent, as they improved the team while still maintaining the same core Pokemon.
------------
Thanks for taking the time to do this man! Feel free to leave any questions you have for Harsha below
