Interview #14: E4 Flint, that random guy from Sinnoh
How did you get into Pokemon, PS, Smogon, Other Metas and this community?
I always loved Pokemon for as long as I remember, from watching the TV series back in Kindergarten and collecting the early cards. Pokemon Red on Gameboy Color was the most fantastic thing I had ever seen, and as a result, to this day I am probably still a gen wunner sadly.
PS was different in that I saw my brother playing it one day before college but decided to actually get on it when I was bored out of my mind in one of my classes. I lurked a lot using random alts to play randbats mostly.
How I got into BH, and by extension Other Metas, is an interesting story that I can remember to this day. As I mentioned, I lurked on PS for a long time, and eventually I played OU. After a particularly intense game, I lamented about how running Sun offense in a tier with Rain as the norm was tough, and there was very little diversity. He agreed and told me things are not like this in other tiers and went full on "shady clock dealer", advising me to try this underground, lesser known meta where you can "do whatever you wanted" and have "total freedom", called "Hackmons". Unfortunately, No Guard Sheer Cold seemed the centralization that I wanted to escape, and I switched to the "balanced" version, where I've been since. I really wish I could remember that guy's alt name.
As for how I got onto Smogon:
What is your favorite aspect of Other Metas, why?
Other Metas really challenge you to think out of the box, to break away from standard sets with a simple twist or rule, against a community filled with people who are trying to do the exact same. The sets you create and the success you get, rely a lot on one's own creativity which is what I find most appealing.
What is iyo the most underrated Other Meta?
Inverse does not seem to get either the activity or the attention that I think it deserves.
What is your favorite Other Metagame, why?
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Balanced Hackmons, because at least in Gen5, I think it had the greatest degree of creativity because of its rules, and the most interplay among different styles while using unstoppable combinations with the best Pokemon in the game. While the tactical aspect and diversity seem to have diminished somewhat, I still find it enjoyable.
What would you encourage new OM users to do to get into OMs?
I would encourage new OM players to be patient more than anything; it is entirely possible (and probably inevitable) that ideas you think while teambuilding are utter flops in the ladder and you lose many games because of it; when that happens, do not throw it all away and go back in the comfort zone of the standard tiers, or just try to take a team featured in an RMT.Instead, analyse what you can change, and adapt to what you see while still trying to incorporate your own creativity into your sets. The success that you get with your team afterwards is very rewarding since it comes with the pride in your own unique stamp on your team.
I would also echo what people have said before about coming into the OM room and beginning discussion and tips, since that is very much encouraged.
What would you change about Other Metas?
I am not entirely sure what to answer since I don't think I know the full picture but, to me, there seems to be an exorbitantly large amount of other metagames, of which only a tiny subset are represented with permanent ladders. OMotM and Leader's Choice are great steps in the right direction to introduce new OMs to all, but it seems like it is difficult to get some to be permanent additions to the main server. Combine that with the fact that since the pool of permanent OMs is so small, most are becoming stale with limited activity makes me think that more OMs should and could be offered. I personally enjoyed Pokemon Throwback as well.
I also think that somehow OMs need to be marketed better to the overall community and as a whole, we need to be more approachable to players from the standard tiers.
What do you support for next OMotM, why?
I supported Mix n Mega, because I felt that out of all the offerings, this one had the most interesting and legitimate twist. As for ones that have been done before, I would maybe retry Ability Shift with post-ORAS abilities - although I'd never say no to Super Staff Bros: Other Metagames too! Be sure to
make use of my powers in it.
What do you think of the OM room right now?
I enjoy my time in the OM room as it is a great place for veterans and new players alike to share their ideas, theorymon together, battle in tournaments and just have fun. The growth that we have experienced is only a good thing as it seems to be a direct consequence of growing interest in OMs overall. Yet, the room still maintains the small, tightly-knit community charm that was present when the room was first created with only around 10-15 users. I also enjoy my recent reputation as one of the last bastions of offense-based gameplay in the face of overwhelming stall odds.
Do you enjoy being staff there?
Being staff in the OM room is a great privilege and responsibility that I feel very lucky to have, and enjoy very much. I try to maintain a balance between goofiness and on-topic serious discussion as either extreme isn't good for a room, imo. I also try to be light-hearted and completely unlike the formal tone I reserve for exams, essays, papers, and online interviews on Pokemon websites.
Why do you think you were promoted to a staff position?
I think it'd have to be because of my high activity, my continual presence since the room's inception, and just being a helpful and level-headed "normal" person, as weird as that sounds.
The real reason is, of course, cause TI thought I should.
Who do you admire the most of the OM community?
TheCommadore /Kumiromi was
the player to beat and look up to when I first began in BH, due to his ladder dominance; facing him in battle for the first time was a chastising and instructional experience. In addition, I appreciate all of my great opponents, from the highly efficient
Kl4ng to the resilient
Adrian Marin, and others, too many to name, in between. Having great opponents across multiple OMs makes the tiers, and by extension, myself, better as well.
What would you recommend people to do to get better at teambuilding and battling in Other Metagames?
It's all well and good to have a lot of unique ideas but it is not always impossible to fit them all in a team, or having them work together. It is very important to take into account the general trend of the meta in question, instead of just copy-pasting your general structure from teams across OMs and tweaking a few moves. A few games in the meta should always introduce at least some thoughts on how to further tweak a team; in fact, I think it is a mistake to ever mark a team as "complete" in its lifecycle, even if changes are made very slowly. One common thing I've seen is that there is sometimes a lot of redundancy on teams, where multiple Pokemon all are either weak to the same thing, or target a very narrow field.
In terms of battling,sometimes people get flustered when an early setback happens, or something doesn't go as expected in a game, which subsequently causes them far more damage than anything the opponent could've done. Not doing this is easier said than done though.
How is it to be on this many councils?
I enjoy being part of a few volunteer groups such as the BH Q&C, but it can be a lot of work and attention to detail. I tend to turn down positions in specific meta councils however, because I think that my views, especially on clauses and bans, tend to clash so often with others, and I don't want to create a scene with every minor decision.
How do you specialize in many metagames?
I tend to play in a mostly offense-based style, and I think a lot of my success has come from constantly trying to figure out new attacking combinations in various tiers that systematically break apart counters for the established attackers in the game. When counters start to form for these sets, simply repeat the process. I give great importance to the idea that many times it's not brute strength that slams the opponent's defences head on, but a new idea or technique that they are unaware of, and can slip past them.
When I start a new meta, usually, I just throw some ideas together to begin with, usually centered around a few key sets that I want to try out together, or overall team theme, get a few games under my belt so I can get a good snapshot of the meta for myself, and adjust my team accordingly. I am not afraid to completely throw out previous ideas if they are shown to be lacking.
I also try very hard to not exhibit trends in multiple teams so that I cannot be exploited by a common weakness across all of them.
What metagame would you add if possible?, project?
If I could create a metagame, it would probably be something centered around item-based gameplay, which I think is one of the last "twists" that remain untapped. A simple example would be a metagame where all items are inexhaustible, maybe in a manner similar to Harvest which every 'mon would have, including consumables like Absorb Bulb and Chesto Berry.
As for project, I think I would still be interested in some kind of voice cast with members of the OM room, possibly as voted by the OM users - assuming I'd be voted that is!
Who do you think is an underrated OM user?
MBM99 is a good friend of mine who is nice, relatively active and level-headed, and mature beyond his age. I feel he is a great albeit quiet presence in the OM chat, someone who most have mentioned having a good experience with, and is a good battler to boot. He also sends me
interesting videos that help pass the time during slow hours online.
What do you think of the BH metagame?
Although I not-so-secretly enjoy the complete obliteration of stall in BH, I do think that the meta is offensively centered around a few mons and abilities, without which teams cannot afford to be without during ladder play. Although, I do partially think it is also because most people are recycling old sets over and over instead of attempting to find new ones.
What do you think of what happened to it?
The current behavior of the tier is what to be expected given the extreme power creep in new mons (especially from ORAS). The removal of full EV's, making all Pokemon more brittle from before only exacerbates the problem, and has slanted the meta towards a heavily fast-paced "kill or be killed" style, with focus on trying to repeatedly transition from dealing huge amounts of damage, to absorbing the opponent's attempts to do the same in a never ending cycle until the game ends.
How has the tier progressed?
BH XY was heavily favored towards complete spam of only a few abilities, usually PH as an offensive or defensive option, as well as all the -ate abilities. The Ability Clause helped fix this somewhat, althogh I still believe it should have been defined at 1 instead of 2. The Parental Bond ban was probably required in the end, and clauses for Assist, Evasion and Chatter helped clean up the tier from being dominated by uncompetitive strategies. As mentioned before though, the single defining change was the removal of full EV's which has turned the meta into the state it is today.
A BH team + explanation?
Here's a team I made some time ago that I like to give out:
http://hastebin.com/pijipatiki.md
Although the team is somewhat old, I find that it is able to hold up decently defensively and offensively even today. The team centers around breaking through the opponents' defenses with three powerful wall breakers.
The centerpiece of this team in particular is Latios Mega, who, with his Soul Dew buff, seeks to make use of its stabs to the maximum, with Tinted Lens catching out and destroying any defensive switch ins that unwittingly relied on their resistance to tank hits. By doing so, you eventually free up the opponent's team enough to be able to be finished by Rayquaza and Groudon.
Groudon's role is to get around its main counter, Fur Coat, as well as be the Shedinja killer, while Registeel and Giratina provide the damage absoprtion with slow pivots to get back into damage dealing mode, while possibly spreading status as well.
Chansey's role is, of course, to collect information of the opponent's team, to take out any niche threat such as Contrary and extreme setup, and be an option for stalling as well - although it's not like anyone likes to stall.
Favorite Mon?
There can be only one, the most powerful, graceful, perfectly designed Pokemon to ever exist:
Mewtwo, and his Megas, are a close second, from the Gen1 days and the first movie, where he was invincible.
Any final words?
There's a quote from William Clinton that I enjoy:
"If you live long enough, you'll make mistakes. But if you learn from them, you'll be a better person. It's how you handle adversity, not how it affects you. The main thing is never stall, never stall, never stall."
OK maybe I paraphrased it a bit.
Long live Offense
lel