The VGC Spotlight: Featuring 2011 Regional Champion Robbie "biffsterPKMN" Miles!

Status
Not open for further replies.
Ok sorry to bring this up but what's this talk bout the Champion's Curse?
Outstanding job Cybertron i use to look forward to reading "The Smog" but now I got plenty to read until then
From what Duy has told me, the Champion's Curse means once you start winning, you can't stop playing due to the desire to win more.
 
It is either you become addicted to VGC after winning once, or you can't get 1st place at the same event twice for some reason.
 
Robbie "It's super effective!" Miles



Accomplishments

2011: 1st Place Regionals, 24th Place Nationals
2012: 8th Place Regionals

Total Winnings

2011 Regionals: Medal, 3DS, Invitation and trip to Nationals in Indianapolis, Indiana
2012 Regionals: Various Pokemon-related merchandise

Biography and History

Robbie "biffsterPKMN" Miles is no stranger to the Pokemon community. He's been playing competitively since 1999! He is known for his unique and excellent YouTube videos (You can check out his channel here) as well as winning the 2011 North West Regional Championships. Robbie flew out to Seattle last spring for the very first Regionals in the United States. In past years, although all the Regionals received attention, the first one would often receive the most since it would often define the metagame and show which Pokemon can win / are competitive and which cannot. Robbie blew through the competition with a perfect 9-0 record. His final match against Tween* can be seen on YouTube here. At Nationals, Robbie finished with a 4-3 record / 24th place. He had an incredibly difficult line up of opponents, including 2011 Regional Champion Thomas "Captain Falcon" Lamont, 2011 Regional Runner-up Christina "The Wolf" Bacino, 2011 Regional Runner-up Kacey Traver (A rematch of the finals in Seattle! Robbie won this match too), eventual semi-finalist Simon "TDS" Yip, and Stephen Morioka. He then attended the LCQ in San Diego, where he lost in the 3rd round to SPF Lane. Robbie also attended both the St. Louis Regionals and the Philadelphia Regionals this year. He finished with a 4-2 record / 9th place in St. Louis, and finished with a 6-2 record / 8th place in Philadelphia. Personally, I can say that Robbie is one of the friendliest and nicest VGC players around, and is incredibly strong as well, so watch out for him at Nationals in a few weeks!

Interview

Wow, it's really been a long time since I did an interview! Thanks for taking some time to help me restart the series again! Why don't you introduce yourself to the readers?

Hello, Trainer. I am Robbie 'Biffster' Miles. From old school to new, I'm a Pokemon Master. I earned a first place metal at Regionals, and my goal is to do the same at Nationals and Worlds. Beyond competitive battling, I try to stay involved in the online community. Feel free to follow me on Twitter and subscribe on YouTube. (biffsterPKMN) Check out my YouTube channel for videos that cover my tournament experience.

Excellent! I really suggest to anyone that hasn't subscribe to your YouTube do so! I really enjoy the videos you post after each tournament, they are an absolute pleasure to watch. Let's talk about Pokemon. When did you start playing? How about VGCs? What was your first tournament experience like?


I purchased Pokemon Red on the day that it came out, and I've been playing ever since that day. My involvement in the online community started after my second Pokemon Mall Tour. The forum, Azure Heights, was my home, and I played on PBS and GS bot quite a bit. During the 3rd generation, my engagement with Pokemon hit an all time low, but the 4th generation brought me back into the game. I was very impressed with the 2010 VGC format. Now, I go out of my way to participate in any VGC tournament.

My first VGC tournament was the Dallas Regional in 2010. The single elimination style caused me to be quite nervous because I was just getting back into competitive game play. I quickly learned that most trainers play with standard meta Pokemon, and my Aerodactyl/Tyranitar lead couldn't stand a chance verse the Ubers. After a few wins and the one dreaded loss, I traveled 500 miles home with my tail between my legs. Even though I lost, I still desired to give it another try at Nationals LCQ. My results were the same, but I met a ton of great trainers. Overall, I really enjoyed the 2010 season, and I looked forward to the next VGC tournaments.

Aerodactyl and Tyranitar... I feel like I've seen that duo before... Oh, right! They were in one of your YouTube videos! But I agree, VGC 2010 was really what convinced me to continue playing and competing after the disaster in 2009... Anyway, you recently attended Regionals in Philadelphia! What was it like? You flew quite the distance to get there, didn't you?

I live in middle of the United States, so any tournament location requires me to travel quite a bit. Luckily, I travel frequently for work, and I use reward points to book hotels/flights. For Spring 2012, I decided to go to the biggest, baddest regional: Philly. As most of you know, over 300 people attended, so the tournament had two flights for the initial Swiss. They placed me in the Yellow/Green flight which did not include very many Smogoners. Say what you will about that, but I only had one easy fight (round 1). I scratched and clawed my way to be 4th place in my flight. I lost to Chilebowl, the first place winner of the flight. The top 4 of each flight played in a single elimination tournament to decide the victor. My first round opponent was the 1st seed from the Pink flight (JiveTime). I posted our battle on YouTube. He owned me and went on to be 1st place. That loss put me at 8th place overall. Not too bad this year, but I hope things go better at Nationals.

Not too bad at all, especially at the largest Regionals in the country this year! Maybe not as good as your first place finish back in 2011, but still a very impressive achievement. You actually attended two Regionals this year, the Fall one in St. Louis and the Spring one in Philly. What are your thoughts?

It's hard to compare the St. Louis and Philly Regionals due to the massive difference in size. The St. Louis regional ran very smoothly. There was enough staff and space. My only criticisms would be that there was no top cut or viewing screens. On the other hand, I feel like Philly could have been a lot better. It did not start on time, space was very limited, and it did not have viewing screens as well. The final battle was watched by maybe 1 person because everyone left due to the extended time. I will say they did a good job with the format by splitting it into two flights and doing a top cut.

Absolutely. I think what I dislike the most about the way the tournaments are run now is that there is not as much energy, and without TVs, it is even less enjoyable. What are your thoughts on our current format and prizes?

First off, no one should complain about prizes because this is a free event. I like the idea of a full Swiss because it gives more people a chance to play. Even when I lost in the 3rd round of a single elimination tournament, I felt bad. It gives me great pain to even think about a first round loss! As for the top cut, I think it should always happen. If you're the best, you need to prove it by playing top tier players. I did feel that the top cut at Philly was a little unfair because I could have knocked out a 7-0 player even though I my record was 6-1. The 7-0 player should get more of an advantage because that record is not an easy accomplishment. Don't say playing me is the advantage, haha.

Absolutely, it's comforting to see someone who is grateful about the prizes regardless of what they are! Will you be able to make it out to Nationals in just a few weeks?

I'm going to make my best effort to go to Nationals, but I just started a new job which makes asking for time off a little tougher. I'm looking forward to seeing everyone again! I almost enjoy making the summary video more than actually battling! Scotty's Brewhouse awaits us, Ducks.

Excellent... take me with you guys! Haha... What's your favorite Pokemon and game?
Xatu is easily my favorite Pokemon. I think he looks cool, and he put up a really good fight on my Pokemon Battle Revolution team. At Regionals 2011 in Seattle, I cos-played his body markings, but not even seasoned trainers recognized it, lol. For the main games, I enjoyed Red the most. Every other game was just a clone! The decision for the extra games is much tougher. I played so much Pokemon Stadium, Pokemon Puzzle League, Pokemon Snap, and Pokemon Battle Revolution. If I could only have one, give me Pokemon Stadium 2.

Pokemon Snap... is incredibly addicting, actually. I spent hours playing that when I discovered it, heh. Anyway, thank you for your answers! To finish up, would you like to tell the readers about what you to outside of Pokemon?

I've lived most of my life in various parts of Kansas City. I grew up in suburbia, went to college at the University of Kansas, and settled back down in downtown Kansas City, MO with my boyfriend. Since college graduation, my line of work has been software consulting. I go to large companies and help them design/configure/test/deploy software that will achieve specific business outcomes. Even though I turn 28 this coming summer, I continue to play lots of video games, especially Pokemon. My other non-tech hobbies include basketball, trail running, cooking, traveling and painting. My long term goals are to get married and open my own collectables business.

Sounds like you've got it all planned out! Thank you for everything Robbie! Any final shoutouts?

TeeJay & Kikered
- I appreciate all the practice, help, and advice you both have provided across many years. Long live the Overland Park Pokemon League!
Spokane Pokemon Federation (SPF) - Great to meet you all in Seattle!
Team Magma (BSTS, Multi, Mandy, Stephen) - I'm not sure how we didn't find each other sooner, but it has been nice to get to know y'all in the past few VGC tournaments.
Fish151 - We've done quite a lot of Pokemoning in our day: Your senior trip, Six Flags Chicago, Yo Snapz 2001, and some recent VGCing. Thanks for the good times.
Sevrah - Good to hang out with ya before Philly regionals. I hope our path crosses again.
Nats Crew (Fishy, AlphaOmega, Synre, Huy, Duy, Evan, ExpertEvan, Shinkou, Angela, Chad, DoomMullet, TTS, Dtrain, Alaka, and many more!) You all made my Nats experiences great! Hopefully, see you all again this year!
Cybertron - I give a shout out to you, man. Thanks for your contributions to the community. Keep up the great work!
 
Not a fan of double posting, but might as well update you guys:

I know activity has slowed down a lot recently, and I have finals next week, but like I said before, I have like 15+ interviews that I still have to post and I'll get around to them once summer break starts! To spice things up, I'm going to try and have videos and actual interviews in person in Indianapolis in a few weeks so look forward to that. Enjoy!
 
I've always wanted to meet Biffster, he makes such great videos that allow me to feel the atmosphere of an event I would have never been able to attend. Great Interview.
 

Expert Evan

every battle has a smell!
is a Forum Moderator Alumnus
Great read on biffster and thanks for the shout out. We've met in both San Diego and Philadelphia as those were great places. Unfortunately we won't be at neither Indianapolis nor Hawaii this year but hope to be back in action for any fall events again.
 

Fishy

tits McGee (๑˃̵ᴗ˂̵)
Love biffster's interview! Can't wait to see everyone again in just a few weeks. :D
 
Thanks!

Thanks for the interview, Cybertron. Also, thanks everyone for the kind words. I will be able to make it to Nationals, so see y'all soon.
 
great interview again Cybertron :D biff it was awesome to finally meet you in philly after talking on youtube/twitter :) great work!
 
Status
Not open for further replies.

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

Top