Smogon Classic Coverage: Interview with -Tsunami-

Although he agreed to interview, I was unable to precisely locate Tsunami. I contacted the local hax gods and they pointed me in his direction. From his doorstep I rung the bell and waited. Armed with only the soft sound of an anime song playing from my phone and my willingness to post dashes I noticed the door rapidly opened. I entered and sat down, and we exchanged quick looks and nodded before beginning the interview.

Crestfall

Hey Tsunami, more widely known as Shake or ShakeItUp, thanks for taking time to do this interview! Could you tell me a bit about yourself before we get into it?

-Tsunami-

I'm a 20-year-old college student at Emory University. I started playing competitive Pokémon on a server called PurpleSurge about six or seven years ago. I started on Smogon a couple years after that and contributed a great deal. Nowadays, I pretty much only play tournaments with stolen teams. I do build in RU, though.

Crestfall

Cheers, and congrats on winning the second iteration of Smogon Classic and finally earning yourself an individual trophy to add to your list of feats. How does it feel?

-Tsunami-

TBH, I don't really know how I won the old gen tour of all things. But, I'm pretty satisfied haha. I'd say I played relatively well, and it's cool being able to win in tiers I'm not known for playing, lol.

Crestfall

Moving onto the tour itself, who are some people who surprised you this Classic by doing better or worse than you expected? Anyone you expected to see in playoffs that was missing?

-Tsunami-

I mean these playoffs made like no sense LOL. People like We Three Kings, dEnIsSsS, and even myself aren't particularly known for our old gen prowess. But, it was a challenging tournament nonetheless. In terms of people I expected to make the playoffs there's a massive list of people I figured had a better chance of making it than I did. Among them, the best old generation player who played and didn't make it and comes to mind is BKC. Earthworm also came close to making it despite only playing in two Opens, which is honestly ridiculous.

Crestfall

You're certainly not alone in being surprised by who your competition was. What would you say your highlight moment (other than winning) was in this tour? Perhaps a specific turn, battle, or series that was close or made you nervous?

-Tsunami-

I definitely had a lot of close games. The series that made me the most nervous though was definitely my series vs Alexander*. After getting lucky in GSC, the hax gods decided to punish me a bit in both RBY and ADV. The fourth game was BW, and a great deal of luck went against me in that one as well. I was reading the Smogtours chat during the battle, and pretty much everyone thought I had lost. Somehow I managed to bring it back though (after he misplayed a couple of times) and was able to force a Game 5. Of course the DPP game ended up being ridiculous too, as I started off in an early hole. After my Kingdra missed a Hydro Pump on his Scarf Jirachi, I didn't really think I had a chance to win. However, the hax gods finally decided to be on my side once again, giving me a Thunder Punch paralysis against his Jirachi. I managed to outplay from there and win the game; on one turn, I ended up wasting like 270 seconds on my timer because I didn't know if his Machamp was Jolly max Speed or not, which apparently doesn't even fucking exist. Luckily, I trusted my gut and just assumed it wasn't, winning me the game in the process.

*Replays of the series: 1 2 3 4 5

Crestfall

Your instincts paid off, certainly part of why you made it so far. Now, for things you brought throughout your run, anything particularly innovative you're proud of? Or even something especially creative/unique you saw someone else bring? (Maybe bringing Omfuga's BW Jynx team in finals or along those lines)

-Tsunami-

I didn't build anything I used, so I didn't really "innovate" anything by myself, haha. I thought the Jynx team would get a good matchup, since I kind of expected Tesung to bring weather, and it ended up working out for me. I don't think I really watched many other games too closely to remember anything else that was cool. Personally, Jirachee's MixRachi set was pretty cool, and it pretty much single-handedly won me Game 4 vs. Shoka in DPP.

Crestfall

Now for a change of pace, were there any blunders or big mistakes you made in the Classic Playoffs that the audience could get a good laugh out of? Perhaps something that didn't get noticed well/at all?

-Tsunami-

I think I played relatively well throughout the tournament. There were some misplays I'm sure, but I can't remember any real major ones. In the finals versus Tesung, I misplayed by Nasty Plotting against the Tyranitar; Ice Beam was a much more risk-free play and would automatically give me the win if he went to Alakazam, which he did.

Crestfall

Now that Classic is over, what old gen do you think you really advanced the most in? Which do you perhaps have a greater appreciation for? And is there anyone in particular responsible for helping you in the tier you progressed in the most?

-Tsunami-

I think the tier I played the best in during playoffs was DPP, so I suppose I got better in that, haha. I used Ojama's team for R1, Jirachee's for both quarter- and semifinals, and M Dragon's for the finals. Shoutouts to BKC for building godlike DPP teams for WCoP, and to Ojama and panamaxis as well for doing the same in SPL. Ojama used some weird EV spreads in SPL, and panamaxis used such a non-standard team in finals that Anti thought it was an April Fool's joke. All of these things helped me like the tier more and, as a result, improve in it as well I suppose.

Crestfall

Was there anyone you wanted to face in a specific tier who you didn't get to face?

-Tsunami-

Nah, there's no one I really wanted to face LOL, I just wanted to win. The worse players I get to play the better rofl. Why play M Dragon in GSC if I don't have to?

Crestfall

looool, fair enough. Moving on. This applies outside of Classic as well, but, you've proven to be quite solid in numerous metagames—both old and modern now. Do you have any tricks or secrets on how you're able to adapt so easily?

-Tsunami-

I'm not really sure, actually. I don't particularly find it that difficult; just play some games with stolen teams and you'll be fine, haha. For tournament games, it's just important to try to build or use a team that you think will match up well versus the opponent. It doesn't really matter if it would lose to the rest of the community if it can win that one game. I feel like people try too hard when attempting to learn new metagames for tournaments by trying to build something that covers everything, despite not knowing the metagame well enough to attempt that.

-Tsunami-

Then again, you could always just use stolen teams like I always do, haha.

Crestfall

Meaningful insight, I'm sure there are aspiring players who will take that to heart. Time for closing questions! You're certainly no stranger to tournaments, being successful in SPL, winning Classic, hosting RUPL, entering a wide variety of Premier Leagues (PLs) while maintaining a good record, and playing several unofficial tournaments. Are there any in particular that jump out as memorable or fun to play in for you?

-Tsunami-

Playing in non-official PLs is just fun because you get to play with your friends, usually. If I'm not with anyone I know, I probably won't care LOL. Although, I did go like 3-2 two NUPLs ago by using Riolu every week, so I guess I don't have to care to win, haha. SPL and WCoP are probably my favorite tournaments still, even though I ragequit the former year after people decided to forget how to play Pokémon, rofl. Playing in official team tournaments with friends is always entertaining; that's the main reason why I went back to East this year. I'd say that my favorite team tours so far were WCoP 2013 and SPL 5.

Crestfall

If you could give a trophy to anyone on Smogon, who'd it be and why?

-Tsunami-

Can I give one to myself? LOOL I need to become a double trophy winner like my homie Ojama omfg. There's a lot of people who deserve trophies, so I'm not really sure, honestly. I would say Omfuga but we're winning SPL this year anyway, so like what's the point.

Crestfall

LMAO words of wisdom right there. Hope all of you up-and-coming tournament players remember that 2 trophies > 1. Besides that, could you give a small taste of the music you like to listen to while battling?

-Tsunami-

LOL I don't really listen to music while I'm playing because it makes me lose focus. I listen to anime music before I play super important games, though, haha. Before my game versus Tesung I just listened to relaxing stuff like Natsumachi and Spirale from Aria that would help calm me down I suppose.

Crestfall

I'm sure this anime answer surprises no one who knows you who is reading along haha. Any closing thoughts or special shoutouts to anyone? Any words for "haters" who think you're an eternally lucky piece of trash?

-Tsunami-

I shouted out so many people in my shoutout post LOOOL like it was at least 20 oml. Definitely couldn't have done this without their help, so thanks to all of them, haha. For all the haters: bop there it is dash space they call me Smogon Classic winner Metabeast you clowns LOL

-Tsunami-

Crestfall

VoD wins again, classic.

-Tsunami-

Oh, I'll shout out Omfuga because he made me the first winner of an Official Smogon Tournament to use an NU Pokémon to cluch the trophy, probably.

-Tsunami-

Crestfall

Alright well this was definitely a fun one. Take it easy man, appreciate you taking the time to do this interview, and I wish you the best of luck in any future endeavors, as well as with the rest of your PLs + your attempt to captain a third SPL team to victory—a feat that I believe no one has ever managed to do hehe.

-Tsunami-

thx bro. i'm too good for this game holy.

« Previous Article

Home