approved by DugZa
inspired by other various interview projects across the site
:pmd/mismagius: Hex :pmd/mismagius:
:pmd/wobbuffet: MZ :pmd/wobbuffet:
I again slacked on this series! Ended up getting a j*b between last entry and the current entry, and have been working on being able to balance my hobbies (smogon, gaming, etc.) with work and school and now that I've found my rhythm I'm ready to consistently tackle this series again! Sorry for the delay, but we have the glorious MZ this time around, so lets get into it! HIs favorite Pokemon is :wobbuffet: (never heard of this being anyone's favorite before) and his favorite color is red!
:pmd/mismagius:inspired by other various interview projects across the site
:pmd/mismagius: Hex :pmd/mismagius:
:pmd/wobbuffet: MZ :pmd/wobbuffet:
I again slacked on this series! Ended up getting a j*b between last entry and the current entry, and have been working on being able to balance my hobbies (smogon, gaming, etc.) with work and school and now that I've found my rhythm I'm ready to consistently tackle this series again! Sorry for the delay, but we have the glorious MZ this time around, so lets get into it! HIs favorite Pokemon is :wobbuffet: (never heard of this being anyone's favorite before) and his favorite color is red!
Okay sorry for the wait. I'm surprised previous interview projects haven't gotten around to you, though you did take a decently long absence for a while so maybe thats why :think:. I'm sure the PU community would love to hear more about sMZu, MegaZard, etc. Why don't you tell us about yourself and how you got into Pokemon?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
Actually, I've been up for a PU interview project multiple times only for my round to be when the thing gets cancelled due to one reason or another. So there's a chance we start this but nobody ever reads it. Plus, I've been around so long while not outright winning a whole lot to give the momentum to do an interview, it definitely would've helped if I'd won PULT after we agreed to do this. But anyway, the basics are that I'm 27 and a full time high school math teacher, but I've been here in Smogon PU since I was in high school myself. Emerald was my first video game and I played and watched tons of Pokemon throughout my childhood, and when I found out about Showdown I got pretty addicted and stuck to the most welcoming community on the website. Back in my day I played almost every official tier, I was active in tours room and was an AG leader and played most OMs and even BSS... I did a lot. But PU had my people and it's been one of the better tiers if not actively my favorite more often than not which helps. So I've never wanted to leave this behind, even if there was a period during SS where I stepped down from a lot. I've ended up doing tons of leadership stuff in PU over the years and I just want to help PU keep going as long as possible and provide the same feeling of community that first got me here over a decade ago to others getting here for the first time.
:pmd/mismagius:
Well I can promise you I’ll definitely make sure this one sees the public eye :sob:. I didn’t know you led AG thats definitely interesting, though I always knew you played BSS. How did you end up getting into both of those tiers (and how was leading AG?) Moreover, what brought you from PS! to Smogon?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
I just don't really half-ass anything when it comes to competitive games. The moment I found out there were going to be larger and better tournaments hosted through Smogon than the basic roomtours of Showdown, I was there. And since every section had different tournaments, I participated in lots and lots of different spaces. AG was kind of an accident, I was just kind of a known guy and around for the beginning of it and they needed to put some people in charge of this brand new thing that we didn't really know what to do with, and BSS was just a random signup for BSSPL into continuing to join things for the last decade. That's mostly what got me across the site in the first place, and the main reason that I don't join as many other things nowadays is that competing in Smash Ultimate has drawn my time away from doing quite as much Smogon stuff.
:pmd/mismagius:
I'm a very competitive person so I can resonate with you there, it's my main motivation for continuing to play Smogon amongst other video games. How intense are you in the Smash Ultimate scene? Do you play in bigger tournaments / would you ever play in something like EVO or is you being competitive in Smash just a hobby of yours like Pokemon is?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
I never expect to compete at the top levels, nothing even equivalent to like, being in SCL in Smogon. You'd need way more dedication than what I put in. But I go to lots of weeklies and have traveled to majors for fun rather than expecting to do well. I want to be competitive and do better, but I know my limitations (like being employed), and I know what makes it worthwhile aside from winning. It's like Pokemon in that having the community is a big part of what keeps me going back. And I also love doing commentary, years of Untier Talk really prepped me for that. But yeah idk it's a great scene here and if/when a smash 6 comes out that'll probably drag me away from mons for a while.
:pmd/mismagius:
Going to majors is fun!! I want to start competing in VGC so I'll have to ask you how to prepare for traveling to tournaments that are far after this interview lol. It's weird to think that Ultimate has been out for as long as it already has. Shifting back to Pokemon though, what gave you the idea to start Untier Talk? What are your proudest moments you've had with the segment?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
Honestly, I don't really remember. It just started too long ago lol. I think the general idea was to get more official PU stuff out there as opposed to whatever general like, ladder or roomtour videos I might be making for my channel, and HJAD and I already talked a ton about the meta anyway. There's probably a decent amount more to that story though. As far as proudest moments, again it's just been so long and when you do that many videos they all blend together, but I do remember the pupl power rankings, predictions and recaps doing really well and that's the type of stuff that hasn't really been superannuated by what we have now because it's so different to the current PRs and predictions that we get. I quite liked doing those casts and I think they always got the most views.
:pmd/mismagius:
Well, I feel like I can speak for most of the community and say they're always a welcomed addition to tournaments. It's always a nice thing to be able to enjoy more content surrounding the PU tier that people know and love. Speaking of, whats your most fond PU tournament memory / memories?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
That's tough purely by volume, I've been in enough tours that they can really blend together in my memory. Doing untier talk stuff for team tours would definitely be up there, and a few years ago I had a ton of fun on the Mt. Silver Foxes in SCL, even though we kinda sucked. There were a few years of PUWC I put more into that were good, and I'd definitely have to shout out the tatsutonies for being a great time recently. But that's about all that can stand out for me tbh.
:pmd/mismagius:
Heh...that tournament is fond for me as well....cuz I won...heh. Anyway, thats fair. I do remember that SCL you were pretty nervous about performance and had some hatewatchers for whatever reason LOL. Could you expand more on that season? Any particular ups / downs / anxieties / etc.
:pmd/wobbuffet:
Sure. Hatewatchers I'm pretty used to, but I did still feel a lot of outside pressure due to first trophy tour type nerves and not entirely knowing what I was getting myself into, plus the point it came in my life. I'd moved to Colorado just a month or two ago by the time signups started happening and was playing while still adjusting to a new state and new job. Things started kinda tough too, going 1-2 in the first few weeks and then being subbed out for Kushalos for another week. But then by the time I was back in we were already almost out (and would go out very early), I had way less pressure to do all that well, and I'd still been having a lot of fun with the team despite our failures. That could've all lined up with me continuing to do terribly, but it didn't and I walked away with some wins I'm very happy with. It mattering less was quite nice for just going a little crazier with my team choices and play, and if I play this SCL my goal is to not particularly care even if the games are actually important for my team.
:pmd/mismagius:
Yeah having less pressure to win helps you ease into the game more, but I suppose thats a skill we all need to develop (playing under pressure) if we want to separate ourselves from good and be great. I at least know I get super nervous for my tour games even though I've been better at it as of recent. Could you walk us through how you prep PU games? Using the most recent PUPL/PUCL might be an easy way to think back if you want!
:pmd/wobbuffet:
My philosophy is build early and play lots of tests. I almost never use things other people make when it's something I really care about, and my teams usually go through tons and tons of iterations. For example, when I had to fight MichaelderBeste2 in PUPL, we'd already played several times recently so I really wanted to get a strong starting point to guide myself through as many tests and iterations as I could possibly fit into the week. I started with the idea of just using the top 5 highest winrate mons from usage stats because I'd been having less success with some of my weirder builds and that would kind of force me to stay with smarter stuff unless tests proved that the core wasn't working. So the start was Rhydon/Hecid/Bomb/Lazzle/Milo/Filler, and from there I made like 6 versions that kept flowing out of different tests until I found something that worked. There was a lot of iteration in tests as to the best last mon and the proper sets. I found going more offensive with Hecid and Bomb but fatter Rhydon and Glowbro was the way to go, and tests kept showing the more offense I made and played it the better, but it was hard because almost all of those mons can have offensive or defensive sets. Eventually it ended up at a full-on offense with CB Ambipom and AV Pawmot breakers of all things, but I only got there by like, Friday after testing all week. I almost always need the time and iteration to really get somewhere good, and I'm a big believer in almost any idea being fine and workable as long as you really commit to practicing a lot and taking the team wherever the tests suggest it should go. I put that team in a PUPL team dump post if anyone is interested.
:pmd/mismagius:
I'm in agreement with you that I don't like using other peoples teams if I can help it. Building and winning with your own builds is such a nice high when it clicks. You and Michael have played a lot at this point, and all your games between each other have been very interesting, so I'm glad you used him as an example! Circling back to how you said you just used the top winrate mons, do you think this hinders the meta or makes it stale at all? That is basically how I approached building in PUCL/early PUPL. Now that we've gotten shifts things have changed a bit but when the meta basically becomes "use these mons or else", how do you feel about that? Additionally, what are your overall thoughts on the old and now new meta? Sorry, very long-winded "question" here!
:pmd/wobbuffet:
I don't think we're even close to a stale meta where you have to use just the top winrate mons, we were just in a meta with standout good picks where that happened to work just fine. And that was only true of old meta for sure but for the new meta, I'm less sure you can get a team to function without at least one thing that's a bit different just because Araquanid is a perfect kind of weird to likely shred a team like that while not being super broken or standout on its own. I liked the old meta of PU, this one is still good but still an adjustment, both ways we've got a pretty balanced met that I'm happy to see flourish. I don't find anything too annoying and don't even plan on voting on Rotom-Heat at the moment just because I truly do not care if it stays or goes. We've got a good thing going on but I'm more than happy to defer to public opinion because either way the meta feels pretty balanced and that's the only thing that has the potential to push things too far in my opinion, Heracross or Pawmot would get an easy DnB from me.
:pmd/mismagius:
I've been big on the Heattom/Pawmot ban wave but I do think Heracross is a pretty easy DnB. During your time playing SVPU, what has been your favorite and least favorite metas? Also, what is your favorite PU tier if not SV?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
2 PUPLs ago we had a great meta that carried into scl for a little bit with Duraludon, Frosmoth the first time, Glowbro the first time, Copperajah, Guno, etc. that was really great. Least favorite is probably some random early meta, there was fun novelty in fast changes and playing with Gogoat and Quaxwell and stuff but realistically I'm sure there were some times there where if the meta had stuck around any longer I'd be real bored. SV PU is great and possibly my favorite, I have so much love for SM PU but I don't wanna compare them yet because of how much longer I've had to love SM. Give it a few years after SV is over and I'll be able to say which is better, I think SV has a legit shot at taking over as my favorite.
:pmd/mismagius:
Ngl, I'm glad Guno is gone :sob:. I'm so sad we lost Copperajah though he was the goat. I'd again have to agree with you SV/SM are my favorite PU's, though DPP is a very close favorite for me as well. Do you have any goals you want to accomplish in mons as a hobby? Or since you've been here for so long are you just kind of enjoying it to enjoy it?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
I'm just here as long as I have fun. If I never win another tournament or do anything major as a TL, I'm perfectly satisfied.
:pmd/mismagius:
Thats fair enough, its how everyone should be! To wrap things up, do you have any specific closing comments or shoutouts you'd like to make?
:pmd/wobbuffet:
Shoutout everyone who's contributed to PU in the last decade+, and if I have any last comments it'd just be that if you’re reading this and like PU, help out with things! The more people around who help the less needs doing, and I’d love to get more people stepping up on helping the tier run. That way I can retire again :) but it's also the lifeblood of what keeps this space what it is
:pmd/mismagius:
Well as always, thank you a bunch to MZ for taking the time to sit down with me and do this interview, it's always a pleasure for me to do these interviews. Of course, they're also fun and it seems they make good reads c: (ty guys in PU cord for putting in routine good word in on this series, I really do appreciate it). Thread will remain open for questions/shitposting etc. etc.!
