Hello and welcome back to OM interviews! Today, we've got a special valentine's edition with OMs favourite sweetheart...
Gmansour20!
Hello Gman and welcome to OM interviews! How are you doing today!
Hi OM ^^ I'm honored to have this opportunity, and that I can interact with you for some time!! It's been a good day at the end of a relatively challenging week, for sure :))
Good to see you're getting some relaxation time! First off, do you mind telling us a little bit about yourself?
I'd be glad to :)) I'm a boy who was born in Lebanon 23 years ago. My mother was Lebanese, she passed before I ever got to know her. I'm a Swiss and Italian citizen, and I spend my time across the 2 states: I study in Lausanne and I spend my free time in Rome! I've got a Bachelor's degree in Forensic Science, but as of 2019 I've embarked on law studies which will still take me quite some time ^^ In my free time, I love to socialize and meet up with friends (Rip corona...), to read, to travel, and to play bridge :)) And of course, spend time with friends online, which has truly been a blessed opportunity this past year :3
rip corona u_u. What's are some of the OMs you enjoy playing / building for?
I will have to answer the "playing" part of question retrospectively, because I don't play much at all, anymore. I am a Mix and Mega main who has adored the metagame and still loves its concept to the core, for sure! Other OMs who've always fascinated me are Linked, Inverse, Godly Gift, Sketchmons, Hidden Type, and Inheritance :)) AAA and Camo are metas that I really enjoy spectating, the concept of both really interests me, but I've never been any good at either ^^' As for building, I've loved building for both Gen 7 and Gen 8 Mix and Mega. My approach to it is peculiar, in that I go on building streaks and I mass-produce teams in short lapses of time ^^ Most of them turn out just ok, but very rarely there's a diamond in the rough :3
There any specific approaches to teambuilding you like? Cores, mons, etc
If I want to build a decent team, I generally start out with a defensive core, and then I build on that (so sometimes, my balances/BOs have a clear 3-3 split, and the offensive and defensive core might not always be in perfect synergy..). Oftentimes, however, I try to build around a peculiar, barely viable mon. This is how I started, building around Red Orb Tornadus T; over the years I've built around Aegislash, Tornadus-T, Snorlax, Toucannon, Shiinotic, and many other unranked mons. It's a challenge, because it forces me to try and compensate for their obvious shortcomings, and that's hard. Lastly, I try to build some Psyspams in every metagame iteration, and then post it in
xavgb 's DMs ^^
Talking about that playing thing, you've taken a bit of a break from OMs! Do you see yourself returning anytime soon?
I see myself contributing in a hopefully significant manner, when my help is needed :)) Writing analyses for MnM, maybe QCing again, is something I can still try and fit in my free time. Hosting OM livetours was also fun, something I would try again :)) Co-Managing WCoOMWC was a great experience, so I might pursue managing positions in the future! And ofc, I'll always be there for moral support when needed !! This also reminds me I have to text Ransei about that MnM tutorship thing ^^ As for really going back to play, to pursue starting positions in OMPL, I would have to say no :/ I've been able to establish that playing is really not my forte, and I find it stressful more than enjoyable... Aiming for MnM council again is something a part of me would want, but a more reasonable part advises against it, as I unfortunately can't offer that kind of long-term commitment :0 But overall, yeah, I'm not abandoning the community anytime soon, and I'll always contribute whenever there's a niche for me to fill :))
Speaking of the OMs community, there's recently been a leadership change! How've you taken it, and is there anything you hope to see from them in the future?
Well, our readers might be aware that I was not TI's buddy, to the point where our conflict of last spring had led me to leave the OM discord. But with time, I feel like my resentment diminished, and in the end we were able to put our differences behind us, which is something I'm glad we did before he left so surprisingly. On a personal level, I really dislike conflict of any kind, so holding a grudge really isn't something I could do long-term ^^ I have noticed that TI worked on his leadership style after the last outcry, which is something I appreciated, and it made the whole community more unite. We definitely lost an essential figure, and not just because now we won't have someone to blame at any questionable decision.. But I trust you guys, there are some excellent people and friends right there at the top, who can collectively fill TI's shoes if they work together and with the community, which they've shown to be willing to do! So overall, I'm optimistic, I am convinced that we can thrive under any circumstance :))
Speaking of you on a personal level... Gman, you are quite honestly known as the nicest person in OMs. How do you feel about this title, and is there any advice you'd give to those who want to emulate you?
I love it, I'm not going to lie ^^ In my life, I've always craved friendship and affection, and being showered with love and appreciation at every turn is something that makes my stay in the community so enjoyable, and that made it impossible to leave it ^^' Now, people might think that it's an act, but tbh being told that I'm nice/too nice is something that happens regularily irl as well, so I've never considered it a facade, I try to act the same way I would irl :) As for advice, I don't think that anyone here has to change and to be more like me, any community is enjoyable because of its differences! But putting a positive spin on things, trying to focus on the brightside, on the silver lining of things, is something that can help anyone find their path to harmony. Personally I've tried to do this and to see the good in people after coming out as gay, because I noticed how the people around me that scared me were way more tolerant and appreciative than I thought, so it made me want to appreciate them all back :)) Overall, I try to avoid saying anything negative unless absolutely necessary, but that conflict-aversion is not something that I recommend to imitate. Another thing that I try to do with my friends (both irl and ivl) is not being afraid to pay an honest compliment :)) A few nice words have impacted me in ways I did not think were possible. They say they can make your day a bit better, but sometimes, you smile at them thinking back years later.. So I've always tried to be as transparent as possible with my positive opinion of others !
We stan, gman!! Coming with that, are they any big memories in OMs you like to look back on?
Wheeew this is gonna take a while, as I'm thinking of them on the spot :0 Ok: First talking to Chazm and receiving precious advice on my first MnM team ever, exchanging just a bit of personal information back in 2016; then seeing his surprise when I remembered his hometown when I approached him in 2018; Andy first messaging me and telling me that my presence was being appreciated; Teaming up with the Money Magearnas twice, as both of the times it was a blast, I met amazing people whose friendship I really cherish to this day!; playing in the French OMPLs and going 4-0 in 2019, with Stresh helping me a huge amount there; GL Volkner's first messages to me on the OM Discord; Lasen's calls and playing Skribble; getting to know the fascinating Tcot; the memes after the Maroon and TI incidents; publishing my Mandibuzz analyses; Stresh proposing the council position and working alongside my good friends; really any time someone has paid me a compliment (like the countless times Secty, Jasp, and ITH have); Mark taking a stand for me last spring; getting to manage alongside Jordy, and interacting with TNM up close :3; meeting some Parisian OM players in real life; being nominated for Smogon awards in early 2020 when I only knew the OM community was so huge as well; the Smogon Puzzle hunt was an opportunity to interact with some very nice people I did not know too well priorly ^^ ; seeing OM players succeed and do well elsewhere always moves me, like a few of them winning a CPL, or the AGTT!; Andy shouting me out after winning ribbon... I'm forgetting a lot of these, luckily I have a screenshot folder where I can always hunt down moments that I cherished :))
Furthermore, you've talked about your interest in analyses! Do you think more people should write them, and what part do you think they play in the overall competitiveness of OMs and getting people in on them?
I'm personally sold on writing analyses and checking them, it's something that I really enjoyed doing. However, as far as OMs are concerned, I'm not sure of their impact. I've read several of them, and they're always top-notch and very informative, but I feel that for players that are not at the very beginning, other analyses that are more straightforward are more useful (like Samples, and especially set compendiums), so I think those should be prioritized. Analyses are the pinnacle of content but are unlikely to be cost-effective, unfortunately (where the cost is measured in time spent). Indeed, I don't know how many new players get to know the meta via analyses, it certainly was not my case, as I started directly on ladder (and it definitely showed, lol). Of course, the fact that new analyses can be linked on social media might add to their importance in finding new players! However, analyses can't substitute the importance of discussing with players in threads and on discord, as it's impossible for every analysis to be fully up to date! TLDR: analyses are cool and important, although maybe not the priority over other resources. They demand work, but having a corpus of analyses can help in documenting the state of a metagame for future generations :) (Also, gen8 has been the bane of analysis writing, sorry to say...)
Neat! Now... tell us about this secret MnM tutorship project...*
I actually don't know anything about it yet LOL
This however shows that I've been interested for quite some time x)
So, gman, my man, with all that clout you got, How you spending your valentine's?
I've been stuck at home for the past 7 days as my father has covid so I'm tending to him, cooking for the household, washing dishes and the like ^^ What would I have done if I had not been in this situation? I had no plans :0 Would have been nice to see some friends that are also single and catch up, for sure ^^
Mood. On a sidenote, In The Hills asks: What's your cheesiest pick-up line?
Ok now I'm trying to think of lines that involve swiss cheese and its holes and this is not going to go anywhere sfw x) so I'll answer seriously and say that my game, when I'm not full out declaring my unrequited love for someone, is a genuine compliment, a smile, and asking for someone's number :)) It has worked in the past, but has never lead to anything long-term :0
Anyone you'd like to shoutout in the OM community?
oh my oh my
Shout/outs to you,
drampa's grandpa,
SectoniaServant,
In The Hills,
berry,
xavgb and
Chazm for being friends that spend a huge amount of their time to ensure that the community enjoys itself! To my MnM pals
Andyboy,
Catalystic,
Chloe,
Redflix,
MultiAmmiratore,
Jordy,
Mark K ,
Fardin! To my OMFR friends and great players, like
Siamato,
Dragonillis,
LBDC,
Alternatif,
Palapapop,
damflame 3,
Emeri,
Apagogie, and many, many others! To my whole WCoOMWC squad :) To every single one of my OMPL teammates, and to our captain, whom I still miss very much. To
willdbeast,
Lasen,
jasprose,
GL Volkner,
pileosand,
Zovrah and many others for making OM related spaces enjoyable through time :)) To
Marjane and
Skysolo and all the other Morgrems :3 To
TheCoastsOfToast because he's very witty!! Only tangentially to OMs, a s/o to the Arcanistes (it's a discord server, no need to tag it); to
Lambovino and his gang; to
PTF; to
Milak,
ErPeris and the other Italians who do a huge amount of work translating content; to the lovely people meeting in a lovely cafe; and to
Staxi <3
Finally, anything you'd like to say to our viewers?
Thank you all for your company over the past 2 years, it has been and continues to be a blast to interact with each and every one of you! Your friendship and your presence means more to me than I ever thought possible :)) OMs are fun and original, but their strongest point is that they are played by a community of diverse, loving, adorable individuals!
Feel free to ask him more questions below!
