Hello and welcome back to OM Interviews! Today I bring the Music Man himself...
Euphonos!
Hello Euphonos, and welcome to OM Interviews! How are you doing today?
I actually am so thrilled with this endeavor, especially it's my first time being interviewed by someone else. Like, I never had the opportunity to be featured in this stage.
That's great to hear! Starting off, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?
Oh, sure! I'm 26 years old, born, raised, and resided in the Philippines. I'm an insurance agent / financial advisor by profession, a choral musician by passion, and of course, a Pokemon Showdown player in between.
I forgot to mention, I noticed that this name is properly pronounced as "EF-fo-nos", but I don't really mind if people pronounced it as "YU-fo-nos" or "yu-FO-nos", and it's totally fine as well if you call me by my real first name: Clarion.
Man's cashed out and is living the good life as a PS player ofc... Speaking of which, you've been a huge part of OMs (specifically Camomons) lately! How's your experience in OMs been?
Haha! I'm getting there.
Anyway, I enjoy Camomons the most among all of the OMs I've been into: even the simplest of change in mechanics really changed the complexity of the metagame itself such that even when I "try hard" building a team around Pokemon that may be deemed trash in the official metagames, it can remain solid (although my greatest pet peeve in the metagame is players putting a Normal type on everything just because they're putting up a set-up move on Slot 1). As under-developed the metagame is because of its current, undeserving treatment, there will be lots of hidden gems lurking in that metagame - even in this generation where people deem it unenjoyable due to Dexit!
I've gotten enthused to NFE thanks to the Malevolent Misdreavuses not getting a win in that category, so I tried to get my hands dirty during OMPL. Eventually, I joined NFEPL that I've gotten a 6-3 record for a modest amount of 3k, though the enthusiasm I have in that metagame somehow lost its luster because of how extremely centralized the metagame is with a certain set of Pokemon (not to mention
anime sans is extremely adamant against me in building a team featuring Sliggoo in NFEPL, but I guess that's understandable).
As for the rest of the Other Metagames, I have yet to learn some of those metagames: Almost Any Ability and STABmons being some of them. But if there's one thing that I dislike the most, it's Balanced Hackmons. Because there are so many overbearing features going on that it could get too overwhelming (not to mention room for creativity there is kind of low because of how centralized that metagame is).
If you're talking about the OM Community, on the other hand, it's actually enjoyable! Although, some of my active appearances in the room is the Other Metagames Daily Tour, that, earlier, I have to wake up every Saturday (because of Camomons) before 6:00 AM GMT +8 in order to participate there, and now I have to wake up earlier than 5:00 AM, and it's crazy. Especially with a hint of a break after crafting my latest YouTube video about my DPP 1v1 Journey that took me four days to edit, I ended up skipping that recent OM Room tour (last September 18 - or 19, depending on how you guys perceive timezones).
Continuing on, you talked about your Youtube videos, how has that been going! What are you looking to do with your channel, and what have you enjoyed doing so far?
More collaborative Camomons team building sessions, putting up a Camomons Iron Chef project live on YouTube (though I'm sort of lacking manpower), and #EuphonosTries other metas (apart from OM's, of course). I wanted to penetrate my YouTube channel to the general Pokemon Showdown audience about these metagames I've gotten into, because I know they have no clue what they are, and maybe, with those videos I've done, I envision them to get their hands dirty on those metagames, in particular the Camomons metagame - something that I wanted to keep alive and to give the treatment it deserves.
And the Camomons metagame! How have you felt about that, and how's your experience with that been?
I felt super disappointed when Camomons isn't part of the official Other Metagames representation when Gen 8 arrived, so I was meant to take an exit in the community after the Gen 8 Camomons tournament hosted by
In The Hills. However, circumstances including forum leaders not giving me a green light to post my farewell address to the Underused Community that I have been part of since 2014, Other Metagames Premier League pushing it earlier than expected, and the insertion of Camomons in that said team tournament made me return last March not just to make a name for myself, but also eventually to make this metagame more alive than ever. Thanks to this newly-minted purpose, I don't think I won't be leaving any time soon.
How do you feel you've helped grown Camomons since then? Any projects you've been involved with that you'd like to talk about?
I felt that the Council members were lacking some form of drive to go into the direction leading to the development of the metagame - probably due to temporal constraints and other priorities. However, I'm ultimately grateful to
In The Hills for inviting me to be part of the Camomons Council. With that, I had that desire already to keep Camomons alive, and the very first project as a Council member is Camomons Iron Chef Live, which was rooted from one of the projects
Hogg spearheaded in the ORAS UU metagame and then eventually passed it on to me. Of course, with the community being smaller than the UU Community, I can't afford to make a large production, so I'm going for the Live format which is almost faithful to the Iron Chef TV series.
Furthermore, what do you think you've brought to the Camomons metagame? Any sets or teams you'd like to share?
Come March, I've gotten into the Camomons metagame with one thing in mind: Weather Ball. Apparently, Weather Ball's distribution has gotten a little wider, and I have lots of ideas already on who to take advantage of such move (formerly Kyurem, currently Espeon). This is why I gained the moniker of "Camomons Meteorologist".
People from across UnderUsed and Other Metagames communities (heck, even the 1v1 Community for that matter!) recognize me as one of the team building visionaries; I manage to build teams based on something that catches my attention, and then work around it with the fundamentals of team building in mind (therefore being more inclined towards Balance). Sometimes, I actually do try hard building teams using Pokemon from the lowest of official tiers; sometimes they work, sometimes they don't; at least there may be hidden gems along the way and might give it more chances than it should be.
While I do have successfully made Weather teams and other things, this Semi-Stall team deems to be my most favorite among them all. This is a culmination of all the team building foundations I wanted to have in a Semi-Stall team, such as clearing hazards, disrupting other support Pokemon through Rotom-Frost's Trick, removing valuable items through Galarian Weezing's Corrosive Gas (Corrode-a-Virus, anyone?), and a set-up attacker through Calm Mind Keldeo. Not to mention, I generally have a knack for defensive backbones - but I may be way unpredictable and run Offensive teams and call it a day. It's just that there is a lot to offer in the Camomons metagame given the permutation of numerous moves Pokemon can learn and place in their first two slots. It all depends on the team's team building vision: from planning your win condition to getting some of those team fundamentals, and to surprise lots of opponents (myself included) with some underutilized choices.
Fantastic. Now, you're part of the Camomons Council as well. How has your experience been there? Are there any things you'd like to see for Camomons in terms of its place in OMs moving forward?
The Council just needs some form of a catalyst that would drive the rest of the Council into activity, and I believe, with my positive (and probably assertive?) presence to them, I believe we could make it more active than ever.
In The Hills is now living the life of a student yet again;
Chazm is the closest I could think of that will work hand-in-hand together, but has other priorities in other OMs such as Balanced Hackmons; I've recently gotten in touch with
Andyboy being the champion in the Camomons Isle of Armor Launch Tournament and one of my play-testers in the pilot run of Camomons Iron Chef Live on YouTube, but can't seem to find the right schedule to talk about metagame developments (or I don't know);
a loser has work that barely made himself active these days. These things are actually valid from my point of view, but worse than those things is that I'm the only person coming from the opposite side of the world (er, majority of the council), so looks like I have to wake up as early as 4:00 AM (which I have been accustomed to more frequently at the moment) to accommodate to those people.
Ramblings aside, I'd like to see more Camomons projects hosted by people other than me moving forward (please, give me a chance to participate in those projects / play in those tournaments lol). If Camomons becomes a permanent fixture in the Other Metagames, I'm looking forward to seeing a Camomons Ladder Tournament, I'm looking forward to myself streaming on the Camomons ladder which adds another dimension to the video coverage, among other things.
Moving a little away, you've also talked about NFE, NFEPL and 1v1! How have you enjoyed playing and building those metagames? Are they something you'd like to continue playing, as well are there any other OMs that you're interested in?
As OMPL drew to a close (well, we sadly didn't reach playoffs), I've gotten enthused to NFE especially with the advent of DLC1. Initially, I built some NFE teams all by myself (of course, with some help from
Tack :]), and then the NFE community wanted me to sign up for NFEPL out of exposure. I was like, I'm not expecting anything from any of these managers whether to draft me or not, and fortunately I got drafted to the Monferno Mafia for a modest amount of 3k. I'm so fortunate as well to have people like
anime sans and
Hys literally completing NFE teams coming from some of our concepts, like them bringing up Nasty Plot Togekiss, me bringing up Heavy Slam Machoke + Fraxure rooted from my Sliggoo team, Hex Lampent + Neutralizing Gas Koffing, among others. And yes, I've gotten myself to a respectable 6-3 record -- probably the most positive record I've gotten among all of my records in my entire Pokemon competitive career.
As for 1v1,
this video pretty much sums up my story there. I've gotten more obsessed to DPP 1v1 with the World Cup of 1v1 being underway that time, and it's all thanks to
DEG for baptizing me with fire by letting me learn that all alone, and to
Dj Breloominati♬ for devoting even the smallest of his spare time to build teams with me, and I actually loved to see channeling our wavelengths with each other and made some masterful creations that we haven't done before.
As for now, however, NFE is having a Raboot suspect; I hope that change would give me a breath of fresh air because of how overcentralizing that Pokemon is at the moment. Also, DPP 1v1 is pretty fun to play too and it's something I'd like to continue doing so (though I don't participate in DPP 1v1 Cup in the 1v1 Classic because I've been participating in tournaments since April and I deserve a much-needed break).
In an even bigger left turn, let's go back to you! What and how are your hobbies outside of Pokemon?
Primarily, choral music has been my hobby since 2007, and consequently, I started taking it more seriously as the years progress, and it became my passion in the process. This is why I actually aspire to become a music student (mostly choral conducting) thanks to my curiosity in any musical phenomenon (though not those overwhelming jazz stuff - I need to take them one by one before I could appreciate any of those lol). Plus, I have a knack for composing mostly choral music and making arrangements of songs into choral settings, and I believe I've made a handful of them over the past years. Last year marks one of my most major accomplishments in that realm, as
one of my choral compositions has been rendered for the first time by the choir I'm currently part of, and I'm extremely proud of that one.
omg that's sick dude how much work do you really put into choral music? What's your process for making these compositions?
A lot of work. A lot of music theory coming into play after years of learning Music even during Grade School years.
As for my compositions, I usually start composing music by looking at texts -- as for the piece I composed entitled "A Parting Gift", it was loosely based on Pokemon Mystery Dungeon: Gates to Infinity's post-credit text but is then edited due to its saccharine and melodramatic nature -- and then craft melodies out of the text, then harmony comes after. I never had the opportunity to compose through music first, then add text out of it, which I believe is harder, but still possible.
That sounds amazing. Before we wrap up, would you like to tell about your experience in UU?
It's a rollercoaster ride, I would say. ORAS UU, as I transitioned from Pokemon Online to Pokemon Showdown, got me into my prime thanks to the projects hosted by
Kink and
Hogg. USUM UU is also a fine metagame until Kommo-o rose to OU that made
my longest-standing team lose its luster; ironically, that was the time I got into Round 5 of UU Open that time, the farthest that I've gotten into so far, but with the loss of Kommo-o, I seem to have lost interest and find other things from there -- that's where I stumbled into
Juno and
Estarossa's tournament that got me into the USUM Camomons metagame and eventually got me into the Camomons player that I am today.
Going back to UU, I played UU Classic this year; lost in SM UU Cup in Round 1 after I got caught off guard by Groundium Z Necrozma in the last game, reached to Round 3 of ORAS UU Cup with that Game 2 that I nearly won that would've extended the series, and reached to Round 2 of BW UU Cup thanks to a Game 1 hax that cost me the game so badly. I also represented Asia (+ Rest of the World) in UU World Cup, where I played ORAS UU and got to 2-1 in the pools -- only two of us in that team have that record while the rest are 1-2's. If people want me to play Underused metagames from Generations 5 to 6, I'd be happy to do so in the far future.
Adding onto that, any shoutouts you'd like to give to friends you've made throughout the years?
Oh my gosh. So many of them. I'm not sure if you can tag them all to a point they get notified for it.
In the UnderUsed Community, there's
Christo,
r0ady,
teal6,
Kink,
Hogg,
Ark,
Cynde,
Kreme,
Killintime,
sparrow,
Accelgor,
CBU,
DraconicLepus,
TMM,
itsjustdrew,
PinkDragonTamer,
Smallsmallrose,
vivalospride,
Clefable,
Mygrein, and a whole bunch of people whom I have enjoyed with; not to mention I actually met
esche in Germany while I had a tour with my choir last year.
In the Other Metagames Community, there's the Malevolent Misdreavuses, in which I notably tag
Chazm,
Tack :],
abriel gabram,
DurzaOffTopic,
Lasen,
rozes,
SuperSkylake, and
w0rd, and then I get to meet people who were putting their efforts as well in the Camomons metagame such as
Sylveon.,
Siamato,
Jrdn,
Maple,
MetaRiolu7,
Karl Dude Guy, and
Test Techles, plus my fellow Camomons Council
In The Hills,
Andyboy, and
a loser (Chazm's already tagged, lol). After that, I managed to befriend some people from the NFE sub-community with the likes of
SBPC,
Fille,
Shing'n Streets, and the rest of the Monferno Mafia:
anime sans,
Hys,
neomon,
Hamhamhamhamham,
PH,
mael,
Thiago Nunes,
Meri Berry, and my fellow PO boomer
bugzinator.
In the 1v1 Community, I had lots of crazy moments with those people in my stint there for four months and counting -- crazier than the Underused Community for the last half decade, lol! There's my fellow Asian representatives starting off with Captains
DEG and
Baleblaze, and then with fellow nyaaasian players such as
philisteen,
Kentari,
Kaif,
King Leo V,
frostyicelad,
PartMan,
RaJ.Shoot,
Dj Breloominati♬,
Mr. Mime fan, and my fellow kabayan
lmni 1v1, among others. Plus, I have met other people as well such as
Akumajou,
zioziotrip,
Stable,
Joker 1v1,
ThatCabbageGuy,
Yami,
Inkreativ,
smely socks,
Le Creme Brule,
Jamez155,
superstrike66,
Downcoming3,
Chickenpie2,
pqs, and
Murman0064. And to top it all up, there's this one guy who has been one of the greatest supporters from as early as 2015 - since the ORAS UU days. How I wish you could still keep in touch,
LittleRunnerXC.
With that, I'd like to apologize in advance to a lot of people whom I didn't give a shoutout, it's just that it's too many of them to be worth mentioning. I'm so grateful to have overwhelmed with those people who have been part of my decade-long journey in my competitive Pokemon career.
Anything you'd like to say to our readers?
What I said in that DPP 1v1 Journey video will be the one I'll be imparting to everyone: and it is
to have an open mind. That lets you explore to the possibilities of every unexplored nuance in every metagame you get your hands dirty into. If you think the new metagame that you're into looks interesting to you and you have the time to invest for such, commit to it.
Oh, before I forget, please do
subscribe to my YouTube channel for Pokemon Showdown-related content. Haha!
Feel free to ask him questions below!
