Approved by 5gen & S1nn0hC0nfirm3d | Amazing Art by Albatross
(Interview Date: 18th of September 2021)
Hi, I'm Remilia Hatt and welcome to Player of the Week. This is the project where we discover more about the well known players of the ZU community through a series of questions. Jettrem is busy for the week so he asked me to fill in for them, and I'm thrilled to. I hope to continue making this series enjoyable to read as well as insightful. Today, I'm joined by one of the most active community members of recent times who is also shaping up to be a promising player themselves...
thebtboy!!
Favourite Pokemon:
(Morpeek-A-Boos player and main tester (test dummy), luckier than Toto?)
Ditto used Transform!
Ditto transformed into Shiftry!
*shift tree shift*
Hello btboy, how are you today?
I’m doing alright! Got a full eight hours of sleep, so that was nice. How are you?
I'm doing well myself, thanks.
Could you tell us more about yourself in general?
Sure thing. I’m 27 years old and I currently live in Pennsylvania in the United States. I grew up in Oklahoma, but moved here three years ago for my career. I work in American football research, which I guess is kind of a unique job, but that’s about all I’ve got as far as fun facts. I’m a pretty normal guy and life has slowed to a half since the pandemic, like it has for most people. Before COVID hit, I liked to exercise, practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu, and hang out/go out to eat with friends, but now I’m just kind of a homebody who works, plays video games, and watches TV. Nothing too exciting.
That's a really cool job for sure.
Do you mind sharing a bit more about the research you do for your job?
I can’t get into too many specifics about the research because some of it is confidential. But on a basic level, I analyze NFL and college football data and prepare reports about findings, and design applications and dashboards that present the data. It’s not all fun and games because there’s a lot of technical work that goes into it, but I still like it and it definitely beats working sales, which is what I did in a past life.
I see, and yes sounds a lot more interesting than a typical kind of job.
For sure. I’m very fortunate to have a career that interests me.
So how did you first get into Smogon/PS and then ZU?
So, I initially started playing Pokémon competitively back in high school. We had computers and I’d always ladder during science class. I remember playing OU and UU from about 2011-2013, but I stopped shortly after I went to college. Something that a lot of people might not know about me is that I’m a recovering alcoholic, so my struggles with that derailed a lot of my interests and hobbies when I was younger. I didn’t pick Pokemon back up until last summer when a good friend of mine invited me to play. We bounced around some of the metagames, but I don’t remember what drew me to ZU specifically. There was probably some shitmon that I wanted to play with, but I don’t recall which one.
Damn, it's good to hear that you're dealing/have dealt with your struggles. Definitely happy to have you in the community now as well.
Yeah, the ZU community definitely helped cement my interest in the metagame. Having a smaller, more helpful community that was less inflammatory than the communities of some official metagames eased my transition back into mons.
Delighted to see that that's the case
What are your general thoughts on SS ZU metagame atm?
The metagame is an interesting state right now. I think the Rotom-Frost ban was smart because its presence was really restrictive for the builder. It feels like we’re back to normal in a sense, but shifts are coming and we might lose some staples like Altaria and Audino, which would impact the viability of playstyles like sun and stall, respectively. Between that and the innovation that ZUPL tends to breed, I think we’re in sort of a fluid state. Overall, lots of playstyles are viable right now and I generally think that’s the sign of a healthy metagame, even though that does lend itself to some matchup-based games.
For sure. You already mentioned ZUPL, how has it been for you so far?
ZUPL has been a great experience for me. Prior to ZUPL, I had only recently started making a concentrated effort to get better at Pokémon. I was a good, but not great ladder player, and getting my ass kicked by you and the rest of the Morpeek-a-boos in test games has really helped me improve. Old man czim loves to give me shit, but it was reassuring when he said that he saw improvement in me and that I was “actually PL-quality” now, even though I still make some decisions that annoy him in testing. On top of that, it’s been great to build relationships with my teammates and other members of the community. My only regret so far has been bringing Chimecho over Meganium in the sixth slot of my BW game vs. JonAmon25, but even that was a learning experience. ZUPL has been a lot of work, but it’s been so rewarding and I’m very grateful I‘ve had a chance to participate, especially considering I was a fringe-caliber player going into it.
You've definitely grown a lot as a player and have been of great help for Morpeek-A-Boos for sure. There are always gonna be games where you unfortunately face off against something that matches extremely well into you but it shouldn't completely devalue the amount of effort and prep put into the team. Hopefully we'll see you win your first team tour game in the near future!
I appreciate you saying that. I think one of my biggest takeaways is that sometimes you just have to suck it up and use a Pokémon you like less if you want to win. I don’t know if I’ll get another opportunity to start this ZUPL and I hope I’ll have opportunities to compete in future team tours, but right now I just want to keep getting better and help however I can as we make this final push for the playoffs. sweating
Yup that's how it is sometimes
You kind of already mentioned the fact you play BW, but you also have been helping out a ton in the other old gens, which ones is your favourite and why?
A quick caveat: I’m pretty new to the old gens. Prior to ZUPL, I only played SS, but Toto encouraged me to begin learning old gens so I could be a greater asset to a team and I’ve embraced that. That said, DPP is my favorite. The lack of team preview adds an interesting element and I just generally think it’s a well-balanced and fun metagame with unique mechanics. BW is easily my least favorite (ban Frillish).
Oh ok. You've picked them up pretty quickly then, and ye DPP is awesome.
Having some really good old gens players on our lineup has definitely helped ease the learning curve. I wish I had been more open-minded about older gens sooner, but it is what it is.
Ye for sure.
Last PL related question, granted your answering this question on Saturday Morning of Week 4 with a lot of games remaining and with a couple of wins and losses having massive impact on the current standings, which 3 teams do you think will ultimately make it into playoffs?
I think the Flamencos are about as close as you can get to a lock at this point. I also see the Hakamo-os getting in. The third spot seems be between us and the Persians and a lot hangs in the balance with them being 3-1 and us being 1-3 so far in Week 4. Probability is on their side, but I have confidence in our remaining starters and I also think the Hakamo-os can help us by winning their remaining games. They have some good matchups the rest of the way. Hard for me to pick. If I pick us to be the #3 seed, I’ll come across as biased; if I pick the Persians, it would be a vote of no confidence in my teammates, and I have faith in us. That’s my copout answer, haha.
That's a fair opinion for sure.
Moving on from mons, you mentioned at the start that you like exercising and you practice Brazilian jiu-jitsu, what sort of exercising do you typically do and how did you get into Brazilian jiu-jitsu? Does this mean your jacked irl?
I am by no means jacked, unfortunately. I used to play basketball quite a bit and that was my favorite, but haven’t in some time now. I got into BJJ cause I actually hate lifting weights and it was a fun way to stay in shape. With the pandemic, I haven’t been able to return to the BJJ gym yet and I’ve been missing it. Hopefully my country gets a handle on it soon, but I’m not sure how likely that is.
That sucks to hear; hopefully you get to return soon but ye pandemic ruining everything as usual :(
What are some of your favourite TV shows that you like to watch or have watched?
You’re gonna get me in trouble with czim for this, but over the past year, I’ve gotten into anime. Some of my favorites have been Jujutsu Kaisen, Vinland, Attack on Titan, and Haikyu!!. I’m currently watching Hunter x Hunter and Tokyo Revengers. Outside of anime, I love Trailer Park Boys, Peaky Blinders, the Narcos series, Big Mouth, and Bojack Horseman, which is my favorite show of all time.
Those are good shows across the board
I also refuse to believe that czim doesn't watch anime so idrk why you would get in trouble
What sorta music do you typically listen to, any recommendations for the viewers?
I listen to a lot of rap, mostly Southern artists or just stuff with lots of energy. But I also enjoy 70s/80s disco/soul, classic rock, grunge, chillwave, and easy listening stuff. Don’t really have any recommendations per se since everyone’s tastes are different, but if I had to pick a favorite artist from each of those genres: Chief Keef, Cheryl Lynn, Rolling Stones, Alice In Chains, Toto y Moi, and João Gilberto.
That was supposed to be Toro y Moi, but my phone autocorrected it to Toto, haha.
lol, you've been typing Toto too often
What are some of your favourite foods/drinks?
The people in our team Discord are probably sick of me talking about it by now, but I love barbecue. Brisket, ribs, and smoked hot wings are all huge favorites of mine. I love meat and carbs in general, and barbecue fits that bill perfectly. German food and American steakhouses do, as well. A lot of Asian cuisines are nice. Szechuan, Thai, Indian, and Japanese are all great. I’m pretty open-minded about food, so there are too many to list, but I am definitely picky about veggies. I gotta take my multivitamins.
Ah yes your only weakness, greens.
I enjoy veggies if they’re prepared as part of an entree, but I generally avoid them as a side like a fussy, little kid. Maybe I’ll grow up someday.
I see
Not a fan myself either so I don't blame you.
Since you mentioned the Morpekos, my challenge is for you to rank the users on the team from coolest to least cool!
Oh, you’re really putting me on the spot here. Czim is normally the least cool, but Toto is on my shitlist after he banned me from the Discord for an hour for spamming him to bring The Toto Special for the third time in ORAS. In all seriousness, everyone on the team is pretty chill and it’s been fun to get to know everyone better. We also have the best cheerleaders in ZUPL in Deg and Itchyy. I can’t pick favorites, though. I’m a coward.
I will say that the coolest moment so far belongs to EviGaro. She’s been really busy with SPL and life in general and just showed up 15 minutes before her game this week announcing she was about to play. We were all panicked and she was cool as could be, picked that Power Herb Solar Blade Crustle team out of the builder, and won convincingly the first time piloting the team. No warmup or anything. That was pretty badass.
Shame, thought more people would get thrown under the bus tee hee.
Regardless that's good to hear and nicely clutched up from EviGaro.
Is there any team to share with the fans? Can be from any gen of your liking (short description would be appreciated)
I’m by no means the best builder around, but this is probably my favorite team I’ve ever made and is a slight twist on the team I used for the Groundvally suspect. The Musharna was originally an Alcremie, but the team was pretty weak to Poisonvally and status and Musharna helped patch that up. Gurdurr is also able to abuse Future Sight, which is nice. Itemless Lurantis helps vs. Gourgeist-Small, which is otherwise a nightmare for this team. The team is admittedly pretty slow, but it’s nice and fat and has good offensive presence. The fire-water-grass core is pretty sound and I feel the team has good counterplay to a lot of the threats in the current metagame. I also gotta shoutout kay here because he helped me workshop the prototype of this and it turned out better than it ever would have had I been left to my own devices.
Thanks for sharing this team. Looks very solid for sure. Lastly, any shoutouts and any last words for the readers?
Shoutout to all the Morpeek-a-boos, you’ve all helped me get better and I’m very grateful for that and the friendships we’ve formed over the past few weeks. I’m especially grateful to Toto for buying me, but also to DurzaOffTopic who saw enough in me to nom me in the auction and helped ensure I’d get to participate in ZUPL. I also want to shoutout kay, who has always been very gracious with his time and knowledge. Lastly, shoutout to you for taking the time today and letting me do this interview!
No problem, was a pleasure to host this!
Feel free to ask to thebtboy any questions you want!
