Get out of town. We all know Manchester United is the best.
Thanks for the props Cybertron!
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The VGC Spotlight: Featuring 2011 Regional Champion Robbie "biffsterPKMN" Miles!
- Thread starter Cybertron
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Thanks for the props Cybertron!
dozz is incredibly cute
Keep the write ups and interviews coming Cybertron. Dozz your awesome buddy. I'm hoping your'll get top 4 agains this year and that we can show how good us Brits are by taking more the European spots.
Go Team GB !
Go Team GB !
Dozz "Where the white bitches at?"
Awesome guy, awesome interview. Entrainment Hustle Durant under gravity and Choice Band Haxorus ally though, you might just have to use that now though, sorry if its a little bit standard.
We still need to build you a proper easy-mode team though :(
P.S. I second what Keely here said.
Awesome guy, awesome interview. Entrainment Hustle Durant under gravity and Choice Band Haxorus ally though, you might just have to use that now though, sorry if its a little bit standard.
We still need to build you a proper easy-mode team though :(
P.S. I second what Keely here said.
Dozz will always be #1 in my heart
Just wondering, when the first battle will go up?
who is pokerob
who is eraddd
Dude, this guy is my prodigy. I think I might name my VGC Durant Dorricott right now as a tribute.
I wish him luck in the 2012 VGCs. He's an amazing battler.
I wish him luck in the 2012 VGCs. He's an amazing battler.
This is a really nice thread :D You should postulate yourself for Smog interviewer, Serendy ;)
To bad the poeple to interview run out in like a month ._.
To bad the poeple to interview run out in like a month ._.
Pokeguru01
Guest
Very cool idea and quite professionally written, nice one ;)
Hi guys, really sorry for such a terrible delay this week. I've gotten a good number of battles but I haven't been able to upload them nor narrate, so in essence this week was just kind of wasted :/ I'll be uploading videos as the interviews come next week. Sorry for disappointing this week, and look forward to a lot more great interviews coming soon!
50th Post!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
It's ok Cybertron. Continue your great work!
Dedicated American Luke Swenson
Accomplishments
2011: Worlds LCQ Qualifier, 19th Place World Championships
2012: 1st Place Indiana Regionals
Total Winnings
2011 LCQ: Invitation to compete in the 2011 World Championships at San Diego, California.
2012 Regional: Medal, invitation and trip to compete at the National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, Round 1 & 2 Bye at Nationals.
Biography and History
Luke "theamericandream38" Swenson has become a familiar face among the VGC community for the past few years and rose to popularity when he won the 2012 Indiana Regional this past fall. Luke's first experience in VGC was in 2010, where he attended the Nationals Last Chance Qualifier but was unfortunately eliminated before winning an invitation to compete in the actual competition. Luke then returned to Indiana for the 2011 Last Chance Qualifier, but without very much experience in the VGC 2011 metagame, was eliminated. However, he tried his luck again at the 2011 Worlds Last Chance Qualifier in San Diego and defeated several well known opponents, including 2010 National Champion Wesley Morioka and 2010 Regional Champion Duy "commi$$ioner" Ha. Having won an invitation from the LCQ, Luke finished 19th in the world in the actual competition.
With VGC 2012 around the corner, Luke began practicing immediately, jumping at the chance to finally attend a Regional Championship. He attended the Indiana Regional, where several other well known Smogoners including Sixonesix, Alphabet123, 2011 Smogon VGC Tournament Winner Tyler, HagridTwin, Synre, evan, MrE, and many others attended. Luke pulled off an impressive 7-0 victory, defeating Sixonesix, Alphabet123, and Tyler along the way. His recap of the tournament can be found here. He also currently plays on the SPL team The Team Raiders, which has an impressive 6-1 record going into week 8. Luke has proven to be an excellent competitor in VGC 2012, and will be a threat to all the Master competitors in this year's National Championships.
Interview
Hey Luke, thanks for taking some time to talk to me today! Why don't you introduce yourself?
Hi everyone! My name is Luke Swenson, also known as theamericandream38 (or tad38/tad for short) online. I’m 19 years old, and I am a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I started playing Pokémon when it was first released in the U.S. in 1997 and haven’t stopped since. I started playing Pokémon on online simulators in 2003 with the RSbots on mIRC, took a break for a year, and came back to playing Netbattle in the summer of 2005. I joined Smogon in 2006 and have been part of the community since.
Nice, you have a long history behind you! How did you get introduced to playing VGC, and what made you stay?
I gained interest in playing Pokémon in person after JAA in 2006. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to play that year, as I was not aware of the tournament until it had already passed by Minnesota. When the Video Game Showdown was announced in 2008, I jumped at the chance to play competitively for prizes again. Unfortunately, the distance between my home and the qualifiers was very large, so I wasn’t able to make it to any of them. Finally in 2009, I attended the Nashville regional but didn’t get picked in the lottery system. The reason I stayed was the desire to compete and the fact that I have always loved meeting other Smogonites, and after Nationals in 2010 I was hooked.
What was your first year of VGC like?
I would consider 2009 my first year, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to play at all that year. Like I said, I didn’t get picked in the lottery, and I was unable to attend Nationals that year. My first taste of competition in 2010 was great, I loved the excitement of the competition and hanging out with all of the people I had known for so long online was great fun.
Yeah, 2010 was a really fun year for me too. I think that's what really convinced me to stay for 2011. Why don't you talk about VGC 2011? Did you go to Regionals? What was Nationals and Worlds like? How did grinding in via the LCQ feel? What were the tournaments like, the people you faced, the teams you used, etc.
In 2011, I wasn’t able to attend any Regionals, and I unfortunately didn’t prepare much for Nationals LCQ, which resulted in my poor performance there. I did have a great time hanging out with people at Nationals though, which led me to decide to go to San Diego for Worlds and try to grind in via the LCQ. Unreality was nice enough to give me his team for the LCQ (thanks again!), and I actually practiced with it online, so I was much more prepared for the event. The team was a good combination of standard sets and some unique moves / Pokémon.
My opponents in the LCQ were very tough, as I played against 3 people that I was familiar with, and all of my opponents were great players. I had particularly close battles in my round 3, 4 (vs 2010 National Champion Wesley Morioka), and 5 (vs Duy Ha aka commi$$ioner). I got lucky a number of times throughout the day and was fortunate enough to qualify for Worlds, though sadly I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked in the main event the next day. The time I spent with everyone during and after the tournament was more than worth the time and money I spent to make it out though, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. You can read more in my warstory.
Moving on from VGC 2011 into VGC 2012, what was it like? You won a Fall Regionals with a lot of strong competitors. What was your mindset going into that tournament? How did it feel, pulling out a victory?
I have actually really enjoyed the VGC 2012 metagame, and have practiced a lot online. There is a lot of viable options and you can almost always fix a weakness in your team with a few small tweaks like move changes, item swaps, etc. For Regionals, I prepared by practicing a ton online (1400+ games in a month and a half) and perfected my strategies. I wanted to win, and my practice showed it. My team was far from unbeatable, but I played so much that I was very adept at predicting what Pokémon my opponents would bring and what they would do in each situation, which allowed me to outplay my opponents often. It was very fulfilling to finally win an event, as it was my first time doing so. I was sad that I had to play so many friends in the tournament, but it was a great feeling to take 1st place.
Yeah, congrats on winning the entire tournament! Winning a Regional is always a ton of fun, haha. Are you going to a Spring Regional? How have you been preparing for that? What about Nationals?
I am going to the Spring Regional here in Madison, but mostly because of how convenient it is. I can’t win any more prizes, and CP/Rating doesn’t matter this year, so I plan to just forfeit to friends and win against randoms to boost their tiebreakers. As a result, I haven’t really been preparing for Regionals, but I am more than ready for Nationals. If the event were tomorrow, I have no doubt in my mind what team I would use and I would feel very confident about my chances of doing well.
Cool, have fun at Madison! As for Nationals, who are some players you are consider threats at this year's tournament?
There are really too many great players to just name a few, especially in the Masters division. I am not going to underestimate any of my opponents, but naturally I am most afraid of playing other Ducks and especially some of the players who have proven themselves to be consistently great throughout the years.
Yeah, the Ducks are just too strong. Quick question just for fun, what's your favorite Pokemon and game?
I would have to say my favorite Pokémon is
Tyranitar, just because it is badass and very strong to boot. I don’t really have a favorite cart game, all of them are pretty good. If I would have to pick one, I would say original GSC, because the Elite Four were actually challenging (for me at least) and the game was long and the mechanics weren’t as frustrating as RBY. Overall though, how can anyone say anything besides Pokémon Stadium 1 or 2?
Man, I love Pokemon Stadium so much haha. What do you do outside of Pokemon?
Besides schoolwork, I play a lot of other games. Recently I have been playing a lot of League of Legends (though I am admittedly not very good, currently hovering around 1250-1300 SR solo q ELO) and Magic: the Gathering (more paper than online). I love spending time with friends, playing games, and just generally enjoying life. I am very afraid of the future because I just want to be a kid forever and not have any responsibilities, but I also want to have enough money to travel and enjoy myself. Still trying to figure out how to balance everything in life xD
Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. Growing up kind of sucks, lol. Anyway, do you have any final words or shoutouts you'd like to give?
Thanks to Cybertron for the interview opportunity, and thanks to all of the other VGC Spotlight staff for their hard work putting out these great interviews! I would like to thank everyone on the Smogon site staff for helping the site to run so well for so very long, and also thanks to all of the great friends I have made throughout the years (too many to name individually, but you know who you are ^_^). Shout out to my friends and family for all their support of course, the original YYC, all of the VGC players, and everyone else who makes this community so great!
Accomplishments
2011: Worlds LCQ Qualifier, 19th Place World Championships
2012: 1st Place Indiana Regionals
Total Winnings
2011 LCQ: Invitation to compete in the 2011 World Championships at San Diego, California.
2012 Regional: Medal, invitation and trip to compete at the National Championships in Indianapolis, Indiana, Round 1 & 2 Bye at Nationals.
Biography and History
Luke "theamericandream38" Swenson has become a familiar face among the VGC community for the past few years and rose to popularity when he won the 2012 Indiana Regional this past fall. Luke's first experience in VGC was in 2010, where he attended the Nationals Last Chance Qualifier but was unfortunately eliminated before winning an invitation to compete in the actual competition. Luke then returned to Indiana for the 2011 Last Chance Qualifier, but without very much experience in the VGC 2011 metagame, was eliminated. However, he tried his luck again at the 2011 Worlds Last Chance Qualifier in San Diego and defeated several well known opponents, including 2010 National Champion Wesley Morioka and 2010 Regional Champion Duy "commi$$ioner" Ha. Having won an invitation from the LCQ, Luke finished 19th in the world in the actual competition.
With VGC 2012 around the corner, Luke began practicing immediately, jumping at the chance to finally attend a Regional Championship. He attended the Indiana Regional, where several other well known Smogoners including Sixonesix, Alphabet123, 2011 Smogon VGC Tournament Winner Tyler, HagridTwin, Synre, evan, MrE, and many others attended. Luke pulled off an impressive 7-0 victory, defeating Sixonesix, Alphabet123, and Tyler along the way. His recap of the tournament can be found here. He also currently plays on the SPL team The Team Raiders, which has an impressive 6-1 record going into week 8. Luke has proven to be an excellent competitor in VGC 2012, and will be a threat to all the Master competitors in this year's National Championships.
Interview
Hey Luke, thanks for taking some time to talk to me today! Why don't you introduce yourself?
Hi everyone! My name is Luke Swenson, also known as theamericandream38 (or tad38/tad for short) online. I’m 19 years old, and I am a sophomore at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. I started playing Pokémon when it was first released in the U.S. in 1997 and haven’t stopped since. I started playing Pokémon on online simulators in 2003 with the RSbots on mIRC, took a break for a year, and came back to playing Netbattle in the summer of 2005. I joined Smogon in 2006 and have been part of the community since.
Nice, you have a long history behind you! How did you get introduced to playing VGC, and what made you stay?
I gained interest in playing Pokémon in person after JAA in 2006. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the opportunity to play that year, as I was not aware of the tournament until it had already passed by Minnesota. When the Video Game Showdown was announced in 2008, I jumped at the chance to play competitively for prizes again. Unfortunately, the distance between my home and the qualifiers was very large, so I wasn’t able to make it to any of them. Finally in 2009, I attended the Nashville regional but didn’t get picked in the lottery system. The reason I stayed was the desire to compete and the fact that I have always loved meeting other Smogonites, and after Nationals in 2010 I was hooked.
What was your first year of VGC like?
I would consider 2009 my first year, but unfortunately I wasn’t able to play at all that year. Like I said, I didn’t get picked in the lottery, and I was unable to attend Nationals that year. My first taste of competition in 2010 was great, I loved the excitement of the competition and hanging out with all of the people I had known for so long online was great fun.
Yeah, 2010 was a really fun year for me too. I think that's what really convinced me to stay for 2011. Why don't you talk about VGC 2011? Did you go to Regionals? What was Nationals and Worlds like? How did grinding in via the LCQ feel? What were the tournaments like, the people you faced, the teams you used, etc.
In 2011, I wasn’t able to attend any Regionals, and I unfortunately didn’t prepare much for Nationals LCQ, which resulted in my poor performance there. I did have a great time hanging out with people at Nationals though, which led me to decide to go to San Diego for Worlds and try to grind in via the LCQ. Unreality was nice enough to give me his team for the LCQ (thanks again!), and I actually practiced with it online, so I was much more prepared for the event. The team was a good combination of standard sets and some unique moves / Pokémon.
My opponents in the LCQ were very tough, as I played against 3 people that I was familiar with, and all of my opponents were great players. I had particularly close battles in my round 3, 4 (vs 2010 National Champion Wesley Morioka), and 5 (vs Duy Ha aka commi$$ioner). I got lucky a number of times throughout the day and was fortunate enough to qualify for Worlds, though sadly I didn’t do quite as well as I would have liked in the main event the next day. The time I spent with everyone during and after the tournament was more than worth the time and money I spent to make it out though, and I would do it all again in a heartbeat. You can read more in my warstory.
Moving on from VGC 2011 into VGC 2012, what was it like? You won a Fall Regionals with a lot of strong competitors. What was your mindset going into that tournament? How did it feel, pulling out a victory?
I have actually really enjoyed the VGC 2012 metagame, and have practiced a lot online. There is a lot of viable options and you can almost always fix a weakness in your team with a few small tweaks like move changes, item swaps, etc. For Regionals, I prepared by practicing a ton online (1400+ games in a month and a half) and perfected my strategies. I wanted to win, and my practice showed it. My team was far from unbeatable, but I played so much that I was very adept at predicting what Pokémon my opponents would bring and what they would do in each situation, which allowed me to outplay my opponents often. It was very fulfilling to finally win an event, as it was my first time doing so. I was sad that I had to play so many friends in the tournament, but it was a great feeling to take 1st place.
Yeah, congrats on winning the entire tournament! Winning a Regional is always a ton of fun, haha. Are you going to a Spring Regional? How have you been preparing for that? What about Nationals?
I am going to the Spring Regional here in Madison, but mostly because of how convenient it is. I can’t win any more prizes, and CP/Rating doesn’t matter this year, so I plan to just forfeit to friends and win against randoms to boost their tiebreakers. As a result, I haven’t really been preparing for Regionals, but I am more than ready for Nationals. If the event were tomorrow, I have no doubt in my mind what team I would use and I would feel very confident about my chances of doing well.
Cool, have fun at Madison! As for Nationals, who are some players you are consider threats at this year's tournament?
There are really too many great players to just name a few, especially in the Masters division. I am not going to underestimate any of my opponents, but naturally I am most afraid of playing other Ducks and especially some of the players who have proven themselves to be consistently great throughout the years.
Yeah, the Ducks are just too strong. Quick question just for fun, what's your favorite Pokemon and game?
I would have to say my favorite Pokémon is
Man, I love Pokemon Stadium so much haha. What do you do outside of Pokemon?
Besides schoolwork, I play a lot of other games. Recently I have been playing a lot of League of Legends (though I am admittedly not very good, currently hovering around 1250-1300 SR solo q ELO) and Magic: the Gathering (more paper than online). I love spending time with friends, playing games, and just generally enjoying life. I am very afraid of the future because I just want to be a kid forever and not have any responsibilities, but I also want to have enough money to travel and enjoy myself. Still trying to figure out how to balance everything in life xD
Yeah, I know exactly how you feel. Growing up kind of sucks, lol. Anyway, do you have any final words or shoutouts you'd like to give?
Thanks to Cybertron for the interview opportunity, and thanks to all of the other VGC Spotlight staff for their hard work putting out these great interviews! I would like to thank everyone on the Smogon site staff for helping the site to run so well for so very long, and also thanks to all of the great friends I have made throughout the years (too many to name individually, but you know who you are ^_^). Shout out to my friends and family for all their support of course, the original YYC, all of the VGC players, and everyone else who makes this community so great!
:evan: *Regionals
I was actually thinking about how this guy should be interviewed a few days before this was up. Great job and I hope he makes it to worlds this year and gets even higher than 19th! :)
I disgaree 100%. Look at Arsenal and the amazing Van Persie. Nederland > everyone
(just like how they beat england yesterday)
And more on topic, great job Cybertron on another warstory!
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