Staff Interview: Sweep

Interview and flavor by Nova. Art by f(x) and Magistrum.

I, Novaray, a spectacular user, awoke to a sudden slap to the face by Spydreigon.

"You're late," he said.

Shit. It was late in the day and I found a bag of chips and a game of Risk open on my lap. I quickly got out of bed, dashing through the house whispering "VAMOS" under my breath. There was something I needed to attend to, something kinda important.

I arrived at Five Boy's Burger and Fries when I suddenly realized I was still in my underwear. I shrugged and entered the restaurant regardless.

Waiting there was Sweep, a developed user, who had already ordered what seemed like everything on the menu plus more. I approached the food-filled table and carelessly pushed the food off, taking a seat and looking at Sweep sternly. When he denied my initial request for pictures, I muttered under my breath and began the interview.

Who are you?

I'm a college student going for a double major at the moment. I plan to be an elementary school teacher, but education majors are required to get a second major so I'm doing history as well. I'm fairly competitive and very much into sports, though I haven't played competitive sports since high school.

I nod with a certain amount of approval, with a change of feeling.

What do you enjoy doing outside of Smogon?

I like watching sports, especially hockey and AMERICAN football. I also like hiking and drinking. I don't play any video games besides Pokémon, and I don't really enjoy 'mons much these days, so I'm surprised I've made it as far as I have in the Ubers community.

Talk about your journey through PS from random, to Voice, to Driver, to Mod, and to Leader.

I started out on Pokémon Showdown! late in 2012. I was voiced through the Ubers challenge, not through positive contributions to the chat. However, over time I became a Model User™. I was promoted to Driver a couple months after being voiced and got Mods shortly thereafter. It took me a long time to get Leader though, because I'm not active in policy.

I gave him an inquiring look, watching Sweep pick up his food off the floor and eat it in the midst of the interview.

You are one of the few PS staff who is not a random on forums. What are your thoughts about the stigma towards PS staff being randoms?

Good question. It's true that many of PS auth are nobodies on Smogon and know very little about Smogon culture, and I feel that leads to some PS staff posting really badly in Firebot and in other places, negatively impacting their reputation. However, I genuinely like modding Lobby with the auth that come on, such as Snowflakes. They do a really solid job IMO.

Chuckling at the remark, I nodded yet again with utmost approval. I've taught this user well.

What is your favorite tournament?

SPL, where I've managed a 7-5 all-time record despite some very tough luck (including today). I like testing and teambuilding with my teammates. I also like seeing rising stars, such as atomicllamas, prove themselves on the highest stage.

What are your future plans for PS/Smogon?

On PS, I just plan to relax in Lobby and the Ubers room while contributing to policy every now and then. On Smogon, I'll do what I can to improve the Ubers community and spark quality discussion.

Any specific plans for the Ubers community? :o

Ubers Rap Battle thread was the best thread in the Ubers subforum. xD

Sweep cleared his throat.

Not at the moment, though I might post a thread featuring some underrated sets after SPL.

Out of the blue, I took a huge sip of Sweep's drink. Ugh; Cola, almost as bad as the tier he plays.

Mega Aerodactyl yn

Definitely, I love my Gen 1 fossils in Ubers and Mega Aero is no exception. It's a nice Stealth Rock setter for hyper offense because it can revenge Mewtwo / Darkrai while Taunting Defog users. It can even switch into banded Ho-Oh once!

Haha ya, that leads directly to the next question: Why do you love Omastar?

There's no reason; I've just always liked it ever since I started playing Pokémon. Fossils in general are cool and I like Omastar's design and competitive prowess. It amuses me that Mewtwo was so much better than Omastar in Gen 1, but Omastar kicked Mewtwo's ass in Gen 5 Ubers.

Speaking of ass, why did you choose Ubers as your main tier to KickTehAss in?

Because Gen 5 Ubers was an amazingly balanced tier and a lot of fun to play. Practically any playstyle was viable, although full stall could be tricky to pull off in BW2. Unfortunately, ORAS Ubers is far more centralized, which somewhat limits teambuilding. There are still some fun cores around that are not being explored though, such as Pursuit Deoxys-A + CM.

What changes would you like to see in Ubers to make it more enjoyable? Just ban Primal Groudon?

To be honest, the issues in ORAS go past Primal Groudon. Without Primal Groudon, Primal Kyogre would be borderline unmanageable, although it at least is covered by some viable stuff (Lati@s, Primal Groudon, etc). Ubers would also lose a good Geomancy Xerneas check and Klefki would be on almost every team, which NO ONE wants.

I widened my eyes at such an answer and coughed.

Talk about LC.

Little Cup is genuinely more enjoyable than some other ORAS tiers, and ORAS RU is excellent without panda and the overpowered birds running around. I'm looking forward to honoring Psychotic on the RU ladder by spamming Swords Dance Abomasnow.

Thoughts on the current LC suspect and metagame as a whole?

Honestly, I don't see anything blatantly broken. Mienfoo is really good, but there are viable counterplays to it. I also feel stall in LC is underrated; you can make some pretty cool cores with mons like Lileep, Hippopotas, Frillish, and Porygon. Like stall in any tier, make sure you pack a win condition!

Also, Berry Juice isn't too problematic IMO. It might be worth a suspect though.

That's all I had—thanks for the interview, Sweep! :]

No problem, shoutouts to everyone ever.

I waved goodbye to Sweep as he left a tip for his waiter, after which he left and I pocketed the money.

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