Project OM Interviews (#22: Ren)

Dr. Phd. BJ

aphasia
is a defending SCL Champion
OMPL Champion
hi unnerfsmogonbird im gonna bombard you with questions, answer or else

is there a better sports city than Boston?
Mac Jones will be the best qb from his draft class, true or false?
is it true that everything is bigger in Texas?
what was your favorite sport growing up?
are you double-jointed in any way?
what do you put in a box to make it lighter?
In British Colombia, you can't take a picture of a man with a wooden stick. Why is that?
any pickup lines?
any embarrassing stories from your youth?
how did you get into pokemon?
why is heliolisk broken in triple a?
can you elaborate upon the mystery of the holy trinity?

thank you for not blocking me after spamming you with sports messages xoxo
 

Osake

Hasta Siempre
is a Top Tiering Contributoris a Contributor to Smogonis a Social Media Contributor Alumnus
I hate Dr. Phd. BJ, you stole my fantastic question about broken Heliolisk >_<

Do you play any non-OM metagame and what's your favorite ?
What is the worst set you've ever seen in AAA ? the worst to face which is not Electrify ?
Does your pseudo means Un-Nerf-Talonflame, like back in gen6 ? If so, why am I stupid and I realized just now that it's not something like unnerve Talonflame ???
The top 3 OM/AAA player in your opinion ? (at building and/or at playing)

Why GMT sucks ?
What is Carolina Chickadee ?????
What's a unique skill you have that most others do not ? (stolen)
What is the best Myazaki's movie (if you haven't watched any close Smogon and do it right now)

Do you have any Pokemon-related goals in the future ?
Does your entourage knows that you are playing Pokemon ? are they judging you for that ?

What's your favorite French word ?
When are you coming in France ???
How much should I pay you to unban Buzzwole ?

You are the best :heart:

Stay safe and happy everyone, luv, and remember that birds are the best
 
Hello UT, awesome to see you get an interview!

My questions are:
- Favorite wingspan bird? Do you get any hummingbirds where you live?
- Have you ever been birdwatching in Oceania or South America?
- Opinion on the 2021 New Zealand bird of the year being a bat? https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
- Can your dog catch a Frisbee? Have you tried (share vid)?
- How does it feel to be the oldest person on the website?
- No judgment here but how much time do you think you actually spend on showdown? You seem like a busy person but you're always very active.
- What time do you get up in the morning? What time to you go to bed?
- Do you speak other languages?
- Rate my Cobra chickin, just got it this morning


I'm glad to learn that you seem to be a pretty happy person outside of showdown as well.
 
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UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
will you still be here in 5 years?
I honestly have no idea what my life will look like past February, let alone five years from now. If I had to put money on it, I would bet that I am still around in some capacity, and hope that I am, but would not bet the house on that.
what books have you been reading recently?
The last three books I have read are The Impeachers, about the impeachment of Andrew Johnson, The Falcon Thief, a biography of the most famous rare bird egg thief, The Last Emperox, the third book of the sci-fi series The Interdependency (first one was good, last two were bad). I am starting Dispatches from Pluto, about a New York reporter who moves to Pluto, Mississippi.
open a new tab and google “timer” and set it to five minutes and start it. build a GG team around Swoobat post the results here
I do not build well under time pressure, fun fact, but here are the results. I'm really bad at building HO, but I feel like Swoobat needs screens HO? Pult was going to be standard specs Pult cause it's broken. I do want to experiment with fast Dhelm, that sounds scary, and then Swoobat with Electric Seed gives it extra bulk for set up and more Stored Power power (and yes, I do see that Yveltal just sits on this team).
open a new tab and google “timer” and set it to five minutes and start it AGAIN. rank every single taylor swift album (counting the karaoke ones)
Okay, disclaimer here, I can only rank the ones that I have heard, which is the nine studio albums, the two re-records, Long Pong, and the Holiday EP. Also, albums with extended versions like Red, I'm just considering the extended version. With that being said, timer starts...now.
1. evermore
2. folklore (long pond)
3. folklore
4. Red (re-release)
5. 1989
6. Red (original)
7. Speak Now
8. Fearless (re-release)
9. Lover
10. Fearless (original)
11. Taylor Swift
12. Reputation
13. Holiday EP
do you have any overarching goals in life?
Be a good husband, father, and friend. If I can do those three, then I'm happy.
open rp: i, an aaa amateur, have posted my incredibly unsound team that got top 5 on the ladder and gloated about how easy this metagame is. how do you respond?
Graciously. Laddering, even with a bad team, is an accomplishment. I would highlight what about their team I think they got right, what I think could be done better, and explain why it is better.
what's the most bizarre thing you've ever witnessed in the OM room?
Does racool's keyboard count? Otherwise, the day we discovered the ~startbattle command was pretty wild.
what’s a unique skill you have that most others do not?
Um...I can say I was a division one scholarship athlete without lying? I don't have many distinct skills.
favorite video game that isn’t pokemon?
Either the Steam adaptation of Wingspan, which probably doesn't count, or FTL: Faster Than Light. Would strongly recommend.
have any birdwatching pics u want to share? (posting on discord is acceptable for this)
These are probably the best three I have (please tell me if the link does not work). They are 1) a pair of Carolina Chickadees 2) a metric ton of American Goldfinch (this was during the great freeze too, the only good thing to happen that week) and 3) a baby Blue Jay that had not developed a healthy fear of humans yet.
you’re stuck on a desert island, what OM user do you trust most to help you escape?
Is no one an option? Otherwise Kris.
will you ever l2p?
Starting to look like no :beweary:
 

UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
as a soon-to-be father, how do you continue to balance living a double life as "thinkerino"? does your wife know
(is this still a meme)
Answering your question with BJ's, since it was only one. Balancing my Smogon time with the rest of my life has something that I think I have done a good job of so far, and think/hope I can keep up once I have a kid. Not going to lie, it is a little scary though. Yes, my wife does know about the conspiracy theory that I am Think, but I'm not sure she really gets what that means. Yes, this is still a meme, and probably always will be.
is there a better sports city than Boston?
In terms of "city that loves its sports teams," I would imagine a lot of college towns (namely College Station), are probably better. In terms of "city with the consistently best sports teams," it is annoyingly difficult to argue with Boston as the top spot. Also, y'all need to treat Bill Russell better, that man is a treasure.
Mac Jones will be the best qb from his draft class, true or false?
Is so far? Yes. Will be? Unlikely, but not impossible. He's in a much better position than Lawrence or Wilson, and we'll see what they do long term.
is it true that everything is bigger in Texas?
No, our social safety nets are so small they could be said to be non-existent.
what was your favorite sport growing up?
To play or watch? Play was basketball, watch was football. I also played a lot of youth soccer and tee ball, but was really bad at both.
are you double-jointed in any way?
Nope; I do have a hitchhiker's thumb, but that's it.
what do you put in a box to make it lighter?
Antimatter or Hydrogen are both good answers, so I'll go with anti-Hydrogen to cover all my bases.
In British Colombia, you can't take a picture of a man with a wooden stick. Why is that?
Because Canadian photography laws are weirdly restrictive. Also, wooden sticks are awful cameras.
any pickup lines?
I have been on one first date in my life, I don't think you want my advice on pick up lines.
any embarrassing stories from your youth?
Yes. The first one that comes to mind, is when I was maybe 8 or so, we were camping and my dad told me not to go near the lake. I didn't like being told what to do, so I marched off towards the lake. Turns out, it's because there was quicksand there and I got stuck. My dad was not happy having to rescue me.
how did you get into pokemon?
I had a friend in I think 4th grade that had Pokemon Sapphire, so I got Ruby to play with him and trade exclusives. I then played the main series games through gen6, at which point I converted to online-only.
why is heliolisk broken in triple a?
Because I build teams with slow cores and breakers, and Electrify is a very dumb move. Some of this is I'm bad, but it's also extreme match-up fish without a lot of counterplay if you load up into it with a slow team.
can you elaborate upon the mystery of the holy trinity?
I would refer you to the Westminster Shorter Catechism, question 6, for a better response than I could give.
thank you for not blocking me after spamming you with sports messages xoxo
Well first off, I don't know how to block people on Discord. And secondly, I like sports messages, why would I block those???
 

UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
Do you play any non-OM metagame and what's your favorite ?
The only non-OM meta I play regularly is SSB4, so I would say that's my favorite. The last time I played a Standard tier was in gen7, when I played RU for a hot minute because Swellow was viable there.
What is the worst set you've ever seen in AAA ? the worst to face which is not Electrify ?
The worst set I have ever seen is Rock Head Talonflame. The worst set to face that is not Electrify is probably Sniper Terrakion when you don't realize it's Sniper. At that point, you pick something on your team to die.
Does your pseudo means Un-Nerf-Talonflame, like back in gen6 ? If so, why am I stupid and I realized just now that it's not something like unnerve Talonflame ???
Yes, I want Gale Wings reverted to gen6 mechanics. I have zero clue why Unnerve Talonflame would be a thing. But, you're English is much better than my French, so I will never fault you or call you stupid for misreading English.
The top 3 OM/AAA player in your opinion ? (at building and/or at playing)
Sheesh, way to put me on the spot. I will answer just for AAA, I still don't know the other OMs and their players well enough. But I would say Think largely for building, motherlove largely for playing (and building teams that only he can pilot), and you :blobheart:
Why GMT sucks ?
I think GMT is an okay solution to a really annoying problem. Unless you want everyone to use the same time, which has it's own problems, I do not know of a better solution. Daylight Savings however, exists only to torment us.
What is Carolina Chickadee ?????
It is my favorite songbird native to where I live! It is so cute and spunky and has several really pretty calls.
What's a unique skill you have that most others do not ? (stolen)
Sniped. But still don't have a good answer :weary:
What is the best Myazaki's movie (if you haven't watched any close Smogon and do it right now)
According to Google, it is My Neighbor Totoro. I will try to watch a few later.
Do you have any Pokemon-related goals in the future ?
The only goal I have is getting Talonflame into Super Staff Bros 5, whenever that happens. Otherwise, moving up the authlist in the OM room is probably it. I've already gotten much further than I ever expected, so I'm happy with where I am.
Does your entourage knows that you are playing Pokemon ? are they judging you for that ?
The only person who knows is my wife, she mostly thinks it's cute.
What's your favorite French word ?
Non, cause it's the only French word I know.
When are you coming in France ???
I visited once, in 2006, but I do not remember very much from that trip. It's on my list of places to go to in the future, but it may be many years before I am actually able to.
How much should I pay you to unban Buzzwole ?
I mean, you'd still need to bribe two other people at least. And I would feel bad taking money from you, so let's just not bribe me, okay?
You are the best :heart:

Stay safe and happy everyone, luv, and remember that birds are the best
No, you're the best.
Actually you're right, birds are the best!
 

UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
- Favorite wingspan bird? Do you get any hummingbirds where you live?
My favorite irl Wingspan bird is definitely the Carolina Chickadee. As for in game, I would probably say Franklin's Gull; it's very good and versatile while not being outright broken like the Ravens. EDIT Totally forgot to answer, but yes we do get hummingbirds! They migrate through, so we only have them for a few weeks each spring/fall, but they are really cool to see!
- Have you ever been birdwatching in Oceania or South America?
I have never been to Oceania, but want to go to Australia and New Zealand one day. I just need like, three weeks off of work. South American I have been to a few times, and loved it every time. Costa Rica was my favorite, largely because of the bird watching.
- Opinion on the 2021 New Zealand bird of the year being a bat? https://www.birdoftheyear.org.nz/
...never mind, New Zealand is off my list of places to go. How can the bird of the year be a bat??? I cannot support any country that does something so outlandish.
- Can your dog catch a Frisbee? Have you tried (share vid)?
Yes he can, but is not very good. I don't know how to share videos on Smogon, but I'll dm you one of the few successful catches.
- How does it feel to be the oldest person on the website?
I have it on good authority that I am not the oldest person, just one of them. Honestly it's fine, but if I think too long about how many 13-17 year olds regularly beat me, I do get a little depressed.
- No judgment here but how much time do you think you actually spend on showdown? You seem like a busy person but you're always very active.
I've mentioned this elsewhere, but a lot of my time is having Showdown up at work, and keep an eye on it in the background of what I'm doing and play games during breaks. Evenings/weekends I'm actually pretty rarely on, but that means my active hours line up better with Europe than Americans generally.
- What time do you get up in the morning? What time to you go to bed?
I usually get up between 5:30 and 6:00, and go to bed around 9:30 on weekdays. Weekends its closer to 7:30 and 11:00.
- Do you speak other languages?
C#. When I was little I spoke as much Spanish as English (my mom is fluent), but sadly when I was like 4 I refused to keep learning Spanish and lost it all. 4 year old me was very, very dumb.
- Rate my Cobra chickin, just got it this morning
Yo that is INSANE. What did the rest of the habitat look like? I'm assuming that's in the grassland with the Mockingbird and Catbird?
I'm glad to learn that you seem to be a pretty happy person outside of showdown as well.
Aw thanks! And thanks for the questions, these were fun!
 
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OM

It's a starstruck world
is a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Moderator Alumnus
Hello and welcome back to OM Interviews! Today, we've brought OM's biggest joker...

1656728035733.png

Ren!


Hello Ren and welcome to OM Interviews! How are you doing today!

I'm doing fairly well! I'm on two shots of espresso and a cold brew, so a little ascended but had a good day otherwise

Glad to hear!! Starting off, would you like to tell us a bit about yourself?

I'm really bad at these lmao I'm a 22 year old person from Canada, I like video games and coffee and stuff! That was pretty lackluster but yeah hahah

Oh I major in compsci I guess.

Next off, you've been in OMs for such a long time... Could you tell us how found PS!, and by extension, the OMs community?

So I've actually known about PS since it was released, apparently? I used to be a part of a smaller community focused on writing stories, and there were quite a few of us who enjoyed taking Pokemon to its limits. Eventually all of us ended up with quite the ego saying we could beat each other in Pokemon (we were NOT good) and that's how we found Showdown as a way to battle online without having a DS and stuff. I forgot about it a while after, but then I ended up using it again after a while in Grade 9 when I told InfernapeTropius11 about it. Eventually, he got me into Smogon too where I started off as a Monotype main, but I ended up getting bored of that and saw Almost Any Ability in Gen 6. I thought that sounded fairly cool so I whipped together a team (I forget what it was - It had regen Milotic and Dusknoir) and I took some names. That's when I knew OMs was what I wanted to play!

That's awesome!! Personally I think you've grown to be one of the best OM players of this generation - could you give some insight into how you approach pokemon competitively? (whether it be in the builder or while playing!)

I'm flattered. Most people in OMs currently know me as a player who doesn't really build, but I used to build a lot of teams. In the builder, most of the time I just focus on having fun. That sounds very cheesy, but it's really easy to forget that while optimizing a team is really important, having fun in the actual game and using fun teams will almost always put you into a great mental state, and I think that's a super important quality to have when you're playing important games. That's not to say that fun teams can't be optimal, but if you're not enjoying the game, you'll more often than not just want it to end and tunnel on winning. I like to use teams that give me a lot of time to figure out the game, but also ones that just have sets I enjoy using. In the actual game, my closest friends know that I used to get nerves every game and could not handle pressure at all. I did offer to tiebreak for the Tyrantrums if it came down to it, though, and it all came down to advice a friend of mine gave me which let me think super clearly about stuff. If you're playing against an opponent who's favored, I'd take it with zero pressure because if I win, it's great! But if I lose, I'm not underperforming, I'm performing to how people expect me to perform. Against an opponent who isn't favored, I know my own capabilities, and I know I'm capable of beating them. I guess in terms of playing, the piece of advice I think most people could benefit from is that you don't have to win every game to be a good player. Most of the best players take quite a few losses, and Pokemon is Pokemon. Take comfort in you knowing your own capabilities, and if after that you still feel pressure in the actual game, listen to some music that you know will calm you down. Like I said, mentality makes a huge difference.

A great take on that, to be honest. Moving forward, what's your current favourite OM and why? Do you have any teams you've enjoyed using from that meta?

That's a tough question, because all of them have their factors that I enjoy and factors I don't enjoy. I guess when it comes down to it, I really enjoyed my BH game vs stresh with no paralysis. The endgame was incredibly formulaic and didn't have much potential for luck involved, and it really came down to understanding what plays he was likely to make and what my outs were. Even with paralysis, I'd have to say that I still enjoy BH, but it's a lot closer and the thing that pushes BH over AAA for me is the potential for more creativity. I also enjoy long games which rely on somebody to be analytical, rather than just having matchup, and that's one of the reasons I enjoy BH and most OMs.

https://pokepast.es/80e2d9df5dc32772

This is a terrible team, and I wouldn't ever bring this to a tournament game, but it's so fun to use. I love using HO, and I think that when you're playing BH, HO is one of the instances where you can truly show how creative the metagame can get. I know I just said I enjoy longer games, but something else I enjoy is removing any degree of interaction the opponent can have, and I feel BH HO as a playstyle lends itself to that idea pretty well. The Magearna also has no Imposterproof LMAO but it hasn't lost a single game yet, so that's what counts smile

That team looks fun as hell, I might bring it if I ever try to ladder BH. That being said, since we mentioned the Tyrantrums, you've just won OMPL! How do you feel about the win, the team, and the tour overall?

I'm pretty glad to win! I got close once before, but I was thinking I'd have to retire with no win and no custom avatar. I managed to get both, and the custom avatar sounds like it'll be pretty cool, so I'm pretty pleased about that. Going into the tour, I was a little worried about the team potentially burning out, because the other teams were very stacked and having to play that many high level games straight can be fairly draining. Needless to say, the team did not disappoint and I was really pleased with their overall performance. I definitely think that overall, the tournament experience was good, but I think that the OM tournament community can stand to improve how they approach the spectating experience and also how they define what makes a good teammate, a good support player on the team and the like. It's really easy to burn yourself out by supporting too many slots, and too often people forget that being able to build multiple metagames doesn't mean that building for all of them is the only way you can make sure you're worth the buy. It's really easy to get in your head over not living up to what you're expected to do, but remember that if you're burning yourself out, you're hurting the team but also yourself. It's better to do less than more in some cases!

Glad to hear! Although, it's a bit sad to hear you'll be leaving OMs... are there any moments or interactions that you still fondly remember from your years on the site?

I'm definitely staying in touch with quite a few people as I transition into doing other things. I feel like this is a good time to mention that most people in the OMs community have been nothing but kind to me, and I'll always look back on these days with fondness. I appreciate how when I was new, the two people who taught me BH (E4 Flint and @Haylighter who are two of my best friends) took their time to make sure I learned a lot, and let my playstyle sort of develop into its own thing. I appreciate how all of my friends consistently showed up to help me out whenever they suspected I needed it. I love that we can all come online to talk about this game or other things, and the community's so incredibly strong. I guess the thing that I look at with the most fondness is that no matter what, every single person in this community, OMs or greater, has their own circle of friends, and they actively make the lives of other people better. It's not really a secret that the world's not in a great place right now, but everybody contributes to another person logging on and smiling despite everything. I think that's really cool. I believe that just the realization that by talking to your friend, you make their day better is something super important to have. I know a lot of these people on this site have turned some of my bad days into great ones. Don't underestimate the impact you can have on others. That's what I think I'll look back on with the most fondness.

And I hope your transition goes wonderfully, Ren. After Pokemon, what do you plan on doing? Any hobbies or games you've picked up and have been enjoying?

It's not a secret that I'm going to Japan for a year, and dedicating myself to growing as a person there. I think that everybody has growing to do regardless of where they are in their life, and I think that exposure to a new culture will help me see everything in my own unique way. Other than that, I've been enjoying a lot of Minecraft again, and I'm also dipping my toes into Valorant (which apparently you need headphones for and nobody told me this??). I enjoy playing Mafia, and I find playing Among Us fairly fun as well. Other than that, I just play whatever piques my interest. I tend to dedicate myself to more deception and strategy, but I do enjoy my fair share of combat based games as well. I don't know what exactly I'll end up doing, but there's a ton of options and I'm excited for what all of them have to offer!

That trip sounds like it'll be wonderful, I hope you a fantastic time there! Next off, could you tell us a bit about your thoughts on OMs as a whole? Whether it be critical or not, now's probably the best time to share!

All things considered, I think the administration of OMs is better than it used to be. I think outside of tournaments, the community's pretty fine, but when it comes to tournaments, people become unnecessarily hostile (myself included) and I don't think any one person is to blame for that. I think that overall, the community fosters an environment where everyone's desperate to prove that they know what's going on, and when it comes to the actual game there's a huge urge to win because of what awaits them if they don't. I've seen managers criticize their players and teammates bashing others on their team, as well, which is a hard no. Out of everybody in a tournament, teammates and managers should be understanding, unless the player who played hard throws in which case the player should just say they messed up and understand. I've seen a lot of people just afraid to lose because they don't want to have to deal with how the OMs Discord talks about and/or to them after a game. I've also noticed that a lot of the people who say they're worried about losing because of that, or the people who agree with me on this, are also a part of the same self-serving cycle. I think it has to end. A new player has no reason to want to join if the Discord allows absolutely no room for misplays, and if I was a new player and this was my first OMPL and I lost a game, I'd probably have quit. It's important to understand that in Pokemon, there's a myriad of valid plays at any given moment and as a result, it's super tough to actually ever say someone 100% hard threw. Yeah, it's true that some plays are better than others, often times much, much better, but ultimately nobody's a perfect player and I think being more understanding about that is incredibly important. In addition, if you're ever the one bashing and/or flaming somebody for their play or team choice -- Why would anybody ever want to team with you? The community could stand to be more forgiving, and that's a change I hope happens.

That being said, there are definitely people who make the tournaments community healthier at times as well. Nobody's ever 100% positive, but I recognize that everyone in the tournaments community isn't 100% negative either. I also think being fully positive is boring and doesn't really foster a great environment for learning, but I think too much negativity is worse than too much positivity and it's important to understand what some people did correctly in a game just as much as it being important to understand how you could've played a game better. I'd like to give shoutouts to UT and iapt in particular -- I think they do an incredible job of keeping the tournaments space pretty positive, and I know they've also fell victim to some toxicity but they don't let that deter them from bringing other people up and they're real rolemodels. I think this competitive community is better than other ones, but I think that it can always improve and I know it's capable of improvement. It's just about finding a balance between constructive criticism and motivation.

As you've been on PS for such a long time - do you think your experiences here have helped to change you in any way? How do you think it's impacted you and you impacted it?

I'm definitely a better person because of my experience on PS. I've met a lot of friends who've helped me grow in various ways, and even just people in the community have helped me out a ton. Seeing a lot of people and the way they approach life has been fairly eye-opening to myself too. I think that the biggest trait I've developed during my time on PS is to recognize that everybody always has a reason for something, and to always keep myself open to hearing the other person's perspective instead of rushing to judge. 16 year old me was fairly hotheaded and confrontational. My experiences in a competitive setting have also helped me approach other games and life in general, and if I ever returned to the time when I was 16, I'd do it all over again. In terms of how I've impacted the community, I'd like to think that I've made quite a few friends who I've helped out a bit and made laugh a little. I don't mean to speak for them, though - That's just something I tell myself so I can sleep at night smile

Next off, is there anything you hope to see from the next generation of Pokemon?

Dexit being gone is a huge one for me, and I love the idea of megas being brought back. I'm also hoping that freeze is changed to frostbite, I think it's a really cool change introduced in PLA and it should stick. Something a lot of people might not expect from me is that I'm hoping they ride PLA's success and finally develop an open world Pokemon MMORPG (or literally any MMORPG), I think I'd play that. I love the idea of being able to go through growing as a trainer with others.

Wonderful! To close off, is there anyone you'd like to shoutout but didn't get to?

Hmm... It's tough because I'd definitely be missing some people if I shouted a list out. I've met so many people on this website who have impacted me in various ways. I guess clanx, gangshin, mocha, extra and philcord all deserve a shoutout for impacting me in various ways. If you're not in those groups, though - Odds are you're still fairly important to me smile. I'd also like to shout out my friends from outside of Smogon who've helped me develop as a competitive gamer and a person in general and given me something to look forward to even after I leave! I'm excited to stay friends with them, as well as the people I've become close with on Smogon. Hoping that stays!

And finally, is there anything you'd like to say to our readers?

Stay cool o/

Feel free to ask ren anything below! This will be the final OM interview from this generation and from me - so I hope you enjoy it the best you can!
 

UT

Roaring 20s, tossing pennies in the pool
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Battle Simulator Administratoris a Top Social Media Contributoris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Smogon Discord Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Tiering Contributor Alumnus
Appeals + C&C Lead
What Taylor Swift song best sums up your emotions as you prepare to leave us?

What are your top three tips for improving my morning coffee?

Why did you feel the need to keep me from being the last OM interview for the generation?

What is your favorite bird Pokémon?

Favorite irl bird?

Is there any combination of AAA bans/unbans that will make you stay? Say the word and I’ll implement them rfn.

Please come back and visit, but enjoy Japan and I hope you’re happy with what life brings you!
 

hayedenn

forgotten me already?
is a Community Contributoris a Contributor to Smogon
hi gay

you say you're against toxicity yet you stream britney spear's toxic. how do you reconcile these two positions?

guilty pleasure movie and/or tv show?

go-to social media app outside of discord?

thing you're most excited to do in japan? what will you miss in canada?
 

Dr. Phd. BJ

aphasia
is a defending SCL Champion
OMPL Champion
hey ren buddy grats on going 3-1 in ompl i have some questions for you.

do you tie your left shoe first or your right shoe?

how many children do you reckon you could take in a fight?

if the plural of goose is geese, why is the plural of moose, moose?

do you enjoy puzzles/crosswords/sudoku (things of that nature)?

favorite vine?

what are your thoughts on the celtics acquiring malcolm brogdon from the pacers? personally i think it's a fleece by brad

what is your biggest fear?

I have branches, but I have no fruit, trunks, or leaves. What am I?

Dream vacation spot?

Last but not least, what is 27,000 - 9,000?
 

Ren

i swore lips were made for lies
is a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
volknerd! will u actually quit this time

ily
ly2. probably! i have a lot to look forward to and not much keeping me here and i lasted pretty long last time :) i'll visit from time to time though.

when is hytale coming out
i actually asked noxy this not too long ago. i was told it's when "regirock starts being funny"... so probably never, unfortunately

What is your favorite cereal

what is the best meal of the day

why do people in GMT-4 think they deserve human rights
favorite cereal varies, but i can always count on froot loops to get me through the morning

anything except breakfast lmao. i enjoy lunch and dinner because they're not at some godawful time where i haven't fully woken up yet.

because there are a lot of them on smogon and whenever there's a lot of people they think they're better than others =)

What Taylor Swift song best sums up your emotions as you prepare to leave us?

What are your top three tips for improving my morning coffee?

Why did you feel the need to keep me from being the last OM interview for the generation?

What is your favorite bird Pokémon?

Favorite irl bird?

Is there any combination of AAA bans/unbans that will make you stay? Say the word and I’ll implement them rfn.

Please come back and visit, but enjoy Japan and I hope you’re happy with what life brings you!
the best day.

for a french press - make sure you're using the right water, use beans which produce a coffee with higher acidity and floral flavors so you don't have to drown it out with dairy and feel heavy for the rest of the morning, and always experiment. for a latte, worry less about the espresso and more ojn your milk. to texture it best, inject all your air initially, and tamp down the pitcher if there's still some bubbles left over. also ideally use whole milk, the higher fat content results in a creamier cup.

should've been slower

i like staraptor a ton, have a huge emotional attachment to it as my first starter bird.

crow =)

probably not, but your best odds are probably banning dauntless shield, regen and heavy duty boots while unbanning zacian

thank you! i'll definitely stay in touch

hi gay

you say you're against toxicity yet you stream britney spear's toxic. how do you reconcile these two positions?

guilty pleasure movie and/or tv show?

go-to social media app outside of discord?

thing you're most excited to do in japan? what will you miss in canada?
hi straight

i'm against myself

riverdale. it's so terrible, but i've invested too much time into it to stop watching it now and with every episode i find that i hate myself even more

instagram, but that's only bc it's pretty much the only other social media app i use. no, i don't count my million followers on linkedin (no i didn't buy my linkedin followers)

i'm excited to experience what it's like being a student in one of the more prestigious universities of japan (not gonna dox myself), making new friends, trying out the food and exploring. japan gets a huge boost for being super walkable, and i love walking. i'll miss my friends, both irl and online, as we'll be in a very different timezone from each other so i probably won't be able to talk to them as much. i'll also miss knowing where everything is and i'll miss always knowing somebody if i need something done

hey ren buddy grats on going 3-1 in ompl i have some questions for you.

do you tie your left shoe first or your right shoe?

how many children do you reckon you could take in a fight?

if the plural of goose is geese, why is the plural of moose, moose?

do you enjoy puzzles/crosswords/sudoku (things of that nature)?

favorite vine?

what are your thoughts on the celtics acquiring malcolm brogdon from the pacers? personally i think it's a fleece by brad

what is your biggest fear?

I have branches, but I have no fruit, trunks, or leaves. What am I?

Dream vacation spot?

Last but not least, what is 27,000 - 9,000?
hey bj gratz on your record too i think you went like 1-7 or something?

right

i don't talk about child abuse. that being said, an infinite amount bc it's only a matter of time until friendly fire ensues and at that point they just start fighting each other

both goose and geese looks a lot like a goose does the more goose you stack, the more they become geese. they also meld really well together. a moose just looks like a moose, and they're not really good for anything. they don't go well with each other. they're, essentially, all but useless in groups and so groups of moose may as well just be one moose.

i love puzzles, crosswords and sudoku! i joined a few puzzle hunts, and in compsci we also have competitions called capture the flags which i used to be fairly cracked at. i enjoy playing escape rooms too, if anyone reading this enjoys these i highly recommend buying escape simulator on steam.

WHAT ARE THOSEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE

i don't pay attention to lacrosse. sorry!

probably not being wanted by anybody.

the government?

i guess i can't say japan anymore. i kinda wanna tour europe, my last time going was on a class trip and i didn't get to explore the stuff i wanted as a result. prob wanna go to copenhagen and do london in more detail

is this a reference? i don't get it, but if it isn't then it's always just 11,000 =)
 

drampa's grandpa

cannonball
is a Community Contributoris a Community Leader Alumnus
Opinions on the austrolopithicus?

If you could have one Pokemon as a pet, which would it be?

Did you know that I don't actually want the answers to these questions I'm just being a pain in the ass to you :heart:

How do you feel about the medium of the stage being used as opposed to the screen? Do you believe that as visual effects become more realistic and technologies such as 3D effects become more sophisticated there is a lessened need for the theater, or that there is a sufficient artistic difference to justify the medium, in some or in all cases?

What is your favorite Oreo flavored product, excluding the original Oreo?

 
1 Favorite latte art (can be urs or someone else's uve seen)
2 Favorite song oat
3 Top 5 songs rn (doesnt have to be definitive top 5)
4 Idk why but while typing this I just realized ur not east coast time zone, u just often go to bed early. Thoughts on this image
1656738341859.png

5 While we're at it who is ur top 3 least favorite users in the om community
6 Have u invented a metagame-changing (or impacting) bh set and what is it
7 We've both been around OMs forever and always retire and come back to this children's game. In this respect do u ever feel like the middle aged man who still hangs around the high school for some reason and gives ppl weird vibes but no ones rly bothered enough to say anything abt it? Cus i dont, just asking if u do
8 Whos the most evil celebrity
9 Do u believe or find it necessary to believe that there are evil people
10 What makes someone human by your definition? Is it just a hard genetic similarity threshold? Is it related to empathy etc? If so are psychopaths human
11 What sensation drives u to drink boba tea
12 Trivia time what is almond milk
13 As someone who struggles with the affliction of being cringe, i have been inspired and touched by your story. What has helped you somehow win over the hearts of the OM community in spite of being unbelievably cringe
14 Favorite meme in recent memory
15 What is "milkshake" a euphemism for in that one song
16 Have u ever thought abt what trees taste like? (yes/no)
17 Favorite drink at starbucks
18 How many hours do u think u have on this game (PS/smogon) Ill go first for me its probably like 4000+ LOL
19 Top 10 most epic 5up amongus moments
20 Best ompl moment or memory of all time
 

cityscapes

Take care of yourself.
is a Tiering Contributoris a Community Contributor Alumnus
minecraft qs

coolest thing you've built?
best singleplayer memory?
best multiplayer memory?
idea you've wanted to do but have never gotten around to?
are you a mod enjoyer? if so, which ones?
what parts of the game do you mainly focus on? (building, automation, combat, redstone)
favorite music disc?
favorite mob?
thoughts on the new update(s)?
when you start a new world, what item do you go after immediately? (not counting elytra/shulker boxes as those are the obvious answers)
favorite youtuber(s)?

if u ever wanna play im 1000% down this game goes hard
 

Ren

i swore lips were made for lies
is a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
Opinions on the austrolopithicus?

If you could have one Pokemon as a pet, which would it be?

Did you know that I don't actually want the answers to these questions I'm just being a pain in the ass to you :heart:

How do you feel about the medium of the stage being used as opposed to the screen? Do you believe that as visual effects become more realistic and technologies such as 3D effects become more sophisticated there is a lessened need for the theater, or that there is a sufficient artistic difference to justify the medium, in some or in all cases?

What is your favorite Oreo flavored product, excluding the original Oreo?

they exist i guess

arceus for sure, having the god of pokemon as my pet would not only be practical but also i have a feeling it'd probably be very chill to hang out with

believe me, you don't have to try to be a pain in the ass xoxo

i think that theater will always hold a niche. the biggest thing that theater has which movies don't is the ability to "speak" to your audience. a strong performance will enthrall your audience, the more you get into your role the better. there's also nothing quite like having a stupidly quick costume change before you get back on stage, i still remember having to change my costume and complaining that it was too short of a time. right after that i saw dorothy running down the hall while taking off her dress and a stagehand just running to meet her with a new one lol.

probably an oreo milkshake

1 Favorite latte art (can be urs or someone else's uve seen)
2 Favorite song oat
3 Top 5 songs rn (doesnt have to be definitive top 5)
4 Idk why but while typing this I just realized ur not east coast time zone, u just often go to bed early. Thoughts on this image

5 While we're at it who is ur top 3 least favorite users in the om community
6 Have u invented a metagame-changing (or impacting) bh set and what is it
7 We've both been around OMs forever and always retire and come back to this children's game. In this respect do u ever feel like the middle aged man who still hangs around the high school for some reason and gives ppl weird vibes but no ones rly bothered enough to say anything abt it? Cus i dont, just asking if u do
8 Whos the most evil celebrity
9 Do u believe or find it necessary to believe that there are evil people
10 What makes someone human by your definition? Is it just a hard genetic similarity threshold? Is it related to empathy etc? If so are psychopaths human
11 What sensation drives u to drink boba tea
12 Trivia time what is almond milk
13 As someone who struggles with the affliction of being cringe, i have been inspired and touched by your story. What has helped you somehow win over the hearts of the OM community in spite of being unbelievably cringe
14 Favorite meme in recent memory
15 What is "milkshake" a euphemism for in that one song
16 Have u ever thought abt what trees taste like? (yes/no)
17 Favorite drink at starbucks
18 How many hours do u think u have on this game (PS/smogon) Ill go first for me its probably like 4000+ LOL
19 Top 10 most epic 5up amongus moments
20 Best ompl moment or memory of all time
1. for mine, i remember once i was soloing a rush and working on 5 or so drinks and i managed to do a double winged swan and popped off super hard. unfortunately, i had to hand it out because there were a lot of other drinks to do. the customer also didn't react (i did a heart right after and the customer who received that was WAY too happy. i was sad.) for others', i'm always impressed by pegasus freepours, but i remember once my then-manager managed to get a 25 stack tulip and i just sort of went "holy shit you're insane" and he laughed super hard.

2. tough question. i find i love "i believe" from persona, but in terms of songs with longer influence i always come back to team by lorde.

3. from first to fifth: i believe from p5, team by lorde, call me king by amalee, fever dream by mxmtoon, almost forgot by against the current

4. i go to bed early so i can spend more time sleeping hehe

5. you, me and Andyboy

6. it's hard to ever say i "invented" a set, because there's no way to prove that others haven't used it first, but i thought specs mega diancie in gen 7 popped off pretty hard. other than that, xavgb and i innovated way too many gengar sets in an ompl lmao i think there was electrify, simple tg kiss, simple smash, adapt spikes smash, normalize roost and quite a few others

7. nah

8. elon musk

9. i don't think people are inherently evil, because i firmly believe nobody ever wants to be the bad guy. that being said, there's some things which will automatically move people to my "oh this person's actually not a good person" list, so i suppose yeah, i think that there are evil people even if nobody wants to be

10. in my head, the baseline for being a human is just being born as one. where it starts to get weird is how i define good human vs bad human, but all humans are humans. i can have my thoughts on your morality, but i will never take away your core identity from you because of something you did

11. tastes good and i enjoy chewing on tapioca

12. milk substitute made with almonds and water

13. idk why don't you ask your mother

14. hmm, i'm not really a huge fan of memes but honchkrow and TPP tend to share quite a few bangers.

15. the crown jewels that some people are born with

16. no

17. mandrag

18. too many lmao. i'd say like 5k or so

19. hmm... from first to last: framing hafu for every kill, it's fucking comms, when he managed to fake his impostor partner scanning, when he got toast and sykkuno out off of one kill, when he hard cleared himself as impostor, his first snitch game, there was that private stream where he got an imp win in a tryhard amogn us server and tilted the entire lobby, him clearing himself off of one vote in one round (not his recent vid but one a while ago), this isn't 5up specifically but "tina is this a self report" when she didn't even report the body, and his executioner win iykyk

20. i'd have to say my win vs haylighter, solely because he spent the entire tour talking crap about shedinja, then brought shedinja vs a team where my only counterplay was rocks and i got myself into a bad situation earlier that game so i had to pray for getting lucky during a really specific turn and had to play to literally one out, and i managed to do it.

minecraft qs

coolest thing you've built?
best singleplayer memory?
best multiplayer memory?
idea you've wanted to do but have never gotten around to?
are you a mod enjoyer? if so, which ones?
what parts of the game do you mainly focus on? (building, automation, combat, redstone)
favorite music disc?
favorite mob?
thoughts on the new update(s)?
when you start a new world, what item do you go after immediately? (not counting elytra/shulker boxes as those are the obvious answers)
favorite youtuber(s)?

if u ever wanna play im 1000% down this game goes hard
so i'm not a builder, but i did do statues of people in a creative server i used to play way back when and had a sick skydoesminecraft statue on my plot.

probably in modded minecraft, i forget the mod but there's like a weapon that allows you to propel yourself in one direction with a fairly short cooldown so i 1v1ed the wither just by using that ability a ton and hitting it. melee master race

this is tough because there's so many. i guess one would be during a pvp event where it was just me remaining on my team and 2 other teams were there. i managed to isolate and kill a few players and they were killing each other off at the same time, but there were like 4 people left and they all came after me since i was the last player they needed to kill. i managed to get all of them because they were fairly bad in pvp but also i had golden apples left while they didn't (i recognized earlier in that event that if it came down to it, i'd probably need the golden apples so there was no world where i ate too many golden apples and won). the other is just in an mmorpg server where we went to go take a boss down and quite a few of my party died, including the healer bc this boss had a ridiculously intelligent ai, so i had to play that fight super smart and ended up beating it with two other people on my party also helping me out. i was on a heart and a half by the end LOL

hmm, i guess my avatar manhunt idea sort of counts. i wanted to do a minecraft manhunt with me having avatar powers and the hunters having bending powers from one of the four elements each, but then the plugin glitched and made me firebend myself into lava and i was fairly tilted. other than that, i always want to play more adventure maps because i can't get enough of those lmao

most of the time, whenever i mod the game, it's because the mod makes the game nicer to be in. idr the mods i used but there was a mod with like a dynamic sky (needed a texture pack with it), shaders, an ambient noises mod, and other stuff and that made the game so relaxing to look at and be in and i actually felt fully immersed in it. sadly the server that suggested those mods shut down so idk how to find them anymore. in terms of items and stuff though i'm a huge tinker's construct guy, but there's a food mod which adds such an extensive way of cooking food which i really like

combat and parkour, definitely. i've never been a builder, more of a pvper and i enjoy challenging myself. in my prime day i was insane at pvp and i could do neos and stuff at will, now i'm not so sure i could but i've been looking into tryharding again so we'll see!

cat

creeper (awwwww man)

hmm, i know the new updates are very controversial among people. personally i like them, i like the lore that minecraft has and i think that the new updates enrich it sorta? but i can definitely see why people wouldn't be a huge fan of mojang's way of approaching the new updates. the chat report system also feels weird. i'm still waiting on an update to add in the wither storm though, that'd be a FUN fight

i feel like iron's an obvious one but i'll throw it out there anyway. one that's less obvious is hay, it's incredibly good for food and when you've found hay, you've typically found a village which has a whole slew of benefits as well. food's probably the most important sort of item for me. i'll also never say no to finding a crossbow, but they're typcially not something i go after just because i don't wanna craft em and the chance of them dropping is fairly small

i like dream's content a lot, but i think that all of them have their niches. i find that watching tommyinnit is far too loud for me, though -- i get overwhelmed pretty easily by how much he screams and so while i get the appeal, i personally can't watch his content. doesn't make him a bad yter, it's pretty hard to be a bad yter with that large of an audience, just not for me.

yeah for sure! i'd be down :)
 

Ren

i swore lips were made for lies
is a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnusis a Contributor Alumnus
1. Would you rather be a ghost or a vampire?
2. Socks and sandals or hoodie and shorts?
3. Salt or pepper?
4. Is Pepsi okay?
5. How would you like your eggs?
Ghosts being able to pass through walls is pretty incredible, vampires burn in the sun so this feels like a no brainer for me.

Neither, but if you held a gun to my head I'd probably go socks and sandals because there's no weather combo where I'd like to wear a hoodie and shorts.

Salt, I don't like the taste of black pepper

I actually prefer Pepsi :)

When others cook, I like my eggs poached with a runny yolk, but I'm not picky. My personal preferred way of preparing them is in a whirlpool of water to make scrambled eggs - Recommend following Palak Patel's recipe from her 4 Levels video (link here), it took me a few tries to get it right (somehow made them straight up disappear my first time LMAO) but I haven't been able to go back to just normal scrambled, and the eggs are so incredibly fluffy by the time you're done with them. I obviously skimp out on the caviar in the recipe because I'm not made of money, but they're quick and fairly auto once you're done with them. I also don't serve them in the egg shell because I find the idea disgusting, but the actual eggs are legit :)
 

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