Welcome to the Random Battles Community Interview! The goal of this project is to interview well-known members of the Randbats community every month and learn more about them. These members may include players who’ve been successful in tournaments, high-ladderers, format/forum contributors, and more!
Now that we have the introductions out of the way, let’s get right into the interview!
Tarrembeau
Well first of all, thank you Borida for giving us a bit of your time for this first ever Rands interview!
BoRida
ofc
my secretary will bill you afterwards
Tarrembeau
Let's do a few introductory questions before getting into the meat of the subject.
What's your favorite Pokemon?
BoRida
As far as randbats goes, Glowking for sure
very derpy and low-key best mon
Otherwise idk, I'm not really into mons despite all my hours on Showdown
If I haven't seen a mon in rands then there's a 50% chance I've never heard of it, can probably only name a couple NFEs pre gen3
Syrinix
Glowking is a solid choice for sure. I'm surprised you aren't the most interested in pokemon despite being a skilled battler—do you play any Pokemon games, by any chance? If so, what’s your favorite?
BoRida
Haven't played a pokemon game since Emerald's release
I won a copy of Pokemon Sword from a ladder tournament but I gave it to my friend (he didn't have a switch either lol)
But I am definitely gonna play the new pokemon games coming out for the nostalgia and to justify spending smh money on the switch
Tarrembeau
Emerald was released more than 15 years ago; how did you end up on PS after all that time?
BoRida
I think I stumbled upon Pokemon Showdown one day cuz I was bored in one of my first year university classes
Probably why I didn't have the best GPA in hindsight
Syrinix
Haha, Showdown can definitely be an addicting distraction. Do you remember when and how you became involved within the Random Battles community?
BoRida
I take Showdown hiatuses multiple times a year, especially when I feel like I'm getting a little too addicted. One of those hiatuses was maybe like a year or two long and when I got back, I saw that there was a Random Battles chatroom
I joined the room and saw pokeblade☆101's name and started messaging him, cuz I knew he was one of the other people that would always be high on the ladder and notably wasn't annoying/toxic
I mostly only talked to people that I recognized from the ladder, like benjamin and typhlosion, but the community aspect of randbats was always really nice and I liked joining the room tournaments in the tournaments and randbats rooms, so that's probably how I became more integrated into the community
Tarrembeau
Why do you enjoy playing Random Battles?
BoRida
Who said anything about enjoying Random Battles lol jk I enjoy it because of the randomness
I'm pretty butt at team building and obviously I enjoyed laddering, if not just to get high up
Initially I definitely liked it for nostalgia and the chaos but when I started getting decent at it, I just enjoyed seeing my name on the ladder and winning games
But I don't think this is the healthiest attitude to have. Competition can be good and sure the dopamine hits are nice, but I've definitely put an ungodly amount of time into rands. I've been on tilt multiple times, not caring about anything except hitting Rank 1. It's just not worth it because you can't win every game, and getting upset about losing an rng game mode based on an rng game is a giant L
Nowadays if I play it's just for a game or two — which I definitely enjoy. I don't feel the need to ladder incessantly anymore because I think the common trap people fall into is that their sense of self-worth feels tied to whatever game they’re playing and how well they do. Enjoying rands is far more important than having whatever rating or rank. As soon as I feel like I'm not enjoying the game, I hard stop
Syrinix
That's definitely some great insight, and a good mindset to have while playing. It's a common occurrence for many players to get heated while playing and I think the points you've addressed are very important. It is all just for fun at the end of the day!
Which format do you enjoy playing the most? And why do you enjoy playing it?
BoRida
I literally only play rands lmao
occasionally I'll challenge a friend to CC2v2 or DHC but that's so I can give all 2 of my brain cells some rest
I've always liked Rands cuz it wasn't something I had to try hard at, which is why I have a thousand games of OU on my BoRida account—it's all games where I had one pokemon on my team: a single Drapion trying to spam Accupressure
Syrinix
Do you have a favorite Rands format?
BoRida
Always whatever the current gen is
Tarrembeau
Are you looking forward to trying Rands in the next generation, then?
BoRida
Will definitely give it a try for at least a bit. One of my favorite parts of rands is the set designs, I like seeing old mons become relevant again from gaining some broken ability or move
Not that I have a say in that stuff, pokeblade has pooped on 99% of suggestions I've given him. But finding out how to get the maximum use out of a mon on your team in rands is part of the fun
Syrinix
What kind of Pokemon do you like rolling the most in Random Battles? From any generation.
BoRida
Stalllllllllll
anything that stalls. Milotic, Porygon2, Slowpals, Audino, most of the legendary birds now that I think about it
The Slow Quadruplets are especially dangerous because of Regenerator—and the Water types have Teleport, which is now one of the best moves in Rands when it's not on Xatu
I'm a big proponent of spamming Substitute, it's almost always a safe move and lets you figure out their item or sometimes get a free turn. On top of Leech Seed and Toxic it's a real killer. The real fun of rands is figuring out how to win, and being good at stalling means keeping your team as healthy as possible, giving you more options as you figure out the weaknesses of the other team. It lets you be really creative, like Teleporting into mons with Leftovers to heal back one of your mons veryyy slowly, or PP stalling their big bungus without them realizing it
Basically any mon that gives you options on how to use it (usually stally mons) is fun, another reason why I like Dmax too. Really glad Unown isn't in lol, they did level balancing really well this gen
Tarrembeau
On the other hand, are there aspects of Rands that you dislike, or that irk you?
BoRida
Pretty uncommon, but the Zoroark level bug (knowing when their mon is Zoroark) can be unfortunate
Sometimes I think it'd be nice if they added more NFEs that could be viable with the right level balancing (I think Onix with Defense Curl, Rollout, and Body Press could be legit plz bro) but the game is great as is and I fully accept that I will lose my Pikachu to their lead Dugtrio T1 or lose to a crit miss sometimes. Honestly I think rands is as good as it could be. Besides not having Onix
If rands was designed exactly how I wanted it to be, I don't think I'd enjoy it as much
Syrinix
I too want to see more NFEs in Randbats, like Ferroseed ;-; We can only hope though!
How often do you use Randbats tools (the calc, browser extension tooltip, setodds api) while you battle, and how much do they help you?
BoRida
I almost never use the calc—I’ve played so many games that I can just eyeball percents now. The setodds and browser extension I’ve never seen, tho I do wonder if it takes away the fun, having these tools at your disposal
Syrinix
What's your favorite Random Battle tour/event, and do you have any that you're looking forward to partaking in?
BoRida
Despite getting Mega Carried every year, definitely the RBTTs
The banter and faux jingoism is super fun, and it's also a nice opportunity to talk with other members of the community more and discuss the game at both high and low levels.
Communities definitely fulfill an emotional need for people, and fortunately the Randbats community itself is very positive, especially as more and more people use the internet and trickle into niche communities to absorb opinions and attitudes in this day and age
Tarrembeau
That’s definitely what made me stay involved with the community beyond playing the game itself. The community is growing and evolving, new games get released every now and then—and with them, new generations of players start to play Rands or come back to it. What kind of advice would you give to these new players, whether they want to improve their battle skills, get more involved in the community, or just have fun?
BoRida
I'd say for any activity that you plan to spend time on, recognize what your goals are and time-manage accordingly.
Any lofty goal I've ever had with rands, whether it was getting a really high rating, win/loss, gxe, whatever, it brought me way less happiness than I expected as a function of how much time it took
But these goals weren't about the big numbers, they were ultimately about boosting my self-esteem, and being recognized and validated
Knowing that my ability to strategize and play under pressure has probably improved from the tens of thousands of games I've played has brought me some solace in the empty pursuit of big numbers big recognition, but fr fr no cap on god the real treasure was the fun and friends we made along the way
Ofc if your goal is to become involved in the community and have fun I don't need to tell you how to do that
I gotta go play volleyball now but thanks for giving me the soapbox! I hope I didn't prattle on for toooooo long, enjoy your weekends
Syrinix
thanks for taking the time to answer our questions, we really appreciate it!
Tarrembeau
yes, thank you a lot! enjoy your volleyball session :3
Thanks BoRida for the wonderful interview! Feel free to ask any further questions for them in this thread, and make sure to keep an eye out for future interviews!