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Tarrembeau and Syrinix
Without further ado, let’s move onto the interview itself:
Syrinix
Thanks for agreeing to do this interview! Let’s kick things off with a fun question. What is your favorite Pokemon game?
RSB
I would probably have to say Pokemon Colosseum. I remember double battles becoming a thing in Gen 3, and taking that concept and making an entire game of double battles was really fun. The idea of making you use what's given to you due to the limited Pokemon you can acquire also made for an interesting challenge.
Syrinix
Interesting and great choice! Colosseum is definitely a very nostalgic game. The idea of making you use what’s given to you is coincidentally also how Random Battles works. Speaking of Random Battles, when and how did you first get involved with the Randbats community?
RSB
I think my first introduction to competitive Pokemon was watching some old youtube videos of some wifi battles in gen 4. From there I eventually discovered Showdown and tried my hand at teambuilding and competitive myself, but never quite had an eye for building. I believe it was late 2018 when I found out about Random Battles and the room itself. Rands was the perfect fit for me since I didn't have to build anything myself. I picked it up pretty quickly with some general knowledge from playing the games for let's see here, *checks watch*, 25 years or so, and enjoyed helping and discussing Rands with others in the room.
Syrinix
Haha, not being required to teambuild is a huge perk for Rands players (or lazy players such as myself). Your presence in the room gave you the opportunity to become a staff member for the room, where you ascended through the ranks. What motivated you to stick around and contribute to the room as a staff member? Do you have any advice for users interested in contributing to the room/community in this way as well?
RSB
I've always been the type of person that hates doing things for myself but enjoys helping others, so discussing sets to try to improve each generation's sets was always nice to do. Another thing I had going for me was that I played every generation, so I learned all of the mechanics I could to improve and that helped me answer people's questions about obscure mechanics. I guess my general advice for people wanting to contribute to the room/community is to learn as much as you can about Rands. This helps you not only become better at Rands itself, but you can use that knowledge to help others in turn.
Syrinix
This is some great advice. I find that playing a lot of Randbats is the best way to learn the ins and outs of the formats. How often do you play Random Battles and what is your favorite format?
RSB
I've been playing less over the years due to bad luck seeming to hit me more and more as time goes on, but I guess I did get lucky enough to win the Gameboy Classic Open so it must not be all bad. As far as my favorite format, I think it might have been Gen 5 Rands before we fixed some of the sets, because a lot of sets were super jank but really fun, like Acupressure Shuckle.
Syrinix
I’ve heard of jank sets in the past like Air Balloon Rotom-Fan in Gen 7 Rands. Gen 5 Rands is a solid format though. What’s your least favorite aspect of Random Battles (an individual Pokemon’s set, a broader situation you sometimes encounter, an entire format, etc)?
RSB
That would for sure have to be doubles. In a casual format like I said earlier with Pokemon Colosseum, doubles is a fun format, but with Rands at least, I get a really bad feeling when I lose too much momentum compared to singles. Not including sleep clause in doubles is also something I really dislike, as I've had battles where I lost due to my opponent having a single Pokemon faster than my whole team that just put my Pokemon to sleep while the other one just cleaned up. I don't play doubles at all though, so whether or not this is a big deal isn't something I would really argue too much over.
Syrinix
Doubles is a whole different beast and can definitely be challenging to get used to playing. Regarding your recent win in the Gameboy Classic Open, how did you prepare for your matches, if at all? Gens 1-3 are pretty different, so it can be difficult to be consistently good across those Gens.
RSB
I don't actually do anything to prepare. Most generations play pretty similarly aside from Gens 1 and 2, which both have their own distinct style. Gen 1 is all about controlling RNG to the best of your ability, and Gen 2 is all about patience, which I have an abundance of. Gen 3 has the odd mechanic to remember here and there but plays pretty straightforward otherwise. Due to very little changes ever happening in old Gens I could just play with the muscle memory and experience I’ve built over the years.
Syrinix
That’s an interesting perspective of those generations. Do you have a favorite Randbats tournament/event that you participate in? What makes it your favorite?
RSB
I guess it would have to be RBTT. The people I've met have been great and I’m happy to have been able to put together a team of absolute BORKERS when I was a manager of Team Arcanine. I was a bit sad that I didn't decide to manage last time though, as we found out that teams would all be getting custom avatars and I would have loved to have both a Growlithe and an Arcanine avatar. Perhaps next year :eyes:
Syrinix
Looking forward to seeing Team Arcanine running it back in RBTT VII! RBTT season is definitely one of the highlights of the year. Time for the last question! You have experience playing in high-stake battles, such as in tournaments like RBTT. How stressful would you say these battles are? Do you have any methods/strategies you use to ease the stress so you can play the best you can?
RSB
Most of the stress I feel when playing in tournaments usually doesn't happen in the battle itself, but in the lead-up to it. I tend to get anxious waiting for the match to happen but calm down once it actually comes time to play. I try not to take anything too seriously and just play the same as I always do. If I don't then I tend to overthink things and play a little worse. It's all about finding your own rhythm and sticking to it, in my opinion.
Syrinix
I’m sure many can relate to that. I feel it’s something you get better at dealing with the more you play in high-stakes battles. That about wraps up this interview. Thanks for agreeing to participate and having well-thought-out responses!
RSB
Thanks for having me and for all of the wonderful interviews you do. It was fun!
Thanks to RSB for the great interview! Feel free to ask them any further questions in this thread and keep an eye out for future interviews!
It's also their birthday today! HAPPY BDAY RSB
