Ask the Mods

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD
Hi, with generation seven coming to a close, I felt like it would be a fun idea to give the community a chance to get to know us better through an open interview. This thread will be similar to the interview threads we used to have in the past, and similar to the ask the admin articles, except this one is open and anyone in the community is free to ask whatever they would like so long as it isn't too personal. Whether you want to learn more about the RMT forum or about your favorite RMT mods, you are free to do so here and we will answer to the best of our abilities. No I won't delete your post if it isn't at least 3 lines long. I'm fine with jokes and memes, but don't let it get out of hand. Have fun and I look forward to the questions you all have :)
 
How did you get introduced to competitive mons and when did you start playing it?
Hi, with generation seven coming to a close, I felt like it would be a fun idea to give the community a chance to get to know us better through an open interview. This thread will be similar to the interview threads we used to have in the past, and similar to the ask the admin articles, except this one is open and anyone in the community is free to ask whatever they would like so long as it isn't too personal. Whether you want to learn more about the RMT forum or about your favorite RMT mods, you are free to do so here and we will answer to the best of our abilities. No I won't delete your post if it isn't at least 3 lines long. I'm fine with jokes and memes, but don't let it get out of hand. Have fun and I look forward to the questions you all have :)
 
Hello, since we're starting gen8 soon here and I was just curious what you like and dislike about the the changes that is coming for example no more z moves and megas (correct me if im wrong). what are some gen8 pokemon you're really hype for.
 

Luckyboy123

Ironically Named
is a Top Tiering Contributor Alumnus
What metagame/gen do you think is the most difficult to rate on average?

[Edited from TPP's response]

What metagame/gen do you think is the easiest to rate on average?
 
Last edited:

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD
How did you get introduced to competitive mons and when did you start playing it?
An irl friend told me about showdown an extremely long time ago (maybe around 2010) and eventually I started playing a little bit on the Gen 5 random battle ladder. I forgot how long ago that was, but I probably only got on maybe 3 times a year. Eventually my brother and I got interested in breeding and trading for XY in game and I spent at least a year in the Wi-Fi room on PS. Eventually we found another server that focused on Monotype and spent at least 6 months there. After that we came back to PS and I think that was around the time I decided to try out the OU room and learn OU. Eventually I discovered forums and posted my first RMT, and made a lot of good friends that were mostly in the OU room as well. From there I spent a lot of time in the OU room and in the RMT forum, and eventually branched out to OU forum as well.

FMK me IB reymedy?
I'll change the question to "Rate / Lock / Delete." Rate you / Lock IB / Delete Reymedy.

What is your signature team or "go-to" to use while laddering in your favorite tier?
Fun fact, I actually don't ladder at all lol. Mainly because I get burned out rather quickly, usually after 3 games, but if I ever do ladder with friends, we'll usually bring some nonsense like 6 mons with Metronome. If I were to ladder, I'd probably use something offensive like rain or HO just to make the games go by faster.

If you could change one thing about Smogon and/or RMT, what would it be?
BRING BACK HOLIDAY MODE. I'd love to increase the number of badged team raters to 30+ since it would be more fun having more people around.

not a question but a quick reminder that vivalospride owes me a dollar
vivalospride you better pay this man soon.

Hello, since we're starting gen8 soon here and I was just curious what you like and dislike about the the changes that is coming for example no more z moves and megas (correct me if im wrong). what are some gen8 pokemon you're really hype for.
Personally I really love megas and think they're fun and interesting. Regional variants are cool too, but I feel like a mega evolution opens up potential for an old mon in a lot of new ways. For example, Swampert went from being a physically defensive mon to being a rain sweeper that is doing great in SM OU atm. It was a fun way to help out older mons and I appreciate it. Z moves are alright too in that it adds a lot of creativity. I remember people complaining a ton that oras ou was a boring stale meta, and I'd like to think that z moves help move away from a meta staying too stale for too long. Without mega evolution or special z moves, it's a bit harder to look forward to seeing old mons get buffed unless they add an evolution/variant like they've done for a few mons. They haven't revealed many mons, but I think Grookey is cute, and Galarian Weezing looks cool thanks to its ability. Competitively I'm probably gonna enjoy having Toxapex, Ferrothorn and Clefable still being around since those 3 are extremely reliable.

What metagame/gen do you think is the most difficult to rate on average?
I would say that some OM's could be hard to rate because there isn't a large player base to begin with, and there's also new and smaller ones that even more people would be unfamiliar with. The different mechanics is probably the biggest reason I would say they're hard to rate too. With lower tiers, you can technically learn a little bit about them through watching games or viability rankings, but having to learn new mechanics and go from coming up with fun ideas to coming up with good ideas can be complicated imo.

I'll go ahead and answer the reverse question of what metagame is the easiest to rate. I'm gonna go with RBY OU because usually you'll be making move slot changes or 1-2 mon changes at most. There aren't that many alternatives when building outside of the 17-18 mons that are always used, and I would say that makes it a little easier.
 

vivalospride

been up all year my third eye aint even blinkin’
is a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
FMK me IB reymedy?
F IB M Celt K rey

sorry rey idk u like that

How did you get introduced to competitive mons and when did you start playing it?
Idr exactly how, but it was in like 2010 or 2011. I was pretty much hardcore addicted to the dpp games and my friend told me about competitive iirc. I started playing wifi battles and entered like youtuber made tournaments n shit. I joined Smogon in 2012 but it wasn't still early 2017 maybe where I came back to mons thru PS which I discovered from random youtube videos in 2014. Eventually I started taking it more seriously and now I'm here.

What is your signature team or "go-to" to use while laddering in your favorite tier?
Webs teams w/o a doubt. I'll go into tiers where webs is like an un-playstyle and happily ladder with it b/c I find laddering with webs the most fun. Luckily they aren't too bad in UU atm so I find myself laddering with them quite a bit... but really any form of HO is the "go-to" for me, fun and challenging deeper into the ladder.

If you could change one thing about Smogon and/or RMT, what would it be?
w/ RMT it'd just be like, the activity. I wish people were more interested in the section year round, and I wish people got the same reward from rating as I do, the feeling of accomplishment and improvement. I also WISH PEOPLE WOULD READ THE FUCKING RULES BEFORE POSTING AN RMT, but that is far more unrealistic of a wish than anything else I've said. As for Smogon, damn this site is fuckin trash... most of the shit I'd change would probably be like, the people on the site, over technical shit that the admins could be doing better or something. One thing that's always bothered me is how easily contributors are overlooked. This site is/should be a hobby for everyone, but people pour hours and hours into it anyways (myself included), yet there's plenty of people doing this that don't get the recognition they deserve. Shit like that is only natural but I feel too much weight is put on name/accomplishment alone all throughout the site, and not enough on how impactful whatever user's consistent contributions are. Idk if that makes sense but it's the best I got.

not a question but a quick reminder that vivalospride owes me a dollar
>:(

Hello, since we're starting gen8 soon here and I was just curious what you like and dislike about the the changes that is coming for example no more z moves and megas (correct me if im wrong). what are some gen8 pokemon you're really hype for.
I unfortunately haven't kept up with gen 8 shit much, but I'm definitely not excited. I don't feel like learning a whole new tier in a whole new gen rn but I suppose the process of a new gen rollout is fun in competitive mons where nobody knows wtf anything does. Regardless I'd like to stick with gen 7 for a while longer but time will not allow it. The dynamaxing shit seems lame af and Farfetch'd has always been one of my fav mons so the new bird with a stick is prolly my most anticipated mon of gen 8.

What metagame/gen do you think is the most difficult to rate on average?
Something like this is pretty hard to answer since most of us only rate 1-2 tiers. I've only rated UU in this forum for example, but definitely OMs as TPP said. One reason is because nobody fuckin posts OM rmts >:(, and another is because they're just so different from the avg metagame. "BH is pokemon on hard mode" - Cynara. While AAA for a while has been a cluttered fuckfest to build, but it might get better with victini being banned. Etc etc, idek how to calc most OMs tbh that shit is too high iq for me.
 

maroon

free palestine
is a Site Content Manageris a Top Team Rateris a Member of Senior Staffis a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributoris a Top Smogon Media Contributoris a Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Social Media Contributor Alumnus
RMT & Mono Leader
How did you get introduced to competitive mons and when did you start playing it?
I got introduced to PS! by noticing some friends were playing Random Battles in the library, then I started to play Monotype shortly after that.

FMK me IB reymedy?
damn ive never spoken to any of you personally :sob: but just going by pfps rn, f celtic m ib k the weeb

What is your signature team or "go-to" to use while laddering in your favorite tier?
I dont really like laddering to much, but ill share some of my favorite monotype teams to use atm. https://pokepast.es/adb41001392ab543

If you could change one thing about Smogon and/or RMT, what would it be?
You being supermod. :heart: jk, it would probably be somehow making it easier for new contributors to gain footing in the forum. No idea how thats done, but aside that uh maybe getting users to post 3 line descriptions with their teams!

Hello, since we're starting gen8 soon here and I was just curious what you like and dislike about the the changes that is coming for example no more z moves and megas (correct me if im wrong). what are some gen8 pokemon you're really hype for.
Obstagoon and Sirfetchd look fire, not sure how gen 8 will look but it definetly will be fun to watch such a different generation form.

What metagame/gen do you think is the most difficult to rate on average?
What metagame/gen do you think is the easiest to rate on average?
Honestly no idea, I really just rate Monotype. I would say none of them are necessarily harder to rate, all depends on how experienced the rater is with the metagame. I'd say probably the tiers that have teams posted the least are the hardest to rate, just because it can be difficult to stay motivated for that long.

What do/did you think of generation 7 from a competitive standpoint, and if you could've changed one thing about it what would it be?

Keep up the good work, all of you :blobthumbsup:
I can't speak for other tiers, but Gen 7 has been great for Monotype. It has allowed the most types to be viable in the metagame, more so than any previous past gen. Unpopular opinion, but I think Z-moves are a cool concept that allow for less viable Pokemon and types have access to new techs that make seemingly impossible matchups more even. At least from a standpoint as a monotype player, I don't think I would have changed anything about this gen.

If you had to use any team in the Team Showcase or RMT Archive, what would it be and why?
If I had enough patience to properly use it, Charmflash's Celestial Alignment RMT. It actually looks gross, but entertaining to use.

What's your guys' favorite songs at the moment?
Also, thoughts on cargo shorts?
My favorite song rn is definitely Really don't like u from Tove Lo's New Album Sunshine Kitty.
Cargo shorts will always be bad!
 
A Few questions for TPP

1: How often do you check the RMT forums for team posts that don't meet the rules and requirements of the page?
2: What is your favorite Meta for each Gen you've played?
3: Favorite Ice Cream flavor (Most important question)
 
Welcome to Smogon! I'm locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules require that you provide at least 3 lines of descriptions for each Pokemon to explain their roles. Please read the rules carefully and take a look at Team Showcase to see the level of detail we require. PM me with updated descriptions and I'll be happy to unlock this. If you need help with the explanations, you can use the smogon dex for help.


1. For any of you, what made you get into and want to be active in the RMT section of smogon.

2. Will you let me use my MS paint skills to create a new RMT logo for gen 8

3. Is RMT moderator vivalospride actually going to rate a team before the gen ends :bloblul:
 

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD
What do/did you think of generation 7 from a competitive standpoint, and if you could've changed one thing about it what would it be?
Keep up the good work, all of you :blobthumbsup:
It was fun and allowed for creativity to continuously keep the generation alive. Although that also means some mons get ridiculous over time. Magearna used to be broken in OU but it's alright now. Kartana started out as a meme and now it's really really good.

If you had to use any team in the Team Showcase or RMT Archive, what would it be and why?
Ske's Manaphy Rain, Talah's STEEL BALL RUN, and Minior Birdspam by ya boy GEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEMARS

Manaphy Rain is dangerously good. Venusaur can sometimes autowin games and it's reliable. Minior is fire.

What's your guys' favorite songs at the moment?
Also, thoughts on cargo shorts?
I'm a little weird in that I don't actively search for music by artists I like, but rather I might end up loving something I find randomly. Lately it's been a lot of Japanese songs because I watch a ton of anime. I love instrumental stuff, and I also love hearing songs with a group of people. I absolutely love Grand Escape from Weathering with You, Ultimate Battle from Dragon Ball Super, Kiseki from Karakai Jouzu no Takagi-san 2, everything from the Haikyuu and Violet Evergarden OST's, and much much more.

Cargo shorts are fine.
A Few questions for TPP

1: How often do you check the RMT forums for team posts that don't meet the rules and requirements of the page?
2: What is your favorite Meta for each Gen you've played?
3: Favorite Ice Cream flavor (Most important question)
1. I have the forum watched, so I get notified every time a team is posted. I guess technically at least once every 30 minutes if I'm not busy or sleeping.

2. ORAS OU I actually enjoy a lot right now. SM it's a little hard to tell because there is always a new major pain in the meta. It used to be Magearna and Zygarde, now it's Kartana and Mawile. Volcarona has been a nonstop pain in my side since the start from a building perspective at least.

3. I used to only love Chocolate, but I love Vanilla and Mint now too.
1. For any of you, what made you get into and want to be active in the RMT section of smogon.

2. Will you let me use my MS paint skills to create a new RMT logo for gen 8

3. Is RMT moderator vivalospride actually going to rate a team before the gen ends :bloblul:
1. I wanted to have my teams get better so I could get past 1400 on the OU ladder.

2. I'm down.

3. I believe he will if he values his RMT career even in the slightest.
 

Aaronboyer

Something Worth Fighting For
is a Contributor to Smogon
What are some of the most helpful resources that you would recommend for people wanting to get into rating teams? Also, several rates I've seen changes like 2-3+ mons to something completely different before; is it difficult to keep the "premise of a team" intact sometimes?
 

vivalospride

been up all year my third eye aint even blinkin’
is a Community Contributoris a Top Tiering Contributoris a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Forum Moderator Alumnusis a Battle Simulator Staff Alumnus
What do/did you think of generation 7 from a competitive standpoint, and if you could've changed one thing about it what would it be?

Keep up the good work, all of you :blobthumbsup:
I have no thoughts, i usually just play w/o thinking about what i like and don't like about the mechanics I can't do anything about. Fuck this game tho :jynx:

If you had to use any team in the Team Showcase or RMT Archive, what would it be and why?
One of mine probably, otherwise Amane Misa's screens, Adaam's mmq offense, and for a tier I don't main.. anything made by Persephone.

Main reasons being that I'm a fan of the above users and trust their builds, and b/c I love offense.
What's your guys' favorite songs at the moment?
Also, thoughts on cargo shorts?
No opinion on cargo shorts, surely at least 1 or 2 people exist that look good in them. As for favorite songs at the moment I have a bunch and I will plug my spotify acc w/ playlists if you ask me for it. But to pick a few songs, Maybach Music VI, Building A Ladder, Lilly, Black Balloons Reprise, and The Climb.

Welcome to Smogon! I'm locking your RMT for the time being as the forum rules require that you provide at least 3 lines of descriptions for each Pokemon to explain their roles. Please read the rules carefully and take a look at Team Showcase to see the level of detail we require. PM me with updated descriptions and I'll be happy to unlock this. If you need help with the explanations, you can use the smogon dex for help.


1. For any of you, what made you get into and want to be active in the RMT section of smogon.

2. Will you let me use my MS paint skills to create a new RMT logo for gen 8

3. Is RMT moderator vivalospride actually going to rate a team before the gen ends :bloblul:
1. I started rating in the rmt room on PS and I started out pretty trash, but Surgeon held my hand long enough until I was good enough for voice in the room. Then I learned from danger zone and Sun about the UU rating competition on the forums. I entered it and lost r1 even tho I gave a like 1k word long rate in which I was very proud of upon submitting. I rated one or two teams just on a whim afterwards but then I eventually started enjoying it and decided to dedicate most of my Smogon time towards the section > UU subforum b/c lol fuck uu subforum. I thought I was a fuckin BEAST with every single rate I did, but honestly looking back on a few of them sometimes makes me feel like a retard for doing so lmao.

2. TPP is the boss, so whatever he said is also my answer.

3. who?

The world may never know

What are some of the most helpful resources that you would recommend for people wanting to get into rating teams? Also, several rates I've seen changes like 2-3+ mons to something completely different before; is it difficult to keep the "premise of a team" intact sometimes?
1. Honestly, I'm not so sure about like on-paper resources that help you with rating too much. A lot of it is just building and rating experience, rating helps your building prowess w/o question and vise versa. Taking rating seriously will lead to you thinking about things you wouldn't normally think about while trying to optimize the team however you can, you'll start to peel back more and more layers of teambuilding. The best "resource" is just an experienced rater, probably. Doesn't have to be someone w/ the tr badge, anyone that rates consistently should be able to help you get into it. Another is just experience itself, like most everything else... the more you rate the more you'll learn and improve from each rate.

2. Yes, generally with rating you wanna keep the core that was built around in tact, and if you do change it then it needs to still be p much the exact same idea... maybe for example np nape -> np lucario, or whatever. If a team is pretty much unsalvageable without tearing it apart you are usually encouraged to just not rate it. 3 is generally the max amount of changes tho ye.
 

Colonel M

I COULD BE BORED!
is a Site Content Manager Alumnusis a Community Leader Alumnusis a Community Contributor Alumnusis a Smogon Discord Contributor Alumnusis a Top Contributor Alumnus
I think we can all agree Light Mode Discord isn't a real mode, right?

Obviously throughout RMT there's always one RMT that's so bad it's ironically good. What un-team made you laugh the hardest or made the group laugh the hardest?

Through team rating, which team do you remember changed the most (in a positive way) to where you would think the team is basically "perfect"? Basically a Cinderella story. For an RMT.

What user(s) do you look up to the most within your Smogon career?

What are some of your hobbies that you like to do outside of Pokemon?
 
What tips do you have for people who want to do RMTs more often? I've recently started getting into more serious rates on teams for SM Ubers, and I want to know what the best way is to be clean about my rates in the future. Anyone can answer this btw.
 

TPP

is a Tournament Directoris a Community Leaderis a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Dedicated Tournament Hostis a Top Tutor Alumnusis a Top Team Rater Alumnusis a Senior Staff Member Alumnusis a Past SPL Championis a Past WCoP Champion
Head TD
I blame the cuddly panda suit in pubg
What are some of the most helpful resources that you would recommend for people wanting to get into rating teams? Also, several rates I've seen changes like 2-3+ mons to something completely different before; is it difficult to keep the "premise of a team" intact sometimes?
I would recommend the rules post that contains instructions on how to rate, rate of the month archive to see good rates, and then badged Team Raters/mods to offer you feedback. It depends on the team, but it's usually not too hard to keep the premise/core of a team intact. You should mainly be changing the supporting cast of mons when rating in order to maintain the identity of a team.
Hi, am I allowed to request teambuilding help for use in a pokemon MMO ?
It's a bit hard to ask for teambuilding help in tiers/situations with restrictions/rules not many people know about. You can technically request help but you'll need to explain the limitations as well in order to get effective help.
Will RMT ever be as glorious now that IB left us?
I will do my best to make it happen :blobthumbsup:
I think we can all agree Light Mode Discord isn't a real mode, right?

Obviously throughout RMT there's always one RMT that's so bad it's ironically good. What un-team made you laugh the hardest or made the group laugh the hardest?

Through team rating, which team do you remember changed the most (in a positive way) to where you would think the team is basically "perfect"? Basically a Cinderella story. For an RMT.

What user(s) do you look up to the most within your Smogon career?

What are some of your hobbies that you like to do outside of Pokemon?
Light mode more like blind mode. Funniest RMT is a bit hard. I'll go with one of the Deschutes's RMT's since it was an interesting and unique read. The Cinderella question is a bit hard and I currently don't remember one.

I look up to and respect Finch a lot. I think my main hobby outside of Pokemon would be watching anime. I do some other stuff like running, swimming, playing/keeping up with basketball and playing smash, but not at the same level as how involved I am with mons.
What tips do you have for people who want to do RMTs more often? I've recently started getting into more serious rates on teams for SM Ubers, and I want to know what the best way is to be clean about my rates in the future. Anyone can answer this btw.
Did you mean to ask people who want to rate more often? I honestly think looking at the rates of others and expanding on your knowledge of teambuilding as a whole can serve you well. Everyone always has their own preferences and ideas, and it's common for people to see things you didn't and vice versa. Regarding formatting or RMT stuff like not changing too much, then I guess rates of the month or seeing rates from badged team raters could work. Try to increase your exposure to rates from people that are at or above your level and if you're able to learn something from them, then you'll give yourself a chance to grow a little. Practice is also important with everything you do, so don't stay on the sidelines for too long. As for previous rates, you can ask someone knowledgeable about that tier to critique your final team as well as the process you went to change it. From there, learn from your mistakes and try to improve in any way you can. Finally, while RMT and everything on forums is done on paper, it's extremely important to remember how things play out in practice. For OU, it's easy to say some slow wallbreaker like Hoopa-U can be a threat, but if you consider how often and how easily it can switch in, then it might not be as big of a threat. Even if a team looks good on paper, it still needs to execute well in practice to be a good team. I'm more than happy to try and go further into this if you'd like. I hope this answer works for now.
 

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