Shadestep: Hey erisia! How are you today?
erisia: Good thanks, had my birthday recently and just handed in my first annual report for my PhD. Feelsgoodman.
Shadestep: Where does your username come from?
erisia: It's actually the name of a character from a book I've been trying to write since I was in secondary school. The names (and thankfully lots of other things) have changed since then but this kind of stuck as a username thereafter, and I haven't had the motivation or inspiration to change it. It's a big improvement on the previous "GuitarHeroMatt" I used before Smogon...
Shadestep: You have been on Smogon for about 5 years now. Have you ever taken a long break from Pokemon / Smogon? If so, why and when did you come back?
erisia: Actually I first heard about Smogon back in 2009, when my older cousins showed me the site. I lurked for about 2 years, playing DPP OU on Pokemon Online, before signing up for an actual Smogon account in late 2011. I took a break when XY was released as I was really used to BW2 NU at that point and didn't feel like going back to OU or fooling around with Mega Evolutions, and I was plenty busy with my undergraduate degree. I still lurked on and off but didn't really re-engage until I graduated and had a bit of free time at last. I remembered how fun it was contributing to the site and discussing stuff online, so I started contributing again around October 2015 and the rest is history! The NU community is really vibrant at the moment and helping out with it has been a blast (man balamar).
Shadestep: Since you've been around for a while, you have experienced both the BW NU meta as the ORAS NU meta. Which do you prefer and why? What was your favorite meta of NU ever?
erisia: It's difficult to say to be honest; both BW2 and ORAS have their problems but they're also both a ton of fun in different ways. BW2 struck me as really balanced at the time, but looking back at it the choice of hazard removers is atrocious (Wartortle anyone?!), while ORAS NU manages to keep spikestacking at a much more reasonable level thanks to better spinners (Hitmonchan, Claydol) and the new Defog mechanics. I think BW2 will always have a place in my heart but I think ORAS is my favorite meta (at least until Garbodor rises to RU). That said I've been looking into DPP and GSC NU recently and they look super fun; might have to start making proper teams for those!
Shadestep: You have been making Smogon Analyses for a really long time now. Do you still enjoy making them, or do you sometimes lack the motivation / interest to make or check one?
erisia: Honestly contributing to C&C is probably the main reason I stuck around with Smogon so long in the first place. I write a lot for my research and just enjoy writing in general, and analysis/article writing lets me put that skill to use on something fun that helps or entertains a lot of people. It's really gratifying to release something knowing how many people will see it and improve their online Pokemon experience because of it; I don't think I'm going to run out of steam any time soon!
Shadestep: What do you enjoy doing the most on Smogon and PS?
erisia: Since being let onto the staff as Moderator of the NU C&C Forums, I've also really enjoyed helping to manage everyone else's work and keep things going as a nice side project. I'm really enjoying writing articles too as it lets me talk about Pokemon in a more general and slightly less formal context. Other than that, helping out with Showdown Chat has been great fun and recently the Teambuilding Workshops are becoming one of my favorite things about Smogon, showing newer players good ways of designing teams and also showing how less-seen sets and Pokemon can (and should) be used viably. Outside of NU, I also enjoy participating in CAP when a project's underway, but I never seem to make it past the voting stages.
Shadestep: Do you have any outstanding, really fun experiences on Smogon or PS that you still remember to this date?
erisia: I have to admit that helping out with NU has been really consistently fun and not a huge amount of things spring to my head immediately. Doing that teambat where we all had to build teams where everyone Pokemon had to use Explosion was hilarious and got tense towards the end! Vanilluxe for S-rank imo. Also getting accepted onto the QC team and getting to know the other staff better was one of the highlights for sure, and getting my first article published and seeing all the Facebook comments being about Bummer's art was funny (which was fantastic btw).
Shadestep: What is your opinion on the Speed Boosts + Baton Pass suspect test? Do you feel anything else in NU is suspect-worthy?
erisia: I've actually been really conflicted about this; on paper it seems like Speed Boost + Baton Pass is definitely unbalanced, but I've seen it so little on the ladder (especially compared to Rain) that I don't think it's influential enough to warrant banning. Having tried out NinjaskPass I also think that strategy is average at best and I really doubt other Baton Pass shenanigans are overpowered. I haven't really been decided enough about this suspect to want to get reqs like I did with Sawk (rip). Other than that, I don't think anything is overpowered in NU at the moment.
Shadestep: What are some fun and underrated Pokemon or movesets you recommend using?
erisia: I think Cryogonal has gone full circle and is super underrated right now; just have some countermeasure for Pursuit users and I think it's one of the best Rapid Spin users around for offensive teams. Regice is also really fun as a specially defensive tank and is probably one of the most consistent Thunder Wave users because most switch-ins hate Ice Beam; you just need something to beat Lanturn with. I'm also writing up a set analysis for Substitute + Quiver Dance Vivillon, which I think pressures teams much more consistently than the Focus Sash variant. That set is basically how I get to pretend to be a good player.
Shadestep: What is it with you and Claydol? :O
erisia: My favorite Pokemon are all based around objects (Claydol, Cryogonal, Magneton) and Claydol is NU. I was going to theme myself around Cryogonal but then I saw that sick Mega Claydol picture and it's going to stick until GameFreak makes it happen. ;)
Shadestep: What is your favourite tier besides NU?
erisia: Actually I don't play any tiers other than NU. D: That said, I think RU looks really fun (especially now that Mega Steelix is gone) and if I was going to start playing another metagame (outside of old gens of NU) then I'd probably pick that one. Tbh I like learning one metagame inside-out and don't really feel the need to play other metas.
Shadestep: You are a real lad, as you live in the UK. Can you tell us a bit more about yourself?
erisia: Sure, I'm doing a PhD in Avalanche Mechanics at the University of Nottingham at the moment, and I'm really enjoying it! I've built a huge ramp in the lab that I'll start using soon and I've got a simulation to match it that will run on the University's supercomputer, so it's going to get exciting really soon. Outside of academia I'm a huge LEGO nerd and actually President of the University's LEGO Society! We're crowdfunding to build a scale model of the main building and we do trips to LEGOLAND Windsor every term as well as doing events with schools and other charities.
Shadestep: What is your opinion on the recent changes in the UK metagame? xD
erisia: I was planning on moving to Switzerland in a few years so hopefully Brexit won't change much for me. You can draw a few parallels between the referendum and a Smogon suspect test, but I think leaving the EU has such wide ramifications that a public vote might not have been the best idea, as many people didn't take it seriously enough. Smogon has reqs for suspect tests; why not give some requirements for voting in a historic referendrum? A simple test would have made people put a minimum amount of effort in such that they wouldn't bother voting for the laughs.
Shadestep: Can you post a picture of yourself?
erisia: Here I am at Tacoma in front of a bridge that every Civil Engineering student at Nottingham knows about. And there's a human too.
Shadestep: What kind of music do you listen to?
erisia: I like most music if it's on, but usually I listen to movie/show/game soundtracks (undertale remixes will never get old) when I'm working on things at home and rock stuff like Muse and Foo Fighters when I'm relaxing or holding a party.
Shadestep: Do you have any life advice you want to share with us all?
erisia: Cook food. It's really nice and really cheap (in the UK at least), and it's a skill that'll be handy for the rest of your life (unless you become some kind of billionaire at which point problems stop being a thing altogether I presume).
That's it! Thanks for your time erisia :) If you have any more questions or also wonder why erisia is a dog, feel free to ask him or drop some funny memes! :P
