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Tarrembeau and Syrinix
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! Check out past interviews here!
Without further ado, let’s move onto the interview itself!
Tarrembeau
alright! Let's break the ice with an unrelated question: are you a sports fan?
HaunterBoy28
Not general sports, no; I like to play pool and follow professional snooker on TV but nothing particularly "physical"
Tarrembeau
oh! I think I spent more time playing pool in high school than doing my homework, it's truly a great game. Pool, rands, are you a competitive game enjoyer or do you like games in general?
HaunterBoy28
See I do love games but I'm naturally a competitive person, always have been! Maybe a little too much so but I don't really like investing time into something I feel "unskilled" in, e.g. I don't hate FPS games but I don't play them because I'm not good at them. Always been a maths and numbers kinda guy so Pokémon fits the bill I guess !
Tarrembeau
Definitely, it's a game of calculation and odds management, after all! Did you play the Pokémon RPG games as a kid?
HaunterBoy28
I got into Pokémon a bit later than other kids my age, starting around 11 y/o during Pokémon GO hype (not as experienced as many players for sure!!). Played OmegaRuby since it was the most recent release at the time, subsequently SM and then got into comp. during USUM. Used to watch the anime and all; fond memories!
Tarrembeau
Did you find out about Smogon and PS! immediately or did you start battling on console? and what led you to this community?
HaunterBoy28
Never wound up playing 6v6 or VGC on console, still don't to this day! It was the YouTube community that brought me here for sure; began with general creators, then I found an interest in draft-focused content through the likes of Joey and PokéMEN7 which funneled me nicely into PS, with 6v6 being the format that piqued my interest most. Watching other creators like Emvee and Blunder is how I improved my game, along with practice of course!
Tarrembeau
Interesting path, I kinda did a similar trajectory but with the French content creators, who are quite active as well. How did you stumble upon Random Battles amidst the chaos of PS formats?
HaunterBoy28
It was mainly the variety if I'm honest. I find teambuilding quite unappealing in metagames that feel stagnant, where you put yourself at a disadvantage by using unique Pokémon that aren't "meta," gross! Randbats requires adaptation and puts more focus on immediate game planning rather than repetition. Also keeps me well away from dreaded high-ladder stall matchups!
Tarrembeau
Random Battles are all about in-game skills, yeah, contrary to teambuilding formats that require prior work. But it's also, well, random! How do you manage to find consistency in such a format?
HaunterBoy28
Consistency is all about mindset for me. There are days when I play around 2am and I'm exhausted, unfocused, and I tilt 100 points. Then other days where my mind is fully in the game and I climb 100 points. I think the main difference between randomised and standard formats is that you can't autopilot when your team changes every game, so it requires as good as 100% attention. I'd say that's 50% of what's involved in "consistency." The other 50% is knowledge; odds of moves on certain 'mons, possible movesets, item recognition and of course calcing go a long way game in, game out!
Tarrembeau
100% agreed. Experiencing tilts can definitely be heartbreaking, though. How do you deal with setbacks, bad streaks, unfortunate losses, etc?
HaunterBoy28
Tough question! I feel like as much as stubbornness makes me want to regain the amount of points I lose and break even, it's vital to step away. I go listen to music, watch YouTube or take a walk; sometimes high ladder games feel like life or death when they really aren't!! There's a life away from the screen that I can't disregard, too, as much as I do love and adore Pokémon, especially competitive. Similarly after tournament losses I simply analyse, notice my mistake(s) and move on; no point dwelling but it's a waste not learning !
Tarrembeau
That's a catchy name for a good principle! You've qualified for Rands Slam playoffs twice in a row now. Are you looking forward to this strong tournament?
HaunterBoy28
Very much so! Had a rocky start to Rands Slam but the 2 individual tourney wins were great for confidence; starting off 4th seed is a huge boost going into playoffs, even if it does feel like trying to climb a mountain of the very best players. Going out R1 in playoffs last year only gave me more of a drive this time around, but we can only see how things pan out, right?!
Tarrembeau
That's the mindset I like to hear! I wish you the best of luck for your coming r1 series. You didn't sign up for CCC, and you weren't part of last year's RBTT. Will you sign up for RBTT7? Are you interested in these Random Battles team tours, or are you focusing solely on the individual performances?
HaunterBoy28
I suppose before now I wanted to learn and improve as much as I could; being at my best before trying to compete with the best. I think that's why it took me over 4 years of being on PS to join my first tournament!! I think getting a placement in the Hall of Fame (and, well, this interview!) has solidified my place as a recognised player. So basically more tournaments in the Rands sphere and maybe some ladder tours in the primary formats down the line, who knows!
Tarrembeau
I understand completely, although I have to say that Random Battles team tournaments are great and fun experiences! Slam is remarkable for its wide variety of formats; do you have one or several favourite ones among them?
HaunterBoy28
Indeed the variety is, again, why I love the Slam tour as much as I do! Random Double Battles is a nice niche that I feel a lot of (other!) strong singles players struggle with! Hackmons Cup is great for pure chaos; there's no joy like seeing a Mime Jr. use Moongeist Beam! But I think overall I clearly shine most in DS Classic, something about pure unadulterated Pokémon—no wacky mechanics like tera and Z-moves—that's just so simple yet appealing. It also takes me back to my DS roots!
Tarrembeau
Chaos do be great. Gen 5, Gen 6 and Gen 7 got revamped recently to use the same role system as Gen 9 Random Battles. Did you notice the difference? Do you have any opinion on that?
HaunterBoy28
Oh all of that disgusting code stuff, how I hate the thought of it so! I did notice some gradual additions and removals of sets recently for sure. If I'm honest I'm not too sure what changes were made in older gens but it was definitely noticeable with the shift into Gen 9. I suppose it's no harm to have continuity between old gens and new; one less thing to worry about when changing between gens.
Tarrembeau
Haha, well, outside of ease of coding, the revamps mainly aimed to remove most of the jank sets that were leftovers from the past. Across all these numerous formats, are there pokemon you particularly enjoy rolling, or sets you like in particular?
HaunterBoy28
Wish passers are always fun to use, balance probably being my favourite archetype to teambuild so it works its way into Randbats that way. Jirachi is easily my favourite overall mon to use; its versatility as well as having one of my favourite designs, typings, and abilities make it a great little guy to roll! Subseeders like Tropius and Jumpluff that have a niche in Randbats are pretty awesome too! On the opposite end I don't really like the Paradox mons because they just feel like less interesting UBs to me, sharing that "stat boost" mechanic.
Tarrembeau
Subseed Tropius has received a lot of hate since the beginning of Gen 9, I'm happy to see I'm not the only one finding it pretty cool! Alright, last but not least, do you have any advice for a new player seeking to improve in Randbats?
HaunterBoy28
Seeing all the Tropius hate made me only love it more! My best advice is practice; I know it's basic but it works!! I can only really advise based upon what I've done myself, so if that's the case then YouTube content is good if you prefer inactive learning (which I often do!). Freezai and PokeaimMD's Randbats to the Top series were very useful for me getting above the 2300 mark, and PKV Pokevin is a great high ladder creator who makes content in a quick and consumable no-nonsense format I really like. At the end of the day you can't be me, so just try to beat me!! (that's a challenge by the way I'm serious)
Tarrembeau
I'd take the challenge but I think I lost most of our ladder encounters so far aha. Anyway, thanks for your time and your inspiring answers !!
HaunterBoy28
Thanks for conducting the interview, it's been a pleasure! See all you budding Randbattlers on the ladder, HaunterBoy28 over and out :)
