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E03 // TomahawkUK: Top Cut Competitor and Now Top Caster?!
118 Plays1 year ago
Join us on Tap Tap Cast this week where we talk with TomahawkUK, a two-time World's qualifier and the latest addition to the European Play! Pokemon casting roster! The crew talks about Tomahawk's growth and skill in pvp, wardrobe choices for casting events, and gets his opinion on local cups and challenges. The crew also try to get this smooth talking lawyer to say something incriminating... do they succeed?
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Transcript
Introductions
00:00:00
Speaker
Hello, everyone. Welcome to a new episode of the Tap Tap Cast. My name is Martijn. You may also know me as Inadequance. And I am Amanda, also known as Lundberger. We are here. Actually, this is kind of funny because I'm normally in your time zone, Martijn. But I'm actually in the UK right now. And I can't think of another better guest than another person from the UK. Maybe having that in their in-game name, perhaps. Let's bring in Tomahawk UK.
00:00:34
Speaker
How are you doing, guys? Yeah, I am famously from the UK. Amanda, I can't believe you actually didn't tell me you were in the UK as well. What whereabouts are you? Um, I didn't tell you on purpose just because I, you know, there's stalker tendencies. I didn't. You got to let it go.
Joining the Casting Roster
00:00:50
Speaker
Farid, welcome on. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself? Yeah, so my name's Farid, also known as TomahawkUK. I'm one of the battlers from England that has suddenly emerged onto the Play Pokemon scene. We've got a few of us now that I think are doing very well, and that's very nice for us to see. I don't think last year the UK had as much representation as we would have liked, but now there are quite a few players. Many of them are my teammates, as you will have seen me
00:01:19
Speaker
talk about on stream and yeah I'm here to chat to my two very handsome and gorgeous colleagues now as we know yeah this is breaking news yes it's really exciting for those of whom maybe don't know what we're talking about Tomahawk UK has been officially brought on to the casting roster for the play pokemon pokemon go championship series getting his debut in Utrecht Netherlands can you try pronouncing that one more time Utrecht
00:01:49
Speaker
Utrecht. Utrecht. There you go. Lesson's here for you as well. How do you feel about... Utrecht? Is that right? Yeah, exactly. Thank you. See, there we have someone who can do it Amanda.
00:02:02
Speaker
There we go. No, I'm excited. I
Casting Preparations
00:02:04
Speaker
am excited. I think it's going to be, I'm nervous, obviously. I want to, I want to be able to have a lot of fun, try and help educate, inspire, inform, and find that balance. And that might take some time, but I am really excited. Yeah. Well, we're excited to have you for sure.
00:02:19
Speaker
Yeah. Did you get like a new suit and stuff? I'm in the process of ordering it. I've got some new shoes. They've just arrived. Tried them on. Brilliant. I've, you know, watching a couple of videos of you guys just like, you know, what's the style to go for? And obviously it's not help because Adelian's wearing whatever he's wearing.
00:02:38
Speaker
Do I compete with that? I can't compete with that, though. It's tricky, but I think I'll look good. It's fine. I'll look good. What's funny about that is my husband, he doesn't really care for Pokémon. He's not in the game, really, but he'll sometimes tune into the broadcast to be a supportive partner.
00:02:54
Speaker
And he did mention Adelian's suit. He said, is this an inside joke or something that I don't understand? And I was like, no, he just picked the suit. He said, okay. And that was the end of the conversation. I was like, now I have to bring it back up with him later to see what he saw or thought of the suit. Yeah, I love Adelian. And obviously he can pull it off. He's a great character. But when I was going through some of the options with my girlfriend and saying, what do you think I should go for? She goes, definitely not that. She didn't like my suggestions?
00:03:31
Speaker
Well, I do think that Delim brought like this showman with him, right? And maybe it's also, I don't think I could pull it off, but, you know, I think it's pretty cool if you can. I think we also have like Shay, right, from TCG. He can pull off a pink suit. It's great if you can. I couldn't. It's impressive. And actually, when you think back to some of the bigger events, when you think to Worlds, for example, and you look at what Speedy was wearing with his Justin Bieber vibe, there's a time and a place to really go out, all out, and that flamboyance can be quite nice.
00:03:47
Speaker
Your suggestion, we've just left in the DMs for now, Landra. Okay, okay.
00:04:00
Speaker
Yeah, that's a good point. So what we're going to sit, yeah, I guess we'll, we'll keep it in contact and we'll see what you're going to wear. Maybe he's just like really downplaying it, but he's going to go even more like peacock feathers, like coming up from the back. I've got a top hat, so it's going to be hard to fit those speakers over it. That is true. I haven't, I haven't thought about that. That could ruin my hair.
00:04:24
Speaker
Oh, yeah, you don't want that. Yeah. Yes, the casting part is very exciting, but I would like to come to that later.
Entering PvP During COVID
00:04:31
Speaker
Farid, how did you get into PvP? How did you get started? So I think a lot of people had similar journeys in that they were fans of Pokemon. They downloaded the Pokemon Go when it first came out.
00:04:43
Speaker
And then after a little while, the novelty war and people slowly stopped playing. But then during Covid, I think a lot of people picked up the game again. And that was the same for me. I picked it up during Covid because one of my brothers still played and he said, oh, there's a PvP format now. And all of a sudden I go, hold on a minute. This looks quite interesting.
00:05:02
Speaker
And I would just play very, very casually. And when I came back to London after the first lockdowns, I found that there was a community in London where I lived and a few of them were also interested in PvP. So I used to play and we used to talk and try and theory craft and say, you know, one day I'll hit veteran and go battle league. That is the dream.
00:05:24
Speaker
and season by season you obviously hit these benchmarks and it becomes exciting and and I remember hitting legend for the first time and I just thought to myself tell you what this this game is taking up a lot of my time but that was worth it obviously then you come into the grassroots and you come into the competitive scene and things get really exciting when you're starting to speak to people across the world
00:05:47
Speaker
And look at us now. Here we are. Look, we're, Amanda, usually in a different place, but typically different countries speaking to people in the US and in South America. And the way that it's brought so many people together, I was like, I can't let this go. I don't have anything else in my ordinary life that would let me speak to people on the other side of the planet like this.
00:06:07
Speaker
And so I just kept playing. And I'm quite a competitive person. And I do like to really invest a lot of time in things and say to myself, if I'm putting this much time into it, I want to get something out of it. And Play Pokemon has given us exactly that. You can go to these events. And not only can you obviously earn money and points, but you get to see all of these people you've spoken to. You get to travel to incredible places. I'm there at work telling someone this year, I'm going to Hawaii to play Pokemon.
00:06:36
Speaker
And they're confused. They're thinking, well, hold on a minute. Who's this guy playing Pokemon at his age? But he's going to Hawaii and he's, he's earning money from this and people are paying to fly him out to various places like Utrecht. And it's exciting. And how could you stop? How can any of us stop when we've got this on right on our doorstep? We're very lucky, I think. I agree.
Competitive Progress and Confidence
00:06:57
Speaker
I want to like bring up. So you kind of got your name on the map originally when you took second place in Warsaw, like the second championship season.
00:07:06
Speaker
And like, we're all part of different discord servers, like you were talking about. And I'm not throwing shade at you because I think you're absolutely a fantastic battler. And this season has proven it as well. Season like barely half over. You're already qualified for world's top cutting multiple times. But at the beginning, like people were ranking players for worlds. And I don't think that you were very high on a lot of players considerations. What would you say to that now, like already showcasing within like just a year's time, how freaking good you are? I like this question.
00:07:35
Speaker
I think it's interesting and I think that even now there will be a lot of players that wouldn't put me in the top category and genuinely I don't mind, that's not a concern to me. What I am pleased about when I see my performances is that I feel I can go toe to toe on my day with anyone in the world and I genuinely believe that. I don't mean to be arrogant or big-headed when I say this but there is no one that I look at that I think I cannot beat you.
00:08:04
Speaker
There's a chance. On any day, anyone can win. But there was once upon a time where I would look at another player and think, there's no chance. Who am I kidding? And now I'm not at that stage anymore. And for me, that growth is really exciting. And I'm really pleased to see that in myself. And I am hoping that at these events, at EUIC, for example, at Worlds, that I can
00:08:24
Speaker
slowly start to build a better reputation amongst some of the top players who perhaps didn't look at me in that way before. But even in Go Battle League, when you pair against some of these big names and you're beating them and you feel pretty chuffed and it happens consistently enough for me now that I'm confident with where I am. I'm confident with my team building, with my ability to speak about the game.
00:08:47
Speaker
I think a lot of these things that come together in my mind demonstrates a huge growth and success in where I was to where I am now. Where or what was the turning point for you that you found yourself becoming more of a big name, right? To the point where you're like on a good day you don't fear anyone.
Understanding Game Mechanics
00:09:05
Speaker
That is a really good question. Yeah, I mean, we got you on to get you to work. You're not even stuck. That's just that pretty face. I will admit, I have put a lot of time into learning the mechanics and the numbers behind the game. And I know that not everyone wants to hear that. And you've got players out there who say, I don't count, I do it by feel. And fair enough, fair play to them.
00:09:31
Speaker
But I did invest quite a lot of time into the mechanics and the gameplay. And there were points where I realized that I knew exactly what my opponent was going to do. And when you're playing next to a more casual player, so I would play GBL in my old flat next to my housemate, who wasn't really interested in playing seriously, but he liked Pokemon, he liked watching. And I said, they're about to throw this move. Now I'm going to switch. And I catch it.
00:09:58
Speaker
And when that started to happen regularly, I was thinking, hey, I know what I'm doing. This isn't luck anymore. I'm not hoping for the best. I'm playing in a way that other people should be playing and that allows me to predict it. And I think I said that once in one of my interviews, I think it was at Liverpool, that there are plays that I'm making because I expect my opponents who are very good to play in a certain way and I can bounce off that and they should be doing the same with me.
00:10:25
Speaker
I played a GBL match yesterday against Crescent Angels and there was a point in the game where I paused to throw a move, he paused and then switched to catch and a lot of people would just do the pause, throw the move. He's obviously a very good player, he knows that we're going to do that, he pauses then switches
00:10:45
Speaker
But I waited for the fast attack to come through, and when it didn't, I realized. And it's little things like that that when you watch yourself back and you say, that was the right play. When I watch back one of my matches on stream, I say, that was the right play. And it's those moments that when you see them consistently, you have to give yourself some respect and you have to start backing yourself because that's how you win games.
Joining Tea and Pizza Team
00:11:06
Speaker
So when did you get involved with your teammate group, Tea and Pizza, then? Was this before Warsaw, or was this after, put together? It would have been after Warsaw. I think Warsaw was my first proper regional event. I attended the LCQs in London. I wouldn't count that as a regional, but Warsaw was my first regional event. I was part of a team called Hidden Powers at the time. And we had a lot of English players that were friendly with some of the Tea and Pizza players.
00:11:35
Speaker
at these regional events I then became closer with players like Statterstan and at one point they just said hold on a minute why don't we have you into the tea and pizza team and I think there were various tiers in factions and there was Emerald and I was one of the few master league players or people willing to to invest dust in master league at the time so it was a valued resource and when I was moving I just I said to the rest of my teammates you know
00:12:02
Speaker
We've got a lot of players that were leaving the faction when Silph was coming to an end. And it was a really good opportunity to just combine some communities that I felt would get on really well on a personal level. And I'm very pleased and proud to see that that has come to fruition. We are now a huge, close group of friends with a variety of skills, with a variety of interests, with a variety of focuses. When it comes to the game, we have a lot of players in TM Pizza who are big, big grinders.
00:12:30
Speaker
And then we've got a lot of players who will only do PvP. And I'm, for example, I'm having a conversation with my good friend Colin, as you know, and we're discussing putting a man team into his team. And he goes, Fried, I don't have a man team.
00:12:44
Speaker
And that's difficult when you've got some players who will grind and get certain Pokemon and then others who are like, Bastiodon, I have no issue with Bastiodon, I just simply cannot build one. It's fair enough. The real question is, you know, you have tea and pizza and you have
00:13:01
Speaker
the emperors, who do you think is really the kings of the European region? I have to say, and I will put a lot of respect on EU emperors, because they were regardless... Oh man, I was expecting some shade immediately. Oh it's coming, it's coming. Not everyone's like you Amanda, not everyone wants to see war.
EU Emperors Team Dynamics
00:13:18
Speaker
Let it burn. I think a lot of people put a huge amount of respect on EU emperors, and they've had that brand that everyone knew what was coming when you would play against an EU emperor's team.
00:13:29
Speaker
And then they rebranded. And I'm not sure that they kept the same fear factor that they once had. And I say that with all honesty, I don't think it's quite the same as when they were EU emperors. And me personally, I would like to see them go back to EU emperors. I don't know if that's ever going to happen, but I'm not sure what the current name is now. It's Mega Legends hype and euphoria. It's not the same for me. It's not the same. So, you know, maybe one day.
00:13:59
Speaker
We, uh, we kept the EU emperors in this bigger name, just for the same reason that you say this. But I do feel like that we need to prove again who we are. We've not been very successful. I would say unsuccessful in, in play Pokemon, but also like the only one on our team since they joined our team, uh, won a regional is, is, is nighttime clasher. It's the only person who won, you know, a regional in Europe and he's not even the European. He's not even on our EU emperors.
00:14:31
Speaker
I'm actually not sure which regional you're talking about on that one, but I think there are a couple of things to that as you say he's not he's not European and that in itself isn't an issue. I think it stemmed from when
00:14:45
Speaker
it was part of like a larger team that would pick up players who had already won regionals. That was maybe more where some of the fear factor was lost because it wasn't a case of this is our player entering an event and they've gone on to win. There was an element of this is our team and we will recruit players who have won. And that's a little bit of a different vibe and I think maybe some of the original culture and atmosphere of that EU Empress team
00:15:12
Speaker
um was affected by that but also because we lost self and we lost factions and and as much as i am enjoying playing in team formats it doesn't to me have the same love and heart and passion that it once had not necessarily because there's anything wrong with the format but Matt perhaps because show six and play pokemon has come to the scene and that seems to have taken up a lot of people's time and attention i do think that's true there's some magic that has been lost
00:15:41
Speaker
Um, that Silph had that they just like, when they just dissolve themselves without really like passing on a torch or anything to anyone else was a real bummer for the whole like online PVP community, because I think that really gave players a way to, to hone their PVP skills, to meet some of these people across the globe. And we're still trying to fill that spot. There are some things popping up, like, you know, Devin corporation and.
00:16:07
Speaker
Battle frontier and I I really hope that these things succeed and I want them to because I mean silk played such an impactful part of my PvP community I wouldn't be talking with you guys now if there wasn't that that aspect so I agree and I wish that there was a way to To get some of that magic back, but again, maybe it's just a chapter in a book And now the chapter is the show six pick replay Pokemon chapter.
New PvP Opportunities Post-Silph
00:16:33
Speaker
Yeah, I think so
00:16:34
Speaker
I think so, yeah. And I would really hope that new players that want to play Pokemon Go PvP feel that they have a breadth of opportunity, whether they want to take part in locals and attend regionals, or if they're not ready for that or not interested in that, that they feel free and able to go and get involved with Devon and with Battle Frontier. As long as we have options and the game is accessible, I think that that is a good thing for everyone. Do you think that those formats can succeed, Battle Frontier and Devon?
00:17:04
Speaker
The definition of succeed is probably what we'd have to go into. I think that one of the issues with self is that you're taking a lot of people's time and then they're not necessarily making any money from that. And that's difficult. You are relying on passion projects.
Sustainability of Passion Projects
00:17:21
Speaker
And I don't know what the lifespan of passion projects are if they want to get sponsorship involved and maybe if they get to a point where they could be perhaps broadcast on the Play Pokemon scene, you know, in show six and on stream we can see that there are these grassroots organizations that are being popularized and then maybe they could last.
00:17:42
Speaker
But truly, we are going to be dependent on those behind the scenes, on the coders, on the people who have put so much time into giving it to us. Let's see if it suffers the same fate as Sylph or if it has a little bit more longevity. I will say one thing, if people are listening and they're wondering how to get involved with PvP but don't necessarily want to go to a play Pokemon thing just yet or don't
00:18:07
Speaker
know if they want to do actual in-person things. Martijn on his Inadequance server, the Candle Cult server, he hosts like weekly tournaments and different metas in the regular Open Great League and also different like created metas
00:18:22
Speaker
where you can play against other players and kind of hone your skills. And it's not just a double elimination where you lose two and you're out. You can play against a lot of different players. And man, I'm being really nice to you today, Martin. I don't know. I think I'm sick. Something in the water here in England.
Community Engagement Praise
00:18:39
Speaker
And to be honest, I think it's fair enough. And I am all for poking fun and having really good banter, but Martine, for me, is someone who is so integral to the PvP scene, because not only have you got a role model in being a streamer and a caster and a very good battler,
00:18:58
Speaker
but the amount in which he gives back to the community by hosting these types of tournaments, by having a very inclusive atmosphere in his server. I think that that genuinely is so needed, otherwise there are so many players that wouldn't be able to get into the game because they just simply wouldn't know how. And so when you've got community leaders like Martijn and many others,
00:19:21
Speaker
that is what's going to keep the game going. That for me is what makes this a forever game, not delaying launches and delaying events and things like that in game. It's these types of people that really lead the way. Yeah, great.
00:19:34
Speaker
making me a little bit speechless, the amount of praise I get there. Yeah, the Open Greatly praise Storms have been a vital part there because I felt like it has been missing really, right? A place where you can regularly do that. You can scrim with your friends all you want, but eventually you end up playing against the same player over and over. You kind of get to know them and when you go to a regional championship, you play against a bozer like me who plays extremely different and
00:20:01
Speaker
Well, maybe you win, but you can also lose, right? So that's what basically the purpose of that.
Local Tournaments' Impact
00:20:07
Speaker
But now there's also local tournaments, right? And they're here for the first time in the Go season. How do you feel like?
00:20:15
Speaker
The addition of the local tournaments have been... I think in principle local tournaments are a brilliant addition. As I say and I think as I've made clear, I really want the game to be about accessibility and I've seen many of my locals really getting interested in PvP because they now have access to local tournaments at the weekend.
00:20:37
Speaker
I think that there is still a balance to be struck with the way in which locals can contribute towards worlds and there has been some commentary that winning 50 CP at a local which only had six participants might not be the right balance and you might have players at the world championships that historically would never have got to the world championships.
00:21:00
Speaker
And to be clear, I don't necessarily think that that is a bad thing. I think that when you compare Pokemon Go to TCG and VGC, we have previously had a very high caliber of world's players that TCG has been a little bit more relaxed about, where it's only the next couple of rounds or day two, for example, that has that top tier and the first day is more open.
00:21:23
Speaker
And I don't think that that's necessarily a problem because I really do think that in order for this game to grow, you can't be excluding people, you can't be siphoning off access to these kinds of competitions. It just requires a little different perspective on how we view day one versus day two worlds, day two versus day three, so on and so
Inclusivity in Competitions
00:21:42
Speaker
forth.
00:21:42
Speaker
But then you also come to the difference between quality at different locals. So Netherlands, for example, famously very, very easy locals. They let anyone win. Yes, pretty much. I get my points. I'm a farmer. So you've got a player like Martijn who will go to these locals and he's picking up 50 CP every other week, but then he goes to a regional and I can't remember the last time he top cut. Come on, man.
00:22:11
Speaker
No, I'm joking. I do think locals are really, really good. I think that when they find the numbers balance and the best way to deal with it, maybe reduce it a little bit from 50 CP or have staggered CP based on the number of participants, then I think we'll have a healthy balance. I agree with, I mean, I can understand why some people are upset with this, but I agree with your second point that I think
00:22:33
Speaker
Like, just make the table bigger. Like, I have nothing against that because Pokemon Go already is so much smaller than VG and TCG when you see it at the regionals. I mean, like, I think I was talking with Defie and she was saying like, oh, you know, I was looking at the player participants for Vancouver and there's 30 people signed up.
00:22:56
Speaker
And it's just like I would I mean TCG I'm sure had like 300 minimum signed up for this sort of thing So how do we get go to that stage? And I think it's more inclusive That's the only way to do it because if Pokemon go players are like, yeah But if I need to be this good to be a world's qualifier, I don't think I'll ever get to that level So I'm not going to try but if they say okay I went to this and I got 40 CP here and I
00:23:23
Speaker
okay I know at this local it's maybe small but I have 50 CP now so I'm going to keep coming back to locals and I'm going to go to the next events because it's just this small increment more that I need and then people are going to get better as well like in these things but I think we need to have this launching pad to be able to bring more people in and because if our worlds is not as prestigious because of it day one I think
00:23:47
Speaker
that's okay in my books.
Balancing Local and Regional Performance
00:23:49
Speaker
But I understand why people would be like, no, no, I mean, world is for the best players in the world. So I definitely think that there is a lot of merit to what you've said. And as you know, I do agree with it. There may be, as I say, a slightly better balance, just in terms of being able to get in Europe, for example, being able to get 390 points from locals alone, when you need 400 to qualify for the world.
00:24:14
Speaker
Maybe that balance is slightly off. Maybe you should be saying you need a good regional performance somewhere along the lines in order to get world championships. And so I do appreciate that. And maybe it's an iterative process. And over the years, we'll find where that balance sits nicely.
00:24:30
Speaker
I mean, I would love for Pokemon Go to get to the point where, I mean, at the LAIC, they were, they fly in players for VG and for TCG, who are at the top of their leaderboards already in the different regions. So Europeans were getting paid to come and play in Brazil. And I was like, how cool would that be for Pokemon Go? Like if we had enough players on the leaderboard, so they're like, okay, our top four Europeans, they're coming over to see how they would compare against the Brazilians. Or not even just the Brazilians, the Latin Americans, obviously there
Transitioning Casual to Competitive
00:24:58
Speaker
was.
00:24:58
Speaker
It has the potential. We all know that Pokemon Go is one of the most downloaded mobile games in the world. The player base versus the PvP player base is what we need to improve on. And so there are steps that are going to need to be made, both from our perspective in what we can do, as I say, I've highlighted Martine already in terms of what we can do
00:25:20
Speaker
as members of the community to encourage people to transition towards PvP, but also perhaps on the game side behind and how you can improve accessibility and really promote that game. And then there's no reason why in five years time we aren't the big player on the scene. It might not happen. This may be huge coping, but there's no reason why it couldn't happen.
00:25:41
Speaker
Yeah, we need to be careful with people getting too good. Otherwise, we will not qualify for rules. Gotta be careful. That's why we've moved to casting Martijn, isn't it? Yes, we secured our place there.
00:25:56
Speaker
How have the locals been going for you? So I've actually only attended one local and I will put my hands up and say that this probably isn't the best example of how a local should go. I had a local event with six six of us
00:26:11
Speaker
And there were two players that I would say are top quality players if I, if I include myself and it was Dean Osky was the other one. So players that never heard of him, but I heard he has some interesting drink choices. That's all, that's all I'll say. So we were both there and then we had three players who perhaps didn't play quite as much and were earlier in their PVP careers.
00:26:37
Speaker
I played three players, not including Dinoski. We didn't have enough players for a top cut, and I won the local because of my opponent's percentage win rate. Now, two of my opponents that I played didn't have six Pokémon at 1500 CP.
00:26:57
Speaker
And I can't in good faith say that I deserved 50 CP there because I didn't play the only other player that I really felt had a chance to beat me in that Dinoski, his team looked very good. He told me his team afterwards. He probably had the team comp advantage. He has beaten me in an event before.
00:27:18
Speaker
I didn't play against him and I'm walking out of there with 50 CP and I don't know how that quite works and I think that there have been other locals that I've heard about where a player can sweep the original Swiss format and then lose a game in top cup against someone bringing a ridiculous Pokémon and all of a sudden they aren't getting anywhere near the number of points that they perhaps deserve so
00:27:40
Speaker
maybe there needs to be some tweaking there. That's the only local I've played and perhaps will play because there haven't been that many that have been at convenient times for me or in locations for me. Even though I'm in London, I would have to actually go fairly outside of London to find some of the cups. But I do think it's good in principle. As I say, iterative process over time maybe will iron out some of these greases. And you didn't like that system? Oh, I liked it. Are you kidding? Yeah, that's fair.
00:28:10
Speaker
But you did feel like it was fair. I have to admit, I came out of that thinking, I've got away with one there. I also, I mean, like one of the locals that we went to, I did feel bad for Stan in a similar aspect because he lost to Martijn and he lost to Thotectical and those were his only two losses. And then there was also another player who's only they also lost to Martijn and to Thomas, but they got a bye one round. So they had the same win record.
00:28:39
Speaker
And then it was the coin flip opportunity of who got to be in the top cut. And this other person got to be in the top cut over Status Dan, which I was like, I get that if it's going off of win rate, that makes sense. But I think that buys should somehow be looked at.
00:28:57
Speaker
And I don't think that buys should actually count as a win in that sense, which is unfair to that player though, too. I get it because then it's like, okay, but that's not fair that I got the random generator where I got put in a buy.
00:29:11
Speaker
Yeah, I think we have to be a little bit careful. And I think that there are a lot of people who are really pushing for Swiss format to be the standard for regional events in Pokémon
Future PvP Improvements
00:29:21
Speaker
GO. Perhaps overlooking that there can be issues like this where it really does feel like an injustice. And so if we can't iron it out at locals, maybe we push back any thought of doing that at bigger events.
00:29:33
Speaker
Yeah, I mean, again, what is nice about this is we're clearly in the infancy stages of Pokemon Go. So I'm sure that, I mean, if you look at from the very first year to where we're at now, we're leaps and bounds ahead of that point. So hopefully, like you said, in five years time, maybe we have some really incredible format that and we have, you know, hundreds of more players that will be competing as well. Yeah, exactly.
00:29:57
Speaker
How do you feel about the local tournaments as a step up to regional
Fostering Community Growth
00:30:03
Speaker
champions? Do you think that helps for not just newer players but players in general? Because otherwise, regional champions can be pretty intimidating if you participate for your first time.
00:30:14
Speaker
In the same way that having grassroots communities for remote battling can be a huge stepping stone in someone's PvP career, we've obviously spoken about how important Sylph was for us. There will be a lot of new players that come in and will go to these local events because that's where they see people, that's where they meet people and that's
00:30:34
Speaker
hugely important for getting people into the game. I do think that Niantic have been pushing quite a lot for this community feel and people being outdoors and getting out and meeting people and having the opportunity to play in person shouldn't be understated. I think it is a really good way of
00:30:53
Speaker
allowing you to speak to people and meet people that can give a lot of very good advice and a lot of advice that I've given to my locals they've been very very appreciative of and it's given them an opportunity to ask questions that you wouldn't feel comfortable necessarily texting or messaging on Discord and I have to say if there is anyone out there who does want to ask me a question
00:31:16
Speaker
I've always got my DMs open, I'm always happy to speak, but I also appreciate that you may not feel that you have a good enough question to ask for example. Being able to ask those in person at a local I think will be hugely important and I think that there will be players that come up through the local scene that in one, two years time, all of a sudden, they will blow you away with what they've learned and it will come quicker than we would like to admit.
Using Non-Meta Pokémon
00:31:40
Speaker
Yeah, I would not be surprised. Speaking of advice, did Kazim advise you the whimsical for Worlds? He did. And this is where we need to... We've obviously had a conversation about, you know, what the reputation is and your standing amongst top players. And I suppose that there is a balance. Can I swear on this podcast or not?
00:32:04
Speaker
Yes, light. Okay, light. So I really enjoy playing with a different variety of Pokémon, a lot of Pokémon that aren't necessarily meta. I know that lots of people also enjoy doing that, but there is a very fine line between something that is spicy and something that is shit.
00:32:25
Speaker
And there have been times where I have been on the wrong side of that line. And I don't necessarily think Whimsicott is on the wrong side. Perhaps I didn't play it as well as I needed to. Perhaps Kazim is a lot better with Whimsicott than anyone else could hope to be. And so it was a mistake from the outset. But on paper, I thought that a grass fairy type could cause problems for a lot of people.
00:32:52
Speaker
Amanda you've spoken a lot about is it the driver or is it the car and perhaps it was the driver in this occasion? I'll say going into rules I had the same idea with a lot of Ontario and stuff but man glad I did now I guess.
00:33:06
Speaker
So of course, this is referencing your not so stellar run at Worlds last year, the 2023 season, but I mean, you're already qualified again for this season.
Challenges at the Worlds Event
00:33:18
Speaker
How do you think you're gonna fare? I mean, are you this much more confident in your skill level just even like half a year later? There are a few things. I don't want to give the impression that I'm making excuses, but what I'll do is I'll make a few excuses. Already.
00:33:33
Speaker
Firstly, we were flying out to Japan, all right? The time difference is ridiculous. And I made the huge error of arriving, I think, two days before the tournament started. So the night- You missed that one? Yeah, huge mistake. The night before the first day of Worlds, I got three hours sleep. I then woke up and got to the venue for 8 a.m., which was our call time. And I was then told, your first game is at 4 p.m.
00:34:02
Speaker
And I go, well, hold on a minute. I could have I could have slept all day and then come later. But this was prior to getting an email in advance telling you when your call time is. And so then I was thinking to myself, do I go back to my hotel? Do I go back and sleep? But I'm with everyone now. I'm with all my friends. I'm trying to support and I'm like, I can't now because some people are starting. I want to be present and I want to be here. I don't want to miss the world championships. And I start my first game at four p.m. and I can barely see my screen.
00:34:32
Speaker
and I go into my first game and it just doesn't go the way I want it but I remember thinking to myself and this might have been my first or my second game I remember thinking to myself I know exactly what team my opponent's going to run if they lead X they're going to safe swap their Altaria
00:34:49
Speaker
I've got a whimsicot in the back and I remember thinking to myself don't bring the whimsicot out versus the Altaria because they will also have their swampert in the back and the swampert is more important for the whimsicot to be aligned to and I'm saying this in my head and they say swap Altaria and I bring in whimsicot and immediately I go
00:35:09
Speaker
What am I doing? And I'm then stuck with my Galarian stunfisk in the back versus a swamper, even though I called their line to perfection. I just, my brain was not there. And then the other thing I learned, and was a lesson going forward that I've taken already into these regionals, take a notepad, take a pen and paper. When you have these thoughts, just write them down if you need to write them. Because even if you don't read them, the fact that you've written them can help. It's that, you know, that mind-muscle connection.
00:35:35
Speaker
So that's been a huge thing that I've been doing and I've seen a few of my friends now also starting to do. And some of them say to me, Farid, I see you writing, but what do I write? I've always wondered that too. I'm like, what are people writing down? I don't know what to write, man. I don't know what to write. I brought a notepad and a pen and I just write down the team and I'm like, well, I'm just too busy playing
Strategic Gameplay Insights
00:35:53
Speaker
now. I already picked my team within 10 seconds.
00:35:56
Speaker
There are lots of different ways, and I've spoken to people in the different ways that they use their pen and paper, some people will sketch out a matrix very, very quickly to just give them a visual representation of how good one of their Pokemon might look against their opponent's team. Other people, and sometimes I do this, I will write down, if he leads Gligar, he's unlikely to have X in the back because he would be hard ABA weak to something.
00:36:24
Speaker
And so I can then safe swap lantern, let's say, because he shouldn't have something in the bag that immediately hard counters it.
00:36:32
Speaker
Now, it's really difficult with very diverse metas for that principle to follow through because there are some matches where you have to play ABA and you have to make that gamble. And I have very famously safe swapped an Alolan Sandslash into a Registeal and was met by a Medicham. And everyone turns to me and goes, you idiot. Why would you safe swap a Sandslash into a Registeal, which has a Medicham in the back?
00:36:58
Speaker
And I'm like, well, hold on a minute. I'm leaving Gligar in my head. I thought if you leave Registeal, you shouldn't have Medicham in the back. But EJ played sensibly. He said, you know what, if you leave Gligar, I'll let my Registeal go down and maybe Medicham will be free. And that worked. But I mean, maybe I was an idiot, but there was some logic to what I was trying to do. And I've actually set myself a couple of ground rules now.
Personal Pokémon Bans
00:37:23
Speaker
I'm not allowed to use a low-end soundslash. That's banned. I've banned myself from using it. Thank you. It's bad, right? Nobody has time for that. You can... What do you mean nobody has time for that? That barely takes any time.
00:37:38
Speaker
Imagine, imagine paying all this money flying out to this, you know, to this country across Europe and you just switch in a Loan Sign Slash and you're met by six counters and then you're done. I don't have, that's not worth it for me. So, Loan Sign Slash, banned. Whiskash, banned. Interesting. Now, not because I've actually used it, not because I think it's bad, but because I think it's boring and because I don't like the style of play that it invites into the game at the moment.
00:38:06
Speaker
That for me has really put me off Wiscash. Shadow Wiscash, I'm a little bit more open to because shadows look cool. That's an important factor, right? You have to take that seriously. Normal Wiscash, as soon as it got buffed to a 50% school debuff.
00:38:27
Speaker
Normal Whiscash, Derpy, Shadow Whiscash? Cool. Cashdaddy. Exactly. What are some other Pokémon that look cool to you? What is that make your roster for this reason alone?
Originality in Team Building
00:38:38
Speaker
I think it's interesting and I've said in a previous interview that one of my favourite times to team build is when there's a meta change.
00:38:48
Speaker
And that's because there will be a lot of players out there who are very, very good at battling. And I think Martin, you and I have spoken about this. There are some players who are very, very good at battling, and there are other players who are very, very good at team building. And there are, of course, players that are good at both. And I'd like to think that I'm fairly good at both. I'm not the best batter in the world. I'm not the best team builder in the world. But because I can do both, I put myself in a fairly good position when it comes to new metas. And we've obviously seen that in
00:39:18
Speaker
Dortmund for example and I obviously built the team for Colin which because he's a better battler he goes on and wins and I'm very happy for him and Utrecht's going to be a really really exciting one. If we do get this move update in advance of the of the event that will be a brand new meta and there will be a lot of people trying to team build for the very first time. There are other players who will rely on watching an event to see what do other people use
00:39:45
Speaker
And when I approach my team building, if I see a team that's been used before, I can't use that team. That wasn't my team. I didn't build it. And I'm perfectly happy to share teams that I have built. And I'm perfectly happy for other people to use them. But I will categorically not use a team that I've seen already. That's just not how I play. What if you already built it yourself?
00:40:08
Speaker
like you're like oh i'm definitely playing this i'm like i've locked this in in my mind i've maybe even locked it in on the registration and then you see someone play and win with it would you still so there was there was actually an example of that which was very close when i entered barcelona the first event of this season
00:40:25
Speaker
there was an event I think took place a week before, I can't remember if it was Pittsburgh, an NA event took place just before Barcelona and Pocket used a very very similar team to the team that I had basically already locked in and part of me was thinking
00:40:41
Speaker
Everyone's going to think I've copied him. I'm going to have to change team because I definitely didn't copy him. We had a couple of moveset differences that I think took it took it apart. And I think maybe one Pokemon was different. But yeah, I'm not sure what I do if I turned up and someone had the exact same team at me and claimed it as their own. That would be that would be tough for me. I'd find that stressful.
00:41:03
Speaker
I have the same feeling, especially when I try to use off-meta Pokémon. It has to be different from everyone else. The only time I used the same team twice was UIC in hard force, just because it's counted knocked out three times and I hate it knocked out at the time, so I found it acceptable. But yeah, I do have that same mindset.
Creative vs. Safe Play Styles
00:41:19
Speaker
Now, important question here. Now that I am your co-caster, basically, your colleague, would you build a team for your teammate?
00:41:28
Speaker
calling who you know already want to reach those that's really important or me your
00:41:33
Speaker
You're a partner in crime. You're a new partner in crime. I think that you and Colin are very, very different players. And I think that the teams that I would build for each of you would be different anyway. Colin is a much safer player and prefers heavy non-RPS lines. He really doesn't like it when we're in an RPS meta. He wants to play safe. He wants to play bulky. He wants to play neutral. And he's very, very good at doing that because his energy management
00:42:02
Speaker
his superb, his team reading. He's very, very skilled. You are more creative. You like to use Pokemon where you have an advantage because you know your matchup better versus them than they can possibly know versus you. Because who's practiced versus a Chandelure? Who's practiced versus, you know, a Greninja Frostler score? Not many people.
00:42:22
Speaker
And so if I were building a team for you, it would be spicy, it would be creative, and it would maybe be a little bit shit. But if I was building a team for Colin, it would be a lot more neutral, a lot safer, and something that he was much more comfortable with, maybe from Go Battle League or just from watching other streams and tournaments. But that does bring a good question.
Top Dutch Battler Discussion
00:42:41
Speaker
Now that you've already opened the door, Martijn, who do you think is the better Dutch battler of the two?
00:42:47
Speaker
Or who do you think is the best Dutch battler in general? Because I know that Stadtistan is also your teammate. So I mean, you're going to be throwing at least multiple people under the bus. And that's exactly the point of this podcast. Yes. This is my favorite part of the podcast.
00:43:03
Speaker
So help me out here, because what I don't want to do is I don't want to miss off any. If we were to say which top five are we considering, including Martine, Colin, Stan, Thomas, who would you say is the fifth that I have to consider?
00:43:19
Speaker
I would say this season, uh, probably snail man, right? Okay. Because I think he's very close to qualify. I mean, there's obviously, I mean, I think Lorenzo last season was really good. June was also like a good, but we're just focusing on this season specifically. So that's the top five.
00:43:36
Speaker
Yeah, I think that's a fair top five. So this isn't the answer to the question, but of those players, who has top cut a regional event already this season? Is it just Colin and Stan? Is that right?
00:43:49
Speaker
No, that would also be me. Martin, he talked to him. Come on man. In Lille. Okay, so three and Thomas didn't? In Stuttgart. He Stuttgart. So okay, and Snowman did as well. So everyone's Stuttgart. Everyone, yeah. Okay, and then in terms of the locals, Martin, I think you are fairly by far and away the most CP from locals in the Netherlands. Yeah, I won four out of six. Okay, cool. And Colin, most CP from excluding locals, right?
00:44:15
Speaker
Okay, so on paper you'd start to say Colin obviously has a huge, you know, argument given that he's the first two-time winner and he was one mishap away from being a three-time winner. Martijn, you could turn and say, well hold on a minute, just because you're not performing to the level that you did last year, which you were obviously incredible world's performance and top-cut man, so to call him. Now you're just day one man, but
00:44:43
Speaker
I think Martijn's performance in the locals, you can't go, that can't go unnoticed, right? So it's probably Colin, then Martijn, and I don't know between Stan and Tho, I haven't seen enough of them in the locals, I don't see what's going on. For me, Stan has top cut
00:45:03
Speaker
And so that's where I'm leaning towards though obviously did very very well last year and was a very good player for years before that as well. This season I'm not so sure. I do want to point out though that I believe though has not lost to Stan even once so far in locals. No he did. Well he lost in Antwerp he lost originally but he managed to get into the top cut and he beat Stan in the top cut. Wait!
00:45:31
Speaker
oh he did yeah oh yeah that was yeah Stan was pretty upset with that i remember very clearly it's tricky isn't it so would you say let's say let's say that casters were to battle right let's say we were to do a best of three if you win a best of three are you better than that player because amanda i'm pretty sure you've had a pretty good yes three win recently the answer is undoubtedly yes that was not a best of three by the way so it was a best of five it was a best of five and i won four of them
00:46:02
Speaker
Well, that decides it, that settles it.
Value of Consistency in PvP
00:46:04
Speaker
No, I think when you're looking at real top quality, it has to be consistency and it has to be performance across different formats and whether that's locals and regionals. And perhaps in a month or two, it'll be very, very clear. I personally think you're pretty hard pressed to not say Colin right now. I think that's fair. I can live with that question. You know, I never played Colin in locals.
00:46:32
Speaker
Like this is not the end of it. Like you can give a pretty neutral answer there, but that's not just gonna be it. You are casting Utrecht with Amanda, with Nighttime Clash and with Thomas. Who do you hope you get paired
Excitement About Casting
00:46:45
Speaker
with?
00:46:45
Speaker
I suppose I'm not hugely familiar with exactly how it works and if you're paired and that's you for the weekend. I think that I'm very lucky to be partnered collectively with the three best casters in Europe and I'm very proud and privileged to be with these guys. Wise man, wise man. He's just trying to get out of it the whole time.
00:47:09
Speaker
I honestly don't mind. I'd be very, very happy with each of those casters in different ways. I think that there would be different relationships that you would form. I obviously think it would be very fun.
00:47:25
Speaker
for Nighttime Clasher and I to be next to each other and I think there is a lot of banter that we still have to share and that would be very interesting. I think Amanda and I would make a great team, we've done interviews before, I think we'd bounce off each other very well. I think Amanda has a very similar sense of humour to me and I think that makes a massive difference.
00:47:42
Speaker
And then I think Thomas is a hugely skilled and knowledgeable player and that opens up the door to conversations and discussions that you might not be able to get if you were casting with other less experienced or less top quality player casters, if that's fair to say. That's more than fair to say. Just cannot get a controversial answer out of discussion. I mean he's a lawyer, what do you expect? So
00:48:08
Speaker
Even though you didn't say it, I know it. I can tell in our iExchange that you would obviously prefer the most to be with me. But we have a question on this podcast. And again, it's basically having you name people.
Promising Players in the PvP Scene
00:48:24
Speaker
So while we've been doing this, we're going to end our podcast with you with our signature question. Martijn, take it away. So we have two different types of players. The crabrawler and the mid-champion.
00:48:37
Speaker
The crap roller is someone who is not well known, but someone who potentially could win Worlds, like he's really good, just doesn't really have that name going for him just yet. And then the Machampian obviously, you know, is the person who wins everything, everyone knows, could win Worlds, is a favorite. Who would you name to be your crap roller and your Machampian?
00:48:57
Speaker
Just to check, what was the first word, the prep roller? Crap roller. Crab roller. Crab roller. Yeah, crab roller. No, the little crab roller. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Okay, okay. Okay, so crab roller, someone that you wouldn't expect but is really getting out there and I think that I would give that title, that is a really difficult question. It may be someone from Tia Pizza, a little bit biased, but.
00:49:26
Speaker
Honestly, I would give that title to someone like Nighttime Clasher.
00:49:33
Speaker
And I say that in all seriousness because you are looking at a player who is improving very, very quickly. It's true. Not necessarily under the radar, right? He's obviously in the news and in the press and everyone talks about him. But I think that the way that he played was very impressive. His ability to team read, his line calling, the progress that he's made in this short space of time since the beginning of this season.
00:50:00
Speaker
if he carries on on that trajectory, he could catch a lot of people off guard. A lot of people won't be expecting, you know, both team building and high level play to the extent that he showed at Liverpool. We'll see. For the Machamp, are we keeping this within any certain EU, NA parameters? No, it can be anyone.
00:50:23
Speaker
I think it would be unfair to say anyone other than Dünberg, the dominance with which he wins the events that he plays is frightening. His ability to, when you go down into the loser's bracket, you know, I've been down into the loser's bracket a fair number of times, it's daunting. You think to yourself, I've got 10 more matches I'd even have to play to get into the conversation.
00:50:47
Speaker
It doesn't faze him. The way that he takes things in his stride, he comes at you from the loser's bracket and you already feel like you've lost. Round one, he comes back from round one of the loser's bracket. That fear factor, when you sit on the other side, and I've never even played against him, but I can tell, when you sit across from someone like that who is on a mission and you are nothing but something in the way of their drive,
00:51:14
Speaker
That's scary. That is really scary. So Doonbug for me is the favorite at the moment. Yeah, so some people don't like the loser bracket and Doonbug's probably just, you know, cheering because he gets to play more battles. It's on purpose, yeah. He's just like, yeah, I just want to play more. He's like, I need more numbers for my Drake of his profile.
Closing Remarks and Podcast Reminder
00:51:39
Speaker
Well, Tomahawk UK, it's been such a pleasure to have you on the podcast. Really looking forward to casting with you as well in Utrecht. Utrecht? Utrecht. Utrecht. Nailing it. I'm very excited. Thank you both for having me. I'm really looking forward to Utrecht. And I can't wait to sit alongside you, Amanda, and hopefully get to cast you, Martijn. I hope so too. Hopefully I do a little bit better than Liverpool.
00:52:06
Speaker
Yes. And for everyone else, again, new episodes of Tap Tap Cast coming out every Thursday. We're going to have a good one for the next one as well. Yes. Thank you so much for it. And we'll see you in the next episode.