Evan.
Favourite Pokemon: Charizard
Most used Pokemon: Mesprit
Most known for: NU Moderator / Top NU Shitposter
Evan: When I first started watching and getting into competitive pokemon, I watched alot of Pyrotoz's BW2 NU Wifi Battles. I really liked the idea of using "underrated" mons and the creativity that I thought went along with it. I didn't really contribute much for the first little while I was here because I was just a ladder hero who tried to use gimmicks like Weakness Policy on every mon (Endure + WP Pidgeot / SmashPolicy Costa / Rock Polish + WP Gigalith). I outlined this a bit more in detail in my 1k post but it wasn't until I moved across the country that I started contributing seriously. The reason behind it was that I didn't really know anyone and I kinda got lost in the whole PS! / Smogon community. As I got more involved in the community, my competitive nature took over and I felt that need to be the best which lead me to where I am today.
Shadestep: You have done loads of work in multiple parts of the Smogon Forums (Team Rating, Subforum Hosting, Tournament hosting, Tutoring, making Videos). Which of those is the most fun in your experience, and why?
Evan: In terms of actually contributing, team rating will always have a special place in my heart. It's just cool how every team is like a different puzzle, each with a more complex or simple solution. Being able to sit down and spend time working out how to optimally improve someone's team was always a nice break for me, unfortunately I haven't really had the time to get back into it like I used to. On the forums as a whole, I LOVE the tours community. It's an unpopular opinion (everyone always talks about how aids the tours community is), but I really do believe that the tours community teaches you more about actual life skills than anywhere on Smogon. One example is that the tours community really emphasizes the ability to be mentally tough just because of the way that everyone rags on each other (aka the ability to take criticism in stride and be better because of it). Another skill would be how team tours show a person's ability to read and understand group dynamics and adjusting your personality accordingly. A simpler version of that would basically be how to read a situation and mould your personality so that you become more likeable in the eyes of the group. Both of those are really important life skills that I think more people on Smogon could learn through the tours community.
Shadestep: Talking about tours, you were picked up for SPL for the first time for 4k. Did you expect to be drafted at all?
Evan: Yeah I went into the auction expecting to get picked up by the Falcons because I had talked to both trc and dice who seemed pretty adamant about having me on the team. ofc when you get to the auction time its always nerve-racking and the fact that I was one of the last players taken did make me pretty nervous. s/o's to funk for using the comma lure to make me go for 1k more, even though it kinda screwed us at mids (lets face it we were screwed at mids anyways rofl)
Shadestep: Did SPL live up to your expectations? How was the team environment on the Falcons, despite the outcome of the season?
Evan: SPL was weird for me because it was kind of a tale of 2 teams: The Falcons and The Classiest. During the regular season, the Falcons atmosphere was very business-like. We still had fun with each other but we pretty much only talked about SPL / other tour stuff that was going on, and the chat died after we got eliminated early. With regards to the Classiest, I had been helping Soulgazer build / test / come up w/ team ideas all season and so after my week 9 match i got added to the Classiest group. I got immersed into their culture really quickly and it honestly felt like a big family in comparison to Falcons. They talked about everything while also being able to focus on their matches and prepare really well and it really was one hell of an experience to be able to see legendary players like Ojama and MoP in action. All in all I thought it was amazing and I can't wait to do it again if I get the chance.
Shadestep: What did you learn from this season on this SPL that you can use to your own good in the next season?
Evan: I learned to have more confidence in what I create. Early in the season, I had dice help me out with a lot of teams (never ghosted tho haha!) because I wasn't really confident in my own ability. After we were eliminated, dice kinda disappeared and I brought my own builds and ended up almost going positive after my poor start.
Shadestep: You were also the manager of the by far superior team in NUPL, this year. What were your thoughts on the draft, were you happy with the team?
Evan: too many germans lol. For real though, I thought my draft went really well. I had a plan in mind (get really good older gens b/c i couldn't provide much support there, get unproven ORAS guys and help them mature) and I pretty much executed it to a T. I know I caught alot of flack for ending my auction w/ like 10k credits left or whatever it was but I had alot of players and I don't really subscribe to the whole "more is better" thing in a team tour environment. I think that if you have too many players you kinda lose the team chemistry, and I think all of my players can vouch for me when I say that we had just the right number of players which lead to a really good environment as a whole. also aurosis | berd
Shadestep: What did you learn from this years NUPL season? Any positive or negative feedback on how the tour went, in terms of hosting and/or decision making?
Evan: I thought the tour went great and props to QQ for everything that he did to make it go that way. Being a manager really taught me how important managing people's personalities / egos is to running a successful team.
Shadestep: Whose NUPL performance were you most impressed by?
Evan: I hate to be biased but Davon was sensational this year for us. I think he was undefeated after the first week where he lost to a teambuilding flub (BASED INFILTRATOR MALAMAR), but otherwise he's a player that I can really see breaking out in the future. I wish I could say someone other than my team but tbh i didn't really follow the other teams / player records. 7-0 bugzy was impressive tho
Shadestep: Who do you look up to / admire most as an NU player?
Evan: I don't think I really admire any NU guys, other than like the way Kiyo dealt w/ alot of the internal problems we had a couple months ago. Outside of NU though, alot of the older generation players that I've gotten to know through tournaments are very admirable people. Watching someone like MoP dissect the ABR vs Geemick game and talk about the 5 different possible scenarios on how each of them can win the game 20 turns in advance is just crazy to see. It's really eye-opening to see how cerebral people are regarding this game and really showed me how much I need to improve and different ways to improve as a player moving forward.
Shadestep: You and HJAD are known for.. not being the best friends. Do you mind explaining a bit about that?
HJAD wanted to ask you a question in here too, if you’re fine with that. Here goes:
HJAD: What must one do to overcome our relationship difficulties?
Evan: I'm not gonna bring the drama into the open spotlight, but if you really want to know what happened you can PM me if you catch me on PS! and i'll explain, but I think one of the things that people need to get over is that not everyone is going to be friends with each other, it's just not how communities in general work. It's unrealistic to expect that everyone is nice to each other and there isn't any conflict, and conflict can even be very healthy at times. For example, there were times when Kiyo and I used to butt heads constantly, but I think that since we did that and cleared the air, i've gained alot of respect for him and we've been on very good terms since. The important thing about having a disagreement with someone is that you don't let it affect your judgement on unrelated decisions, especially if you're involved in making decisions about that person (for example I was one of the first people to say that HJAD was finally ready for the TR badge).
To HJAD directly, I still have very strong opinions about you and I don't see that changing any time soon no matter what you do. I'm a really stubborn person and not one to change my impressions of people very easily. I think it would be best for you to just accept that and trust that I know how to remain unbiased whenever you're brought up in any kind of discussion, and realize that there aren't any real consequences of me not liking you.
Shadestep: What do you think of the current NU meta? What would you change about NU if you would have total control of NU?
Evan: bleh i've barely played the new meta b/c i've been super busy with outside stuff but from what i've seen it looks interesting. Aggron hype is gonna die down because it's a pain to build with and can't really switch in to much (aka abomasnow 2.0). Gastro is gonna be ranked alot higher than it is right now because people will realize that with the right team support it just doesn't die, and I fully expect there to be some dominant gastro balance builds emerging in the next little while. Smeargle is bad b/c suicide leads have been bad since mid XY NU its as simple as that lol. I'm glad that something dropped that shits on floatzel that mon was so stupid to prep for, esp when you play offense alot like I do. other than that the meta is fine, ik everyone's whining about busken pass but if you experienced what it was like in XY in full force than you would realize that it's not even close to being broken now. i'll probably post about it soon if I haven't already by the time this interview comes out.
If I had full control of NU i'd bring back Gatr / Serp / Dragalge / Puff / Pangoro without any of the buffs they got in ORAS because XY NU is the best meta and all 5 of those mons were super fun to use / play around with while they were in the tier.
Shadestep: Outside of your work here on Smogon, what do you do on a daily basis? What are your hobbies or things you enjoy doing?
Evan: I'm currently a university student (just finished my 1st year), although it's the summer and I don't have any classes. I'm working almost full-time for a private landscaping company over the summer so I haven't been around as much as I would have liked to be over the past couple weeks. I don't really have any weird hobbies or anything, I kinda just watch netflix / go out with friends / play mons if im not working. I do like to make bad jokes though, that's one of my specialites.
Shadestep: Maybe tell the people something about yourself. What kind of person are you? What type of music do you listen to?
Evan: I'd consider myself a pretty normal guy outside of playing mons (but then again wouldn't everyone lol) just trying to do well in school, keep a good circle of friends, find a nice girl that I can spend my time with etc. I crack alot of jokes when i'm with friends and i'm known for having a pretty quick wit among my circle (which translates well into shitposting). I try not to take anything too seriously, but I also have a really competitive side to me which came from playing sports for the majority of my life. I'm also really stubborn, almost to a fault, and don't really change my mind without good reason. In terms of music, i'm actually a low-key hick and am always in the mood for some country music. That being said I have a weakness for 2010-2015 bubble-gum pop as well, so basically I have awful taste in music
Shadestep: Have any of the newer contributors to the NU subforum caught your attention? Who of them has good potential, in your opinion?
Evan: There have been a bunch of good new contributors lately but I can't really think of names off the top of my head. I think that "potential" on the forums is kinda silly since if you know how to read, observe, and mimic quality posters than it's really not too difficult to succeed. It all comes down to how much work you're willing to put in to improve and the drive you have. One thing I am impressed about though that deserves mentioning is how LucianVega has pretty much done a 180 in a lot of people's eyes in terms of being a contributor and a positive presence in the community. This goes out to everyone, if you have a bad stigma attached to you it's always possible to turn things around.
Shadestep: Lastly, is there a life advice that you would like to share with us?
Evan: I think a really good piece of advice when it comes to trying to improve in anything (posting, battling, practicing a new game, getting better grades etc), is that when it all comes down to it, the people that come out successful and on top are those with a passion and a drive to succeed. That drive can come from a variety of different places (when I wanted to improve, my drive came from wanting to be a TL and desiring to become a pivotal member of the community since the community was one of the few things I had at the time), but it's up to you to set you goals and determine where your drive comes from going forward. If you're willing to put in the work required, you really can do anything, it's just up to how much work / time you're willing to put in.
Alright, that's it for this week! Thank you again for your time Evan, and if you have any more questions or funny memes you are more than welcome to ask them here.
