Welcome to the Featured Rater project! This is a series of interviews where we ask official Team Raters, new and old, several questions about the RMT forum and their experiences within it. We hope that this offers both entertainment and an insight into their thought processes, which aspiring raters can look to incorporate into their own rates. This project is hosted by Snowy. and myself. Our eleventh interviewee is dodmen, a respected UU rater and moderator, and one of the tier's top battlers!
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
I'm a fourth year engineering student in the midwestern US, about to graduate and trying to learn how to adult. I like to swim and ride my bicycle and grill. I've been playin Pokemon since Red and Blue came out in 1998, minus a few years in high school, but I didn't get into competitive 'mons till just under two years ago.
How did you come up with your name?
When I first found PS, I tried to log in with the name Dudeman, but it was taken, so I buttonmashed the number pad till I ended up with Dudeman130498. Then Sam and Bouff convinced me to get rid of the numbers, so I changed to just dodmen.
What is your main tier? Do you rate teams from any other tiers?
UU's been my main tier since I started playing competitively, but I've also been getting into PU over the past month or so (super fun, diverse, and balanced metagame btw). I would rate PU teams if there were any haha, but so far I've only seen one RMT in the past like month, although I know a few people are planning to post one after seasonals.
When did you start rating and why?
I started rating teams about a year ago because it looked fun, and eventually I saw it as a way to both help players newer to UU than myself as well as a way to exercise and sharpen my own teambuilding abilities.
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
Bouffalant and Calloflochie
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I really like looking at a new team and trying to apply what I know about the UU metagame to help improve it, even through just small moveset or EV changes. Also, I like watching people grow through both the teams they post and their own rates.
Do you follow a process with your rates?
Honestly, no I don't. Each team comes with different flaws and different ways to try to fix them. I guess a good start is to think of matchups the team has against common playstyles/cores.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Something I've seen a lot of over the past year-ish of rating is a tendency of raters to make a suggestion that adds a bunch of flaws to a team because the rater didn't consider all the aspects of the change. It's easy to look at the "threatlist" part of an RMT and slap on an "easy" fix, but doing so often comes with the cost of adding more weaknesses or detracting from the focus of the team. Some raters even make changes with the only reasoning being something like "having more of a special attacking presence on your team". (Not to call anyone out but)this is an example of what I'm talking about; a lot of the suggested changes make the team very weak to things like Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Beedrill, and the change of CB Krook to CB Hera would actually take away from the team because Krookodile is so essential to supporting Mega Abomasnow. Of course, these raters have come a long way since that post was made.
In addition, it's important to know the metagame very well and to think of realistic, specific matchups of the team instead of making broad, general statements. To use another UU example, I've sometimes seen raters suggest Florges as a team's dedicated "Fighting-check", failing to realize that Florges straight up loses to UU's premier Fighting-type (Cobalion) and is heavily disadvantaged by several others (Lucario, Infernape, CB Hera).
Do you like the direction the RMT forum is taking at the moment? If you could change something, what would it be?
Definitely! Since I started as a rater, IB and Rey in particular have done a TON to move the section forward with all the various projects and activities that have been started up. The RMT room is really great too, and I especially enjoy the staff-built archive teams (participating in the UU one was super cool). It helps that the majority of official raters are active and participant in these things too!
The only "change" I could possibly think of would be for more accomplished/experienced players to participate more in both posting teams and rating.
Seeing as RMT has a large UU community in terms of both raters and RMT posters, are there any projects, besides the current ones, that you think could be run to further integrate and expand it?
That's tough, but maybe another RMT tournament some time in the near future, those are always fun and there's definitely more than enough good UU teams out there. Otherwise I'm not sure, I'm not too creative when it comes to these things.
Do you think there's any way to encourage more successful UU tour players, and tour players in general, to post their teams, especially with the UU Open having just concluded?
A way to incentivize or promote good players posting teams would be amazing. To be fair there have been quite a few of these in UU recently, like Christo's and teal's RMTs. There's also been quite a few team dumps in the UU subforum.
So far we've had several UU rating workshops and one teambuilding workshop in the RMT PS room. Do you have any ideas for other activities we could possibly run?
Yeah I really enjoy taking part in the UU workshops on Showdown. I liked the teambuilding session we did too, maybe more of those.
Do you have an RMT or a team you could share with us?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-g-o-a-t-a-uu-rmt.3543876/#post-6318640 Here's a rate that kind of shows what I was talking about about team focus.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/scary-jiggle-physics-uu-stall-peak-1.3540852/#post-6269697 here's a more positive one that shows the thing about specific/common matchups that the team is likely to encouter (eg a Cobalion coming in on the Umbreon's Wish and threatening to set up, hence the suggestion of Moonlight > Protect).
And here's a cool BW UU team cause why not :)
------------
Thanks dod for an awesome interview! Feel free to leave any questions you have for him below. See you all next time
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
I'm a fourth year engineering student in the midwestern US, about to graduate and trying to learn how to adult. I like to swim and ride my bicycle and grill. I've been playin Pokemon since Red and Blue came out in 1998, minus a few years in high school, but I didn't get into competitive 'mons till just under two years ago.
How did you come up with your name?
When I first found PS, I tried to log in with the name Dudeman, but it was taken, so I buttonmashed the number pad till I ended up with Dudeman130498. Then Sam and Bouff convinced me to get rid of the numbers, so I changed to just dodmen.
What is your main tier? Do you rate teams from any other tiers?
UU's been my main tier since I started playing competitively, but I've also been getting into PU over the past month or so (super fun, diverse, and balanced metagame btw). I would rate PU teams if there were any haha, but so far I've only seen one RMT in the past like month, although I know a few people are planning to post one after seasonals.
When did you start rating and why?
I started rating teams about a year ago because it looked fun, and eventually I saw it as a way to both help players newer to UU than myself as well as a way to exercise and sharpen my own teambuilding abilities.
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
Bouffalant and Calloflochie
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I really like looking at a new team and trying to apply what I know about the UU metagame to help improve it, even through just small moveset or EV changes. Also, I like watching people grow through both the teams they post and their own rates.
Do you follow a process with your rates?
Honestly, no I don't. Each team comes with different flaws and different ways to try to fix them. I guess a good start is to think of matchups the team has against common playstyles/cores.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Something I've seen a lot of over the past year-ish of rating is a tendency of raters to make a suggestion that adds a bunch of flaws to a team because the rater didn't consider all the aspects of the change. It's easy to look at the "threatlist" part of an RMT and slap on an "easy" fix, but doing so often comes with the cost of adding more weaknesses or detracting from the focus of the team. Some raters even make changes with the only reasoning being something like "having more of a special attacking presence on your team". (Not to call anyone out but)this is an example of what I'm talking about; a lot of the suggested changes make the team very weak to things like Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Beedrill, and the change of CB Krook to CB Hera would actually take away from the team because Krookodile is so essential to supporting Mega Abomasnow. Of course, these raters have come a long way since that post was made.
In addition, it's important to know the metagame very well and to think of realistic, specific matchups of the team instead of making broad, general statements. To use another UU example, I've sometimes seen raters suggest Florges as a team's dedicated "Fighting-check", failing to realize that Florges straight up loses to UU's premier Fighting-type (Cobalion) and is heavily disadvantaged by several others (Lucario, Infernape, CB Hera).
Do you like the direction the RMT forum is taking at the moment? If you could change something, what would it be?
Definitely! Since I started as a rater, IB and Rey in particular have done a TON to move the section forward with all the various projects and activities that have been started up. The RMT room is really great too, and I especially enjoy the staff-built archive teams (participating in the UU one was super cool). It helps that the majority of official raters are active and participant in these things too!
The only "change" I could possibly think of would be for more accomplished/experienced players to participate more in both posting teams and rating.
Seeing as RMT has a large UU community in terms of both raters and RMT posters, are there any projects, besides the current ones, that you think could be run to further integrate and expand it?
That's tough, but maybe another RMT tournament some time in the near future, those are always fun and there's definitely more than enough good UU teams out there. Otherwise I'm not sure, I'm not too creative when it comes to these things.
Do you think there's any way to encourage more successful UU tour players, and tour players in general, to post their teams, especially with the UU Open having just concluded?
A way to incentivize or promote good players posting teams would be amazing. To be fair there have been quite a few of these in UU recently, like Christo's and teal's RMTs. There's also been quite a few team dumps in the UU subforum.
So far we've had several UU rating workshops and one teambuilding workshop in the RMT PS room. Do you have any ideas for other activities we could possibly run?
Yeah I really enjoy taking part in the UU workshops on Showdown. I liked the teambuilding session we did too, maybe more of those.
Do you have an RMT or a team you could share with us?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/the-g-o-a-t-a-uu-rmt.3543876/#post-6318640 Here's a rate that kind of shows what I was talking about about team focus.
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/scary-jiggle-physics-uu-stall-peak-1.3540852/#post-6269697 here's a more positive one that shows the thing about specific/common matchups that the team is likely to encouter (eg a Cobalion coming in on the Umbreon's Wish and threatening to set up, hence the suggestion of Moonlight > Protect).
And here's a cool BW UU team cause why not :)
Golurk @ Leftovers
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Ice Punch
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Sleep Talk
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost
Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
Ability: Iron Fist
EVs: 236 HP / 252 Atk / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Earthquake
- Protect
- Ice Punch
Druddigon @ Choice Band
Ability: Rough Skin
EVs: 196 HP / 252 Atk / 60 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Outrage
- Earthquake
- Fire Punch
- Sleep Talk
Heracross @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Moxie
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Close Combat
- Megahorn
- Stone Edge
- Earthquake
Zapdos @ Life Orb
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Thunderbolt
- Heat Wave
- Hidden Power [Grass]
- Roost
Bisharp @ Life Orb
Ability: Defiant
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Iron Head
- Sucker Punch
- Pursuit
Suicune @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Calm Mind
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Hidden Power [Electric]
------------
Thanks dod for an awesome interview! Feel free to leave any questions you have for him below. See you all next time
