Banner by @Living So Zambian
Welcome to the Featured Rater project! This is a series of interviews where we will ask official Team Raters, new and old, several questions about the RMT forum and their experiences within it. We hope that this will offer both entertainment and an insight into their thought processes, which aspiring raters can look to incorporate into their own rates. This project will be hosted by IronBullet and me. Our third interviewee is Alkov, one of the RMT's newest official raters and one who has been contributing a large amount to our forums from the get-go!
Alkov
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
I'm an Engineering student turning 19 really soon and I'm actually a pretty boring person outside of Smogon. :[ I spend most of my time in school hanging out with my classmates, working out in the gym or listening to all kinds of songs.
What is your main tier? Do you rate teams from any other tiers?
My main tier is ORAS OU as I only started playing Pokemon competitively when my friend introduced it to me after convincing me to get a 3DS to play Pokemon X and Y with them. I'll definitely pick up more tiers so that I could help out more :]
When did you start rating and why?
I think it was a couple of months back when I first started rating teams. I started rating because I wanted to try and make a name for myself so I thought rating was a good place to start with since I really liked the community. Another reason why I started rating was because I enjoy the team-building aspect of the game a lot and the RMT forum was a place where I can actually gather inspiration for myself while also helping others out. :]
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
I don't have a particular rater whom I look up to when I started but I read through a lot the rates done by most of the raters and try to understand how they did it and sorta pick up the skill required to make a decent rate.
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I enjoy looking through teams of any play-style and challenge myself to rate them and improve it. :]
Do you follow a process with your rates? I'll usually look through the team and see what are some of the things that can be further improved such as the Pokemons' EV and move-set. After that I'll go through a simple check and identify what the team is weak to and try and figure out how I can patch it up without having to change the team too much. When suggesting changes, I try to avoid creating some other form of weakness to the team and changing how the team functions originally.
As a current respected team rater, do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Don't be afraid to make changes to a person's team as long as it's for the better but justify them so that the person understand where you're coming from. It's also important that you understand how they want the team to function and try not to deviate from that concept.
What are your thoughts on the RMT Forum?
I really like the RMT forum as of now. The activity in the forum is really good and everyone is just so nice to work with. :]
If you could add one thing to the RMT forums, what would it be?
As of now, I can't come up with anything that I'll like to add to the RMT forum because I really like what it is now.
*-*
Do you have an RMT or a team you could share with us?
I've only made one RMT and it was done when I was still horrible at it so I won't be showing it! :]
Here's a team that I made recently that I really like and reflects how I build/play in general:
The team started out with Life Orb Alakazam and Will-O-Wisp Charizard-X as I felt that they would be really cool in this metagame. I then fill in the remaining slots to help patch up some weaknesses while providing some form of utility that the team need to function properly. This is pretty much how I build most of the time. I look at what I think may be cool/useful in the current metagame and make a team around it. :]
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/go-36.3545286/#post-6345553
This is a rate I made recently that shows how I go about rating teams usually. I try to keep them short so that it's easy for the people to capture the changes I suggested easily. :]
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Thanks Alkov for an awesome interview! Feel free to leave any questions you have for him below. See you all next time
I'm an Engineering student turning 19 really soon and I'm actually a pretty boring person outside of Smogon. :[ I spend most of my time in school hanging out with my classmates, working out in the gym or listening to all kinds of songs.
What is your main tier? Do you rate teams from any other tiers?
My main tier is ORAS OU as I only started playing Pokemon competitively when my friend introduced it to me after convincing me to get a 3DS to play Pokemon X and Y with them. I'll definitely pick up more tiers so that I could help out more :]
When did you start rating and why?
I think it was a couple of months back when I first started rating teams. I started rating because I wanted to try and make a name for myself so I thought rating was a good place to start with since I really liked the community. Another reason why I started rating was because I enjoy the team-building aspect of the game a lot and the RMT forum was a place where I can actually gather inspiration for myself while also helping others out. :]
Are there any raters who you looked up to when you started rating?
I don't have a particular rater whom I look up to when I started but I read through a lot the rates done by most of the raters and try to understand how they did it and sorta pick up the skill required to make a decent rate.
What do you most enjoy about rating?
I enjoy looking through teams of any play-style and challenge myself to rate them and improve it. :]
Do you follow a process with your rates? I'll usually look through the team and see what are some of the things that can be further improved such as the Pokemons' EV and move-set. After that I'll go through a simple check and identify what the team is weak to and try and figure out how I can patch it up without having to change the team too much. When suggesting changes, I try to avoid creating some other form of weakness to the team and changing how the team functions originally.
As a current respected team rater, do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters out there?
Don't be afraid to make changes to a person's team as long as it's for the better but justify them so that the person understand where you're coming from. It's also important that you understand how they want the team to function and try not to deviate from that concept.
What are your thoughts on the RMT Forum?
I really like the RMT forum as of now. The activity in the forum is really good and everyone is just so nice to work with. :]
If you could add one thing to the RMT forums, what would it be?
As of now, I can't come up with anything that I'll like to add to the RMT forum because I really like what it is now.
*-*
Do you have an RMT or a team you could share with us?
I've only made one RMT and it was done when I was still horrible at it so I won't be showing it! :]
Here's a team that I made recently that I really like and reflects how I build/play in general:
Alakazam (M) @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
Charizard (F) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 196 Spe
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 108 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Spikes
- Roost
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Encore
- Soft-Boiled
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Shadow Ball
- Focus Blast
- Thunder Wave
Charizard (F) @ Charizardite X
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 240 HP / 72 Def / 196 Spe
Impish Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
Hippowdon @ Leftovers
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 252 HP / 144 Def / 112 SpD
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Stealth Rock
- Slack Off
Skarmory (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 224 HP / 108 Def / 176 SpD
Careful Nature
- Iron Head
- Defog
- Spikes
- Roost
Clefable (F) @ Leftovers
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 HP / 112 Def / 140 SpD / 4 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Calm Mind
- Moonblast
- Encore
- Soft-Boiled
Tornadus-Therian @ Assault Vest
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 HP / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Hurricane
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Focus Blast
The team started out with Life Orb Alakazam and Will-O-Wisp Charizard-X as I felt that they would be really cool in this metagame. I then fill in the remaining slots to help patch up some weaknesses while providing some form of utility that the team need to function properly. This is pretty much how I build most of the time. I look at what I think may be cool/useful in the current metagame and make a team around it. :]
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/go-36.3545286/#post-6345553
This is a rate I made recently that shows how I go about rating teams usually. I try to keep them short so that it's easy for the people to capture the changes I suggested easily. :]
------------
Thanks Alkov for an awesome interview! Feel free to leave any questions you have for him below. See you all next time
