Welcome to the Featured Rater project! This is a series of interviews where we ask 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 Analytic, Snowy. and myself. Our twentieth interviewee is PDC, a well-known tour player and highly respected rater in his time.
PDC
Tell us a little bit about your life outside Smogon.
Currently I am a Junior in High School who resides on the Eastern side of the US. My interests in life range from fishing to bird watching, and of course music. I also do Youtube on the side (Subscribe!) which I guess counts as "outside of Smogon."
What was your main tier? Did you rate teams from any other tiers?
BW OU was my main tier for when I still had TR as an active badge. I also rated a bit in XY OU, but by then my time was dwindling.
When did you start rating and why?
I remember my friend Shining Latios got a Ladybug for rating teams, and I was still far away from a badge. So I basically decided that rating was the quickest way to get a badge and that Ladybug was relatively easy to get. This was probably around 2012 or so, right after I was unbanned for COPPA. I eventually developed a genuine interest in rating teams and continued even after I got my badge.
Are there any raters whom you looked up to when you started rating?
Back in DPP I remember all of my RMTs being rated by some really great players. I was always fascinated when I was new on how you could get help from some of the best tournament players on your teams. I remember guys like ToF, Philip7086, MetaNite, and a few others leaving rates on my teams to help me out. I generally modeled my style after their's, which was simplistic with just bolded text to highlight changes.
What did you most enjoy about rating?
Rating always felt at least somewhat rewarding in that you helped a person, and also in that people looked up to team raters for doing their job in helping newer players free of charge. Being a TR used to really mean something, and I think the group of TRs back in DPP and BW was well respected in pretty much every faction of the sight.
Did you follow a process with your rates?
I would look at the team, run through a checklist of the most major threats to it, then suggest any changes I thought would improve the team. I always had to be careful of altering the entire team structure, so I would sometimes tone down changes I made to keep the team individual.
As a long time rater, how do you feel rating has changed in the transition from older gens like DPP and BW through to ORAS?
Good players don't rate anymore. Like I said previously, back in DPP and even up through BW tour players who were at the top of their game used to vote and offer advice to new players. While I haven't looked into it much, I believe generally rating now has become split off from good tournament players and instead is just its own division. This is not unique to rating, either. B101, C&C, pretty much every single part of the site seems to be lacking real knowledgeable players contributing. Overall, quality has gone down on both sides. Prominent teams in tournaments are not posted either, which definitely helped kill enthusiasm. I could go on for paragraphs on how there is such a divide in communities now, but that isn't the point of this thread.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters?
Keep trying and practicing is really all I can offer. Maybe look at rates from the greats and see how they formulated them and see if you can delineate their reason's for making changes and such.
Do you like the direction the forum is taking at the moment? If you could add or change something, what would it be?
I can't say I have paid much attention really. I believe the forum has been kinda stagnant in changes since post-BW2 so I can't say it really has changed much. I think for what it is, it runs smoothly, but improvements of the system really rely more on the player base than it does on the few people running it.
Considering SPL has just concluded, are there any recent ORAS OU teams that you think deserve to be archived?
My Alakazam team from SPL6 revolutionized the metagame and made Alakazam a popular mon in the metagame. Oh, and it also made Torn-T a popular response to it. I'm the best.
I would say one of ABR's teams needs to be archived for sure. Probably his SandLop team which was a force in OLT for a bit. It hasn't held up all that well months down the road, but it is a pretty great example of sand balance in ORAS.
Do you have an RMT or a team you would like to share with us?
The Hoopa-U ABR squad reboot. This team made 2 separate appearances in SPL from me back to back and got the job done both times (albeit one due to severe luck). The core is pretty fantastic and EBelt Hoopa is a great mon to lure / KO threats for it.
How has playing in tournaments impacted on the way you approach rating?
It made me quit rating. Seriously, there is not much balance anymore with becoming a "tour player" and doing much else on the site. If I had to say anything about this subject, it would be "how rating impacted my approach to tours." Team Rating gave me a solid base to play with which I had to mold and re-shape when I started playing tournaments.
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...n-of-light-and-gary2346.3486096/#post-4764761
This is a pretty good example. I can't seem to find that many of my older rates through the search tool, so my choices were pretty limited. Overall I just tried to post in a simple way where changes were bolded so my subject would not have to read through the entire thing to delineate what my point was. I tried to make them relatively short too, since long rates sometimes just get skipped over and aren't read thoroughly enough to actually help the reader.
---------------------
Thanks for taking the time to do this man! Feel free to leave any questions you'd like to ask PDC below.
PDC
Currently I am a Junior in High School who resides on the Eastern side of the US. My interests in life range from fishing to bird watching, and of course music. I also do Youtube on the side (Subscribe!) which I guess counts as "outside of Smogon."
What was your main tier? Did you rate teams from any other tiers?
BW OU was my main tier for when I still had TR as an active badge. I also rated a bit in XY OU, but by then my time was dwindling.
When did you start rating and why?
I remember my friend Shining Latios got a Ladybug for rating teams, and I was still far away from a badge. So I basically decided that rating was the quickest way to get a badge and that Ladybug was relatively easy to get. This was probably around 2012 or so, right after I was unbanned for COPPA. I eventually developed a genuine interest in rating teams and continued even after I got my badge.
Are there any raters whom you looked up to when you started rating?
Back in DPP I remember all of my RMTs being rated by some really great players. I was always fascinated when I was new on how you could get help from some of the best tournament players on your teams. I remember guys like ToF, Philip7086, MetaNite, and a few others leaving rates on my teams to help me out. I generally modeled my style after their's, which was simplistic with just bolded text to highlight changes.
What did you most enjoy about rating?
Rating always felt at least somewhat rewarding in that you helped a person, and also in that people looked up to team raters for doing their job in helping newer players free of charge. Being a TR used to really mean something, and I think the group of TRs back in DPP and BW was well respected in pretty much every faction of the sight.
Did you follow a process with your rates?
I would look at the team, run through a checklist of the most major threats to it, then suggest any changes I thought would improve the team. I always had to be careful of altering the entire team structure, so I would sometimes tone down changes I made to keep the team individual.
As a long time rater, how do you feel rating has changed in the transition from older gens like DPP and BW through to ORAS?
Good players don't rate anymore. Like I said previously, back in DPP and even up through BW tour players who were at the top of their game used to vote and offer advice to new players. While I haven't looked into it much, I believe generally rating now has become split off from good tournament players and instead is just its own division. This is not unique to rating, either. B101, C&C, pretty much every single part of the site seems to be lacking real knowledgeable players contributing. Overall, quality has gone down on both sides. Prominent teams in tournaments are not posted either, which definitely helped kill enthusiasm. I could go on for paragraphs on how there is such a divide in communities now, but that isn't the point of this thread.
Do you have any words of advice for aspiring raters?
Keep trying and practicing is really all I can offer. Maybe look at rates from the greats and see how they formulated them and see if you can delineate their reason's for making changes and such.
Do you like the direction the forum is taking at the moment? If you could add or change something, what would it be?
I can't say I have paid much attention really. I believe the forum has been kinda stagnant in changes since post-BW2 so I can't say it really has changed much. I think for what it is, it runs smoothly, but improvements of the system really rely more on the player base than it does on the few people running it.
Considering SPL has just concluded, are there any recent ORAS OU teams that you think deserve to be archived?
My Alakazam team from SPL6 revolutionized the metagame and made Alakazam a popular mon in the metagame. Oh, and it also made Torn-T a popular response to it. I'm the best.
I would say one of ABR's teams needs to be archived for sure. Probably his SandLop team which was a force in OLT for a bit. It hasn't held up all that well months down the road, but it is a pretty great example of sand balance in ORAS.
Do you have an RMT or a team you would like to share with us?
Hoopa-Unbound @ Expert Belt
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch
- Gunk Shot
Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 240 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn
Tangrowth (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Defog
- Recover
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 188 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
Ability: Magician
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Hyperspace Fury
- Drain Punch
- Fire Punch
- Gunk Shot
Terrakion @ Life Orb
Ability: Justified
EVs: 240 Atk / 16 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Stone Edge
- Hidden Power [Ice]
Landorus-Therian @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 72 HP / 240 Atk / 196 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Explosion
- U-turn
Tangrowth (M) @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Def / 8 SpD
Relaxed Nature
- Giga Drain
- Knock Off
- Hidden Power [Fire]
- Sleep Powder
Latias-Mega @ Latiasite
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 248 HP / 8 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Defog
- Recover
Heatran (M) @ Leftovers
Ability: Flash Fire
EVs: 248 HP / 188 SpD / 72 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Taunt
- Stealth Rock
- Lava Plume
- Earth Power
The Hoopa-U ABR squad reboot. This team made 2 separate appearances in SPL from me back to back and got the job done both times (albeit one due to severe luck). The core is pretty fantastic and EBelt Hoopa is a great mon to lure / KO threats for it.
How has playing in tournaments impacted on the way you approach rating?
It made me quit rating. Seriously, there is not much balance anymore with becoming a "tour player" and doing much else on the site. If I had to say anything about this subject, it would be "how rating impacted my approach to tours." Team Rating gave me a solid base to play with which I had to mold and re-shape when I started playing tournaments.
Lastly, can you give us an example of a rate that exemplifies your particular style?
http://www.smogon.com/forums/thread...n-of-light-and-gary2346.3486096/#post-4764761
This is a pretty good example. I can't seem to find that many of my older rates through the search tool, so my choices were pretty limited. Overall I just tried to post in a simple way where changes were bolded so my subject would not have to read through the entire thing to delineate what my point was. I tried to make them relatively short too, since long rates sometimes just get skipped over and aren't read thoroughly enough to actually help the reader.
---------------------
Thanks for taking the time to do this man! Feel free to leave any questions you'd like to ask PDC below.
