this counts as late week 4 since i'm lazy
Durant Expert Adam Dorricott
Adam posing with several well known competitors (and Zog) down in the bottom left corner at the 2011 World Championships.
Accomplishments
2010: Round 3 UK Nationals
2011: Top 4 Paris Nationals, 27th World Championships
Total Winnings
2011 National: Invitation to compete in the 2011 World Championships in San Diego, California.
Biography and History
European Adam "Dozz" Dorricott blended in well with the American players when he came to San Diego for the 2011 World Championships. With an incredible sense of humor (and soccer skills), Adam was a pleasure to be around the entire time and made the experience a lot more enjoyable. Having started VGC in 2010, he attended the UK National, but lost in the third round. He then began preparing more seriously for VGC 2011, and his eventual team utilized common metagame Pokemon such as Tornadus and Scrafty as well as unique Pokemon such as Stunfisk and Durant. After getting haxed out of the 2011 UK Nationals, Adam was motivated to do well at Paris. He blew through to the Top 4 before losing to eventual winner Lionel Fey. He represented Europe at the 2011 World Championships, where he finished with a 2-4 record, netting him 27th place. Adam hasn't been playing VGC for very long, but he has shown that he is a strong competitor. He will be attending both UK and Paris for their National Championships this year, and will be a threat to everyone attending. He also drew the logos for Duy/commi$$ioner's NPA tournament last year, and can be found around the forums with a pretty Artist badge!
Interview
Hey Dozz! Why don't you introduce yourself?
Yo, I'm Adam "Dozz" Dorricott. I'm 19 years old, and a UK VGC player. I'm pretty chilled out, all round hilarious, and much much cooler than Zog.
Yeah, Zog sucks :D Anyway, how did you get introduced to VGC? What made you stay?
My friend Chris (aka PorkLoin) got me back into Pokemon when I was at school with him, as I'd barely touched it since the Game Boy Colour days of my childhood. We spent free periods together, and got addicted to playing the same way as I did when I was younger. He found a post online about VGC 2010, so we thought it would be a nice idea to go along, and see what Pokemon was like outside of our community of just us two and a couple of school friends. I was also enticed to stay by the fact doubles was something entirely different, and I felt that I could actually get my teeth into, by having loads of strategies to play with, rather than the "switch boost switch" kinda thing we'd been playing with in singles. I'd spent way too long Swords Dancing and the like, and needed something fresh in my life.
Your first year of playing was in 2010, where you lost Round 3 at UK. What team did you use, and how ready were you going into your first tournament? What was it like?
I wasn't really fussed about doing well, as I knew there would be much better players there. I ran some stupid team with Diagla /Palkia /Rotom /Metagross in. I didn't know what RNG, or flawless IV's were, so I stood no chance in all honesty and could in no way call myself "ready". I hadn't even tested on stuff like Pokemon Online, as I didn't know about it, so It's no wonder I got spanked by Kinneas.
I absolutely loved the event though. A hall with hundreds of likeminded players made for a great day out, I talked to so many cool people about something I loved, and didn't feel at all out of place. I immediately knew that this was something I was going to get more into in the coming years, building off the sort of things I learned in 2010 as a spectator for most.
You were unknown to most of the online community until your strong finish at the Paris VGC in 2011, and you had a signature Pokemon: Durant. What was that Nationals like for you? What was your team like, and how did you prepare for the tournament beforehand? Did you attend any other Nationals that year?
I went to the Birmingham UK Nationals, and I think that was what prepared me for France. I got a serious case of the hax there, and that motivated me to go and improve my game on the continent. I booked up for France, as it gave me a little while to prepare and got back on Pokemon Online, trying out an assortment of stuff that I thought just worked really well in my eyes, suiting my style of play. I had no idea how different the strategies would be over there so I went in a bit blind in that regard.
With regards to the team, I kept Tornadus, Scrafty and a really aggressive Thundurus from my original Birmingham team. I also took a Specsfisk and a Scarf Haxorus to that national, as they were working online for me at the time. Then came the Durant. my team was Terrakion weak, and I was going through my in-game pokemon to find a good counter for it. I found Durant, who I'd used in-game, and after seeing him outspeeding Terrakion, he was an absolute must for my team. I didn't really test him too much online, but I took a risk on him, which seemed to pay off on the day, and he claimed a massive amount of scalps, not only Terrakions, but some Genies in tailwind, and the rogue Hydreigon. Being one of the only users of Durant, and it being such a surprise package, it became my signature Pokemon, and I'm allegedly known as "Durant man" in Spain.
The actual event was great. I traveled overnight with a really nice group of guys, and I was in a really really competitive mood that day. I wanted to win so badly, but I was pretty tense, knowing I'd have to be at my best to do so. I think I played well all day, and the gods of the hax, admittedly were on my side in one match.. Me and Chris had decided that if one of us got an invite, we'd both take an holiday to San Diego to use it. When I won my top 16 match, I was over the moon, and to go on and get third was even better, considering the community all considered me as a nobody. It was nice seeing the UK win Juniors and Seniors, and I know I let Lord Gatr down by not making the clean sweep for Britain. You can see one of my matches
here.
As one of the many Europeans who attended the 2011 World Championships, what was it like, representing Europe and UK? Did you expect to do well, going into the tournament? How did you practice and prepare for it? What team did you use, what were your matches like, and how did you finish in the end?
In all honesty, I thought I was going to get spanked at Worlds, so I didn't set myself particularly high standards. My main goal was to not go 0-X, so I took that as a target to begin with, which I thought was realistic.In the run up I practiced a lot with my friend Chris, and with some close friends on PO. I spent a good few late nights with Chris trying to find something to "rip the meta a new one" and counter lots at the same time.
I did go to a tournament in the UK to test out some awful ideas, and Koryo tipped me off about a scarf Chandelure lead when I played him using it. He ran it with a Helping Hand Terrakion, but I had to make some changes due to my hatred of Terrakion. Chris' dog passed away, and he looked like a Stoutland. I looked at Stoutland online, and found him to be a great support Pokemon, with Intimidate and Thunder Wave and Helping Hand, so in honor of Dougal the dog, I switched in Chandelure/Stoutland, for the near useless Haxorus/Stunfisk I took to France. It was known as "Dog and Candle" or "Pig and Whistle", the latter named after a Pub me and Chris stopped at.
My matches were a real mixed bag. I got some bad luck in my first match, which spanked my confidence, and another firm beating before lunch. My confidence was shot, but Wolfey did his best to bring me up over a Subway. After lunch I got a win, which meant I'd achieved my goals. the last two were close, but losses, and my final match, funnily enough, Durant came through, avoiding a Rock Slide after a flinch, and smashing a Terrakion for 6. It wa son the TV as well, which was nice, as people were actually watching me battle. Fortunately, both my wins were on TV, so I looked like a decent player to the casual onlooker, even though people openly laughed at my Durant. More details are in my warstory, on each battle. I ended up 2-4, so I'd avoided the whitewash, and I don't think I can complain about that.
What was your overall social experience of Worlds like? What did you think of the American community? How about just the entire Pokemon community at Worlds? Did you have a good time despite your overall finish in the tournament itself?
Worlds was the sickest experience I've had in years. I was kicking about for four days, and I loved every minute of it, from meeting people on the Thursday, watching LCQ on Friday, competing Saturday, and watching finals on Sunday, it was incredible. You American guys are great. I'll get to everyone I met in the shout-outs, but, I couldn't believe how friendly and accepting everyone was, even though I'd only posted about 30 times on Smogon about Worlds, even if my accent did help things along. The overall community, outside of the players has some great people as well. The staff don't get enough credit, as they're all really good humored people, even playing along with me jokingly asking for an English to American translator. Nick McCord makes the events, and I envy how you got him at every regional last year. He commentated briefly on one of my televised battles, and I couldn't help but smile all the way through hearing some of his quips. The parents I met were nice as well, and I've got a lot of respect for them taking some of you Seniors around the country, and supporting you in your Pokemon endeavors. I had a great time, and I'd love to go back again, even if I'm not playing, that's how good the experience was, it makes the finish much less of a talking point.
How have you been preparing for VGC 2012? UK Nationals is in just two weeks: how ready are you? Compared to VGC 2011, do you feel more or less confident?
This year, I've tried to keep off PO, though it's such a good tool for making quick teams, and seeing immediately how they work out. I've done more random matchup to find out what the rest of the world is using, rather than the small playerbase online. With regards to the team-builds, I've theorymonned with a lot of people, including Wolfey, Zog, Human Keely and Gec. I always seem to end up talking to Fishy when I'm at wit's end about teams as well, and she always gives me great advice. I don't want to use really standard Pokemon across the board. I try to be different and interesting and that really hinders my teambuilding at times.
In all honesty, I'm not at all ready. I haven't got a team I'm comfortable with yet, so I'll be putting in some long shifts trying to sort one out that really works for me. I'm much less confident than last year, as by France, I knew my team was definitely decent, but this year, I think some of the more prepared players are going to make life really hard for me. If I can rack up some good wins, with a solid team in the run-up, my confidence will be back up though, and I might get into the spirit in the last couple of days.
What do you think about this metagame in general?
I think it was a good choice of meta by TPCi, as everyone was really wanting to be able to use the massive amount of Pokemon there now are to play with in the national Dex after the Unova additions. It has ended up getting focused on some very popular Pokemon though, which I think is a bit disappointing, with more DW Pokemon becoming viable. This was always going to happen though, and I think I called it in a thread about metagaming (Just saying). They did make a good call in banning Dark Void, as it was a pain having to be prepared for it in every team carrying a Smeargle. Staying away from the Ubers was also nice, as I'm not a massive fan of playing with them, but that's just a personal preference, it could still make for an interesting game.
Moving away from Pokemon itself and towards the players, what's the European scene like for you? Who are some of the top players that come to mind? What do you think about the community and how the tournaments are run?
I really like the European scene. I made a lot of friends last year, and I hope there's more people I'll be able to speak to this year. with regards to top players. The UK has a stupidly large bank of tough players this year, like Mrs Blackbird, Osirus, Kinneas, GEC, Keely, Zog, Havak and the underrated Koryo.
Then the continent ships in great players like Ruben, Albert and Drug_Duck. I think it's a great community although totally different to the US. Even with the language barriers and national pride, everyone seems to get along really well. That's not to say that tempers don't flare with flag waving, and foreign swears being thrown about in the heat of a battle. The tournaments are run pretty well, the staff have their work cut out getting translators in the right place for each battle. They have to translate all sorts all day, and I admire their patience. I was lucky enough to get a rather attractive girl in Paris, helping me with my French and German. I think I'll try find her again!
Yummy ;) What are your thoughts on Top 4 trips this year? How about the fact European Nationals will be run under a single elimination format yet again, despite US Regionals now using swiss?
The top 4 trips is a great step forward. We've all been asking for it since last year, and you can't fault TCPi for getting it done. It should be interesting getting more people from each nation at worlds, as most from the EU, only get the two with the trip going out there like France did last year. I would have liked them to keep the invites for 5-8 though, but that's purely for me, as I'm game to use my saving to fly myself out there.
With regards to the format, as much as we'd like Swiss, like the US is getting now, I think it's a safer decision keeping single elimination. There was some problems with the lack of top-cut in the US I believe, and with the time constraint of getting it done in a day, single elimination. is probably easier, as with one big division, organizing people for Swiss ties could be carnage. The pressure of single elimination is mad though, and and the only reason I'd look at Swiss next year, is to take the pressure off a bit, and allow a bit of room for hax, and errors.
Swiss would be great moving forward, though I would much rather have single elimination with the old environment to be honest. Just a quick question, how many European Nationals will you be going to?
Currently, it looks like two. I found some cheap coach travel to France, so I think I'll be heading back there, and obviously I have to go to the UK, as it's such a great event to be at, regardless of finishing position.
Nice, good luck at them! Well, to finish up, what do you do outside of Pokemon?
I'm an absolutely massive football fan. I support Tottenham Hotspur religiously, so this year is a good one for me. I play football regularly as well, which is why I always have cuts on my knees thanks to playing in defense. I'm mad about music as well, I play drums a lot, and a bass guitar as a second instrument to keep me busy.
I'm studying Interactive Design at the University of Lincoln as well, so that takes up a fair amount of my time, as I'm learning to do cool things like write loads of code in Javascript, actionscript, web design. I'm a bit of a computer nerd in that aspect.
Sweet! Do you have any final words or shout-outs?
If I had to say anything to VGC players, it's use cool Pokemon! Use your favorites, and don't forget to have fun with it! I enjoyed last year so much, as I saw Durant, a favorite of mine tearing things up, and I can guarantee this years team will have a favorite in.
I have to do shoutouts to my Uk home boys, PorkLoin, Osirus, Rees, Kinneas GEC, Keely (should be 4/4) Zog I guess. Also, the Ducks have taken me in, people like Paul, Huy, Duy, dtrain, and my old NPA team evan, Synre and Fishy were all top guys. Team Seniors need one as well, which goes to Cybertron, Unreality, Maski, Babbytron, and Human last year. Wolfey needs one in particular for keeping me motivated, even at the bottom of the barrel. I can't thank all of you enough for making my VGC experience what it has been, and I probably wouldn't be here without you all. :)