Interview with Hugendugen

Haha, thanks for having me. Yeah, it was a bit of a funny situation. Without going too much into it, I was originally slated to be part of the Scooters managing team, having scooted since I first started in SPL3. However, a little misunderstanding meant that two others were chosen. Given the (ridiculous >:|) 2 assman limit and not wanting to remove august or brofist, I figured I'd just spectate this time around. That's when locopoke PM'd me asking if I wanted to assman for the Raiders. I'm good friends with everyone involved with the team, so I was really excited at the opportunity. Unfortunately I was busy at the time and didn't get back to him by the deadline, so Birkal and negres were chosen as the two assmen. That didn't mean I wasn't still involved with the team - I was basically the honorary 3rd assman until midseason. Then, to everyone's disbelief, negres managed to get off his ass and sign up to play at midseason, which meant that there was room for me as an actual assman where his ass used to be.

Of course I would have been fine with Atticus staying on the team, the decision was entirely up to him, but I'm delighted at the opportunity. Even if we may not have been the strongest team this season, I've enjoyed every bit of it. There's a very relaxed atmosphere on the Raiders, since we're basically all just a bunch of friends. Couldn't have asked for better teammates. Except for Eo and dodrio. They make me uncomfortable.

Classic interview technique right there. Two easy fluff questions, and then BAM! Hit them with the hard one.

I was actually quite involved with the tier lineup debate, not so much the dynasty one, so I'll start with the former. It was always gonna be difficult going into a new generation, especially with the timing so close to the release and with Pokebank released right around the start. I argued quite strongly for a focus on XY over BW and Pokebank over Prebank, since I felt those were the most relevant. Especially Pokebank, since Prebank XY Ubers was essentially Prebank XY OU + three Pokémon. I also made a number of suggestions for different types of format, including weekly rotations, 12 tiers instead of 14 and so on. However, even if I don't totally agree with how some of the decisions were made, I think we ended up pretty close to the ideal list of metas, given what we had available. It'll be interesting to see the discussion again next year, when we have a bunch of XY lower tiers.

As for the dynasties discussions, I've always thought that the auction was the most interesting and entertaining part of the season. For that reason, it's a bit of a downer when teams already have more than half of their players locked. I agree that we need to tweak the system for next season, but also agree that it wouldn't have been fair to do it this season, since some managers considered it part of their bidding strategy in SPL4. That'll be another interesting discussion: do we limit it to 3 retainers? Do we increase the cost of retaining a player? Or is there some other ingenious idea that hasn't been suggested yet?

Hmm, that's tough. Melee Mewtwo is a solid pick. Veteran In Love is a champ, so you can't go wrong there, though he might be a tad expensive as a retainer. Oh and definitely MarceloDK, 2015 is your year buddy!

Brauce is a funny guy. Despite what his record might suggest, he's quite a solid player. I think he's actually a bit to harsh on himself sometimes.

I wouldn't change a thing. My plan is actually to change SPL to be an entirely 4th Gen tournament. I'd play DPP Ubers, Iconic would play DPP OU, kd24 would play DPP UU and Eo would play... DPP LC?

Like any good sports coach, my answer is, "I like to focus on one week at a time. Get back to me once we've beaten the Tigres." But seriously, it'll be a close week. Both teams have arguably underperformed this season, so we'll each have something to prove. It'd be fun to see a Bloo vs Iconic matchup, though we'd have to make sure modchat is on, so that they have the chat for themselves. As for the playoffs, I still have some loyalty to the Scooters, so it would be nice to see them make it, even if chances are slim. Who do I think is the most likely? Boring answer but I'd have to pick the current top 4: Cryos, Sharks, Wolfpack, and the Classiest.

To be honest, I think those responsibilities, as well as uni starting back up, have taken a toll on my role as a manager. It's actually also why I didn't sign up as a player. I felt that I'd be too expensive for someone who wouldn't be available every week. Somehow how I constantly manage to find more things to do, but I've tried to help out the team where I could.

It's difficult to say. I'd definitely enjoy the challenge, but who knows how busy I'll be a year from now. Managing takes consistent effort over the entire season, so I'd have to decide closer to the date whether I'd be up for it. I was actually almost a manager this season, but that's a story for another day.

I don't think my schedule would have allowed for it, to be honest. If I was gonna be a head manager, I'd want to give it my all and I probably wouldn't have been able to do that this season. Assman was ideal, since it allowed me to contribute when I had time, without having the final responsibility.

Shoutouts to the three most important women in my life: you, my mother and Floppy's girl.

I beat him with a Gyarados and a Ninjask in DPP Ubers.

Thanks for having me!