Welcome to a special edition of the Random Battles Community Interview! The goal of this is to gain insight into the responsibilities that come with managing a champion RBTT team.
Without further ado, let’s get right into the interview!
Tarrembeau
Congratulations on your RBTT win! How do you feel after this second successful experience?
pokeblade101
When we went into playoffs, I did not feel any type of way because in my mind, I already won last year, so it was ok if we lost this year. That, admittedly, is a pretty selfish feeling because of the new members on the team. However, this feeling changed when the weeks became very close. I was like now I want to win. When we actually did, I felt relieved and smiled for a while (that last game was insane and stressful).
Roginald
Pretty good! It’s my 3rd RBTT win so I feel like myself and the team have proven ourselves. It was a nice feeling this year to be able to bring some players back to win it again with them while also being able to give some others the opportunity to get their first win.
Tarrembeau
How did you approach the draft this time? Did you do anything differently compared to last year?
pokeblade101
Nope, I left it mostly up to Rogi while I gave my own inputs. We actually were less prepared this year than last, hence why we had no HC main, but arguably came up with a stronger team.
Roginald
I’ve gotten substantially busier since the previous RBTT, so we didn’t do much prep for the draft this year at all. I mostly relied on the knowledge I already had, while making sure pokeblade had a team he was comfortable with too. We noticeably ended up prioritising modern gens very heavily this year picking up 7/8/9 in our first 5 picks.
Tarrembeau
RBTT VII included 2 more playing spots and 1 more bench player. What do you think of this change, from a manager’s perspective?
Roginald
I didn’t feel a significant difference to be honest, which is ultimately a good thing! It's always nice to have more people involved.
pokeblade101
For me, I just saw it as a way for a team to become more flexible in their slots every week and give more players a chance to play in RBTT.
Tarrembeau
Do you feel like the overall level of the competition changed?
pokeblade101
I actually think the competition was a lot stronger this year. Even though the point differential was so much more noticeable, you could feel the strength of teams in playoffs.
Roginald
This year I feel like the other manager pairings stepped up a lot. Although I was confident in my team, any of the top 4 could have won it under different circumstances. Perhaps next year could be even more fierce!
Tarrembeau
Power rankings were released for the first time this year. Did you read them? Do you think they were accurate?
pokeblade101
Yes, I largely agreed with the power rankings but there were a few placements I think were that way just because there wasn’t enough information known about some players while others were more known.
Roginald
I actually contributed to the voting and helped write them, although I wasn’t allowed to vote for any chi-yus. I felt like the power rankings ended up very accurate, we weren’t too far off the final standings which is not bad for randbats. Thanks to anyone who had the same faith in us as I did.
Tarrembeau
The first Random Battles Extension League, RBEL, started after RBTT this year. Did you follow the tournament and its results?
Roginald
To be honest I didn’t give it much attention until finals (congrats metagross). Perhaps we will see some new names in RBTT next year.
pokeblade101
I only tuned in for a couple of games, but I never followed the team scores. I enjoy watching a few players in RBEL.
Tarrembeau
Do you have any special memory of this edition of RBTT, something that felt particularly good?
pokeblade101
The two games that put us from 7-6 to 8-6 in semis and finals felt special. Those will definitely be remembered for me for a while.
Roginald
There’s always something that arises that a team can bond over. For us this year we ended up being ‘LOCKED IN’ and it was very nice to see the team enjoying each other's company.
Tarrembeau
And finally, will you try to get a third crown in a row for RBTT VIII?
Roginald
I think it’d be rude not to at this point! I feel like all that's left is to do it 3 times in a row. I wonder what pokemon will bring us to the top next time.
pokeblade101
If Rogi is up for it, I may return for another round. Who knows, I might change the team name again.
Thanks to pokeblade101 and Roginald for agreeing to take part in this interview, and congratulations again to Team Chi-Yu for winning in RBTT VII as well! We look forward to seeing you all in action again for RBTT VIII. As always, if you have any questions for the Team Chi-Yu managers, feel free to ask them in this thread!
