Event CALLOUS Invitational Tournament 4

CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion


CALLOUS INVITATIONAL 4 DISCORD SERVER

CALLOUS INVITATIONAL 4 YOUTUBE CHANNEL

Welcome to CALLOUS Invitational 4- the most elite and prestigious ADV tournament of the year and the highest paying annual independent event in all of competitive Pokemon!

DONATIONS

Please consider donating to support CALLOUS Invitational 4! 100% of your donation goes into the prize pool and directly supports the players! Donations are via PayPal and are non-refundable. You can choose to be credited for your donation or to donate anonymously. Please see the Donations section in the Discord server for full information regarding donations.

If you'd like to donate, please send your contribution via PayPal to ryan.spring0_o@yahoo.com. Please let me know in your message, or via Discord, who you are in the Pokemon world and whether you'd like credit or anonymity. Thank you very much for your donation!

TOURNAMENT RULES-

***REPLAYS. ARE. MANDATORY.***
All games, no exceptions, period. Replays are to be posted either in this thread or in the appropriate section of the Discord server, but ultimately they will end up in both locations.

CALLOUS Invitational 4 will retain the same core structure and rules from previous years. To review-

-32 participants via invitation only. 30 individuals will be invited directly to the main event and the other two spots will be earned via play-ins, which are also invitation only. Neither the main event nor the play-ins are open to the general public.

-ADV OU bo3s, with specific later stages of the tournament becoming bo5.

-Double elimination.

-Random pairings every single round. There will be a separate winners bracket and losers bracket and pairings within those brackets will always be randomized.

-Previous iterations of this tournament have had a series of rules addressing Baton Pass. Those rules have subsequently been voted into standard tournament play and are no longer necessary. BP on Smeargle is simply banned outright, meaning specific bans of BP + Ingrain or BP + Belly Drum, which only Smeargle can do, are now obsolete. Likewise, my "teams may not contain more than three Pokemon with the move Baton Pass" rule is now universal in competitive play.

-The following items- Brightpowder, Focus Band, King’s Rock, Lax Incense, Quick Claw and Scope Lens- are not allowed.

-Standard tournament clauses as observed on Smogon are in effect. No evasion moves, no Ubers, etc. However, new this year, there is one exception- We'll be playing with "last mon Boom clause", meaning in a 1v1 situation if a player uses Explosion or Self-Destruct, even if both Pokemon are knocked out, the game is not a draw. The player who used Explosion or Self-Destruct loses that game.

-The most important rule of all- I am the sole decider on anything and everything to do with this tournament. There are no appeals, no negotiations, no anything. I'm the sole decision maker and can change, cancel or in any other way alter the tour at any time for any reason and I can kick, ban, disqualify or remove a player at any time for any reason at my discretion. My decisions are final. By agreeing to participate in this tournament you understand and agree to this.

PRIZES-

1st- 50% $610 USD
2nd- 30% $366 USD
3rd- 20% $244 USD

Current Pot - 1,220 USD

Please note that with PayPal fees and conversion rates, how much the winning players ultimately receive may differ slightly from what is displayed here.

PEOPLE WHO DESERVE CREDIT-

Donors-

Anonymous T- 300
Alice- 20
The Sprinkler- 5
Triangles- 30
Anonymous F- 20
Dizno- 50
Quint- 10
Dice- 20
Zokuru- 75
Finchinator- 19
ABR- 48
Diophantine- 16
Jacob- 38
Mikmer- 52
Golden11535- 20
Mattakata- 10
Elpresidento- 50
ALUMN- 32
Anonymous D- 5
Blim- 100
Kjdaas- 25
Rahvin- 5
Anonymous P- 10
Anonymous W- 60

Yours Truly- 200

Discord Moderators-

Da Raikage
HSOWA
Watermess

Narrators-

Dizno
JabbaTheGriffin
Triangles
Watermess

Guest Narrators-

BILLDOZER
Pasy_g
Zomog

Researchers-

Golden11535
Hiro'

Art-

Brumirage- Tournament Logo
Golden11535 + Hiro- Usage Statistics Spreadsheet
Mrs. CALLOUS Narrates- Thumbnails
Sadlysius- Trailer
Zomog- Introducing The Players Video

PARTICIPANTS-

Main Event-

1. Tamahome
2. ABR
3. Marcop
4. Elodin
5. Shortage
6. Zomog
7. Eden
8. Gorgie
9. Roro
10. Ugly Duckling
11. KratosMana
12. Golden Sun
13. CyberOdin
14. Undisputed
15. Star
16. Cowboy Dan
17. Dice
18. Gacu
19. Fear
20. Zokuru
21. Thelinearcurve
22. Fakes
23. M Dragon
24. Soulwind
25. Astamatitos
26. Blightbringer
27. Altina
28. Hclat
29. PDC
30. Ban Manaphy
31. Teclis
32. Dekzeh

Play-ins-

Group A-

1. Teclis
---
2. Rozes
---
3-4. Melle
3-4. Garay Oak
---
5-8. Jacob
5-8. Kael
5-8. Watchog
5-8. Troller

Group B-

1. Dekzeh
---
2. Sstj
---
3-4 Welliou
3-4 TDK
---
5-8. Mikmer
5-8. Alice
5-8. Bushtush
5-8. Baddummy

Declined Invitation-

BKC
Pasy_g
Alexander
Danilo
Triangles
Zf (accepted and then disappeared)
Tricking (play-ins)
Sadlysius (play-ins)
FLCL (play-ins)

ROUND 1-
Deadline- 7/5 11:59PM EST

Upper Bracket-

UD vs Fakes
Gacu vs Tamahome
Cowboy Dan vs M Dragon
Soulwind vs Zokuru
Blightbringer vs Hclat
Thelinearcurve vs Teclis
Star vs CyberOdin
Gorgie vs Elodin
Altina vs Fear
KratosMana vs Eden
Roro vs PDC
Dekzeh vs Undisputed
Golden Sun vs Dice
Zomog vs Astamatitos
Shortage vs ABR
Ban Manaphy vs Marcop

ROUND 2-
Deadline- 7/12 11:59PM EST

Upper Bracket-

Thelinearcurve vs UD
M Dragon vs Tamahome
Altina vs Roro
Gorgie vs Hclat
Undisputed vs Golden Sun
Star vs Astamatitos
ABR vs KratosMana
Zokuru vs Ban Manaphy

Lower Bracket-

Elodin vs Fear
Soulwind vs Fakes
PDC vs Dekzeh
Zomog vs Eden
Marcop vs Gacu
Teclis vs Dice
Shortage vs Blightbringer
Cowboy Dan vs CyberOdin

ROUND 3-
Lower Bracket Only
Deadline- 7/19 11:59PM EST

Lower Bracket-

Shortage vs Zokuru
Fear vs Teclis
Astamatitos vs Gorgie
Altina vs PDC
Cowboy Dan vs Golden Sun
M Dragon vs Marcop
KratosMana vs Thelinearcurve
Soulwind vs Zomog


ROUND 4-
Deadline- 7/26 11:59PM EST

Upper Bracket-

Roro vs ABR
Star vs Hclat
Ban Manaphy vs UD
Undisputed vs Tamahome

Lower Bracket-

PDC vs Golden Sun
Astamatitos vs Fear
Thelinearcurve vs Soulwind
Shortage vs M Dragon

ROUND 5-
Lower Bracket Only
Deadline- 8/2 11:59PM EST

Astamatitos vs Tamahome
M Dragon vs Thelinearcurve
UD vs ABR
PDC vs Star

ROUND 6-
Deadline- 8/9 11:59PM EST

Upper Bracket-

Undisputed vs Hclat
Ban Manaphy vs Roro

Lower Bracket-

Thelinearcurve vs UD
Starmaster vs Tamahome

ROUND 7-
Deadline- 8/16 11:59PM EST

Upper Bracket-

Ban Manaphy vs Undisputed

Lower Bracket-

Hclat vs Thelinearcurve
Starmaster vs Roro

ROUND 8-

Upper Bracket-

Ban Manaphy vs Undisputed

Lower Bracket-

Thelinearcurve vs Roro

THIRD PLACE MATCH-

Ban Manaphy vs Thelinearcurve 3-0

GRAND FINALS SET 1-

Undisputed vs Thelinearcurve 3-0

GRAND FINALS SET 2-

Undisputed vs Thelinearcurve 3-1


***CALLOUS INVITATIONAL 4 FINAL STANDINGS***

Tournament Champion- Thelinearcurve $610 USD
Runner-up- Undisputed $366 USD
Third Place- Ban Manaphy $244 USD
4th- McMeghan
5th-6th- Hclat, Starmaster
7th-8th- Tamahome, UD
9th-12th- ABR, Astamatitos, M Dragon, PDC
13th-16th- Fear, Golden Sun, Shortage, Soulwind
17th-24th- Altina, Cowboy Dan, Gorgie, KratosMana, Marcop, Teclis, Zokuru, Zomog
25th-32nd- Blightbringer, CyberOdin, Dekzeh, Dice, Eden, Elodin, Fakes, Gacu
 

Attachments

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CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- There’s definitely a portion of our audience, particularly players who were not around in the old days, who know you more as a GSC player than an ADV player. In your eyes, how does your ADV game compare to your GSC?

FEAR- At the moment I am known for being one of the best, if not the best GSC player in the field. I'm also widely considered an ADV legend, the gen I 'mained' before resurging in 2016. I played Smogon Tour Playoffs twice in 2006 (Smogon tour 4) and 2007 (Smogon tour 5) before I started affiliating with Smogon and I used to be one of the elite ADV players through the whole NB era. I kept the ADV community alive and active outside of Smogon and Shoddy from 2008 until around 2011 within ATQ, I pretty much hosted every major ADV tournament after 2008, notably Grand Tours, Regionals and Supremacy 64. Although I am involved with recent ADV since 2016, my ADV game at the moment is slightly worse than my GSC. I am building and laddering ADV hidden under alts to this day, spectating how the metagame plays out and eventually participating in events that interest me. Usually I get highly involved with ADV around SPL time until Summer when it fades with Callous Invitationals. With those said, I am feeling certain that I can compete at the highest echelons of ADV and be a major threat, or a big surprise I guess, depending which side of 2000 were you born.

CALLOUS- You’re one of a very small group of guys who has played in all four of these tournaments. For you, what is the appeal/motivation to continue playing in these year after year?

FEAR- My continuous shifted attention towards major team tours and especially SPL over the last 4 years in GSC have prevented me to sort of feel like I ever peaked my ADV as I did with GSC. Outside team tournaments I am a lone wolf, I don't have the time, I am not involved in any major group of friends and I simply lack reason big enough to push me over my limits. Therefore a tournament as big as CI, where it draws naturally the best players of the gen only naturally magnetizes my attention as well. Its a good opportunity for me to play some ADV, see where I stand, have some fun while at it. Its the one time chance pretty much of the year other than SPL to play a tournament of the highest level in ADV.

CALLOUS- After an 0-2 in the original Callous Invitational, you’ve had deep runs in both of the two most recent years. What do you attribute that success to?

FEAR- In the first CI I didn't really know what to expect. All major players were invited, the prize money money was a good incentive but how do you reach that without being totally scouted/prepared on as you move in the tournament? As I didn't want to reveal stuff and teams early I got punished by probably the worse luck I had in years by Dragon. In the losers, I built 2 fresh teams against Dan based on usage and I got completely out prepped. Turns out there were truly terrific ADV players still. In the next Callous Invitational, I wanted to prove that I can still bite even though I don't main the tier and honor the invitation despite my horrible run on the first year. I played teams that I liked more and didn't underestimate any of my opponents. It was a good run until Dice and his fighters hard countered my comfort TSS. Likewise in CI3. I am pleased with how I played overall the past 2 CI, but ultimately the belief that I can reach an even higher ceiling in ADV is what drives me every year.

CALLOUS- As an older player, do you find it more exciting to fight against old rivals you’ve played against many times in the past or new players you’ve never played against before?

FEAR- Its more exciting to me playing old rivals and players of the past because I know how respected they are and beating them brings out a feeling of accomplishment. Newer guys that I have never faced not only feel like wildcards, but also have nothing to lose in reputation by playing an older/more known guy. With that said, every player invited in the main event is more or less accomplished and in the grand scheme of things you need to beat a lot of players in order to have a deep run in the tournament so someone should expect to play a mix of the two types every year.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

FEAR- I would like to thank you for holding this every year as well as the donors, who give their money in order to keep this interesting and as competitive as possible. I wish everyone to enjoy their time and all of us to have a smooth tournament.
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- You were tour banned on Smogon over a year ago and have had to sit out of a number of high level events. How has that affected you and your game?

ELODIN- Honestly it didn't affect me much other than being kinda sad over having to sit out of those tournaments you mentioned, because I do love playing mons at the end of the day. It definitely made my irl easier though, cuz I started working and before quarantine I was mad busy from work + school, so a break was pretty nice. That said, regarding the game and the community I don't think my ban really mattered much, as right now I still believe to be on the same level skill-wise as I was last year and I'm still friends with everyone I used to be friends back then (except Lavos XDDDD thank god). Maybe the overall community perception of me changed, but I've always been used to people thinking I'm bad /a ghost slot /a cheater and trying to use those assumptions to diminish my accomplishments, so I don't really care about that tbh. I don't really play Pokemon to prove myself to other people, I do it because I enjoy competing and having fun with friends. I've always been open about the tournaments I've cheated in, and I know the ones I played by myself and I think I still do better than most of the people who look down on me.... so yea, I'm just glad to be back and glad to have an opportunity to play adv after so much time.

CALLOUS- You outlasted ADV legends Tamahome and Dekzeh and were the best performing Brazilian player last year. What do you attribute that to and how do you plan to do it again?

ELODIN- Really don't know. I think I got pretty lucky last year during the first rounds, which definitely made my run a bit easier, and I was also quite motivated at the time with adv because of World Cup, so that definitely helped. Even though Dekzeh and Tama are legends at adv, and I don't really know what made them not perform as well as I did, I'd maybe say they have a bit of an outdated take on the meta/have a lot of pride in what they consider to be good, and since I'm "newer" in this tier I don't really have that perception? Maybe that makes me more versatile as a player, because I'm literally open to using all sorts of teams and all mons from gen3 (I even lost using Dusclops twice last year xd). I also happen to be friends with a ton of people who do a lot of adv building and have never hesitated to support me in tournaments like these, such as Ojama, Star, Rui, Triangles, UD, and a bunch of others, including Tama, so i think I always end up using pretty good teams. Maybe that's something that helped me out over them, but I do think early luck was the biggest factor.

CALLOUS- Given your forced time away, do you feel ADV has changed since the last time you were able to play at this level? If so, how?

ELODIN- Honestly I don't think the meta has changed much if not at all, but I don't really do a lot of building, so I don't think I really have much of a say in this matter. I think adv is a pretty well-rounded meta and the things that have always been good are still gonna be good, not sure if much has changed. Maybe this perception will bite me in the ass though in the tournament. We'll see.

CALLOUS- Which fellow competitor would you least want to play against and why?

ELODIN- Tama for sure. He's the best player I know. I never beat him in test or friendly matches, so I don't think I'd be able to beat him in a tournament of this caliber. He also knows most of my teams which kinda sucks.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

ELODIN- I think I pretty much covered it. I'm just looking forward to the opportunity to play again. I hope I don't disappoint.
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- Outside of the top level ADV circle, many players may not have a clue who you are. As a basic introduction, what can you tell us about yourself?

SHORTAGE- Well, unfortunately I don’t really have any notable achievements in the game to dazzle anyone with as of now so I’ll just give a brief history of myself haha… I’ve actually been around smogon since 2015 as a current gen player, but never really got into ADV until sometime around 2018 when I started experimenting with older gens. ADV really just stood out to me from the others with its speed and consistency, and I just haven’t been able to stop playing it since then!

CALLOUS- How did you work your way from unknown to Callous Invitational main event? What advice do you have for others wanting to do the same?

SHORTAGE- A lot of laddering and playing in smaller mons communities! The showdown ladders might not have the best reputation surrounding them when it comes to being competitive, but I can definitely say that the ADV ladder is one of the better ones. I also had a lot of resources to work with. I don’t think any other old gen has a content producer as dedicated as callous (I swear I’m not trying to suck up lol…) plus things like RoA and the active ADV community all helped to keep me engaged and improve myself to a level that warrants playing in a tour like this one! My advice to other people is to use the resources available to you. Speaking from experience, it’s hard for unknown players to find quality practice outside of the occasional ladder game versus a proven player who was probably just testing or bored anyway… Hands on experience only goes so far so it’s important to take advantage of the resources given to us, with a lot of emphasis on replays in particular.

CALLOUS- As a player who has not had the opportunity to play in a tournament of this caliber before, how do you plan to defeat the best players in the world?

SHORTAGE- I’m a firm believer that ADV rewards good play more than anything else. Sure there might be some matchup advantages to be gained, but I like to think that any team is capable of beating another so long as it’s made properly and the player piloting said team knows what they’re doing. Of course I’ll be sure to try and not make myself completely transparent as a player, but I’m confident that using what I’m comfortable with will at least yield some success for me versus these kinds of players and confidence goes a long way!

CALLOUS- Which fellow competitor would you least want to play against and why?

SHORTAGE- I could give a generic answer and put someone like Asta, Zf, or Linear, but that’s too boring… Speaking from personal experience, I wouldn’t want to be paired versus Hclat if I had a choice. Not only does he have solid playing skills, but he varies his team choices quite a lot which makes him a difficult player to pin down in my eyes. Unpredictability is a valuable tool to have in a game like this and Hclat uses his extremely effectively. To top all that, I’m 1-3 versus him in tournaments if my memory serves and I can tell you that the 1 win I have on the board isn’t anything to boast about if you saw the actual game…

CALLOUS- As a perceived underdog in this tour, do you feel there is more pressure on you or your opponents? How do you plan to deal with nerves?

SHORTAGE- In my opinion, the pressure falls more on me. I’m unproven on the big stage and the people I’ll be playing are among some of the best the mons community as a whole has to offer. Even though I’m not too well known, the people that are aware of me are likely of the mindset that I have potential and are going to use this tour to decide whether or not that potential is ready to be applied in other big tournaments. Nerves are always gonna be there, but I’ll just have to try my best to keep in mind that I made it here for a reason so I should be confident in my gameplay.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

SHORTAGE- Thanks to my friend Endill for helping me with these questions and to Callous for taking the time for this interview. I look forward to the tournament!
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- So, here we are... After helping narrate this tournament for the past couple years you’re finally playing in it this time instead! Why this year? What changed?

PDC- Well, this time I was pretty militant about actually asking to be in the tournament. I think given the whole COVID situation, I have had more time on my hands to play Pokemon than usual. So I figured, why not, this summer looks to be pretty boring -- I want to try and be in another tournament cycle

CALLOUS- What would you say back to those who are of the impression that you are washed up/crusty/past your prime?

PDC- I'm definitely a bit washed in newer gens. The last time I played new gens competitively was probably...summer 2017. Since then I really have not played all that frequently, and I have generally been pretty mediocre when I tried. However, I think my old-gen skill (1-6) has remained pretty stable. I don't need to constantly keep up with metagame trends to be a top tier player in generations that develop slower. In SM/SWSH I think I have essentially 0 idea about what is going on, but through a combination of frequent play and theorizing with my friends I managed to crawl back to my old skill level in those old gens. I may be past my prime, but I have always been a player with a sin-wave like performance.

CALLOUS- Evaluating yourself, how do you think you stack up as an ADV player against the rest of this field? What kind of results are you expecting to achieve?

PDC- I want to at least make top 8. I'm a pretty capable player, and contrary to what others may say, I do build a lot of my own teams in ADV-DPP-BW. I built in ADV OU for SPL 11 w/ z0mog, for example. I don't think I am quite at the top of the pack, but if you want me to be honest, I think I outclass a decent amount of players in CI4 just based on intrinsic skill alone. I think the same argument could be made for people like ABR/TDK, who while not being ADV mains, have a general skill level that will allow them to perform well.

CALLOUS- Which fellow competitor would you least want to play against and why?

PDC- Marcop because we test together very frequently. He's an unstable player who I can't get a good read on in game. Not somebody who I like to play in tours all that often. Other players like Dice are in the same vein. I have a hard time predicting what they're exactly going to do at any given time, and I know their teams are always up to some strangeness.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

PDC- Can't wait to bring some wild stuff in later rounds. Both in Classic Playoffs and CI4
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- For a long time you were a ladder hero and refused to play tournaments. What made you finally change your mind?

GACU- I really dislike scheduling. I have very limited free time and try to make most of it so waiting on someone to show up for a single game of mons frustrates me. However team Europe asked me to play in WCOPP and I wanted to support them so I dipped into tournament play and here I am 2 years latter. I still stay away from Smogon though because of all the drama and immaturity surounding it.

CALLOUS- How different or similar do you find ladder play versus tournament play? How does your mindset change when doing one or the other?

GACU- Tournament play is preety much the same as high ladder quality wise, ADV ladder is specific in that regard. The main difference is knowing your opponent beforehand; his prefferences, preffered playstyle and team choices. This goes both ways. In tours I often try to step out of my comfort zone so I don't get counter-teamed/counter-styled.

CALLOUS- It’s your first playing Callous Invitational and your first time playing in a tournament of this caliber. What kind of results are you expecting? What’s your plan for success?

GACU- Plan is simple, take this week by week and go as deep as possible by playing better then my opponents.

CALLOUS- Which fellow competitor would you least want to play against and why?

GACU- The usual suspects; Astas and Linears of this world. Also Hclat. He's good and also a troll. You can't prep for that.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

GACU- Your vids are the main reason I started to play competetive Pokemon in the first place so I am both grateful and excited to play in this tour!

 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- You won Callous Invitational 2 but you've spent the majority of the time between then and now away from Pokemon. How would you describe your current relationship with competitive Pokemon and how "in shape" do you feel coming into this tournament?

COWBOY DAN- I definitely lost a fair amount of interest in the game once I entered the working world which coincided with the end of CI2. A part of it was just not having enough time and being too tired and stressed during the time I did have to continue with what is occasionally a stressful hobby for me. A big part of it though was feeling like I'd lost what it was that made me actually enjoy the game and was only playing for the sake of my own self esteem which is not a healthy thing to do. Coming back has been a surprisingly refreshing experience. I've been a part of this community for the last 7 years or so and even though I've never met any of my friends on here in real life it was really nice to come back and have them here especially with all the social isolation going on right now. I missed just talking about pokemon, playing for fun and building teams and am really enjoying all that right now. As for how "in shape" I feel, I'm definitely a little rusty when it comes to play but I haven't been this excited about team building since CI2 and I credit a lot of my success in that tour to the volume of new teams I had going in to it.

CALLOUS- Coming in as the defending champion, you exited with an 0-2 last year. What are your comments on that performance and how do you plan to avoid repeating it this year?

COWBOY DAN- Just as anyone in the pool has a shot to win this tour anyone has the ability to go out 0-2 and personally I find it far more surprising im in the winner's club than the 0-2 club. That being said I definitely had my foot out the door with mons going in to that tour. I hadn't really been playing much, most of the teams I had lined up were ones I built around the time of the previous invitational and I just wasn't very motivated. I also felt like I had something to prove from the year before and I'm the kind of person who tends to get in my own head about these things. Honestly I just plan to try my best, aim to have fun and not stress myself out over it.

CALLOUS- Do you feel the ADV metagame has changed in any meaningful way from a few years ago when you were playing and building more frequently? If so, what are your thoughts on those changes?

COWBOY DAN- I think the fundamentals of the game are still the same but there are a lot of cool new toys to play with. I'm a big fan of the higher amount of item diversity the metagame is seeing right now. This is a trend that had started before I left but is really starting to flourish now. I do think the tier has become a bit more polarized balanced builds have always been a staple of adv and I'd say this is still true but more and more teams are going harder in both the stall and offense directions than they had previously.

CALLOUS- Which fellow competitor would you least want to play against and why?

COWBOY DAN- Definitely going to go with my buddy Eden's Embrace, he's my go to guy for team advice so he knows pretty much everything in my builder. He's also an incredibly underrated player.

CALLOUS- Anything else you'd like to say?

COWBOY DAN- Not really, just hoping everyone has fun and we see some cool innovation!
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- As the defending champion you are almost certainly the biggest omission from the tournament this year. What can you tell us about your decision not to defend your title and instead join the narration team?

TRIANGLES- I decided not to play because I haven't really played RSE much at all for a long while, in fact not properly since the last Invitational. I know that if I were to play, I wouldn't be able to perform at the level I want from or expect of myself. However, I still love the community and this tournament from a spectator's perspective, so I offered to take a role on narrating games and being a part of the entertainment.

CALLOUS- I don’t know if any of us have ever heard you narrate before. What should we expect?

TRIANGLES- I'm certainly not an experienced narrator, but I have a very good idea of the narration style I want to pursue. I'd like to focus on analyzing the games from the players' perspective and discussing their long term gameplans and win conditions, and how they can put themselves in a position to achieve them. I'll also pause a lot on key turns. Think of a similar style to BKC, but British.

CALLOUS- From an outside perspective, who would you think are a few of the favorites this year? What about a dark horse pick?

TRIANGLES- Tamahome and Marcop come to mind as my favourite picks. Tama is at the top of his game and he's talked in the last year of his passion for this tier being reignited after a long time playing primarily DP, and I think that's very much showing with his current Cup run and recent SPL games. Marcop obviously had a bad time in CI3, so I think he'll really want to prove himself this time round. With his excellent ability to make aggressive game winning plays and big game mentality I think he will go very far, especially with the edge his unique building gives him. As for dark horses, PDC, Elodin and UD come to mind. PDC has been very active in the tier recently, and had a decent Cup run including beating Asta. He has favoured solid defense and a 'hard to beat' playstyle which I think could serve him very well, especially against the more aggressive players in this tour. Elodin is always an underrated player; he's got a fantastic Pokemon mentality and tier understanding. It feels weird to call UD a 'dark horse' but it seems like people aren't favouring him because he hasn't done much recently. Everyone forgets how good the guy was just a few years ago and what an innovative builder and intelligent player he was, and if he can find that sharpness again you can't count him out. Finally, zf is neither a favourite nor a dark horse as such, but I think he could have an excellent showing this time round, as he has done before.

CALLOUS- As a player who not only won this tournament on your first time out but also the only player to ever win this tournament without dropping a match, what advice would you have for the fairly large group of players who are playing this tournament for the first time this year?

TRIANGLES- It's a relatively small volume of games that you have to play, so make sure you really prepare and build new stuff for each one. Know your enemy and be ready to counterstyle on occasion, but it's also fine to fall back to your favourites and most consistent picks. When you are playing (much more important than building), don't be afraid to make that aggressive play and go with your gut, but make sure your risks are well thought through. Use all 300 seconds of your timer, especially in the first 15 turns - if you can get ahead early the late game will be much easier. Above all, have fun with it. Every player is different, so try to understand what works best for you.

CALLOUS- Without knowing the brackets, who stands out to you as having the best shot of making it out of play-ins? As a follow up, how do you think those players would do in the main event?

TRIANGLES- Alice is definitely my favourite of the play-in group. She has improved immeasurably in the last year. I got to see her play and face her quite often when she was helping Zom with the Cryos, and the talent is absolutely there. As for the main event, if she can hold her nerve, I think a lot of players could be taken off guard. Bushtush is someone else who has the potential to succeed. He has a very good base line and with the right team picks could do very well for himself in playins. In the main event, it will be an uphill battle because vs a McMeghan or an Asta you have to play a perfect game, but I believe he can put forth a respectable showing.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

TRIANGLES- I'm really looking forward to watching this tournament. The donations have been just fantastic so far, and I think this is going to be the best CI yet. Also, subscribe to Callous' Youtube channel (he didn't tell me to say that!)
 
CALLOUS

CALLOUS

YouTube.com/CALLOUSnarrates
Emeritus
WCoPP Champion
CALLOUS- You’ve been around for a while and your Pokemon career has had its highs and lows. Your past 12 months have been fairly quiet. How would you describe your current relationship with competitive Pokemon and your mindset going into this tournament?

EDEN- I've been around in ADV since early 2017 or so, started playing competitively when ORAS was the current generation, it took me a while but I found a tier where I was at least decent. Got the chance to start in a few WCOPs and SPLs which are probably the highlight of my time on site to me. I did pretty ok last WCoP, had a rough SPL, I played alright but I either had a crucial turn or two be played incorrectly every other game, and some luck definitely going against me; that's fine though that's the game we sign up for. Its pretty frequent people jump to the word "choke" before taking a look at spreads, rolls or asking other relevant questions. Understandable though again, we all want to seem well informed, and commenting on people's plays(or misplays) is part of the fun. I enjoy just talking with friends and theorizing stuff more than playing really, occasionally it really does feel like a chore. Half the time I could think of any number of things I could be doing other than playing Pokemon, especially now that I graduated. My friends who know me, would categorize me as intensely lazy, I am not the guy who is going to test a team on ladder. I'll test it as many times as I feel like I need to versus my teammates or friends get everyone's opinion and call it a day. I'm not above just casually asking someone for a team if I'm not feeling my usual stuff(thanks to all my pals for putting up with that by the way). For the most part I understand I'm a steady if not amazing player, I'm pretty in touch with ADV, if I'm playing well and am willing to pull the trigger in game I think I'm at the very least a slippery customer. I'm going into it with the mindset that I'm going to try and be honest, and compete seriously. I'm a pretty moody person and am liable to lose motivation pretty often, so I'll try to stay locked in for however long I'm in. I've been dabbling in other old gen OUs a lot recently(especially over the last year), and that's served as a way to break up the diet of solely ADV, and I feel like I always glean ideas from other tiers, or play them with less expectations on myself so end up enjoying them more. Hopefully that extends to me being relaxed and playing well this year

CALLOUS- You’ve played all three previous iterations of this tournament and have never finished with a negative record. What’s been the key to that and how do you plan to do it again?

EDEN- There is no key to it really, when I'm playing decently, I tend to pick from a more diverse range of teams which means its less likely I end up stranding myself in unplayable matchups. Conversely when I'm not doing so hot the temptation is always there to use the traditional stalls that almost any competent ADV player is familiar with. Being aggressive when I'm playing well to keep tempo in game, is probably something I'd associate with myself; I know most standard lineups and their variants and have kept pretty abreast of recent developments in the tier, so to some extent it can feel like you're almost playing with team preview on. I conversely have a bad habit of becoming overly passive in bad matchups, and not being willing to gamble to make it more even, and an even worse habit of occasionally letting my foot off the gas in favorable matchups. Finding a balance between not being overly aggressive, and not being too passive and laid back; figuring out teams that I can pilot like the back of my hand but at the same time not solely sticking to my comfort zone. Actually building and testing my own teams, instead of just asking friends to pass me builds, or reusing teams that I've used a million times out of sheer laziness; staying mentally alert in game, to cut a long story short the key to me succeeding is much the same as for anyone else.

CALLOUS- In your eyes, what’s the biggest thing that needs to happen in order for you to finally reach that next level and break through to a top 3 finish?

EDEN- Hell if I know, my playing isn't rock solid or anything; when I ended up 5th/6th in 2018 I was playing ok, but I honestly think my playing is more nuanced now. Maybe I just need to be a bit calmer in clutch situations, and chance my arm instead of taking the passive route. I'm also a bit limited by preferring traditional teams, I'm an engineer we don't exactly do creative. If I'm willing to impose myself a bit more, have a bit of luck go my way, and commit myself to grinding out matchups in game(hopefully actually using my timer in the process) I have the potential to do well.

CALLOUS- It is a known that you are perceived as someone who sometimes struggles with nerves and/or tilt. Do you agree with that perception? If so, what have you done to try to combat those problems?

EDEN- I agree somewhat, but given the environment where people remember your losses way more than your wins naturally can make you overly anxious to perform to feel like you belong in the tournament scene. I don't really like crutching on the excuse of I was tilted or I'm nervous, but sometimes it's just plain old hard to back yourself. If you're say 0-2/0-3 the first few weeks of a tournament, the fact that you're going to lose can feel like a self-fulfilling prophecy and you'll take every misplay as an indication of deserving to lose, which in turn affects your mentality for your later games. Once that happens it becomes way harder to stick to a plan, and be aggressive in game. I can't pretend to know how you "fix it", because if I did I wouldn't be wasting being calm and cool under pressure on Pokemon of all things, but I try to tell myself to stay aggressive, fish out turns that progress my gameplan and play for luck if I need to. A crucial freeze or a critical or whatever that breaks the matchup open and makes it playable again, is sometimes what you need to be looking for if you lost too much ground early game or if the matchup is too skewed. I try to force myself to justify the lines of play I intend to execute in game to avoid mindlessly clicking, and calculate damage rolls as often as possible to try to glean as much information as I can early so that I'm able to make more informed decisions later on in the game.

CALLOUS- Anything else you’d like to say?

EDEN- There are a lot of newer players I think have potential to do really well, notably Altina and Shortage. People really write off UD and Dan sometimes, I'm hoping for a good showing from both. I'm really excited to see how Asta changes the tier again by either bringing back old classics with a twist paired with his excellent playing, that's always the highlight of the tour for me. Also glad to see zf in action again, because he's always willing to push the envelope that little bit while building, and his unique teams are paired with strong playing in game. It's going to be a fun way to pass the summer, looking forward to July.
 
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