Damien has been a part of the Champaign Pokemon League for almost as long as it has existed, and has stayed competitive throughout much of that time. He had one of the highest Championship Point totals in the area this season, and it looks like he is going to represent the area well this next year as well.
Here is the interview!
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Could you introduce yourself?
I am from Tolono, a small town just outside of Champaign-Urbana. It's a 20 minute drive to league, but it's always worth it. I am currently 19, and will be 20 in December. I am a sophomore at the University of Illinois. My major is actuarial science with a minor in philosophy.
Can you tell us about your history with the game? When did you first start? When did you first get competitive?
I first started playing Pokémon before I could read. My dad bought cards for us to play with and taught me what each card in my deck did. I went to league for about a year at the local Toys R Us. When that shut down I stopped playing Pokemon and just casually bought cards and traded with my friends. I got back into the game in 2009 by finding a league at a local card shop. My friends and I started playing casually at the league and by the end of the year I starting getting into the more competitive aspect of the game. By 2010 I knew enough to start really traveling for tournaments and competing with some of the top players. I haven't ever left the game since. Some years I play less than others, but I always compete in a good amount of tournaments.
How many times have you tried for a Worlds invite?
I've never went a entire season trying for a Worlds invite. In 2010 I traveled for tournaments, but didn't take my Worlds invite serious until I got back to back 2nd place finishes at state championships. That's when the idea of getting my worlds invite became real and I started pursuing that dream.
Last year I started the season off trying to get my Worlds Invite and I traveled to a lot of tournaments trying to get enough points for Worlds, but by the end of the year, school had just drained too much out of me and I ended up missing a few key tournaments that kept me from getting my Worlds invite this year.
When did you succeed? What do you attribute to your success?
2010 was my first and only Worlds invite. Most of my success has to be attributed to the great testing partners and friends I had that year. Lucas Selig, Ryan Alperstein, and Robby Skeffington have always been a huge part of my pokemon success. Without them I'm sure I wouldn't have nearly as many tournament wins as I do now. Of course I had a bunch of other great people around me that year, and having a consistent league that met every week was a key part in the success I had that year.
What was Worlds like?
Worlds was a blast. I went with Lucas, his mother, and his brother. We had a ton of fun adventuring around Hawaii, but most of our time was spent on preparing for the World Championship. It was really cool to see everyone I had met from traveling around that year at Worlds. It was also an awesome experience to play against people from foreign countries. It seems like it would be difficult to communicate with people who speak a different language, but for Pokemon players it's surprisingly easy. It seems like all Pokemon players speak a universal language when playing the game. Unfortunately that year I just missed out on making top cut at Worlds, but I was lucky enough to make it into the top 32 players in the world!
Are there any big matches that stick out to you from your career?
Last season (2014) Plasma was doing really well during City Championships. The local City Championship for Champaign was coming up and I didn't really know what deck I wanted to play. So the morning of the tournament I build a Plasma variant, but instead of the standard Kyurem or Lugia build, I play Snorlax. I ended up winning the Champaign City Championship with Snorlax, and I guess I wasn't the only one that saw potential in Snorlax. Multiple players around the country were winning City Championships with Snorlax. I didn't even realize Snorlax was a big name deck until someone at the tournament asked me if I was playing the secret deck and I said no I'm just playing Snorlax. Apparently that was the secret deck. (My Snorlax list was actually very different than the "secret deck" list that was going around)
Is there a specific deck you played/got most of your points with this year? Why do you particularly like that deck?
Seismitoad/Manectric/Garbodor got me all but 15 of my 235 championship points this year. I started playing it in the Chicago Cities marathon when I got the list from a good friend in Canada. Jay Lesage set me a list late one night while I was struggling to find a deck to play for the next day of the marathon. I didn't have very much success in the first two tournaments I played it in, and quickly found out where I was making my mistakes during my games. It took me two tournaments to finally get adjusted to the deck, but when I did it really worked for me. I played it for the rest of my cities run and even won one in Avon, Indiana against my good friend Dustin Zimmerman playing Virizion/Genesect, one of the decks more feared matchups.
I went away from the deck for the first two weekends of states, fearing both of the primal Pokemon. For the fourth weekend of states I decided to go back to Seismitoad/Manectric/Garbodor and ended up getting Top 8 at Kansas states.
What decks do you think you’ll play next year in Standard and Expanded? Is there a particular deck you see yourself playing in the same manner as you played Toad/Manectric this year?
Next year I hope Seismitoad/Manectric will still be a solid play, but with the format constantly shifting back and forth between Standard and Expanded and new sets coming out, I think I'll just have to wait and see. I don't really see myself going away from a Seismitoad deck. I really like that it limits the opponent to specific plays and I can play around those plays.
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| Damien won the Avon City Championships this winter |
When I first came back into the game last year, you said to me something along the lines of "It used to be that you could play several decks throughout the season, but now people play one deck and get really, really good at it." You pointed to Israel Sosa as evidence.
This season, you only got your points with one deck, and I only got my points with two. Do you stand by that statement? Do you want to refine it a bit? Does it depend on the player?
Sosa stuck with Yveltal again this year, and that led to him playing it even when it wasn't necessarily the best option (e.g. Nationals).
I'll stand by that statement for the most part. I think it's in a players best interest (especially a new player) to find a single deck or play style and get comfortable with it. The more comfortable you are with a deck or play style, the more dangerous the deck becomes even in a meta it's not suited for. The more you play a deck, the more you figure out the little tricks that can help you beat a bad matchup.
A perfect example of this is during this year when I started playing Seismitoad/Manectric/Garbodor, I really struggled against Yveltal decks because they applied so much pressure and kept their energy well protected. Later on in the season I finally found out how to deal with yveltal, and it made that matchup a lot easier.
A "complete player" will be able to play any kind of deck and do well with it. Going into a tournament I never know what deck these players will be playing, because they are so well diverse. Being diverse is important. It allows you to easily adapt to any format and any meta you might be playing against. It also allows you to know the weaknesses of certain decks, because you've played them before and see when they struggle.
Overall I believe it's a good idea to get comfortable with a single strategy and play that deck for as long as the format will allow you. I also think it's important to be diverse and know how to play several different kinds of decks so it's easier to adapt to the meta.
What is your favorite card of all time?
My favorite card of all time has to be Regigigas Lv. X. Sacrifice was such a cool ability, and it was one of the first competitive decks I build. Robbie Skeffington also played the deck so I always had someone to talk with about the deck.
What is your favorite deck of all time?
Favorite deck is easily Blaziken/Luxray/Garchomp. After losing to it in the finals of the Indiana State Championship, I quickly built the deck and played it the next week in Kansas. I played BLG for the rest of that season, which got me to a top 32 finish at Worlds that year. Every once in a while someone will ask if I want to play their 2010 format deck and I am always down to play BLG again. The deck allowed you to find an out against almost every deck in the format.
What was your favorite format of all time?
My favorite format is probably 2010. 2009 was also a cool format I enjoy revisiting. 2010 had some many different options when it came to what deck you wanted to build. Deck-building was also extremely important in that era because you couldn't just burn through your deck with a Professor Sycamore or shuffle your opponent's win condition back into their deck with N. Instead you had to carefully build your deck to deal with multiple situations.
Who do you test with the most? How much do you play online?
Testing is something I need to do more of. I play a lot of Pokémon with my friends, but I don't think I ever really test for tournaments. Instead I just play Pokemon the week before the tournament until I feel comfortable with the deck I've chosen. I wish I had testing figured out a little more and could actually test matchups and fine-tune my decks, but instead I usually make an initial list, tweak it ever so slightly, and just play it in the tournament.
What do you do outside of Pokemon?
I like to play a lot of basketball. I also enjoy playing other card games. Magic: The Gathering is something I am starting to get involved with, and so far I enjoy it.
What do you think of the general state of the game? Is it in decline, is it especially accessible, etc.
I really enjoy the game right now. Most people's gripe with Pokemon right now (mine included) is the EX Pokemon. I think if people would step back and realize that EX Pokemon are just a part of the game and accept them, I think they would find it more enjoyable. I think the current formats (both expanded and standard) are very fun and exciting.
The game as it stands is not very accessible. While going to Wal-Mart and picking up a starter deck is fairly easy, picking up a competitive deck and doing well with it is not. Not to mention the start-up costs for just about any competitive deck right now is absurdly high due to Shaymin-EX being so widely used. Playing a deck without Shaymin -EX is possible, but you are at a severe disadvantage.
What would you do if Pokemon suddenly stopped existing?
I'd probably pick up a different card game. Card games interest me because there is so much to think about when playing a game or building a deck.
What is your favorite Pokemon?
Dragonite. Snorlax is a close second.
Any shoutouts?
Any whats?
Huge shout out to all the players that have come and gone through the Champaign-Urbana area. I don't get to see them at league anymore, but each and everyone of them has had a huge impact in my Pokemon career.
Another huge shout out to all the players who play with me today. Without you guys I wouldn't be playing Pokemon still. The community is the reason I continue to play Pokemon.
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Thanks for the interview, Damien!
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Glossary:
Pokemon League-
A Pokemon League provides a nearby place for you to get together with other fans of both the Pokemon Trading Card Game and the Pokemon video games, and have some fun. Using your own cards and Pokemon video games, you can play, trade, and even earn cool prizes! The best part is that you can do all this with other Pokemon players who love collecting and playing just as much as you do.
Worlds Invite-
At the end of a year's cycle of Pokemon, top players in both the Pokemon TCG and the VGC qualify for an exclusive, invitation-only event. This years Worlds is in Boston this August, but past locations include Florida, British Columbia, California, D.C., and even Hawaii!
In general, one must do very well at tournaments throughout the year to receive the prestigious invitation to the World Championships. Past Worlds invitees from the C-U area include Damien Hardy, Daniel Bernstein, and Josh Wittenkeller.
