WEBVTT

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Hello, and welcome to episode number
one hundred and thirty eight of the Cheese,

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Steaks and Controllers podcast presented by Fox
PHL The Gambler one A two point

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five FM fourteen eighty AM, iHeartRadio
wherever you get your podcasts, coming at

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you live from Philadelphia. I made
the mistake of waiting until after Game seven

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of the NLCS to record this.
I should have known better, so but

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I'm going to try and keep the
energy up because this is a very good

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episode that we have for you today. Recording this on Tuesday night, October

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twenty fourth. Wednesday, October twenty
fifth, All Elite Wrestling brings AW Dynamite

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and Rampage back to Temple University's Lea
Korus Center. Tickets are still available,

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and we have a great talk with
one of the current champions from AW at

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the top of this episode, so
stick around for that second segment of the

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show. I'm going to talk about
where I've been for the last two months,

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the games I've reviewed, the places
I've gone, stuff like that.

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Should be a very good segment there. And then finally I'm going to wrap

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things up this week with two interviews
from one of the big places I have

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been recently. We'll get into that
talking about a particular games competitive scene and

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how they continues to grow in the
future. But let's not waste any more

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time, all right, our first
guest here today. I don't know if

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you've noticed this, but we've talked
about wrestling here before on the show,

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and All Elite Wrestling AW coming back
to Temple University at the Leah Korus Center

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for the first time in thirteen months. I had not realized I had not

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been in this city for that long, but I was at the last show,

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and then I bought tickets to this
show. I realized, oh,

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it really has been a year.
Very excited to see them come back.

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Not the least reason because the guy
we're about to talk to you right now

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has been one of the foundations of
the promotion since it started, and honestly

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one of the steadiest performers this year
and a year that's been sort of tumultuous.

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I think it's a light way of
putting it. This guy right here

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has been one of the best to
watch, and that is your current All

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Elite Wrestling Wrestling International Champion Orange Cassidy
Orange. How are we today? You

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know, a little less higher than
usual. That's good. I didn't do

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anything this past dynamite, so I'm
killing Okay. That's good. Glad to

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hear that. Nice to see you. Like I said before we started recording,

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here, get that title back.
How's it feeling? I have that

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strap back around your ways? Do
your pants stay up better? No?

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They don't still fall down? I
actually have it right here. I have

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my back. I always keep it
with me. I have like the backpack

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right here at home. I would
I would never let go of it,

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like even even while. Is that
is gorgeous? Look at that? Yeah,

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nice to see you have that back. Like I was saying in the

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intro. There your work in the
since you got that title in March up

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until when you lost it in September. Uh in what was a rather strange

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summer for your promotion, with all
of the nonsense going on around you,

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you kept it steady. You kept
the ships sailing, and I really did

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appreciate that. Did you feel like
you kind of had to take that on

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just to be like the steady,
like make give someone keep keep not not

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so much keep to yourself, but
keep keep a low profile. Just do

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your job and you know, let
everything else play out around you. It's

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just funny that you just said that, because that's literally what I That's what

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I do. I just I show
up, I do my job. I'm

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doing it. You know, I
do what I have to do because if

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you know me, you know I
lived my life by a set of rules.

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And the first rule is that there
are no rules, and then the

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second rule is sometimes you got to
do it. So sometimes you just got

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to do it. And you know, I have been around with AW since

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its beginning, and I care a
lot about this place, almost as much

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as the International Championship. Well actually
they're probably equal, And you know,

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I just did whatever I had to
do. Now, when you first earned

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this title March of twenty twenty three, it was going through a name change.

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Used to be all Atlantic, now
it's International, and it was sort

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of, I don't want to say
it was considered a lesser title, because

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no title is a lesser title in
any promotion, but it wasn't like on

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the level let's say, obviously not
the world title, and even tn T

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was a little ahead of it,
and you kind of legitimized it immediately with

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the Lutrosaurus match and then Shabbata match
later on, you do you take a

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little bit of did you want to
do that, Like when you won this

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title, did you say, look, I'm gonna I want this to be

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a long, healthy reign with as
many defenses as possible to put this title

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on the map, or did that
kind of just happen naturally. I think

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it just kind of happened because,
you know, and I the goal was

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always to beat pack and Packards at
that time, the current All Atlantic champion,

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and the belt was the championship was
created with him in mind to have

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it and defend it while he couldn't
get back in the country. You know,

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then once we had it and and
I beat him, and I had

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it, and it's like it didn't
really have an identity anymore, you know,

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it was just the Atlantic. We
didn't really know what that was.

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And in a previous life for i
WTV Independent Wrestling, I was there champion

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for a while and I just when
I had it, I did the same

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thing. I'm just gonna defend it
whenever I have to, against whoever,

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wherever, because that's what I believe
the champion should do. And it just

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obviously you never want to lose the
championship, right you know, like I

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never have a I never have an
end. I never have an end in

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mind. It just so happened I
had it for as long as I did.

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Uh. Speaking of that loss,
have you recovered? That was quite

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a beating you? Are you good
now? We were back? Were back

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in in one hundred percent? Or
will you? Is that where there's matches

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where you're never quite one hundred percent
when it's over. Yeah, I physically

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I think I have recovered, and
but you know, that match was that

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match was really the culmination of however
many months I had the championship the first

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time, and I feel like that
match, I don't know if I've recovered

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mentally. I don't know if that's
the thing that can happen. But I

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don't know if my head's in the
right space with this championship that I have

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in now after that match, So
you know, it's obviously John Mosley is

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obviously still on my mind a lot, So that's fair. Yeah, imagine

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that's one of those matches you just
can't put behind you, especially now that

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you have the title back. Because
I was a couple of friends watching it,

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and man, the things that you
went through were admirable and scary at

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the same time, so glad to
see that you're getting back there. Let's

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talk about the opponents you faced during
that first reign, A who's who basically

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of the of a strong aw midcard
with some guests sprinkled in. Is there

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a particular match from that reign that
you are particularly you think back fondly on,

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like whether it's the Forbidden Door match
or any of the other opponents that

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you face in that time. You
know, I never like, you know,

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is it is bizarre that I have
had so many matches because I just

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I don't like to wrestle, So
having all these matches, you know,

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I don't like any of them,
but I would. It was a it

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was an honor to be in the
ring with Cassio Shabata. It's I still

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can't wrap my head around the fact
that he is wrestling he wrestling me,

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and the fact that he is wrestling
now and Jennifer. Obviously, the the

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Wheeler Uta matches had a little place
that were a little more personal, and

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I I've had some time to think
back because people would ask me these questions

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while it was going on and then
right when it ended, and I didn't

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really have to reflect. Obviously,
the John Mossley match is still in my

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brain, but there is another person
that the match that I had with Swerve

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Strickling, Yeah, is still it's
still that that one. I'm I'm still

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surprised I got out of that with
the championship because Swerve is I'm I'm very

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scared of who he targets next.
Yes, uh, he has just every

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time he comes out, he continues
to impress me. I honestly thought he

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would make a good next opponent for
the world title. And then the the

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Hangman Page feud story. Here's somebody
goes after the world title and not me.

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I hope he doesn't hear the show
either. Now that you've said that,

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now that you have the belt again, you've you're you're starting to think

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about who you may defend against.
I know collision recently happened. You have

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defense there? Who is on your
radar? Who is someone that you would

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like to wrestle for that title that
maybe you did the first time and you

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want to do it again, or
you haven't yet and you would like to

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challenge yourself with that particular match.
I don't know how many defenses I had.

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I think it was over thirty something, and there were some repeats in

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there. I take I took a
lot of pride in defending the championship against

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a wide variety of wrestlers, and
our roster is so big and there's so

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many talented people that I want to
continue that trend. I think there are

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there's more room for more people to
get in the spotlight, and I think

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that's what I was trying to do
with the championship in the the first run,

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and I don't see why I should
stop that now. Now, would

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you would you prefer if? When? If? If slash when you are?

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If you would you prefer to lose
the title? It's a weird thing

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to say prefer to lose the title
because you never want to lose the title,

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But last time you lost it to
an established name in John Moxley,

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Would you maybe, perhaps next time, prefer to be bested, which again

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is a weird question. I know, by perhaps an upcomer or like someone

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that you could maybe thrust into a
spotlight that might not already be in.

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Does that make sense? Uh?
Well, I yes, it makes sense.

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But I obviously I don't want to
lose it. I never want to

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lose it, right, but I
to your point, and to what I

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was just saying, I think it's
important that I give opportunities to everybody,

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right sure, sure established names or
non established names, or however you want

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to say that anybody on the roster. This championship was really a Hey,

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anybody, anybody on the roster can
get a shot at this. And I'm

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going to keep it that way.
So whoever can make me submit, I

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quit, or pull my shoulders down
for three they can have it. That's

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hey, that's that's the perfect way
to think about it, honestly, and

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so we're I'm going to leave the
discussion about the International Championship right there.

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I just want to remind everyone Dynamite
is coming to the lee Acorus Center at

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Temple University Wednesday night tonight. If
you're listening to this, it is lot.

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This episode's going live that morning,
so if you need something to do,

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the Philly should not be playing,
even if they go to Game seven.

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We are recording this early. I
don't know what the Phillies have ultimately

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done, but Wednesday night is free
and clear, So go go up to

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a Leacorse Center and check out Only
Wrestling's Dynamite and Rampage as well. Should

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be a great show always is when
that be down. We should definitely say

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that. Being in Philadelphia, they
have announced a person Rob Dam. Yes

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we'll be We'll be teaming with Hook
and if you know, come on Philly.

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Amazing. Rob van Dam is wrestling
in Philadelphia at that place. Every

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seat should be filled. That is
a great point. I forgot that they

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mentioned that on Dynamite Wednesday, and
I also forgot that I immediately texted the

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two people that I'm going with that, So thank you for saving my butt

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there. I do want to switch
gears a little bit to something a little

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less uh not serious, but a
little less a little more fun. This

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is a video game themed podcast or
show, after all, So I'd like

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to talk about your appearances on Alli
lad Arcade. Your you're a bit of

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rivalry with Adam Cole over that championship
that he's hurt obviously at the moment.

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So you guysn't been able to redefend
that based on what I'm seeing, do

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you? Is he ducking you?
You think I don't know the champion?

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I don't know. At last I
saw it was him that held it,

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but that that's that was what three
months ago that he lost it or that

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he beat you for it. And
I haven't seen any title changes since.

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I'm not sure that title really,
you know, fell off once he got

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it. That's fine, So that's
fine. So I'm still upset about I

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mean, if you're talking about the
John Moxley stuff this, you know,

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Adam Cole, just that I can't
wait for my remeasure that guy. Ultimately,

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I think it's unfair that you had
to defend that title playing his favorite

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game in Halo, Like that's all
it's the problem is Halo won, you

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know, on the on the original
Xbox, the first ever Halo. That's

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my game. And so I crushed
him in that. But then he and

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I said, you know, I
thought I was pretty good at the newer

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Halo, but I guess I'm not. But yeah, I want to beat

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him at his own game. He
dressed up like Master Chief for a A

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and an entrance. Can you imagine
I beat him in Halo crush them?

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That's true. I think I like
him too much to do that. I

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don't know, I don't know.
Uh yeah, I could see that,

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but also too, I mean,
you'd have two belts for you need a

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bigger backpack. Then what would you
do I fit multiple belts in there before.

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Oh good, Oh I've tried.
Oh that's good. That's good to

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know. So what Uh No,
I don't know how much time you have

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to do some casual gaming at the
moment. But are you playing anything interesting

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right now? Uh not? Yeah, you know, I dabble with what

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I can. Uh there is a
you're gonna get an exclusive? This is

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I don't think. I don't think
anybody. Well, I don't know if

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I mentioned this before, but I
never said it. There's a lot of

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us in the aw locker room that
play uh FIFA, but now it's e

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A f C twenty four. Thanks, so we we all. Sometimes Evil

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Uno will bring a Xbox or something
in the locker room, put on the

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screen and it gets heated, thought
pack and I go at it in the

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ring. You should see us somewhere. And Eddie Kingston he just won't shut

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up what he plays. That actually
that that segues very nicely into a question

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I had written down for this interview
when we got to this section. Is

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there like I've always heard stories of
you know, locker rooms with a lot

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of gamers bringing in consoles and stuff. Like that, and having these tournaments

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sounds like that's happening in aw locker
rooms across the country and FIFA is the

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chosen battleground. Honestly, not what
I would have expected, but now that

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I think about it, there are
a lot of international talent. FIFA does

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make a lot of sense. All
those those UK kids they come over and

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it's just it's the only thing.
They won't shut up us. So I

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had to learn how to play it, and then you know, I'm actually

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pretty good at it. So who's
your club of choice? Uh well,

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it's always full of It's always full
of okay, just in case that Tony's

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listening, and I do I do
actually use I do actually use full of

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them. But uh yeah, that's
pretty much. Yeah, yeah, I'll

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go with that. Nothing from nothing
but full of mirror matches. When he

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walks by, you have two screens
just in Casey pops in. I mean,

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there was one time where we were
playing. It was me and Eddie

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and it was like during the COVID
era of stuff, where we just we

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had to isolate us. You know, we had a we were all stuck

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in a room together. Yeah,
and you know, Tony did walk you

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we were we were something. It
was like an off day and Tony walked

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and he looked and he goes,
you're going with a four three three like

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he was upset, like he like
he he wanted me to change the formation

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and I did. I changed.
Did it work? Yeah? That's awesome.

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And if and as you said,
if Tony listens to this, if

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Tony listen to this, first of
all, whoa And secondly, hi,

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Tony, interesting, FIFA or FC
twenty four. As you said, now

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is the game of choice. I
thought for sure it might have been,

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you know, like forever for a
little while speaking of well, the thing

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that's that was the thing when we
had it in the that was when the

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game came out. It was we
would all be ourselves and play each other

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a lot. Like we played that
game a lot. I was very fortunate

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to play a lot of the builds
leading up to it. They because they

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know I'm into it and that I
got to see all the versions and what

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it is now and the game is
just it was. We would play for

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hours. It was so much fun. It was really really great. Is

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there a particular mode that you enjoy
or things that you like? I love

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the the side missed the side like
mini game part of it. I didn't

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think there was enough. I think
they could have built on it a little

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more because I really did enjoy just
that, like at the homes. Yeah,

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I think there were slowly releasing more
like they're they're doing something that I

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like where it's like releasing it in
pieces, especially like the they're gonna they're

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gonna add on to what I should
say because I like that because I don't

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want to have too many options to
start. I like with that homework plan.

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So but yeah, every open game, yes, exactly, h rit

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Baker and uh, she's not good
at the actual wrestling part of the game,

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but she is really good at the
mini games, so she was the

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one that we would play against to
try to be that's cool. I haven't

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jumped into the Battle Royale mode yet
either, just hadn't so much. It

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is. It's great. It's great. Yeah, for those who don't know,

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they added a thirty player stadium stampede
Battle Royale essentially, so you're running

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all through this big football stadium,
weapons, golf carts, all that stuff,

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and the last person course there is
a horse and the last person standing

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wins. I hate, like I
said, I haven't had a chance to

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jump into that update yet, but
it does sound very very cool. So

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I guess I'll leave you with one
more question here. When I told my

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daughter that I was doing this,
she I don't. She watches a little

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bit of wrestling, and she knows
who you are from your pockets, right.

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But she also knows your good friend
Dan Housen, who is her favorite.

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Loves the guy love he thinks he's
the coolest in the world. How

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is Dan Housen? I see he
has promos, he's finally making his return.

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How's he doing. I have no
idea. I haven't. I haven't

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heard from him. He would just
send us DHS tapes and it's like we're

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supposed to play these, and a
lot of the time it's just like it's

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it's him saying hello, not figuring
out saying hello, adjusting the camera a

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lot. And he definitely recorded over
old like it's like family Matters episodes.

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And I have no idea. I
have no idea. Yeah, oh,

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we have to teach him the ways
of the of the modern technology very very

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soon. But Orange, I will
let you go there. Thank you very

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much for taking time with me to
drop by the current All Elite Wrestling International

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Champion, Orange Cassidy, all of
All Elite Wrestling will be at the Leakor

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Center at Temple University Wednesday night tonight. If you're listening to this and you

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haven't gotten tickets yet, you should
head over there watch you watch some great

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wrestling. Rob Van dam as was
mentioned, will be in action teaming up

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against Hook against the team to be
determined as of this recording, but we'll

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hopefully see what's going on there.
Hopefully we'll see you there as well.

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Orange, one of Philly's native sons, very much appreciate that jersey technically,

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but we're not gonna hold that against
you. Well yeah, you know,

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hey, Yeah, Philly is a
very special place to me, and I'm

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very I'm very lucky to be here
and very lucky to be in this city.

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It's really really great and I'm definitely
gonna be there Wednesday for sure.

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Look for him. Look for the
man in the great shades and his hands

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in his pockets. Orange, thank
you so much for your time. Good

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luck to you. Thank you.
I'm gonna go lay down appreciate it.

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Coming up after the break, I'll
talk about where the heck I've been the

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last two months. Thank you again
to Orange Cassidy for coming onto the show

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today. But after the break,
where's Jason been stick around? Oh right,

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Welcome back to Cheez Takes and Control. This episode number one thirty eight

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talking now about you know, where
the heck I've been for the last two

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months, So it's real simple.
Last episode I recorded was episode one thirty

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seven, end of July early August, talk to Rick the Hotdo fire from

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EVO about the upcoming EVO event at
the time that went off without a hitch.

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Was a great episode I watched,
I'm a great episode, a great

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weekend of action from them. I
watched the entire Sunday Finals, all four

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games from the Sunday Finals from a
plane from an airplane with Wi Fi,

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and I did that on my way
to a place that I have never been

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before and one that I was very
excited to visit, and that was Tokyo,

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Japan. I spent a week in
August in Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama

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as a guest of the Pokemon Company
International talking about I'm Sorry, covering the

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twenty twenty three Pokemon World Championships.
We got to do a lot of very

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cool and fun things while we were
out there, see the sites of Japan

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cover the Pokemon World Championships, which
were very very cool. It was a

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trip I will never ever forget.
Highlights for me was going to the Shibuya

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Scramble Crossing with the Hachiko statue and
getting my hatch Co statue and getting my

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picture taken there with the statue,
and at the crossing itself. Getting to

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go to San Kayenne I believe it
was called a Japanese garden do it an

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official tea ceremony with a tea brewing
method that's been used for over eight hundred

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years apparently in the country of Japan. Very very good tea, and I

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don't normally do tea. Tea iced
or hot tends to make me gag a

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little bit. Not sure why that
is, but it does tend to do

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that. This green Macha tea that
they served us at this little ceremony,

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oh boy that I loved every second
of it, So that was very cool.

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Got to go see a China town
in Japan, which sounds strange,

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especially given their history of tension,
but this particular China town in Yokohama,

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the biggest in Japan, I'm told
was very very cool. Great shops,

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great food, great you know,
nice sites to see and pictures to take.

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That was very cool. If you
ever in Yokohama, I would suggest

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checking that out as well. But
the World Championships themselves, three days of

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action in the card game Scarlet and
Violet Go and Pokemon Unite. I mentioned

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at the top of the show that
there will be two interviews and the third

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segment from this event, and that
will be with two of the biggest casters

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of Pokemon Unite. That there are
Zoinks and Spraggles. We're going to talk

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to them, and it's my interview
from that show. So it was right

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after the Pokemon Unit Finals had taken
place, a bit of a time capsule

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to two months ago. I do
acknowledge that, but you can hear the

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way that they speak about how those
tournaments went down, where they see the

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competitive scene and Pokemon Unite going in
the future. Very very cool conversation that

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I have with them. But all
in all, I thought that the trip

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to Japan was a dream come true, and I am forever grateful to the

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folks that made that happen. One
of the things that really struck me about

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the entire trip was how much Pokemon
had taken over the city of Yokohama while

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I was there. I you know, I've always as a kid, I've

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gained my entire life, right,
I've been playing video games since I was

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three years old, thirty three years
now, and I've always wondered what it

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would be like to have, you
know, mainstream society for lack of a

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00:26:15.559 --> 00:26:18.839
better term, except the games the
way that I do now. That has

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happened to a point with certain games, but nothing like what I saw with

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Pokemon in Japan. That Pokemon took
that city over, absolutely took it over,

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particularly Yokohama where the actual World Championships
was taking place. Perfect example,

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there was a shopping mall that we
went to walking distance from our hotel,

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and on the third floor of this
shopping mall, because they build vertically as

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opposed to horizontally like the US malls
that I've been into, the entire third

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floor featured an art walk where you
could walk and look at art, you

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know, little art installations as you
walk down the pathway. But each each

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section of this art walk was a
Pokemon card blown up to you know,

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be larger than human size, and
it wasn't just the art either. If

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it was just the art, that
would make sense too, right, But

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this was like the entire card frame
with the art inside and the writing in

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Japanese. It looked like they just
took an actual Pokemon card and blew it

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up in photoshop and stuck it on
this display in this mall. And there

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were dozens of them all throughout this
facility. I found that to be marvelous.

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In the center court of the shopping
mall there was a giant Pikachu balloon

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and a massive Pikachu card on the
floor that you could take a picture of

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from one of the top balconies.
That was awesome. In another section of

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the city there was a massive blow
up Pikachu that you could take pictures with,

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plus other statues scattered throughout the city. At one point, the company

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had rented out an actual cruise ship
and turned it into the SSN from Red

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and Blue, complete with trash cans
that I could search quote unquote search for

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items, with the most of them
saying there's nothing but trash here, and

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the last one giving me a great
ball. It was amazing how much Pokemon

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was able to do in this city
for this week, and the and the

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and Pokemon thanked them in kind because
that event was a rip roorn good time

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with a lot of awesome stuff between
card game competitions and the game itself and

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Unite which was a very very exciting
experience. Again. We'll talk about that

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more in segment number three. I
also found some very interesting little side foible

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of this event. Uh So,
there's the actual main hall where everything's happening

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the pacifica Yokohama in this case,
and that's where all the tournaments are being

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played and the free play and stuff
like that, outside of the main comfort

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hall, but still in the building, Like still inside a building was like

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a seating areas, vending machines and
stuff like that. Well, attendees from

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00:29:10.359 --> 00:29:19.079
of the Pokemon World Championships turned these
general seating areas into massive market places or

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00:29:19.319 --> 00:29:26.839
like street vendor bizarre sort of things
where they had sleeves from sets, box

377
00:29:26.880 --> 00:29:33.839
sets or elite trainer boxes for trade
playmats. They weren't using any more cards,

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00:29:33.880 --> 00:29:40.359
both packs and individual single cards for
trade or purchase. On the down

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00:29:40.400 --> 00:29:45.640
low, you weren't allowed to purchase
them that money was prohibited, but some

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00:29:45.640 --> 00:29:48.119
people were doing it on the sly
because you know that's usually what happens in

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these sorts of things. But I
found the whole thing fascinating. I could

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just walk through and it wasn't just
like recent modern Pokemon. Some of these

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things went back as far as like
the black and white era, maybe even

384
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a little further. I didn't really
see much in terms of like the original

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00:30:04.480 --> 00:30:07.960
Pokemon cards of the late nineties that
I grew up with. That stuff would

386
00:30:07.960 --> 00:30:12.440
probably not do well in this particular
situation because there's so many people and you

387
00:30:12.480 --> 00:30:17.839
don't know where things are coming from
and who's passing by and what they might

388
00:30:17.880 --> 00:30:19.759
be able to reach for. I
kind of understand that I didn't see much

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00:30:19.799 --> 00:30:26.720
of that, but just seeing these
people like bartering and exchanging and trading it

390
00:30:26.799 --> 00:30:30.279
was super super cool. Also,
going back to the cruise ship turned s

391
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S and that they had situated on
the dock there in Yokohama, there was

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a section entire floor where there were
tables that you could sit at that said

393
00:30:41.559 --> 00:30:45.079
let's play or let's trade. They
would have a little sign and you could,

394
00:30:45.440 --> 00:30:48.480
you know, switch them at will
to whatever you wanted to do,

395
00:30:48.599 --> 00:30:51.039
and it was all about trading card
games. So if you put up the

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00:30:51.119 --> 00:30:55.200
let's trade sign and you had a
binder, you could barter and talk about

397
00:30:55.200 --> 00:30:59.920
trades with anybody that walked by.
If you said let's play or let's battle,

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00:31:00.079 --> 00:31:02.440
you would battle in the card game
right then and there. One of

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00:31:02.440 --> 00:31:07.240
the folks that was on the trip
with me had a great battle with someone

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00:31:07.240 --> 00:31:11.200
they had never met before on this
cruise ship. If you go to IGN

401
00:31:11.240 --> 00:31:14.599
and look for I think it's a
Confessions of a Pokemaniac as the name of

402
00:31:14.640 --> 00:31:17.720
the blog. Joshua Yell, who
was on the trip and this, wrote

403
00:31:17.720 --> 00:31:25.440
a great seven part blog diary,
like an open diary travel diary of our

404
00:31:25.480 --> 00:31:27.279
trip. There. Everything he described
there is what I got to do too.

405
00:31:27.359 --> 00:31:30.200
For the most part, he got
to do a couple of things that

406
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I didn't. But it's a very
very good read if you want to see

407
00:31:33.119 --> 00:31:37.440
what went down with American contingent.
I don't know if they're ever going to

408
00:31:37.519 --> 00:31:41.920
listen to this. If they do, great, If not, you know,

409
00:31:41.960 --> 00:31:47.119
I completely understand we're all very busy, but I really have to give

410
00:31:47.359 --> 00:31:56.039
a shout to the entire North American
Press contingent that was with me on this

411
00:31:56.160 --> 00:32:00.519
journey. This was a big trip
for me. This was a lifelong dreams

412
00:32:00.519 --> 00:32:04.319
sort of trip for me. You
know what I'm saying. This was something

413
00:32:04.319 --> 00:32:06.519
I've wanted to do since I was
a kid. And the fact that I

414
00:32:06.599 --> 00:32:09.799
was able to do it, you
know, in this manner, in this

415
00:32:09.960 --> 00:32:16.440
method, is not lost on me. And you know, being grateful for

416
00:32:16.519 --> 00:32:19.599
it is not lost on me,
I should say, And to be able

417
00:32:19.640 --> 00:32:22.960
to do it with such a great
group of people, Casey and Joshua from

418
00:32:23.000 --> 00:32:28.559
IGN, Cody from why Can't I
Remember what psite? He writes for I'm

419
00:32:28.559 --> 00:32:30.519
so sorry, Cody, But Cody, you're great too. I will remind

420
00:32:30.519 --> 00:32:37.200
myself before I finished this statement.
Christian from Comic Book, Eric from the

421
00:32:37.240 --> 00:32:40.960
Gamer Alex, the PR person who
was in charge of all of us as

422
00:32:42.000 --> 00:32:46.759
we were there. It was just
a wonderful, wonderful time. It was

423
00:32:46.839 --> 00:32:52.839
really a really screen rant. That's
where Cody writes, you dummy, it's

424
00:32:52.079 --> 00:32:57.920
screen rant. So yeah, Cody
from screen rant, Joshua and Casey from

425
00:32:57.920 --> 00:33:04.319
IGN, Christian from the Gamer,
Eric from Uh sorry, Christian from Comic

426
00:33:04.359 --> 00:33:07.880
Book, Eric from the Gamer Alex
r PR person and me, that's seven

427
00:33:07.960 --> 00:33:14.519
right once you see, Yes,
everyone was awesome and I am I was

428
00:33:14.640 --> 00:33:17.720
very fortunate that I got to meet
these people and spend some time with them

429
00:33:17.920 --> 00:33:23.920
and and grow to appreciate them professionally
and personally. They were all very very

430
00:33:23.920 --> 00:33:28.480
great people. We are now connected
in a discord uh server, just the

431
00:33:28.519 --> 00:33:31.079
seven of us, you know,
sharing things that remind us of the trip

432
00:33:31.240 --> 00:33:36.000
or or you know, just kind
of keeping connected. I've already actually done

433
00:33:36.039 --> 00:33:39.279
some work with Casey at IGN,
which is really cool too. And I

434
00:33:39.400 --> 00:33:43.359
just really again, I don't know
if they're ever going to listen to this.

435
00:33:44.039 --> 00:33:45.720
I don't know if they're ever going
to you know, come back into

436
00:33:45.720 --> 00:33:52.480
the archives or what have you.
But I really, I really am grateful

437
00:33:52.640 --> 00:33:55.519
that these are the people that I
got to spend this trip with. I

438
00:33:55.680 --> 00:34:00.200
was going with strangers, I was
going in completely blind. I knew one

439
00:34:00.240 --> 00:34:06.279
of these people before the trip,
and they really made the trip better for

440
00:34:06.359 --> 00:34:10.840
me just through their camaraderie and they're
being friendly and they're they're essentially hanging out

441
00:34:12.360 --> 00:34:15.559
with a kid from Philly who got
to go to Japan by himself for the

442
00:34:15.599 --> 00:34:21.559
first time ever and really lived a
dream. So I've just feel very fortunate

443
00:34:21.679 --> 00:34:25.239
and thankful. The group was so
good, and I hope that everybody gets

444
00:34:25.239 --> 00:34:29.639
together again soon somehow, some way, since we're all spread out all over

445
00:34:29.679 --> 00:34:35.679
the country and Canada, all over
the continent. Even I really liked it.

446
00:34:35.800 --> 00:34:37.519
I really liked the group that I
was with. It helped. It

447
00:34:37.599 --> 00:34:43.480
definitely helped being in a strange country
without my family, left to my own

448
00:34:43.519 --> 00:34:47.199
devices at certain times, just having
these people to hang out with it was

449
00:34:47.239 --> 00:34:52.440
a big thing. But on all
after that, after I got home from

450
00:34:52.519 --> 00:34:55.920
Japan, I dumped jump straight into
big reviews. I have reviews for Stray

451
00:34:57.000 --> 00:35:01.559
Gods, Starfield, Lord's The Fallen, most recently Mortal Kombat one, I

452
00:35:01.639 --> 00:35:07.400
did see if Stars I did,
and just really really building on the absolute

453
00:35:07.719 --> 00:35:12.280
mad rush of games that twenty twenty
three has been in general. I was

454
00:35:12.280 --> 00:35:16.559
gonna do a segment at the end
of the show about like where it does

455
00:35:16.559 --> 00:35:20.880
twenty twenty three rank in the best
years of gaming, and then save the

456
00:35:20.920 --> 00:35:25.039
interviews at the end for next week. But I feel like I should wait

457
00:35:25.199 --> 00:35:30.559
because there's a pretty big title coming
out this week, and then there's other

458
00:35:30.599 --> 00:35:34.400
stuff still coming out between now and
the end of the year, So I

459
00:35:34.400 --> 00:35:37.519
feel like I'm gonna pump the brakes
on that a little bit and come back

460
00:35:37.599 --> 00:35:40.840
next week or the week after with
the where does twenty twenty three rank on

461
00:35:40.880 --> 00:35:49.679
the scale of best years for video
games ever? Because it's definitely it's definitely

462
00:35:49.760 --> 00:35:52.920
up there now. Whether it ranks
up with two thousand and seven, ninety

463
00:35:52.920 --> 00:35:55.239
eight, ninety nine, all the
other years I think of, we'll determine

464
00:35:55.239 --> 00:35:59.280
that in a future segment, but
for now, it's been a crazy year

465
00:35:59.280 --> 00:36:00.719
for game that it's only getting crazier
between now and the end of the year.

466
00:36:01.320 --> 00:36:05.639
Very much looking forward to seeing what
else comes out. I know there's

467
00:36:05.679 --> 00:36:09.239
Alan Wait two this week. Later
this week, I think Friday is when

468
00:36:09.280 --> 00:36:14.599
that actually launches Super Mario RPG remake, which I don't think I've had a

469
00:36:14.679 --> 00:36:16.880
chance to talk about on this podcast
at all, but yeah, maybe a

470
00:36:16.920 --> 00:36:22.599
little bit because it was announced.
It was announced in June, I think,

471
00:36:22.679 --> 00:36:24.119
so we might have had a chance
to talk about that since then.

472
00:36:25.559 --> 00:36:28.559
But there you go. That's what
I've been up to. I went to

473
00:36:28.599 --> 00:36:30.440
Japan, and I've reviewed a bunch
of games, doing family stuff. The

474
00:36:30.440 --> 00:36:35.800
Phillies playoff run which ended tonight.
I've been paying attention to that, and

475
00:36:35.840 --> 00:36:39.159
now I can refocus on the things
that make me happy, not the Phillies

476
00:36:39.440 --> 00:36:44.559
this podcast being a huge one,
and then we will go from there.

477
00:36:44.599 --> 00:36:46.519
So that is where I've been the
last two months. If you've been wondering

478
00:36:46.719 --> 00:36:50.920
why Chiese Takes the Controllers was on
the back burner. But we are back,

479
00:36:50.960 --> 00:36:53.639
hopefully in a more regular schedule now
that things are starting to calm down,

480
00:36:54.119 --> 00:36:57.559
and we'll take you into the new
year. We'll do the Golden spatuel

481
00:36:57.559 --> 00:37:00.440
As, we'll cover the game Awards, all that good stuff that we normally

482
00:37:00.480 --> 00:37:04.760
do at the end of each year. Coming up after the break my interviews

483
00:37:04.800 --> 00:37:08.400
from the Pokemon World champion twenty twenty
three with Zoinkes and Spraggos talking about Pokemon

484
00:37:08.599 --> 00:37:12.800
Unite, where that game's going,
where that game is, and everything in

485
00:37:13.000 --> 00:37:21.239
between. Stick around, all right, Welcome back to Chee Stacks and Controllers,

486
00:37:21.239 --> 00:37:24.199
Episode number one hundred and thirty eight, Wrapping things up this week with

487
00:37:24.280 --> 00:37:30.280
two fantastic interviews recorded live in person
at the Pokemon World Championships in Yokohama,

488
00:37:30.400 --> 00:37:34.039
Japan. Before we get into that, I do want to thank Orange Cassidy

489
00:37:34.280 --> 00:37:37.119
for coming onto the show. All
Elite Wrestling, Dynamite and Rampage hitting the

490
00:37:37.199 --> 00:37:43.039
Leea Course Center at Temple University tonight
seven thirty pm. First bell eight o'clock

491
00:37:43.119 --> 00:37:46.920
is when the live show starts on
TV. Feel tickets should still be available

492
00:37:46.920 --> 00:37:52.679
now on the Lee Course Center website. Should go down there because one of

493
00:37:52.679 --> 00:37:57.360
the biggest Japanese wrestlers in the world
at the moment was confirmed to be coming

494
00:37:57.360 --> 00:38:00.559
to the leea Coorse Center on Saturday
at Collie in the day after I recorded

495
00:38:00.559 --> 00:38:04.960
my interview with Orange Cassidy. And
if he was holding out on out on

496
00:38:05.000 --> 00:38:07.039
me and I find out about it, I'm just gonna shake my finger at

497
00:38:07.119 --> 00:38:12.280
him because he is a wrestler and
he will beat me up. So I

498
00:38:12.280 --> 00:38:15.440
don't want to poke that bear if
I don't have to. Moving on now

499
00:38:15.480 --> 00:38:20.199
to our final segment of the show, Spragels and Zoins, two of the

500
00:38:20.239 --> 00:38:24.400
premiere casters for Pokemon Unite, sat
down with me back at the Pokemon World

501
00:38:24.480 --> 00:38:30.039
Championships, talk about how that tournament
ended, talk about the future of the

502
00:38:30.039 --> 00:38:34.920
the game at the time, and
more. We're gonna start with Spragels and

503
00:38:35.079 --> 00:38:39.400
move on to Zoinks. So without
further ado, here is Spragels, one

504
00:38:39.480 --> 00:38:45.519
of the top Unite commentators in the
world. If you watched any Pokemon Unite

505
00:38:45.760 --> 00:38:47.480
at this Pokemon Worlds, and if
you haven't, you should go back and

506
00:38:47.519 --> 00:38:52.719
watch the odds. You definitely heard
this man's dulcet tones telling you all of

507
00:38:52.719 --> 00:38:55.519
the everything that's going on and explaining
it in great detail. I'm sitting with

508
00:38:55.599 --> 00:38:59.800
Spragels. Spragels, how are you
hi? How are you? Can you?

509
00:38:59.840 --> 00:39:02.639
Have you have? You've remember him
the whole time? Yeah, Hi,

510
00:39:02.800 --> 00:39:07.159
I'm doing great. That's his real
voice, A peak behind the curtain,

511
00:39:07.199 --> 00:39:10.519
hear. So let's talk about Worlds
this year twenty twenty three out here

512
00:39:10.519 --> 00:39:15.119
in Yokohama, Japan. Honestly,
this is my first experience, so I

513
00:39:15.119 --> 00:39:20.320
have nothing to compare it to you've
been. This is not your first rodeo,

514
00:39:20.400 --> 00:39:23.800
I am assuming. So how do
you think Yokohama rated as a host

515
00:39:24.360 --> 00:39:28.880
for Worlds this year? Oh,
it's amazing. I've been to two now,

516
00:39:28.960 --> 00:39:32.000
so I've been to London and I've
been to Yokohama. London was insane.

517
00:39:32.039 --> 00:39:36.519
The stage at London was insane,
and it feels like Yokohama they have

518
00:39:36.679 --> 00:39:39.119
just leveled up everything, And I
mean, what would you expect. It's

519
00:39:39.159 --> 00:39:45.159
the birthplace of Pokemon here in Japan, so of course everything is just nuts.

520
00:39:45.440 --> 00:39:49.320
You've seen the stage. All of
the games are up on this massive

521
00:39:49.360 --> 00:39:53.960
stage. They have literal bridges that
you can walk over. They have houses

522
00:39:54.000 --> 00:40:00.599
that open up, cherry blossom trees. It's gorgeous and everything's been really here.

523
00:40:00.639 --> 00:40:02.880
It's been amazing. Yeah, I
concur one hundred percent. We got

524
00:40:02.920 --> 00:40:07.199
to go explore that stage a little
bit on the morning of day two.

525
00:40:07.320 --> 00:40:12.440
And the attention to detail, even
in like places that people can't see,

526
00:40:12.719 --> 00:40:15.280
like behind that Unite desk is a
what's it Frey Coco hanging out back there

527
00:40:15.559 --> 00:40:19.719
something like that. I love that. So speaking of Unite this year,

528
00:40:20.760 --> 00:40:23.000
a lot of people coming in thought
this was Luminosity's tournament to win, and

529
00:40:23.000 --> 00:40:27.000
then by the end they kind of
said, yeah, we know that too.

530
00:40:28.039 --> 00:40:30.519
Talk to me about this team,
how they were able to become so

531
00:40:30.719 --> 00:40:35.079
dominant and run through this tournament the
way they did. Yeah, it's impressive

532
00:40:35.119 --> 00:40:37.760
what they did. I think,
if you know, not to argue with

533
00:40:37.800 --> 00:40:43.119
you a little bit here, but
I would say Luminosity was probably looked at

534
00:40:43.119 --> 00:40:45.639
as one of the top teams.
But I don't know if everyone thought that

535
00:40:45.679 --> 00:40:49.760
they were going to do that.
Well, Okay, you know, last

536
00:40:49.800 --> 00:40:52.480
year a lot of people thought this
team is it, They're gonna make it

537
00:40:52.519 --> 00:40:55.559
happen, and they really did.
Especially for North America, we thought,

538
00:40:55.599 --> 00:41:00.800
yeah, this team is far and
away the best. This year, Luminosity

539
00:41:00.920 --> 00:41:06.280
was really tested throughout the entire region. There were so many good teams in

540
00:41:06.440 --> 00:41:08.320
NA. There are so many good
teams across the world. There were favorite

541
00:41:08.360 --> 00:41:13.280
teams for EU that people thought were
going to be amazing. Brazil had one

542
00:41:13.320 --> 00:41:15.480
of the best teams in the world, and then Japan. Everyone knew they

543
00:41:15.519 --> 00:41:21.360
were going to show up. But
I mean they really showed up. Home

544
00:41:21.360 --> 00:41:25.159
field advantage, home field advantage,
and man, they're so aggressive. They

545
00:41:25.199 --> 00:41:30.480
are just they play a really in
your face style of Pokemon Unite that clearly

546
00:41:30.559 --> 00:41:35.159
some teams could not adjust to.
That being said, yeah, Luminosity,

547
00:41:36.320 --> 00:41:42.079
I would say they shocked the world
once again, and specifically with how impressive

548
00:41:42.119 --> 00:41:45.639
their victory was. It wasn't last
year. I felt like they had some

549
00:41:45.760 --> 00:41:51.360
really close games. This year,
the games were further away. It was

550
00:41:51.480 --> 00:41:54.920
more impressive of the victory. Luminosity
played better than I've ever seen them play,

551
00:41:55.000 --> 00:41:58.920
and they are the former world champs, so they've already won the whole

552
00:41:58.920 --> 00:42:01.239
thing. They played even better this
year. Yeah, look, no further

553
00:42:01.280 --> 00:42:07.159
than Game three of the Grand Finals, perfect example. We it almost made

554
00:42:07.199 --> 00:42:12.519
me think that they were toying with
Abyssian there for a little bit. Yeah,

555
00:42:12.519 --> 00:42:14.320
and then you know, just said, you know what, we gotta

556
00:42:14.360 --> 00:42:15.760
go home. It's time, we're
done with this. They knew they had

557
00:42:15.760 --> 00:42:19.159
a ten minute timer. They're like, we're gonna run this thing all the

558
00:42:19.199 --> 00:42:21.880
way down to the ten minutes.
But you're right, it felt like one

559
00:42:21.920 --> 00:42:25.280
of those games where they were fully
in play mode. You know, they

560
00:42:25.280 --> 00:42:30.719
were just enjoying this. It was
a victory lap. It was already over

561
00:42:30.800 --> 00:42:35.079
in their minds. And Amal Abyssinian
an amazing team, they played so well,

562
00:42:35.119 --> 00:42:37.400
but I think they felt the same
way. I think they felt like

563
00:42:37.519 --> 00:42:40.760
it was over Luminosity's beating us.
Sure, so talk to me about the

564
00:42:40.760 --> 00:42:45.679
differences in the meta and how the
meta has grown throughout the two years in

565
00:42:45.760 --> 00:42:50.079
Pokemon. You now, we've seen
some Pokemon come in and just completely you

566
00:42:50.079 --> 00:42:53.519
know, take over the game,
where we have some others that sometimes come

567
00:42:53.559 --> 00:42:57.679
in in a sneaky position, like
Talent Flame showed up out and there.

568
00:42:57.760 --> 00:42:59.960
It didn't really do much, but
hey, it was worth a shot,

569
00:43:00.079 --> 00:43:02.760
right, So what talk to me
about like the consistent champions versus like a

570
00:43:02.880 --> 00:43:07.519
new I'm sorry Pokemon, this isn't
that game. We'll talk about that in

571
00:43:07.559 --> 00:43:10.039
a minute, versus like a new
one trying to come in. Like New

572
00:43:10.039 --> 00:43:14.920
two came in and shattered things.
Yeah, Mew two was massive, Zashian

573
00:43:15.159 --> 00:43:21.039
was insane. Comfe came into the
game a little underpowered, and then they

574
00:43:21.199 --> 00:43:24.239
buffed it after release and then that
thing was just nuts. That's essentially this

575
00:43:24.320 --> 00:43:29.320
game's you mei ye. So that's
just that was a huge factor throughout the

576
00:43:29.400 --> 00:43:32.400
year. You know, as with
a lot of MOBAs, newer characters,

577
00:43:32.480 --> 00:43:38.199
Pokemon champions, gods. If you
play smikee, newer characters always come in

578
00:43:38.239 --> 00:43:43.280
and I feel like you want them
to be pretty powerful, and they sometimes

579
00:43:43.360 --> 00:43:46.519
range to like, eh, kind
of underwhelming to really really good. And

580
00:43:46.679 --> 00:43:52.639
Unite had a year of really really
good Pokemon and they also had the addition

581
00:43:52.840 --> 00:43:55.920
of draft. So last year at
the World Championships there was no draft.

582
00:43:57.079 --> 00:44:00.480
You could have an entire mirror matchup
against your opponents, and really it was

583
00:44:00.519 --> 00:44:06.679
down to figuring out what actually is
the meta and then basically, if this

584
00:44:06.800 --> 00:44:10.320
is the meta, what can actually
legitimately counter it while still being top tier

585
00:44:10.519 --> 00:44:15.400
so last year you saw so many
of the same Pokemon. I would say

586
00:44:15.400 --> 00:44:19.239
it was less interesting once people seem
to kind of crack the code. This

587
00:44:19.360 --> 00:44:22.559
year, so many different pokemons,
so many different strategies. Even if we

588
00:44:22.679 --> 00:44:28.519
had what you would often see as
like the top five Pokemon, only you

589
00:44:28.559 --> 00:44:30.960
know, you can get a couple
here, a couple there, a ban

590
00:44:30.079 --> 00:44:32.880
on each side, and then you've
got to fill out your rosters with other

591
00:44:34.239 --> 00:44:37.400
great Pokemon, but maybe not s
tier choice. So do you think the

592
00:44:37.480 --> 00:44:42.519
draft ban system was a smart Obviously
a smart addition for if nothing else,

593
00:44:42.599 --> 00:44:47.960
match variety abs absolutely for match variety. And also you see teams lose in

594
00:44:49.000 --> 00:44:52.719
the draft screen. Like the strategy
of the game, it gets more intense.

595
00:44:52.800 --> 00:44:55.360
You can't just be really really good
with Serena anymore. You know,

596
00:44:55.400 --> 00:45:00.000
you have to have a deeper roster
that you have to at least have two

597
00:45:00.440 --> 00:45:06.280
three things that you can pivot to
in case your number one choice is not

598
00:45:06.400 --> 00:45:09.159
available for you. And then also, if you get really good on a

599
00:45:09.159 --> 00:45:13.920
Pokemon, you're gonna start to get
target banned or counter paid. They're gonna

600
00:45:13.920 --> 00:45:15.559
start taking that away from you.
So yeah, you have to be a

601
00:45:15.599 --> 00:45:19.400
better player. You have to be
a better team, and it's so much

602
00:45:19.400 --> 00:45:22.719
better for the game. So let's
move a little bit to the way that

603
00:45:22.800 --> 00:45:29.239
you approach commentating. So you have
a pretty difficult job for someone who maybe

604
00:45:29.360 --> 00:45:35.000
not be watching Pokemon Unite as often
as you know people like us who travel

605
00:45:35.000 --> 00:45:38.679
around the world to come see it. Do you try to tailor your commentary

606
00:45:38.719 --> 00:45:44.360
as a balance between like Unite veterans
who know everything and maybe like the dad

607
00:45:44.400 --> 00:45:47.159
who's watching with them or the mom
is watching with them. That is almost

608
00:45:47.159 --> 00:45:52.119
exactly what I think if for me, a show would be the best show

609
00:45:52.199 --> 00:45:58.039
possible if someone who knew nothing about
the game and someone who knew everything about

610
00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:01.360
the game both really enjoyed it.
So I try to strike that balance throughout

611
00:46:01.440 --> 00:46:06.639
it, And most of the time
I'm providing the story for what's happening inside

612
00:46:06.639 --> 00:46:09.760
of these matches, a little bit
of analysis of what's going on, making

613
00:46:09.920 --> 00:46:14.559
some dumb jokes that nobody seems to
yell at before, so I guess I

614
00:46:14.599 --> 00:46:19.440
get to keep baking them. And
I really do want the broadcast as best

615
00:46:19.480 --> 00:46:23.800
as possible to be something that is
accessible for everyone. I want everyone to

616
00:46:23.840 --> 00:46:29.320
be able to turn this on and
get something from it. If it's you're

617
00:46:29.360 --> 00:46:32.039
in beginner rank and you're just starting
the game. You can grab something and

618
00:46:32.119 --> 00:46:37.280
if you're like me and you played
twelve thousand games of Unite, you can

619
00:46:37.320 --> 00:46:39.840
still go, oh, yes,
that was actually a really amazing moment,

620
00:46:39.880 --> 00:46:43.920
and it's great to notice that and
call that out. Yeah, that's awesome.

621
00:46:44.000 --> 00:46:45.880
So you said you played twelve thousand
games of You Night. Who are

622
00:46:45.920 --> 00:46:50.599
your top three? My top three
I believe right now it's I think Dodrillo

623
00:46:50.679 --> 00:46:54.599
has surpassed them all. So I
think it's Dodrillo. Then Greedn't And I'm

624
00:46:54.639 --> 00:47:01.639
wondering if number three is either Talent
Flame Lucar. It's like Talent Flamer Lucaro

625
00:47:01.679 --> 00:47:05.159
from like when the game first came
out. I love both of them.

626
00:47:05.440 --> 00:47:07.119
One that's really climbing up the list, that is Intellian. I was gonna

627
00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:10.239
say, so one you'd like to
learn, Oh my gosh, I love

628
00:47:10.280 --> 00:47:15.039
Intellian. It's such a good release
it And then you know what, as

629
00:47:15.079 --> 00:47:17.400
a Pokemon I do not like Intelian. I thought it was like it was

630
00:47:17.480 --> 00:47:22.519
not my favorite starter. I'm a
big water Pokemon fan. I was actually

631
00:47:22.599 --> 00:47:25.320
disappointed when I saw the evolution.
But then you bring it into Unite and

632
00:47:25.360 --> 00:47:28.519
all of a sudden, I love
this thing. Yeah, it's like my

633
00:47:28.599 --> 00:47:30.599
favorite. Now. How do you
feel about the Quaxley line? I love

634
00:47:30.679 --> 00:47:35.320
quest. I'm a huge I'm such
a huge Quaxley fan. Yeah, my

635
00:47:35.400 --> 00:47:38.599
spirit animal. You've been bouncing around
here all weekend long. It's been great.

636
00:47:38.639 --> 00:47:42.440
Yeah. So one last question for
you. If someone plays other mobives

637
00:47:42.480 --> 00:47:45.320
like you said earlier, and want
to try and dabble in Unite, what

638
00:47:45.360 --> 00:47:47.599
would be the one piece of advice
you would give them as far as the

639
00:47:47.679 --> 00:47:53.760
transition. I take it that this
is not quite as That's what I'm trying

640
00:47:53.800 --> 00:47:57.199
to say here, not quite as, not intense, because it can be

641
00:47:57.199 --> 00:48:00.039
intense maybe in depth. I feel
like there's a lot, a lot easier

642
00:48:00.079 --> 00:48:04.719
of an entry point, let's say
in this game that opposed to other mobives.

643
00:48:04.719 --> 00:48:06.679
Would you agree with that? Yeah? I think so. I think

644
00:48:06.719 --> 00:48:08.360
it's very intentional. They want the
matches. You know, they're ten minute

645
00:48:08.400 --> 00:48:12.079
long games, so that's very accessible. You don't have to sit down and

646
00:48:12.079 --> 00:48:15.480
play an hour long match of League
or something like that, and you don't

647
00:48:15.519 --> 00:48:19.320
have item buying inside of a match. You could you prep your Pokemon's kit

648
00:48:19.559 --> 00:48:23.159
before a match, so you don't
have that level of complexity inside the game

649
00:48:23.199 --> 00:48:28.880
either. I just said complexity where
and they said complexity, So you don't

650
00:48:28.920 --> 00:48:32.239
have that inside the game either.
But I think a lot of what Pokemon

651
00:48:32.400 --> 00:48:37.079
Unite gives you then is more time
inside of a match to focus on the

652
00:48:37.119 --> 00:48:40.719
macro and more time inside of a
match to focus on how to play your

653
00:48:40.760 --> 00:48:46.840
Pokemon. Unlike some other mobives no
character yet maybe there's one that's kind of

654
00:48:46.880 --> 00:48:50.920
weird. You know, every every
Pokemon's a little different, but no character

655
00:48:50.920 --> 00:48:54.039
has like mona system or anything like
that. Everything's based around fool down.

656
00:48:54.159 --> 00:48:58.320
So as a new player, I
would go in there and just recognize,

657
00:48:58.599 --> 00:49:01.239
you know, they want you to
play, they want you to fight,

658
00:49:01.320 --> 00:49:07.199
they want you to use your moves, be aggressive. And the game is

659
00:49:07.239 --> 00:49:10.639
called Pokemon Unite for a reason,
it's not called Pokemon. Everyone go their

660
00:49:10.639 --> 00:49:14.400
own way and just kind of figure
it out. When you are with your

661
00:49:14.440 --> 00:49:19.719
team showing up to objectives which the
game clearly indicates like this, just hit

662
00:49:19.800 --> 00:49:22.320
the map, break ways to just
stay out there, go, get go,

663
00:49:22.480 --> 00:49:24.800
get that, show up with your
squad. I think moments like that

664
00:49:25.239 --> 00:49:30.079
are what I would look towards if
you're new into Pokemon Unite. Just be

665
00:49:30.199 --> 00:49:35.079
with your team, head to the
objectives Pokemon Unite, and use your moves

666
00:49:35.159 --> 00:49:37.960
because there's no real reason not to, like, get out there and fight.

667
00:49:37.119 --> 00:49:39.559
Sure, I agree, Spragels,
Thank you so much for your time.

668
00:49:39.800 --> 00:49:43.840
Enjoy the rest of worlds and people
speak to you soon hopefully. Thanks

669
00:49:43.840 --> 00:49:46.000
Bob, absolutely man. Thanks for
having me cool. All right, there

670
00:49:46.039 --> 00:49:50.199
you go. Thank you Spragels for
coming on to the show. Very much

671
00:49:50.199 --> 00:49:53.320
appreciated. Looking forward to seeing more
of Pokemon Unite from you, my friend.

672
00:49:53.559 --> 00:49:58.519
Moving on now to the second interview
of the segment, let's talk to

673
00:49:58.719 --> 00:50:01.480
Zoincs. We're sticking with Pokemon Unite. You just hurt Spragels, But there

674
00:50:01.519 --> 00:50:07.039
is another commentator whose voice is just
as iconic calling it being called over these

675
00:50:07.360 --> 00:50:10.639
intense matches, and I, frankly
I like to say his name a lot

676
00:50:10.800 --> 00:50:14.440
because it brings me back to a
time of innocence, and I'm sure that's

677
00:50:14.480 --> 00:50:16.320
why he picked it. This is
Zoikes. Zoikes. How are you pal?

678
00:50:16.599 --> 00:50:20.119
I'm doing really good. Thanks for
that great intro. Yeah, I

679
00:50:20.199 --> 00:50:22.599
like the name too. Yeah,
I appreciate that. Appreciate the high praise

680
00:50:22.639 --> 00:50:27.239
there. So Unite year two has
ended. We have our second world champion

681
00:50:27.440 --> 00:50:30.360
looks very similar to our first world
champion, if I do, If I

682
00:50:30.400 --> 00:50:32.760
do, say, were you expecting
that sort of dominant performance from them or

683
00:50:32.760 --> 00:50:37.280
were you expecting them to be top
tier in the mix but still tested?

684
00:50:37.559 --> 00:50:42.159
Oh? Absolutely not expecting to see
an LG. That was last year as

685
00:50:42.159 --> 00:50:44.960
well. I mean, their first
year run was extremely dominant as well,

686
00:50:45.000 --> 00:50:46.760
barely dropping. I don't think they
dropped the game in that one. They

687
00:50:46.760 --> 00:50:51.360
did drop one this year, but
I mean this forum was like unheard of,

688
00:50:51.559 --> 00:50:54.679
completely unexpected from them after a season
that was rocky. But I mean,

689
00:50:54.719 --> 00:50:58.920
if any team's gonna turn up on
stage, it's this team. A

690
00:50:58.920 --> 00:51:01.760
few specific players just tell are different
players when they're in front of a crowd.

691
00:51:01.880 --> 00:51:08.039
Yeah. I with Spragel's too.
I went back to the third match

692
00:51:08.119 --> 00:51:13.119
of that Grand Finals. It seemed
like after watching that, it seemed like

693
00:51:13.159 --> 00:51:15.559
in the first two they were just
kind of like letting them have their fun

694
00:51:15.599 --> 00:51:19.000
and then being like, all right, no time to go. That team's

695
00:51:19.039 --> 00:51:21.440
basically had that in them all year, but it's been a bit of a

696
00:51:21.559 --> 00:51:22.920
challenge. As Spragel was saying to
get here, would you agree with it?

697
00:51:23.320 --> 00:51:27.880
Yeah, I do agree with that. They still had an average placement

698
00:51:27.960 --> 00:51:30.320
overall of third place at all the
tournaments, and it's a very competitive region

699
00:51:30.360 --> 00:51:34.880
in North America, so it's not
like they were having an awful season.

700
00:51:34.880 --> 00:51:37.519
I think the biggest, you know, mark on their season was a not

701
00:51:37.679 --> 00:51:40.480
making a top eight in one of
the tournaments, getting knocked out at the

702
00:51:40.559 --> 00:51:45.280
qualification rounds. I definitely had a
lot of people turning their heads with surprise.

703
00:51:45.599 --> 00:51:47.119
But I mean after that, definitely
coming back up. It was just

704
00:51:47.400 --> 00:51:51.000
tough for them to find that actual
win. But they did come away with

705
00:51:51.079 --> 00:51:54.719
two Cups this entire year leading up
to World so matching another team that also

706
00:51:54.800 --> 00:51:59.440
got to sure, were there any
teams in this tournament as it played out

707
00:51:59.480 --> 00:52:01.719
that's surprise? I know there were
a few, like one local to Japan

708
00:52:01.880 --> 00:52:07.280
MJK really impressed a lot of folks, and then the team from the Philippines

709
00:52:07.320 --> 00:52:12.199
that played LG and the Grand Files
at Omo Abyssinian. I keep getting that

710
00:52:12.280 --> 00:52:15.440
wrong. There's a lot of syllables
in that is a lot more than it

711
00:52:15.440 --> 00:52:19.159
seems like there should be. But
were there any teams that stuck out to

712
00:52:19.199 --> 00:52:20.840
you as like, hey, we're
going to be seeing these guys for a

713
00:52:20.880 --> 00:52:23.960
long time to come. Oh interesting, Okay. One the biggest surprise to

714
00:52:24.000 --> 00:52:28.320
me is Team Act Jill from Korea. Oka. Korea as a region is

715
00:52:28.320 --> 00:52:30.599
actually extremely small. In bookem on
you unit, it's one of our smallest

716
00:52:30.599 --> 00:52:35.679
regions represented and therefore definitely gets kind
of looked past by a lot of teams

717
00:52:35.760 --> 00:52:37.559
leading up into it. And well, there's a couple of players that performed

718
00:52:37.679 --> 00:52:40.440
very well in the world stage last
year at s Foyl and Shobo, and

719
00:52:40.440 --> 00:52:45.360
they're on that team again and actually
had in a crazy tournament, knocked out

720
00:52:45.440 --> 00:52:49.280
a tournament favorite from North America and
Almatarasu in the group stage, and then

721
00:52:49.320 --> 00:52:52.400
had a great bracket run, went
on at fifth, sixth. But still

722
00:52:52.440 --> 00:52:54.159
that was a big surprise for me. Yeah. Now, conversely, was

723
00:52:54.159 --> 00:52:57.440
there a team that you thought might
have performed a little bit better than they

724
00:52:57.440 --> 00:53:00.800
did? And what do you attribute
to their I don't want to say subpar,

725
00:53:00.960 --> 00:53:06.360
but maybe like the tournament turning out
not the way they expected. Well,

726
00:53:06.440 --> 00:53:09.760
I mean, I'm sure Spregel's already
brought up tally Boba believers that European

727
00:53:09.760 --> 00:53:13.920
team. I mean, they were
the favorites to win the tournament on paper,

728
00:53:13.960 --> 00:53:15.840
but having such a tough group that
was that was a tough one to

729
00:53:15.840 --> 00:53:20.480
move into. Honestly, I think
another European team I'm gonna bring up is

730
00:53:20.519 --> 00:53:23.440
Nouns Esports. They were the runner
ups last year at Worlds. They also

731
00:53:23.599 --> 00:53:28.440
had a very tough group, and
I mean in their group was Omo Abyssinian

732
00:53:28.599 --> 00:53:32.400
as well, so that team obviously
having an amazing tournament run. But yeah,

733
00:53:32.440 --> 00:53:35.960
Nowns Esports, I think a lot
of people expected a bit more from

734
00:53:36.000 --> 00:53:38.039
them, and I mean it even
came down to a match that neither one

735
00:53:38.079 --> 00:53:40.800
of the teams making it out of
the group were playing in, and depending

736
00:53:40.800 --> 00:53:44.599
on what team won is what team
made it out of the group. So

737
00:53:45.440 --> 00:53:47.960
Nowns Esports definitely, I think we
could have seen more from them this tournament.

738
00:53:47.960 --> 00:53:52.559
A few unfortunate performances, and I
don't think they're done though. I

739
00:53:52.000 --> 00:53:54.760
think in next year they're definitely gonna
be coming back with a venge. Sure.

740
00:53:54.800 --> 00:53:58.800
Sure. Now we're also were talking
about the match band I'm sorry,

741
00:53:58.880 --> 00:54:02.159
the band draft that was put in
this year. We talked about how it's

742
00:54:02.159 --> 00:54:06.519
a benefit to match variety and there's
some strategic elements there. What did do

743
00:54:06.559 --> 00:54:09.159
you would you say that it's a
boon to United esports and what's specifically about

744
00:54:09.159 --> 00:54:13.000
it do you like the most.
Oh, it's incredible. I mean it

745
00:54:13.039 --> 00:54:15.719
feels like we're actually on the esports
stage now like with everybody else. It's

746
00:54:15.760 --> 00:54:20.320
an amazing thing. There is a
part of me, I know, you

747
00:54:20.400 --> 00:54:22.079
cover overwatched a bunch that. Like
back in the day when when Mirro comps

748
00:54:22.119 --> 00:54:24.199
and stuff like that, we're just
kind of picked all the time. It

749
00:54:24.239 --> 00:54:27.519
was like, Hey, what team
has the better skill in this situation?

750
00:54:27.639 --> 00:54:31.840
But draft just really sets this game
apart. Having another layer of strategy preparation

751
00:54:32.000 --> 00:54:37.800
becomes that much more important to understand
your tea, other opponents' strategies and kind

752
00:54:37.840 --> 00:54:40.840
of their tendencies. It's pretty big. Even Luminosity was talking about an interview

753
00:54:40.840 --> 00:54:45.199
about how they were studying not even
not only what pokemon are picked, but

754
00:54:45.320 --> 00:54:46.800
the order in which they are picked
so they can try to make other teams

755
00:54:46.880 --> 00:54:51.280
uncomfortable. So it's been huge,
So just in that it's been able to

756
00:54:51.320 --> 00:54:54.400
have good teams have more skill expression, and I think because of Draft face

757
00:54:54.440 --> 00:55:00.480
we're actually seeing just more competitive teams
at the top consistently. We're having a

758
00:55:00.480 --> 00:55:02.920
lot better results that way, and
the whole Like, yeah, the powerhouses

759
00:55:02.960 --> 00:55:07.639
in each region are starting to really
show themselves and cement themselves at the top

760
00:55:07.679 --> 00:55:10.119
of the of the chain. That
makes sense, So let me get you

761
00:55:10.159 --> 00:55:13.880
out of here on this one's easy
one. Two easy ones actually. First

762
00:55:13.880 --> 00:55:16.079
of all, who are your top
three in unit? I imagine you play

763
00:55:16.159 --> 00:55:20.920
just as much as you guess who
are Who are your top three most chosen?

764
00:55:21.000 --> 00:55:23.199
If I was playing against you,
who am I drafting to make sure

765
00:55:23.199 --> 00:55:27.000
that you don't get them? Well, one, we need to add draft

766
00:55:27.000 --> 00:55:30.800
a rank, so hopefully that happens. Hope that happens. But if I'm

767
00:55:30.039 --> 00:55:34.599
most played was definitely Snorlax when the
game released, I was a one trick

768
00:55:34.639 --> 00:55:38.280
Snorlax to relate that pokemon, but
recently it has all been Chandler and Gudra.

769
00:55:38.519 --> 00:55:43.000
I have a love in those two
pokemon right now? Is there one

770
00:55:43.000 --> 00:55:45.760
you'd like to try and start learning? Like one that's whether just released or

771
00:55:45.880 --> 00:55:51.719
or don't say YouTube can't same youtwo
never but like or one that evnt had

772
00:55:51.760 --> 00:55:54.360
a chance to really dig into.
Well, not for lack of trying with

773
00:55:54.480 --> 00:55:58.239
my talent, definitely having a tough
time. But every time I watch Overlord,

774
00:55:58.320 --> 00:56:00.840
I just want to play Sorarc so
bad. I mean watching that Pokemon

775
00:56:00.960 --> 00:56:05.559
on stage is just ridiculous. And
I mean having these teams have a chance

776
00:56:05.599 --> 00:56:07.840
to prove how good and how high
of a skill ceiling it is on a

777
00:56:07.880 --> 00:56:12.599
world stage is amazing. So zor
Arc for sure, but I mean maybe

778
00:56:12.639 --> 00:56:15.639
my eyes are a little too high
on that prize. When I'm looking at

779
00:56:15.639 --> 00:56:16.920
Overlord playing that boe, you have
a feeling that's gonna take a lot of

780
00:56:16.960 --> 00:56:21.320
preparation. And then finally, the
city of Yokohama. Have you been to

781
00:56:21.400 --> 00:56:22.960
Japan before? No, first time? First time? How did you?

782
00:56:23.000 --> 00:56:27.960
How do you feel it serve its
purpose as the host of Worlds this year

783
00:56:28.079 --> 00:56:30.800
compared to London or any other worlds
that you've been previously? Pretty incredible?

784
00:56:30.840 --> 00:56:34.800
I mean Pokemon pulls out all the
stops this time. And actually, I

785
00:56:34.880 --> 00:56:37.400
think today was my first time to
really soak in how much it means to

786
00:56:37.440 --> 00:56:40.239
be in Japan, just because I
was so involved with the event the last

787
00:56:40.239 --> 00:56:43.719
two days. But today I was
able to go to a park that was

788
00:56:43.760 --> 00:56:46.199
all Pokemon theme but tried magic carp
fishing. I mean, there's the ss

789
00:56:46.320 --> 00:56:50.599
han is like out on the water, but this place is so cool.

790
00:56:50.639 --> 00:56:52.119
I mean, this happens in every
world, but I think this one in

791
00:56:52.159 --> 00:56:57.199
particular it's surprising because how big an
event it is and how wide and spread

792
00:56:57.199 --> 00:57:00.760
out it is. However, the
attention to detail and just the are incredible,

793
00:57:00.760 --> 00:57:02.960
credible. Well, it's so cool
to see. I agree with that

794
00:57:02.960 --> 00:57:06.719
one hundred percent of zoinks. Thank
you so much for your time. Pokemon

795
00:57:06.840 --> 00:57:09.440
Unite coming back strong. You better
watch every single match this upcoming season.

796
00:57:09.440 --> 00:57:13.480
You're gonna hear that voice. And
if you haven't watched Worlds yet, please

797
00:57:13.719 --> 00:57:15.679
go back and watch the odds the
matches are incredible. Zoints. Thank you

798
00:57:15.679 --> 00:57:17.960
so much for your time. Thank
you, and there you have it.

799
00:57:19.000 --> 00:57:22.760
Spraygels and Zoints talking Pokemon Unite at
the Pokemon World Championships from a couple of

800
00:57:22.800 --> 00:57:25.800
months ago. I do like watching
that game a lot. It was one

801
00:57:25.800 --> 00:57:30.079
of the more entertaining games at the
entire event. They hea you have a

802
00:57:30.199 --> 00:57:31.920
chance to dip into it. Yet
it's on your phone, it's on your

803
00:57:31.920 --> 00:57:36.679
tablet, and it's on your switch
and it's free to play, so you

804
00:57:36.679 --> 00:57:39.679
can definitely jump in and start enjoying
it at your leisure. But with that,

805
00:57:39.679 --> 00:57:43.559
that is the end of episode number
one hundred and thirty eight of the

806
00:57:43.639 --> 00:57:46.800
Chief Takes the ConTroll Horse podcast,
presented as always by Fox Pho The Gambler,

807
00:57:46.840 --> 00:57:52.039
Philadelphia, one of two point five
FM fourteen eighty AM. I Heart

808
00:57:52.119 --> 00:57:54.639
Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts
is where you can hear this voice.

809
00:57:54.880 --> 00:57:59.119
As I say every single time I
record an episode, if you are listening

810
00:57:59.159 --> 00:58:00.599
to this part, that means we've
gotten to the end, and I appreciate

811
00:58:00.639 --> 00:58:04.280
you for doing so. Means a
lot to me that you would spend some

812
00:58:04.320 --> 00:58:07.440
time with me, even after my
long unintended hiatus. But I am back

813
00:58:07.440 --> 00:58:09.960
in the saddle, baby, and
I am ready to talk about video games,

814
00:58:10.000 --> 00:58:15.360
E sports and anything else that comes
up between now and you know,

815
00:58:15.480 --> 00:58:19.880
the next unintended hiatus that I might
take. I just need life to slow

816
00:58:19.920 --> 00:58:22.000
down for a little bit. I
would very much appreciate that, indeed,

817
00:58:22.039 --> 00:58:27.159
But thank you for listening. As
always, I always, like I said,

818
00:58:27.199 --> 00:58:30.440
appreciate that you are here. I
hope you have a fantastic weekend.

819
00:58:30.679 --> 00:58:34.159
I hope you have an even better
week right behind it. And we will

820
00:58:34.239 --> 00:58:37.559
back me back next week with more
of the latest and greatest video games on

821
00:58:37.679 --> 00:59:00.400
Cheese, Steaks and Controllers. See
you later clearly out of practice with that

822
00:59:00.559 --> 00:59:01.719
catchphrase at the end. There