Hello, and welcome to episode number one hundred and thirty eight of the Cheese, Steaks and Controllers podcast presented by Fox PHL The Gambler one A two point five FM fourteen eighty AM, iHeartRadio wherever you get your podcasts, coming at you live from Philadelphia. I made the mistake of waiting until after Game seven of the NLCS to record this. I should have known better, so but I'm going to try and keep the energy up because this is a very good
episode that we have for you today. Recording this on Tuesday night, October twenty fourth. Wednesday, October twenty fifth, All Elite Wrestling brings AW Dynamite and Rampage back to Temple University's Lea Korus Center. Tickets are still available, and we have a great talk with one of the current champions from AW at the top of this episode, so stick around for that second segment of the
show. I'm going to talk about where I've been for the last two months, the games I've reviewed, the places I've gone, stuff like that. Should be a very good segment there. And then finally I'm going to wrap things up this week with two interviews from one of the big places I have been recently. We'll get into that talking about a particular games competitive scene and how they continues to grow in the future. But let's not waste any more
time, all right, our first guest here today. I don't know if you've noticed this, but we've talked about wrestling here before on the show, and All Elite Wrestling AW coming back to Temple University at the Leah Korus Center for the first time in thirteen months. I had not realized I had not been in this city for that long, but I was at the last show, and then I bought tickets to this show. I realized, oh, it really has been a year. Very excited to see them come back.
Not the least reason because the guy we're about to talk to you right now has been one of the foundations of the promotion since it started, and honestly one of the steadiest performers this year and a year that's been sort of tumultuous. I think it's a light way of putting it. This guy right here has been one of the best to watch, and that is your current All Elite Wrestling Wrestling International Champion Orange Cassidy Orange. How are we today? You
know, a little less higher than usual. That's good. I didn't do anything this past dynamite, so I'm killing Okay. That's good. Glad to hear that. Nice to see you. Like I said before we started recording, here, get that title back. How's it feeling? I have that strap back around your ways? Do your pants stay up better? No? They don't still fall down? I actually have it right here. I have my back. I always keep it with me. I have like the backpack
right here at home. I would I would never let go of it, like even even while. Is that is gorgeous? Look at that? Yeah, nice to see you have that back. Like I was saying in the intro. There your work in the since you got that title in March up until when you lost it in September. Uh in what was a rather strange summer for your promotion, with all of the nonsense going on around you, you kept it steady. You kept the ships sailing, and I really did
appreciate that. Did you feel like you kind of had to take that on just to be like the steady, like make give someone keep keep not not so much keep to yourself, but keep keep a low profile. Just do your job and you know, let everything else play out around you. It's just funny that you just said that, because that's literally what I That's what I do. I just I show up, I do my job. I'm doing it. You know, I do what I have to do because if you know me, you know I lived my life by a set of rules.
And the first rule is that there are no rules, and then the second rule is sometimes you got to do it. So sometimes you just got to do it. And you know, I have been around with AW since its beginning, and I care a lot about this place, almost as much as the International Championship. Well actually they're probably equal, And you know, I just did whatever I had to do. Now, when you first earned this title March of twenty twenty three, it was going through a name change.
Used to be all Atlantic, now it's International, and it was sort of, I don't want to say it was considered a lesser title, because no title is a lesser title in any promotion, but it wasn't like on the level let's say, obviously not the world title, and even tn T was a little ahead of it, and you kind of legitimized it immediately with the Lutrosaurus match and then Shabbata match later on, you do you take a little bit of did you want to do that, Like when you won this
title, did you say, look, I'm gonna I want this to be a long, healthy reign with as many defenses as possible to put this title on the map, or did that kind of just happen naturally. I think it just kind of happened because, you know, and I the goal was always to beat pack and Packards at that time, the current All Atlantic champion, and the belt was the championship was created with him in mind to have
it and defend it while he couldn't get back in the country. You know, then once we had it and and I beat him, and I had it, and it's like it didn't really have an identity anymore, you know, it was just the Atlantic. We didn't really know what that was. And in a previous life for i WTV Independent Wrestling, I was there champion for a while and I just when I had it, I did the same thing. I'm just gonna defend it whenever I have to, against whoever,
wherever, because that's what I believe the champion should do. And it just obviously you never want to lose the championship, right you know, like I never have a I never have an end. I never have an end in mind. It just so happened I had it for as long as I did. Uh. Speaking of that loss, have you recovered? That was quite a beating you? Are you good now? We were back? Were back in in one hundred percent? Or will you? Is that where there's matches
where you're never quite one hundred percent when it's over. Yeah, I physically I think I have recovered, and but you know, that match was that match was really the culmination of however many months I had the championship the first time, and I feel like that match, I don't know if I've recovered
mentally. I don't know if that's the thing that can happen. But I don't know if my head's in the right space with this championship that I have in now after that match, So you know, it's obviously John Mosley is obviously still on my mind a lot, So that's fair. Yeah, imagine that's one of those matches you just can't put behind you, especially now that you have the title back. Because I was a couple of friends watching it, and man, the things that you went through were admirable and scary at
the same time, so glad to see that you're getting back there. Let's talk about the opponents you faced during that first reign, A who's who basically of the of a strong aw midcard with some guests sprinkled in. Is there a particular match from that reign that you are particularly you think back fondly on, like whether it's the Forbidden Door match or any of the other opponents that
you face in that time. You know, I never like, you know, is it is bizarre that I have had so many matches because I just I don't like to wrestle, So having all these matches, you know, I don't like any of them, but I would. It was a it was an honor to be in the ring with Cassio Shabata. It's I still can't wrap my head around the fact that he is wrestling he wrestling me,
and the fact that he is wrestling now and Jennifer. Obviously, the the Wheeler Uta matches had a little place that were a little more personal, and I I've had some time to think back because people would ask me these questions while it was going on and then right when it ended, and I didn't really have to reflect. Obviously, the John Mossley match is still in my brain, but there is another person that the match that I had with Swerve
Strickling, Yeah, is still it's still that that one. I'm I'm still surprised I got out of that with the championship because Swerve is I'm I'm very scared of who he targets next. Yes, uh, he has just every time he comes out, he continues to impress me. I honestly thought he would make a good next opponent for the world title. And then the the Hangman Page feud story. Here's somebody goes after the world title and not me.
I hope he doesn't hear the show either. Now that you've said that, now that you have the belt again, you've you're you're starting to think about who you may defend against. I know collision recently happened. You have defense there? Who is on your radar? Who is someone that you would like to wrestle for that title that maybe you did the first time and you want to do it again, or you haven't yet and you would like to
challenge yourself with that particular match. I don't know how many defenses I had. I think it was over thirty something, and there were some repeats in there. I take I took a lot of pride in defending the championship against a wide variety of wrestlers, and our roster is so big and there's so
many talented people that I want to continue that trend. I think there are there's more room for more people to get in the spotlight, and I think that's what I was trying to do with the championship in the the first run, and I don't see why I should stop that now. Now, would you would you prefer if? When? If? If slash when you are?
If you would you prefer to lose the title? It's a weird thing to say prefer to lose the title because you never want to lose the title, But last time you lost it to an established name in John Moxley, Would you maybe, perhaps next time, prefer to be bested, which again is a weird question. I know, by perhaps an upcomer or like someone that you could maybe thrust into a spotlight that might not already be in. Does that make sense? Uh? Well, I yes, it makes sense.
But I obviously I don't want to lose it. I never want to lose it, right, but I to your point, and to what I was just saying, I think it's important that I give opportunities to everybody, right sure, sure established names or non established names, or however you want to say that anybody on the roster. This championship was really a Hey, anybody, anybody on the roster can get a shot at this. And I'm going to keep it that way. So whoever can make me submit, I
quit, or pull my shoulders down for three they can have it. That's hey, that's that's the perfect way to think about it, honestly, and so we're I'm going to leave the discussion about the International Championship right there. I just want to remind everyone Dynamite is coming to the lee Acorus Center at Temple University Wednesday night tonight. If you're listening to this, it is lot.
This episode's going live that morning, so if you need something to do, the Philly should not be playing, even if they go to Game seven. We are recording this early. I don't know what the Phillies have ultimately done, but Wednesday night is free and clear, So go go up to a Leacorse Center and check out Only Wrestling's Dynamite and Rampage as well. Should be a great show always is when that be down. We should definitely say
that. Being in Philadelphia, they have announced a person Rob Dam. Yes we'll be We'll be teaming with Hook and if you know, come on Philly. Amazing. Rob van Dam is wrestling in Philadelphia at that place. Every seat should be filled. That is a great point. I forgot that they mentioned that on Dynamite Wednesday, and I also forgot that I immediately texted the two people that I'm going with that, So thank you for saving my butt there. I do want to switch gears a little bit to something a little
less uh not serious, but a little less a little more fun. This is a video game themed podcast or show, after all, So I'd like to talk about your appearances on Alli lad Arcade. Your you're a bit of rivalry with Adam Cole over that championship that he's hurt obviously at the moment. So you guysn't been able to redefend that based on what I'm seeing, do you? Is he ducking you? You think I don't know the champion?
I don't know. At last I saw it was him that held it, but that that's that was what three months ago that he lost it or that he beat you for it. And I haven't seen any title changes since. I'm not sure that title really, you know, fell off once he got it. That's fine, So that's fine. So I'm still upset about I mean, if you're talking about the John Moxley stuff this, you know,
Adam Cole, just that I can't wait for my remeasure that guy. Ultimately, I think it's unfair that you had to defend that title playing his favorite game in Halo, Like that's all it's the problem is Halo won, you know, on the on the original Xbox, the first ever Halo. That's my game. And so I crushed him in that. But then he and I said, you know, I thought I was pretty good at the newer Halo, but I guess I'm not. But yeah, I want to beat
him at his own game. He dressed up like Master Chief for a A and an entrance. Can you imagine I beat him in Halo crush them? That's true. I think I like him too much to do that. I don't know, I don't know. Uh yeah, I could see that, but also too, I mean, you'd have two belts for you need a bigger backpack. Then what would you do I fit multiple belts in there before. Oh good, Oh I've tried. Oh that's good. That's good to know. So what Uh No, I don't know how much time you have
to do some casual gaming at the moment. But are you playing anything interesting right now? Uh not? Yeah, you know, I dabble with what I can. Uh there is a you're gonna get an exclusive? This is I don't think. I don't think anybody. Well, I don't know if I mentioned this before, but I never said it. There's a lot of us in the aw locker room that play uh FIFA, but now it's e
A f C twenty four. Thanks, so we we all. Sometimes Evil Uno will bring a Xbox or something in the locker room, put on the screen and it gets heated, thought pack and I go at it in the ring. You should see us somewhere. And Eddie Kingston he just won't shut up what he plays. That actually that that segues very nicely into a question I had written down for this interview when we got to this section. Is there like I've always heard stories of you know, locker rooms with a lot
of gamers bringing in consoles and stuff. Like that, and having these tournaments sounds like that's happening in aw locker rooms across the country and FIFA is the chosen battleground. Honestly, not what I would have expected, but now that I think about it, there are a lot of international talent. FIFA does make a lot of sense. All those those UK kids they come over and it's just it's the only thing. They won't shut up us. So I had to learn how to play it, and then you know, I'm actually
pretty good at it. So who's your club of choice? Uh well, it's always full of It's always full of okay, just in case that Tony's listening, and I do I do actually use I do actually use full of them. But uh yeah, that's pretty much. Yeah, yeah, I'll go with that. Nothing from nothing but full of mirror matches. When he walks by, you have two screens just in Casey pops in. I mean,
there was one time where we were playing. It was me and Eddie and it was like during the COVID era of stuff, where we just we had to isolate us. You know, we had a we were all stuck in a room together. Yeah, and you know, Tony did walk you we were we were something. It was like an off day and Tony walked and he looked and he goes, you're going with a four three three like he was upset, like he like he he wanted me to change the formation and I did. I changed. Did it work? Yeah? That's awesome.
And if and as you said, if Tony listens to this, if Tony listen to this, first of all, whoa And secondly, hi, Tony, interesting, FIFA or FC twenty four. As you said, now is the game of choice. I thought for sure it might have been, you know, like forever for a little while speaking of well, the thing that's that was the thing when we had it in the that was when the game came out. It was we would all be ourselves and play each other a lot. Like we played that game a lot. I was very fortunate
to play a lot of the builds leading up to it. They because they know I'm into it and that I got to see all the versions and what it is now and the game is just it was. We would play for hours. It was so much fun. It was really really great. Is there a particular mode that you enjoy or things that you like? I love the the side missed the side like mini game part of it. I didn't think there was enough. I think they could have built on it a little
more because I really did enjoy just that, like at the homes. Yeah, I think there were slowly releasing more like they're they're doing something that I like where it's like releasing it in pieces, especially like the they're gonna they're gonna add on to what I should say because I like that because I don't want to have too many options to start. I like with that homework plan.
So but yeah, every open game, yes, exactly, h rit Baker and uh, she's not good at the actual wrestling part of the game, but she is really good at the mini games, so she was the one that we would play against to try to be that's cool. I haven't jumped into the Battle Royale mode yet either, just hadn't so much. It
is. It's great. It's great. Yeah, for those who don't know, they added a thirty player stadium stampede Battle Royale essentially, so you're running all through this big football stadium, weapons, golf carts, all that stuff, and the last person course there is a horse and the last person standing wins. I hate, like I said, I haven't had a chance to jump into that update yet, but it does sound very very cool. So I guess I'll leave you with one more question here. When I told my
daughter that I was doing this, she I don't. She watches a little bit of wrestling, and she knows who you are from your pockets, right. But she also knows your good friend Dan Housen, who is her favorite. Loves the guy love he thinks he's the coolest in the world. How is Dan Housen? I see he has promos, he's finally making his return. How's he doing. I have no idea. I haven't. I haven't
heard from him. He would just send us DHS tapes and it's like we're supposed to play these, and a lot of the time it's just like it's it's him saying hello, not figuring out saying hello, adjusting the camera a lot. And he definitely recorded over old like it's like family Matters episodes. And I have no idea. I have no idea. Yeah, oh, we have to teach him the ways of the of the modern technology very very
soon. But Orange, I will let you go there. Thank you very much for taking time with me to drop by the current All Elite Wrestling International Champion, Orange Cassidy, all of All Elite Wrestling will be at the Leakor Center at Temple University Wednesday night tonight. If you're listening to this and you haven't gotten tickets yet, you should head over there watch you watch some great
wrestling. Rob Van dam as was mentioned, will be in action teaming up against Hook against the team to be determined as of this recording, but we'll hopefully see what's going on there. Hopefully we'll see you there as well. Orange, one of Philly's native sons, very much appreciate that jersey technically, but we're not gonna hold that against you. Well yeah, you know, hey, Yeah, Philly is a very special place to me, and I'm very I'm very lucky to be here and very lucky to be in this city.
It's really really great and I'm definitely gonna be there Wednesday for sure. Look for him. Look for the man in the great shades and his hands in his pockets. Orange, thank you so much for your time. Good luck to you. Thank you. I'm gonna go lay down appreciate it. Coming up after the break, I'll talk about where the heck I've been the last two months. Thank you again to Orange Cassidy for coming onto the show today. But after the break, where's Jason been stick around? Oh right,
Welcome back to Cheez Takes and Control. This episode number one thirty eight talking now about you know, where the heck I've been for the last two months, So it's real simple. Last episode I recorded was episode one thirty seven, end of July early August, talk to Rick the Hotdo fire from EVO about the upcoming EVO event at the time that went off without a hitch. Was a great episode I watched, I'm a great episode, a great
weekend of action from them. I watched the entire Sunday Finals, all four games from the Sunday Finals from a plane from an airplane with Wi Fi, and I did that on my way to a place that I have never been before and one that I was very excited to visit, and that was Tokyo,
Japan. I spent a week in August in Japan, Tokyo and Yokohama as a guest of the Pokemon Company International talking about I'm Sorry, covering the twenty twenty three Pokemon World Championships. We got to do a lot of very cool and fun things while we were out there, see the sites of Japan cover the Pokemon World Championships, which were very very cool. It was a
trip I will never ever forget. Highlights for me was going to the Shibuya Scramble Crossing with the Hachiko statue and getting my hatch Co statue and getting my picture taken there with the statue, and at the crossing itself. Getting to go to San Kayenne I believe it was called a Japanese garden do it an official tea ceremony with a tea brewing method that's been used for over eight hundred years apparently in the country of Japan. Very very good tea, and I
don't normally do tea. Tea iced or hot tends to make me gag a little bit. Not sure why that is, but it does tend to do that. This green Macha tea that they served us at this little ceremony, oh boy that I loved every second of it, So that was very cool. Got to go see a China town in Japan, which sounds strange, especially given their history of tension, but this particular China town in Yokohama,
the biggest in Japan, I'm told was very very cool. Great shops, great food, great you know, nice sites to see and pictures to take. That was very cool. If you ever in Yokohama, I would suggest checking that out as well. But the World Championships themselves, three days of action in the card game Scarlet and Violet Go and Pokemon Unite. I mentioned at the top of the show that there will be two interviews and the third segment from this event, and that will be with two of the biggest casters
of Pokemon Unite. That there are Zoinks and Spraggles. We're going to talk to them, and it's my interview from that show. So it was right after the Pokemon Unit Finals had taken place, a bit of a time capsule to two months ago. I do acknowledge that, but you can hear the way that they speak about how those tournaments went down, where they see the competitive scene and Pokemon Unite going in the future. Very very cool conversation that
I have with them. But all in all, I thought that the trip to Japan was a dream come true, and I am forever grateful to the folks that made that happen. One of the things that really struck me about the entire trip was how much Pokemon had taken over the city of Yokohama while
I was there. I you know, I've always as a kid, I've gained my entire life, right, I've been playing video games since I was three years old, thirty three years now, and I've always wondered what it would be like to have, you know, mainstream society for lack of a better term, except the games the way that I do now. That has happened to a point with certain games, but nothing like what I saw with Pokemon in Japan. That Pokemon took that city over, absolutely took it over,
particularly Yokohama where the actual World Championships was taking place. Perfect example, there was a shopping mall that we went to walking distance from our hotel, and on the third floor of this shopping mall, because they build vertically as opposed to horizontally like the US malls that I've been into, the entire third floor featured an art walk where you could walk and look at art, you
know, little art installations as you walk down the pathway. But each each section of this art walk was a Pokemon card blown up to you know, be larger than human size, and it wasn't just the art either. If it was just the art, that would make sense too, right, But this was like the entire card frame with the art inside and the writing in Japanese. It looked like they just took an actual Pokemon card and blew it up in photoshop and stuck it on this display in this mall. And there
were dozens of them all throughout this facility. I found that to be marvelous. In the center court of the shopping mall there was a giant Pikachu balloon and a massive Pikachu card on the floor that you could take a picture of from one of the top balconies. That was awesome. In another section of the city there was a massive blow up Pikachu that you could take pictures with,
plus other statues scattered throughout the city. At one point, the company had rented out an actual cruise ship and turned it into the SSN from Red and Blue, complete with trash cans that I could search quote unquote search for items, with the most of them saying there's nothing but trash here, and
the last one giving me a great ball. It was amazing how much Pokemon was able to do in this city for this week, and the and the and Pokemon thanked them in kind because that event was a rip roorn good time with a lot of awesome stuff between card game competitions and the game itself and Unite which was a very very exciting experience. Again. We'll talk about that more in segment number three. I also found some very interesting little side foible
of this event. Uh So, there's the actual main hall where everything's happening the pacifica Yokohama in this case, and that's where all the tournaments are being played and the free play and stuff like that, outside of the main comfort hall, but still in the building, Like still inside a building was like
a seating areas, vending machines and stuff like that. Well, attendees from of the Pokemon World Championships turned these general seating areas into massive market places or like street vendor bizarre sort of things where they had sleeves from sets, box sets or elite trainer boxes for trade playmats. They weren't using any more cards,
both packs and individual single cards for trade or purchase. On the down low, you weren't allowed to purchase them that money was prohibited, but some people were doing it on the sly because you know that's usually what happens in these sorts of things. But I found the whole thing fascinating. I could just walk through and it wasn't just like recent modern Pokemon. Some of these things went back as far as like the black and white era, maybe even
a little further. I didn't really see much in terms of like the original Pokemon cards of the late nineties that I grew up with. That stuff would probably not do well in this particular situation because there's so many people and you don't know where things are coming from and who's passing by and what they might be able to reach for. I kind of understand that I didn't see much of that, but just seeing these people like bartering and exchanging and trading it
was super super cool. Also, going back to the cruise ship turned s S and that they had situated on the dock there in Yokohama, there was a section entire floor where there were tables that you could sit at that said let's play or let's trade. They would have a little sign and you could, you know, switch them at will to whatever you wanted to do,
and it was all about trading card games. So if you put up the let's trade sign and you had a binder, you could barter and talk about trades with anybody that walked by. If you said let's play or let's battle, you would battle in the card game right then and there. One of the folks that was on the trip with me had a great battle with someone they had never met before on this cruise ship. If you go to IGN and look for I think it's a Confessions of a Pokemaniac as the name of
the blog. Joshua Yell, who was on the trip and this, wrote a great seven part blog diary, like an open diary travel diary of our trip. There. Everything he described there is what I got to do too. For the most part, he got to do a couple of things that I didn't. But it's a very very good read if you want to see what went down with American contingent. I don't know if they're ever going to
listen to this. If they do, great, If not, you know, I completely understand we're all very busy, but I really have to give a shout to the entire North American Press contingent that was with me on this journey. This was a big trip for me. This was a lifelong dreams sort of trip for me. You know what I'm saying. This was something I've wanted to do since I was a kid. And the fact that I was able to do it, you know, in this manner, in this
method, is not lost on me. And you know, being grateful for it is not lost on me, I should say, And to be able to do it with such a great group of people, Casey and Joshua from IGN, Cody from why Can't I Remember what psite? He writes for I'm so sorry, Cody, But Cody, you're great too. I will remind myself before I finished this statement. Christian from Comic Book, Eric from the Gamer Alex, the PR person who was in charge of all of us as
we were there. It was just a wonderful, wonderful time. It was really a really screen rant. That's where Cody writes, you dummy, it's screen rant. So yeah, Cody from screen rant, Joshua and Casey from IGN, Christian from the Gamer, Eric from Uh sorry, Christian from Comic Book, Eric from the Gamer Alex r PR person and me, that's seven right once you see, Yes, everyone was awesome and I am I was very fortunate that I got to meet these people and spend some time with them
and and grow to appreciate them professionally and personally. They were all very very great people. We are now connected in a discord uh server, just the seven of us, you know, sharing things that remind us of the trip or or you know, just kind of keeping connected. I've already actually done some work with Casey at IGN, which is really cool too. And I just really again, I don't know if they're ever going to listen to this. I don't know if they're ever going to you know, come back into
the archives or what have you. But I really, I really am grateful that these are the people that I got to spend this trip with. I was going with strangers, I was going in completely blind. I knew one of these people before the trip, and they really made the trip better for me just through their camaraderie and they're being friendly and they're they're essentially hanging out with a kid from Philly who got to go to Japan by himself for the
first time ever and really lived a dream. So I've just feel very fortunate and thankful. The group was so good, and I hope that everybody gets together again soon somehow, some way, since we're all spread out all over the country and Canada, all over the continent. Even I really liked it. I really liked the group that I was with. It helped. It definitely helped being in a strange country without my family, left to my own devices at certain times, just having these people to hang out with it was
a big thing. But on all after that, after I got home from Japan, I dumped jump straight into big reviews. I have reviews for Stray Gods, Starfield, Lord's The Fallen, most recently Mortal Kombat one, I did see if Stars I did, and just really really building on the absolute mad rush of games that twenty twenty three has been in general. I was gonna do a segment at the end of the show about like where it does twenty twenty three rank in the best years of gaming, and then save the
interviews at the end for next week. But I feel like I should wait because there's a pretty big title coming out this week, and then there's other stuff still coming out between now and the end of the year, So I feel like I'm gonna pump the brakes on that a little bit and come back next week or the week after with the where does twenty twenty three rank on the scale of best years for video games ever? Because it's definitely it's definitely
up there now. Whether it ranks up with two thousand and seven, ninety eight, ninety nine, all the other years I think of, we'll determine that in a future segment, but for now, it's been a crazy year for game that it's only getting crazier between now and the end of the year. Very much looking forward to seeing what else comes out. I know there's
Alan Wait two this week. Later this week, I think Friday is when that actually launches Super Mario RPG remake, which I don't think I've had a chance to talk about on this podcast at all, but yeah, maybe a little bit because it was announced. It was announced in June, I think, so we might have had a chance to talk about that since then. But there you go. That's what I've been up to. I went to Japan, and I've reviewed a bunch of games, doing family stuff. The
Phillies playoff run which ended tonight. I've been paying attention to that, and now I can refocus on the things that make me happy, not the Phillies this podcast being a huge one, and then we will go from there. So that is where I've been the last two months. If you've been wondering why Chiese Takes the Controllers was on the back burner. But we are back, hopefully in a more regular schedule now that things are starting to calm down,
and we'll take you into the new year. We'll do the Golden spatuel As, we'll cover the game Awards, all that good stuff that we normally do at the end of each year. Coming up after the break my interviews from the Pokemon World champion twenty twenty three with Zoinkes and Spraggos talking about Pokemon Unite, where that game's going, where that game is, and everything in
between. Stick around, all right, Welcome back to Chee Stacks and Controllers, Episode number one hundred and thirty eight, Wrapping things up this week with two fantastic interviews recorded live in person at the Pokemon World Championships in Yokohama, Japan. Before we get into that, I do want to thank Orange Cassidy for coming onto the show. All Elite Wrestling, Dynamite and Rampage hitting the Leea Course Center at Temple University tonight seven thirty pm. First bell eight o'clock
is when the live show starts on TV. Feel tickets should still be available now on the Lee Course Center website. Should go down there because one of the biggest Japanese wrestlers in the world at the moment was confirmed to be coming to the leea Coorse Center on Saturday at Collie in the day after I recorded my interview with Orange Cassidy. And if he was holding out on out on me and I find out about it, I'm just gonna shake my finger at him because he is a wrestler and he will beat me up. So I
don't want to poke that bear if I don't have to. Moving on now to our final segment of the show, Spragels and Zoins, two of the premiere casters for Pokemon Unite, sat down with me back at the Pokemon World Championships, talk about how that tournament ended, talk about the future of the the game at the time, and more. We're gonna start with Spragels and move on to Zoinks. So without further ado, here is Spragels, one
of the top Unite commentators in the world. If you watched any Pokemon Unite at this Pokemon Worlds, and if you haven't, you should go back and watch the odds. You definitely heard this man's dulcet tones telling you all of the everything that's going on and explaining it in great detail. I'm sitting with Spragels. Spragels, how are you hi? How are you? Can you? Have you have? You've remember him the whole time? Yeah, Hi, I'm doing great. That's his real voice, A peak behind the curtain,
hear. So let's talk about Worlds this year twenty twenty three out here in Yokohama, Japan. Honestly, this is my first experience, so I have nothing to compare it to you've been. This is not your first rodeo, I am assuming. So how do you think Yokohama rated as a host for Worlds this year? Oh, it's amazing. I've been to two now, so I've been to London and I've been to Yokohama. London was insane. The stage at London was insane, and it feels like Yokohama they have
just leveled up everything, And I mean, what would you expect. It's the birthplace of Pokemon here in Japan, so of course everything is just nuts. You've seen the stage. All of the games are up on this massive stage. They have literal bridges that you can walk over. They have houses that open up, cherry blossom trees. It's gorgeous and everything's been really here. It's been amazing. Yeah, I concur one hundred percent. We got to go explore that stage a little bit on the morning of day two.
And the attention to detail, even in like places that people can't see, like behind that Unite desk is a what's it Frey Coco hanging out back there something like that. I love that. So speaking of Unite this year, a lot of people coming in thought this was Luminosity's tournament to win, and then by the end they kind of said, yeah, we know that too. Talk to me about this team, how they were able to become so dominant and run through this tournament the way they did. Yeah, it's impressive
what they did. I think, if you know, not to argue with you a little bit here, but I would say Luminosity was probably looked at as one of the top teams. But I don't know if everyone thought that they were going to do that. Well, Okay, you know, last year a lot of people thought this team is it, They're gonna make it happen, and they really did. Especially for North America, we thought, yeah, this team is far and away the best. This year, Luminosity
was really tested throughout the entire region. There were so many good teams in NA. There are so many good teams across the world. There were favorite teams for EU that people thought were going to be amazing. Brazil had one of the best teams in the world, and then Japan. Everyone knew they were going to show up. But I mean they really showed up. Home
field advantage, home field advantage, and man, they're so aggressive. They are just they play a really in your face style of Pokemon Unite that clearly some teams could not adjust to. That being said, yeah, Luminosity, I would say they shocked the world once again, and specifically with how impressive their victory was. It wasn't last year. I felt like they had some really close games. This year, the games were further away. It was
more impressive of the victory. Luminosity played better than I've ever seen them play, and they are the former world champs, so they've already won the whole thing. They played even better this year. Yeah, look, no further than Game three of the Grand Finals, perfect example. We it almost made me think that they were toying with Abyssian there for a little bit. Yeah, and then you know, just said, you know what, we gotta go home. It's time, we're done with this. They knew they had
a ten minute timer. They're like, we're gonna run this thing all the way down to the ten minutes. But you're right, it felt like one of those games where they were fully in play mode. You know, they were just enjoying this. It was a victory lap. It was already over in their minds. And Amal Abyssinian an amazing team, they played so well,
but I think they felt the same way. I think they felt like it was over Luminosity's beating us. Sure, so talk to me about the differences in the meta and how the meta has grown throughout the two years in Pokemon. You now, we've seen some Pokemon come in and just completely you know, take over the game, where we have some others that sometimes come in in a sneaky position, like Talent Flame showed up out and there.
It didn't really do much, but hey, it was worth a shot, right, So what talk to me about like the consistent champions versus like a new I'm sorry Pokemon, this isn't that game. We'll talk about that in a minute, versus like a new one trying to come in. Like New two came in and shattered things. Yeah, Mew two was massive, Zashian was insane. Comfe came into the game a little underpowered, and then they buffed it after release and then that thing was just nuts. That's essentially this
game's you mei ye. So that's just that was a huge factor throughout the year. You know, as with a lot of MOBAs, newer characters, Pokemon champions, gods. If you play smikee, newer characters always come in and I feel like you want them to be pretty powerful, and they sometimes range to like, eh, kind of underwhelming to really really good. And Unite had a year of really really good Pokemon and they also had the addition of draft. So last year at the World Championships there was no draft.
You could have an entire mirror matchup against your opponents, and really it was down to figuring out what actually is the meta and then basically, if this is the meta, what can actually legitimately counter it while still being top tier so last year you saw so many of the same Pokemon. I would say it was less interesting once people seem to kind of crack the code. This
year, so many different pokemons, so many different strategies. Even if we had what you would often see as like the top five Pokemon, only you know, you can get a couple here, a couple there, a ban on each side, and then you've got to fill out your rosters with other great Pokemon, but maybe not s tier choice. So do you think the draft ban system was a smart Obviously a smart addition for if nothing else, match variety abs absolutely for match variety. And also you see teams lose in
the draft screen. Like the strategy of the game, it gets more intense. You can't just be really really good with Serena anymore. You know, you have to have a deeper roster that you have to at least have two three things that you can pivot to in case your number one choice is not available for you. And then also, if you get really good on a Pokemon, you're gonna start to get target banned or counter paid. They're gonna start taking that away from you. So yeah, you have to be a
better player. You have to be a better team, and it's so much better for the game. So let's move a little bit to the way that you approach commentating. So you have a pretty difficult job for someone who maybe not be watching Pokemon Unite as often as you know people like us who travel around the world to come see it. Do you try to tailor your commentary as a balance between like Unite veterans who know everything and maybe like the dad
who's watching with them or the mom is watching with them. That is almost exactly what I think if for me, a show would be the best show possible if someone who knew nothing about the game and someone who knew everything about the game both really enjoyed it. So I try to strike that balance throughout it, And most of the time I'm providing the story for what's happening inside of these matches, a little bit of analysis of what's going on, making
some dumb jokes that nobody seems to yell at before, so I guess I get to keep baking them. And I really do want the broadcast as best as possible to be something that is accessible for everyone. I want everyone to be able to turn this on and get something from it. If it's you're in beginner rank and you're just starting the game. You can grab something and if you're like me and you played twelve thousand games of Unite, you can still go, oh, yes, that was actually a really amazing moment,
and it's great to notice that and call that out. Yeah, that's awesome. So you said you played twelve thousand games of You Night. Who are your top three? My top three I believe right now it's I think Dodrillo has surpassed them all. So I think it's Dodrillo. Then Greedn't And I'm wondering if number three is either Talent Flame Lucar. It's like Talent Flamer Lucaro from like when the game first came out. I love both of them.
One that's really climbing up the list, that is Intellian. I was gonna say, so one you'd like to learn, Oh my gosh, I love Intellian. It's such a good release it And then you know what, as a Pokemon I do not like Intelian. I thought it was like it was not my favorite starter. I'm a big water Pokemon fan. I was actually disappointed when I saw the evolution. But then you bring it into Unite and all of a sudden, I love this thing. Yeah, it's like my
favorite. Now. How do you feel about the Quaxley line? I love quest. I'm a huge I'm such a huge Quaxley fan. Yeah, my spirit animal. You've been bouncing around here all weekend long. It's been great. Yeah. So one last question for you. If someone plays other mobives like you said earlier, and want to try and dabble in Unite, what would be the one piece of advice you would give them as far as the
transition. I take it that this is not quite as That's what I'm trying to say here, not quite as, not intense, because it can be intense maybe in depth. I feel like there's a lot, a lot easier of an entry point, let's say in this game that opposed to other mobives. Would you agree with that? Yeah? I think so. I think it's very intentional. They want the matches. You know, they're ten minute
long games, so that's very accessible. You don't have to sit down and play an hour long match of League or something like that, and you don't have item buying inside of a match. You could you prep your Pokemon's kit before a match, so you don't have that level of complexity inside the game either. I just said complexity where and they said complexity, So you don't
have that inside the game either. But I think a lot of what Pokemon Unite gives you then is more time inside of a match to focus on the macro and more time inside of a match to focus on how to play your Pokemon. Unlike some other mobives no character yet maybe there's one that's kind of weird. You know, every every Pokemon's a little different, but no character has like mona system or anything like that. Everything's based around fool down.
So as a new player, I would go in there and just recognize, you know, they want you to play, they want you to fight, they want you to use your moves, be aggressive. And the game is called Pokemon Unite for a reason, it's not called Pokemon. Everyone go their own way and just kind of figure it out. When you are with your team showing up to objectives which the game clearly indicates like this, just hit the map, break ways to just stay out there, go, get go,
get that, show up with your squad. I think moments like that are what I would look towards if you're new into Pokemon Unite. Just be with your team, head to the objectives Pokemon Unite, and use your moves because there's no real reason not to, like, get out there and fight. Sure, I agree, Spragels, Thank you so much for your time. Enjoy the rest of worlds and people speak to you soon hopefully. Thanks Bob, absolutely man. Thanks for having me cool. All right, there
you go. Thank you Spragels for coming on to the show. Very much appreciated. Looking forward to seeing more of Pokemon Unite from you, my friend. Moving on now to the second interview of the segment, let's talk to
Zoincs. We're sticking with Pokemon Unite. You just hurt Spragels, But there is another commentator whose voice is just as iconic calling it being called over these intense matches, and I, frankly I like to say his name a lot because it brings me back to a time of innocence, and I'm sure that's why he picked it. This is Zoikes. Zoikes. How are you pal? I'm doing really good. Thanks for that great intro. Yeah, I like the name too. Yeah, I appreciate that. Appreciate the high praise
there. So Unite year two has ended. We have our second world champion looks very similar to our first world champion, if I do, If I do, say, were you expecting that sort of dominant performance from them or were you expecting them to be top tier in the mix but still tested? Oh? Absolutely not expecting to see an LG. That was last year as well. I mean, their first year run was extremely dominant as well,
barely dropping. I don't think they dropped the game in that one. They did drop one this year, but I mean this forum was like unheard of, completely unexpected from them after a season that was rocky. But I mean, if any team's gonna turn up on stage, it's this team. A few specific players just tell are different players when they're in front of a crowd. Yeah. I with Spragel's too. I went back to the third match
of that Grand Finals. It seemed like after watching that, it seemed like in the first two they were just kind of like letting them have their fun and then being like, all right, no time to go. That team's basically had that in them all year, but it's been a bit of a challenge. As Spragel was saying to get here, would you agree with it?
Yeah, I do agree with that. They still had an average placement overall of third place at all the tournaments, and it's a very competitive region in North America, so it's not like they were having an awful season. I think the biggest, you know, mark on their season was a not making a top eight in one of the tournaments, getting knocked out at the qualification rounds. I definitely had a lot of people turning their heads with surprise.
But I mean after that, definitely coming back up. It was just tough for them to find that actual win. But they did come away with two Cups this entire year leading up to World so matching another team that also got to sure, were there any teams in this tournament as it played out that's surprise? I know there were a few, like one local to Japan MJK really impressed a lot of folks, and then the team from the Philippines that played LG and the Grand Files at Omo Abyssinian. I keep getting that
wrong. There's a lot of syllables in that is a lot more than it seems like there should be. But were there any teams that stuck out to you as like, hey, we're going to be seeing these guys for a long time to come. Oh interesting, Okay. One the biggest surprise to me is Team Act Jill from Korea. Oka. Korea as a region is actually extremely small. In bookem on you unit, it's one of our smallest regions represented and therefore definitely gets kind of looked past by a lot of teams
leading up into it. And well, there's a couple of players that performed very well in the world stage last year at s Foyl and Shobo, and they're on that team again and actually had in a crazy tournament, knocked out a tournament favorite from North America and Almatarasu in the group stage, and then had a great bracket run, went on at fifth, sixth. But still that was a big surprise for me. Yeah. Now, conversely, was there a team that you thought might have performed a little bit better than they
did? And what do you attribute to their I don't want to say subpar, but maybe like the tournament turning out not the way they expected. Well, I mean, I'm sure Spregel's already brought up tally Boba believers that European team. I mean, they were the favorites to win the tournament on paper, but having such a tough group that was that was a tough one to move into. Honestly, I think another European team I'm gonna bring up is
Nouns Esports. They were the runner ups last year at Worlds. They also had a very tough group, and I mean in their group was Omo Abyssinian as well, so that team obviously having an amazing tournament run. But yeah, Nowns Esports, I think a lot of people expected a bit more from them, and I mean it even came down to a match that neither one of the teams making it out of the group were playing in, and depending
on what team won is what team made it out of the group. So Nowns Esports definitely, I think we could have seen more from them this tournament. A few unfortunate performances, and I don't think they're done though. I think in next year they're definitely gonna be coming back with a venge. Sure. Sure. Now we're also were talking about the match band I'm sorry, the band draft that was put in this year. We talked about how it's
a benefit to match variety and there's some strategic elements there. What did do you would you say that it's a boon to United esports and what's specifically about it do you like the most. Oh, it's incredible. I mean it feels like we're actually on the esports stage now like with everybody else. It's an amazing thing. There is a part of me, I know, you cover overwatched a bunch that. Like back in the day when when Mirro comps
and stuff like that, we're just kind of picked all the time. It was like, Hey, what team has the better skill in this situation? But draft just really sets this game apart. Having another layer of strategy preparation becomes that much more important to understand your tea, other opponents' strategies and kind
of their tendencies. It's pretty big. Even Luminosity was talking about an interview about how they were studying not even not only what pokemon are picked, but the order in which they are picked so they can try to make other teams uncomfortable. So it's been huge, So just in that it's been able to have good teams have more skill expression, and I think because of Draft face
we're actually seeing just more competitive teams at the top consistently. We're having a lot better results that way, and the whole Like, yeah, the powerhouses in each region are starting to really show themselves and cement themselves at the top of the of the chain. That makes sense, So let me get you out of here on this one's easy one. Two easy ones actually. First of all, who are your top three in unit? I imagine you play just as much as you guess who are Who are your top three most chosen?
If I was playing against you, who am I drafting to make sure that you don't get them? Well, one, we need to add draft a rank, so hopefully that happens. Hope that happens. But if I'm most played was definitely Snorlax when the game released, I was a one trick Snorlax to relate that pokemon, but recently it has all been Chandler and Gudra. I have a love in those two pokemon right now? Is there one
you'd like to try and start learning? Like one that's whether just released or or don't say YouTube can't same youtwo never but like or one that evnt had a chance to really dig into. Well, not for lack of trying with my talent, definitely having a tough time. But every time I watch Overlord, I just want to play Sorarc so bad. I mean watching that Pokemon on stage is just ridiculous. And I mean having these teams have a chance to prove how good and how high of a skill ceiling it is on a
world stage is amazing. So zor Arc for sure, but I mean maybe my eyes are a little too high on that prize. When I'm looking at Overlord playing that boe, you have a feeling that's gonna take a lot of preparation. And then finally, the city of Yokohama. Have you been to Japan before? No, first time? First time? How did you? How do you feel it serve its purpose as the host of Worlds this year compared to London or any other worlds that you've been previously? Pretty incredible?
I mean Pokemon pulls out all the stops this time. And actually, I think today was my first time to really soak in how much it means to be in Japan, just because I was so involved with the event the last two days. But today I was able to go to a park that was all Pokemon theme but tried magic carp fishing. I mean, there's the ss han is like out on the water, but this place is so cool.
I mean, this happens in every world, but I think this one in particular it's surprising because how big an event it is and how wide and spread out it is. However, the attention to detail and just the are incredible, credible. Well, it's so cool to see. I agree with that one hundred percent of zoinks. Thank you so much for your time. Pokemon Unite coming back strong. You better watch every single match this upcoming season.
You're gonna hear that voice. And if you haven't watched Worlds yet, please go back and watch the odds the matches are incredible. Zoints. Thank you so much for your time. Thank you, and there you have it. Spraygels and Zoints talking Pokemon Unite at the Pokemon World Championships from a couple of months ago. I do like watching that game a lot. It was one of the more entertaining games at the entire event. They hea you have a
chance to dip into it. Yet it's on your phone, it's on your tablet, and it's on your switch and it's free to play, so you can definitely jump in and start enjoying it at your leisure. But with that, that is the end of episode number one hundred and thirty eight of the Chief Takes the ConTroll Horse podcast, presented as always by Fox Pho The Gambler, Philadelphia, one of two point five FM fourteen eighty AM. I Heart Radio. Wherever you get your podcasts is where you can hear this voice.
As I say every single time I record an episode, if you are listening to this part, that means we've gotten to the end, and I appreciate you for doing so. Means a lot to me that you would spend some time with me, even after my long unintended hiatus. But I am back in the saddle, baby, and I am ready to talk about video games, E sports and anything else that comes up between now and you know, the next unintended hiatus that I might take. I just need life to slow
down for a little bit. I would very much appreciate that, indeed, But thank you for listening. As always, I always, like I said, appreciate that you are here. I hope you have a fantastic weekend. I hope you have an even better week right behind it. And we will back me back next week with more of the latest and greatest video games on Cheese, Steaks and Controllers. See you later clearly out of practice with that catchphrase at the end. There