Follow Kenny Britton on Twitter @KennyBritton4!
In the spirit of Social Saturdays and Quick Search, I’m starting a new, albeit less frequent column today: Player Interviews! Today we’re speaking with Anaheim Regional Champion KENNY BRITTON, who is one of this season’s most successful players. I go deep into the things that have made him a successful player, including playtesting habits, deck choices, and metagame calls.
Introductory + History
KETTLER: Would you mind telling everyone a bit about your player profile – when you started playing competitively, some of your past major accomplishments before this season, and so on?
KENNY B: I started playing casually with the release of HGSS Triumphant. I didn't transition to the competitive season until a year or two afterwards. I saw immediate success being able to top 4 my first major tournament (Arizona States) and from there I started on the path of grinding for Worlds invites. I haven't had any crazy accomplishments like winning a major event until this season. I had a bad case of losing in top 4 of states (5x) and top 8 of regionals. It was enough to secure multiple worlds invites but not satisfying enough as a person of competitive nature. My best accomplishment before this season was my sister who was my main play testing partner over the years. She had one of those amazing seasons in 2015 as she was able to win a States, a Regionals, and Top 8 Nationals in the same year. I ended up being the "weaker" sibling but I was really proud of her success.
KETTLER: Hahaha, so I think it’s safe to say between your accomplishments and your sister’s, we can spin that pretty positively into you and her easily being one of the strongest sibling duos in the game’s history. I’m not sure how active she is now, but how has having had a family member in the game helped improve your game other than playtesting? And did you actually get a local reputation as being the weaker Britton or is that mostly just kidding around?
KENNY B: She took this season off to focus on school so she is not active anymore. Having a family member allowed me to grow with her and my friends. We truly started from the bottom as players and over time and experience we got to the level we are at now. I've experienced tons of bad performances and failures but without it I wouldn't be the play I am today. I've gotten over being "unlucky" or "salty" and just accepted the variance of this game. And yeah it was a running joke of her being the "Better Britton" haha.
I also had a side strategy of "hedging" my deck choices from having a sibling. We could take my top 2 decks to a tournament and have some better odds of making the best call. We rarely played the same deck unless it was “BDIF.”
Recent Tournament Success + Investigation into Good Habits
This was where Kenny was at before Salt Lake City!
KETTLER: Hmm okay, so no sister to playtest with and no more hedging of deck choices. Have you done anything else differently this season as opposed to past cycles?
KENNY B: This is going to sound a bit strange but I have actually done something differently – I stopped putting effort into the game like I did in the past. I started this season casually and wanted to take a break. The new prize layout was very appealing though, and Mark Garcia gave me a great idea: treat each regionals as a poker tournament with a buy in of $30. It's a game we know very well and you have a decent chance at taking the big prize home.
I played my first tournament of the year in Arizona which I was 6th seed going into day two, but then I bombed and had a terrible Sunday because Vileplume Box was a weak call. My second tournament of my "casual" season was a League Challenge to just have some fun. Everyone was gaining points and I was enjoying taking a break from the game until my third tournament of the year. I actually wasn’t testing my decks until the night before, and in San Jose, we drove up and just theorymoned. The night before I played decks that I wouldn't end up playing (which is usually the case for me). Drew Kennett who won Arizona the regionals helped make my decision of playing Greninja and I just rolled with it. I went on a crazy run and got second place in San Jose, losing to Mark.
The San Jose run lit the fire again and I had the passion I once had. The release of Sun and Moon came out so I actually put in some effort to figure out how the decks worked. But once again I made my deck choice at 4 am with no testing of the actual deck or list. This would end up being my strategy for the season as major tournaments are every 2-3 weeks and there really isn't enough time to have a life and test games.
KETTLER: That’s really interesting to learn, since I know that between the HeyTrainer tournaments and things like Josh Bangle’s Road to States, you’re actually relatively active in the online tournament scene. Do you think online events are good practice, or do you just play in them exclusively for fun?
KENNY B: Oh yeah! I forgot about that. I found them extremely useful over the time I have been playing. They really let me try out deck ideas and lists that I'm not comfortable enough to play in a real tournament. It's really useful and efficient to get in games online instead of having to meet up with people or play in tournaments.
KETTLER: Anything else you’d like to mention about the recent successes?
KENNY B: One more thing I guess about my success is I have a great testing circle. There are a ton of great SoCal players that I can meet up within like a 30 minute drive and grind games for Regionals/Nationals/Worlds. I used to do this so much in the past and it definitely made all of us better players. The list goes on of players I've tested with in this area and most of them are recognizable to the community. I'm very fortunate to have such a strong circle nearby.
The List
KETTLER: Your Salt Lake City that got you 5th place this past weekend was very consistent, straightforward, and mostly unchanged from the traditional build for Turbo Darkrai. Were there any particular motivations you had in choosing Darkrai, and any tough calls in choosing the exact 60 you played?
KENNY B: The biggest philosophy I have as a player is making the best meta call. I try to stay up to date with the metagame and pay attention to the results. The Charizard Lounge is probably the biggest tool I've ever used and it's just so useful. So based on recent events I noticed a trend: People were hating on Decidueye Vileplume (arguably the best deck) and they were selling out to tech or beat it. Puerto Rico showed that and it started to hype up stuff like Yveltal Garbodor. It's usually impossible to counter every deck and you have to take some kind of risk with deck choice. I had about four decks I was considering and they all had their glaring problem or autoloss. My thought process with Darkrai was it's probably the most effective deck at taking down the counters to Decidueye Vileplume decks, and it's very reliable. It was also the best deck pre-SM. I also couldn't think of many players who would actually run or feel comfortable playing Vileplume. Everyone seemed stuck on the mindset of beating Decidueye instead of playing it so it seemed like a solid gamble. I took the gamble of dodging my bad match up and faced only one the entire run which I actually ended up beating in day two.
KETTLER: What made Turbo Darkrai a better call in your opinion than Darkrai/Giratina, which you used to win Anaheim?
KENNY B: I learned after Anaheim that I’d rather be the Turbo Dark player than Dragons. Even though I was able to win those games, it felt like a bad match up. The both have their pros and cons to the meta: I’d rather be Turbo Dark against Volcanion, Yveltal Garbodor, and Mirrors. On the other side I’d rather be Dragons against Bees, Mewtwo, Ray, and Vileplume. Based on my prediction of the metagame, the correct call was to go with Turbo Darkrai.
Miscellaneous
KETTLER: Finally, it’s fun to mention that you’re actually one of the oldest active account holders on the HeyTrainer forum. Considering it’s been several years since the majority of Pokemon social media migrated to Facebook, what makes you keep visiting the boards?
KENNY B: Well I saw your post about bringing HeyTrainer back and I wanted to help do that. It was very helpful for when I started to play the game and it helped me grow as a player. Lots of great deck ideas were brewed on those forums and I've met a ton of the trainers in real life. It's very nostalgic but also something I wish would come back to the game.
KETTLER: That's all I got, man. Thanks a lot!