Fighting Gym Leader: Ian Lutz Interview

So here is the interview with Ian Lutz, our Fighting Gym Leader (who might just be a character from a well known TV show):

Me: Welcome to the show Ian. As always I am your gracious host. First question, why fighting types?

Ian: When I joined up with the ECPL they were already a lot of gym leaders but there were still some open post.
I believe they were fighting, fire, grass, and electric.
I chose fighting from those choices because I really liked using Toxicroak on the mono-poison team I used to run.
Fighting-types also just appeal to me as I enjoy fighting games and martial arts movies.

Me: So any particular Pokemon that you hold near and dear to your heart?

Ian: In general I've always really liked Voltorb/Electrode because of it's cry and
it was at the core of a team I used to get top cut at a VGC premier challenge.
Hawlucha also holds a special place for being the first competitive shiny I've ever hatched.

Me: Do you use this hawlucha in your gym?

Ian Lutz: He was a part of my main lineup for a long time.
Hawlucha has access to a really fast Quick Guard that can block most Fake Outs, with the only two exceptions being Ambipom and Weavile.
This made it really useful against Talonflame + Kangaskhan leads that I would run into a lot on ranked battle spot.
I've since replaced it with Blaziken moving the Quick Guard duties over to Scrafty,
but Hawlucha still makes an appearance every now and then.

Me: So seeing as fighting types are a very diverse group, do you use or wish for any megas for your gym?

Ian: I don't know if I would call fighting types a diverse group.
While they vary in secondary typing most of them fall neatly into role of physical attacker.
Even Lucario and the Fire/Fighting starter which can be run as special attackers have pretty high physical attack stats.
That said I do think it would be cool see a Mega Hawlucha or Hitmonchan.

Me: Hmmm I was thinking the same thing.
So is fighting your favorite type?

Ian Lutz: I would say yes. They're all a blast to use.

Me: Ok.
Who would you say is your favorite Pokemon?

Ian Lutz: argghh that's such a hard question, but I guess I'll go with Primeape.
It's been a longtime and it's the first fully evolved fighting type pokemon in the national dex.

Me: Nice. I respect a man who enjoys the classics.
Any other games your currently playing besides Pokemon?

Ian Lutz: Fellow ECPL member and Bug Gym hopeful Michael Lee got me into Mortal Kombat X so I've been having a lot of fun with that.
It's the first Mortal Kombat I'm actually taking the time to learn combos and whatnot.
I'm usually more of a Marvel Vs. Capcom/Skullgirls player.

Me: Really? What systems do you own?

Ian Lutz: Xbox One
PS3 for Skullgirls and Marvel.

Me: And I don't have your gamer tag so I can split you in two?
Shame on you good sir.
So what character do you use for MKX?

Ian Lutz: I've been spending most of my time trying to learn Kotal Khan, but I've managed to pick up on some BnB combos for Raiden.

Me: I'm a Sub Zero user myself. Trying to learn Quan Chi, then Kung Jin next.
So you stated earlier you're a player of Skull Girls and Marvel vs Capcom. Which MvC are you playing?

Ian Lutz: I bounce around them all.
It's been a long time since I played UMvC3 though. When I was playing though I really enjoyed using Ghost Rider and Arthur.

Me: See I have no problem playing MvC3, but im more particular to MvC 2, which I will argue is the greatest fighting game ever.
Although I really hate how some people playing using nothing but assist and spamming the same attack over and over.
Moving on, Skullgirls is one of the most challenging fighting games out there according to some gamers.
Would you agree?

Ian Lutz: eh, I actually find it's combo system really user friendly.
I honestly don't find it that difficult to pick up on a combo for a new character.
I've had a lot more trouble getting into other fighting games like Tekken and Guilty Gear than I have skullgirls.

Me: Well I guess I can relate.
A lot of people say Guilty Gear is difficult but I find it easy for me.
Going on what would you say is the most challenging game you have ever played?

Ian Lutz: I wouldn't say I've play too many challenging games.
Maybe Demon's Souls?
There was time where I got really into Zelda II and
I remember it being rather challenging but super rewarding when you finally defeated a boss.

Me: Ok. Any other hobbies besides games?

Ian Lutz: Gaming is the big one mainly because there are so many facets to it.
Occasionally though I will take a break and do some reading or watch some anime series.

Me: Which anime are you currently watching?

Ian Lutz: Currently I'm watching Jojo's Bizarre Adventure and I'm really enjoying it.

Me: Stardust crusaders season 2?
Or did you start from the beginning?

Ian Lutz: I started from the Phantom Blood so the beginning.

Me: Very good.
So outside of jojos any others?

Ian Lutz: Jojo's is the only series at the moment, but I've been meaning go back and finish watching Patlabor.

Me: Never really gave that one a look.
So I need to address the elephant in the room.
Has anyone ever told you that you resemble Hurley from Lost?

Ian Lutz: lol, I suppose that's a fair comparison.
I'm admittedly a big guy with long curly hair and a beard so it fits.
Though I tend to keep my hair tied up in a ponytail.

Me: He did too sometimes. Lol outside of that, your sister is part of the ecpl as well.
Is she older or younger?

Ian Lutz: younger

Me: Well that has to suck sometimes. She is quite attractive.
Lol moving on, so how did you get involved in the ecpl?

Ian Lutz: I joined up with the ECPL after the first MAGfest pokemon league.
I believe Adam was the one that mentioned it to me since it wasn't on the team sheet and I'm really happy I did.
It's easily my favorite pokemon related community, no offense to the friends I've meet playing VGC.

Me: I don't think they'll be offended.
As you see here we're all about fun.
So, what are your thoughts on smogon?

Ian Lutz: I honestly don’t think much of it. I started playing competitive pokemon in Gen VI and have found Smogon to be
quite avoidable so I don’t really dwell on it. I also really don’t have any interest in the singles format since I feel it limits the
defending player way too much.
That being said, I do agree with some critics that they need to take another look at their clauses,
particularly sleep clause since I feel the changes to spoore mechanics in Gen VI make that clause a little outdated.

Me: I agree as well. So when your playing games, what do you usually snack on or drink?

Ian Lutz: I usually only drink water, coffee, or tea.
Popcorn is usually my gaming snack of choice.

Me: Interesting. So, as of late, there's been two colossal dickheads who have risen the ranks of top dickheads in fiction.
The first is The Governor from The Walking Dead. The second is Geoffrey from Game of Thrones.
Do you feel Geoffrey's death was too easy?
And if so, how would you have done him in?

Ian Lutz: I haven't watched Game of Thrones so I guess I'm just going to assume his death was satisfactory.

Me: Hmmmm, not in my opinion. I mean yeah they stuck to the books, but i think they could've leaned away from just this one thing.
Lol so what do you do for a living?

Ian Lutz: right now I'm unemployed

Me: Well that most definitely sucks.
Who in the ecpl would you consider a rival?

Ian Lutz: That's hard to say I've probably played the most practice games against Michael Lee,
but I've also had some pretty fierce games against other ECPL members like Felix Jimenez and Brett our fire gym leader.
Those matches against Brett got pretty comical at times. I recall one set we had where my Hercross managed to miss both his Talonflame and
his Charizard with Rock Slide two games in a row.

Me: Smh rock slide. A bitch when it misses and a blessing when it hits.
Over the past couple of years, with the Arrival of Netflix and Hulu, the gaming community has evolved to
those who no longer use gaming consoles for only gaming but also for multimedia.
What do you mainly use your Xbox One for?

Ian Lutz: Honestly games same with the PS3 before it.
That being said it's nice they have those multimedia features if just for the convenience.

Me: Do you ever binge watch anything?

Ian Lutz: Usually if I watch a series I'll binge watch if it's an option.
I did that for the Phantom Blood and Battle Tendency Arc of Jojo's Bizarre adventure,
but now that I'll all caught up I'm stuck waiting for new episodes like everyone else, lol.

Me: Same here.
So any favorite fighting games?

Ian Lutz: Probably Skullgirls. I just really like the mechanics, it's universe,
and all the little references to other fighting games scattered throughout it.
I also just really enjoy the Versus series and it was one of the reasons I became of fan of the genre in the first place.
I also really got into Jojo's Bizarre Adventure All-Star Battle despite some of it's flaws.
Stand Rushes and Pattsun cancels had a neat little twist for combos.
Even if for some of the cast the most basic/boring combos were usually the most damaging.
I'm also just not a fan auto-combos in fighting games and unfortunately Jojo's had that.

Me: Your thoughts on the MKX DLC Fighters?

Ian Lutz: I'm excited for them.
I really like seeing new DLC character for fighting games as I think it helps keep the game fresh.

Me: If you could pick a guest DLC fighter for the new Mortal Kombat, who would it be and why?

Ian Lutz: That's a tough one, but I think a character like
Kenshiro from Fist of the North Star could make a good guest character.
It'd be pretty cool to see Netherrealm to recreate some of his killing blows from that series as fatalities.

Me: Dude, excellent choice!
So do you have any collectible action figures?

Ian Lutz: Not really, I had some transformers figures as a kid but they all got soot damage in a house fire.
That experience kind of killed my enthusiasm for ever collecting figures.
That being said I do own a couple of small pokemon pluses that I keep on my desk.

Me: I have a few as well, mainly for my son. If I could find a plush Blastoise I'd probably cop it for myself.
So on a daily basis how often or long do you pkay Pokemon?

Ian: It fluctuates. Sometimes if I'm in a rush to build a new team I'll spend a few hours a day breeding it
and then weeks testing it on battle spot.
Other times, usually when the closest tournament is a few months off, I'll set it down and play other games.

Me: Hmmm interesting. Into any sports?

Ian Lutz: not really

Me: Well that's ok. Last two questions.
Seeing as you play mortal kombat, if you could have a Pokemon perform a fatality,
which one would it be and who would the fatality be done to?

Ian Lutz: I think it'd be cool to see a Machamp rip a Talonflame limb from limb Goro style.
Not that I hold any animosity towards that pokemon though

Me: Hmmmm I wonder of that's truly what happened to Brett Downes Talonflame?
Last question, if you could use any legendary for competitive play, what would it be and why?

Ian: I've actually used a couple of legendaries on VGC teams.
Suicune was one I like using because of it's bulk and solid move pool.
I also used Cresslia on a Trick Room team because it's a fantastic TR setter.

Me: Very good. Well thank you Ian you've been a lovely guest.
One more question, Kirk or Picard?

Ian Lutz: No problem this was fun.
As for that last question I'll go with Picard, my mother is a big Next Generation fan.

Me: Good man