Captain Interviews - ridiculoushat

Today, Diamond sits down with the man, the myth, the hat - ridiculoushat.

-Hello THL,
Today I have a highly requested guest, he is the host of Coin Concede and ViciousHS podcast and more widely known as the commissioner of THL and the captain of the Pod People, it is RidiculousHat.

Diamond: How did you find out about THL?

RidiculousHat: GernBlanston went on an episode of 1600 Dust to talk about his experience playing in THL. The hosts were smitten, as was I (as a listener) and we formed a team in season 4, starting in September 2016. The rest is history. 

Diamond: How would you describe your captaining style and what advice do you have for new captains?

RidiculousHat: I'm pretty chill overall with captaining - people need to play enough hearthstone that they have a vague idea of what's going on, find decks they're comfortable with, post their replays, and make sure they're enjoying themselves in the context of THL. There are probably ways to make the team more competitive, but all of us on Pod People have pressure on our own time and I really trust the players to get their reps in when they can and ask for help if something comes up.

Diamond: What is the story behind the Pod People’s name and various logos over the seasons?

RidiculousHat: At first we were Team 1600 Dust, but most of the original team members had some stuff come up during our second season and rotated out. After the second season, we had 5 different members on 4 different podcasts - and Zerotio's wife asked him "Are you playing with those pod people again?" to refer to all the podcasters. We couldn't resist the name!

Diamond: What is it like playing with the same people each season?

RidiculousHat: It's awesome. I never have to worry about people being unaware of deadlines or procedures, everyone knows what's expected of them, everyone understands the time commitment required, and we all have a good vibe. Strongly recommend. It makes THL more fun.

Diamond: Who do you think your biggest competition is this season?

RidiculousHat: My calendar. 

Diamond: What are your expectations of your team for the remainder of the season?

RidiculousHat: Play Hearthstone! I don't like setting hard expectations for the team outside of making sure everyone is having a good time and has an idea of what 4 decks they're comfortable with.

Diamond: What does an average week for you look like?

RidiculousHat: What's an average week in 2020 exactly? On Mon-Thu I have work during the day. Most nights I do coachings for my podcast Coin Concede. Wednesday is THL Prep. Thursday is Coin Concede. Friday morning is the Vicious Syndicate podcast, some work from home during the day, and audio editing. THL matches are on the weekends as well as more audio editing through Saturday as well as other coachings that I want to get to. All of this is also supplemented by a lot of twitter/discord involvement, a lot of Hearthstone (usually 300ish games a month all together), and right now a lot of Hades. I also hang out with my wife on occasion and theoretically go to sleep sometimes.

Diamond: What is it like being the commissioner of THL?

RidiculousHat: It's great and having been involved with THL for a long time, this is the most self-sufficient incarnation of THL we've had. The board is highly functional despite being quite compact, the environment is largely self-policing, and people recognize what's important about THL - the social interactions and maintaining positivity with each other while scratching the itch of tournament-style play. We've had a big influx of high-quality players over the last 6 months or so and I don't know if the skill density has ever been as high as it is now (shout outs to Hero series) and we literally have a Grandmaster playing in Wild series!! It's been awesome to see the growth of the organization and I can't wait to see what's next.


Thank you Rhat for taking the time out of your busy schedule for this interview. The next interview will be with a mystery guest from the Pro Series.
-Diamond