For those who do not know who Bopper is, he's one of the currently successful US VGC player, having many achievements in his competitive resume!
= Cypher 
= Bopper Introduce yourself!
My name is Blake Hopper AKA Bopper. I'm a sophomore at Texas Tech University and studying mechanical engineering!
On a scale on one to ten, how hot is the Boiler Room? One being absolute zero and ten being the hotter than the sun.
I would say about a 5. We have to be sure the water is at a safe and reasonable temperature.
Anyways, how did the Boiler Room group get started?
It started with the group of Benji, Oliver and me. We hung out a lot and vibed well together so we decided to make a dedicated group. We then added Toler and Bearsfan and sort of built on from there!
So, your placing as of ~1 year ago includes 11th at Worlds 2014, 4th at US Nats 2015, 15th at Worlds 2015, and as of lately, 1st at Houston Regionals 2015, alongside being 6-1 in NPA 4 (as of 10/4/15). How do you feel about your current success? How hard did you work to get where you are now?
It honestly feels amazing to finally be getting some achievements after years of hard work. I constantly practice and try to stay current with the meta. Feels like I've worked extremely hard to get to where I am now. So being able to add all of those accomplishments to my competitive resume feels great.
Since you have played in the previous two Worlds, including LCQ 2014, how does international competition compare to the US competition?
The biggest thing I've noticed is the differing metagame from each country. You see things like sash Gengar coming from Germany, Mega Venusaur from a few in Mexico, some wacky stuff from Canada at times, and the US being a weird melting pot of different metagames. It's always so cool to see the many different ways people from different countries approach the game and seeing their different styles.
How did you get into Pokemon and VGC?
I've been playing the games for as long as I can remember. I used to play a lot with my great friend which many people know, Benji. We played for a while and I went to the Pokemon website around 2011 and saw that there was a regional near Dallas. Ben and I decided to go, and there we met Oliver Valenti (Smith), who sort of introduced us to the community.
What was the fondest memory of your Pokemon career?
Making it through LCQ of course. It was my first Worlds to qualify for, and it was such an amazing moment. That, as well as the weekend in general, was a blast. Being able to experience Worlds for the first time and hang out with my friends made for a great time.
How has being in college affect you? How do you manage your time between your studies, Pokemon, and your hobbies?
College and Pokemon have been pretty tough to manage. I've learned to manage my time better and prioritize school over Pokemon. The main thing I started doing was just making sure I do any assignments I had to do before I did anything for Pokemon, and also being sure I take care of myself by working out.
What let to your decision to study mechanical engineering?
I wasn't 100% sure on what I want to do for a future career and I knew I really enjoyed physics and designing things. So I felt like mechanical engineering would be a good major for me and so far I'm digging it!
Have you done any cool projects for it yet?
I have actually. The final for my engineering design class that I took last semester consisted of me using a 3D designing program to recreate all the moving parts of a drill. We had to measure all the parts and make the drill move in the project. It was a really fun project, and I really enjoyed it.
What do you plan to pursuit in the future?
Some sort of a job that can support me would be what I'll be focusing on right out of school. I'm still not sure what kind of a job sounds best for me. I need to do some more research into tha.
Outside of Pokemon, what do you do for fun?
I love playing Super Smash Bros 4 and just generally doing random stuff with my roommates and friends. Not much else besides school and Pokemon, which takes up a lot of time.
How competitive are you in Smash 4?
I try to be as competitive as possible, but I'm just simply not good. My reaction time just isn't good enough.
What is your opinion on your new nickname, "Texas's Viera"?
I find it funny, but inaccurate. It's a cute joke though. I always get a good laugh from it haha.
Anything you want to say to the readers?
Thanks for listening to me ramble haha. I know playing this game seems daunting but if you put in the time and effort, you'll see results!
Ayyy! I really have to thank Blake for this interview! Especially since it was on a short notice, but he responded in a quick fashion so I was able to get this out! I hope you guys enjoyed this week's article as well. If you liked this, please tweet/retweet/favorite it so others can enjoy it as well!
If you have any criticisms, please post in the following thread: http://nuggetbridge.com/forums/topic/19772-cyphers-deciphers-interviewing-the-vgc-community/
Fahk yew Texas Viera
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