Manager Spotlight: Flat Out

The spotlight this month shines on Scandinavias most succesfull manager ever. He's been ranked number one for as long as I've been playing this game, and there are no signs that his talent would fade. He will stay up there untill he decides otherwise, because we can't touch him.

The november Spotlight shines on Flat Out

Who is the man behind Flat Out?

I'm 23 years old student from Helsinki. I'm currently studying business in University College Dublin and hopefully graduating within 2 years.

What got you in to the game?

I played little bit EKO few years ago and quit it for some reason, probably because I was very bad at it. Then June last year I was trying to find the site again, but found this one instead. My first fight was at week 28 with Tony White, I won by 1st round ko, but didn't get any success with him later on.

Why do you love it?

First of all the game is very challenging, it requires some amount of mathemathical skills and logical thinking, and there is that psychological aspect too, you need to know what your opponent is thinking. There is also the social aspect of the game, I find the WeBL community in general very nice.

Has your gym changed over time, or did you find your style right away?

When I started I didn't understand anything about the game, just randomly put in the stats and selected one of the basic plans. In few weeks I noticed that low str guys using fancy footwork were the most successful ones and started to make tons of slappers. I made my first easy fp after about 2 months of playing and started to do a little better.

Have you allways played with the same gym, or have you changed gym completely to start over at any time?

Yes. This is my first and only gym, I see no point in restarting.

Your gym name, Flat Out, does it mean anything?

There's an inside joke behind my gym name. Me and Gazza are both living here in Dublin and we were watching F1 racing and laughed at Mika Hakkinen trying to explain his performance in last race. Gazza made fighter called FlatOut and shortly after that I changed my gym name to Flat Out (my gym was previously called King's). Flat Out basically means full throttle.

Did you read all the rules before your first fight?

Hehe, I played about 3 months before even looking at the rules. After my guys started to hit contenders and I was totally wasted there I started to think more about why they were destroyed by stronger opponents and started to write advanced plans shortly after that. Nowadays I know the rules pretty well, the
scoring formula is only one I can't calculate and that is where simulators come into play.

How many fighters do you have active at the moment?

At the moment I have 34 active fighters, which is little bit more than normally. Usually I have about 25-30 active fighters which has remained pretty much the same the whole time I've been playing. If wanted to be really successful in the game I should downsize and concentrate more in each fight, but I find the game more fun this way.

How much time do you spend per fight?

Usually I sped about 3 min per fight both in contenders and regionals. If my fighter is special for me or the fight is very important I might spend up to
2 hours trying to figure out a way to win. I know all the top managers and their styles pretty well, so normally I just choose fp from a list.

How many hours a week do spend on writing new fightplans?

I don't write new fps that much anymore. Usually I write about 2 fps each week and it takes only about 10 minutes. But as I said, if there is a fight I'm really interested in it may take a lot longer.

What other things, except WEBL, are you interested in and what do you do in your spare time?

At the moment studying takes alot of my time, and drinking the rest of it, but when I'm in Finland I like to play golf, hockey, football and all the other
stuff.

Tell us about your first title fights, both in Scandinavia and in Contenders.

My first Scandinavian titlefight was at week 43 with Monkey Williams against Kjell "the smell" from Danielsen. I was 3 aps down at status 6 and won by split decision. At that time I didn't know anything about the game, and had just wrote my first easy fp in about week ago. Luckily my opponent didn't know
anything about the game either and I won. My first wt fight was at week 73 with legendary Peo-61 against Ludwig "Snap Mare" HorseFist from The
Hole. I got Peo at 5(6) when Punch (known Skoaffen Domus back then) threw him out of his gym after I got lucky and beat him. I got beaten badly against Hole who was far more experienced and lost on points 114-116.

You have, at time of writing, 75 regional titles and 15 world titles. Do you remember some more than others or do they all count just as much?

I still remember the excitement of winning my first Scandinavian title. Although I didn't know what to do in the fight, it was very excited to read the fight card. My first wt was very important. I had already lost few wt fights but I finally landed it big time and won the heavy title with Peo -61 at week 75. The
fight itself was very strange, but it went all according to my plans and I beat Reg Dwight who was the considered the future of heavyweights.
I also remember very well my battles with Peo against bang&poff for Scandinavian heavy titles in weeks 56,57 and 58. And of course Danceholics first wt fight against African Monk, since he was my first homegrown wt winner.

You've also won the "Manager of the Month" three times, hoe does that feel?

It's always nice to get recognition for what you do. I just try to play the game as well as I can, and every award that comes with it is a bonus. Scandinavia itself is very strong region, and being voted as manager of the month in strongest region is very nice.

Tell us a little about your World Champions.

Peo -61 is low str heavy slapper with high chin. He really struggled to get out of regionals (6 rt fights) but his career really got going on in contenders. He
is still active with 3 world titles, currently ranked at 3rd and been in top 10 for 33 consecutive weeks. He is currently 3rd in all time earners.
Danceholic was my first homegrown worldchampion, and is medium str dancer. He had a pretty good career in scandinavia (14-1-1) but struggled a little bit in
contenders. Eventually he got going and went to win 8 world titles.

Joe Badass was one of my earliest creations. He is very tall low str dancer. He also had pretty good scandinavian record (14-1-0) but struggled a lot in
contenders. I just kept him active and eventually he reached the top. He got his first wt fight at week 86, won it, but it was judged a draw. After some more
struggling he finally won his first title at week 96, and week after that his second title against David Ellis from Anfield Road. Sebastian Smart is actually very similar to Peo -61, he is 4 inches shorter, those aps being in agl and
spd. He struggled in regionals (20-5-1), struggled some more in contenders, but finally won the title in week 100 becoming first ever 30 rating fighter.

Do you care about avery fight you have or are some fighters just set-n-go?

Most of my fights are just set-n-go, if I happen to care about given fight I put in the effort.

For us newbies, what is the the biggest diffrances from regional levels to fighting in Contenders?

In regionals you can get away using same fp every week, in contenders usually not. Same with str, if you don't pose any threat to your opponent you will have to pay for it in contenders. Ip management is also one issue which comes into play in contenders. Usually you can't lose an ap in regionals, but in contenders you pile up ips at much faster pace, and you need to learn how to protect yourself.

Wich managers do you respect more than others, both on regional level and in contenders?

In Scandinavia I'm yet to beat Umea West Side, so lots of respect there. Apart from him the gyms I fear most are Punch and Foxxx. Generally I have lots of respect to all old-timers such as PityPart, Anfield, Gazza, LM, Slaughterhouse,LGD and even Hasan =).

In contenders I have most respect to gyms like The
Prodigal, Simon, Whiskycrow, Peekaboo and Jock's.

Are there any new strong up'n'commers that you feel will become a force to be reconed with?

At the moment there is new batch of Scandinavian quality gyms. I expect big impact from all the Aggerud gyms, Vinterviken and Vecna who have all learnt the game very quickly and are causing me headache on weekly basis.

What do you think your mark on the game has been so far?

I think I've had my part uniting Scandinavian region after the split from Europe in week 42. After the split there were long time the feeling that no Scandinavian gym can be successful and that we are just about the worst region in the game. I was one of the first ones to say that there is lots of talent in Scandinavia and that we are going to be very strong in few months. I hope that my limited success has had some part in silencing these voices.

Do you have any thoughts about how the game should evolve in the future?

I like the current game engine very much. One thing I do hate is kp, but I doubt there is much of a chance to get rid of it. I would also like to see new Ip rules, inceasing number of Ips to shorten fighters careers and tackling rating inflation.

If you ever were to retire for good how would you like to be rememberd?

I'd like to be remembered as a nice guy who is willing to help other people if they have some problems. It would be great if someone thinks that I was pretty
good at the game too.

Do you ever think you will quit playing or are you in this till the end?

I believe I keep playing as long as I have the time required, but if I ever become below 50% punching bag, I quit.

Any good advice for newbies?

Read the rules. If you can't understand them ask someone in the forums or in the chat. People are generally friendly and willing to help. But please don't start asking for fighters or fp's, you learn way more by experimenting yourself. Also try to learn how to write advanced fps as soon as possible, otherwise you are going to be just another punching bag in the contenders.

Final words.

I would like to thank all you people for making the game what it is, and special thanks for PityPart for running SoS.