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Based on other Player of the Week threads
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Arifeen
Hi guys! Welcome to the fifth player of the week, this week we have Arifeen; a room driver in the RU PS! room, a well known contributor in the RU forums, and player in RUPL. Arifeen contains knowledge and interest in the tier and is a very renowned player, let's hop into the interview!
How did you start playing competitively and when was your first RU battle?
I played OU back in like late 2013 when I was introduced to PS! I drifted to Monotype after that and stayed there for around a year. I first played RU when RU was suspecting Pangoro and Moltres, and I started to like the tier.
How did you choose the name Arifeen?
It's my irl name lol I wasn't that creative and stuck to it
What is your currently your favourite play style in RU and what do you think is the best play style right now?
My favorite playstyle is bulky offense, especially using some hard hitting Pokemon backed by a Pokemon that can absorb hits. This can be seen on a number of teams having Sawk / Medicham / Venusaur backed by Registeel / Mega Steelix. The best playstyle is no doubt balance. Alomomola + Mega Steelix / Registeel + Weezing walls like 90% of the tier anyways.
What is your opinion on the Mega Steelix and Tyrantrum suspect recently announced?
About time. I've been vouching for suspecting both of them, because Mega Steelix is centralising, its checks are all worn down / has no reliable recovery and it seriously makes the tier not fun. You know it's not okay when you see like 30% usage of Lix on ladder and SPL, and unlike Flygon it literally has one set lol. Tyrantrum is a nightmare for offense and Choice Band set is just insane lol
How does your experience differ in the RU Ladder and Tournament battles?
RU Ladder is just straight up painful. You gotta prep for stuff like Jolteon, Exploud, and Clawitzer. Not saying they are bad (they obviously aren't), but they are still dangerous on ladder. So I usually just build or usesome balance or stall team on ladder to get easy points. Tournament battles I tend to run creative stuff because my thought process focuses on a certain Pokemon and running lures to that Pokemon's checks. I'm building a lot of teams for my RUPL team, and I'm quite satisfied to be building teams of almost every playstyles.
As for playing, I just make obvious plays in ladder without thinking usually, unless it's high ladder. As for tours, I try to make safe plays and sometimes weigh the risk vs reward balance to check if it's worth making a risky play. Sometimes they work and others they don't.
What RU players do you look up to the most, any players that you feel are new and upcoming?
One of the first RU players who I look up to and still respect a lot is Scythe. He's a fantastic builder, great player, and one of my closest friends on this site. He has been the guy who helped me get introduced to RU, helped me in builds when I was still new to the tier, and he also helped me get invigorated into the forums. Another great player I look up to is Kushalos, who also makes very creative, yet amazing teams and is usually my sparring partner for tests. Good new players I'd have to say Laurens (Solidsweeps), is also pretty good and his builds are very interesting.
How has your experience been so far in RUPL?
It has been great so far, I feel like I got to know the team even more, having better friendship with DTC , Lord Death Man, TonyFlygon, Zamrock, and EonX. The chat is very active and helpful, and the team is good as well. I had a solid start in the first 2 weeks but I choked 3rd week and game 4 was bad luck. Hopefully I'll bounce back from the losing streak and get us some wins. We have a good chance of making to playoffs so let's hope we get there and win.
What are some underrated pokemon that you really like using?
I feel like Gurdurr is pretty underrated in RU atm. It can really soft check a lot of threats such as Vizion and Flygon and is a great setup sweeper overall. It also beats Fletchinder 1v1 if it has a +1 boost :o
Any advice for new players getting into RU?
Try to lurk and see what more esteemed users post. Don't hesitate to discuss things on RU room on PS!, but make sure you bring up quality discussions on the forums, as they describe your characteristics.
Finally is there a team you can post with your interview and give a brief explanation of how it works?
Here's a pretty dogshit team that relies on Baton Pass to secure win. Delphox is the wincon, Registeel, Flygon, and Spiritomb are there to check things while the latter two provide sort of offensive pressure. Togetic passes Nasty Plot boosts to Sigilyph and Delphox. Flash Cannon Sigilyph is nice because it deals with Diancie, giving one less check for Delphox.
Thanks again to Arifeen for taking the time to this interview, ask him any questions you have below, also leave recommendations for future users for POTW!
Based on other Player of the Week threads
banner by Lax
Arifeen
Hi guys! Welcome to the fifth player of the week, this week we have Arifeen; a room driver in the RU PS! room, a well known contributor in the RU forums, and player in RUPL. Arifeen contains knowledge and interest in the tier and is a very renowned player, let's hop into the interview!
I played OU back in like late 2013 when I was introduced to PS! I drifted to Monotype after that and stayed there for around a year. I first played RU when RU was suspecting Pangoro and Moltres, and I started to like the tier.
How did you choose the name Arifeen?
It's my irl name lol I wasn't that creative and stuck to it
What is your currently your favourite play style in RU and what do you think is the best play style right now?
My favorite playstyle is bulky offense, especially using some hard hitting Pokemon backed by a Pokemon that can absorb hits. This can be seen on a number of teams having Sawk / Medicham / Venusaur backed by Registeel / Mega Steelix. The best playstyle is no doubt balance. Alomomola + Mega Steelix / Registeel + Weezing walls like 90% of the tier anyways.
What is your opinion on the Mega Steelix and Tyrantrum suspect recently announced?
About time. I've been vouching for suspecting both of them, because Mega Steelix is centralising, its checks are all worn down / has no reliable recovery and it seriously makes the tier not fun. You know it's not okay when you see like 30% usage of Lix on ladder and SPL, and unlike Flygon it literally has one set lol. Tyrantrum is a nightmare for offense and Choice Band set is just insane lol
How does your experience differ in the RU Ladder and Tournament battles?
RU Ladder is just straight up painful. You gotta prep for stuff like Jolteon, Exploud, and Clawitzer. Not saying they are bad (they obviously aren't), but they are still dangerous on ladder. So I usually just build or usesome balance or stall team on ladder to get easy points. Tournament battles I tend to run creative stuff because my thought process focuses on a certain Pokemon and running lures to that Pokemon's checks. I'm building a lot of teams for my RUPL team, and I'm quite satisfied to be building teams of almost every playstyles.
As for playing, I just make obvious plays in ladder without thinking usually, unless it's high ladder. As for tours, I try to make safe plays and sometimes weigh the risk vs reward balance to check if it's worth making a risky play. Sometimes they work and others they don't.
What RU players do you look up to the most, any players that you feel are new and upcoming?
One of the first RU players who I look up to and still respect a lot is Scythe. He's a fantastic builder, great player, and one of my closest friends on this site. He has been the guy who helped me get introduced to RU, helped me in builds when I was still new to the tier, and he also helped me get invigorated into the forums. Another great player I look up to is Kushalos, who also makes very creative, yet amazing teams and is usually my sparring partner for tests. Good new players I'd have to say Laurens (Solidsweeps), is also pretty good and his builds are very interesting.
How has your experience been so far in RUPL?
It has been great so far, I feel like I got to know the team even more, having better friendship with DTC , Lord Death Man, TonyFlygon, Zamrock, and EonX. The chat is very active and helpful, and the team is good as well. I had a solid start in the first 2 weeks but I choked 3rd week and game 4 was bad luck. Hopefully I'll bounce back from the losing streak and get us some wins. We have a good chance of making to playoffs so let's hope we get there and win.
What are some underrated pokemon that you really like using?
I feel like Gurdurr is pretty underrated in RU atm. It can really soft check a lot of threats such as Vizion and Flygon and is a great setup sweeper overall. It also beats Fletchinder 1v1 if it has a +1 boost :o
Any advice for new players getting into RU?
Try to lurk and see what more esteemed users post. Don't hesitate to discuss things on RU room on PS!, but make sure you bring up quality discussions on the forums, as they describe your characteristics.
Finally is there a team you can post with your interview and give a brief explanation of how it works?
Togetic @ Eviolite
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Roost
- Fire Blast
Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 188 HP / 68 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Defog
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Spiritomb @ Dread Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pursuit
- Foul Play
- Sucker Punch
Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Flash Cannon
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Ability: Super Luck
EVs: 252 HP / 196 Def / 60 Spe
Bold Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Baton Pass
- Roost
- Fire Blast
Delphox @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Fire Blast
- Psychic
- Dazzling Gleam
- Flamethrower
Flygon @ Leftovers
Ability: Levitate
EVs: 188 HP / 68 Atk / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Roost
- Earthquake
- Dragon Claw
- Defog
Registeel @ Leftovers
Ability: Clear Body
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 16 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Stealth Rock
- Toxic
- Protect
- Seismic Toss
Spiritomb @ Dread Plate
Ability: Infiltrator
EVs: 184 HP / 252 Atk / 72 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Will-O-Wisp
- Pursuit
- Foul Play
- Sucker Punch
Sigilyph @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Flash Cannon
- Heat Wave
- Roost
Here's a pretty dogshit team that relies on Baton Pass to secure win. Delphox is the wincon, Registeel, Flygon, and Spiritomb are there to check things while the latter two provide sort of offensive pressure. Togetic passes Nasty Plot boosts to Sigilyph and Delphox. Flash Cannon Sigilyph is nice because it deals with Diancie, giving one less check for Delphox.
Thanks again to Arifeen for taking the time to this interview, ask him any questions you have below, also leave recommendations for future users for POTW!
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