Mono Player of the Week #6: Arifeen

[lax]

approved by scpinion
based off of other potws

Hello everyone and welcome to the sixth installment of Monotype's Player of the Week!

(credits to Acast for banner (:)​

This week, I have a Monotype room voice and all around great player; Arifeen! Like every other forum that does this, this'll be a weekly thing where I interview well known players to try and see into their mind a bit. If anyone has any suggestions on who I should interview, feel free to shoot me a PM. Anyways, lets get to it!

Arifeen
​

To start things off, what is your favorite Pokemon?
My favorite Pokemon is Landorus, mainly because of its sheer power and coverage it can bring. I also love Landorus-Therian, which is one of the best Pokemon in OU, and can play a great deal of roles in Monotype. I tried using Defensive, Scarf, Rock Polish, Double Dance, Band, and even AV rofl.

How did you come up with your username?
It's my irl name lmao, I tried getting the name Slim but it was registered, so I figured having a unique name would be nice.

How did you get into Monotype?
Well, I live in a small country called Bangladesh and we have a Facebook group of Pokemon players. Most of us used to play PO but I moved to PS because everything looked nice (I think it's cuz the 3D sprites). I laddered in OU til like 1600s and then saw a Monotype tour in the Facebook group. I decided to join and reached semis. I then played the tier for a while and lurked in Monotype room. One day I see based user Nani Man start a tour and call it the first ever OT. I joined and somehow won the tour, beating Barida in finals. From then I got into love with the tier.

What Pokemon do you use the most?
Hmm, I didn't really notice, but it should be the Skarmory + Zapdos core, I use that on almost all my teams, as they're very solid at taking hits from a multitude of attackers and special attackers.

What are you most known for?
I was the guy that spammed generic Flying on the ladder to a great extent, and became regarded as the best Flying-type user. I was also known for playing other tiers, such as UU and RU alongside Monotype.

Favorite Type?
Honestly, I think everyone knows it'll be Flying, but I don't really like Flying that much. My favorite type is actually Water, because there's a lot more options for it than Flying and the lack of big weakness intrigues me.

Favorite Playstyle?
I really think I grew as a player, back like 1.5 years ago, when I used to play only Monotype (and was decent in it), I used to love balance playstyles, as in most of my games I played with Flying. Now, I feel I have grown out of that playstyle, after playing tiers like UU, OU, and RU, my favorite playstyle is definitely offense, as I can put a lot of pressure on the opponent via double switching and making risky, but reasonable plays.

What players do you look up to or are really good friends with?
Look up to? I look up to a very few Monotype players tbh. The ones I do look up to are definitely scpinion, Sae Sae, Wyn, Lax, all falls down, and Annz. scpinion because he's actually doing a good job running the tier (yes he is), Sae because ever since I started playing, he intimidated me the most out of every player. Wyn is extremely talented and I really think he should expand on his tiers, like Lax and all falls down. Annz because he was the only ladder guy I didn't wanna face. Good friends on this site are Irraquated, Lax, Chakra, CT Staff, TRU, SUU, RMT Staff, and /cpg/.

If there was anything you could change about Monotype, what would it be?
The community towards Smogon really, I love how some Monotype players started rating in the RMT forums and it'd be better if more people take part in it. (for those interested in rating, please go here :))

Any advice for new Monotype players?
Don't get too ahead of yourself, lurk more if you need to, and don't hesitate asking for help, there's a lot of resources and people to guide you for going in depth with Monotype. Don't just blatantly post an RMT on the forums as well, make sure the team is decent, and you have played some games with it. Try the tutor program (If that thing still exists), that really helps you to shape up into a better player

What are your thoughts on the current metagame?
To be honest, I don't really mind anything, I like to make some creative sets, especially how generic this tier gets. The only thing I'd like to say is try to think outside the box.

How do you feel about this year's Monotype Premier League?
It's better this year, more people, more teams, we can see how the OMs are, both pros and cons, it has been a fun tour so far (unless someone pulls a CrazyClown94).

Finally, could you post a team with your favorite type and playstyle with a brief explanation on how it works?

Balanced Flying

Skarmory @ Rocky Helmet
Ability: Sturdy
EVs: 248 HP / 236 Def / 24 Spe
Impish Nature
- Brave Bird
- Roost
- Whirlwind
- Defog

Tornadus-Therian @ Life Orb
Ability: Regenerator
EVs: 96 Atk / 160 SpA / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Hurricane
- Grass Knot
- Knock Off
- Iron Tail

Gliscor @ Toxic Orb
Ability: Poison Heal
EVs: 248 HP / 204 SpD / 56 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Swords Dance
- Roost
- Knock Off
- Earthquake

Gyarados @ Gyaradosite
Ability: Intimidate
EVs: 248 HP / 92 Def / 64 SpD / 104 Spe
Careful Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Rest
- Sleep Talk
- Crunch

Landorus @ Life Orb
Ability: Sheer Force
EVs: 4 Atk / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Focus Blast
- Hidden Power [Ice]
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide

Zapdos @ Leftovers
Ability: Pressure
EVs: 248 HP / 212 SpD / 48 Spe
Calm Nature
- Discharge
- Toxic
- Defog
- Roost

Here's the team I used versus Ridley. in MPL Semis, the gem of the team is definitely Tornadus, as it can plow through Water and Ground teams with GK. I added Iron Tail because Mega Diancie is a pain to face. I also added HP Ice on Landorus in order to beat Gliscor which is problematic since I'm Crunch DD RestTalk Mega Gyarados. Gliscor Speed EVs creeps Bisharp and Breloom, so try to use that to your advantage.


Well, that's all for now guys! Thanks again Arifeen and the thread is now open so you can ask your own questions! :)

 

[Fírnen]

-Do you think your brother ( Eniigma) is better than you or not? When one of you beat the other, do you roast him as brothers relationship?
-What do you think about people who play cancer?
- If you didn't have choice and you had to unban one thing in Monotype, what would be it?

 

[feen]

-Do you think your brother ( Eniigma) is better than you or not? When one of you beat the other, do you roast him as brothers relationship?
-What do you think about people who play cancer?
- If you didn't have choice and you had to unban one thing in Monotype, what would be it?

• Eniigma is definitely better than me in LC, other tiers, especially Monotype, he has the better matchup because he mains Ground, but it usually goes either way. The only edge he has over me is that he knows exactly how I play, and can counterfeit me easily. Yes we roast a fuckton lmfao.
• What do you mean about cancer here? Stall? If that's the case, I just think how desperate they could be that they're wasting 30 mins of their life on winning one game. Stall in tournaments is understandable, as you need wins, but in ladder, it just screams that you have no life.
• Would have loved to see Zard X being unbanned, as it wasn't even suspect tested. I still think it's not broken, but whatever.

 

[BlackSchwan]

-If you made enough of a point about it to the council do you reckon that they will do something about Zard X?
-Besides that what other aspect of the meta would you change?

 

[feen]

-If you made enough of a point about it to the council do you reckon that they will do something about Zard X?
-Besides that what other aspect of the meta would you change?

• That's not my wish, I could talk to them about it and try to convince them, at the very most.
• I would be suspecting a few Pokemon, preferably a Pokemon from Psychic, due to how dangerous they are in the current metagame. Mew would be my primary target, as it holds the great core together. Would love to see how the type will do without it. Another thing I would do is create a metagame called Monotype LU, where LU stands for lesser used. The thing that differentiates from Mono UU is that the top types are banned, eg Fly, Steel, Water, Psychic, Ground, and we'll see the usefulness of the lesser used types in that meta.

 

[Crestfall]

Including yourself in the rankings give me your top 5 ORAS Mono player list.

Do you agree with type-specific bans or you like how the council currently does it (blanket bans on a specific mon)?

Worst type in ORAS overall?

Hoopa ban yn?

As I asked balto - an MPL question; I know a lot of people have been discussing adding 2 more teams to MPL next year, I'm a firm opponent to this, what do you think?

Manage the Stubborn Slugmas with me next year y/n?

How long has Bangladesh been the capital of India? :^)

 

[feen]

Including yourself in the rankings give me your top 5 ORAS Mono player list.

Do you agree with type-specific bans or you like how the council currently does it (blanket bans on a specific mon)?

Worst type in ORAS overall?

Hoopa ban yn?

As I asked balto - an MPL question; I know a lot of people have been discussing adding 2 more teams to MPL next year, I'm a firm opponent to this, what do you think?

Manage the Stubborn Slugmas with me next year y/n?

How long has Bangladesh been the capital of India? :^)

• Good question lmao. Here's my ranking:
  1. Wyn
  2. Paleo
  3. Ridley
  4. Myself
  5. Lax
• The council way
• Fuck Ice
• Yes ban Hoopa
• Two more teams next year will be really annoying, as there will be more weeks, and unless the community grows (by growing, I definitely mean forum based community), this will be a very bad idea.
• Only if you change the shitty name
• Bad meme

 

[Sae]

Sae because ever since I started playing, he intimidated me the most out of every player.

Ah the classic: man we've had some nice battles, double predicts all over the place. Albeit that aside, I'm kind of surprised you found me the most intimidating.

I would be suspecting a few Pokemon, preferably a Pokemon from Psychic, due to how dangerous they are in the current metagame. Mew would be my primary target, as it holds the great core together. Would love to see how the type will do without it. Another thing I would do is create a metagame called Monotype LU, where LU stands for lesser used. The thing that differentiates from Mono UU is that the top types are banned, eg Fly, Steel, Water, Psychic, Ground, and we'll see the usefulness of the lesser used types in that meta.

So what you're saying is bring back my tier LTM (Lower Tier Monotype). You know the one that died when they established Mono UU. Not sure if you really played it that much, or at all, but it had all the types below Normal in usage to be allowed only. It's actually very balanced, with things like even Mega Sableye not as problematic because you can establish teamslots to deal with it without having to worry as much about other things from the top tier types. scpinion mind at least implementing this into TLM lol.

Now onto my actual questions:

• Which MonoPL team did you prefer to be on? Clefables or Kinglers?
• Best OM Monotype Players? If not that, most underrated Monotype players?
• How bad actually is the user Anttya at Pokemon?

 

[Wanka]

What is better meme, allahu akbar meme or spaghetti meme?

 

[feen]

So what you're saying is bring back my tier LTM (Lower Tier Monotype). You know the one that died when they established Mono UU. Not sure if you really played it that much, or at all, but it had all the types below Normal in usage to be allowed only. It's actually very balanced, with things like even Mega Sableye not as problematic because you can establish teamslots to deal with it without having to worry as much about other things from the top tier types. scpinion mind at least implementing this into TLM lol.

Now onto my actual questions:

• Which MonoPL team did you prefer to be on? Clefables or Kinglers?
• Best OM Monotype Players? If not that, most underrated Monotype players?
• How bad actually is the user Anttya at Pokemon?

Yeah that tier seems more reasonable than Mono UU and more balanced to me. Fuck Dark it seems broken on that type, just ban it lmao

As for the questions you asked,

• Kinglers because I'm more involved with the team and I drafted people like Dak and Knigkt who are very talented. Also because Paleo is a great teammate.
• Not really sure about OMs, but in terms of underrated Monotype players, the award definitely goes to EienSeiryuu , as he's very talented and I can see the kid going a long way.
• Worse than pokemonfansuper.

What is better meme, allahu akbar meme or spaghetti meme?

SpAgHetTiiiiii

 

[Anttya]

> Worse than pokemonfansuper.

I'll accept that since Pfs is the best user in the mono community, it doesn't hurt to be second :)

Ah the classic: man we've had some nice battles, double predicts all over the place. Albeit that aside, I'm kind of surprised you found me the most intimidating.

I thought I told you to stop scaring newbies with your quad switches ?.?

Sigh, 2 bad users

 

[Eien]

Two questions:

It seems some people have a negative view/attitude towards Monotype. What do you think would help the image of the tier and the way people outside (or maybe inside) of Monotype view it?

Any thoughts on attempts to move Monotype towards being "more official", or approved of by Smogon?
-If you approve, what do you think should be done towards that goal that isn't being looked at?
-If you disapprove, do you have anything fundamental to the tier you'd want to change that we couldn't if we were "more official"?

 

[feen]

Two questions:

It seems some people have a negative view/attitude towards Monotype. What do you think would help the image of the tier and the way people outside (or maybe inside) of Monotype view it?

Any thoughts on attempts to move Monotype towards being "more official", or approved of by Smogon?
-If you approve, what do you think should be done towards that goal that isn't being looked at?
-If you disapprove, do you have anything fundamental to the tier you'd want to change that we couldn't if we were "more official"?

• The community really, rather than living on roasting people, we should give them a chance to be more open minded towards the meta. A classic example is how most people treat Megazard. Yes, sometimes he posts silly stuff, but that doesn't mean he's a good contributor and we should be more welcome to him. Shouts BlackJak for saying "doesn't most Monotype people hate you in general". Classic
• I definitely approve, only if the meta stops being centralising. No, I'm not talking about types, I'm talking about playstyles. I believe people should stop using generic shit and be more creative, who knows, you could find a hidden gem somewhere. Props to core ladder challenges, but most accomplished players don't do it. A smart way to overcome that would be doing a forum based tour of lower tier types (I'll be doing one soon, so hype! )

 

[rs]

hey you (BAN ME PLEASE), grats on POTW

1. are the diancies winning MPL? and after you say yes, why?
2. what's your favorite type besides flying
3. what's your favorite meme

 

[feen]

hey you (BAN ME PLEASE), grats on POTW

1. are the diancies winning MPL? and after you say yes, why?
2. what's your favorite type besides flying
3. what's your favorite meme

• Because the opposing team woukd think that it would be epic to pull a CC
• Steel
• Check Squad's roomintro