Underused Room/Ladder Player of the Week #5 Yifeng

[YouthBerry]

who do you fuckin hate in smogon
whos the shittiest player uve played

I think this a pretty loaded question but my answer is I don't hate anyone in Smogon. There are people that I don't think are the most intelligent or people that I don't agree with their opinions often but it's far from a feeling of hate. And shittiest player I've faced? Again, another loaded question and the easy answer is to say some low ladder person who doesn't what they are doing. To me though, there is one somewhat regular user on PS that stands out as being pretty darn garbage to me. I won't name them because I don't think it's fair to call someone out like this, but I will say this person uses stall consistently and struggles to get out of low-mid ladder which in theory should be easy to accomplish with stall considering how many ladder players are ill prepared to handle stall builds.

how are you so much better at pokemon than CBU and how much do u neglect work to put the ladder in its place?

Probably my fav question I've received so far haha. As much trouble as I given CBU in matches against him historically, I think he's a much better at Pokémon than me and the accomplishments speak for themselves. Top 4 ULT and top 8 UU championship among other things is pretty impressive. As one of my very best friends in the Pokémon community, I've done lots of laddering with him over skype/discord calls, and it's really interesting to see how thinks the game. He thinks the game at a truly elite level, like there's plays he makes that don't even cross my mind, and he's unafraid to make those aggressive plays that win games. Lots of respect for him and his skills at this game. And don't tell my employer, but there are days I neglect work a fair bit. I still take pride in my work and am a very valuable employee, but I definitely take advantage of slow days and play mons.

What are your thoughts on the abbreviations "nidok" and "nidoq"

As someone who writes a lot for work in proper grammar (shoutout the amazing Grammarly program), the abbreviations aren't for me as I would just type out the full names. Although in the UU room chat, it wouldn't bother me if those abbreviations caught on.

 

[YouthBerry]

How much will you miss Mamoswine for the next month(s)?

I actually will miss Mamoswine a lot over the next month(s) as I think it was a valuable part of the UU tier. I don't think there is another mon that can capable replace all the niches that Mamoswine had...Blocks Volt Switch + Raw Power and amazing offensive typing making it tough to switch into + Can break/pressure stall + Very Good Priority + Rocks. I think it's a big loss for UU.

 

[Jade]

Free Zapdos? y/y
Ban Azu? y/y
Do you think Mega Bro is healthy for the tier?
What do you think of the new suspect system?

 

[Kink]

Current Interview: yeezyknows

​

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
My name's John. I'm a first-year political science student at the University of Connecticut, with the end goal being to graduate in three years and to go to a t14 law school. Outside of mons and studying I like listening to music, watching sports, playing soccer, sleeping for long periods of time, booling with my friends, and being on uconn's travel model UN team.

What made you choose your name?
Big Kanye West fan. When I came back to mons in late 2016 after a 3-4 year break I played on PS with a few alts up until 'yeezy knows99,' and decided to roll with that as my smogon name. I wasn't the biggest fan of the 'knows' suffix for the longest time, but i'm rolling with it for the foreseeable future :D

What inspires you to compete on the ladder and/or in the room?
Momentary satisfaction from getting a win is a comfy feeling, and I've been hardwired to get that little endorphin boost from a ladder win ever since fifth grade, so I doubt it's ever going to go away. I love the strategy behind mons, learning more about the intricacies of playing at a high level is super interesting, and I've found that the better I get, the more I ultimately have to learn about the game and improve.

What brought you to Pokemon Showdown and competitive Pokemon in general?
I started first playing simulator mons in 2009, playing on Shoddy Battle in fifth grade. One of the comfiest memories I have during this time was being super excited in the middle of class to go home and ladder with latias. This was the first RMT I made, comfy times. After Shoddy, I played on a PO server called PBC/PokeBattleCenter, and then moved to laddering on PO from 2011-2012. I was in the [IMP] clan alongside current smogon bigwigs like Dice, Lavos, and Finchinator, and former smogon bigwigs like Marth, Blimlax, Problems, Denis, and Donkey. http://impleague.forumotion.com/t90-the-imperial-league-revamped-rules-and-sign-ups#822 was our old forum gym league, shoutout to me for being the DW OU steel-type gym leader with a crispy 1591 peak. After a 3-4 year hiatus, I came back to mons near the tail end of 2016, playing ORAS UU under a bunch of diff alts, trying to get back into the swing of things. I joined the forums a year or so back, and have had a great time laddering and participating in the forums/uu room.

What are your strengths as a UU battler? What are some areas in which you can improve?
I think I'm a solid player overall, but there's definitely aspects of the game I can improve in. I can make reads when necessary and consider myself to be a good player and a competent builder, but I def err more on the side of enjoying playing more so than I do building. One of the biggest things I've learned is the importance of mentality when playing mons. I'm decently prone to getting tilted over the course of a ladder session, and my ability varies drastically as a result. On my best day I feel like I can take a game from anyone, but on other days my mindset isn't as strong.

Now that you've become a UU ladder expert, what's next for you?
I'm for sure gonna enter UULT, and hopefully I get drafted as a cheap lottery pick in uupl, but I'm not sure as to how likely that is. I'd love to join more tours, and I can't wait to participate in majors/UU open.

What would you say to any Managers out there who are looking to pick up players for UU Premier League?
There are tons of strong UU mains that might not get their due or are relatively unknown in the major tour scene as a whole that should 100% be playing. I feel like UUPL is going to have tons of qualified applicants, and managers should look into the entirety of UU and do their due diligence to scope out some solid diamonds in the rough.

Can you provide a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?
https://pastebin.com/PLMnAFSv

This is a super fun fat balance build that I love to use. It could become outdated in a meta with cm m-bro, but it's solid overall. Crocune and SD Glisc form a super potent offensive core, as it's almost assured that one of them will have a favorable MU in the endgame and will be able to sweep. One of the biggest pitfalls of building balance is that in can fall into this passive, weak, do-nothing state, and I feel like this team circumvents that well. It's bulky while not being passive, checks the metagame incredibly well, and has two capable wincons that threaten most, if not all builds.

As someone who's already achieved a steady pace on the ladder, is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building for the ladder or suspect tests, or even competing in room tournaments as a casual player, etc?
There's no substitute for experience. You can watch as many blunder/pokeaim/competitive tutorials as you want, but the principles mean nothing if you don't know how to apply them to an in-game setting. Identify how you play as a player, learn how you can improve, and get better. One of the douchiest adages I've heard is used "if you're mad, get better," but it really works as a mantra. Learn how you lost, learn why you lost, and learn how to prevent that in future games.

Finally, who are some of your favourite people in the UU Room?
There are tons of cool people I've met over the past year or so, mb if I forget someone. My dudes sage, viv, sei, mengy, snowyop, and everyone in the MSPL room. the big homie feelstoads/draconiclepus. my dude superior91, who i haven't seen in a minute, and my little man faded love.

 

[Jade]

What is your favorite archetype to use?
Do you have a favorite underrated mon to use?
What is your least favorite mon?
DO you want any mon banned?

 

[Sage]

What are you doing to put the Church of Horford in the spotlight?

Why are Blood on the Leaves and Flashing Lights the only two options for best Kanye song?

 

[Pak]

rank every Kanye album

 

[Amane Misa]

You say that you get momentary satisfaction when you win. Does that mean you get frustrated when you lose?

What are your thoughts about Moltres and Curse Mega Aggron?

3 Attacks + Roost Mega Pidgeot or Stallbreaker Mega Pidgeot?

Do you consider yourself a good Stall user?

 

[yeezyknows]

What is your favorite archetype to use?
Do you have a favorite underrated mon to use?
What is your least favorite mon?
DO you want any mon banned?

1. balance/bo
2. subroost kyurem/crocune
3. kommo/haxorus
4. maybe an azu suspect in the future

What are you doing to put the Church of Horford in the spotlight?

Why are Blood on the Leaves and Flashing Lights the only two options for best Kanye song?

1. Expanding our organization worldwide in the coming months, ps was just the beginning
2. neither are even top 5 smfh

rank every Kanye album

1. mbdtf
2. lr
3. college dropout
4. tlop
5. graduation
6. 808s
7. yeezus
8. wtt
all are great there's no objective list

You say that you get momentary satisfaction when you win. Does that mean you get frustrated when you lose?

What are your thoughts about Moltres and Curse Mega Aggron?

3 Attacks + Roost Mega Pidgeot or Stallbreaker Mega Pidgeot?

Do you consider yourself a good Stall user?

1. Depends on mentality/how I lost
2. Moltres is super cool and resttalk curse m-agg is a great mon
3. stallbreaker for sure
4. I hate using stall

 

[yeezyknows]

1. If you had to pick a UUPL team to be on which one?
2. Kanye 2020?
3. On a scale from 1-10?

1. whoever will take me
2. if he runs i'd love to work on the campaign
3. 3

 

[HotFuzzBall]

What would you change about the UU meta?

Are there any UUers (or battlers in general) you look up to?

The most overrated mon in the tier?

Which team are you rooting for UUPL? Any under the radar/underrated UUers you believe should be drafted?

yeezyknows :)

 

[yeezyknows]

What would you change about the UU meta?

Are there any UUers (or battlers in general) you look up to?

The most overrated mon in the tier?

Which team are you rooting for UUPL? Any under the radar/underrated UUers you believe should be drafted?

yeezyknows :)

1. azu suspect, nothing else. i think the meta's great rn

2. i wouldn't say i really 'look up' to anyone in that sense, and while i'm kinda new to watching smogon tournaments, there are tons of guys i've liked seeing play in recent tours. in terms of uu i liked watching dodmen, christo, sacri, mcmeghan, pak, lycans, and basically every uu main play in snake/spl. in terms of other tiers, i liked catching games that meeps, abr, cdumas, or dice were playing.

3. infernape

4. honestly don't know enough about uupl teams, so i can't say for sure. gonna depend on if/where some of my friends are drafted, or maybe if i'm drafted :P. in terms of under the radar guys, i don't think they're 'underrated,' so to say, but if they sign up CBU, bob the bro/yifeng, and finding true love should be drafted for sure

 

[YABO]

Were you shaking like me after Doc Brown's fall vs the TWolves?

 

[yeezyknows]

Were you shaking like me after Doc Brown's fall vs the TWolves?

I wasn't watching the game but my friend put "jaylen brown knocked out" in a gc and I freaked out

 

[vivalospride]

1. Reaction to Hayward injury when it happened?
2. Is your bracket for march madness fucked yet?
3. Thoughts on user: vivalospride?
4. Top 5 hip hop artists in the game rn?
5. Fav track off Big Fish Theory?
6. Worst verse on Monster? and why is it Ross?
7. Is Ye in your top 5 all time y/n?
8. Watch The Throne is last on ur list, Watch The Throne or What A Time To Be Alive?
10. Thoughts on the GOAT core of Mega Brodie + Comfey?

 

[yeezyknows]

1. fuck
2. yes i had zona and mizzou in final four
3. amazing
4. ye, travis, rocky, kenny, vince staples/future
5. samo was kinda lame but the albums underrated as a whole
6. monsters overrated and i dont like nikki minaj so her
7. yes obv
8. i didnt listen to wattba but wtt is still a v solid album
10. no

 

[Tenebricite]

At what time did you find it the most fun to play UU, if any? (what was your favorite stage of the meta to play in)

 

[yeezyknows]

At what time did you find it the most fun to play UU, if any? (what was your favorite stage of the meta to play in)

i came back to mons during oras uu mence meta, pretty fun to return to the game and abuse such an overtly broken mon. gotta say i'm a pretty big fan of uu rn though.

 

[Kink]

Current Interview: Yifeng
​

Can you tell us a bit about yourself?
Hey guys, my name is Yifeng (pronounced yee-fing in case you were wondering) and I turned 24 just not too long ago. I identify as a Kiwi, not the flightless bird or the fruit, but a humble New Zealander. I have a bachelors degree in Mechatronics Engineering from the University of Auckland. Right now I’m working as a Production Estimator at a sheet metal processing facility, I basically draw stuff up on CAD and get them laser cut and do some customer support stuff.

I spend most of my free time drawing these days, recently got given a tablet to draw on, which is a nice change of pace from pen and paper. I also do a lot cycling (trials to be specific) and traditional carpentry. I own a small collection of knives and maintaining them is fun. And I just like doing all kinds of DIY projects around the house.

As some of you may be aware, I’m a Japanese animation connoisseur, I’ve seen almost 500 titles, and that number is growing fast. So if you ever want something good to watch, just hit me up.

My rise to fame in UU came when Calloflochie rolled a dice on who to promote and I got lucky. Random facts about me: I own 5 bikes and I have an irrational fear of cockroaches.


What made you choose your name?
So back in highschool, when I would introduce myself to other kids, a lot of them struggled to pronounce/remember my name. I got kinda tired of that, so when people ask me what my name was I would jokingly tell them it’s Bob (basically the most generic English name I could think of). Me and my mates back in highschool just referred to each other as “Bruh”, and I guess the rest is history.

What inspires you to compete on the ladder and/or in the room?
I initially started off playing OU in late gen 4 or early gen 5, don’t exactly remember which, but I felt like the tier was too oversaturated with broken shit and found it very difficult to learn the tier. Which was why I moved down to UU and I just stuck with it.

From here, I remember watching a lot of replays trying to get a sense of what’s good and what’s not. I went through a lot of Pif, Dingbat, you (King) and xMarth’s games. Lol I still vividly remember playing against and losing to Pif’s mono-dragon team when I first started UU. I guess what compels me the most to play nowadays is the thrill of predicting and outsmarting my opponents. It’s also fun to compete in ladder wars with other good players and friends. The rivalry back in the days between me, you (King) and xMarth and continuously trying to one up each other on the ladder was some of the fondest memories I have of PS.


What brought you to Pokemon Showdown and competitive Pokemon in general?
Honestly, I’ve just loved Pokemon for as long as I could remember. But I’ve always been pretty poor when I was younger, so I’ve never owned any “current gen” consoles when they first came out. I think I bought a Gameboy colour in 2004 and played gen 1 and gen 2 games on it, but by then everyone’s either on the GBA or the DS. I’ve always wanted to play Pokemon with other people, but never got the chance to.

I was like 13(?) when I found out you can play Pokemon on the internet and I somehow found PokemonCrater and started playing that. For those of you old enough to remember PokemonCrater, I’m sure you’d all agree it’s a piece of shit. Then I moved to playing Pokemon Online, coincidentally I started watching competitive players (TheFlamingSpade and Shofu) around this time as well. I think PO got shut down not long after, and I wanted to continue playing competitively, since it was the easiest way to play with a lot of other people. So I did some googling and found PS. So here I am, 6 years later, still playing.

What are your strengths as a UU battler? What are some areas in which you can improve?
I think I’m adaptable as a player, I can use any playstyle well. As many of you may know, I used to play stall, then balanced, and finally now, I play predominantly HO. I can adapt the way I play to suit different teams and different opponents. I scout out the type of player my opponent is before I start predicting when playing a slower paced game and when I play HO, I tend to play super aggressively.

I’m also decent when it comes to building teams, my usual approach is just to build around uncommon/underused mons/sets and playing lots of games to make changes via trial and error. This approach usually means I end up with some pretty strong teams by the end of a few ladder sessions. I think my unpredictability when it comes to both team building and playing is what gives me the edge when facing against more orthodox players and playstyles.

I’m a persistent person, so I don’t forfeit games if there’s even the slightest chance of winning, with the aid hax or bad plays or whatever. Pulling wins out of absolutely nowhere is an amazing feeling.

Playing aggressively is definitely a double edged sword and I can get pretty reckless from time to time, even when there’s no need to be. This has definitely cost me a lot of games in the past. I’m quite stubborn when it comes to teambuilding, there are a few mons/sets out there that I just absolutely refuse to use (Amoonguss, Klefki, any form of bulky Scizor and just annoying things in general), not because they don’t fit with my playstyle, but because I hate facing them. I’m definitely feeling the adverse effect of my stubbornness more now after Breloom and Azumarill dropped.

Now that you've become a UU ladder expert, what's next for you?
I don’t consider myself as an expert at all. Above average at best, when I’m using a good team. I honestly don’t have any specific goals I want to achieve when it comes to Pokemon. I come on PS just to chat and ladder for fun. I’ll keep playing on the ladder and testing new teams until I get bored, which probably won’t be any time soon.

We have UU Ladder Tour and UU Premier League coming up shortly, are you looking to participate?
To put it frankly, the Smogon side of things interest me very little and tournaments even less. I have a few too many hobbies keeping me occupied so I didn’t really plan on signing up.


What would you say to any Managers out there who are looking to pick up players for UU Premier League?
Refer to previous question. I don’t really know what the Premier League is about, or what managers are, so short answer is that I don’t know.

Can you provide a team that you think reflects your current playstyle with a brief explanation of how it works?

Azumarill @ Choice Band
Ability: Huge Power
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Play Rough
- Liquidation
- Knock Off
- Aqua Jet

Aerodactyl-Mega @ Aerodactylite
Ability: Tough Claws
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Stone Edge
- Fire Fang
- Ice Fang
- Pursuit

doge (Stoutland) @ Choice Band
Ability: Sand Rush
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Return
- Facade
- Superpower
- Crunch

sand (Hippowdon) @ Smooth Rock
Ability: Sand Stream
EVs: 236 HP / 16 Def / 252 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Earthquake
- Stealth Rock
- Whirlwind
- Slack Off

Celebi @ Groundium Z
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
- Giga Drain
- Earth Power

Lucario @ Life Orb
Ability: Steadfast
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Aura Sphere
- Flash Cannon
- Vacuum Wave
- Nasty Plot

Here’s an offense team I built a few months back when I wanted to use Stoutland in sand. I think it sums up my playstyle and teambuilding quite well. Balls out offense with a pivot/sand setter, featuring a few uncommon and unusual Pokemons that few ever take into account when building. This team did really well back when I was using it, getting me reqs for Breloom/Buzzswole as well as battling with Pif over rank 1 for a few days. But with Breloom now in the tier, it’s not quite as good, but still a strong and versatile team nonetheless.

Stoutland is extremely underrated mon at the moment, CB return is no joke, it 2HKOs offensive Scizor after rocks! Mega-Aero is to help get rid of them pesky ghost types with Pursuit. In sand, it can pretty much guarantee a kill on the likes of Gengar and Chandelure. NP Celebi + NP Lucario are both incredibly anti-meta, destroying most common stall cores out there and can put huge dents in more offensive orientated teams. Aero helps a ton since it beats Latias pretty reliably in sand as well. And Azumarill is just good lol, good typing and precious water priority.

As someone who's already achieved a steady pace on the ladder, is there any advice you would give to newer players in terms of playing and building for the ladder or suspect tests, or even competing in room tournaments as a casual player, etc?
I see way too many newer players outright forfeiting just because they’re a bit behind in a game. Call me old fashioned but giving up is just not the right way to improve, and this applies to just about everything in life as well. Challenge yourself to turn the game around despite the odds. If you lose then take that as an opportunity to reflect on your mistakes, whether it’s because you played sub-optimally or if you need to improve your team.

Stop playing victim and blaming losses on hax. There must have been something that could have been done differently to avoid arriving at the scenario where hax would determine the outcome of a game. Hax is an integral part of the game and it’s also part of the fun, so just embrace it.

As the kind of person that never reads instructions when assembling furnitures and enjoy the stumbling around, I would recommend new players to experiment building their own teams rather than using existing teams. Trial and error is probably the most fun and effective way of getting better at something.

Finally, who are some of your favourite people in the UU Room?
I’m quite close with a lot of the regulars in the UU room, but a few people do stand out. I think my most absolute favouritest person is Watfor. I’ve known him for almost as long as I’ve been playing (6 years!!). Great lad, sarcastic and dark sense of humour, so there’s plenty of banters in the PMs. Really trustworthy so I talk about IRL stuff with him quite a bit. I also really enjoy Pif’s company, he’s not afraid to make fun of himself so I really like that about him. Simply put, in my native Kiwi tongue, they’re both good cunts. Other people I also really like are some of my older friends like Meowiekins, Luna Bae, Rowdog, GrilledClawitzer, Lixx, Kreme and Cyndequil. No offense to anyone I’ve missed out, there’s just way too many of you for me to name.

 

[pokemonisfun]

Do you like me almost as much as Watfor?
What do you see for the future of our relationship in 10 years?
Do you like biking or driving more?
Would you be an artist if you didn't have to worry about money?
What do you think about Smogon elitists?
What do you like most about being Chinese?
Do you have a favorite ladder opponent?
What DIY project are you most satisfied with?
How can I be a better friend to you and usurp Watfor?

 

[Yifeng]

pokeisfun

Do you like me almost as much as Watfor?
I love you Pif, which is why I won't lie to you. I like Watfor about about 1.12x more.

What do you see for the future of our relationship in 10 years?
Happily married with half a dozen Pokemon/chess prodigy offsprings.

Do you like biking or driving more?
Bike, for sure. Driving is mindnumbingly boring.

Would you be an artist if you didn't have to worry about money?
Absolutely. But I don't think I'm nearly as good as the people out there who actually draws for a living. So it'd be an insult to them if I did. I think I'd be happy doing anything as long as I can be creative.

What do you think about Smogon elitists?
Who?

What do you like most about being Chinese?
The language. Being bilingual in the two most common languages in the world is a huge asset to have. If I pick a person at random from the world, there's a 40% chance that I can communicate with them.

Do you have a favorite ladder opponent?
You.

What DIY project are you most satisfied with?
I recently built a new workbench using only traditional joinery, took me about 6 weeks worth of weekends, but really happy with how it turned out. I rebuilt a retro bike and gave it a custom paint job a few years back, I think it looks super badass (it's on FB if you wanna see). I have a glass table top from an old table I took apart, so I plan on making some sheet metal legs for it to give it a new life. Still drawing that up but I'm super excited about working on it.

How can I be a better friend to you and usurp Watfor?
Invent a time machine and go back in time to say hi to me before Watfor did. JK. I think we can become best friends if we ever met IRL.

 

[Adaam]

Best UU pokemon?
Worst (not something obvious like Arcanine but one people use a lot)?
Most cancerous?
Now that we are facebook friends for nearly a year, have you ever stalked my old photos?
If yes, do I look handsome in any of them?
If no, why not?
Have I ever built a team that was even remotely viable?
If no, will I ever?
Do you think I can eclipse 1900 on ladder some day?
Draw me?

 

[Yifeng]

Adaam

Best UU pokemon?
Breloom/Scizor, without a doubt.

Worst (not something obvious like Arcanine but one people use a lot)?
Moltres.

Most cancerous?
Klefki and Togekiss.

Now that we are facebook friends for nearly a year, have you ever stalked my old photos?
Yes, I masturbate to you at least twice a week.

If yes, do I look handsome in any of them?
You look good without a shirt on. But your body is the only decent looking thing about you.

If no, why not?
You have the facial hair of a pedophile.

Have I ever built a team that was even remotely viable?
Hahahaha no.

If no, will I ever?
Hahahahahahahahaha never.

Do you think I can eclipse 1900 on ladder some day?
Only if you use my team.

Draw me?
If you're good at something, never do it for free.

 

[Yifeng]

itsjustdrew

Are you ever going to post another RMT?
If I can dictate it and someone will write it up for me.

If you do Open, how high do you think you will place?
#1

If Pif is Mengy, Mengy is Pokemonisfun, and Pokemonisfun is Pif, do any of those people even exist?
I am Pif and Mengy.

If you, for some reason, got fired from your job and Pokemon ceased to exist, what would you do?
Cease my life.

How many hours has Cynde been afk in the UU room?
Legend has it that Cynde was born afk, and he will continue to afk until the heat death of the universe.

If you could be driver again would you?
Sure, just because I like muting people I hate.

Do you hate me?
I am impartial to your existence.