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Ep. 17 The MAX OUT Season Meta Analysis + Baltimore Predictions
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Hello, everyone! This is Episode 17 of "The Show 6 Podcast", where we bring you the highest quality coverage of the Play! Pokémon Championship Series for Pokémon GO! We explore the plays, the players, and everything else happening in the competitive scene.
This week, we talk about the BIGGEST move-set adjustment in Pokémon PvP GO history: the MAX OUT season update! We talk about which Pokémon fell out of the meta, the new "kings" of the Great League, which Type is overpowered, our top core-breaker picks, and much, much more! We hope you enjoy this episode. Leave us a review on whichever platform you are listening!
With that said, if you're ready, Lock In, press play, and good luck, have fun!
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Transcript
Meta Shifts and Key Updates
00:00:00
Speaker
everything changed when the max out move update attacked. Now, Gastrodon is leaving its opponents in the mud, Jumpluff is jumping up the PVP rankings, and Malama literally flipped the meta on its head. You are listening to the Show6 podcast covering everything around the Play Pokemon Championship Series for Pokemon Go, and this episode will be our meta guide for the upcoming season. So without further ado, let's lock in, good luck, and have fun!
00:00:51
Speaker
Welcome in everybody to this very natural start to the episode. Definitely no technically technical difficulties in the background. Everything is like live as you hear it. um Nothing ever happened.
Introduction and Banter
00:01:04
Speaker
And my name is still Zeez Wireless and I'm here with Speedy's Chief 2. Hi Speedy.
00:01:10
Speaker
Yeah, I glitched there a bit. I was almost Swedish chief 2.0, but ah that's just that's just behind the scenes kind of stuff. But what a what a poetic intro into what we're basically heading into a meta discussion.
Meta Changes for the Baltimore Tournament
00:01:23
Speaker
And I'm really excited about this because we have Baltimore coming up actually just in two days time.
00:01:28
Speaker
at the time of this recording so as Wallace and I are going to do our absolute best to break down this meta tell you what direction it's going what you need to bring and prepare for if you're going to compete at a local regional tournament or just in GBL in general ah what's really changed in the great league because this is the biggest shake-up I think we've ever had and I think that the switch timer change as one of my friends said is the biggest change since the switch tray was removed if you remember Back in the day. I almost forgot about that when i when I read that, but yeah. Right. I mean, we've had a few a few changes, right? I think the switch tray was a big one. I think that, oh, shoot, I had another one in mind that just slipped my mind. Oh, the charge attack minigames. Yeah, yeah, yeah. I wasn't around for the original charge attack minigame. I never played the first charge attack minigame. and I hear people talk about it, like not all the time, because why would you talk about that all the time?
00:02:24
Speaker
But whenever that is getting brought up, I just have no idea. I think I saw it once, I saw like a video of it. Yeah, if you... modern version If you are of the opinion that Pokemon Go is just tap, tap, tap, then the original charge tech minigame heavily reinforces that opinion because people were beating their phones trying to get in an excellent. If you want a semi recreation, you can always go to PV pokes training simulator. He still has the tap, tap method. There's not like a minigame feature. So just click your mouse as fast as you can. And it's basically what charge moves used to be.
00:02:59
Speaker
Okay. I honestly like, I don't mind the current version just because I think it makes undercharging a little more, like a little easier. Like I don't know how hard I need to tap. I just know, okay, I need to miss this many bubbles and I'll have the perfect undercharge.
00:03:13
Speaker
Exactly. I think it it definitely opens up the the floor for more technical skill for undercharging. And I think it really just raises skill ceiling. I think when it first came about, I was like, I don't know if I like this, but looking back, it was the only right way. But for this episode, we're going to cover what really changed in the max out season. ah That includes a couple of categories that I made called glad they're gone and still around.
00:03:38
Speaker
We're also going to talk about the new Pokemon at the top, the new kings of the great league in both GBL and show six. Uh, the answer to the question, what fills the role? I have one particular type that I think is really overpowered right now. Uh, miscellaneous Pokemon and disappointments. We're going to talk about a wealth of core breakers and that is also akin to a spice tasting. We're going to find out what's spicy according to Z's wireless.
00:04:02
Speaker
And then the show 16 discussion plus expectations for Baltimore. So a lot of exciting stuff to talk about, but what changed?
Impact of Nerfs on Key Pokémon
00:04:10
Speaker
what What's new here is wireless. What's new. So let's first say goodbye to Vigoroth specifically, because basically like almost all the top dogs of the matter have been hit with some sort of nerve. Vigoroth has been hit with three nerves.
00:04:28
Speaker
counter got worse, bodyslam got worse, roxtat got worse. From the swiss army knife of a pokemon that had play into basically every pokemon that wasn't in annihilate, the growth went to a pokemon that is like near unusable now, it will not be the king of themed cups anymore,
00:04:45
Speaker
It will not be the second choice counter user at regionals. Maybe also because there won't be that many counter users at regionals anymore. But yeah, I feel like um the first impression of everybody was um that Magma Man got a hold of the Niantic servers and actually made some changes, so Vigoroth will never be seen again. But yeah, it was not only Vigoroth, it was not only Counter, it was not only Body Slam, it was not only Rock Slide. We have um seen changes to the fast attack steel wing, making Skarmory a lot slower to its charge attacks and therefore a lot worse in neutral matchups. um This is also um not helped by the fact that Sky Attack got another rework.
00:05:36
Speaker
um I think it got a straight nerf in the past, where it used to be a really um like affordable and efficient flank-type charge attack. Then it went up to 50 energy from 45, and now I think it's at 55 energy. So same as Brave Bird. And yeah, that doesn't really do a lot for Pokemon-like Skamri, but also Pokemon-like Altaria, which will have a tough time even reaching any charge attack.
00:06:03
Speaker
um The same goes um to a degree for your classic mat boy, right? Because mat boys, canonically defined as um water ground types, um but also more specifically seen as basically everything that has access to the mood ah to the move mat shot.
00:06:23
Speaker
um Those Pokémon always used to excel because of their spamminess, like um a Quaxire firing off an Aqua Tail after four Matchots, swampered with its um four five four pacing to the Hydro Canons that has been around for a long time. This will not be a thing anymore just because Matchot went from generating 9 energy to generating 8 energy.
00:06:48
Speaker
Like that fact is kind of made up for it by um much of loading more damage, but the whole selling point of these Pokémon was their pacing, and they don't really have that anymore. So that will change the ground type meta quite a bit.
Energy Generation Adjustments
00:07:01
Speaker
um And another notable nerf that I'm personally honestly not a fan of is the Wing Attack nerf. Because we really like we we used to have like triple flier teams or double flier teams. and There were so many viable fliers. I used to be a big fan of Pelipper. People who are less fun are a big fan of Mantine.
00:07:25
Speaker
um Both of these Pokemon are basically nowhere to be seen these days um because of just wing attack doesn't really generate energy as fast anymore. um That's just that not good for those Pokemon and for what they're for for what they want to do on the field.
00:07:43
Speaker
and People were saying that this was a nerf that was supposed to hit Gligar, but they also nerfed Dig. like Dig went from being an unusable move to a really good move, but now it's yeah a not great move. and I think making Dig a big and not great move would have been enough to get rid of Gligar. I think some fun stuff. like shadow charizard got in and the crossfire like there's some there's some collateral that i'm not too happy about but yeah that's it's basically the most impactful nerves that i can think of
00:08:18
Speaker
had i think ah I think you might be a poet at heart or at least a writer. Okay. That's just my suspicion because saying that Charizard got caught in the crossfire. I mean, come on, come on. There's there's a ah choice of words here that it's definitely standing out. um But I actually, um the wing attack nerf. Okay. So my biggest concern when I saw that counter was getting nerfed is I looked at all the other fighting type charge attacks.
00:08:43
Speaker
ah superpower, close combat, focus blast, whatever it might be. And I said, all these attacks kind of stink. you know They cost a lot of energy or they debuff you. They're really not very viable. And I was concerned that darks and normals would and steels would just completely take over the meta. Because I thought, well, if you don't have any fighters to check them, then you're kind of you know up crap creek, so to speak.
00:09:07
Speaker
And, um, and then I looked at the wing attack nerve and I thought, well, if you, cause I think historically flying types have been good at countering fighting and grass types in particular, and maybe, you know, the occasional bug.
00:09:22
Speaker
But when you look at flying types, Gligar, in my opinion, ah did a great job of not only neutralizing fighters like, like a Nihilape, but it also did really well to kind of corner Pokemon like Superior and Venusaur that, you know, traditionally were the strong grass types.
00:09:38
Speaker
So we, we really lost our fighting type presence ah with the loss of counter. You know, we have karate choppers, but if you played any JBL this season, you can tell they get to their charge techs relatively fast and that's great. But the damage output is just a shadow of what it used to be when it comes to counter. no um yeah as oppressive Nowhere near, right? and and And on my list here, I'm glad they're gone. I actually have Skarmory on my list. I think we both agree. Skarmory is a bit polarizing, good that it's gone. Gligar is actually my number two. And the reason being is because, not single-handedly, but Gligar was a major part in keeping grasses at bay.
00:10:16
Speaker
And I really think that having grass back into the meta is a healthy sign. And the absence of Gligar will definitely benefit the grass types overall, I would say. ah so The third Pokémon I have on my list of Glad They're Gone, and I know we've pronounced this Pokémon dead four times, and we've said, okay, maybe it's not actually dead five times. I think it's finally gone. I think the beast has finally been vanquished. I think that Lantern is finally too slow and too weak to win battles consistent consistently. I would, I would actually be in agreement there. I don't think you'll see a lot of lantern this season. Um, it actually still has like, it's like, you can't take away it's bulk. Um, and there's some scenarios where it can be like water gun damage is actually quite valuable just because, um, we'll get to it later, but the new top dog of the matter is Claude Sire. And.
00:11:15
Speaker
you You can hold your own against that, especially now that the fast move of choice isn't super effective anymore. um But yeah, just overall, I think the main thing that um makes the difference between a Pokemon being somewhat usable and consistently meta is always the pacing.
00:11:35
Speaker
I think that play this is also like just speaking about maybe maybe the future just far, far ahead of us. um But if they ever wanted to nerf for alligator, which is another one of the Pokemon that is just really, really good right now.
00:11:51
Speaker
I don't think they would necessarily touch shadow claw or even make hydro cannon a worse move move in a vacuum. But I could see it, I could see like an adjustment to the energy cost of hydro cannon so that it gets to the 665 pacing, which is still good, but nowhere near as oppressive as the 555 pacing that Ferala Gator can currently you rely on. So yeah, like, um,
00:12:21
Speaker
Lantern is too slow. um A lot of Pokemon that used to be really good and were already slow are even slower now with Skamri and Ataria. Yeah, like to your point, I think we have a little bit of a disagreement on Gligar actually. I don't know whether Gligar would be um healthy presence in this matter or not, just because it has a somewhat polarizing matchup when lined up against a cloud sire and we want less polarization. Um, I think that's a thing that most people are in agreement about, but
00:12:56
Speaker
The very first time Gligar became popular, that was in a superior meta. That was in a meta where people like to bring Shadow Venusaur. Because um with the superior, if you debuffed it with Leaf Tornado, you just won that matchup.
00:13:11
Speaker
If you um save swap a Venusaur and their counter swap was Gligar, they had to shield the Frenzy Plant because otherwise they would have gotten farmed down. So I think there is some very neutral interplay where grass types can actually overcome a Gligar. That was just not the case with um most of these other fliers and specifically Skarmory. So I think if we are talking fliers, I think Gligar is still um one of the more neutral ones.
00:13:41
Speaker
especially with the Skarmory relation where, okay, you you lose that even upper shield um with that gone. So, yeah, I don't i't really love that Gligar is gone. And I've seen people trying to, like, I lost to my brother in GBL the other day and he was running Furykata Gligar and a lantern in the back. He just ran the old core and I didn't respect it anymore. So that is still a thing, apparently.
00:14:11
Speaker
um But yeah, overall overall, I think that I'm in agreement with most nerves if only to see something new, if only to see something fresh and not these same old faces every single season.
00:14:23
Speaker
Yeah. So, uh, you, you mentioned earlier that magmar man got into Niantic headquarters and changed some things around. I think that your brother went with him and I think that, uh, your brother's definitely very excited for all the changes. I definitely seen it in his content and, uh, it's awesome to see him, uh, energized and happy about gameplay. And also, that's that's a unique ah question to posit, too. Like, can I run the old stuff and still have success? Or do I need to make some tweaks or some changes? I originally had an idea to make a pair of videos. The first one was I used every ah buffed Pokémon in this season. And the second video would be I used every nerfed Pokémon in this season.
00:15:04
Speaker
And I think that if you if you did the latter, you'd have a a very negative ah set ah of of battles in terms of your battle record win-loss. Yeah, you would probably you would probably quit the game for good before you got through all of that. Exactly. So so maybe ah maybe that'll be something I attempt later on in the season, but but time will tell.
00:15:23
Speaker
ah But speaking of Pokémon that are still around, I don't know if you agree with these three that I chose, but I feel like I've seen them enough ah for me to to legitimately legitimately say these Pokémon are still good in spite of the nerfs and the changes in the meta. They are Chargebug, Goodra, and Poliwrath.
00:15:42
Speaker
and And Chargibug is very polarizing because, and we'll get to this later, but there's a quote by another creator that if you can't beat two out of three when it comes to Mandibuzz, Feraligatr, Clodsire, then you're not a good Pokémon. Chargibug does beat two out of those three, but it just gets absolutely decimated by the third. You look at Poliwrath, they got the nerf to counter, but I still think that counter is viable and its role in the meta seems to be almost solely to counter Feraligatr's safe swap.
00:16:10
Speaker
And then you look at Gudra, who didn't receive any nerfs, but I do think that it has kind of maintained its its neutral playability into this upcoming meta, even though some of its old targets might not be as popular. Yeah, I like those sal like those choices for sure. I personally... um ah relatively big believer in Poliwrath still just because of how the new meta seems to be shaking up. The only Pokemon that Poliwrath really fears right now is probably Azumarill and even that is like you lose that matchup but you don't lose it super hard if you maybe invest a shield maybe um get a debuff and maybe force Azumarill to um
00:16:59
Speaker
expend two full moves worth of energy in that matchup. So other than that, um Like with a lot of counter users, like Annihilape or the Squishier ones, like Surf Edge, that was also um just collateral of of the counter nerf. What they really excelled at was just pacing to the moves really fast.
Adaptations to Counter Nerfs
00:17:22
Speaker
And Ponderoth never was the quickest Pokemon. I think it was always seven counters to an Ice Beam, or Icy Wind rather. um It does not learn Ice Beam as far as I'm aware. um So... and It never really relied on its pacing, but more so on its coverage and on its bulk. It still has the coverage and the bulk, and the coverage looks especially good in a matter where Cloudside gets hit for super effective damage by icy wind and scald, where there's dance bars rolling around now with very exploitable counter weakness and resisted rollouts.
00:18:01
Speaker
yeah And also like the Mandibuzz matchup, it's not bad at all for Poliwrath just because you probably live to area laces after debuffing once with an icy wind and you know always set it back for neutral faster attacks and um super effective charge moves. So Poliwrath, I think it's sneaky good, um but you will definitely it You will probably not be too happy with its pacing when you really need it and in a pinch. But I think it's just like it has so many matchups where it can do something. So it's so relatively safe Pokemon and I like that about it. um Don't worry. charger I think Charger Black is like the opposite with the Claude Siameta.
00:18:43
Speaker
yeah um I think if you build like a team around five Pokemon that beat Claude Sire and then have a charger back in there, that can still work. And Goodra honestly just really benefits from Claude Sire being good just because that makes it so people will rather opt for a zoomer as their fairy type option and not so much for weekly tough anymore. Weekly tough got a buff this season, but I've seen it less and less.
00:19:11
Speaker
just because of Klotzer being such a major polarizing threat to it. um And yeah, if the if the main fairy is a Pokemon that you have um super effective coverage against and that maybe even needs two moves to take you out, that's not a bad spot to be in for a Dragon type.
00:19:31
Speaker
You made a yeah an interesting point a few minutes ago ah that I really wanted to get back to as well. um and So basically before this moveset update, um you and I were likely having our own conversations back behind the scenes, talking to a lot of really smart players who study the meta, who understand the game really well, who played it for a number of years. And I almost felt like there were two camps.
00:19:54
Speaker
ah The first camp was we should buff a lot of the moves that currently suck, you know, things like sucker punch or astonish. We should make these actually good moves and we should leave all the other moves the same. And then the other camp was, yeah, let's actually nerf some of these powerful attacks because outside of, you know, counter powder, snow, shadow claw, um these are the optimal fast attacks. And there aren't really many that compare to them.
00:20:22
Speaker
And I don't know what camp you were in. I don't think we've really discussed this as much, but I was much more into the nerf camp because I don't I sincerely don't think that every Pokemon should get a charge attack in 10 to 14 moves.
00:20:37
Speaker
or 10 to 14 turns. I don't think that should be the way I don't think it should be five counters to body Sam Vigaroth, five counters at night slash annihilate, five wing attacks to aerial ace Gligar, five shadow claws to hydro cannon for alligator. I mean, it's just, it's just too much. And I feel like if you start buffing everybody else, then you're just going to get charge tech after charge tech after charge tech. And I really,
00:21:00
Speaker
kind of missed the the old school ah battling style where charge stacks took a little more time and you had to fire off more fast attacks. You had to be more mindful of the switch timer and your energy management. And it was a lot tougher to get those like game winning charge stacks instead of just so Spamming hydro cannon every two and a half seconds, right? So I don't know how you feel about that But I feel like one of the biggest changes I've seen personally in this meta is the pacing and I feel like sure most Pokemon are still 14 to 18 turns to a charge attack and that's fine But it doesn't feel like as fast and and as obnoxious as it did previously so I think I'm I'm in agreement with you a very specific point that you are making, that you want there to be no power creep when it comes to sheer pacing. Because like right now, the the worst we have, basically, like, OK, this is like super, super fast, is eight turns to a charge attack. um And like they could have gone around where like a newly buffed move would make it so that you can
00:22:09
Speaker
I don't know, like get to a charge attack and in seven turns or in six turns, which would just be crazy because at that point it would just be spamming like charge attacks every second. And I don't think that's a fun or healthy meta whatsoever. um But overall, I think the nerfs should be really targeted towards the Pokemon that are a problem. I don't think we need that those wide reaching nerfs. This is why I'm not a fan of the wing attack nerf because wing attack is a it and an attack that really enabled um a lot of Pokemon. Like basically half of the fliers ran wing attack and those fliers had like very unique and very distinct roles between each other. And I kind of liked that for the most part.
00:23:00
Speaker
Um, but I think you should always try to, um, readjust problem Pokemon in a way that either you go, uh, the route of a strict nerf that has very little collateral, like the dig nerf on, um, Liger, because not many other Pokemon were using dig. And if they were using dig, then they weren't meta. Um, whereas otherwise I'm more in the camp of.
00:23:30
Speaker
So we want to encourage variety. So we actually have to have a lot of attacks that are actually usable and maybe even multiple fast and short attacks that are really good on um any given Pokemon species. And part of the player skill, part of the skill expression and team building is how do you select the toolkit for your Pokemon? What do I want my Pokemon to do? And I think we need a lot of widely available fast and charge attacks, especially fast attacks, honestly, of basically every type that do different things. Like in my ideal world, I would want every type to have one fast attack that is more um geared towards energy generation, one fast attack that like it doesn't have to be like razor leaf charm, fast move beat down, but a little more um towards the direct the direction of fast move damage.
00:24:28
Speaker
And then like a balanced poison jabby kind of move when you um want to, want to go like a middle ground kind of road. So you can basically just pick and choose the flavor of Pokemon that you want to run. And um obviously that's probably a hell of a job to fine tune that
Meta Dominance and Strategic Preferences
00:24:50
Speaker
altogether. But um yeah, I like when we grow the meta by making more stuff good. And I like that more than nerfing stuff into the ground that people already have built, especially also because Pokemon Go is such a such a resource-heavy game, especially for newer people. So while I do ah like the update and I am enjoying it more than I originally would have thought that I would, and I'm really happy with it.
00:25:26
Speaker
and In that regard, I wouldn't have minded them to maybe slow down on the nurse a little and make Pokemon just like good, but not great rather than having them go from great to mediocre or worse.
00:25:43
Speaker
yeah I've been, a I'll confess, I've been doing a lot of of trades trying to get the Sun Visor cap slack off a hundred percent lucky so that I can build it for ultra league. And I'm so glad that I did not try to build ultra league Vigaroth because it was like very fringe, very spice. I think PokeGains has tried it and a few other streamers and it's not very good, but now that would have just been like,
00:26:09
Speaker
500 K dust down the drain. And I feel like a lot of trainers are are probably experiencing that. and And whereas I think something that doesn't get talked about enough is, yes, if you look at how Pokemon are time gated and event gated, the accessibility of of Pokemon Go PvP is still a concern. But if you compare the original play Pokemon meta back in 2022, when we first got into the official circuit,
00:26:38
Speaker
If you compare the number of XL level 50 Pokemon you needed for the the first year and a half, almost two years of the championship circuit versus now, I mean, I think the only two Pokemon in the top 10 of the great league that are XL are Carbink and Bastidon. And prior you needed Lickitung, you needed Medichim, you needed Sableye, you needed Azumarill. Some players you know were still building XL Bastidon for regional competition. so I feel like the Excel shadow of us here on that, like for some people. That's true. It's true, right? Yeah. I mean, I i heard that some of them even got second place at ah at a regional, which is really impressive. So I think that's something that doesn't get talked about enough. And yes, I think there's still more work to do for accessibility, but I think it would it would also show that we've come a long way because now you don't need
00:27:28
Speaker
300 XL candies for Lickitung. Now you can just build Licki Licki for Great League, and it's actually pretty good. So, I don't know. That's just a side note that I think about from time to time, but there are some new kings on the playground. We've got Feraligatr, Claude Syrah, and Mandabuzz. I believe they are numbers one, two, and three respectively. And then Shadow Feraligatr appears as like number four and number five. So basically, those are the big three. How do you personally feel about the new kings of the playground?
00:27:57
Speaker
I have to say I feel really good about them. i Personally, out of the three, I like Manabust Elise just because with its dark typing and sheer bulk, it makes, um for example, some psychic type Pokemon feel a little RPS, some grass type Pokemon feel a little RPS, and it won fewer polarizing um relations between the top Pokemon.
00:28:23
Speaker
And while menopause like oftentimes is a neutral Pokemon like that, I think um in the previous meta where the meta environment was so that um like you had water on the enter and that was a matchup that look bad on paper, but Mandibuzz could actually win that in the one shield scenario. So Mandibuzz used to be quite the um i flexible and neutral Pokemon. Now I think it could be a little more ah malt inducing in that it like walls of Sapiria, almost walls of Malamar. So
00:29:02
Speaker
i'm I'm like split in in terms of how do I view this bird. um But yeah, it's just like one of the few fliers that are still around, right? Because of, again, the wing attack nerf and the targeted nerfs towards um Pokemon like Altaria and Skarmory. So I'm not necessarily mad that we still have a flier.
00:29:23
Speaker
um But yeah, like also like we're kind of working from the third place Pokemon and we're working our way way upwards. So I'll get to I'll get to the others in a second. But speaking of like mandibas and this um dark flying typing, have you tried Galarian Moltres already?
00:29:43
Speaker
I don't have one but i've I've heard it's really good and I actually got a yeah I don't want to reveal who who it was I'll tell you off recording but I got a screenshot of a team from somebody who's going to Baltimore and they have it on their team. I think I got the same screenshot actually I think I got asked for scrims the other day and that's kind of what prompted me to ask this question because is it that good?
00:30:06
Speaker
i think like I don't think it's comparable in how it plays. It's kind of comparable in what it does, because obviously the profile is identical when it comes to... um okay or what Pokemon we have a good type matchup into, but whereas Mandapus can just tank two Hydro Canons and just hang out, Galarian Mortress doesn't have Snarl as its first attack, but Sucker Punch. And Sucker Punch used to be disappointing, now it's pre-Nurf Counter.
00:30:40
Speaker
So it's basically four damage per turn, three and a half energy per turn, two turn fast attack. And that is just really, really good if you have the same type attack bonus and you will find that Galarian Moltres, it's not even that squishy. It's not like a Pokemon that needs to shield the first move. You can tank a move and you have this very oppressive um fast move that is very new. Many people might not but like mine underestimate the power that Galarian Moltres actually has.
00:31:09
Speaker
um You beat Mandibuzz in the head-to-head, and you have the closing power of Brave Bird on your side. So I think like the risk with Galarian Motress is a lot higher, but maybe the maybe the reward is also slightly higher. I think it will still play second fiddle to Mandibuzz for sure, but there's an interesting option there. And and that's important too. I feel like...
00:31:33
Speaker
And this is a a point that was made in Rubik's master's video ah regarding the the state of the meta before this update is that he just said, it doesn't feel like you have many options. A lot of teams are just, you know, ah the same Pokemon recycled in different orders and maybe one or two different alterations. And I think that got really, really bad during the knockdown Trevenant lantern era. And it was.
00:31:56
Speaker
It was kind of repetitive in the pre-LAIC era as well of this past season, but I feel like, um you know, looking at this next season, having the option, right? And it was recently unbanned by Play Pokemon as well, which definitely helps. But having the option of playing Sucker Punch, Galarian, Mulcherous is not something that if you had asked me even six months ago, I would say, oh yeah, you know, I could see that. It's just out of the out of the question.
00:32:22
Speaker
It's also such a cool Pokemon just visually, just the design, like this big black bird with its like flaming wings wings that aren't actually fire type, but still looking looking so badass. So if you yeah have that on your team, you definitely get some style points for that. And yeah, um I like the point that you brought up, like going back to the Rubik's Master video, and I'm just more in general, the idea of, okay, um the Play Pokemon Championship Series might just,
00:32:52
Speaker
bring out the same Pokemon again and again. um I think the current or like the upcoming season now we're recording this like two days away from Baltimore. um I think that will Like one third of it will be worsening the problem, but two thirds of it will really help ease the concern and i'll make it a lot more neutral and a lot more open because we can move on to like the the second highest rated Pokemon of the season, which is um Shadow Feraligatr. I know that PVPoke also likes a non-Shadow, but I think in the Play Pokemon series specifically, which is what we are all about,
00:33:37
Speaker
um The Shadow is the preferred Pokémon for sure. And what I like about Feraligatr is how neutral it plays. So um against the Dance Bars, that is a Pokémon that is very bulky, it got the buffed rollout, it now does a lot more damage, and it still has the very valuable Rock Slide Drill Run coverage.
00:33:58
Speaker
um So you would be probably thinking that a Feraligatr doing double resisted Shadowclaws does not have a good matchup against it. If you look at the two shields, you would be right. um But in the zeroes and the one shield scenario, Shadowferaligatr actually wins that. It's close wins for sure, but you have play into a Pokémon that Um, like just by the typing of like the dance bars and your faster tag doesn't look super great for you. So that makes for alligator really, really strong, but also fairly neutral because okay, whether I beat this Pokemon, it depends on how many shields I'm willing to use. It's not just, okay, yeah this typing beats my typing. It's okay. I need to make a decision here.
00:34:42
Speaker
um another Another point of neutrality, Azumarill is still very popular. One of the few XL Pokemon that is um left alive after these changes.
Central Pokémon in the Current Meta
00:34:52
Speaker
um Your charge attacks get walled entirely. You don't even have the option um to to do neutral damage much against it, unless you want to run frustration. but and Don't do that. It will not even tickle. I've tried to frustrate, like I ran a Shadow Dragonite with frustration once and I wanted to KO like a 5 HP on Ferrothorn with it just for the BM. But Ferrothorn survived and I lost the game. um So yeah never never run frustration guys.
00:35:25
Speaker
um So yeah, again, for alligator into Azu, you can't hit it for even neutral with your charge attacks. But because you resist the bubble and do um neutral shadow claws in return, you still have close wins in all even shields, which is like, again, like because it's so close, um I think it's it's a really healthy dynamic.
00:35:47
Speaker
um But then there's also Pokemon like Digaspie, which is another Pokemon that just really thrives in this current meta environment. And you'll once again run into the scenario where um your fast attacks are resisted, but you would think this is a really good matchup for you just because of Hydro Cannon doing a lot of damage into a ground type, but you actually lose to two shields against um Quick Attack Digaspie.
00:36:11
Speaker
Feralogator, whether you lose with it or win with it, it's always close, it's always somewhat neutral and it and depends on your your shield's use. So I'm actually a big fan of Feralogator's role as like um the big equalizer in this meta.
00:36:29
Speaker
So I have a a hot take and I don't know if you're going to agree with it, but it's a it's basically the difference between regular for alligator and shadow for alligator. So we typically talk about Pokemon as leads, swaps or closers. I think that if you are going to play for alligator as a swap, it needs to be regular. I think you you play regular for alligator safe swap or regular for alligator lead.
00:36:56
Speaker
And I think for shadow, you either play shadow for alligator lead or shadow for alligator closer. I don't think that shadow for alligator safe swap is as good as people think it is. I think it's a bit overrated. I am very interested in hearing the reasoning behind that.
00:37:11
Speaker
Yeah. So, so the primary reason is just that when you swap in the shadow for alligator, especially if you, if you don't do it immediately, you're often a little bit behind in terms of, of energy and your opponent is able to take shields. And and if it's a neutral Pokemon, like, you know, say ah ah a dragon, right? You have a really terrible lead. You go to a less slightly terrible Pokemon, like for alligator, when you're up against a, a neutral Pokemon, you know, whether it be again, like ah a dragon air or, or something that's, um,
00:37:41
Speaker
You know, putting out a lot of fast tech pressure or at least moderate fast tech pressure. It feels like you have to give two shields to shadow gator. And then at that point, yes, you've achieved switch most likely, but at the same time, you're, you're way behind in terms of what you have reserves. So for example, if you lead like Amanda buzz into Ozu and you go for alligator, I, I still personally think it's preferable to have the regular for alligator because you're able to eat the play rough more easily. And, and, uh, yeah, I mean.
00:38:09
Speaker
It just feels more neutral. It doesn't feel like you have to give as many resources to that Pokémon. I can actually see that. and like I've been in scenarios where um I was um a grass type using Wine Whip as my fast attack, and my opponent had a Feraligatr up energy, um but all shields were still in play. There's definitely a benefit to non-Shadow Feraligatr because um They were like baiting hydro cannons, always threatening the ice beam, but they couldn't get it off just because on their their wine whip, like my wine whip, actually took them out before they um could get to two baits and the the super effective ice beam. So that was definitely an experience where I was thinking like, oh, maybe non-shadow has something.
00:39:01
Speaker
But I think generally I'm still of the belief that you want the shadow in any situation just because um certain matchups just aren't really flippable on even energy as the non-shadow. Especially like, I don't actually know all the Azu matchups, but I know like, for shadow, all even shields are positive. So you're always in control, you're always in the driver's seat. And also if you're ahead on energy, which you um tend to be if you um aren't immediately threatened by the Pokémon you swap into, and
00:39:39
Speaker
Like for example, if you save swap ah for alligator into a cloud sire, you will outpace it to the first charge attack. So they basically have to swap out if they don't want to shield or or take the move. And that means that whatever comes in, you will be ahead. And I think if um if it's about, okay, which Pokemon um do I bring in here?
00:40:03
Speaker
The hand is really forced if the Pokemon that they have to go up against is a shadow because shadows just do so much more damage and maybe some of their answers that could like take two hydro cannons from a regular Gator.
00:40:18
Speaker
mom might be scared to swap into a shadow and even if you get like a farm down it is more impactful to have the energy so i'm I'm still just I know that you're you're not saying like oh like don't don't grind for shadows but Um, I just still think everybody should be out there, especially if we get like another rocket event and it's still in rotation, which I just assume it it will be because, um, even though we criticize Niantic a lot of times, um, they're, they're smart enough to not take it out of rotation. Well, it's like one of the most popular Pokemon. Um, definitely hunt for those water type brands. Definitely hunt for those. I think they're currently in the, um, male grant as well. Like this, like, Oh, like.
00:41:03
Speaker
I don't know, does it does it also say winning is for winners? It's like the, oh, I have all the starters type of grand. i've I've seen them actually in the, um, these waters are treacherous, the water type. Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. It's like, it's like the, the lady grant for, for the water type thing, whereas the, the, the guy grant has a magic card. And yeah then it's like between, um, okay. The, um.
00:41:29
Speaker
Miss Team Rocket has um the Snorlax, whereas Mr. Team Rocket has all the Starters. So this is where the this is where the Shadow Total dial hides. And I think you really want that. And I think that, um like, I might be wrong. um I didn't expect the non-Shadow Gator to take NAIC, for example. So there is precedent for non-Shadow Gator actually doing really well. But I think in this new meta, I think we'll see. ah I'll say, like,
00:41:58
Speaker
14, maybe 13 for alligator in the top 16 of Baltimore. I think it will be on almost every team. um And I think more than 10 will be shadow.
00:42:09
Speaker
Oh, really? Okay. yeah I agree with you in terms of Feraligatr numbers. I think when we when we turn our attention to play Pokémon, in particular, I think Feraligatr will be the number one usage Pokémon, even more so than Clodsire. And I think that it really comes down to ah what you highlighted earlier, the neutral play, the flexibility.
00:42:29
Speaker
the ease of use because, I mean, let's be real, you know, five shadow claws to the hydro cannon is pretty straightforward ah versus, you know, am I a cloud sire that has to double stone edge to KO this licky licky? Or do I go for the earthquake? Or, you know, do I run poison jab or mudshot? There's not a whole lot of of thought that really goes into Feraligatr gameplay. It's more so like memorizing the matchups and then just ripping hydro cannons as fast as you can, at least in my opinion.
00:42:57
Speaker
That is true. There's not a lot of nuance, but yeah, yeah the only reason why I think Claude Zaire will still be number one in Baltimore is because I don't think everybody has access to a good enough shadow for alligator just yet. I think a lot of people are still on the hunt for it. Um, and this is why I think that Claude Zaire will start out as the number one, but for alligator might overtake it after the next Rocket Event, which is yet to be announced. I agree.
00:43:26
Speaker
Well, going back to our original question, uh, do you like the new Kings of the playground? I have to agree with you. I like them a lot. I think that there's a lot of neutral play and I think it's opened up the, the kind of, um, the door for so many counterpicks, right? And we'll get to that really soon. Cause I can't wait to talk about the spice pigs. Uh, but the quote that I wanted to mention was from, uh, Martine's new video, AKA inadequate.
00:43:51
Speaker
says if your pokemon doesn't beat two thirds of for alligator cloud sire mandibuzz it's not a good pokemon so i definitely anticipate a lot of players going into baltimore going into their locals uh and into i believe it's dortman is the first tournament of the season the eu i do believe that these trainers will bring those three or prepare for those three And I think that that kind of interesting counterplay ah gives us something akin to the black box that we got for worlds in terms of meta, because a lot of people you know are trying to counter or anticipate what's going to happen, but they don't really know what's on the horizon. So I'm going to be going to be very interested to see that. But ah in terms of the overall meta, I think there's one typing that if I had to just pick one, I think there's one typing that's really overpowered and I think it's going to be an absolute force.
00:44:39
Speaker
Spidey, it's not to stop you in your tracks there, but I think we almost skipped over the actual top dog, right? We haven't talked about... Oh, you're right. length yeah just You're right. Let's talk about Glott, I'm so sorry. The undisputed king of the meta currently. And first of all, um two things. T was there, was right. We shouldn't have given it poison, jab, and serve. Second thing,
00:45:07
Speaker
Thanks Claude Sayer for eradicating Grass Soul from the GBL meta after like how many years now. um Obviously we had the Smackdown nerf, we had the Razor Leaf nerf, it's just not as good of a team in neutral scenarios anymore. But with Claude Sayer being able to heartbeat Bastioron, heart-beating Wigglytuff as well, and also probably winning most shield scenarios against stuff like Shadow Victreebel. This Pokemon being so omnipresent makes it very difficult to run probably the most tilt-inducing team of GBL history. And I know there's a lot of ah lot of um players out there who are sad about that, who are in shambles, as you will.
00:45:57
Speaker
Um, but they had their fun for a very long time and Klotzaya is here to save the day now. And yeah, I think it's, this is a Pokemon that does something that I was touching on earlier because Klotzaya is customizable in a way. Sometimes, like I think most, um, Klotzaya still runs Stone Edge because, yeah um, that way you have, um,
00:46:24
Speaker
like somewhat better matchups and into some ice types. You are able to um one-shot a Talonflame, for example. You also have a clean matchup into Mandiboss. But I thought Claude Sire see that, okay, if we partner this with Feraligator, we have a little bit of a grass weakness here. because Um, some Pokemon just like, like a chestnut, a chestnut wood wall frenzy, like, um, wood wall, um, stone edge and ah earthquake. So that is, uh, one of the premier call breakers to Klotzer and Feralica. And I have been abusing that in in the Go Battle League.
00:47:00
Speaker
um But yeah, CloudSire also has um access to sludge bomb, which is even cheaper, makes it a really solid grass answer with um even better play into a zoom roll. So yeah, I think CloudSire is actually a really fine centralizing force in this meta with amazing neutral matchups, especially in the zero shields, but also some customizability. And um it's not so oppressive that you can't find context to it. And I appreciate that about it.
00:47:30
Speaker
I think that encountering the Claude Sire with Sludge Bomb is kind of how it used to feel when you play like Galarian Stunfisk and you face off against a zoom roll and you're like, oh, you know, it's going to be a play rough. Oh, it's just an ice beam. No big deal. And then pump, pump it up. Here comes the hydro pump and it just destroys your HP. And and I had to actually, uh, almost a, a identical experience with, with Chestnut. I was playing it in GBL and I, and my opponent safes, which is Claude Sire and I go on Chestnut.
00:48:00
Speaker
like, ah, you know, throw me the stone edge, you know, give me the earthquake. This is just going to feel like ah a light breeze on a summer day. This is fine. And then bam sludge bomb. and And I lose like 75% of my health and I just couldn't believe it. I was like, are you kidding me? And now with the buff to poison sting, it actually farmed me down. And I was like, what is happening? Yeah. Like what is going on here? But, uh, yeah, I agree. I think that, that when you encounter Claude Sire, it's going to be like the hydro pump, Ozu of old. You're just going to say,
00:48:28
Speaker
the one time I don't want it to have such bomb um it's gonna have such bomb and and you also don't want to be the guy to shield the move that doesn't actually do all that much much damage like yes the other day so it's like okay if it's pump it's pump but Um, you you don't want to be shielding ice beams and you don't want to be shielding like resisted earthquakes or neutral stone edges necessarily. So, um, but yeah, that's, um, it will be a little different in the play, um, and the play Pokemon championship series just because of the open team sheets, right? yeah So, um, there won't be any surprises there, but still a lot of strategizing around the weaknesses and strengths of your team of six.
00:49:09
Speaker
Yeah, for all of our GBL fans that are are not sure about whether they should do play Pokemon or not, that's one of the benefits. Never get surprised by a sludge bomb ever again. Come play show six pick three, where there are open team sheets and you can see the move sets. It's definitely a ah huge benefit.
00:49:26
Speaker
But um the typing I think is really going to bust up two of the big three is ice. I think that ice versus Mandibuzz and Claude Sire is definitely powerful. I think it's highly underrated because a lot of the ice types ah you tend to lose to Feraligatr, whether you play Froslass, or Piloswine, or even Alolan Sandslash. You don't have a great for alligator matchup, but if you can square up one of those against Walrein or Clodsire, or excuse me, against Mandibuzz or Clodsire, Frody and Slip, then um then you definitely have a good situation. And the one pick that I like in particular right now is actually Walrein.
00:50:03
Speaker
Oh, that is interesting because um I was like just jotting down some um picks for some interesting typings that I wanted to talk about. And I have um noted down four ice types, but Walrind actually was not on my radar. Have you tried it in GBL or what makes it what makes it so enticing in your opinion?
00:50:26
Speaker
No, exactly. I definitely tried it in GBL. And when you are when you're in the Claude Sire matchup, you can go, if it has no no chip damage, you have to go triple Icicle Spear, or you can go Icicle Spear plus Earthquake. ah But when the Claude Sire is weak, you can definitely threaten the Earthquake.
00:50:42
Speaker
It also helps you against a lot of other Pokemon that are popular like other ice types like sand slash earthquake. Definitely hits pretty hard. And then the Mandibuzz matchup is definitely very palatable. And Walrain also does a relatively good job of helping you against the grasses that have kind of resurged into the meta. ah When Open Great League first rolled around, I was seeing a ton of jump love.
00:51:02
Speaker
And if my opponent had jump, love, Claude sire, then wall rain was just annihilating them, right? Just have to shield, uh, the energy ball. And you can eat a stone edge if you play the regular wall rain, uh, quite comfortably. So you can just kind of spam icicle spears and, uh, your opponent seems pretty helpless after a few of those.
00:51:19
Speaker
Yeah, I think like what makes swallowing really interesting is actually it's sub-typing of water. um I have a water ice on my um list here as well, which is Dugong. And why the reason why I picked Dugong is because it's it's so bulky and and it becomes even bulkier when you just get an icy wind debuff or two. um There's definitely the point to be made that icy wind debuffs might not be as impactful anymore now that the switch timer is reduced. um But like just in the head-to-head, you have win conditions against roll out dance baths, which is another big player that will we that we will see a lot um in Baltimore, I'm i'm fairly certain. ah Even though you always take um super effective damage, you can win the one shield and the two shield scenario there, is straight icy win.
00:52:11
Speaker
um So that is a reason why I thought Zhugong could be something. But what both of these have in common is that even though they don't have great matchups against Feraligatr, they still at least dwell the energy. Because a Feraligatr of energy can be just really annoying and difficult to deal with. and even like Because any gaming situation that you encounter will be a dynamic one.
00:52:38
Speaker
um And of course, sometimes you might just need a Pokémon that can can eat two Hydros without really thinking too much of it. And Jugung is one of these Pokémon, and I think Boiran can also be.
00:52:52
Speaker
And what I like about your wall rank pick is also how it outpaces um the superior to, um it's like a hard hitting frenzy plant, like yeah it's five to any icicle spear, um but it's six, six, five to frenzy plant. So if you're just in the head to head there,
00:53:10
Speaker
um It's not as dominant, it's not as easy for the superior to get out of that, especially when shields are up and you can really ah ramp up that powder snow damage. So yeah, I think Wong-Rai does have some play, um but I think it's still It still carries the the stigma of being a double-nerfed Pokémon with the nerfed Isokosphere and the nerfed Earthquake. It doesn't mean that these moves are bad, but people still feel a certain way about Walrein. And it's also one of the more baity Pokémon when you really need the Earthquake.
00:53:44
Speaker
So I wonder whether there's like consistency concerns. I haven't really seen it pop up a lot. um But I see how the ceiling is pretty high if you get the baits right.
00:53:56
Speaker
um Another Pokémon that we talked about is Alolan Sandslash, which is um and another Pokémon that I like just because it's so customizable. um Because you can run it shadow, you can run it non-shadow, you can run it um with Shadow Claw, you can run it with Powder Snow.
00:54:16
Speaker
And whereas last season I think um Shadow Claw Shadow alone in Sandslash was um your your pick-off choice because you had a relatively solid lantern matchup you still did well enough into um Blyga and such. um And you could even like, this is like not a scenario that happened a lot of times, but you still did super effective damage to an Annihilape. So if the Annihilape is low, you can farm it down before taking too many counters. But yeah, now I think PVPoke actually recommends the non-shadow, how does no alone land sand slash. And the non-shadow does two things.
00:54:58
Speaker
um I think it makes it so that you still maintain the win over Zoomeral at least in the one shield, even without Shadow Claw.
00:55:09
Speaker
um And also, you will live a an earthquake from Cloudsire without getting fumped down, because Poison Sinks are double will resisted. yeah So this actually makes it fairly comfortable in that particular matchup. And you also want the Powder Snow for the Mandibuzz, because you have loose conditions if you're on Shadow Claw.
00:55:31
Speaker
And yeah, apparently we are switching from shadow Pokemon with shadow Claw to no shadows whatsoever, just regular old A-slash with Powder Snell. Yeah, i'm I'm interested to... I don't know whether that will be reflected in the usage immediately, because people might just be sticking with what they're familiar with, and that might be the old flavor of Sand Slash.
00:55:55
Speaker
I think you, you made a really interesting point and and you kind of grazed on this point briefly, but I want to go back and, and actually triple down on it.
New Opportunities for Emerging Pokémon
00:56:03
Speaker
Uh, you mentioned that, uh, shadow low and sand slash with shadow claw could beat annihilate if it was weak enough. Well, guess what? There's no more annihilate. There's no more Vigaroth. The only counter user you might see is polywrath. And then the karate choppers, you know, Pokemon like Machamp.
00:56:20
Speaker
Uh, are, are not that durable or flexible or as dynamic as even, you know, the Pokemon of old, like metacham, of course, being one of the bulkiest Pokemon of the whole format, you don't have to deal with those anymore. So I think that the absence of fighting type pressure also is going to make sand slash incredibly dynamic because you don't have to worry about, you know, Oh, my sand slashes in the back, they have metacham. This is game over. It's not, it doesn't feel that way anymore. Looking at example teams, looking at the meta overall.
00:56:50
Speaker
So you have to find more neutral ways to counter it, whether it be mud slappers or the occasional fire type like a Talonflame. Those Pokemon might actually be ah requirements when we look at the overall meta in order to counter Steel and in particular Shadowlone's Sandslash.
00:57:06
Speaker
It's just my opinion. I think it's a really powerful Pokemon. And yes, you can beat it neutrally with the occasional Dunsparce or Azu. But at the same time, I think that it's more safe now than it's ever been in in the ah Great League meta. Yeah, I definitely agree because Like you barely saw any teams that didn't have at least a counter user. I also, i'm I'm still a little bit undecided as to whether fire types, fire type usage will go down or up. um But we definitely can say that the meta environment changed in a way that's scattered which won't be around anymore.
00:57:47
Speaker
um So that also helps keep keeping a slash safe. And yeah, I think like the most. Annoying situation in Alolan Sandslash will be in next season is almost just the Feraligatte matchup and if you pair it like all the way back in my glory days when and I um played it in Barcelona as the shadow version, I paired it with um Shadow Venusaur a lot and now I don't think Shadow Venusaur is the best grass type right now
00:58:21
Speaker
um But just any grass type really help helps protecting an Alolan Sandslash from Pokemon-like Feraligatr. So I could see there be some course that are definitely interesting and make it so that A Slash finds its place in the meta. And I wouldn't be surprised to see it in the top 12 most used in Baltimore.
00:58:45
Speaker
And okay, I have two more ice types that I want to mention. Actually, we can go over these really quickly because I'm interested in your opinion. um The one is Abomasnow. Yes. And the other would be Octabax. What do you think of those two?
00:59:03
Speaker
um I'll start with Artibex. Artibex has a similar benefit that Sandslash does in the fact that there are fewer counter users. I guess Abomasnow does as well, but I feel like some of Artibex's toughest matchups were Poliwrath or Vigaroth or Annihilape.
00:59:19
Speaker
and um because there wasn't as much charm ah present in the meta last season until you could argue and tell worlds and wiggly tough, right? But Arctobax is really interesting because I think the dragon will also will always have a place in the Open Great League meta. I love the neutral play of Arctobax. It's such a fun Pokemon.
00:59:37
Speaker
um I know there's a debate about icy wind versus avalanche. And like you pointed out earlier, due to the reduction in switch timer, maybe the debuffing moves aren't as strong. And you know what? On dugong, you don't have the option to switch to avalanche. But on arctobax, you do. So I think arctobax is definitely an impressive one. um Its ability to beat for alligator neutrally and then also just drop avalanches on mandibuzz and clotsire might make it the most complete core breaker for the three, the big three.
01:00:06
Speaker
in my opinion. I think it's very, very strong. Uh, Obama Snow, another one that I've tried a lot in GBL. That's another pick I have. I have like a whole list of core breakers and, uh, Obama Snow definitely showed up on it. I think Obama Snow was super impressive when you see, uh, even Poison Sting Claude Sire needs to put in a lot of work to kill Obama Snow. In the meantime, if you're running weather ball, you can get what three, three weather balls off before two stone edges. And then you look at, uh, at jump, bluff, Amanda buzz, Obama's knows a ton of, of action there. I did some GBL matches where Obama's no solo the entire team. They would start. Yeah. They would start with like a gastron made safe swap to, you know, something like a Claude sire or, or something neutral, like for alligator.
01:00:49
Speaker
And I'd just be able to land the moves I needed to land, and then I'd just sweep the back. So I definitely think Abomasnow is going to be a big player. And i'm I'm surprised that not more people are talking about it. Yeah, and like the thing that I like about these two is also just resisting Hydro Cannon. With the Vamosno, just because of like the oppressive pacing from Feraligatr, it doesn't always result in a safe win in that matchup. I think your best bet is probably still going to be the zero shields and just landing an energy ball.
01:01:22
Speaker
um But just like having the defensive utility like a Vanna Snow, it basically has some some nice roll cruome compression in that it has all the benefits of a grass type and like shutting down mudslap users, which is like another point like ground types will be strong even beyond CloudSire.
01:01:44
Speaker
Um, but it doesn't come with, um, the problem that Pokemon like superior, which is a pure grass type would face, which is, um, it doesn't get shut down in the mandibles. So I do believe that Obama snow just has this, this niche that it just forces.
01:02:08
Speaker
your opponent to run a certain Pokemon and to not rely on um some specific course that they might have wanted to rely on. I think that's really valuable. With Octobux, I just like um the the mileage that you can get out of it if you just protected really well because I think like Dragon Breath is in a fairly strong place right now and Aktivac's coverage like the energy that you generate with it also just has a lot of places to go just because of ice being such a strong um offensive typing and Avalanche being
01:02:42
Speaker
one of the best moves so i think like octobux players should be looking into um saving shields for it or maybe even catching some moves to keep the octobux healthy because uh there's very few pokemon like azu comes to mind but other than that there's not really a lot of pokemon that can really wall it off and um yeah just just beat it out right if it has an energy or shield advantage so um yeah i think that's the only one that i'm personally considering I'm so glad you brought it up. A fun fact about Arctobax as well is that um I barely know anyone who has a level 50 Bax caliber, but if you have a ton of Fridgey Bax candy and you want to try something spicy, the Arctobax actually maxes out, I believe, in the 2400s in Ultra League.
01:03:30
Speaker
So ultra league level 50 arctobex could be a menace as well. I have. Okay. This is, I got very, very lucky with trades. Um, I have a lucky handle that is already, um, it's not level 50 because I don't have the XLS, but it's already a backscalibor and ah it beats some rockets for me at times. But I also have another handle that was just a random trade that wasn't even a lucky.
01:03:56
Speaker
um But it turned out to be just another handle, and maybe I'll i'll look into Ultra League Octobacks for that one. But yeah, another... Okay, almost forgot forgot to mention that fun fact, but if you're up against a Karate Chopper with Octobacks and don't throw a move, you can just shield twice and farm it all the way down. This is how bad your matchup against Fighting Types is now. You just win the two.
01:04:23
Speaker
Oh my gosh. I forget who I told this to, but, uh, and you can double check me on this if you want to, but I'm almost positive that shadow, a lowland Doug trio with mudslap will beat Machamp in the twos.
01:04:41
Speaker
Yeah. which is absolutely mental yeah It's mental. I don't understand it, but apparently it works. So I don't know. Some of our, our, our SIM experts will definitely check on that for us. theyre really having an Unprecedented times. I feel like we've, we've touched on core breakers. I have like a whole list here and, uh, I know you have some spicy picks that you want me to react to as well. Uh, do you care if I just fire off my, my list? Yeah, please do. All right. We're going to start with the double D's. We've got diggers be and done sparse.
01:05:13
Speaker
We've also got Greninja, Piloswine, Walrein, Abomasnow, Jumpluff. I think that Tropius also has a lot of potential, as well as Gogoat. And I played some GBL matches with Laurentus, and Laurentus was really fun as well. And my final two are Townflame and Ariados.
01:05:34
Speaker
Okay, so so okay just just to make sure, which category do these fit in? Is it is it core breakers? or is it these are These are core breakers, but I feel like some of them are spicy, so I'm going to say core breakers. Okay, I just needed to to make sure. So Talonflame, I have strong opinions about. it um I love Talonflame in the Go Battle League. I think Talonflame is one of ah the strongest Go Battle League Pokemon in the Great League right now. I i was seven days into the season and my Talonflame Chestnut core helped me hit veteran. This is how good these Pokemon are. um However, I think Talonflame is not good in Show 6.
01:06:26
Speaker
Whoa. Because like in the robot league, you will encounter a lot of mudslap users. You had the whole some underscore team as it is known, which is an Alolan Sandslash and then um a Kanto Marowak, which is actually like sneaky good. If if you have a shadow, ah you have like some really good two shields match ups with that and a Gastrodon, which is like, Oh, you just.
01:06:53
Speaker
Basically, it's like an inverse Bastiodon. It's like almost the same name. It's two letters removed. And it's like exactly as polarizing, but it beats Bastiodon. It's like, oh, it's it's like yeah the villain to, no, it's the hero. It's the anti-villain. Yeah, it's exactly, exactly. If you've known anti-heroes, now this is the first anti-villain. It's Bastiodon and beats Bastiodon. But it also beats Claude Zaire and just has a really polarizing matchups, but It's like Gastron is a water type that loses to the fire type Talonflame because Talonflame uniquely has this flying sub typing, which makes it resist the mud steps rather than take super effective from it. So you see those types of Pokemon in the Go Metal League, use Talonflame to counter them. In Show 6, however, you see Feraligator, not a good time. You get outpaced heavily in one shot by a Hydro Cannon.
01:07:47
Speaker
Cloud Sire, a little more playable, but still, you get one shot if they have a Stone Edge. Dance Bars, very strong neutral pick that will be on a lot of teams and rollouts hurt. This is basically a rock type dressing up as a normal type. You don't want to and you don't want anything to do with that really.
01:08:05
Speaker
yeah And then there's other Pokemon like Azu. okay like If you have like Fly Brave Bird, you can win the Zero Shields. But do you really want to try? It's just like your Azu answer. like I just think that with Talonflame specifically, you will have so many scary Pokemon every single time. It doesn't mean it can't do anything. i think ah like I wouldn't be surprised to even see one Top Cut in Baltimore. But I don't think it's the best Fire type in Show 6. It'll hint to to what smile is later on.
01:08:36
Speaker
um so Greninja was actually also on my spice list. yeah and I think it looks really good on paper, just because um the old saying that Martijn established earlier in this podcast that, okay, ah you want to be at least going into two out of three of the top threats. Greninja is arguably good into all three.
01:09:01
Speaker
Um, which immediately makes it viable just because those Pokemon are likely to be around. And it doesn't really have to worry all that much about the, um, like fighting types in the meta either. Just because there aren't all that many and it's very easy to just get ahead on energy with Greninja and basically one shot the new fighters. Um.
01:09:24
Speaker
But I think Ninja will run into stat product issues. um yeah So that might be a little iffy. um what What else did you have? What else was on the list? I so i probably still have more opinions, but there was so many Pokemon. Gogoat, still banned. Don't run it.
01:09:40
Speaker
Don't run it. Okay. okay you You will get disqualified if you run GoGo in an official event. It's only been um available through Safari Zones and those are too exclusive to actually make it a release worthy of um yeah like just letting it roam free in the championship series.
01:10:00
Speaker
i really I really like Tropius. I think Tropius is a little bit faster than Jump Luft, but it has the same coverage and you're able to eat a Stone Edge from Claude Sire and get off some Leaf Blade actions. I think there's a lot of play there. Tropius is just interesting. i think I think it's not good. I really want it to be good. um Too much ice.
01:10:29
Speaker
Yeah, I think i think ice, like we've we've had a whole segment about ice types. Cloudside are now running the super effective um poison sting rather than the triple resisted mudshot. For Alligator having the ice beam coverage and Mandibust just whirling it off completely.
01:10:48
Speaker
like if we go back to our requirement of beating two out of three. I don't i don't think it does that necessarily. And it's also like a lot more clunky and slow than jump love, which it competes with for a role. And with jump love, you actually like I'm not a big Jumpla fan. I actually think Jumpla is quite overrated just because its matchups are really volatile. like If you're ahead on energy, um you're probably good. But if you're even down slightly on energy, um or if you like get bait calls wrong, you might even lose to a Feraligatr without even landing a charge attack, and that's not a fun time for you.
01:11:32
Speaker
I agree with that. So yeah, that is that is very risky. The one thing that Jumpthoff does is that the shadow beats Mandibuzz and the one shield and the two shield scenario. So that is actually quite fun. The buffed fairy winds actually do something there.
01:11:46
Speaker
is it Is it acrobatics or is it aerialase? Acrobatics, right? I think it's straight aerialase. I might have to correct myself next episode if I was wrong about that, but I think there's fairly reliable ways of um dispatching of Mandy buzzes um if you're the shadow jumper.
01:12:06
Speaker
But yeah, not a big believer on those graph um grass and flying types just because of their ice vulnerability and their being ice coverage on almost every team. Like even a zoomer on you don't win as a shadow jump love in the two-shield scenario because bubbles plus the ice beam will take you out.
01:12:28
Speaker
um So yeah, right this is fun. i like I like the coverage of it, and I also like that if you run it with Fury Cutter, you um have an insane matchup into Malama, which is another of these new Pokémon with like the buffed Psywave. What do you think about the Psywave animation? Because people have have had opinions on that.
01:12:49
Speaker
It's like ah it reminds me of Geomancy on Xerneas. It was just like when it first came out, it was just too much. There's just too much going on on the screen. ah But I'm so glad you brought up Malamar because a lot of people look at it as ah one of the one of the newest arrivals to the meta with the buff to Sighwave. Also, Sighwave is a very exclusive fast attack. I think there's only like five or six Pokemon that that can learn it in the current Great League meta. And I feel like to me personally Malamar its animation is fun you know it's cool to spam off the p side waves or whatever uh if you're if you're dishing them out it's not as cool to receive them but i think it's one of my biggest disappointments for this meta because yeah i mean people said it would be good i haven't seen that many in gbl and i when i do play it i'm not overly impressed although i haven't tried it in ultra league yet
01:13:36
Speaker
I don't know, I don't know if you agree. So I just built my Ultra League Malama and I've actually found some success with it and had a lot of fun with it. I think it's really flexible with how fast it charges, how quickly you can dip in and out of matchups and just do some damage, maybe do like a superpower self-debuff and just say goodbye, ah we'll we'll see each other in the next matchup.
01:13:59
Speaker
yeah um I think that was kind of quite ah quite fun, um but maybe the Ultra League meta is a little more suited towards it. I am yet to try it in Open Great League. I do want to play a practice tournament with it um fairly soon, so I'll report back after that. One thing that I will say is that I have seen um I think Softo sweep a 6-rounder with it in practice, so There is some evidence of Malama actually performing, even though we obviously don't know how much Malama action there actually was and whether it was all Ferala Gaita and Keltzai is doing.
01:14:37
Speaker
Yeah. Yeah. I agree. Well, I think that, that pretty much exhausts my spice list. A couple other Pokemon that were, were disappointing. I thought that, uh, Farathorm is a bit disappointing and I find, uh, low kicks to be definitely disappointing. I know it was kind of a meme to start with, but it, uh, the sucker punch buff helped it a bit, but I think it's typing really betrays it, but it's pretty much. it's pretty much all okay Yeah. thats too Yeah.
01:15:02
Speaker
ah I found low kicks actually a little annoying to deal with in GBL just because Sucker Punch as a fast move is so oppressive, but um like, especially with like the Trailblaze combination, but it's it's arsenal of charge attacks isn't all that impressive just because even though Exeter is a good move, Bug Type doesn't hit all that much for like meaningful damage. And while Trailblaze helps with getting your attack up,
01:15:32
Speaker
it It itself as a move is still somewhat underwhelming just in terms of dealing damage. I think it's balanced now, whereas before it was just plain bad. But yeah, low kicks probably... like I think we'll see a low kicks top cut before the end of um ah November. Really?
01:15:49
Speaker
Yeah, but I think it was like one or two. I think like somebody will like, we're talking like top 16s here. And if we have enough tournaments, I think we'll see like one or two people make low kicks work. Um, but I definitely don't think it will move any further than like, I don't know, shared thirteenth and like a medium sized regional. I don't think and i I don't know. Sorry. This that might be your hottest take so far. I, we I remember the the Shadow Hippodon guy in Bologna. If that is possible, I remember the Shadow Gyrodos guy at Worlds. That was a thing. i't I have no memory of that. Don't don't know him. Never heard of him. like I'm not personally a big Low Kicks fan, but I have seen it being annoying. so um yeah i can I can see some potential there.
01:16:39
Speaker
One Pokemon that I want to say will be a really big player, even though it's a little difficult to team build around it, is Stig SP. Because Stig SP, I think it's just like the best Cloud Zion answer we have. You win that down a shield.
01:16:53
Speaker
um It is super bulky, it is very neutral into almost everything. um You can pick and choose whether you want Fire Punch to have a fighting chance against grasses, or whether you want Hyper Beam to be a little better into Mandibuzz. But yeah, overall I just believe that Digispie is a very, very strong Pokemon that only really has to fear um a zoom roll. The odd ice type, depending on what type of ice you're you're looking at, like if you have Fire Punch and are up against an A stash or an Obama Snow, you're probably still okay there.
01:17:27
Speaker
um And what else hurts it? Yeah, like probably grasses, probably like a superior is not great for it. But other than that, I think it has play into just about everything. And um will we'll see some in Top Cut for sure. Like I would be very surprised if we didn't see any Digaspy Top Cut in Baltimore. Another Pokemon. Okay, but just just briefly, I think Digaspy Toxapex is actually a really good core. Toxapex?
01:17:54
Speaker
is a little difficult to use because you will have to um have protections against CloudSayer. CloudSayer will be on basically every team. um And Toxapex, even though it can hit back with Brine, it's still Brine, it's still very slow. But other than that, it has so many good matchups. that's actually so It shuts down fire types, it's good into grasses, it completely annihilates Azumarill.
01:18:19
Speaker
That's actually in it. It's really good against fighters too. Like the occasional Machamp or chest knot. It's really ironic. He mentioned, uh, toxics, uh, diggersby because I was actually playing a team in GBL to start the season. That was toxapex lead diggersby safe swap and shadow bomb a snow in the back.
01:18:36
Speaker
See, it looks like you're a good team builder. This is good news. um Interesting. Yeah, i think I think they really complement each other quite well. And another fun fact about, okay, two fun facts about Malama matchups. Malama only does two damage per side wave against a high-rank toxapex, because toxapex has a defense stat in the 200s.
01:19:02
Speaker
And that is so bulky that it reduces the um damage of a move that neutrally does like three damage to a Pokemon with average defense stat to just two damage even though it's super effective. This is how Malama actually loses all evils against a high rank Toxapex.
01:19:25
Speaker
um So, not good news for Malama and Joyus. Good news for Malama and Joyus, however. um If you are up against an Azumarill, even though you're only du resisted um and though you only do a resisted charge attack damage, you actually win the two shields straight to all play. So, it's say it's it's like always like, ah you Malama, give it, Malama, take it away.
01:19:52
Speaker
um So yeah, this this is a Pokemon that um people would definitely look into because it has um some non-obvious matchups that all and you might be able to capitalize on, but you might also have to play around because it's just a little underwhelming here and there. fair But yeah, Toxypax, another one that just excels by means of stat product, and that's basically all there is to it. Brian, not a good move.
01:20:22
Speaker
also quite so. um But I have more spice picks. So i think I think I'll do five spice picks and I'll start with the one that I personally think will have the hardest time succeeding, but I have seen people succeed with it already. And that is Dragapult. Have you encountered a Dragapult in GBL already? i I've not battled one, but I've seen ah Daniel Zaniri and I've seen, I believe it was PokeGains as well, both of them battle with it. And it looks really, really good, especially with the buffed Astonish. It's, ah I don't know, I think it's, I think it's, it's formidable. It's definitely a fun addition to the Dragon family.
01:21:09
Speaker
Yeah, I have seen, um like, I have seen, I think it was, I think that's either Dutch or Belgian, but I want to say Dutch, but I also don't want to discriminate if it's, if I'm wrong. Weiland1234 managed to get a five and one in a six round a practice tournament with the Dragapult.
01:21:29
Speaker
And um like you might say, oh, I don't know whether he used it or not. I played against him. I lost against him. And he brought Dragapult at least twice, maybe even all three games I don't remember exactly. But wow that thing is difficult to to deal with. like If you don't have a dedicated counter to like um a very aggressive, astonished user that gets to breaking swipes every few seconds, then you will struggle against Dragapult. Because Dragon as a typing is just really quite strong.
01:21:59
Speaker
And um same as Giratina Origin um in the past season, this is a Pokemon that doesn't really fear the premier fairy type in Azumarill just because you resist the bubbles and you get to your shadow ball and do big damage.
01:22:16
Speaker
so Dragapult actually has a niche. and Yeah, I think I saw LNDS Oreo also use it to quite some success in the same practice tournament. People are experimenting with it, and I really want to see it in action just because I'm a big fan of the design, like the thing shooting its kids to injure the opponent. I don't know who came up with that, but um apparently this is like from the Gala region, so maybe it's like a British tradition. I don't know.
01:22:46
Speaker
um Yeah. Okay. So that was for spice pick. Yeah. Okay. and Do you want to add anything to add? I don't want to cut you off. No, no, I just want to flex. So, uh, so since this season has started, I think we are what, um, nine days into the season, if it started on the third, I, I have had three of my daily spawns in nine days. So 33% of my daily spawns since the season began were dreepy.
01:23:16
Speaker
Jesus Christ. I have never had a single repeat alien spawn. Yeah. So I'm, I'm rolling in the drippies.
Casting in Baltimore and Drag Report
01:23:23
Speaker
So much maybe it's a sign, maybe, maybe the first, like the first regional where you are casting, I know you're casting Baltimore and I'm looking forward to it, but the first year you don't cast. You have to run drag report and prove how good it is. I like it. I like that thinking. I don't have a good idea. I don't have a good IV spread yet, but I'm going to try to reroll some in Baltimore and hopefully I get a better one. So we'll see. yeah But anyways, sorry. Sorry to just distract. I just had to flex.
01:23:49
Speaker
I like talking about obscure dragon types. I might have named myself after an obscure dragon type.
Ariados's Role in the Meta
01:23:57
Speaker
Another Pokemon that people have been talking about and I'm so-so on um right now is Ariados.
01:24:06
Speaker
Do you think Arya knows how to play? I think, so against the big three, it doesn't have a lot of play. But as we famously talk about, there's meta, there's anti-meta, and then there's counter anti-meta. And I think that the Arya dose totally disrupts all of the anti-meta picks.
01:24:28
Speaker
ah So if you if you think of the meta as being Feraligatr, Abomasnow, Clodsire, and you think about the counter meta being Pokemon like Abomasnow, a Jumpluff, and Greninja, then Ariados is going to beat the counter meta, but it will suffer against the actual meta. So it's like staying one step ahead, but I don't know exactly how viable it will be because it does have such awful matchups against some of the top dogs.
01:24:55
Speaker
Yeah, I think you're actually spot on with but that assessment. I think that, like, I think Azu will be around a lot and... It definitely has a good matchup there. And I think that even for alligator, it's actually beatable if you win CMP with a trailblaze. So there's some potential there, but it just feels so helpless into a cloud sire. It is not great into mandibles either. And I just think that you might be like, if you have Ariados on your team,
01:25:26
Speaker
You have to make really good calls and predictions as to where to bring it. um It's valuable if you can establish it as a thread relatively like in a way that doesn't cost you a game because then it makes like grass types, Azumarill, that kind of Pokemon more risky for your opponent to bring. And it's not easy to find a good grass type counter in this matter.
01:25:49
Speaker
um and unless you really want to go down the the Manda bus route. But again, that also opens yourself up to to some rock, paper, scissors scenarios. So Ariados is like one of the things that can work in that role. But I don't think it will be the one Pokemon that people will be gravitating towards going forward. I think people will try it and I think people just like the quick pacing and yeah like, like, like Ariados, it's, it's such an old-school Pokemon, like second generation and has been around in Go for a while. It was like somewhat usable like two or three years ago. I think it'd be the Registeal on stream once, but and yeah, I think, I think people are happy that it's kind of back, but it won't be so back that it wins the original. I don't think Ariados is, is a champion, unfortunately.
01:26:42
Speaker
Yeah, another bug tag might be. Another bug tag might be.
Araquanid's Strengths and Challenges
01:26:46
Speaker
So if I told you that the following Pokemon has been endorsed by um Jason, the GBL guy who always finishes first page leaderboard, oh and UIC champion, Emmy Weedle, would you think that that Pokemon might have a shot at being the real deal?
01:27:09
Speaker
And it's a bug. It is. um I honestly like I just got total total brain blank. I don't know. I don't know any other bugs outside of ah of charge bug for Tristan area does. OK, I will I will teach you a new bug because it is a rock when it it is the water spider spider itself. It is. Oh, come on. Buck bite bubble beam. Oh, come on. Annoying bulky thing.
01:27:38
Speaker
it You know, it'll eat. It'll eat for alligator, but it'll get speared by Stone Age and Amanda Buzz will just pick it apart. I mean, come on. Be be real. Be honest. Why is there's too many rock, too much rock pressure, right? You've got a Dunsparce in the meta. You've got roll out like you looky. Come on.
01:27:56
Speaker
Yeah, I think it might be more of a GBL thing as well. But I can see just those those players that really know how to read a line and um how to build a team around it. I can see it do well. It has the book to succeed. um That's true. And with like the slightly buffed water pools from like a season ago, it's a little cheaper. um It has that move to hit back against the cloud side. It's still not a good matchup. but Maybe you'll live like a stone at your two. I don't know. Just bubble beam first. um it's It's not a Pokemon that is for me, I have to say. But I think it obviously demolishes Malama if that becomes a thing. um It walls for alligator like no other Pokemon can. likewamp there's There's other Pokemon that walls for alligator.
01:28:46
Speaker
Still, like, and there's a niche for it. And I think some people will actually make something out of that. But yeah, it's it's very delicate. um I think it will ah ah improve upon um some of its previous runs, though. I think, I don't know whether we ever had a raccoon at regional champion. But we definitely had a couple of top fours in the past. um Famously one at LAIC, I'm pretty sure. It might have been Steiner's run.
01:29:15
Speaker
So yeah, I think I think this is just too beloved a Pokemon by so many top players that I can't see no good Iraq when it plays for the upcoming season. Yeah, I agree. I think the word you used delicate. I think that's the perfect word for it.
Exploring Shadow Pokémon Viability
01:29:32
Speaker
But go ahead. Okay, two more. We're we yeah we're almost through it. um Okay, this is a personal favorite of mine.
01:29:39
Speaker
um So we want to beat the big three, right? yeah What if I told you that I have a Pokemon that resists Snarl and Dark Pulse and does neutral in return while being fairly bulky, that double resists Shadow Claw and tanks a Hyrule no problem while winning all events against Shadow for Alligator, and also comes out on top in the neutral matchup against Cloudseye and the one shield and two shield scenario. Would that be a good Pokemon, Speedy?
01:30:07
Speaker
It sounds powerful. Sounds very powerful. Feast your eyes on Shadow Alolan Raticates. This is the missing puzzle piece in my talent-claimed chestnut core team that got me to battle in seven days. It's Shadow Arat. It's so goofy. I have like a rank five or something, so I wanted to make use of that at some point. I caught that Pokemon, by the way. It's just like...
01:30:36
Speaker
if you If you look at where it was caught, um it's from it was during a North America trip of mine, and I caught it in Boston. and I caught it ah because like I'm typically a Boston local, right? um And I caught it the same day I caught my Shadow Gyarados, because that was um a shadow event that happened on that day. Oh, I see. it' This is like really, really good value for time, in that sense, that I played a lot of Pokémon Go on that day. And yeah, this Raticate has had so many great neutral matchups. that Like with Quick Attack, Crunch, and type of thing, it has a very solid move set. And yeah, it's just...
01:31:22
Speaker
It's just so neutral because even against Azumarill, there's wind conditions like just like catch the last move and you basically come out with full health and almost a move loaded. Like it's really, really close on two shields.
01:31:36
Speaker
um or even like if you get crunch bait after you land the first type of thing, you're threatening it. um So it has play into its counters. It has play against the big three. And there's not that many karate choppers. So yeah i think I think the red can be something. I don't think it has caught on. I also think that it has just so many normal types to compete with. Like Dunsparce and Digger's Bee will probably be the big two.
01:32:04
Speaker
But the rat is waiting in the shadows and um definitely ready for its big moment eventually. I think that to your point, a lot of people are going to be more comfortable with a single weakness to fighting versus a double weakness to fighting and also fairy. So I think that might be one of the big differentiators, especially if a zoom roll is as prominent as we think it's going to be.
01:32:26
Speaker
I think that Alolan Radicate might have a tough time, but I honestly, I think Alolan Radicate has a much better shot to top cut than low kicks. I don't care if it's a top 16, top 32. I think the rat ah has has a lot more gas in the tank than ah than a low kicks does. So hey that's my personal opinion. yeah We just haven't had enough rat propaganda. This is like where I'm at. I think like low kicks because it's it's such a meme. People have been trying it out a lot. Whereas nobody has been talking about the rat. We need like a real rat law to lead the way here. We do. But yeah, maybe maybe sometime this season. Well, there's an election this year in the US. s So maybe rat for president, maybe we could start a campaign, a writing campaign.
01:33:15
Speaker
Oh God, yeah. It probably has a shot to beat a lot of the candidates. um oh I think one of the candidates is actually based on a Pokemon from Alola as well, so it wouldn't be the first. Well, yeah, yeah, that's ah that's a very good point. one One also sounds an awful lot like Kamala, the Koala Bear ah Pokemon. so But that's besides the point. I really like the the shadow, little eradicate pick a lot. I was actually looking at my inventory while you were talking about it. I have a rank of 122. It's a one 10 12. So I might be building my own rat in the new. Oh, I can definitely recommend it. Like you won't really be hard winning a lot of match ups, but you just have so much play into basically everything. Okay. It's true. I i have one more Pokemon. Okay. and Let's hear it.
01:34:12
Speaker
Okay, this is big because I'm going bold with my prediction. This Pokemon is going to win a regional this season. Ooh. It is Shadow Typhlosion. Oh, okay. Because I've been on about how I don't really believe in Talonflame all that much when it comes to Show 6 specifically, um just because of its matchups into Feraligatr and Claude Sire.
01:34:42
Speaker
If you have Typhlosion as your Fire type rather than a Talonflame, you obviously miss out on the benefit of the very positive Gasteron matchup. Instead, you have an Abysmal Gasteron matchup, but Gasteron, people run it in Show 6, but not to the extent they run Claude's Eye and Feraligatr, those kind of Pokémon.
01:35:01
Speaker
and um Against Feraligatr you actually win all even shields as long as you're on even energy and time your moves well. Because you pace the same and the Thunder Punch just knocks out. um So that is nice.
01:35:17
Speaker
And then there's Claude's Sire, where you would think, OK, that doesn't really look like a matchup that a Typhlosion can win. But if you land the Shadow Blast Burn, and depending on baits, you are going to land the Shadow Blast Burn, you will actually be able to just shield and um farm it all the way down. So there's wind conditions there, as long as you keep your two shields for Typhlosion.
01:35:42
Speaker
And yeah, especially if you get a ahead on energy with it, it is so good. It has such great utility against ice types. It is good into grass types. It doesn't really enjoy a roll out dance boss all that much. It doesn't really enjoy a zoom roll all that much, but it's not entirely helpless. It can still chip it or even beat them with a shield advantage. So I think Shadow Typhlosion is a Pokémon that I saw really catch on in a lot of practice tournaments already. I think it won two in the very first week of the chemical practice tournaments, so I would be almost more surprised if it didn't take original title this season.
Baltimore Event Predictions and Season Excitement
01:36:23
Speaker
Oh, okay. I think, I think you outlined it really well. I think the Feraligatr matchup in particular is something that so many fire types struggle against. We talked about town flames viability and show six and how, if you can see it coming, it's a lot less intimidating might be a GBL hero, but Typhlosion actually provides you one of the rarest coverage types in the overall meta. And in a meta where ice is more popular, where grass is resurgent, where, you know, a blast burn is going to hit incredibly hard no matter what matchup you're in.
01:36:52
Speaker
Shadow Typhlosion might be the sauce. I mean, we saw how Stark play it at NAIC. And he told me backstage before he went on on for his stream match, he said, I said, Well, man, Shadow Typhlosion, he looked at me dead in my eyes, right in my retinas. And he said, it's not a good Pokemon. But ah But it's great pressure. And I said, OK, OK, we'll see what happens. But it might be the return of Shadow Typhlosion. But I think the meta has shifted in in its favor for sure. Oh, that's true. Yeah. but Less ah less's Gligar, less Mud Boys. I think the Mud Boys are really holding Typhlosion back. Like you pointed out, no Quagsire, no Wiscash. Maybe Typhlosion can come to play. I think like the the amount of dragons will also be a little like make or break for it because it doesn't like the dragons a lot.
01:37:40
Speaker
True, and that's why a lot of people were playing Skeletor's, right? So they could fire disarming voice against the Dragons. Exactly. Like, win win the zeroes against Altaria. I think now, like, Gudra will probably be the main dragon. Yeah, that's going to be a little more difficult.
01:37:54
Speaker
Yeah. So that was an awesome list of spice picks. I mean, I think everyone, uh, has high expectations when it comes to spice, uh, from you, but I think that all those expectations are met. Um, because we're running a bit long, I think we should do some hot takes for Baltimore and then maybe wrap it up. How do you feel?
01:38:12
Speaker
Oh yes. Hit me with them. All right. I'm going to give you two. My hot takes are one that a Greninja will be in the top four of the, uh, of the placements in Baltimore. I don't think it'll win, but I think it'll be top four. My second hot take is that, uh, house Stark will finally get his second regional championship victory. And he will repeat as the champion in Baltimore.
01:38:38
Speaker
that's That's fairly hot. It's a fairly hot take. OK, so I think my Greninjo will be Shadow-type Lotion. I just really believe in it in this current meta environment. and Yeah, I would just and which is match your prediction and say, OK, it will take home a medal. I hope CrimsonK19 will also take home a medal, but that remains to be seen. Hopefully fourth place.
01:39:08
Speaker
And I also think that there will be a little bit of a repeat happening in that the first regional championship of the season is going to be won by Vadash. No way. I knew you were going to say it. I knew it. I don't even know whether that I necessarily I believe that will be the case 100%, but I think it would be such a cool storyline to basically see the return with another title. And yeah, I'm just really curious to to see who comes out of out on top out of all of these trainers that, first of all, I have no experience with this format just yet.
01:39:52
Speaker
and also carry over their storylines from from last season and just have something to prove or maybe just like bring a signature Pokemon again that might be better now, might be worse now. um it's It's going to be so exciting to watch. I can't wait for the championship series to be back.
01:40:13
Speaker
And who knows, maybe maybe the real surprise will be somebody we haven't even had on our radar yet. Because I think with Worlds and with this new fresh meta update, that might also have been a motivation for people to give Show 6 a go, to give play Pokemon um tournaments a go, that haven't really tried their luck at competing in the past. And I would definitely be down for that.
01:40:38
Speaker
I think you nailed it. I think that the overall community sentiment for the meta, for play Pokemon in general, is probably at its highest point in a very long time, maybe since we first started. I think it's it's not been this exciting to see a brand new meta and to see how these trainers adapt. so There's definitely going to be fireworks on stage in Baltimore. Going to be a really fun time. I'm honored and excited to bring in this 2025 season with the first regional of the season. But I know that the EU and and their events will not be far behind. So always exciting to see how these events develop and how the meta develops across regions. And then, yeah, I mean, it's only been a few weeks since Hawaii, but we're already right back in it. So can't wait to get started.
01:41:22
Speaker
Yeah, looking forward to it and I'll meet you again for the post Baltimore discussion in a week. Sounds like a plan, my friend. Thank you so much, everybody. Let us know what you think about the meta. If you're watching this on on X, go ahead and leave us a comment about what you think. And if you are listening on Spotify or Apple Music or Apple Podcast, I should say, then ah send us or myself a message. Let us know what you think. We'd love to hear from you. Thank you so much, everybody. I can't wait for Baltimore and beyond. And I will catch you after that.