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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
Dying to know which pokemon that first person is talking about
...is that a serious question? Truly one can never tell on the internet.
Stunfisk, obviously
I don't like Pokemon for being good competitively per se, but when I use Pokemon competitively (because they're good) I usually start liking them more and more. I never would've called Slowking-Galar one of my favorites, but from playing it in Gen 8 OU, I've become very fond of it. Dragapult's a beast in OU and the TCG, and every game I play with it, I like the Pokemon more. Hell, much of my love for Necrozma stems from playing NDM in Ubers and AG.
Def chose the right thread to post this in, didn't I...
No but fr it's actually unexpectedly interesting to me to see what specific things people hold up as a reason you should like a Pokemon or not. I had someone once (IRL) react to me saying that I liked a particular Pokemon by saying "ew, it has a 4x weakness!" which to me was the weirdest reaction ever. Like ...don't a lot of dual-type Pokemon have a 4x weakness? Is that really reason enough to go "it's bad"? Does that make everything else about it irrelevant...? But then I'm far from a competitive player, my actual introduction to Smogon the website was me looking up my chosen team of six from Pokemon Pearl and going "oh, these are all considered UU? I guess all my favourites are pretty crap"
Really this exchange just made me laugh because it highlights that there are largely two camps I think most Pokemon appreciators fall into: "it's cute" and "it's strong". Or alternately "idk I just like it" and "I like it because [function]".
This dichotomy even comes up in Pokemon Go of all places: my two closest friends who play the game are a world-class PVP champion and a complete casual who barely knows the names of anything post-Kanto but will happily do any raid or quest because "the new thing is cute".
No but fr it's actually unexpectedly interesting to me to see what specific things people hold up as a reason you should like a Pokemon or not. I had someone once (IRL) react to me saying that I liked a particular Pokemon by saying "ew, it has a 4x weakness!" which to me was the weirdest reaction ever. Like ...don't a lot of dual-type Pokemon have a 4x weakness? Is that really reason enough to go "it's bad"? Does that make everything else about it irrelevant...? But then I'm far from a competitive player, my actual introduction to Smogon the website was me looking up my chosen team of six from Pokemon Pearl and going "oh, these are all considered UU? I guess all my favourites are pretty crap"
Really this exchange just made me laugh because it highlights that there are largely two camps I think most Pokemon appreciators fall into: "it's cute" and "it's strong". Or alternately "idk I just like it" and "I like it because [function]".
This dichotomy even comes up in Pokemon Go of all places: my two closest friends who play the game are a world-class PVP champion and a complete casual who barely knows the names of anything post-Kanto but will happily do any raid or quest because "the new thing is cute".
This is especially interesting because it's judging Pokemon for their competitive merit but from the perspective of someone who evidently does not actually play competitive. It's someone who in most regards likely falls into the "it's cute(/cool/etc.)" camp arguing from the "it's strong" viewpoint.
Tangentially, what is with the idea of UU indicating low strength? This could be me mostly being a Monotype player, where normally-Untiered stuff has a tendency to be vitally important, but UU is still above a lot of other mons. It's effectively B tier. Shouldn't the perception of "bad" be lower down?
There were only four tiers in DPP: Ubers, OU, UU, and NU. UU feels stronger nowadays since there are two more tiers below it.
Eh, personally the mons I like usually end up being being a coalition of numerous things. After all, my favorites list has many reasons, ranging between:
"I use this guy in competitive and has saved my butt many times!"
"I used this guy in a playthrough and came pretty clutch!"
"I like this fella's role in the game's story!" "I like this one's design! They're cute/badass!"
Or simply
"I just think they're neat!"
Not all of my favorites qualify to all those categories at the same, but I don't think it matters much. Variety is the spice of life after all! And personally, I just find having a single universal criteria to find favorites kind of boring. That's just my opinion though.
"I use this guy in competitive and has saved my butt many times!"
"I used this guy in a playthrough and came pretty clutch!"
"I like this fella's role in the game's story!" "I like this one's design! They're cute/badass!"
Or simply
"I just think they're neat!"
Not all of my favorites qualify to all those categories at the same, but I don't think it matters much. Variety is the spice of life after all! And personally, I just find having a single universal criteria to find favorites kind of boring. That's just my opinion though.
Well, I was a fair bit younger then. So it was as simple to me as "OU=strong" and "UU=weak". With NU being... "unspeakably terrible".
Man the power creep of modern generations is insane in that regard.
You're right, if you had told me a decade ago that those Pokemon would be NU in Gen 9, I wouldn't have believed it for a second.
You're right, if you had told me a decade ago that those Pokemon would be NU in Gen 9, I wouldn't have believed it for a second.
I hate to be a downer but I don't think Flygon was ever actually that good. Decent, but generalized stats and a lack of boosting options hold it back despite a good typing, ability, and movepool. It was reasonable in Gen 3 because of the lower general strength, and in Gen 4 because all of the good Dragons got banned. 
Some of those Pokémon falling off are pretty interesting, in particular Staraptor, which was in UUBL purgatory for like four generations.
(Edited for terminology/more correct info)
Some of those Pokémon falling off are pretty interesting, in particular Staraptor, which was in UUBL purgatory for like four generations.
(Edited for terminology/more correct info)
Also I believe Flygon was basically tailormade for Gen 3's Meta (absolutely ignores all the passive damage spam in a pre-Rocks era, which gives insane Longevity). New mechanics were just really hostile to the mon's initial debut strengths (much like the Phys/Spe split really didn't play nice with Gen 3's glut of "Mixed Attacker" distributions).I hate to be a downer but I don't think Flygon was ever actually that good. Decent, but generalized stats and a lack of boosting options hold it back despite a good typing, ability, and movepool. It was reasonable in Gen 3 because of the lower general strength, and in Gen 4 because all of the good Dragons got banned.
Some of those Pokémon falling off are pretty interesting, in particular Staraptor, which was in UUBL purgatory for like four generations.
(Edited for terminology/more correct info)
Flygon is a favorite of mine and I feel like it could still find things to do if they just updated its kit. As is its options sort of have a "pick your role" glue idea but everything you can pick is missing a puzzle piece.
For starters it needs Roost back. Spikes and Swords Dance are reasonable additions that would help it a lot but in most respects it would still be a worse Gliscor. I'm not sure anything short of, like, Thousand Arrows can save Flygon now.
The support set wants Defog and Roost back, basically. Spikes wouldn't fit the design TBH, but Recovery+Hazard Removal+Rocks+U-Turn+Levitate is god-tier.
The offensive sets...I mean, it already has Dragon Dance, STAB Ground/Dragon coverage, barely enough SAtk/moves to go mixed, Scale Shot, U-Turn...outside of steel or poison coverage, I don't think it's exactly lacking offensive options.
The real problem is just BST. 100 Atk/100 Spe doesn't cut it these days, and a 4x weakness to Ice is asking for trouble no matter the bulk. Power creep gotta power creep.
sorry if I'm killing more interesting topics with this, my new job doesn't even give me enough free time to post my ramblings here so I have random notes written down but I don't want to fill every tread so I will try to space my posts out a bit
Flamigo is awesome. I know it gives a very bad first impression but I find its design to be a cool subtle way of combining both a boxing glove and a plastic flamigo, it has the funniest name and I can't appreciate it enough for being a flamigo in the Spain region that is not just dancing flamenco. Sorry 90% of fakemon designers, that idea is not claver or unique at all and it isn't the awesome wordplay you think it is. Oricorio and Flamigo are both way better than that.
It also should be pointed out how its sermingly plan, basic design fits Larry so damn well
Flamigo is awesome. I know it gives a very bad first impression but I find its design to be a cool subtle way of combining both a boxing glove and a plastic flamigo, it has the funniest name and I can't appreciate it enough for being a flamigo in the Spain region that is not just dancing flamenco. Sorry 90% of fakemon designers, that idea is not claver or unique at all and it isn't the awesome wordplay you think it is. Oricorio and Flamigo are both way better than that.
It also should be pointed out how its sermingly plan, basic design fits Larry so damn well
Its plainness combined with Larry being just a guy is funny for sure, but this reminds me of a funny moment in the anime:
And Larry's Flamigo and Oricorio
Blank stare of two basic ass design birds...just no reaction to the explosion. Flamigo is just standing there looking with no emotion on its face as it's about to be blown to bits. They fucking accepted their fate LMAO. Just like Larry who gives no emotion to anything.
And then Flamigo fell down and fainted anyway LMAO. Same with Oricorio.
Flamigo's basic design shined in this one moment when it was combined with it and Oricorio giving the most non-emotional reaction to imminent death imaginable. No shock, fear, or anything. Just a basic blank stare. "Well this sure is a way to go down". Just like Larry and how little he reacts to things.
If I have any issue with Flamigo, it’s that its name is to similar to Flamingo. No seriously- I typed in Flamigo in Google and all I got were Flamingos with the engine insisting that was what I look for.