I think it was a matter of the devs sitting down and asking "Does the benefits of IV's (customization of certain attack interactions and turn orders) vs the downsides (you need to build a pokemon from the ground up vs just catching a pokemon and then playing champions with it) and decided that players should be able to play with their favorites once they evolve them/teach them moves. Because that showcases the skills of a trainer ON THE SURFACE rather than invisible numbers most players don't even know about.
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Pokémon Champions - releasing April 8, 2026
- Thread starter Codraroll
- Start date
Honestly I think it mostly came down to "the use case for having 0 IVs is very limited (& exclusive to like 2 stats of 6) and the use case for having non-perfect IVs is even more limited on top of that". Like that entire pages of conversation kind of highlighted it, it's very limited in general grand-scheme use case and even more limited in the most top level of top level players.
We only have that list based on Pokemon people saw at preview events, the full scope is unknown.
I was wondering, now that we do have a Champions OU, how will it be compared to the real game? Unlike SV, there isn't both a 6v6 & BSS option as far as I'm aware, and right now it's bring 6 pick 6, so will there be a seperate tier for BSS that's for the in-game experience and the regulated Champions OU? (Obviously right now it isn't true to Champions, but reguardless I'd expect them to ban a few Pokemon if they do go the split route)
I do wonder how much there will be. I am thinking eventually they will update it for all types, probably add big batches annually until everything is added. And maybe add Wind/Waves Pokemon 6 or so months post release.
But for now? I do wonder if the number will be closer to 200, or closer to 500 day 1.
considering Champions is supposed to be where all competitive is instead of being on the particular new gen versions, they can't do the usual wait 6 months for home compatibility
vgc players are going to need the winds and waves pokemon in champions for events, unless they plan on the first 6 months of a new gen not being the new gen in the official format
Even so, removing IVs cut down the skill expression a bit and the options for stats. I think you should be awarded for knowing how the metagame operates and doing something to keep the game in your own control, and I don't think it's fair to force players to have Max attack for their Lunalas and Shadow Riders either. I'll deal with it because I know lots of people who want to play champions with me wouldn't get IVs, it's just a frustrating change imo. I get why they did it, it's fair.
ofcourse the mayor of the pokemon champions city's signature pokemon is Incineroar, who else would they use, lmao
10/10 choice, very funny
10/10 choice, very funny
I’m assuming that they’ll want their seasons to be varied and will have dex sizes similar to base games, maybe a bit less. 300-350 maybe?
I assume they’ll include all Pokémon in an evolutionary line. If not, it’ll probably be less.
Eventually they’ll have every Pokémon added because it allows them to play with their seasonal rules more.
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I do wish this game had a solo mode. If Master Duel can have a compelling solo mode this should as well smh.
Just give us various battle frontier / gimmicky things.
I don’t like the idea of everything being online with this game, I like to test drive things in solo modes to see how it plays.
Genuinely I feel like I have heard the usage of specific IVs as skill expression more in the last 7 or so pages than I have anywhere else over the last, i dunno. 10 years?
And it seems like they might only want to add Pokemon per regulation change so it could be like a month or more before the next "drop".
Maybe they cut the wait down to like 3 months, though. 5-6 is so excessive.
I think they've already said unevolved Pokemon (other than Pikachu, because of course) won't be in at launch.
And it seems like they might only want to add Pokemon per regulation change so it could be like a month or more before the next "drop".
You're not wrong but "They can use casual battles to prepare and learn the systems before stepping up their game in Champions!" is a logic I can see applied.
Maybe they cut the wait down to like 3 months, though. 5-6 is so excessive.
>Name the setting of the official battle simulator "Frontier"
>Apparently no single player content aside from live service slop daily missions
They're fucking with us, right
We don't actually know if 6v6 in private battles is going to be in or not, there is no evidence it's going to be in but also no real reason to believe it won't be aside from fearmongering.
In the worst case scenario where 6v6 does not exist OU probably ends up staying on SV, but I don't think that is going to happen.
Champions OU is probably going to feel different from traditional OU in a few subtle ways regardless, forced level 50 being one of them (incidentally this also kills another form of "skill expression" that does not exist in VGC, that being level 99 slow pivots, as well as meme FEAR strats). It also will change a lot more often than SV and previous tiers did, with new mons probably being dripfed with each new regulation rather than only with big DLCs, and active buffs and nerfs. And don't forget about Tera and Z moves coming later, this is probably going to be very controversial with people getting used at the beginning to playing with only Megas and Natdex experience teaching that every gimmick at once is incredibly chaotic.
As a side note even if OU is going to be a thing LC is going to be left on SV at launch, and even once they add the NFEs back it will feel VERY weird at level 50, unless they somehow add the classic level 5 LC as a specific game mode, which is something they could do I guess.
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Oh just wait until they see they have to deal with Dynamax in singles...
There is no way Dynamax isn't going to be banned on sight for Smogon rules unless it gets severely nerfed, and even then it may still be banned. For VGC/BSS I suppose players who play those semi-casually and dislike Dynamax are going to skip regulations where it is featured. I doubt we are getting to use every gimmick at once in ranked battle aside from some special regulation; having only four slots in VGC means that every mon on a team would get to use a gimmick which is probably something they don't want as a regular gameplay feature!
What I meant is that unlike Dynamax, Z moves and Tera have been "accepted" at large by the Smogon community in their respective generation, but Champions starting without them, and the chaos they can generate while coexisting with each other, will probably make them controversial once they are added back. Using Natdex as a reference Tera probably goes while Z moves will be spared a ban by nostalgic Alola uncs.
I accurately predicted Regieleki and Regidrago's stat spreads to a T when they were revealed, but never posted it anywhere so I never got to feel smug about it. This time I'm gonna post my predictions (and just says April Fools if I get everything wrong):
Friend Guard
Corrosion
Star Power (i.e. Huge Power)
Gonna jump on the Fairy Aura bandwagon, although after realizing Eternal Flower Floette's color palette is derived from Xerneas and Yveltal, I think they missed a huge opportunity to make her Fairy/Dark with an ability that combines both auras
Tough Claws
Aura Break
Drizzle
Either "Metallicize" or something specifically sound-related like Punk Rock/Liquid Voice
Sharpness
Defiant
Levitate
Bad Dreams, plus causes Dark Void to change into an attacking move like in PLZA
It launches its hands so as lame as it is, I'm gonna go with Long Reach
Psychic Surge
I think Klutz would be a funny way to give it functionally no ability while still being an improvement over Emergency Exit
Soul-Heart
Base Scovillain's design, stat spread, and Dex entries always made me think it should have some kind of gimmicky ability involving Physical & Special moves, like "all STAB moves function like Photon Geyser" or something in that vein
Toxic Debris
Gives a stat boost to non-Mega doubles partner
Thermal Exchange
No strong hunches one way or the other for the rest.
Friend Guard Corrosion Star Power (i.e. Huge Power) Gonna jump on the Fairy Aura bandwagon, although after realizing Eternal Flower Floette's color palette is derived from Xerneas and Yveltal, I think they missed a huge opportunity to make her Fairy/Dark with an ability that combines both auras Tough Claws Aura Break Drizzle Either "Metallicize" or something specifically sound-related like Punk Rock/Liquid Voice Sharpness Defiant Levitate Bad Dreams, plus causes Dark Void to change into an attacking move like in PLZA It launches its hands so as lame as it is, I'm gonna go with Long Reach Psychic Surge I think Klutz would be a funny way to give it functionally no ability while still being an improvement over Emergency Exit Soul-Heart Base Scovillain's design, stat spread, and Dex entries always made me think it should have some kind of gimmicky ability involving Physical & Special moves, like "all STAB moves function like Photon Geyser" or something in that vein Toxic Debris Gives a stat boost to non-Mega doubles partner Thermal ExchangeNo strong hunches one way or the other for the rest.
when will the home update drop?
the maintenance is 12 hours long starting 20 minutes from now
HOME is now under maintenance. Expect Centro, Pory and the other accounts to drop datamine info momentarily
Being in maintenance doesn't mean anything without the app update from the store and the corresponding update data that'll (to my recollection) only be available after maintenance is done.
And the bulk of the data we're interested in is likely in the update data, not the app
There's also whatever server matt & friends have access to that lets them get image data, I suppose. But I've no idea what goes on with that thing.
Scovillain has flame body but guaranteed and all attacking moves