It would be a little insane, but what I actually would like is a fusion of Emergency Exit and Regenerator. Even if the Regenerator part is nerfed (for example, recovering just 15% of health), it would sinergize extremely well and simbolize the fact that Mega Evolution makes a Pokemon stronger at what it already does.
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Unpopular opinions
- Thread starter antemortem
- Start date
It would be a little insane, but what I actually would like is a fusion of Emergency Exit and Regenerator. Even if the Regenerator part is nerfed (for example, recovering just 15% of health), it would sinergize extremely well and simbolize the fact that Mega Evolution makes a Pokemon stronger at what it already does.
We are forgetting about its true name, "Tactical Positioning".
Don’t forget Archeops that has 145 Attack, 112 Special Attack and 110 Speed, balanced out (a bit too well) by Defeatist to reflect it’s clumsy, somewhat helpless nature.
Not sure what to think of what other Ability would fit Mega Golisopod other than an even more knee-capping Ability to go with the theme. Or if you want viability, then an Ability that seems detrimental but has a strong benefit as a trade-off this time.
I'm going to need you to clarify the unit of measure being used here because a million yen is significantly less money than a million USD. Especially since iirc the movie only had a theatrical release in Japan so that distinction very much matters.
Also, I feel like you are only looking at this from a specific angle and not considering other factors. Heroes was released at the end of Gen 2 in 2002. It had been 6 years since Gen 1 started in Japan. Pokémania was petering out and many kids had likely grown out of franchise. Those who did watch the movie may have done so on TV anyway or possibly DVD (via rental like I did or purchasing), which can obfuscate how successful it was.
Finally, I need to stress that financial success does not inherently indicate anything about perceived quality. The highly influential and regarded Citizen Kane made very little money when first released while Bayformers raked in cash for a decade despite universally being regarded as garbage.
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assuming that emergency exit is seen as a nerf by game freak is odd
they probably observed that pivoting moves are viewed extremely favorably. if you think pivoting = really good having a mon pivot out when its possibly at a disadvantage sounds strong, since you get to put out your counter
ofc that is flawed and it doesn't work out in practice, but its not meant to be a nerf ability lol
they probably observed that pivoting moves are viewed extremely favorably. if you think pivoting = really good having a mon pivot out when its possibly at a disadvantage sounds strong, since you get to put out your counter
ofc that is flawed and it doesn't work out in practice, but its not meant to be a nerf ability lol
Especially since everything about it (the pivoting, the not letting you make a move if you haven't yet) has explicit synergy with First Impression.
They clearly designed Golisopod to have a specific playstyle that isn't just "what if strong mon was bad".
Emergency Exit is definitely a nerf in PVP and is definitely understood as such internally. First Impression, Aqua Jet, Sucker Punch, and solid Physical bulk can only bring this mon so far when it is so reliably put in positions with no winning outcomes. Emergency Exit combined with a lack of Speed leaves Golisopod choosing between taking an unfavorable damage trade with a weak priority move, predictably switching out to an ally, or actively eating a hit and losing a turn for it. That's a problem pretty much no other Pokemon in the game face, and can make the ability arguably worse than actively detrimental abilities at its worst.
Yet, at the same time, Emergency Exit has a near unmatched potential skill ceiling. It's an ability that forces players into difficult decision making trees constantly. It is a prized trait on Golisopod in other contexts. For Nuzlockes and Difficulty-Focused Strategy Game challenges, Emergency Exit is one of the definitive best tools in the game for safe repositioning of allies against dangerous foes. If you understand the game and have a specific strategy or line of play you want to counter, Emergency Exit can give you lines of play that can't be replicated by other Pokemon without costing a Move Slot or a one time use Held Item.
There should be more Pokemon like this. Pokemon is a very simple game, and that isn't necessarily a problem, but it does also feel like it is simple because players optimize the kinks out of their gameplay. With the design norms of modern Pokemon, the only way players will engage with mechanics like this is if designers force them to directly. And while I think the restrictions and downsides of abilities like Truant and Slow Start don't end up creating much in the way of interesting dynamics, I think Emergency Exit's potential upsides aren't ignorable.
Emergency Exit is fun to chew on.
Yet, at the same time, Emergency Exit has a near unmatched potential skill ceiling. It's an ability that forces players into difficult decision making trees constantly. It is a prized trait on Golisopod in other contexts. For Nuzlockes and Difficulty-Focused Strategy Game challenges, Emergency Exit is one of the definitive best tools in the game for safe repositioning of allies against dangerous foes. If you understand the game and have a specific strategy or line of play you want to counter, Emergency Exit can give you lines of play that can't be replicated by other Pokemon without costing a Move Slot or a one time use Held Item.
There should be more Pokemon like this. Pokemon is a very simple game, and that isn't necessarily a problem, but it does also feel like it is simple because players optimize the kinks out of their gameplay. With the design norms of modern Pokemon, the only way players will engage with mechanics like this is if designers force them to directly. And while I think the restrictions and downsides of abilities like Truant and Slow Start don't end up creating much in the way of interesting dynamics, I think Emergency Exit's potential upsides aren't ignorable.
Emergency Exit is fun to chew on.
Potential doesn't mean much if it cannot be reached.
I know Moxie Boosted made a video about bad Pokémon making notable tournament runs and Golisopod was one of those. It was used during a Restricted format to enable Kyogre and Groudon by abusing Emergency Exit for free switches and winning the weather war. However, one top player deciding to mess with a mon that only really worked by being an outlandish pick people weren't prepared for in a specific format isn't enough to call Emergency Exit a well-realized ability.
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Since we're still on this topic and I've my own cents to throw at it as well, I'll state that I also believe this to be the intention behind Golisopod only having said ability. The idea behind the design is obvious: chunk something heavily with first impression, get brought down to half hp and switch out, come back to finish off said opponent later on (or chunk something else before going down instead). On paper this is fine, and is certainly supported by the pokemon's high attack, solid bulk, and low speed stats all lending towards the use of the ability.
Indeed, Eject Button the ability certainly has heaps of untapped potential; even competitive pokemon itself regularly sees eject button be used on various bulky pokemon with either magic bounce or renegerator to give such pokemon a home even on faster-paced offensive teams. As for Golisopod itself, aside from priority spam it can also abuse this by laying down spikes. Having a slow pokemon switch out after taking a heavy blow is also generally, ironically a good thing (particularly for, again, the faster-paced offensive teams) to avoid awkward situations in which said slow, low-hp pokemon remaining on the field can become a liability as it's awkwardly put into mindgames; do you spam priority to get off some chip damage before going down (but potentially risking becoming setup fodder), or do you go for another move and risk getting finished off without doing anything? But why am I putting so much emphasis on this part?
Because (and I'm almost 100% sure of this) the only reason people complain about EExit is because the pokemon gets switched out without getting its next move off. Which can be particularly annoying for a pokemon with Golis's bulk, which can often be 3hko'd by most neutral hits and 2hko'd by either SE hits or especially strong ones. This is awkward because Golis is put into this mindgame issue right from the get-go, if not soon after the start due to its massive base hp getting undercut by this awkward interaction. This issue wouldn't be anywhere near as pronounced if 1. Golisopod had an actual speed stat to ignore this downside (but that wouldn't fit with the pokemon's overall design/would be oppressive in tandem with the rest of its stats) 2. EExit let you get off your intended move BEFORE switching out.
I apologize for the slight theorymonning, but I truly believe that this singular change would affect the pokemon much more significantly than one might think; Golisopod would finally be able to get off its liquidation, spikes, leech life etc before switching out, not only getting off the intended damage on the opponent but also give you a much cleaner state for what to bring up next, without having the mon feel like a punching bag. If anything, assuming Champions doesn't just rework emergency exit to work this way now not terribly likely, sadly then this upgraded version of the ability would be the most perfect fit for its upcoming mega evolution. Especially with its newfound typing, power and bulk making it much more resilient to passive sources of damage, encouraging opponents to confront it directly.
I'm still mad you can't refuse the Emergency Exit switch-out so it's literally Wimp Out with a different name.
But maybe Champions will right that wrong now that it got a Mega... Either that, or it will get ANOTHER clone of Wimp Out with no differences whatsoever, but a different name.
It also needs to switch out immediately upon Mega Evolution or there is no downside to just bringing it in base form, Megaing and just sitting on the field.
What is even the point man
5 tough claws megas... cmon man... have a new idea please...
Fan base: gamefreak makes too many signature abilities and moves and clones of existing abilities, powercreep is out of control, i hate it
Gamefreak: alright we will reuse old ones so we dont inflate the numbers
Fans: gamefreak reuses old stuff and sucks I hate it
/classic emoji /feelsweirdman
Gamefreak: alright we will reuse old ones so we dont inflate the numbers
Fans: gamefreak reuses old stuff and sucks I hate it
/classic emoji /feelsweirdman
I'm thinking about how Emergency Exit is considered extremely good in Nuzlocke contexts and how the Mega Stone would already have serious competition from Sitrus Berry even if the ability was maintained. Tough Claws being a standard damage enabler is probably a downgrade for Golisopod there.
Sorry it's competitively useful instead of trash now I guess?
There's no way Emergency Exit Mega Golisopod would have been good lol. Run the vanilla one if you want to meme.
On a slightly less meme response to the Though Claw abuse...
I have a feel the reason is that it covers for one of the issues that Megas tend to have: sometimes the base form with Life Orb is... just better. Tough Claws is basically a no-downside Life Orb.
Realistically a lot of megas don't really need anything fancy to be viable, they just need to have enough damage (or bulk) to justify being used over the base form.
Obviously some megas having some actual unique gimmick (like Mega Pidgeot or Garchomp Z turning into a special attacker, Gengar gaining Shadow Tag, etc) are cool to have around, but many other megas in the end are just "base form but with more damage" and that's ok.
Not every mega needs to reinvent the wheel or have a flashy mechanic, it's fine if sometimes they just punch a bigger hole than their base form.
I have a feel the reason is that it covers for one of the issues that Megas tend to have: sometimes the base form with Life Orb is... just better. Tough Claws is basically a no-downside Life Orb.
Realistically a lot of megas don't really need anything fancy to be viable, they just need to have enough damage (or bulk) to justify being used over the base form.
Obviously some megas having some actual unique gimmick (like Mega Pidgeot or Garchomp Z turning into a special attacker, Gengar gaining Shadow Tag, etc) are cool to have around, but many other megas in the end are just "base form but with more damage" and that's ok.
Not every mega needs to reinvent the wheel or have a flashy mechanic, it's fine if sometimes they just punch a bigger hole than their base form.
Who is saying "there are too many signature things"? The idea of there being too many signature moves and there being power creep are two different things. Nobody is out here complaining about Seed Sower or Twin Beam, Well-Baked Body or Double Shock, Electromorphosis or Spin Out, Costar or No Retreat. Maybe you are getting Goomba Fallacied or maybe folks are complaining about the gameplay designs that use signature moves to introduce power creep. The only case I can think of is with Water Bubble / Purifying Salts, which is less a complaint about signature abilities themselves and more the need to mash what could be multiple different abilities worth of effects into one to create them. I don't love this but I don't mind it as much if it creates the desired result.
and I'll be clear on my own stance in regards to Golisopod, what I care about is the Emergency Exit effect. That is the thing I wanted to engage with. To see other players learn about. To appreciate. If balance wise that required them to create "Perilous Departure" and frankenstein Tough Claws and Water Bubble onto Emergency Exit to make it viable, so be it. But that portion of Golisopod is its soul. That's what gives it aura. That's the style it has. That's an identifying marker. That's a Signature in a sense so much more real than when the term is when applied to moves and most other abilities because it can't just be discarded on a player's whim when it's inconvenient.
They even gave it Tough Claws - I already made a post somewhere about Tough Claws being kind of boring but at least being applied intelligently, like it creates dynamics in moveset creation because it shuffles the value of certain moves. Rock types don't get a boost to Rock Slide or Stone Edge, Zard X and Mega Meta miss out on a damage boost to Earthquake which they still want to use, that sort of thing. Still completely dead as far as player on player interaction is concerned but whatever.
All of Golisopod's relevant moves make contact already! Tough Claws is just a damage multiplier in every relevant situation - except, sorry, using Rock Slide to take on Charizard Y. My fault. That's the reason it couldn't just have even more Attack and an ability that does A SINGLE ERRAND THING to change interactions with THE OTHER PLAYER. You've taken a straight shot from the ability with the #1 single most in depth player on player interaction schema and have come out the other side with Number Go Up. There are dozens upon dozens of options for abilities that wouldn't have been as good of fits as Emergency Exit but at least would do something. I'd have taken a Physical Attack boosting Berserk clone to preserve the 50% HP threshold thing, and that even synergizes well with Leech Life! I'd have enjoyed some kind of Defensive ability, ideally not one that gave a Fire resist specifically but maybe a Water resist, a Ground resist, a Fighting resist, preserving some valuable part of the original typing would've made for a more standout design.
This mega is a fraud. It's a sign the designers themselves are weak willed, capitulating to the very vocal competitive playerbase and their desire for consistent and non-interactive avenues to power, while also pandering to their expectation of the average mobile gamer and their unwillingness to digest anything more complex than the gameplay equivalent of finely puréed baby food. Stapling that to what remains the boldest and most successful attempt thus far at creating an ability that incorporates a major drawback as a core feature of a Pokemon's design just reeks. It's utterly pathetic.
We throw around the term "Signature" when talking about moves and abilities, and sometimes it becomes synonymous with "Exclusive To" - a result is sentences like "Megahorn stopped being the Signature move of Heracross in Generation 3" - in this case, Signature is being used to describe the definite point at which other Pokemon gained access to Megahorn rather than the somewhat arbitrary point at which Heracross gained enough other powerful tools to make Megahorn not only a move it won't always run but a move it will usually replace. (A point in time, to be clear, that was not Generation 3.) One could still argue it stayed the Signature Megahorn Pokemon for quite a long time after Seaking and Rhydon could technically replicate the technique, and you could argue it's still the Signature user of the move, depressing as that is when Megahorn is arguably not even in the top 5 most common moves for Heracross to use.
I think this logic works weirdly in other ways too. Mist Ball and Luster Purge have been exclusive to Latias and Latios for over 20 years but I'd hesitate to call them Signature moves for the pair in a competitive context until Scarlet and Violet buffed them to not be worse than Psychic in most situations. There might be a couple of Crabs around now to Crabhammer but outside it's much crazier Generation 1 iteration, I'd say the move's Signature status could be best applied to Crawdaunt, especially with Kingler taking up Sheer Force Liquidation. Sparkling Aria might be only learned by Primarina and Lapras and thus be more exclusive than Darkest Lariat which became a TR tutor move in SwSh, but it's still a stronger call for me as a Signature because, outside SV, Incineroar actually uses it where Primarina very often just used Surf instead.
I think this logic works weirdly in other ways too. Mist Ball and Luster Purge have been exclusive to Latias and Latios for over 20 years but I'd hesitate to call them Signature moves for the pair in a competitive context until Scarlet and Violet buffed them to not be worse than Psychic in most situations. There might be a couple of Crabs around now to Crabhammer but outside it's much crazier Generation 1 iteration, I'd say the move's Signature status could be best applied to Crawdaunt, especially with Kingler taking up Sheer Force Liquidation. Sparkling Aria might be only learned by Primarina and Lapras and thus be more exclusive than Darkest Lariat which became a TR tutor move in SwSh, but it's still a stronger call for me as a Signature because, outside SV, Incineroar actually uses it where Primarina very often just used Surf instead.
You're free to think differently, but not every mega can be shiny fancy super op amazing mon. The simple fact they took a shitmon and made it competitively viable is a miracle on its own.
I guess you truly shot for the "unpopular opinion" if yours is "Golisopod mega should have stayed shit with a shit ability that has no place in competitive since it's out of your control".
Poor Scolipede....
Edit: An ability that puts 100% of the control in the opponents hand is terrible. That is competitive design 101.
Emergency Exit is and will be one of the worst designed abilities in the game, no matter if flavor-wise it makes sense.
Honestly, I'm not all that convinced it will be competitively useful. We're talking about Scizor with no Roost, a harder time running Swords Dance, and a much harder time getting in to Mega in the first place. The main usage people have found for regular Golisopod in lower tiers has been Spikes, which Tough Claws doesn't support in the slightest. Its First Impressions don't outdamage banded Slither Wing before Protosynthesis kicks in and it doesn't need the Mega slot to do that. Making Golisopod more boring just means that more things out-compete it.
I am, but Mega Golisopod was like the one time I actually wanted them to make another ability clone.
I play VGC now not Singles so I frankly don't care about Golisopod's applications in the latter format.
In Doubles it seems like a solid Trick Room mon that will be hard to kill thanks to its bulk and Leech Life (boosted by Tough Claws) with a decent match-ups into top threats. Also murders Psyspam, which was just added to Champions.
I don't think this is a hard rule, really. Managing bad outcomes is also an important aspect of competitive play, and in theory Emergency Exit allowed for this. Placing defensive EVs to avoid triggering the 50% HP threshold for Emergency Exit in certain match-ups, using it as an opportunity to pivot back into Golisopod for First Impression burst damage, things like that. Emergency Exit is a known quantity that can be planned around by both a Golisopod user and the opponent, so I don't think control is necessarily 100% in the opponent's hand's regardless - having to take an action to get the Golisopod out still has opportunity cost, especially in Doubles. In practice, Emergency Exit is such a crippling ability that it's hard to actually plan around this in a practical setting, but with +100 BST to work with and a better (defensive) typing I don't think that would necessarily have been true for Mega Golisopod.
I'm not quite as attached to the flavor of Emergency Exit as a number of people here are, but I think drawback abilities aren't necessarily a bad thing like a vocal plurality of the fanbase seems to believe. If nothing else, I'd much rather have had Mega Golisopod be a lousy gimmick than just another Tough Claws mega that clicks its big stupid damage buttons, at least. We'll see in practice how good it actually ends up being at that job, though.