It's been a long time coming but it's still pretty surreal to see competitive Pokemon's center of gravity permanently shift away from Smogon
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Pokémon Champions - releasing April 8, 2026
- Thread starter Codraroll
- Start date
Well, if you think of it, Smogon's main appeal was the fact you didn't need the games nor the tedious process of training the pokemon in order to battle, and Champions pretty much solved both issues.
...obviously, has to be seen how well this will age. The risk of them making Champions p2w later down the line is still there, expecially once they add in the legendaries.
since there's multiple gachas there will almost certainly be one for each new regulation and have them available, with Mega Floette exceptions
honestly I have thoughts on this but sv ou was when I started to think maybe VGC is the way. smogon tiering takes itself too seriously imo (like more than an actual government) and i really hated how sv ou played
the main thing is i just hate restricted formats (and tera) and was kinda waiting for smth like this to onboard me, so i just hadnt been playing much competitive pokemon in 2025 at all
there's also the information landscape where vgc i barely even knew when i got into competitive pokemon in gen 7, and singles seemed like how the games played. now that every new pokemon game plays differently than the last i expect there'll be less "well pokemon is always played in this way and smogon singles is more like that", albeit technically each of these different battle styles are still singles
there is a lot of stress generated imo that comes from tiering and shit that just isnt there in "here is the ruleset check back in a few months" and therefore less disagreements about it. since there's nothing to actually be done about it, i find it actually a bit relieving, just focus on the game or stop playing until the regulation changes, and convos can just all be focused on the game, and that feels more uniting
if the meta sucks me and my friends are all suffering together and its still kinda fun in that way. and i have friends that are playing it because its accessible in a way with actual graphics now and my friends want to use their actual earned shinies etc
Yeah. It started in 2020 with the pandemic and the rise of VGCtubers like Wolfe, but by now I think it's fully complete. Even on Showdown VGC has completely overtaken both OU formats which is just insane on its own.
I think the other big thing was Smogon was more established than VGC and you had more easily accessible resources for it. You had the ladder, you had the forums, you had basically everything you needed while VGC resources were more secondary. Yeah, you had Nugget Bridge and VGC talk here, but they both were smaller than the OU scene.
Edit: Got back the final rankings from the Global Challenge. ~49k out of ~411K. Top eighth! That's a ranking I can live with.
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so funny to see the mon they buffed twice get on a winning team without either of its moves they buffed, lol
ariados sweep
Ngl i'm not even sure if he just used it for memes or it actually was doing something.
I guess it does completely wall Sneasler for one, and String Shot is speed control..
Also the second place has ran a omega cursed baton pass Espathra + Mega Floette team
Just saw the Cybertron vid on it. It's actually ingenious when you think about it. Double -2 speed with String Shot, Rage Powder which I didn't know it got, and a type that is perfect for tanking everything Sneasler can throw at it? The spider can do something that isn't a total meme.
More maintenance next week
Don’t forget Insomnia too which means it redirects Dire Claw and is immune to both Poison and Sleep.
have you tried the JoeUX9 sand team?
he's also made a video recently where he talked about good cores to build around, the one relevant to this team is Drill/Ttar/Corv/Wash
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I haven't used this team, actually. And I wanted an excuse to use the Shiny Rotom I caught in SV last night. Thanks a ton.
Also you can try looking directly at Battle Data if you don't want to use a pro team or sift thru pro videos or tournament results. Looking at it for Excadrill, most common partners for Excadrill are Tyranitar, Sinistcha, Corviknight, Rotom-Wash, and Incineroar.
most common partners for Tyranitar are Sinistcha, Excadrill, Incineroar, Garchomp, and Sneasler.
Things to try if you don't want to use Mimikyu or Hydreigon, lol.
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Yeah, I got flinched twice on my Bright Powder Mimikyu in one fight, so not only did the attack not miss even once but proc'd its flinch twice. Rage inducing. Then the dumbass NPC is like "Ohhh it's ok!! You'll do better next time!" Like stfu, literally rubbing it in lmao
At least I don't see crits too often.
I had a dream last night that Season 2 dropped with some balance changes, here's what I remember
-Drought was changed to set Sun for 3 turns instead of 5 specifically as a Megazard Y nerf
-Mega Dragonite's ability was changed to a clone of Dragonize. I say a clone because for some reason despite functioning the same it had a really weird name I don't recall
-Unfortunately I only remember one ability for a new Mega, that being Megachomp Z who for some reason was given Screen Cleaner
-Most importantly of all, Mega Starmie's ability was changed to Truant
All of these are real btw they will happen
-Drought was changed to set Sun for 3 turns instead of 5 specifically as a Megazard Y nerf
-Mega Dragonite's ability was changed to a clone of Dragonize. I say a clone because for some reason despite functioning the same it had a really weird name I don't recall
-Unfortunately I only remember one ability for a new Mega, that being Megachomp Z who for some reason was given Screen Cleaner
-Most importantly of all, Mega Starmie's ability was changed to Truant
All of these are real btw they will happen
Wolfey apparently brought Perish Trap + OHKO to the global challenge
...which is already cursed on is own but
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx9xRY0o41Kfk1gdHf9Ab_-SeAPi9Ep-9i
The comments made me die
fucking Wolfe Con Perish strikes again. This isn't even anti meta this is torture.
Also
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx9xRY0o41Kfk1gdHf9Ab_-SeAPi9Ep-9i
The comments made me die
fucking Wolfe Con Perish strikes again. This isn't even anti meta this is torture.Also
Go to sleep Drampa ur drunk O_o
between this and cybertron's team can youtubers stop playing the most annoying teams imaginable and having successWolfey apparently brought Perish Trap + OHKO to the global challenge
View attachment 830518...which is already cursed on is own but
https://www.youtube.com/post/Ugkx9xRY0o41Kfk1gdHf9Ab_-SeAPi9Ep-9i
The comments made me die
Also
Go to sleep Drampa ur drunk O_o
ive been laddering more seriously this week again and what ive noticed is the ladder has approx. 50% more Annoying Shit than a few weeks ago between sableye rain, this wolfey team, every scovillain sand team
can we nerf scovillain btw im serious get rid of leech seed on that thing i want that shit unviable idc if its not even top tier
Ironically I think this is a "downside" of the game becoming more popular.
I remind having the same "problem" back when I played League, if a proplayer picked something extremely unhortodox during a match and won, you'd start seeing it all over the ladder (usually with people failing horribly due to lacking the ability to pilot the weird pick). This feels like the same phenomena.
I heavily recommend skipping laddering for a week or so after a big tournament (or results post) to avoid such scenarios.
Mega Sco is only as good as it is because of the specific conditions of this current format. The limited Dex and item choices have created an environment that is heavy on the same small set of physical attackers and allow for running Double Megas to justify having a less consistent fish pick like Sco. It'll drop off a cliff once we get more options that either don't care about being burned (more special attackers, Guts users like Ursaluna, etc.) or can run Safety Goggles to ignore it, especially if/when the Tera vs. Mega format manifests.
To be honest I am not 100% sure about it.
Once stronger pokemon and other mechanics come into play, it also diminishes the necessity to run a mega, considering several of the gen 8 and 9 pokemon are on same or higher power level than even the most busted megas.
Thus utility megas like Scovillain might actually rise in usage instead of drop (also I am 100% sure people will try ursaluna + scovillain shenenigans to burn ursa without flame orb. I am not sure if they will be "good" but they will try them.)
Once stronger pokemon and other mechanics come into play, it also diminishes the necessity to run a mega, considering several of the gen 8 and 9 pokemon are on same or higher power level than even the most busted megas.
Thus utility megas like Scovillain might actually rise in usage instead of drop (also I am 100% sure people will try ursaluna + scovillain shenenigans to burn ursa without flame orb. I am not sure if they will be "good" but they will try them.)
part of why I've unironically enjoyed success with Mega Audino is because ngl a Mega on a rain team isn't the star of the show anyways, and Archaludon is stronger than most Mega Pokemon and has an item slot
so having a mega who's only job is to full support archaludon has felt really good unironically, I've kept tinkering with the team a bit on ladder since that weekly
The fact that the first Global Tournament is won by a team with an Ariados, an early-game Pokémon with no Mega, is an insane accomplishment, though favorable match-up against Sneasler is one big advantage over other Bug-type.
I’m surprised they didn’t nerfed Electro Shot given a few others like Dire Claw did. Maybe they thought that Electro Shot alone isn’t the biggest issue and thought Stamina + Body Press combo is the real overkill, hence the latter move is not learnable by Archaludon in Champions?
It’s impressive that Archaludon still saw respectable usage and is an important member of Rain teams. During history of VGC, pseudo-legends are hit or miss with Dragonite, Garchomp, Hydragon back in Gen 5, and Tyranitar (for Sand) seeing success, while the rest either needs a Mega Evolution to be viable in VGC such as Metagross (and possibly Baxcalibur), or got straight up overshadowed (Goodra) or has a special signature locked in a generation (Kommo-o).
Between this Pokémon, Ursaluna, Kingambit, Farigiraf and arguably Basculegion (given White-Striped Basculin is not an official regional form), a cross-gen evolution can prove to be a bigger buff than a Mega Evolution… or at least a Mega with a mediocre, situational or unhelpful Ability.
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Item changes would be really nice to shake up the meta a little. Covert Cloak pleeeasse. Also watching Wolfe/Aaron videos early and just paying attention to what they state as the team's weaknesses is a great counter to whatever horseshit they cooked up this week lmao.
Reminder to everyone that I have a big stupid table about precisely this.
Spore, Milk Drink, Power Shift. There's also a ton of the reverse (moves not in Champions but present on move lists) but it's too many to mention here so I point again to my chart. EDIT: Also Soft-Boiled
There's also a few moves that Pokémon have never had in anything other than that bizarre TM/Tutor leak in SWSH era of HOME, like Power Whip Gliscor and Burning Jealousy Camerupt.
Reminder to everyone that I have a big stupid table about precisely this.
Spore, Milk Drink, Power Shift. There's also a ton of the reverse (moves not in Champions but present on move lists) but it's too many to mention here so I point again to my chart. EDIT: Also Soft-Boiled
There's also a few moves that Pokémon have never had in anything other than that bizarre TM/Tutor leak in SWSH era of HOME, like Power Whip Gliscor and Burning Jealousy Camerupt.
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Covert Cloak would be a blessing for tournaments but man it will make ladder Bo1 miserable. Now you have to also 50/50 on if their lead is running covert cloak or not :x