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I have a few questions about the 2019 season. When does it begin? Are there any important dates for Oceania, and when it does begin, will it just use the 18 ruleset until the 19 ruleset is announced?
 

Celestavian

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https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/pokemon-events/pokemon-tournaments/regional-championships/

The official website has a list of all the currently confirmed regional and international tournaments. It seems Oceania has no regionals scheduled yet, and Internats only has "February 2019" listed.

As for the format, yes, it will continue to be the 2018 ruleset until the new format is announced and TPCi gives us a date for it. It will very likely be January 1st when the new format takes over.
 
https://www.pokemon.com/us/play-pokemon/pokemon-events/pokemon-tournaments/regional-championships/

The official website has a list of all the currently confirmed regional and international tournaments. It seems Oceania has no regionals scheduled yet, and Internats only has "February 2019" listed.

As for the format, yes, it will continue to be the 2018 ruleset until the new format is announced and TPCi gives us a date for it. It will very likely be January 1st when the new format takes over.
Thank you! Do we have a date when the 2018 season ends, and the points start new?
 
Thank you! Do we have a date when the 2018 season ends, and the points start new?
Iirc any event after NA Internats counts towards next season. This includes last month's Special Event in Valencia and the upcoming Nashiville Open which is played during worlds.
So the 2019 season has in essence already started, even though the 2018 season's formal end at Worlds this weekend hasn't happened yet.
 
Well played evasion guard split is tough to beat. Snatch is a near 100% win con. Sub-toxic aegislash is also basically a 100% win con assuming you hit 1/16 toxics and can KO reuiniclus before guard split. Clear Smog is good but chansey can be a pain even without evasion boosts after guard split.

As for spore spam, just run fini/koko on your team, or a taunt user, or even a strong psychic type will KO it provided you don't let them get TR up.
What are viable Pokemon and movesets that can deal with Minimize users?
 

Darkmalice

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Thank you! Do we have a date when the 2018 season ends, and the points start new?
The VGC 2019 format just came out. The earliest it's ever come out for a format:

Correction: VGC 2019 formats



What are viable Pokemon and movesets that can deal with Minimize users?
Generally the principle is to strike them before they accumulate Minimize boosts. Either with high damage to knock it out before it can Minimise or at least make it easier to knock out before it gets too many boosts, or Taunt to stop them from accumulating boosts in the first place. Many Pokemon can do that. Other methods exist. Roar/Whirlwind bypass accuracy and Protect, and are effective at removing Minimize boosts (Heatran is a common Roar user, many Pokemon can also learn those moves). Same for Haze (Tapu Fini and Milotic being the most common users). Clear Smog also bypasses accuracy checks (mostly used by Amoonguss). Kartana is one of the best checks since Sacred Sword bypasses Evasion checks and deals large damage to Chansey, the main Minimise user. Toxic will put Minimize users on a timer, turning their turn-wasting strategy against them - almost every Pokemon can learn Toxic.
 
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Could they possibly make the format any more fucking stupid? I've already got enough complaints with the VGC format as it is, with the non-competitive banlist and their rules against save editing, but this is just absurd. How on earth are you supposed to do more than scratch the surface of the game's depth with the ruleset changing every couple months? I mean we're talking about competitive play here, something that's about pushing the game to its limits, whereas this format is some sort of sightseeing tour, barely giving each metagame a glance before implementing new rules that would invalidate huge elements of the metagame and the accumulated knowledge of the playerbase. Arbitrarily changing the rules at such a high frequency sells the game short, sending a clear message that this game lacks the depth necessary to remain interesting in competitive play for even a full year, which is a statement I think no-one would agree with. Maybe some people enjoy arbitrary change (personally I think that it makes a mockery of the very idea of competitiveness but w/e), but I think it's fair to say that this takes things to a farcical extent

The sad part is that I'll probably still buy into it like the sucker I am- irl tours that are actually meaningful are too alluring, even if the rules used are rubbish
 
How on earth are you supposed to do more than scratch the surface of the game's depth with the ruleset changing every couple months?
It’s almost like the Pokémon formats that most people play change their banlist every couple months, and you’re on their website.

For real though, it’s for people who are trying to compete year round. The burnout is real if you’re teambuilding and only playing one tier for 12 months in a row. I did like vgc18 and wish I had another regional since I wanted to put the finishing touches on this team, but I’m excited for the constant innovation this new format entails.
 
The VGC 2019 format just came out. The earliest it's ever come out for a format:

Correction: VGC 2019 formats




Generally the principle is to strike them before they accumulate Minimize boosts. Either with high damage to knock it out before it can Minimise or at least make it easier to knock out before it gets too many boosts, or Taunt to stop them from accumulating boosts in the first place. Many Pokemon can do that. Other methods exist. Roar/Whirlwind bypass accuracy and Protect, and are effective at removing Minimize boosts (Heatran is a common Roar user, many Pokemon can also learn those moves). Same for Haze (Tapu Fini and Milotic being the most common users). Clear Smog also bypasses accuracy checks (mostly used by Amoonguss). Kartana is one of the best checks since Sacred Sword bypasses Evasion checks and deals large damage to Chansey, the main Minimise user. Toxic will put Minimize users on a timer, turning their turn-wasting strategy against them - almost every Pokemon can learn Toxic.
Thanks buddy!
 
What are everyone's thoughts on how to run Xerneas in Sun series? Is a coverage move like HP Fire worth a spot, or will it just run Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, and Protect, as was its standard set in 2016?
 
It’s almost like the Pokémon formats that most people play change their banlist every couple months, and you’re on their website.

For real though, it’s for people who are trying to compete year round. The burnout is real if you’re teambuilding and only playing one tier for 12 months in a row. I did like vgc18 and wish I had another regional since I wanted to put the finishing touches on this team, but I’m excited for the constant innovation this new format entails.
haha it's funny you should mention that, since I have a host of objections to the OU tier lol. As for lower tiers, they're all inherently unstable in their rulesets (moreso the further down you go) and they're not trying to be the standard ruleset, so I don't worry about them.

Fair enough I guess, since it really is down to personal tastes, and obviously mine are starkly different. Hell, I don't even feel burned out on RBY, which I've been playing for years and is pretty much the most homogenous and static format there is

What are everyone's thoughts on how to run Xerneas in Sun series? Is a coverage move like HP Fire worth a spot, or will it just run Moonblast, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, and Protect, as was its standard set in 2016?
*Geomancy lol

I'm skeptical of the utility of HP Fire, as I don't think it does enough damage (unless sun-boosted?) to most checks unless they're Fthorn or something. Also Ogre totally gimps it, since weather is still relevant. Clearing out Steel+Fire types (and Poison?????) seems like something better taken care of by a teammate like Don
 
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*Geomancy lol

I'm skeptical of the utility of HP Fire, as I don't think it does enough damage (unless sun-boosted?) to most checks unless they're Fthorn or something. Also Ogre totally gimps it, since weather is still relevant. Clearing out Steel+Fire types (and Poison?????) seems like something better taken care of by a teammate like Don
Yeah, one of those instances of Moonblast was supposed to be Geomancy. Brain fart lol.

Your comment makes sense. Also, what nature do you see being most useful on Xerneas - Modest, Timid, or something else (i.e. Bold)?
 
A bit dumb question, but did any legendary besides XY, Primals and Ray see at least some usage in 2016?
As far as the powerful limited legendaries are concerned, not really. There were the obvious genies though.
Groudon + Xerneas, Rayquaza + Kyogre and Groudon + Yveltal were like the three most popular choices. Everything else was very niche.

There was the rare Kyurem-W Gravity team iirc.
 
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A bit dumb question, but did any legendary besides XY, Primals and Ray see at least some usage in 2016?
Synre wrote a pretty good article on VGC '16 team archetypes on the official Pokemon site back in the day. I recommend giving it a read, as it does a good job at covering some of the more prominent ones:

https://www.pokemon.com/us/strategy/2016-winter-regional-championships-2016-vg-preview

People used just about everything at some point, though. I even saw Lansat Berry Fling Thundurus with Weakness Policy Aeroblast Lugia before; that sort of thing isn't going to win any big events, but credit for trying.
 
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Once upon a time in 2017 I came across a website where you would give 2 bucks to a guy and he would breed and train a Pokemon to your requests and trade it to you. I can’t remember the name of the website though, has anyone seen anything similiar to this?
 

Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
Once upon a time in 2017 I came across a website where you would give 2 bucks to a guy and he would breed and train a Pokemon to your requests and trade it to you. I can’t remember the name of the website though, has anyone seen anything similiar to this?
that's incredibly scummy! there are many places that will do this sort of thing for free. The giveaway forum here is a great place to start
 

Pyritie

TAMAGO
is an Artist
The next Battle Competition in September is the Ultra Series format. Can I use pentagon pokemon for Battle Competitions, or only Alola pokemon?

Here's a link on Serebii that gives more details.
https://www.serebii.net/ultrasunultramoon/onlinecompetitions.shtml
check this thread: https://www.smogon.com/forums/threads/vgc19-world-championships-friendly.3641100/

• Pokémon must have a black clover symbol to be eligible (ie: they were caught/bred/obtained in Sun, Moon, Ultra Sun, or Ultra Moon)
 

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