Battlespot Season 11 Special

Mitja

veteran smartass
Member
When XY came out, I started to take interest in what has become the "official battle format" for a longer while already: Double battles
Last year even travelled across 2 borders to go to the german nationals just to see how that goes. And now I barely ever find myself thinking of "single battles", "OU" and all that, when training my pokemon or making teams. Instead doubles is the constant in my mind in regards to competitive Pokemon battles.

The major problem I have with this format however became evident really quick: since nothing besides the standard OP/event-legends is banned, some very OP Pokemon are allowed (Kangaskhan&Co.), and are therefore bound to show up on your opponents team most of the time (often the whole team is made up of them LOL)

But just as I got tired of these faces again past weekend from doing the 30 battles you get when taking part in the International Wifi Competition, Pokémon came up with an interesting twist!

For the upcoming Season 11 on Battlespot (from July 14th), the "special"-format will be double battles, but banning all Pokemon that managed to get into the top12 in Battle-spot doubles for the past 4 seasons.

Here is a picture of what that looks like:
9I63Pp2.png


For me this looks so refreshing right now XD And I'm looking forward to doing some Battle-spot soon.

But this makes me wonder.. will the teams and strategies get more creative through this, or does it just mean everyone will use "the next in line", like Megagross/Hydreigon/Suicune etc.?

And how likely is it that the official VGC-format would some year use a similar usage-based banlist? I'd certainly be even more interested in it then...but tbh I can't imagine them having the official VGC be one where several new Megas aren't allowed (since we'll probably get a new bunch of them with XZYZ early 2016)...or heck where something as iconic (and overrated /gets shot) as Charizard isn't allowed. Perhaps only for Masters category or something?

What do you guys think? Would you be more interested or less interested in VGC if it included a banlist like the Battlespot-special?

And how does this logic for banning OP pokes compare to the Smogon ban-voting shenanigans? Personally I'm excited to see some official attempts at making battles more interesting.

Also general "is doubles even the better format to use for official battles?"-topic, in case anyone has any arguments about that.

(Am I even posting this in the most appropriate subforum? I mean I'd be interested in general what people think of VGCs format rather than just those who are already invested in it, but it is about VGC and doubles so where else would it go lol.)
 

TokenDuelist

YGO TCG is Cheaper. Fight me.
Member
Good thing a "for fun" themed competitive team I am currently working on has none of these! I'll be able to have some fun testing em out.
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
I think they would probably use "the next in line". Especially Hydreigon. He will lose Aegislash but will enjoy the absence of Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir so much.
Anything else I can't tell. It is a huge twist to the game. Its hard to predict what would happen to the OU metagame every time they ban 1 Pokemon so trying to predict what would happen to the VGC metagame after banning over 10 Pokemon at once is quite hard ( plus it is only temporary so..).
Is that the first time they are doing such thing? maybe it is a start of a new era.
 

TokenDuelist

YGO TCG is Cheaper. Fight me.
Member
I think they would probably use "the next in line". Especially Hydreigon. He will lose Aegislash but will enjoy the absence of Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir so much.
Anything else I can't tell. It is a huge twist to the game. Its hard to predict what would happen to the OU metagame every time they ban 1 Pokemon so trying to predict what would happen to the VGC metagame after banning over 10 Pokemon at once is quite hard ( plus it is only temporary so..).
Is that the first time they are doing such thing? maybe it is a start of a new era.

I feel like, after what they've said about X/Y - They want players to experiment with more Pokemon variety. They don't want players using the same Pokemon all the time and want to see something unique come out of it.

It's possible that the results of these past few special tournaments, challenges, and seasons - will effect which Pokemon receive a bit of a power boost in the next game.
 

Mitja

veteran smartass
Member
Yeah, I've also thought that they might be checking what pokemon are also popular after the obvious ones, so that they might throw a Mega their way to shake the top-game up a bit.

Is that the first time they are doing such thing? maybe it is a start of a new era.

Actually they did that once before, the 2 months leading up to ORAS-release, but no one semed to talk about it anywhere for some reason. Season 6 special had all top12 pokemon from seasons 1-4 banned, which was these:
Charizard, Gengar, Kangaskhan, Gyarados, Tyranitar, Mawile, Salamence, Garchomp, Togekiss, Rotom, Cresselia, Amoonguss, Thundurus, Landorus, Greninja, Talonflame, Meowstic, Aegislash, Sylveon.

The resulting top12 of the special looked like this:
Ud5tjzv.png


The upcoming one will likely have a lot of these.

I'm expecting many
-Metagross/Hydreigon pairings
-Politoed/Ludicolo Rain teams with Scizor
-Tailwind Suicune/Zapdos

I would have said more TR-teams if Cresselia wasn't banned, but now not sure.


I plan on using a favourite of mine, Virizion, which seems less like a joke in this case, due to the lack of the Brave Bird, Fairy Hyper Voice and Mega Salamence in the game ;D
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
Virizion sounds like a really nice Pokemon for this job. Considering we will probably see a lot of Rain teams and Ferrothorn around. Breloom is also a good option and it is more viable now that you can't use Amoonguss.
I'm surprised Metagross is not on the list.
 

King Arceus

Aspiring Trainer
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
But this makes me wonder.. will the teams and strategies get more creative through this, or does it just mean everyone will use "the next in line", like Megagross/Hydreigon/Suicune etc.?

The better players will just use what's next in line. Suicune will rise in usage because of its very high defenses and access to Tailwind and Snarl. Zapdos is also going to rise in usage because its one of the best Thunder Wave Pokemon there is. Zapdos is also capable of Tailwind and dishing out good chunks of damage with Thunderbolt and Heat Wave. It has access to Roost, although that is best used on teams that have a Follow Me user.

I expect Mega Lucario usage to go way up since it is one of the best megas that isn't banned in this format. 112 base speed coupled with 145 / 140 offenses makes it an absolute monster to deal with. It also has Adaptability making Close Combat, Aura Sphere, Vacuum Wave, and Bullet Punch more destructive. Not many Pokemon can take repeated attacks from it. This may also result in a increase in Sableye because of Prankster Will-O-Wisp and the fact that three of the best Intimidate Pokemon are banned.

Blaziken I also expect to see an increase in usage because once it gets a Speed Boost off, it is able to handle Mega Lucario. Flare Blitz, Knock Off, Protect, Super Power will be the moves of choice.

I expect to see an increase in the number of teams that have Follow Me / Rage Powder in some form so they can keep their Mega Lucario safe. Pachirisu immediately comes to mind because of Volt Absorb and immunity to Thunder Wave.

And how likely is it that the official VGC-format would some year use a similar usage-based banlist?

Not likely. Once they discover teams are just going to use the next best in line, they'll learn it won't help diversify the format at all.

Would you be more interested or less interested in VGC if it included a banlist like the Battlespot-special?

My interest would be about the same. I know what to expect and how to beat it.

Also general "is doubles even the better format to use for official battles?"-topic, in case anyone has any arguments about that.

I like triples the most because it has the most strategy involved. The position you put your Pokemon in can affect the outcome of the battle. There are very impressive combos that can only be done in triples.
 

crystal_pidgeot

Bird Trainer *Vaporeon on PokeGym*
Member
Wow, this is great. Looks like my mega Pidgeot will have a much easier time. Also looks like none of the Pokemon I use on my team are banned. I really hope they do this for the next VGC format. I might be interested in playing in a VGC tournament if this is the case.
 
Top