Help You Know What We Need? A PB Metagame

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
Hi everyone- As the mod of this very "lively" forum I decided to step in and try to get it more active for us. I think that most of the users here play competitively on occasion in VGC and maybe some in Showdown. But I would actually like to have a distinctive meta for our forum. For this I need your help - Whether you like VGC, Showdown or nothing and you just like battling with your friends -Let's try to figure out how most of us actually like to battle - because this is what this sub forum is all about - the online Pokemon battles in the video games.

So first of all -
What do you prefer? a single battle 3v3 / 6v6 or a double battle with 4v4 or 6v6?

Where do you battle? On showdown? Tournaments of VGC? With friends? Do you like the metagame in which you play? or maybe there are things you wish worked differently?

If this forum introduces tournaments- Would you like them to take place on Showdown or online with Nintendo Switch (SwSh) ?


This would help greatly for me to try and make this forum better for all of us with more relevant content for you.

As for me- I like Pokemon battles and I am very competitive and I want to win the battle - However- I also like to have fun and try different things. I like when there is diversity in Pokemon and strategies you can use. I am more used to Single battles 6v6 - Usually I play on Showdown, and sometimes with friends online. I do not participate in any form of competition though. I'd like to just have small scale competitions here on the site. And that is part of why I am writing this thread.

Appreciate your time and also your feedback on your thoughts about the possible future of this sub forum.

GG eveyone.
 

Turtwig

Retired retired Mod. Jovimohnaeliackvid.
Member
So I've spent hundreds of hours breeding competitive Pokemon in Sword, many with great meme nicknames and others with cheesy sets, and I'd love to play some with others if we set something up. I haven't played OU or tiers since like gen 5 though, so I can only play unskilled Drizzle teams so I've really only read and kept up with the metagame without really playing. I'm used to watching 6/6 singles and 4/4 doubles, though.

Has anyone seen those free for all (FFA) videos on Youtube? Where 4 people do a double battle but play like it's singles and just joke around? Those look so fun!
 

Ephemera

just a little longer...
Member
Oh yeah, those FFA videos sound really fun.

...I don't have a Switch yet though :(
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
Oh yeah, those FFA videos sound really fun.

...I don't have a Switch yet though :(

So are you using Showdown? Or not battling since last gen?

I actually sometimes use Showdown to battle because Dynamax is banned there and I like it much better that way. I neglected my Shield copy a month ago.
 

Ephemera

just a little longer...
Member
I use Showdown to play every so often. I'm a RandBats player though – a casual :p
 

King Arceus

Aspiring Trainer
Elite Member
Advanced Member
Member
I prefer 6 vs 6 singles. I do most of my matches for this generation on Wifi and arrange them on my discord server against challengers. My server we play by different rules than Smogon such as allowing Dynamax, but also only allowing one legendary / mythical Pokemon with 600 BST or less on a team. It provides a balance of using a new mechanic and power. I also have a deep discord integration to track how many badges a person has.
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
That's a good point - suppose we have our own metagame here on the site, should we ban dynamax?
 

FourteenAlmonds

Helipotile
Member
The only format I've played other than randbats in the last few years is VGC, both on Showdown and Switch Online, though I don't play tournaments irl anymore because I'm more of a TCG player myself. My first and last tournament was Melbourne Regionals in 2016 where I... basically gave people free wins. Although I' sorta know how to play the game now, and I'm at Great Ball tier (lv9) on the swsh ranked battle system after 40-odd battles, which I think is pretty good considering that I disconnected from about 1/4 of them due to poor wifi.

I'm fine with the metagame I play in, but I would prefer it if I was playing against more serious players so that I could actually improve. I only have one or two teams built because it takes me so long to do (around 3 hours of breeding per mon) so I haven't really branched out from my first team for the season after I finalised it.

If the forum introduced tournaments I would prefer that they are played on SwSh as a matter of principle, but my poor connection might end up biting me for that. My VGC playstyle focuses on getting into a winning endgame without using Dynamax so I wouldn't mind if it was banned, but it is a core element of the game so I feel that it shouldn't be ignored.

Randomly allocated teams in either singles or doubles would also be cool, but were that to happen I'd need a lot of time to prepare a team assuming SwSh is the medium we're using. If "Catch & Evolve" tournaments were to come back I'd love that as they were some of my best fun on Showdown while they were running, but I haven't seen it happen for a few years now.
 

PokeFanForever

New Shiny Hunter
Member
I've honestly only battled with friends, and know little-to-nothing about the meta. I also don't have a switch so I'm stuck with USUM. I would like to learn though, so I think this is a great idea! I am used to 6 x 6 singles, but MUCH prefer singles over doubles. I appreciate you asking our opinion!
 

Scattered mind

Competitive VG Forums Mod
Forum Mod
Member
It seems to me that although some of you would prefer tournaments to be played through consoles, not everyone has access or full access to Nintendo switch, so one thing can be decided already - Most tournaments will use simulator (Showdown). It also allows for much quicker preperation for special challenges like the Rent Team challenge.
Still, we will try to host console tournaments once activity picks up.

Dynamax will not be ouright banned- But will be restricted to specific tournaments - A tournament host should clarify whether they allow it or not.

Also- Once the first tournament is finished, a new sticky thread named "Hall of Fame" will be opened to record every winner from that point onwards.

Keep the feedback and suggestions coming. You are helping a lot!
 

Dravinator

Aspiring Trainer
Member
I usually play 6v6 singles, and I play 3DS online, Switch Online (rarely), Pokemon Showdown (most often), and DS online (fan servers). I play competitively on Showdown due to the ease of creating a team, and I play casual on the other games due to it being tougher to make teams.

I would love to play Showdown tournaments and challenges! I think that would be quite fun!
 
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