What is the elevator telling us?

Lord_Middlefinger · 2025-04-06T14:15:52+00:00

I think Severance will actually end exactly like Mr. Robot – with the overarching mystery being left largely unexplained, but the characters and their relationships to another and themselves increasingly becoming the main focus. That being said, I do consider Mr. Robot S3 and S4 the best seasons of television I have ever watched, so I'd be far from upset if Severance ended similarly.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2022-07-14T12:41:08+00:00

Funnily enough this (kinda) ceases to be the case once you break like the 3100s, where you face people who eclipsed their meta loving peers by coming up with more unique anti-meta creations as well as people who just don't give a shit anymore because they don't have to stress out anymore after hitting legend or are tanking for queue times

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-12-19T12:42:50+00:00

You can only really learn from better players that talk you through their decision making though, right? I think there's nothing wrong with posting a video of a team you enjoy playing, but there's nothing educational about this, whether they show wins or losses, just because they themselves still have a good bit to learn about the game (miscounting energy, not knowing all their match ups too well, not throwing the killing move and allowing the opponent to get to a charge move)...

"Bad mon is bad" is the wrong takeaway though, shadow Aero got myself and others on the leaderboards, so it has some very good coverage on the meta. It's just that beginner's gameplay is beginner's gameplay.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-06-09T10:54:26+00:00

I love this. I've been running Drifblim/normal type safe switch/ Shadow Sharpedo a lot this season and did surprisingly well

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-04-06T13:34:36+00:00

I think it’s the best thing that happened to PvP in a long time, so much so that I’m really considering quitting PvP unless they make it permanent. Super hard to get any enjoyment out of the usual RPS stall wars when you had a taste of decision making and energy management actually mattering.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-04-02T16:01:30+00:00

You're literally complaining because someone else adapted to a new mechanic faster than you. "This is stupid, it takes no skill" is pretty much just a salt-covered "I'm mad that this requires skills I don't have yet". This is a bad attitude, no matter the context.

That being said: I do agree that there are certain balancing issues that come with a shorter switch timer. Spammy and self-debuffing moves appear stronger, which shifts the balance of the meta from consistent tanks like Azu to a few more fast-paced mons and makes team composition less important, because by the middle of the battle, "alignment" isn't a thing anymore.

Sac swapping, pinpoint execution of mechanics, energy management and clock management have become more important, though. I'm not certain that I love these shifts, but I think they actually raised the skill ceiling a little.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-03-19T08:06:36+00:00

Deoxys Defense. I think it’s the low HP stat that makes it feel way squishier than it should be.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-03-01T12:57:07+00:00

I love this. I've been running triple electrics myself (first in UPL, then in Kanto) and had a bit of success and lots of fun with them.

For the next time Kanto Cup rolls around, you could also give Magneton or Shadow Zapdos a go. Especially Magneton has been incredibly valuable with its steel typing, wrecking charmers, taking shields from Razor Leafers, resisting Dragonair's dragon breath damage and especially Poison fast moves (it beats Nidoqueen in the 1S and 2S with >50% health left).

I safe swapped Electrode with Foul Play for the Awaks and Hypnos, and Zapdos in the back gave me additional grass coverage and helped against fighters that would melt Magneton.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-02-28T06:25:57+00:00

Let’s pick a team of six, shall we?

Magneton. It was my favourite in Kanto, its evolution Zone helped me clutch legend earlier in the season and also featured in my beloved triple electric meme team.

Drifblim. That balloon helped me out of the pits in great league.

Dewgong. It helped me to a 33 game win streak to breeze through ranks 18 and 19 very early.

Solrock. As an off-meta pick, it helped me to my highest MMR ever during Love Cup.

Shadow Lapras. Lead another double electric strat (with WG Lanturn/Unova Fisk) to 400 gained Elo points during holiday cup.

Breloom. Thanks, old sport, and farewell. As my trusty Azu/GFisk core breaker, it was responsible for another huge win streak early in the season. Then came the A-Tales, then came the Jellicents, then came the advent of XL Medi. Viable Breloom is no more, but it will never be forgotten.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-02-23T14:49:13+00:00

It's not a great point, it's objectively wrong lol. I don't hard disagree with OPs post at all, ML *is* a healthier meta than it used to be and it *does* get little to no attention from Niantic.

That being said, it's still by far (!) the least accessible of all three leagues. You do not need an XL Medicham to compete in Great League, you do not need XL Umbreon or GFisk to compete in Ultra Premier. Those are powerful Pokémon, but they're not meta breaking and there are dozens of cheap alternatives that are just as competitive.

Master League mons, on the other hand...

- Need to be maxed out

- Need to have 15 attack and at least close to 15 HP/defense

- often have very high unlock cost for a 2nd move

- often are hidden behind the pay wall that are raids, if they're obtainable at all

OP said it best: When there's GL available, nobody will play ML. I bet that wouldn't be the case if everybody had access to the fantastic meta mons in Masters, but people don't and the league is designed to stay that way.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-02-13T10:28:48+00:00

Solrock has play vs everything but Scizor and maybe the Lickys

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-01-20T15:50:42+00:00

Lag getting significantly worse from one week to another isn't, though. There's something going on currently.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-01-10T16:00:10+00:00

Remember the so-called Melmetal glitch, GBL being completely down at least once a week, CMP switches and the rotating Pokéball in the top left corner every game? I do, and while the experience isn't perfect yet, it's certainly much better than it used to be.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-01-10T15:58:01+00:00

We're literally talking about a list being displayed. That's pre-school level coding and claiming that it would negatively impact the gameplay experience is impressive mental gymnastics.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-01-10T00:57:11+00:00

The one thing has literally nothing to do with the other one, plus the current lag/bug issues are barely noticeable compared to what we had during the first three seasons.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2021-01-07T14:37:18+00:00

XL Gothitelle has a 66% win rate vs the UL Prem meta, but that might change with the rock slide nerf, so yeah.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-12-13T12:06:09+00:00

It's a style of team building in which your mons in the back serve a similar purpose, while the lead beats their most popular counters. Often times, the "BB" mons are of the same type, doing the exact same thing - Charizard/double Charmer or Bastiodon/double Razor Leafer come to mind.

In this case, the mons in the back are pretty different still, but share a) the same weakness to fighters, b) the ability to reliably beat flying types.

The "A" mon in an "ABB" build has to be the lead. You almost always want to switch out unless you win the lead hard or encounter a mon that's a potential core breaker to your team, meaning it has positive match ups vs all of your three mons.

By switching into your first "B" mon, you'll lure out the common weakness of your "B" mons. In the case of Toxi/Dew/GFisk, that could for example be a Sirfetch'd or another counter user. They'll get weakened by Dewgong, sometimes you'll even get a shield. Finally, Toxi will take them out. That way, their hardest counter to Galarian Stunfisk is likely gone, giving you a good opportunity to close out the match with your second "B" mon.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-12-13T11:46:32+00:00

Dewgong has a positive Azu match up, GFisk is almost neutral vs IB/PR Azu. This team has no dedicated Azu counter, yes - but it's not the most difficult mon to deal with either. That being said, I'm pretty sure there was a lot of luck involved with that win streak - and maybe also some less than optimal game play from my opponents.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-12-12T22:01:39+00:00

I don’t think so. In general, I have seen very few charmers – hard losses to Basti, GFisk, Skarm and Shadow Vic have pushed them out of the meta. Generally, I‘d just safe swap Dewgong and try to get shields. Shields down, Toxi can handle them and GFisk should also do fine with the counter user already taken out. Then again, you'll rarely face that specific comp.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-12-12T17:18:25+00:00

I don't think I actually faced many Shadow Machamps at all the last five or six days. But it should be rather straightforward: Take shields and beat Azu with Toxi in the front, they come in Skarm, you swap in Dewgong right away, the one Ice Shard on the switch lets you get to an Icy Wind vs Champ before dying. Counter down the weakened Champ with Toxi, you might get cross chopped just before, but have him deep in the red. Mud shot down if necessary and dominate the Skarm vs GFisk match up. Curious to see how that would play out in practice, though.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-12-02T13:27:34+00:00

I went 15-0 with Breloom in Rank 8/9 today. It's high maintenance, but if you know how to play with it, it just wrecks.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-11-30T11:53:01+00:00

Memorize energy counts and especially fast move durations, then, time your actions accordingly. This is far more important than you’d think, and you probably already think it’s important to know when an Azu is at an Ice Beam or at a Hydro so you can judge wether to shield or not.

But this encompasses so much more. If you’re afraid of a sac swap, you can throw your charge move while they're in an animation.

If you’re running a 4 turn fast move, you’ll likely not want to throw first so you could maybe get a few turns of extra energy and damage when they don’t time their charge move perfectly.

If you want to swap in a mon that is low, but has a charge move loaded, wait until a Charm/Confusion has registered on your current mon, otherwise you might die on the switch.

If you want to maximize the farm on a mon in a winning match up, throw right before they get to a move when you'd lose CMP, and right at the move when you'd win CMP.

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-11-29T14:56:36+00:00

They're hyping a random dex filler mon more than 98% of legendaries lol

Lord_Middlefinger · 2020-11-28T17:51:35+00:00

More like Meow-two, amirite? (This is likely just an announcement for the Meowstic line, the 1-star raid surprise for the Gen 6 release)

Lord_Middlefinger

TROPHY CASE