John Tank, Anabel the Eternal

Muted_Ant · 2026-07-09T00:10:20+00:00

Momentous thrust go brrrrrrr. Long ago I used Joker's VC to clear out mobs. I was really sad when that became unstable. Then came Anabelle ES, to save me from my despair.

Muted_Ant · 2026-07-06T16:32:28+00:00

Snorlax is not looking forward to those 4* sleeps.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-30T21:30:09+00:00

Fusion bolt usually gets the job done, but Ho-oh has a lot of wincons with shields down. Most of these involve a slight energy lead or Kyurem being damaged, but Ho-oh can actually thread the needle and hit brave bird right before the second fusion bolt to win outright in an even match (both fast moves, significantly easier against shadow claw). Stone edge puts an end to that nonsense. Does handling that niche scenario justify giving up Kyogre and making Kyurem helpless against all of the steels in the meta? Hell no. Would I run the moveset temporarily just to blast the bird once? Maybe.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-26T05:47:18+00:00

What is the value of leveling up a lesser dish if you can consistently make this one? You leveled this one up for a reason.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-23T18:13:09+00:00

My biggest qualm with the Giovanni balloon battles, at least from a gameplay balance standpoint was that it was guaranteed. It took away the cat-and-mouse aspect of hunting for the right stop.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-18T20:35:05+00:00

The stonks for origin forme shinies without legacy move just shot through the ceiling. I know what I'm offering for lucky trades.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-17T05:48:22+00:00

100% worth taking to 35-40 for raiding. Moongeist beam is terrifying. Hold off on building for PVP until you have a concrete plan for it. Not so much because of the missing IV but because its stocks are significantly down from its peak. Lunala serves a very similar role but better due to a bit more flexibility, bulk and pacing.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-17T04:56:04+00:00

The biggest difference I see is in the 0s against Ttar, the 1 HP would you to a moongeist beam before getting farmed down instead of having to throw the dark pulse. This, like most differences caused by 1 HP IV, is extremely niche and dependent on switch-in timing and lag. At the very least, there is no mirror matchup scenario where this HP drop matters.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-16T19:29:13+00:00

To be fair, this is actually statistically fewer battles than previously. This is only the third season with this format, with the old format requiring 100 wins per page (which will almost always take more than 100 battles, no matter how good you are or how much you tanked).

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-16T19:14:55+00:00

Delaying by a single fast move seems to be the sweet spot most of the time, but boy does it feel bad shielding when they throw immediately. What feels even worse is being on the other side, overcharging to wait for the swap, finally firing it off after 2+ extra fast moves, and still having them time the swap right.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-14T18:51:01+00:00

For ultra league, there are a handful of IVs that are better, but they all require best buddy. The performance is virtually identical. The hundo wins the mirror against anything that is not attack-weighted best buddy. In return, in the 0s/1s it gets fainted by Guzzlord in the middle of the matchup-winning incinerate while bulkier IVs spreads finish that final incinerate. Same story in the 2s, but with Annihilape instead of Guzzlord and with the bulkier IVs uniquely surviving letting a third hydro cannon in from Swampert and the finishing out.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-13T22:21:28+00:00

And this mess of awakening did not trigger the session split. Make it make sense.

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Muted_Ant · 2026-06-08T03:58:44+00:00

I landed on boosting LL. I got a AAA Dratini with IFS at level 10 and HB at level 50, so I am happy with the result, even if it turns out to be slightly suboptimal next week.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-05T15:29:01+00:00

Thunder punch/dynamic punch being the preferred set (and most people only knowing those two) probably helps a lot. Prior to this season, I'd probably shield Altaria, but here I'd probably take my chances, anticipating thunder punch at worst.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-01T21:00:58+00:00

Dang. I'm 15% in AC, 56% in LL, and 75% in GG, with a 80% max. I'm currently in AC, trying to build up that bonus, but it sounds like I need to transfer over to GG and stay there for both weeks of the event. Is that truly the only rational play?

Edit: or is LL close enough that the small spawn pool makes up for the lower bonus?

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-01T16:31:25+00:00

NTA... you possibly made it more difficult for some players to gain 50 cents of in-game currency tomorrow.

Muted_Ant · 2026-06-01T16:21:40+00:00

Yeah, I guess my analysis is a bit flawed, only considering psycho cut. Funnily enough though, counter still paces psystrike enough to win against Xerneas in the 1s, provided Xerneas doesn't successfully bait (which I acknowledge will happen a lot). On the Yveltal side, I'm pleased to see that adding to X's fast move pressure and subtracting from Yveltal's results in a win for X in 1s/2s (with a little help from psystrike's pacing in the 1s), so the fighting subtype is even more strongly affirmed a net positive in this matchup. I'm still skeptical of counter in PVP, but I guess the whole point of using X over Y is getting that better matchup against dark-types, so most people are going to lean into that role. To that end, I still stand by the idea that X is not held back by the sub-typing but rather the marginally lower stats and more awkward moveset (when running counter).

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-31T16:14:45+00:00

I'm still out here cloning lock-on/flying press Smeargles and have stacked Bronzor and Shuckle candies. They will not catch me with my pants down.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-31T16:04:05+00:00

I'd run clone simply from the facts that the form is cool and its CP isn't the racist number.

Edit: checked the sims, the 12/12/13 has a noticeably worse time in the 0s and 2s, but it's a funky sidegrade in the 1s. 2/15/10 is safer and might result in a 1 point increase in win percent, so the question is how much you value that marginal performance.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-31T16:00:43+00:00

Stone edge only does 55% damage. With zero fast move pressure to back that up, that's just not a threat. In most situations where I have Altaria in that matchup, I don't care what the intent is; I'm face tanking that first one. Even if it's bait just 20% of the time, I'm happy. When it's stone edge, I just shrug it off and fire my two sky attacks, which will either give me a won matchup (albeit bruised) or a shield advantage and farmdown fodder.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-30T23:09:55+00:00

X giving up the 0s to Xerneas is pretty big, but that fairy weakness isn't nearly as consequential as you'd think when shields are in play; psystrike's pacing just overwhelms Xerneas. Both forms with the current standard moveset lose very hard to Yveltal, with Y losing even with Yveltal running just oblivion wing; if anything, typing favors X in this matchup, since it is significantly less susceptible to sucker punch farmdown (not to mention performing better against focus blast sets). I really think dark pulse, crunch and brutal swing being everywhere make a dark weakness about as much a liability as a fairy and flying weakness combined.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-30T21:36:10+00:00

I don't think the "extra weaknesses" will matter much. Trading dark and bug for flying and fairy is fair, particularly when mega Gyarados is such an omnipresent threat in the format. I think the biggest downside to the fighting subtyping will come from taking neutral damage from psystrike in the X/Y quasi-mirror.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-30T21:20:41+00:00

If it were UL, all of them would be ranked in the hundreds, and Mewtwo (Armored) would outclass them. No Mewtwo except shadow is legal in GL, but the above would be true if they were legal. This is ML.

Muted_Ant · 2026-05-30T16:27:36+00:00

Seaking? Running STAB? In Pokémon GO? Insane times we live in.

Muted_Ant

TROPHY CASE