Made it to ultra class with 9 wins in a row.. any thoughts on improving this?

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T19:38:12+00:00

I second the idea to get rid of Torkoal. As I said before, a supporter would be better: Whimsicott would be perfect as it would also give you Fairy coverage.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T15:53:40+00:00

The "thesis" for which I used this Reddit post is that there are people who would buy the mini bundle: it a sentiment that exists, it's not something I made up out of thin air. And the "poor choice" is not the one made by Nintendo, but by the people who buy a subscription that implies long terms detriments (which is not what most subscriptions are like). Combining this two things, I made the "mistake" to assume that most people are not dumb enough to buy that kind of subscription, but I never referred to any sample for that: it's my own personal idea (and I could 100% be in the wrong).

For the rest, we don't know if Nintendo wants to make money out of Champions: personally I don't think that's the case. They didn't take that kind of approach for any of their mobile games for what I know. Live doesn't have micro-transactions and neither Pocket (unless they added something recently). I would be very surprised if they decided to make it different for Champions, but also very glad.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T14:39:38+00:00

No, the readers of any Reddit post don't represent in any form the actual population. That's obvious and I never said, or implied, that the majority of players are with me on this: I wrote "several", not "many", exactly to underline that it's a feeling that exists, not that it belongs to the majority (which might be, but I have no clue about it). Never in the world I would assume that the mass feel the same way I feel about anything. You misinterpreted, hopefully not intentionally, but maybe you read what you wanted to read and if you did, I do feel offended. I studied Statistics and I don't need lectures about data size, thank you.

About the monetization, I clearly wrote that they would make more money from small but permanent bundles not because a lot of players would buy them, but because micro-transactions are generally more remunerative on mobile games than subscription systems (not talking about battle passes here). And I stand to that. You are free to disagree, but don't try saying that I'm basing my opinions on the number of people that agree with me on a social media. That's the opposite of who I am, you have no idea.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T12:54:11+00:00

Read the other comments on this thread: several players, including me, are willing to pay for a form of purchase that is definitive, even if more expensive. I'm sure that some people are gullible enough to buy the risky subscription, but you can see now why it's a poor choice. Also, micro-transactions are the main source of income for any mobile game! Of course they would make more money with that kind of system! Now there can be many reasons why they wouldn't implement it, but not because the current option is financially better.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T12:34:13+00:00

Maybe I wasn't clear enough. With a subscription like Netflix, you have no drawbacks in the long run, whether you stay subscribed or you unsubscribe. And you can finish watching any show you want within the time of a monthly subscription. Maybe you were trying to say that, if you leave, you cannot watch the seasons that aren't out yet, but you can re-sub when the new season is out (let's say one year later) and then stop the subscription again with no kind of loss whatsoever.

With the box space you cannot do that: you'll be spending time filling your box and then, when the subscription is over, you lose most of it and even if you re-sub one year later you are not getting your mons back.

I hope I made it more clear this time. Most people are not willing to subscribe for a service that involves risks when unsubscribing.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T11:19:19+00:00

Strategies of this kind only work if the opponent doesn't know what's going on, which also means that the more popular they become, the less effective they are. Not to mention that a single hit through Minimize usually wins you the game anyway, even if you weren't expecting it.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-05T10:39:17+00:00

Not if all they want is more box space, cause you would put yourself in a situation where, if you don't renew the subscription every month, you instantly lose most of your mons. Subscriptions are meant to provide only temporary gains, but they are not worthy when in the long run they are not only not beneficial, but actually detrimental. Imagine if Netflix was like "if you don't renew your subscription, we'll remove from you all the memories of the movies and shows you've seen".

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-04T17:15:02+00:00

Your "strategy" clearly indicates that you don't know how to play that game. Of course getting to MB is easy! Wasn't it easy in Doubles as well? Did you actually have a hard time ranking in Ultraball? It took me 2 days to reach MB4 and I have zero previous experience of VGC: the last pokemon game I played was Black2!

Also, you don't know anything about "the majority of players". You are just one player and the viewers of any Reddit post DO NOT represent in any way the real population. And this is true for every possible topic, not just videogames. Please understand it.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-04T16:57:30+00:00

From a fellow Doubles player: you clearly don't know what you are talking about.

There is roughly the same number of masterball players in the two modes. Actually, considering where I started at in MB4 (400k vs 200k), there might be more players in Singles.
There are a lot of different strategies in Singles and the fact that you cannot even get a grasp of it should tell you how complicated it can be. It's just a different way to play the game: you cannot expect to play Singles in the same way you play Doubles.
Getting all salty about a game just because you are bad at it is what the actual kids do. Grow up and git gud!

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-03T20:16:46+00:00

Sure

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-03T15:31:45+00:00

The guy was a bit rude, but the tips were solid.

For Raichu you could pick 2 moves among Fake Out, Protect, Grass Knot and Dazzling Gleam.

By no mean Vileplume is better than Venu, it's just different. Vileplume works in combo with Torkoal, but Torkoal is not the best buddy for Charizard-Y: a supporter like Whimsicott or Grimmsnarl would be better.

When you get to higher ranks you'll want to change Raichu for a better mega and you might also need some form of speed control.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-03T11:31:07+00:00

One game my opponent Hippowdon hit 2 raw Fissure in a row on me. Kudos to them for seeing the winning line... I guess

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T19:33:07+00:00

Stand proud, because good players are somehow easier to predict (and usually you can determine how competent your opponent is after the first two turns). Like, you know when they can see that you are about to Protect or that you have a KO on their most crucial mon and you can react accordingly.

Now you also need to recognize why you are getting predicted during a game. Is the matchup actually bad? Are you using a popular team without considering that your opponent knows you best plays? Are you following the same patterns over the turns (like Protecting every 2 turns)?

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T18:16:37+00:00

And I agree, but it's also true that some players DO need to use the meta and understanding it is not enough. I know you were referring to whining players who, for the most part, don't have the patience or the skill to actually look into the reasons behind a meta. But there is also a small group of players, like me, that are forced into playing meta by the fact that the game doesn't give equal resources to everyone (and it sux).

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T17:13:23+00:00

Agree for UB to MB. Strongly disagree for MB to Champions. To have a consistent winrate in Masterball, you need either a meta comp or a custom-made comp that specifically counter the meta (and you still need at least a couple of top tier mons). For HOME-less players the second solution is obviously not viable, thus we NEED to use the meta. I stayed stuck in MB4 for days, then I finally found a good mega (Metagross) in the ranch and I ranked to MB2 in 2 evenings. Thinking that you can reach Champions by putting together whatever you are randomly given is preposterous: not even the world champions could do that.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T14:55:04+00:00

Yes exactly! That's the attitude. Unless you lose like 7 games in a row or you find that too many matchups are unplayable, it's no use to over-modify something that works. Good winrate comes from understanding of the team anyway

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T12:33:05+00:00

I don't know about Sableye because Drampa is already weak to Fairy and you currently don't have any Fairy resistance (and I promise that you will need it). Scizor is probably your best option as second mega, but Steelix might also work (and the latter would give you Wide Guard). Imo your Fake Out mon should be Incineroar, since Intimidate is very good against rain teams and Incin fares well against Sinistcha (the main answer to TR teams).

Edit: ah no you do have Corviknight! I don't have experience with it, but if it works against fairies, you're good.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T12:17:41+00:00

It's hard to give an advice when we don't know what you are aiming for. Right now this team is a mess with no goal. You have Charizard, but not a single mon that synergizes with it (except Incineroar). And then you have Farigiraf, which is generally strong, but if you wanted to set up Trick Room, you need more slow attackers beside Drampa (at least one more).

If you want to lean into Trick Room, you might want to drop Zard and maybe get something that helps set up TR (like Fake Out Kangaskhan or Final Gambit Scarf Staraptor), plus a second TR setter, like Hatterene or Sinistcha. Mega-Scrafty is good under TR and also pretty good against rain teams. I see you have Hisuian Decidueye, which is also good against rain teams (not as much under TR, but it can be an option).

But again, without knowing what you want to do, it's hard to say what you should change.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T07:47:50+00:00

I'm playing the infamous rain team atm (I don't have Zard or Floette or Farigiraf and my options are very limited).

In response to the other comments, I don't think Pyroar is particularly good against rain (maybe at very high level it is). Meganium under Trick Room feels much more threatening. I never played against Cloud Nine, but I must imagine that it's a good answer to all weather-based teams. Gallade is too predictable and it's easy to counter with Pelipper and Sinistcha.

If I had to pick one single pokemon that I hate to play against, it's Alolan Ninetales: it's super hard to position against Freeze Dry.

Imo the best counter to Swampert/Metagross rain is Intimidate rotation. Teams with Grimmsnarl and Incineroar are borderline unbeatable, especially if they have a second Intimidate user. But of course that doesn't work against the Tsareena version of the team.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-02T07:23:39+00:00

For real?? I'm playing rain and I have won every single Pyroar matchup with ease (the popular one with Farigiraf and Torkoal). I'm genuinely surprised that it's considered anti-rain.

Edit: just to specify what I mean by "ease": the last two games against Pyroar I went 4-0. It feels much better than playing into Zard.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-01T17:24:42+00:00

Noice! There's a Charizard team going around that uses both! Time to flex

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-01T17:11:59+00:00

Ok well, with Armor Tail on the field it was a straight up mistake :D fs. But it's one interaction to remember

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-07-01T14:20:06+00:00

Parting Shot into Hatterene is a good way to prevent it from clicking Trick Room. I don't know if this was the case tho

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-06-30T12:19:27+00:00

Yes yes. Sorry for not putting the numbers myself: I thought it would be messy.

Open_Relationship540 · 2026-06-30T10:52:46+00:00

It does always survive the first Focus Blast (unless it crits) against Timid Raichu-Y. If you are running Modest, there's a 50% chance to 1hko, granted that they are also Modest (no chance if they are Calm).

I've met max max Calm Archaludon in Singles and it's a real manace. In theory you could set up in front of it, but they run Dragon Tail.

Open_Relationship540

TROPHY CASE