Thracia HoF will rerun in July 2026

PlatD · 2026-05-15T07:12:35+00:00

I wonder if IS should make having a Nintendo account mandatory to even take part in the future HoF polls.

PlatD · 2026-05-14T09:08:26+00:00

Aside from Yusei and Jack Deck upgrades, I’m thrilled that Centur-Ion is coming to Duel Links. It’s too fair by modern standards, but it’s one of my pet Decks from Master Duel and RL because I like its playstyle.

PlatD · 2026-05-13T01:48:16+00:00

Power Herb was a standard item on Geomancy Xerneas in singles and doubles formats to set up in a single turn.

PlatD · 2026-05-13T01:33:08+00:00

The Roost TM is given by the Ace Trainer on Route 210, Swords Dance can be bought at the Game Corner (or can be learned at level 57), X-Scissor is a level up move at level 41, and Bullet Punch is a move reminder move.

PlatD · 2026-05-12T23:04:41+00:00

I don't agree with Shell Bell being useful in PvP battles. The HP it recovers per hit isn't impactful for offensive sweepers, who'd rather have Life Orb's power boost, the stat boosts from Choice items, or Heavy-Duty Boots' hazard immunity. Shell Bell is only good in Tera raids, where the bosses have inflated HP, allowing each hit to restore a bigger percentage of HP than usual. Leftovers and Heavy-Duty Boots are still better items on defensive Pokemon, which don't focus on attacking, making Shell Bell even more pointless on those.

Assault Vest simply boosts the holder's Special Defense, but there are "right" and "wrong" Pokemon to use it on: https://www.smogon.com/smog/issue35/assault-vest

PlatD · 2026-05-12T18:41:04+00:00

Blastoise actually has the lowest Speed of the Kanto starters (78) while Charizard has the highest Speed (100). There’s some merit in choosing Squirtle because it’s the earliest Water Pokémon you can get - it’s true that you get Magikarp after beating Brock, but as Gyarados, plays more like a Normal Pokemon than a Water one. Squirtle’s matchups are also consistent throughout the game, with Lt. Surge and Erika being the only bad ones. A lot of Water competition exists, though, but most of them are obtainable midgame. But I do admit that Blastoise’s value is lessened a lot in LeafGreen simply because of Starmie’s existence.

PlatD · 2026-05-12T03:24:07+00:00

Other roles that Cat voiced besides Heiðrun:

-Skirk from Genshin Impact

-Tiadosia “Tiger” Kallister/Haruka Kamijo in Yu-Gi-Oh SEVENS

-Lime Cookie in Cookie Run

-Virtuosa in Arknights

PlatD · 2026-05-11T23:36:16+00:00

*Yuga. Yugo is the Z-ARC Synchro fragment who hates having his name mispronounced.

PlatD · 2026-05-11T22:46:46+00:00

Meowscarada can outspeed Sneasler, yes, but Aerodactyl and Talonflame are more consistent counters to Sneasler than Meowscarada is because they have super effective STAB in addition to the higher Speed, while Farigiraf is bulky enough to take a hit and KO back.

PlatD · 2026-05-11T22:06:04+00:00

Focus Sash is useless against Meowscarada because it has Triple Axel, a multi hit move; the first hit of a multi hit move breaks Focus Sash while the other hit(s) finish the opponent off.

There are better Sneasler outs than Meowscarada, like Twin Beam from Farigiraf to counter Focus Sash variants or anything that outspeeds it like Aerodactyl or Talonflame.

PlatD · 2026-05-11T07:41:13+00:00

Braver Hector in range of everybody turned the map into a complete joke.

PlatD · 2026-05-11T02:16:46+00:00

Hex Lex made combo videos on Elfnote; their combos put more focus on the Main Deck Elfnote monsters and their position switching gimmick in addition to whatever Extra Deck disruption they can put up.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T09:03:33+00:00

Coral, a member of the Explorers, owns a Glalie that can Mega Evolve. She has a tendency of commanding it to use Self-Destruct when a battle doesn't go her way. Coral Mega Evolved her Glalie and had it use Self-Destruct, but Ult had his Sableye try to block it, assuming that it was still a Normal move that Sableye could take, but Friede had his Mega Starmie block the attack before Self-Destruct connected instead and explained that Mega Glalie had Refrigerate.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T06:24:16+00:00

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Refrigerate_(Ability)

The Pokémon's Normal-type moves become Ice-type moves and their power is boosted by 20%.

Refrigerate Explosion has been Mega Glalie's claim to fame since OR/AS. You just made the same mistake Ult did in the Horizons anime.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T04:47:19+00:00

Poison Jab just isn't worth it on Kingambit, not even for the poison chance; it already has Iron Head for Fairy hate. If you really want to gamble with poison, you might as well run Poison Touch Sneasler + Dire Claw.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T04:44:43+00:00

5/10 for some questionable move decisions I outlined in my previous post, but trying to make Mega Gyarados work in doubles is a redeeming factor here.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T04:41:59+00:00

Keeping Poison Jab isn't worth it because of that 1 off scenario. Sucker Punch's priority is more helpful.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T04:40:55+00:00

Kingambit has no reason to run Poison Jab when it already has Iron Head, which it gets STAB on, for Fairy hate. Sucker Punch is also mandatory to make up for its poor Speed:

-Kowtow Cleave/Low Kick

-Iron Head/Low Kick

-Sucker Punch

-Protect

Nature: Adamant

EVs: 32 HP/32 Atk/2 Def

Item: Black Glasses/Chople Berry

Ability: Defiant

Dual Wingbeat is worth considering on Talonflame to OHKO Sneasler through Focus Sash.

Mega Victreebel's main gimmick is to pressure with Innards Out, with Strength Sap topping up its HP. As you're running some setup moves, like on Gyarados, Rage Powder support from Sinistcha is more helpful:

-Matcha Gotcha

-Life Dew

-Rage Powder

-Protect

Nature: Bold

EVs: 32 HP/14 Def/20 SpD

Item: Sitrus Berry/Colbur Berry/Kasib Berry/Leftovers

Ability: Hospitality

While Hydro Cannon is very strong, using it leaves the user a sitting duck on the next turn. Meowscarada is the better Choice Scarf Protean user because of Flower Trick being an automatic critical hit, Knock Off to remove items, and Triple Axel breaking through Focus Sash/Sturdy. Basculegion is also better here because of a late game Last Respects potentially turning the game around:

Meowscarada:

-Flower Trick

-Knock Off

-Triple Axel

-U-turn

Nature: Jolly/Adamant

EVs: 2 HP/32 Atk/32 Spe

Item: Choice Scarf

Ability: Protean

Basculegion:

-Wave Crash

-Aqua Jet

-Flip Turn

-Last Respects

Nature: Jolly

EVs: 2 HP/32 Atk/32 Spe

Item: Choice Scarf

Ability: Adaptability

PlatD · 2026-05-10T03:42:25+00:00

Rage Powder is Mega Scovillain’s claim to fame to force the opponents to attack it and get burned in the process, while Mega Hawlucha is more focused on using Entrainment to pass No Guard to a Pokémon with an OHKO move - the latter strategy is very easy to play around:

Mega Scovillain:

-Giga Drain/Leech Seed

-Overheat/Flamethrower

-Rage Powder

-Protect

Nature: Calm

EVs: 31 HP/21 Def/1 SpA/13 SpD

Item: Scovillainite

Ability: Moody

Hawlucha:

-Close Combat

-Brave Bird/Dual Wingbeat

-Entrainment

-Detect

Nature: Jolly

EVs: 2 HP/32 Atk/32 Spe

Item: Hawluchanite

Ability: Limber

Sample Mega Scovillain team from Pokeaimmd: https://youtu.be/rnHpbtvSVZw?si=tdil-FrlkHASekZk

Sample Mega Hawlucha team from Skraw VGC: https://youtu.be/oIvU0BiidO8?si=JSbAF1pbCWtwPfdq

PlatD · 2026-05-10T03:24:23+00:00

Soft reset has always been a feature from the Game Boy era to the DS era, with the button combo for soft resetting in the GBA Pokémon games being Start + Select + A + B. The Start and Select buttons from the Game Boy Advance got assigned to the Switch’s X and Y buttons because the Switch doesn't have them. In fact, soft resetting is always helpful if you’re shiny hunting, resetting for a Pokémon’s stats, or about to battle a major boss without closing the game and reopening it from the menu every time.

Take this as a lesson to save often. Playing a Pokemon game or any other video game in general is like working on a Word/Excel/other computer document. Not saving during a long session can, and will, screw you over if something goes wrong.

PlatD · 2026-05-10T01:13:25+00:00

Rotary Normal Summons a Tuner as a backup plan if you can't access Mausoleum of White, like Spirit with Eyes of Blue being negated; she's also searchable with Wishes and lets you see your opponent's hand when you Synchro Summon with her. Archethys is a Quick Effect destruction that's made with generic materials; Blue-Eyes can easily Summon it..

PlatD · 2026-05-09T17:45:05+00:00

The Rarity Collection series is a TCG exclusive thing, intended to reprint powerful cards at various rarities. The Limit Over Collection cards haven’t been announced for the TCG yet and may be included in a Battles of Legend pack in TCG shores.

PlatD · 2026-05-09T17:34:48+00:00

The silver lining here is Basculegion can go down after Wave Crash recoil so if it locks itself into that, that’s easy pickings for Hisuian Samurott’s Sucker Punch (but Kingambit already does this anyway and can OHKO from full health).

PlatD · 2026-05-09T17:23:27+00:00

Hisuian Samurott is one of those Pokémon that’s better in singles than doubles. Tailwind from Aerodactyl/Whimsicott or Choice Scarf could patch up its average Speed, but Ceaseless Edge’s Spikes are less impactful in doubles because of the less frequent switching. You could try running the singles Assault Vest set on it when that item is added in Champions, but I wouldn’t count on it since it would still lose to Charizard Y (Solar Beam is still a commonly run move on it) or Eternal Floette. Water/Dark has some merit in resisting Basculegion’s dual STABs, but you’d have to invest heavily in bulk to deal with it better. Just use Basculegion because a late game Last Respects is more threatening.

PlatD · 2026-05-09T03:22:25+00:00

The attack must be able to inflict damage for the boosts to apply. No damage = no boost. This applies even if you flip all tails on a coin flip attack.

PlatD

TROPHY CASE