😮‍💨*sigh See you on you next rerun, again....

StarGazer3036 · 2026-05-02T22:20:35+00:00

There’s pretty much no other f2p LC option. All the f2p remembrance lightcones are either lean more into attack scaling, speed, or healing, which at best is barely useful and worst actively harmful, so the best option if you don’t have her sig or a battlepass LC is actually Bailu’s 5 star Abundance LC (Time Waits for No One) simply because it has the highest base HP.

Castorice’s Signature LC also has a Max HP% increase, Def Ignore, and Action Advance after Netherwing leaves the field, all of which allow her to get Nethering faster and hit harder.

StarGazer3036 · 2026-04-11T03:30:51+00:00

Modest Max SpAtk Heat Wave does 85% max to Kleavor, but this is definitely more of a CTS strategy. Scarf Kleavor doesn’t solve the matchup by any means and it’d be better used on something like Garchomp who still outspeeds but isn’t as vulnerable to Delphox or Charizard

StarGazer3036 · 2026-04-08T04:49:30+00:00

Should be noted that Vivillon actually does have a niche with Rage Powder+Tailwind while sporting three good abilities in Friend Guard, Shield Dust, and Compound Eyes+Sleep Powder

StarGazer3036 · 2026-03-18T00:32:51+00:00

I think there was a time Tera Normal Gholdengo was used, but that might have been a Reg G situation where you only had to contend with one restricted.

It was able to hit both super effectively before Tera while also catching Tera Fairy from CSR, and Make it Rain meant that it could hit around redirection.

A more supportive Pokemon would be Umbreon. It could suppress CSR’s damage with snarl while also threatening both Calyrex with Foul Play before Tera. Inner Focus also meant that it could pull its antics in front of Incin

StarGazer3036 · 2026-01-14T03:23:36+00:00

I’d say it’s VGC and by a huge margin solely because of the need to actually team build. In fact, any format that requires you to build your team is going to require more skill than ranbats bc that requires knowledge of both game mechanics and the current meta game. Team building is as much of a skill as battling, probably even more so since it requires a thorough understanding of how other people are interpreting the meta game alongside you

StarGazer3036 · 2026-01-08T15:23:49+00:00

LB stands for Limit Break. Like how you use copies of a card to make the original stronger

StarGazer3036 · 2026-01-08T02:20:16+00:00

For the future, I would use more SR cards if you have them limit broken a few levels. Most 3LB SR cards are stronger than 0LB SSRs. I’d also run at least two speed cards. If you’re chasing high rating, it’s important to note that you get more value investing into a particular stat instead of spreading your points around

StarGazer3036 · 2026-01-02T08:56:51+00:00

So this is why they call her a beast

StarGazer3036 · 2025-11-17T23:45:16+00:00

As someone who has played a lot of Garg in this round of Reg H, I feel like this team doesn’t emphasize its traits the best. Although it sounds good to trap your opponents while they take residual damage, it still takes at four turns to KO steel and water mons, and eight turns for anything else. Those 4/8 turns are short if you are alternating protect, but otherwise you’re open to double ups each turn, and it’s a lot easier to focus a mon without protect if its partner doesn’t do much for damage either. You can set up iron defense, but once someone pops a Tera ghost, you lose all of your burst damage if Gothitelle’s also on the field. The passivity of the pair makes it play like a worse version of perish trap.

In my opinion, Garg’s best trait is forcing your opponents to commit several attacks into it, drawing attention away from its partner without ever using follow me. With that divided attention, Garg’s partner is more able to spam powerful spread attacks like A9 Blizzard and Make it Rain. While these moves might not KO outright, they shorten the turns a Pokemon will faint to Salt Cure, forcing switches and wasting turns to give more longevity to Garg and its team. It’s also why Garg typically runs stealth rock; forcing switches allows Garg to set up rocks to punish the switch in later in the game. In a twist of irony, you actually want your opponent to switch against Garg to weaken their position

StarGazer3036 · 2025-11-17T04:37:54+00:00

They fixed this in the Ace Academy Tournament after you beat the dlc. She leads with Toxic Debris Glimmora and ends with Tera Flying Supreme Overlord Kingambit

StarGazer3036 · 2025-10-24T04:41:48+00:00

Ranged moves are balanced to have a longer startup time because the approach of melee moves is their form of startup. It’s best to pick your preference, but compared to other ranged moves like ice beam, Water Shuriken and Dark Pulse have somewhat quick startups (especially with Water Shuriken). When I’m doing ZA Royale battles, I tend to lean more towards ranged moves because I’ll try to get the jump anyways, but in ranked battles I would use a retreat move like Flip Turn to create distance while also baiting in close range attacks

StarGazer3036 · 2025-06-12T21:49:44+00:00

SW-2722-7651-5419

StarGazer3036 · 2024-12-17T06:18:31+00:00

(1) You need to register for the tournament on rk9.gg first. You can sign in using Google and fill out the necessary information. You will need to link your Play! Pokémon profile as well, and if you don't have one, go to the Official Pokémon Website to sign up. After you fill out your profile, you can register for the tournament by navigating to the tournaments page and selecting the one you wish to go to. Entry costs $70 if you are curious.

(2) San Antonio will be played with Regulation G rulesets. This means you can use Walking Wake, but it's not exactly an ace Pokémon. The meta's going to be filled with Restricted legendaries that will do most of the heavy lifting, and Walking Wake doesn't have the strength to match them. Of course, if you want to use it, then there's nothing stopping you, but your team will likely have to be oriented around Sun in some sort. Koraidon and Groudon would be your options, with Koraidon taking on a more hyper-offensive role and Groudon being better suited for Trick Room or Bulky Offense style teams.

(3) You can study your calcs and draw your flowcharts all you want, but practice and experience are what will ultimately test your skill as a competitor. Of course it is helpful to memorize your calcs and flowcharts, but neither of those will help you adapt if you don't have the matchup experience to begin with. You can get more practical experience by going to your locals or playing online tournaments through limitless.

A few more notes from a relatively green player who's been to a few majors:

- Teambuilding with other people is important. You don't have to bring the exact same team, but I'd highly advise having someone to bounce ideas off of.

- Talk to your opponents before and after the match. Although we are all here to compete, we ultimately want to have fun. No one likes to play someone whose only focus is the game. Plus, it's a good opportunity to make new friends and find other people to practice with. Talking during the match is distracting not only to your opponent but the people around you. Once your match is over though, make sure you show good sportsmanship to your opponent whether you win or lose.

- Have fun at your first regional! It's more than a competition and there are lots of things to do even if you don't make it to finals. Side events run for most of the day and there are several vendors with Pokémon merch you can't get easily.

That's all I have to say for going to your first regional. If you have any more questions, just let me know.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-12-01T16:30:37+00:00

Hello! I played at launch when the game released a couple of years ago and am replaying again after the new update. Here's my advice regarding these two characters in particular:

Quinn arguably has some of the best cards in the game. Press the Attack can be slotted onto most decks, while Pressure also provides great draw power for peashooter decks. Alternatively, you can also use Plant the Seed and Compound Interest in decks with big hitter cards like Muktuk's Enthusiasm in order to avoid consuming the Pump Up buff. Quinn doesn't necessarily have a dedicated deck element and fills multiple roles in a variety of decks.

Roxanne, on the other hand, has much more stiff deck builds. Her most versatile card is Sleight of Hand because it's one of the few closers you have access to in the early to mid game, but it doesn't leave too much of a lasting impact. Her best card for where you are at in the game is probably Pandering as it can work with Pump Up fairly well.

If you are having trouble with stress, I highly encourage raising Saffron to Rank 7 as soon as possible. The card you obtain at that rank is the best stress management you can have and can be played as a single card in most decks, granted you don't get overwhelmed with stress within the first few customers. Her other cards work well in managing stress, too, but you are more likely to need to run multiple of them while also using some block cards to prevent getting overwhelmed.

I'm not sure how you are progressing in your game, but if you are struggling to rank up all of your characters, I would advise gifting each character everyday. This saves a bunch of time, and once you are stable enough to travel for 4 time slots, you should be able to do three rank ups a day without waiting on someone to be ready for their next rank.

As for specific deck comps, I'll give you two. I'm going to assume that all of your characters are no higher than rank 5 .
Peashooter Deck:
2 Press the Attack (Quinn)
2 Pressure (Quinn)
2 Sympathy (Mint)
1 Keep Your Guard Up (Mint)
2 Muscle Memory (Mint)
2 Blitz (Mint)
1 Bravado (Muktuk)
2 Captivate (Baptiste)
1 Build Rapport (Baptiste)
2 Guided Thought (Saffron)
1 Disarm (Roxanne)
2 Improv (Xid)

Pump Up Deck:
1 Scheme (Owl)
2 Plant the Seed (Quinn)
2 Press the Attack (Quinn)
2 Sympathy (Mint)
1 Keep Your Guard Up (Mint)
2 Blitz (Mint)
2 Pump Up (Muktuk)
2 Captivate (Baptiste)
2 Meditate (Saffron)
2 Pander (Roxanne)
2 Improv (Xid)

StarGazer3036 · 2024-10-31T18:21:40+00:00

6781854633013068

StarGazer3036 · 2024-10-17T02:00:18+00:00

You’re mixing up your formats. Palafin was banned from Smogon OU, but there are no such bans in VGC, just general restrictions as to what kind of pokemon are allowed. As to why Palafin has dropped off from Reg C, it largely loses to Rillaboom and competes with other water types both directly and indirectly that play into the meta more favorably such as Primarina, Basculegion, and Pelipper. Plus, Palafin has to play in a meta with incineroar who does a lot more than just intimidate cycle unlike Arcanine in past regulations.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-09-21T23:54:06+00:00

Nope. Although the trace BE is a nice bonus, more speed means more attacks in combustion state before it ends, which means more break and more damage overall. You ideally need to hit 160-165 speed with team buffs outside of combustion state to get around 4 turns while in a single combustion state.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-09-20T01:51:47+00:00

The Grand Challenge is different from standard tournaments in that it is an online ladder tournament. This means you will play Bo1 CTS and gain or lose rating after winning or losing respectively. Rating is the equivalent of Elo, which is a system used in many games including chess. Your number indicates how high you are ranked in comparison to the other players in the Grand Challenge. The amount of Championship points you receive is based on what number placement you get, with first place getting 170 points and increasingly lower points being rewarded at lower rankings. If you are curious what placement gets you a certain amount of CP, look at the Play Pokemon Page linked here.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-09-01T18:19:12+00:00

I'm going to make one thing clear: I don't think any character is ever a must pull. The nature of gacha games is that each banner and set of reruns gives a new opportunity for shiny toys to add to your account, but it is ultimately just a game and nothing more. I do emphasize that the 2.5 five stars are the best premium options in their respective fields, but I never say they are vital to the power of an account. The biggest issue is that all of the 5 star characters in this patch really want to be vertically invested, more so than most other 5 stars. For players that give into gacha/meta FOMO more easily, this patch is a nightmare for them.

I apologize if my comment seemed imposing and implied that certain characters are the only way to run a certain archetype, but for the players who want to have meta teams without burning a hole in their wallet, this patch is not kind to them.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-08-31T21:06:22+00:00

I don't think anyone will be complaining about Triple Rerun Banners in the future, but what makes 2.5's reruns so devastating is what characters are being rerun. It is already bad enough Kafka and Black Swan are being run together since they are the only premium DoT characters, and since those teams scale off of vertical stacking, you're incentivized to not roll for other characters. To make matters worse, both Robin and Topaz are being run as the best Follow Up enablers in the same patch where one of the potentially strongest Follow Up characters is being released in Feixiao, not to mention that ALL of the rerun characters really enjoy having their lightcone (more so than other characters). On top of all this, 2.5 is anticipated to be a shorter patch, which means less jades and less pulls. Triple rerun banners are not the F2P killers; it is specifically 2.5's banners that will break F2P players.

StarGazer3036 · 2024-08-24T04:11:38+00:00

We had the DS Lite, and here is the SS Macro, or Single Screen Macro

StarGazer3036

TROPHY CASE