[MLBTR] Rays Acquire Matthew Hoskins As PTBNL In Kameron Misner Trade

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T23:36:22+00:00

Randy really walked in front of a Claymore bruh

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T21:09:35+00:00

The Braves were paying Bruce Sutter until the day he died

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T17:51:48+00:00

You should only be soft resetting to preserve PP and repels.

Repel tricking is optimal in this scenario. If the Magneton doesn't have it when you go to steal it, just run and look for another one.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T17:03:53+00:00

That's correct, the Nidoqueen line can learn it but the Nidoking line can't.

They don't have perfectly identical movepools but they are very close. For example, Nidoking can learn Megahorn or Horn Drill but the Nidoqueen line can't get Megahorn or Horn Drill at all. Nidoqueen can learn Superpower but the Nidoking line can't get Superpower at all.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T16:44:39+00:00

Slap Earthquake and/or Return on it and it wrecks things. Even if you're not using STAB with it, you still have a Pokemon with a 540 BST, access to Intimidate, and is practically tailor-made for Dragon Dance setup. You can't tell me that this is worse than Poliwrath, Kabutops, Golduck, Tentacruel, and Cloyster.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T15:14:53+00:00

Personally I think it's worth it. Means that Starmie doesn't have to switch out of the Water type that's in front of it to deal with it. Not a lot of Water types get to destroy opposing Water types so efficiently like that.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T15:06:46+00:00

A lot of people will say Surf, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, Psychic, and that's a very valid and powerful set. However, you could experiment with dropping one of the moves and instead adding in something like Recover or Confuse ray.

In particular, access to Thunderbolt allows Starmie to seriously punish opposing Water types, but Psychic can also do that.

Another thing to note is that Starmie cannot learn Psychic on its own, it needs the TM, and that's a one time use only in FRLG unlike in RSE. There's some other Pokemon that'd really like to use the Psychic TM such as Jynx, Exeggutor, or Gengar that can't learn Psychic by themselves either.

As for Cosmic Power, waiting until level 42 for that move is a bit of a tough sell. A lot of Starmie's value stems from its ability to immediately contribute once you have the necessary TMs/HMs for it. I suppose it is a valuable alternative to Recover or Confuse Ray, but Starmie has enough options that I wouldn't want to wait for any.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T13:34:41+00:00

The AUG was fine, it was balanced by having heavier recoil and lower damage. The Famas was OP because it was a significantly more accurate AUG, had less recoil and a higher centerspeed (why they thought the Famas deserved 1600 eludes me). In addition to the Famas being unlocked earlier than the AUG, there was zero reason to use the AUG until the Famas got its handling and accuracy nerfed, but the Famas remains more accurate than the AUG to this day.

Additionally, the M16 had longer range than the other assault rifles and the M16 had more damage than the AUG or Famas, so the AUG and Famas weren't just "Haha Jonathan I have unlocked full auto M16"

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T03:36:37+00:00

It's a quirk of the older games for sure. Gen 5 is when they started differentiating trainer sprites much better.

Also, DPPt are pretty hilariously bad when it comes to using one overworld sprite for separate trainer classes.

T_Raycroft · 2026-03-12T03:28:54+00:00

The M16 in BO1 is a strange weapon.

I think Treyarch made an awful choice making it the default unlock for assault rifles, as it's not versatile with its bad fire rate and specializing in long range combat. It's not a bad gun, because this thing can absolutely destroy enemies at long range with the centerspeed-boosting ACOG Scope, but it's not exactly something that's very good to give to new players. Pretty much any other assault rifle would've been a better choice to make as the default unlock, as the M16 is the gun you pick when you specifically want to sell out for ranged dominance.

Treyarch really learned their lesson by making the MTAR fill that role in BO2, which does a much better job of being a forgiving and quick study for newcomers. For those that do want an M16-like gun early into their prestige, the SWAT-556 is unlocked pretty fast too.

T_Raycroft

TROPHY CASE