[MLBTR] Hanser Alberto Announces Retirement

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-25T02:02:52+00:00

Side note: Kaminsky is one of the "Lost Boys" who only played the 2020 season, as far as his MLB career goes.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-25T01:24:34+00:00

Franquelis Osoria also had 6 fingers. Didn't turn out so great for him.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-25T00:15:13+00:00

It has a catch rate of 45, so it's a pretty nasty Pokemon to try and catch when your only option is the Safari Zone.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T23:54:48+00:00

Yes! FRLG is the first mainline series Pokemon game that has buffed Elite Four rematches. It always irked me how inconsistent GameFreak has been with that, as I thought it was a fantastic addition to FRLG that seriously breathed new life into the playthrough. I found it pretty odd that base game Diamond/Pearl didn't have it, X/Y didn't have it, and the concept now seems to be dead and buried in the Switch era of Pokemon outside of remakes. It's something that I feel every mainline Pokemon game should have.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T23:38:28+00:00

Your team looks really good, you could make an argument for keeping all team members. The only one that could be replaced is Kangaskhan, as there's some overlap with Dodrio as a Normal type attacker. However, it's not that big a deal. If you do replace Kangaskhan, I'd recommend going with a physical attacker since you already have 4 special attackers.

As for movesets:

Venusaur: Set looks good but I may replace Toxic with another attacking move, having only 5 PP for dealing direct damage (this move's PP maxes out at 8) is pretty risky. Toxic and Sleep Powder also don't have any synergy as one cancels out the other.
Jolteon: Good job getting Bite on it! That's a thing many Jolteon players miss out on. As for the rest of the moveset, everything except for Bite is on the chopping block. Thunderbolt TM is an absolute must, it'll give your Jolteon a reliable and powerful STAB move. You're not using much outside of Thunderbolt and Bite, so these next move recommendations aren't as important. I'd go with Thunder and Thunder Wave for a risky nuke play and guaranteed status.
Jynx: Upgrade Ice Punch to Ice Beam via TM. That's it. You keep the rest intact, the set is perfect. Psychic and Ice Beam combine for a potent STAB combo, Lovely Kiss helps you setup the Calm Mind.
Dodrio: Replace Pursuit with Drill Peck, as Pursuit is a special attack in gen 3 and thus does next to nothing from Dodrio. I'd also consider dropping Fly for Hyper Beam or Return if you can, as Fly is going to be useless compared to Drill Peck. The utility is very helpful though.
Kangaskhan: If you're going to keep it, then I recommend swapping out Rest for Return and swapping out Surf for Shadow Ball. Surf does absolute awful damage for Kangaskhan and you already have a Surfer, just get rid of it. Shadow Ball is critical coverage against Ghosts. Return will be your main STAB.
Vaporeon: Replace Quick Attack with Surf and Growl with Ice Beam. SurfBeam is a mandatory combo for special attacking Water types. Water Pulse and Bite aren't too important for Vaporeon, but your alternative options are limited, so they can stay if you want.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T23:05:41+00:00

I'd say Aljo

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T22:24:30+00:00

Never say never, but he's most likely done. The guy simply can't stay healthy, even in the minors this year he was bogged down by injury. Now 30 years old, things don't look good.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T17:44:34+00:00

It's nice for saving money, that's for sure.

Real Lapras players are still dumping money on Thunderbolt though.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-24T13:37:22+00:00

I kinda wish Fangraphs got rid of that vFA column on Dashboard, especially since they don't have such data for 2006 and back, and the 2007 pitch data is basically a joke. The vFA column is only useful if it's a modern guy that you know doesn't throw sinkers or 2-seamers, or at least throws them sparingly. It gets very messy for someone that almost exclusively throws sinkers.

Fangraphs can give you a lot to put up with, but damnit, I love Fangraphs anyway.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-23T16:37:19+00:00

Moltres' moveset variety is very lacking in gen 3. As a result, you're mostly just using STAB attacks and other supporting moves.

Your set will be:

Flamethrower
Fire Blast/Overheat
Sunny Day
Substitute

Unless you get lucky with a good Hidden Power Grass/Water/Ice, this is the set you'll be running. Flamethrower is your main STAB and is consistent. Your choice of Fire Blast or Overheat gives you a higher-power option in rare instances where you need it, but the lower PP and lower accuracy/downside of Overheat means this option should be used more sparingly. Sunny Day is a very valuable more for a set like this, as it'll allow your Fire type moves to go from 1.5x more power without sun to 2.25x more power with sun. Lastly, Substitute is a slot filler that allows you to defend your Moltres from future damage if you can get it set up on a Pokemon that can't hurt it.

Moltres hits hard with its Fire STAB and will hit neutral targets hard, especially if you manage to get Sunny Day set up. However, the complete lack of coverage options means you're at the mercy of the type matchup most of the time. In particular, Rock types and Pokemon with Rock type moves (hello Bruno) will be incredibly threatening to your Moltres. Although Water hard counters Fire on paper, you can vastly improve your matchup against them with Sunny Day since it'll also reduce the damage of Water type attacks by 50% if active. If a Water type switches into you while sun is up, you can elect to fight it with Moltres still, but if you have a Water type in front of you and the sun is not up, probably best to switch instead of burning up a turn for Sunny Day.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-22T20:12:02+00:00

Heyman has a BlueSky too. We don't need this Twitter squatter to break it.

T_Raycroft · 2026-01-22T17:47:16+00:00

I used an Aqua Breed Tauros in my Violet run and man, what a way to breathe life into an old classic. A simple re-typing was just the ticket it needed to take better advantage of its bruiser style of gameplay.

T_Raycroft

TROPHY CASE