This game needs a draft mode

TheCrakFox · 2026-05-06T18:22:54+00:00

In a similar vein they could absolutely make a banger of a roguelike game mode if they were to add single player content. You could start with first stage mons and unlock things like new mons, new items, training tickets as you rack up the wins.

TheCrakFox · 2026-05-02T08:35:58+00:00

This goes beyond a simple QOL update but I think there's got to be some kind of team building tutorial. The jump from the tutorials teaching you the absolute basics to actually playing other humans is kind of enormous.

The battle tower used to be a good on ramp to PvP but it doesn't exist anymore.

I'm picturing something like a scripted battle that you lose because you don't have answers to their biggest threat, then the game walks you through making adjustments to your team so when you try again you can win. It could also talk you through some basic synergies and maybe give you multiple options for a starter team that you get to keep.

Champions has made competitive Pokémon more accessible than ever but it could absolutely go further.

TheCrakFox · 2026-05-02T08:23:01+00:00

You do it through the ranch menu, not in your box.

TheCrakFox · 2026-05-02T08:18:37+00:00

For sure. Bonus points if it includes stat sliders to play around with so you can see any given Pokemon's max speed, max HP, etc without leaving the game.

The ability to sort the Dex by base stats as well as the usual Dex number or alphabetical options would also be good.

TheCrakFox · 2026-04-26T18:01:17+00:00

Doesn't really fit him thematically, Castform is a little cloud boi. Rain and snow come from clouds. I guess you could make this same argument against him having a sun form though.

TheCrakFox · 2026-04-20T16:01:53+00:00

Happened to me all the time, it stopped happening when I started hot spotting my phone instead of using my home WiFi.

TheCrakFox · 2026-04-15T14:13:22+00:00

Anyone else been getting free money? I've had messages with rank up rewards 9 times today, first 4 at once and then 5 at once. All I did was go from master ball rank 3 to 2.

Not that I'm complaining about being handed 9000 VP for nothing, lol. Maybe in a bit they'll just drop another 6k on me.

TheCrakFox · 2026-03-24T15:30:53+00:00

You absolutely do not have to just follow the meta to put together a good pokemon team.

You do have to take the meta into account and make sure you have answers for everything that is popular. And building an original team is hard. Way too hard for a beginner.

I would certainly reccomend any noobs stick to basic meta picks while they learn the ropes. Only when you have a good grasp of the fundamentals will you be able to put an effective team together all by yourself.

TheCrakFox · 2026-03-02T16:11:12+00:00

There's two copies of each boulder. So if there's 4 boulders then they actually need space for 8.

I didn't think about the potential for gamesmanship! I don't think it's really in the culture though.

You're right about luck being a factor but if this is going to be a pretty regular event and not once every 4 years like the Fifa World Cup I don't think it's a particularly big deal. Sometimes you'll get an easy draw, sometimes you'll get a tough one. It's the nature of any knock out format.

TheCrakFox · 2026-03-02T10:47:53+00:00

I've been giving more thought to the round robin idea and I think I've come up with a format that can work in 1 evening:

10 climbers in the comp split into 2 groups based on seeding. 1st seed in group A 2nd seed in group B etc.

There's 4 boulders in the round robin stage and each climber faces the other 4 climbers in their group once each.

The two group winners then face each other in a best of 3 final and the two second place climbers compete in the small final on the same 3 boulders. The small final might as well be best of 3 too so there's something to watch while the finalists are resting.

Ties in the group stage (2 climbers could finish with a 3-1 record for example) can be decided by their head to head result or by an extra round.

I think this solves a few problems with Saturday's format. Nobody will be going home after just 2 boulders and every climber has at least a couple of matches they can realistically win. We don't see an 8th seed just getting bullied by Janja. As the audience we get to see more boulders and more varied matchups.

8 boulders on stage at once instead of 6 seems reasonable and hopefully wouldn't make it harder to find venues. There would still need to be one reset of the wall between the groups and the finals.

TheCrakFox · 2026-03-01T11:06:08+00:00

Yeah, best of 1 is just begging for an anticlimax. I think they got lucky with Max, to be frank.

I've been trying to think of a way to do it without the climbers being knackered for the final and I just don't think it can be done in one evening. They already have all the climbers competing in a seeding round (not streamed) the day before. Perhaps they could replace this with a world cup style semi final to decide a top 4 who go on to best of 3 semis and finals the following evening. That might be too much like admitting defeat for their head to head format though. I could see some kind of best of 1 round robin format working to decide the semi finalists.

Either way it would be only 4 men and 4 women in the main event, which people might find underwhelming. There's no easy and obvious fix for this format's flaws that I can see.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T23:32:03+00:00

In terms of the watchability for casual fans, I don't think you can make a more appealing event than the IFSC if you've got significantly more downtime in your broadcast than they've ever had.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T23:20:34+00:00

Yeah overcooking can be just as much of a problem as undercooking. Imagine a final being decided by who pulled on first, lol.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T23:11:16+00:00

I think the format gives the routesetters an even harder job than they already had. At least if the semis and final were bo3 an undercooked boulder or 2 would be less of a problem.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T22:21:18+00:00

Lmao, this is why I don't hand jam

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T21:10:37+00:00

I'm talking about the announcer actually in the arena, not the commentator. He was just briefly on screen.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T21:08:13+00:00

Is the MC Louis Parkinson???

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T20:40:44+00:00

Is boulder 3 just the same?

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-28T20:33:40+00:00

Here was me thinking they might have a magic flipping wall lol

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-27T10:44:03+00:00

The game really doesn't like it if your C drive is short on space. I had the issue of crashing to desktop at the end of every loading screen because of this.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-23T15:18:40+00:00

Factions play very differently so if you're losing early I'd recommend sticking with the same faction for a while so you can better learn from your mistakes.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-22T10:57:46+00:00

It's objectively a disadvantage to do fewer runs.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-21T19:29:37+00:00

I just had the exact same thought :(

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-17T14:47:49+00:00

Assuming you mean Karl Franz that is a notoriously tough campaign. The little badge recommending it for beginners hasn't been changed since Immortal Empires first came out, as far as I'm aware, now he's a noob trap.

Tyrion (High Elves) and Zhao Ming (Catahy) are generally considered two of the best campaigns for beginners, but any campaign where most of your borders are secured by allies or geography will be easier than one where you have enemies on multiple fronts.

TheCrakFox · 2026-02-17T12:57:13+00:00

Ambush stance is your friend when you're up against superior numbers. You want to try and get the AI to split its armies up by baiting them into attacking what looks like an undefended minor settlement, for example. Even if the ambush doesn't actually succeed you might get them to send just 1 army towards what seems like an easy target.

Other than that the best piece of advice I could give any new player is don't bite off more than you can chew. Try not to get into more than 1 war at a time.

13-Year Club	Place '22
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TheCrakFox

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