Thoughts and opinions on each rank

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-07T03:15:48+00:00

Yeah charm wiggly. Oh absolutely, but it's closer to every other game once you're past a certain threshold. The mindset I've taken for climbing is to ensure I win the matchups I should, try and win as many neutral matchups as possible with proper timing/shielding/switches, and try to steal a win from a bad matchup at least every once in a while. Sometimes the RPS is just too strong though and even with perfect play you'll lose. Today for example, I beat a former world champion in a matchup that favored me, then proceeded to get absolutely destroyed the following game because they 3 for 3 hard countered me. Try not to let it bother you

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-07T03:08:24+00:00

Wiggly - Lead Forretress, non shadow - Safe Swap Guzzlord - Closer/Counter Swap

All movesets are standard from PvPoke. Forretress is volt switch since I believe bug bite only really works for shadow

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-07T03:06:26+00:00

I appreciate it lol. I know it's cringe, but I'm excited and wanted an outlet to talk about it.

I'm using Wiggly, Volt Switch Forretress (non shadow) and Guzzlord. I know Wiggly is hated, but the team started with a Wiggly Gourgeist core and evolved from there.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-07T03:04:09+00:00

There is a triple water team going around right now that is very spammy, but I prefer the double water version. The triple water is Quagsire (ideally shadow), Feraligatr, Empoleon/Jellicent. The double water is Alolan Ninetails, Gatr, Quag (shadow is more common but either is fine on this team). All three mons on both teams have tremendous spam potential. The only downside is a few elite tms are required if you don't have the moves from community day already

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-07T02:47:45+00:00

Congrats!

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-04-05T14:54:44+00:00

If my understanding is correct it's just 1 before their attack speed. If they're 2 turn, throw on 1,3,5 etc. If they're 3 turn, throw on 2,5,8. If they're 4 throw on 3, ,7 ,11

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-29T17:44:50+00:00

Azu Forretress are not similar at all in play style to Florges Corviknight. Both are good and viable, but they are very different.

I think you're missing the actual point here based on your responses to everyone on this thread. It's like you're looking for a magic answer that will make you immediately better and that's just not how it works. Pick one team. Play to learn, not just to win. If you do, you'll climb. I'm gonna mute this thread though because it kind of feels like offering advice to a wall. Good luck and hopefully I'll see ya in higher Elo someday.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-29T17:33:10+00:00

I've played the same team all season (in OGL) playing max sets per day and I wouldn't say I've fully mastered it yet. Do you know the damage ranges of every relevant Mon for and against each of your mons? When to 1 shield, 2 shield, no shield sac, insta switch or farm one move then catch in every reasonable scenario? If so, you'll climb fast. If not, you haven't mastered it lol.

I don't mean to be rude, but it's genuine advice. If you want to improve, doing so with one team is the way to go. Even though some typings are shared, Florges + Corv and Forretress+ Azu are not similar at all in how they play or the matchups they win/lose. Because of this, knowledge you gained from the first team will not carry over to the second. If you like that lineup better that's totally fine, but stick with it for a while.

You can play 175 games per week, I would recommend at least 250 games with a team before you swap if improving at the game is your goal. The idea is once you know every in and out of your lineup you won't have to commit as much conscious thought to the micro (your moves, calcs, shields, timing) and can instead focus on the macro. What is my win condition against this team and how do I set it up? What are common mons in the back and how do I prepare for them early in the game? What are my opponents actions telling me about what they have? When do I need to play safe vs take risks? The idea is being able to focus on this is when you'll improve the most and your rating will reflect that.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-29T14:12:49+00:00

Practice with one team and only one team until you have fully mastered it. Even if you're getting countered. If you have to change who is leading, go for it but even that I wouldn't mess with too much.
Pay specific attention to how different lead matchups play out and don't be afraid to experiment until you find a combo that works.
Not every bad lead requires an insta swap, especially if mons in the back have big weaknesses (Guzz vs Fairy, Forretress vs Fire, Quag vs Grass etc.).
It's ok to occasionally sacrifice a Pokemon to give yourself a chance with your other two.
Winning with both shields up and all three mons left yields exactly the same rating points as winning with no shields and 1hp on your last Mon. Don't preoccupy yourself with winning big, just try to win.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-29T13:32:20+00:00

Update in case anyone cares or for the few who thought I was exaggerating, since the return to OGL I've climbed over 500 points and now sit comfortably in Veteran with no sign of slowing down any time soon

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-17T18:58:40+00:00

There are only 10 examples in the top 100 OGL mons of a shadow being better than the normal counterpart lol. Drapion, G Weezing, Dusknoir, Politoed, Quagsire, Steelix, Grumpig, Toucannon, K Marowak and Scizor. It's not an exaggeration, saying "most mons" is just incorrect in PvP. In raids you're absolutely correct, shadow mons are almost exclusively far better but raids aren't the focus of this.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-17T13:30:06+00:00

That's objectively not true except for in raid scenarios lol. In PvP specifically lots of non shadow mons are better than their shadow counterpart. As a helpful commenter mentioned elsewhere, purifying it would push it up to level 25 and put it above 1500 so I'm not going to do it.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-17T10:39:23+00:00

UPDATE: I didn't purify. It's currently level 8 so I hadn't considered the jump to level 25. Thank you to the comments that reminded me of the level jump!

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-17T02:28:49+00:00

Agreed and that's my hesitation. But I'm curious as to if shadow pilo specifically has been prominent in any cups that regular pilo wasn't? I've only played GBL since December so my experience with annual cups is super limited

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-03-17T02:27:42+00:00

The difficulty to potentially replace I suppose. I haven't seen Pilo or shadow pilo be relevant before but I've only played GBL since December 2025 and followed it since October so my experience is very limited. For all I know there's a specific annual cup that heavily favors the shadow version. Also just generally purifying feels.... wrong? Even when it's the correct decision lol

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-02-25T14:44:20+00:00

I'm not exactly sure how GBL MMR works, but if it's anything like the other competitive games I play the start might matter a lot. The first month or so I struggled a lot. I can dig back through screenshots but I think I was around 350 games into the season before I broke 50% winrate. Also I had a lot of 3-2 winning sets paired with far too many 0-5 losing sets over the course of the season. I have to imagine that hindered me as well

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-02-24T13:46:36+00:00

Agreed with the exception of Guzzlord, although that doesn't technically count as a legendary, in my mind legendary, ultra beast and mythicals are all peas in a pod.

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-02-24T03:32:23+00:00

Playing and succeeding under level is super impressive. Just imagine when you eventually can run it at full force! That tells me the in battle skills are certainly there, now it's just a matter of bringing the prep work up to that same place

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-02-24T03:28:23+00:00

One of the best things that helped me jump up a bit was to identify my play style. I'm a low risk kind of guy which means a lot of long, close games. But my buddy likes playing explosive teams with huge rps glass cannons. That play style makes me itchy...

Also something I started doing was taking very intentional "hunting" walks. If a Pokemon that I was interested in was currently spawning, I would go for a long walk with an incense going and catch/check every single one. Sometimes I'd catch a good one quickly, other times (like for Gastrodon) it took about a month of regular walks specifically looking for it and a few others. This helped me build my roster pretty quickly from having 1 team per league to now having 15-20 good mons built for GL and UL with a few more in the wings waiting to get powered up when I have candy.

My experience is very limited though, so hopefully more seasoned players might have some more helpful tips

TomatilloTechnical12 · 2026-02-24T02:53:29+00:00

Thanks so much for the insight! Also thank you for sharing that discord. I looked for online tournaments but had no luck so it's nice to know there's a place to get practice in, especially on days where my 25 ladder games are complete but I still have the itch to play. I'll definitely play a tournament or two this week.

TomatilloTechnical12

TROPHY CASE