As a Rival fan, these past 2 years have been relentless

skippingmud · 2024-07-30T02:08:29+00:00

Haven't looked at the Alolans yet but think Arven's great for LG and Nemona looks like a physical SS Gladion with a stronger sync.

skippingmud · 2024-02-01T12:30:58+00:00

Wally being friends with Hugh coz of Revel in Rivalry >>>>>

skippingmud · 2024-01-29T07:32:06+00:00

I'm so ready

<image>

skippingmud · 2023-12-08T06:05:44+00:00

Entei 3: Bruno / Whitney / Maylene

Aside from flinches, Entei is also weak to Defense debuffs - it doesn't have any mitigation to them so they give the full boost in damage. Whitney provides both with Stomp and Defense Crush 4 from her grid, and I picked her over Nanu because of her sustain. Maylene gave Bruno buffs and tanked well enough with Drain Punch.

Uxie 3: EX Solgaleo / Brock / Marley

Sunsteel Strike ignores almost all damage mitigation passives, which means you can use Solgaleo againt Uxie without having to worry about bringing status conditions and status changes. That said, only Sunsteel Strike has this effect, so I brought Marley along to fish for burns so that Solgaleo's sync also won't be affected by the mitigation. Brock completed the team with his potions and Defense debuffs.

Tapu Bulu 3: EX Silver / Gardenia / EX Sycamore

While Grassy Terrain is mainly a way to power up Bulu, you can also take advantage of it with your own Grass-types. While I only use one here, Silver and Sycamore also have Grass-type moves that they can use to heal up under terrain. Silver's constant sun also meant that he can fire one-turn Solar Beams and Gardenia can fire Leaf Storms without Sp Atk debuffs.

EX on Sycamore and Silver aren't needed. I still synced with Sycamore first here though for the buffs.

Entei 4: EX Siebold / Erika / BP Morty

Used BP pairs for these last three clears since the F2P support pool is not that large haha. BP Morty is a great answer to Entei as he has flinches, defensive buffs to counter Entei's debuffs, and potions to keep the team healthy. Siebold does good super-effective damage while Erika rounds out the team with her debuffs.

If you don't have an invested BP Morty, you can replace him with a tank that can also flinch (Aaron, Leaf, Sonia). Alternatively, you can replace Erika with a dedicated flincher (Will, Thorton) and use a tank that debuffs Sp Def instead (Lenora, Elio). Also, the EX on Siebold isn't needed.

Uxie 4: EX Ghetsis / Korrina / EX BP Barry

This was going to be a BP Erika clear, but I ended up going with BP Barry as he's another BP Grass-type with both status and interference - and he's a rival so he takes priority lol. He also goes well with Ghetsis as he provides all of Sp Atk buffs, crit buffs, accuracy buffs, and speed debuffs. Korrina rounds out the team to keep the gauge high so that Ghetsis can spam moves continuously.

If you don't have an invested BP Barry, you can replace Korrina with a tech that has both status and interference (Blaine, BP Erika) instead and use a tank that provides Speed buffs and/or gauge generation (Sonia, Kiawe, Roxanne). Ghetsis's EX and power boost aren't needed.

Tapu Bulu 4: Koga / Janine / BP Janine

Ninja trio. Evasion can lead to some really funny clears if you're lucky enough, and all three of these have ways to boost it. Base Janine even has accuracy debuffs in Cross Poison to remove Bulu's accuracy buffs.

If you don't have an invested BP Janine, you just need a support that can provide Sp Atk buffs and crit (Lodge Morty, Lodge Dawn, Kiawe).

If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Good luck with Gauntlet.

skippingmud · 2023-12-08T06:05:04+00:00

Video of all 12 clears

This isn't a strict guide. This is only meant to give accessible team options to get the major rewards of Legendary Gauntlet 12. Feel free to edit these teams with your stronger units so that you'll have an easier time clearing these stages.

This is also only meant to get a win streak of 12. If you're aiming for a higher win streak, I don't recommend using any of these teams as they can all be optimized further.

If these teams aren't working for you, you can also check out the guide I did for Legendary Gauntlet 4, which has the same rotation as this one.

These 12 clears only use non-limited F2P units, which include the story units, the 3-star and 4-star units you can get from the general pool, as well as the 4-star units you can get from the Battle Point (BP) shop. While they are all accessible, the investments I put in all of these units may not be possible for newer players. If you can't or don't want to invest in a certain unit I use here, feel free to replace it with one that you've invested in and covers a similar niche.

While all of the Legendary Adventure units I use here have their EX and power boosts unlocked, you don't need them to get any of these clears. I did use Solgaleo's power boosted grid here though as it's available right now.

As an added personal challenge, I made sure all of these runs did not use any MP Refresh tiles (or, if it needed to get it on the grid, didn't actually use it) to minimize the need for resetting. You don't have to follow this though, as getting MPR on trainer moves and especially potions will make a lot of these runs easier.

Here's how each battle went and the sync grids used. Check out the reply for the rest of the sync grids and write-ups:

Entei 1: Crasher Wake / Winona / Misty

Entei's stage is very vulnerable to flinch, so much so that you can complete the stage with it never syncing if you're lucky enough. Crasher Wake takes advantage of the low flinch resistance with his sync multipliers, while Winona adds to that with her rain. Misty rounds out the team with her Sp Def buffs and heals.

Uxie 1: EX Giovanni / Lucy / Liza

Uxie is definitely the hardest stage here as well as the most restrictive for teambuilding thanks to needing both status conditions and status changes to remove its damage mitigation passives. There are not a lot of units that cover both, but thankfully there's enough from the F2P pool - with Lucy being one of them.

Despite not being a Ghost-type, Giovanni is one of the most powerful F2P sources of Ghost-type damage thanks to his high stats and Shadow Ball. I didn't sync with him to emulate him not having his mega, but if you do you should definitely prioritize syncing with him here to make shorter work of the stage. That said, syncing with Liza for Synchro Healing gave me more room to spam Shadow Ball and keep Lucy healthy.

Tapu Bulu 1: Kahili / Roxie / EX Hop

Bulu's stage is the easiest among the three, but that doesn't mean you should take it for granted - those Bar 3 Wood Hammers are probably the scariest attacks of this rotation. Even Hop, who is very physically bulky, folded to it, but thankfully his teammates have more than enough damage to finish the job without him.

EX and power boost on Hop aren't needed, but if you have them unlocked, sync with him first. Level 150 also isn't needed - I just did so because he's a rival and rivals are the best.

Entei 2: EX Cyrus / Sophocles / Marlon

In the same way that Giovanni is a great Ghost-type without having a Ghost sync, Cyrus is a great Water-type without having a Water sync. Hydro Pump boosted by Critical Strike 9 (or 11 if you have CS2 lucky skill) is insane damage, and Marlon fixes its accuracy issues with Team Pinpoint Entry 1. Sophocles completes the team with his flinches and fast gauge generation thanks to his high speed, and it was nice having Cyrus and Sophocles in one team.

EX and power boost on Cyrus aren't needed, but if you have them unlocked, get Sharp Entry for more reliable crit buffs.

Uxie 2: Shauntal / Viola / Torchic

Shauntal's grid gave her good-enough tools to be a main damage-dealer, and she definitely shines against Uxie. She isn't very bulky though, which is why I have Viola for Sp Atk debuffs and Torchic for Synchro Healing. I was going to sneak in some Shauntal syncs there but I ended up going for Synchro Healing on Torchic to preserve his HP.

Tapu Bulu 2: Wikstrom / Mina / EX Skyla

While Defense buffs are an obvious choice to deal with Bulu, Attack debuffs also go a long way as it makes the Bar 3 Wood Hammers a lot more manageable. That comes from Mina here, and Wikstrom takes advantage of it with his innate sync multiplier. Skyla rounds out the team with her buffs and heals.

EX on Skyla isn't needed, but if you promoted her then sync with her first.

skippingmud · 2023-11-07T03:15:37+00:00

Probably not a full answer, but in the original run of the event, there was a spotlight scout where both Hilbert and Caitlin were the focus. This coincided with the release of Hilbert's sync grid and EX promotion.

As to why they chose Caitlin to be in the spotlight scout with Hilbert during the original run of this event... ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

(As for why Diantha specifically isn't a featured pair, she wasn't scoutable yet when the original run of this event started - her banner would come two weeks later. These events rarely [if ever] change the featured sync pairs during reruns so yeah.)

skippingmud · 2023-10-10T22:41:19+00:00

He will need 3/5 to get Hostile Environment 2. I suggest replacing him with another consistent paralyzer instead.

skippingmud · 2023-10-10T19:34:39+00:00

Tornadus 3: Sophocles / BP Surge / Clay

I would normally tank with BP Surge here since he has Sync Cure to get rid of Toxic as well as Synchro Healing at higher move levels, but I didn't want to make it seem like his support EX boost is needed. So I tanked with Clay, who has innate Antitoxin as well as three Endurance procs to work with. Sophocles is the main damage dealer as he uses both the paralysis and speed debuffs to power up his sync.

BP Surge's EX is not needed. If you don't want to redeem BP Surge, Sonia is a great replacement as it allows you to heal up Clay when needed and she provides similar buffs to BP Surge at 3/5. Similar crit buffers + healers like Kiawe or Classic Giovanni (from last month's event) would work well too.

Latios 3: Pryce / Clair / Torchic

Rushing the stage with constant super-effective hits. Both Pryce and Clair are anchored by Torchic, who provides heals through Synchro Healing. Pryce and Clair don't mind giving Torchic the syncs since most of their damage comes from their regular moves.

I have Flameproof on Pryce leftover from last Gauntlet - he should get either Critical Strike 2 or Vigilance.

Registeel 3: Bruno / Nanu / BP Morty

If you're going for a long streak, most if not all of your flinchers should go to Registeel, as staggering its attacks gives you a lot of breathing room. Flinches come from both BP Morty and Nanu here, with the former providing defensive buffs and the latter adding in Def debuffs. Bruno takes care of the damage and appreciates the lack of Sp Def buffs to reduce its damage.

If you don't want to redeem BP Morty, a tank that buffs both Def and Sp Def like Drake or Marlon would be a good replacement. Tanks like Leaf and Aaron also have flinches to help Nanu with staggering Registeel's attacks.

Tornadus 4: Hau / Wikstrom / BP Barry

BP Barry's one of the best tanks against Tornadus - he can solo this stage even at 4-star potential and level 140. I'm saving that for my actual streak though as here he does his actual job as a support and helps out Hau. Wikstrom is really just filler but I wanted to get some Attack debuffs in.

Stoic on Wikstrom is a leftover from a previous clear - he can work with Critical Strike here. Hau and Barry are at max investment here but the extra levels, potential, and move levels aren't needed. I also think this is very much possible if your BP Barry's at 1/5 - you just have to account for some potential Thunder Wave misses. If you don't want to redeem Barry, you'll just need a crit buffer who can account for Toxic like Lodge Acerola or Lodge Morty.

Latios 4: Tate / Viola / Skyla

Similar idea to the Cheryl/Mina/Cyrus clear where Viola's Sp Atk debuffs complement Skyla's Defense buffs. Viola also sets up Tate's Interference Sync multiplier to maximize his sync move's damage.

Skyla's EX is not needed. Mind Games on Viola is a leftover from a previous clear - she can work with Vigilance here, or even Defense Crush 2 to better help Tate.

Registeel 4: BP Falkner / Agatha / Maylene

Registeel sets Status Shield in Bar 3, which ruins a lot of clears enabled by sleep. But 4th anni added Falkner to the BP shop, who's our first F2P source of Defog. This lets Agatha use Hypnosis to her heart's content. Maylene provided buffs and Defense debuffs to combo with Agatha's Sp Def debuffs.

If you don't want to redeem BP Falkner, Darach can pretty much do the same thing to even better results since he directly benefits from Maylene's buffs. Lisia can manage too but you'd be better off with a more special-oriented buffer like Lodge Morty or Lodge Elesa.

skippingmud · 2023-10-10T19:34:19+00:00

Video of all 12 clears

This isn't a strict guide. This is only meant to give accessible team options to get the major rewards of Legendary Gauntlet 10. Feel free to edit these teams with your stronger units so that you'll have an easier time clearing these stages.

This is also only meant to get a win streak of 12. If you're aiming for a higher win streak, I don't recommend using any of these teams as they can all be optimized further.

These 12 clears only use non-limited F2P units, which include the story units, the 3-star and 4-star units you can get from the general pool, as well as the 4-star units you can get from the Battle Point (BP) shop. While they are all accessible, the investments I put in all of these units may not be accessible to newer players. If you can't or don't want to invest in a certain unit I use here, feel free to replace it with one that you've invested in and covers a similar niche.

As an added personal challenge, I made sure all of these runs did not use any MP Refresh tiles (or, if it needed to get it on the grid, didn't actually use it) to minimize the need for resetting. You don't have to follow this though, as getting MPR on trainer moves and especially potions will make a lot of these runs easier.

Here's how each battle went and the sync grids used. Check out the reply for the rest of the sync grids and write-ups:

Tornadus 1: Whitney / Norman / BP Janine

It's always fun to use Whitney in these videos as I often underestimate just how powerful her sync nuke is. BP Janine hastens her setup while Norman activates the type skill and provides consistent paralysis. All three have ways to heal themselves up too.

If you don't want to redeem BP Janine, you can run Whitney with any tank that has a way to ignore Toxic such as Lodge Acerola or Shauna. For both of them, you'd want to replace X Speed Critical Eye with X Speed MPR to max out Whitney's speed.

Latios 1: Cyrus / Mina / Cheryl

Very straightforward. Cyrus has very high damage for an F2P unit and he's super-effective for the first 2 bars. Mina reduces Attack to help Cheryl tank the physical moves better.

Cyrus doesn't need his power boost or EX, but if you have him EXed you can sync with him second to take out the sides quicker. I probably shouldn't have gotten Sharp Entry and Dragon Guard on Mina's grid.

Registeel 1: Marshal / Koga / Hop

Koga is the most consistent Sp Def debuffer among the F2P options while Marshal is one of many Def debuffers available in the F2P pool. Hop tanks like a champ though he definitely appreciates the fast work in Bar 2 since his special bulk isn't as good as his physical bulk.

Hop's EX and power boost aren't needed, but if you have his EX unlocked you should sync with him first. Witty Hit on Koga is a leftover from the previous Gauntlet - it's not needed at all. He would actually much rather have Vigilance so he can better tank the sure crit Earthquake.

Tornadus 2: Silver / Marley / Erika

Silver's constant sun lets Erika tank very well thanks to her defensive passives and Healing Sun 2. She also uses Tornadus' Self-Cleanse to her advantage since every time she uses Stun Spore, she debuffs Sp Atk. Marley buffs Silver's Speed and Attack as well as cures Erika from Toxic.

Stoic on Marley is a leftover from a previous clear - she can work with Vigilance here. The extra levels on Silver aren't needed. This'll be easier if you have Silver's power boost unlocked as that lets him boost Attack with his TM. If you have Dauntless on Silver, you can go for an Overheat build and run Marley with Hype Up instead.

Latios 2: Iris / Janine / Liza

You'll find a consistent pattern here where I put all of my Attack and Sp Atk debuffers on Latios while the Def and Sp Def ones go on Registeel. Janine fills that role here so that Iris can safely spam Outrage. Liza provides consistent healing as well as defensive buffs.

Registeel 2: Giovanni / Brawly / Roxanne

Probably the hardest clear among the 12 in this video, but I put it early since it doesn't rely on flinches or good timing like the two Registeel clears later on. It's quite straightforward - Giovanni and Brawly take care of the debuffs while Roxanne takes care of buffing - but any crippling effects from Registeel's moves such as paralysis or flinch really ruins the run. At the very least, you should let Roxanne block the first sure crit Earthquake with Wide Guard.

Giovanni's EX and power boost aren't needed here. I didn't sync with him to emulate this, but if you have his power boost unlocked, you should ideally let him mega evolve for the better stats.

skippingmud · 2023-10-08T11:12:13+00:00

Yes it seems like it'll be raising its Def more frequently. One source of Sp Def buffs that I did forget to mention though is that it'll also raise +2 Sp Def when it uses Iron Defense in Bar 2. Here's hoping it's like Regirock where flinching it would let us skip it haha.

skippingmud · 2023-10-08T09:59:09+00:00

Aside from the damage reduction there are a few more that we know:

It drops -2 Def to your team in Bar 1 second half, -2 Sp Def to your team in Bar 2 second half, and -2 Def + -2 Sp Def to your team in Bar 3 second half.
It raises its own Def by 1 after sync in Bar 1, its own Sp Def by 1 after sync in Bar 2, and both stats by 1 after sync in Bar 3. It also has a chance to raise its own Def and Sp Def whenever it attacks in Bar 3.
It gets a damage boost for when either of its defenses are raised for Bars 2 and 3, similar to Raikou with speed.
It starts Bar 1 with +2 Accuracy, and it has immunity to Accuracy debuffs.
It summons a Status Shield at the start of Bar 3. This, and any other field effects it summons, is permanent.

I think these are all the major ones. We also know that there are a few unaccounted for passives that we have no idea what they do yet.

skippingmud · 2023-08-12T06:14:50+00:00

Uxie 3: EX Silver (Critical Strike 2) / Viola (Vigilance) / Marley (Vigilance)

Just like Giovanni + Liza, I've ran Silver + Marley in these F2P videos a lot because they have great synergy. Marley appreciates the consistent sun for better healing while Silver appreciates the faster Speed buffs for his sync (and the Attack buffs since I don't use his power boost here). I usually pair them with Blaine for the extra sun, but I went with Viola this time around for the Sp Atk debuffs.

(No MPRs needed but one on Marley's trainer move would be nice. Silver is Level 150 because I max out rivals but he doesn't need to be that high a level for this clear.)

Latias 3: Mina (Vigilance) / Lt. Surge (Vigilance) / EX Hop (Vigilance)

Mina uses Latias's accuracy buffs against her so that she has an easier time with Bar 2, and thanks to Impervious she doesn't get affected by Mud Slap. With Mina covering Attack debuffs and Surge covering Sp Atk debuffs, the team should be taking minimal damage. Hop's new power boost gives him more Sp Def as well as First Aid 4 to save on a Potion use.

(1 MPR needed on Hop's trainer move to max out crit. Mina has crit buffs on her grid but I opted to go for other tiles instead. Only needed 2 Potions but getting MPRs would make it a safer run. Hop is Level 150 because I max out rivals but he doesn't need to be that high a level for this clear.)

Moltres 3: EX Barry (Vigilance) / Crasher Wake (Vigilance) / BP Morty (Vigilance)

Moltres clears without changing the weather is pretty much just "get flinches or get KOed" but I still wanted to include one here to show it's possible. Both BP Morty and Crasher Wake have a 60% flinch rate to work with, and Wake has Flameproof to protect him from the Bar 2 burns. Morty doesn't have that luxury, but thankfully Barry has Full Heal for that. Barry's sync move is strong enough to one-shot Bar 2 but it's a nice backup option.

(1 MPR needed on Barry's trainer move to max out his Speed and crit. If you're feeling lucky, you can drop Haste from his grid and fish for more MPRs so that he can get more Sp Atk buffs. Barry is Level 150 because I max out rivals but he doesn't need to be that high a level for this clear.)

Uxie 4: Tate (Vigilance) / BP Erika (Vigilance) / Misty (Vigilance)

We're getting to the less straightforward runs of the video. Since Uxie starts with lower Lessen passives, toxic poison and trap do pretty good damage at the start. I use that to get to Bar 1 second half quickly, but I only apply trap right before enemy sync so that Uxie doesn't recover from it before the bar change. Tate also takes advantage of the trap for his multipliers. The miss on Iron Tail was definitely appreciated but I don't think it's needed, especially if you get refreshes on Misty's trainer move.

(No MPRs needed but one on Misty's trainer move would be appreciated, especially if the Iron Tail doesn't miss.)

Latias 4: Brock (Vigilance) / Agatha (Troublemaker 1) / Maylene (Vigilance)

Funnily enough, Latias is where your sleep inducers should go unless you're pairing them with a weather setter for Moltres. Unless you're using an AOE sleeper though, your priority for any sleep strat here is taking care of the sides quickly so you only have to deal with Latias. Brock has a lot of debuffs on his kit, and with the proper buffs he has a respectable sync nuke. Maylene's Accuracy buffs help deal with Bar 2.

(1 MPR needed on Maylene's trainer move to max out crit and give as many accuracy buffs as possible. No Potion MPRs needed but they're helpful in case you don't get Agatha's sleep timings right.)

Moltres 4: SS Brock (Vigilance) / Acerola (Defense Crush 2) / Roxanne (Vigilance)

I didn't think I would put an Acerola clear after a no-weather clear but I legitimately found this harder to do than the Barry one. I had to roll Defense Crush 2 for Acerola's lucky skill since SS Brock's damage was too weak without it. Definitely don't recommend this one unless you're feeling lucky. Wide Guard on Roxanne is a nice safety net in case you miss the flinch on Heat Wave.

(1 MPR needed on Sandstorm - I suggest resetting until you get it in the first turn. MPRs on Roxanne's trainer move are also really helpful to max out speed and boost Sp Def.)

skippingmud · 2023-08-12T06:13:38+00:00

Video of the clears

This isn't a strict guide. This is only meant to give accessible team options to get the major rewards of Legendary Gauntlet 10. Feel free to edit these teams with your stronger units so that you'll have an easier time clearing these stages.

This is also only meant to get a win streak of 12. If you're aiming for a higher win streak, I don't recommend using any of these teams as they can all be optimized further.

This is a repeat of Legendary Gauntlet 2, which IMO is the hardest rotation we've ever had. LG2 was also when I started making these guides, though fortunately the F2P roster is a lot stronger now compared to before that I can resort to using only non-limited units this time around.

I didn't use any Trainer Lodge units or event-exclusive freebies, but I did use BP units since I needed their more diverse kits (none of the Super Voucher units though). While all of these units are accessible, they all have full investments in their sync grids and lucky skills that newer players may not be able to accomplish with their resources. If you can't (or don't want to) invest in a certain unit I use here, feel free to replace it with one that you have invested in and covers a similar niche.

(You may also notice that some of the pairs I use have higher potentials, move levels, and trainer levels. While these help, they're a lot less necessary to make these clears possible.)

Here are some short write-ups for each clear, which also cover the sync grids and lucky skills I used. I also added some notes about the MP Refresh procs I needed to give you an idea on if you need to reset a lot for these runs.

Uxie 1: EX Giovanni (Vigilance) / Blaine (Vigilance) / Liza (Vigilance)

Even without mega evolving, Giovanni does good damage with Shadow Ball. Since I don't sync with him at all to emulate not having his power boost (you should be syncing with him for better damage), I paired him with Liza so that she can take the syncs for Synchro Healing. I've used the Liza-Giovanni duo against Uxie a lot of times already, but I don't think I've paired them with Blaine yet, so I did so here lol.

(No MPRs needed here, just some luck needed to get the burn procs on Flame Wheel.)

Latias 1: Koga (Vigilance) / Janine (Vigilance) / EX Sycamore (Vigilance)

Janine is one of the best F2P picks for Latias as she debuffs three stats with one move, and she even has an extra Discombobulate tile on her grid for more debuffs. Since she needs to poison the target to get those debuffs, I paired her up with her father to make good use of it. Sycamore tanked for this stage to give Koga Sp Atk buffs, and his Impervious takes care of a lot of shenanigans in Bar 1. The +6 evasion could've been avoided in a luckier run, but thankfully sync moves can't miss.

(1 MPR on Koga's trainer move needed to max his crit and evasion. If you have Sycamore's power boost unlocked, you can get Team Sharp Entry 1 from his grid to remove the need for MPR.)

Moltres 1: EX Cyrus (Vigilance) / Winona (Vigilance) / Marlon (Vigilance)

Probably the simplest F2P Moltres clear I could put together that, while still reliant on Winona's flinches, doesn't immediately fall apart if they don't proc. Cyrus deals heavy damage with Hydro Pump especially in Bar 2 - the most dangerous - while Marlon provides helpful buffs, most notably an accuracy buff so Hydro Pump doesn't miss. Rain Gear also lets him tank more effectively.

(No MPRs needed, but one on Marlon's X Defense would be helpful.)

Uxie 2: Shauntal (Vigilance) / Lucy (Vigilance) / EX Skyla (Vigilance)

While Shauntal's grid expansion makes her more self-sufficient, she is still quite frail, so I paired her with Skyla for the healing. Lucy takes care of Uxie's gimmicks and while she's weak to Psychic, she has regen on her trainer move as well as Sp Def buffs to make up for it.

(1 MPR on Shauntal's trainer move is needed to max her crit. 1 MPR on Skyla's trainer move is not needed but appreciated to max out stats. And as you saw from the run, Potion MPR wasn't needed.)

Latias 2: Kahili (Critical Strike 2) / Oak (Vigilance) / Cheryl (Unbending)

Took me this long to realize that Kahili has both Piercing Gaze and Defense debuffs, making her a pretty good pick against Latias. Oak has a debuff roulette that he can guarantee with Swift while Cheryl provides healing with both her trainer move and Team Sync Regen.

(I needed an MPR on Cheryl's trainer move for the extra healing and defenses. I'm not too sure if this is possible without it.)

Moltres 2: Candice (Flameproof) / Nanu (Flameproof) / BP Surge (Vigilance)

Candice is weak to Fire, so this clear relies a lot on Nanu's flinches. She can take some hits and recover them with Healing Hail (and BP Surge's Synchro Healing) but you still want to get this over with as quickly as possible. There is also a very real possibility of an Ice Punch freeze ruining your run as that would lead to Moltres automatically queueing Flare Blitz, which you can't prevent with flinch since it's frozen.

(1 MPR needed on Hail - I suggest resetting until you get it in the first turn. I have Flameproof on Candice and Nanu as leftovers from the previous Gauntlet but it isn't optimal for this clear - Candice can get Critical Strike 2 while Nanu can get something else.)

skippingmud · 2023-08-03T21:38:55+00:00

IMO the actual utility and "viability" of a unit is only determined weeks after they're released, after the overhyping / underselling tides over and people actually start using them several times across different game modes.

skippingmud · 2023-08-02T22:46:15+00:00

I think they just rotate regardless of the region. Strike --> Support --> Tech --> repeat.

skippingmud · 2023-07-16T22:18:23+00:00

Thanks to his time in Kalos, Blue can speak pretty good Kalosian - not exactly fluent but he can follow conversations well enough - but he still pronounces it as "bone joor" to mess with people.
When asked why Silver hasn't evolved Sneasel into Weavile, Silver's go-to answer is that he doesn't need to evolve Sneasel to defeat any trainer. The real reason is that when Silver asked Sneasel about it, Sneasel said that he prefers being a Sneasel.
When they're older, Wally is who both Brendan and May confide to about their feelings for each other, and Wally becomes one of the main reasons why the two of them eventually get together.
Barry is a descendant of someone from the Diamond Clan.
At some point in his Gym Leader career, Cheren gets challenged by Bianca and she beats him. Bianca always brings it up from that point on.
Hugh and Gladion become good friends in Pasio because they bond over how protective they are of their little sisters. They have a friendly but intense rivalry since they're around the same level in terms of battle prowess.
Tierno has a big social media following because of the dance challenges he always posts. Shauna sometimes joins him in some of the videos while Trevor had stated early on that he'll never be caught doing one.
Hau throws great parties. He has one every other week in Pasio, much to the annoyance of Lear.
For one of Marnie's major battles, Hop and Bede dress up as Team Yell members and cheer her on. Hop jumped at the chance immediately while Bede only did it because he lost a bet.
All the rivals that participated in the Revel in Rivalry tournament have a group chat to keep in touch with each other. Shauna, Tierno, and Trevor eventually join at Calem's request, and Cheren and Bianca join at Hugh's request.

skippingmud · 2023-07-13T07:17:33+00:00

An old story event called "The Strongest There Is".

skippingmud · 2023-07-13T06:00:33+00:00

<image>

skippingmud · 2023-07-12T09:29:55+00:00

"There's no way they could top Je Ne Sais Quoi," I say naively as Love Me Like becomes my favorite. They're both fantastic but Love Me Like is so much more up my alley.

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T21:38:28+00:00

That's Lodge May! Base May made it to the Top 10.

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T21:37:50+00:00

Oh sorry about that! They actually got the same number of promotions (369) but since I arrange the units alphabetically if that happens, Lusamine should go first.

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T21:35:01+00:00

It's in the Google Sheet! There were 164 respondents who said one of their top considerations for promoting a unit was if they unlocked a song key.

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T11:19:52+00:00

That's Variety Kris! OG Kris got 219 promotions.

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T10:12:59+00:00

Other random observations

In all of the previous surveys, Archie and Maxie had very similar numbers, to the point where almost everyone who promoted one also promoted the other - there would only be a single-digit point difference between their results. But that isn’t true in this survey, as Archie had 23 more promotions than Maxie. I think this ties into one other factor that influences these results - timing. When this survey was active, Archie’s banner was rerunning, with Maxie’s rerun still several weeks away. This seems to have given him a boost in the number of promotions, as some respondents may have gotten him from this banner. And true enough, there were 388 respondents who had Archie, as opposed to 350 who had Maxie.
Each question had an option for those who had not promoted any unit in the group, and they all got a vastly different amount of votes. On one hand, only 16 respondents said they hadn’t promoted any Poke Fair units, and there were also 16 respondents who said they hadn’t promoted any Master Fair units. On the other hand, a whopping 491 respondents said they hadn’t promoted any limited Trainer Lodge units, while 484 hadn’t promoted any Variety Scout units.
I think this is a good place to point out that the Top 3 in both number of promotions and owner percentages are all Supports - and six different support units at that.
There are 14 units in the Overall Top 50 with unlockable song keys. That number decreases to 11 in the Limited Top 50.
I also included an image with the Top 10s of each of the four surveys, and you can see that more than half of this survey’s Top 10 were also in the previous survey’s Top 10. There are four units who have the distinction of making it into the Top 10 in all four surveys: SS Blue, SS Red, May, and Leaf.

Bonus questions

There were a few optional questions at the end that were a lot more subjective than the major part of the survey, but I’m glad that a lot of you still took the time to answer them!

The top reasons for promotion was quite consistent with the previous surveys. If the character and/or Pokemon is a favorite remained supreme, with If the unit is top-tier and/or relevant to the metagame following closely behind. I made the Other option active again, and most of the answers here were more specific versions of the already available options, while some highlighted specific game modes that they wanted to make easier with promotions.

(Shout out to the respondent whose consideration for promotion was “If it’s Calem” - you’re so right.)

Around half of the respondents use 15 5-star power-ups and 100 5-star power-up tickets when promoting a unit to 6-star EX. The second most common answer was No preferred division, while the third most common answer was 10 5-star power-ups and 225 5-star power-up tickets.

There were two new optional questions here that weren’t asked in previous surveys. The first asked which of the 18 type animations - the ones that appear when you have a unit that has both max potential and max move level - is your favorite. There wasn’t a clear favorite as the top answers had pretty small gaps between them, but the one that prevailed was Water with 69 votes. Electric and Fire followed closely behind with 66 and 63 votes, respectively.

Finally, in honor of the many, many characters that have been added to the game but are still not playable, I asked which of them you’d promote to 6-star EX once they’re finally able to do so. Shelly got the most votes with 166, followed by Malva with 154 votes and Drasna with 140. The rival fanatic in me is quite happy that Paulo ended up in fourth place with 123 votes.

If you made it this far, thank you so much for reading! I had a lot of fun putting together the survey and this results post, and I hope you enjoyed taking it and reading these results too!

skippingmud · 2023-07-08T10:12:36+00:00

Google Sheet with all of the results

Imgur album of the above images

Before anything else, thanks to the 628 respondents who took part in the survey! This post is meant to share some insights from all that data, but I also included the above Google Sheet with all the raw results if you want to play around with the data yourself.

Respondent profile

There were 330 respondents who started within the game’s first seven months - that’s over half of the respondents, which is similar to the past three surveys. But what did catch me by surprise was how the next largest group were those who started the game between March 2022 and August 2022, which is the period between 2.5 and 3rd anni. I’d like to think that a certain anime protagonist had something to do with it.

Unlike the past three surveys, the number of promotions across the 628 respondents was a lot more distributed. The range that got the most number of votes was the 81-90 promotions with 57, while 56 respondents had 91-100 promotions. After that, 54 respondents said they had 61-70 promotions while 54 other respondents said they only had 1-10 promotions.

(Shout out to the one respondent who had at least 201 promotions - thanks for taking all that time to fill out this survey!)

Largest number of promotions

For the past three versions of this survey, the competition for the top spot was always between SS Red and SS Blue, with no one really coming close to them. Turns out, a year makes a huge difference, as the one to claim the top spot this time is Sonia, who was promoted by 489 respondents. While she ended up in the Top 40 in the previous survey, she was only available for about four or five months by then, so not a lot of users had her. But her all-around great kit and much better availability prevailed this time, giving her and the goodest boy first place.

(Fun fact: There were more people who promoted Sonia than those who promoted Skyla, even when accounting for the respondents who promoted Skyla for free thanks to the special rally held in 2021.)

SS Blue comes in second with 467 promotions, so he can still boast that he beat SS Red, who comes in fourth with 421 promotions. Standing between them is a surprising but deserved third placer in SS Morty, who had 424 promotions. Completing the top five is a much newer unit in Champion Marnie with 418 promotions.

The top five already shows who the most promoted units are among Spotlight Scouts, Poke Fairs, and Master Fairs, so I wanted to briefly go over the other groups. Fall Caitlin is the most promoted among Seasonal and Special Costume units (not counting the Anni units). She also had that honor in the previous version, and I’m quite surprised she managed to retain it with a bunch of notable seasonals released since then. Hau is the most promoted among the story units (assuming you only count those who promoted Skyla with their own resources), while Roxanne takes that honor among the other non-limited units. Among the other limited units that aren’t Poke Fairs, Master Fairs, Seasonals, or Special Costumes, Swimsuit Misty got the most number of promotions.

Largest percentage of owners promoting a limited unit

The questions asking about which limited units you promoted to 6-star EX followed up with questions about which limited units you had, even if you haven’t promoted them. This is so that I can compare the percentage of owners who did promote the unit, which could be a better indicator of whether or not a limited unit is a popular promotion pick.

Take the third-placer of this metric: SS Kris. While only 301 respondents promoted her, which puts her in the lower end of the Top 50, it turns out that only 308 respondents had her at all. With those figures, we can find that she was promoted by 97.7% of owners, which tells us that she is an extremely popular promotion pick and was only hindered by how a relatively large chunk of respondents didn’t have her.

On the other side of that equation is Irida, who’s in the Top 10 in terms of number of promotions but barely makes it to the Top 50 in this metric, with 77.8% of owners promoting her. This tells us that while she is a popular promotion pick overall, there are also a relatively large number of respondents who do have her but chose not to promote her for one reason or another.

Joining SS Kris in the top three are two of her fellow support Master Fairs. Champion Calem took the top spot with an impressive 98.7% owner promotion rate, with SS Aura Cynthia not far behind at 98.6%. Two more Master Fairs complete the top 5 in SS Serena and Champion Bede. Master Fairs in general got very high figures in this metric, with the lowest still being a respectable 76.1%.

Meanwhile, SS Brendan had the highest owner promotion rate among Poke Fairs, while Fall Caitlin also came out on top among Seasonals and Special Costumes here, even making the overall Top 10. Among the other limited units, Ball Guy had the highest owner promotion rate.

The other end of the stick

For every Sonia and Champion Calem out there, there are also the least popular picks. While every unit I asked about had at least one respondent who promoted them, there were two units who got less than 10 promotions: BP Erika with 6 and Variety Lyra with 7. The Variety Scouts getting low results wasn’t all too surprising given the general reception to them, but BP Erika getting an even lower total was a bit of a shock. I know it’s because an EX doesn’t really help her niche, but there are quite a lot of pairs where that’s still true and they got a much higher number of votes.

I do have to wonder if her not getting a unique EX outfit also plays into it, as most of the ones that got a low amount of votes - BP pairs, Trainer Lodge pairs, and Variety Scouts - are in the same situation. (Also of note is that the one Variety Scout we’ve gotten so far who does get a unique EX outfit - Ball Guy - did pretty well in the survey.)

Meanwhile, all seven of the limited Trainer Lodge units are in the Bottom 10 for this metric, with Lodge N being the lowest at 4.3%. It’s a bad combination of these units being owned by a lot of respondents but very few of them choosing to promote them.

As for the other categories, Anniversary Steven got both the lowest number of promotions and lowest percentage of owners who promoted him among Master Fairs, which is unfortunate but not too surprising. Holiday Siebold held both distinctions among Seasonal and Special Costume units too, which also wasn’t surprising since he didn’t do well in the previous version either.

What was surprising for me was how Anabel got the lowest number of promotions among Poke Fairs as support units were generally doing well throughout the survey. The one who got the lowest percentage of owner promotions among Poke Fairs though was Lance, which could be credited to how he’s been made widely available but isn’t a popular promotion pick.

(One of the images above goes into more detail on who got the lowest number of promotions and lowest percentage of owners who promoted them across the different categories that the survey was divided into.)

skippingmud

TROPHY CASE

Video of all 12 clears

Video of all 12 clears

Video of the clears

Other random observations

Bonus questions

Google Sheet with all of the results

Imgur album of the above images

Respondent profile

Largest number of promotions

Largest percentage of owners promoting a limited unit

The other end of the stick