If you are a Pokémon VGC advocate or a Smogon Tier loving fanatic, this article is for you.
I remember watching Pokémon at a very young age and I clearly remember how excited I was to see Ash and his team of Pokémon finally compete in the Pokémon League at the Indigo Plateau. Out of his team of 6, he had to choose 3 of them during each battle. JUST LIKE RANKED SINGLES. See what I'm getting at?
There's something just so raw about a straight 1v1 battle that the 2v2 format that GAMEFREAK has chosen as the main event can't come close to. The root of the issue in the VGC format is that instead of giving each Pokémon a chance to shine some Pokémon are placed into player's teams for strictly for utility. The format has reduced Clefairy to a finger wagging decoy in order to set up headlining Pokémon.
Not for nothing but I don't hate VGC, I just think single battles rightfully deserves to be the MAIN EVENT. The 2v2 format takes away the game's original "ro-sham-bo" (rock-paper-scissors) essence. I mean, I don't play rock paper scissors with two hands... Do you?
So you're probably wondering... "If you dislike VGC, what's wrong with Smogon?"
Smogon is a cult. Don't @ me. I don't care about "OU" this and "UU" that. I can't tell you how many times someone rage quit on me when I was playing Pokémon X/Y wi-fi battles just because I didn't realize Greninja just got banned. That shit happened overnight. Like yo, who the fuck is Smogon to decide whether or not I can use a Pokémon? A bunch of losers who get together and decide that a Pokémon is way too good and instead of figuring out a way to take it down they ban it? And then shit on people who use it? Weak AF bros. These the same kind of people who make articles and memes shitting on Ash for trying his best and inspiring the youth to strive for greatness.
That was my shameless rant. I'm gonna leave you guys with this quote and have you think about how you play the game next time you boot up your Nintendo Switch.
Also, catch some Ranked Singles action on my Twitch channel where I play with my favorite Pokémon, not just Pokémon that are seemingly "meta". Sorry Ferrothorn. :(
twitch.tv/illesttech_mugen
Originally posted by me on the team #ILLESTTECH website: https://illesttech.com/mugen/why-ranked-singles-is-the-best-competitive-format-in-pokemon/
I am an avid Doubles Player but I feel you on the Smogon Community being a bit mobbish. With the recent updates to Pokemon's training ability on Nintendo Switch I feel like their website and strategies will be niche to them very soon xD if not already.