Pokemon Shuffle

[The Warden]

They probably also spend jewels to do Eevee and Victini more often. Also I got knocked to the 4th tier because the people above me got the tiniest bit more score. The lowest person in the 3rd tier has 142 more points than me.

 

I maybe would've made it back up there, if Gardecunt didn't decide that on the last move, NONE of my funking M-Steelix should be accessible. They were scattered, with a metal block between the only 2 level icons.

[evilfusion]

I give up on this one as well.

 

I'm solidly in Tier 4 (2x of each), and I've invested WAY too many coins into this, and I'm nearly broke.

 

Honestly, despite it LOOKING like it self-feeds (other than the uber top), it doesn't seem to quite as badly as we act like it does. I usually score extremely well in most competitive stages since the new tier system, usually getting 3-5x of the prizes, and I'm never remotely in danger of getting nothing. It's usually just RNG at times, or previous investments with leveling.

 

Yeah, if you're SUPER far behind or unlucky, you don't have much chance of getting in the topmost tiers, but you probably still score well enough to get 2 or 3 Speedups and RMLs, which is still a boon of sorts. I also assume the top tier people are the types who grind the HELL out of those special stages that "might" drop RMLs (like this week's Cobalion). I just don't have the patience or interest to do that, except in really rare situations. Because of this, they can actually afford the investments into RMLs that really help. This Competition, we just kind of got screwed over.

 

See, most Steels aren't even that good or strong, and the ones that are pretty solid just recently got RML support, such as Cobalion and Dialga, probably Aegislash, etc. If you didn't have a bunch of RMLs invested in things like Mawile or similar, you're scraping the bottom of the barrel with your team picks. Plus, the stage is stupidly RNG dependant because of all the blocks, but Steelix can't take advantage of it consistently, and mid-game, you either get potential Cobalion combos, or you get combo-blockers in the forms of a few spawned blocks.

 

Based on some of my runs, achieving an incredible score isn't THAT hard...unless you don't have certain Pokes RML invested, because you get tons of points if you combo well, and that's again, a difference of 20-50 points per match, every match, not counting ability damage buffs. Again, Steel is actually a TERRIBLE offensive type in Shuffle, and pretty much only good against Fairy (because Poison tends to be just as bad). So most people probably RML invested in their other Pokemon, meaning they don't necessarily have the treasure trove of RMLs and stuff to buff the Pokes they NEED to score really well.

 

Like...my team has been Steelix (90), Metagross (100), Dialga (100 because not RMLed, could be 115) and Cobalion (90, not RMLed, could be 115 or 110, I think). Aegislash is an option, but it's 90 without RMLs, and like 125 WITH 10 RML.

 

So...in my eyes, this competition flopped for ME because it just happened that the types best against it are mediocre without investment, and the way the stage is built, you're at the mercy of RNG. Either it loves you...or it loved someone else more. And even if RNG loves you or seems to love you, if your Pokes aren't RMLed sufficiently, you're going to fall short, because ALL the Pokes pretty much need RMLs but they're mediocre against almost everything else in the game.

[The Warden]

Again, the top players most likely buy a tonne of jewels as well, since the bonuses they get (7 base hearts and 1.4x the check-in bonus) alongside being able to do Victini and Eevee more frequently aid the advantage. Plus, they probably hoard some RMLs and Exp Boosters until the next mega comp to buff up the mon who'll be good in it. Plus Victini IS usually brought up on the days a new mega comp starts to buff said mon, so there's the advantage again as there's 2 chances to Victini. I mean, let's face it: Despite only the mega competitions being the time when players compete, the game still clearly has Pay2Win elements in it.

 

I do agree steel and poison are sheet though, as I only have 4 maxed steel types anyways, those being Steelix, Jirachi, Mawile, and Dialga. And my only maxed poison is Beedril.

 

By the way evil, it doesn't look self-feeding to you because you're in the NA. You're only competing against 1 country. Outside of it and Japan, we have multiple CONTINENTS fighting each other and themselves. sheet is freaking harder when I'm competing with all of Australia, and all of Europe.

[evilfusion]

Of course, the advantage of doing Eevee and Victini multiple times does not evade me. I do the same on OCCASION, but I try to limit it, whereas Sunday Meowth, spending the Jewel is totally worth it, whereas Eevee can screw you over and only give you 1 Skill Booster (definitely not worth a Jewel) and Victini...you just don't want to overdo that one, because there's no real rush most of the time to rapidly level a Pokemon.

 

Also, the topmost players probably are almost constantly near their coin cap, giving them much more flexibility and leeway in doing multiple high-level attempts. The top 5 scorers are almost always the same names, so they probably ARE the big spenders, and I'm okay with that. They've expanded the prize tiers to the point that even low-pay or free players can still get good stuff.

[evilfusion]

So this week...Cradily stage, Armaldo stage...

 

S-Ray Competition for the M-Ray Meteorite. I happen to glance at the prize list.

 

Top Tier...M-Speedup/RML X TEN. WTF?! Yeah, you have to score in the top 100 for NA. Tier 2 (top 300) is Speedup/RML x7. Top 1300 is 4x, then 3, 2, etc.

 

But seriously...What the actual hell! I still need to do more of the Escalation Battle and they add this, plus 2 special stages where the Poke would love RMLs and are probably good for the Competition.

[The Warden]

This wouldn't be so ridiculous if they at least gave us a funking week to recover. Like, funk's sake game makers, we just HAD a mega competition, and not only that, but you give us not one, but TWO new mons we'd need for this mega comp? I swear they're TRYING to drain money from us right now. Also, real subtle that Armaldo and Cradily can both use 5 RMLs each. Real, real subtle there.

 

Also, even better, BOTH of them are power 60, as in, not even worth funking using anyways.

 

This is really funking ridiculous, it really is. I lost all my gold to M-TTar and Hoopa-U, then I had to spend all my earnings recovering from that to do M-Gardevoir. I haven't even made it to stage funking 50 of Volcanion and they do this to us? What the hell are they thinking? Oh right, I know what they're thinking: "GIVE US ALL YOUR MONEY!"

[Flame Dragon]

I actually kind of like that the two new Pokemon are going to be used in the competition. Makes it a little more balanced for the normal player to have a shot since most people won't have the time to grind them both all the way to level 15. I'm half way through the main stages so I'm grinding up some more money and I'll use that to get some levels on the two of them.

[evilfusion]

Also, it's the Fast Move format for the Competition. The one where your match scores get multiplied based on how quickly you made the match. Admittedly, I always kind of liked that format, but it's going to be ROUGH.

 

I'm probably going to try to focus more on the Escalation Battle for now. I'm past Stage 300, and I kind of wanted to go all the way to 500 for the 5 RMLs. Sunday Meowth should help get me the cash I'd need to tackle the Competition, and I'm doing regular Meowth grinding in the meantime.

 

EDIT: I did a S-Ray run last night. It's not NEARLY as hard as I thought. Might have had some good RNG, too, but I scored over 97000, and my Cradily and Armaldo (probably the most significant factor) weren't even max leveled, with Armaldo at 6.

 

That score put me in the top 100, although barely, and I've since been bumped out to Rank 102. Since the prizes are so massive, doing well in this might actually be worth MORE than the Escalation Battle, although I'm still focusing on that.

[The Warden]

I really funking love how often Power of 4+ fails, I really do. You don't think 20% would be an often thing, but it funking is, it funking, is. Hell, in one match it failed twice in a row before it even activated once. And in another, it would fail twice before it even activated once even though I used it about 5 times and only got it off once. 20% isn't huge, and this game somehow makes it as funking huge as possible. I just lost the level 50 fight of Volcanion ITEMLESS, because my Virizion decided that was the perfect time for its ability to fail was the last funking move that, otherwise, would have funking WON the battle. I funking HATE the ludicrously high fail rates of abilities when they shouldn't, funking, fail; I really, really do.

[evilfusion]

With the Escalation Battle, I think I'm going to give up after 400. I'm ON 400, but I've failed twice, costing me about 15000 coins (M+5 - 800, DD - 1500, MS - 2000, ATK -3000, x2 = 14600). I think I'm going to go all in, item wise, and then call it quits. Sure, 450 may have 3 Speedups, and 500 have 5 RMLs, but this level of investment is more worthwhile for me to attack the Competition instead, especially since I'm still in Tier 2, earning 7x of each, and I could probably get in Tier 1 if I'm lucky, or at least SOLIDIFY my Tier 2 status later in the week.

 

...but I got this far, and I want that Skill Booster L. Which, if you didn't know, boosts skill points by 30. By comparison, Skill Booster S boosts by 3, and M by 7.

[The Warden]

Considering the fast nature of the Rayquaza challenge and using it in tandem with M-TTar, there's way too much RNG going on in this mega challenge for my liking. Like, all it took for me to effectively double my typical M-Ray score was for a chain of Armaldo summons near the end of the fight. Like for reals, unless you can somehow read the board and make the right choices within M-TTar's incredibly short timeframe, it's all down to luck and having high power mons.

[evilfusion]

Yeah, it's...stressful, to say the least.

 

Funny thing...my very first run got me like 97000. I'm currently in Tier 3 (5x each), but I haven't beaten my score since, even with my Armaldo at max level and such. I feel like I must have just gotten REALLY lucky the first time and just thought it wasn't that bad, but it is BAD. I squandered all my Weekend Meowth gold and only once came close to my previous score (91000).

[The Warden]

I'm in the 4th tier, so I get 4x. And I gotta say, I KNOW I'm not getting higher than that. I have to get 87k to get into your tier, and then to get to tier 2 I need to beat 111k. Yeah, I'm just not going to try. I learned my lesson after Gardewhore ate up all my cash, so I'm cutting my losses and just going to be happy with the score I got.

[evilfusion]

I did ONE last run of the Competition (because I definitely won't have the coins for another). I approached it as calmly and as rationally as possible, with the reminder not to panic and make moves too quickly.

 

I got 108000. Enough to bump me BACK into Tier 3 (5x each), but 10k too low for Tier 2, which is unfortunate. Had some pretty good RNG, but apart from M-T-tar, I was using 3 Pokes with 80 base power (Cradily, Armaldo, and Angry-chu with 2 RML). Angry-chu actually triggered like 3 times, and considering its TERRIBLE activation rate, this was incredible, since it does like 10x the amount of damage (I believe 12x because I had it slightly skill boosted), and I suspect my score was that good not only due to lucky combos and decent T-tar matches at times, but also because Angry-chu dealt like 20000 damage total due to those activations (At 80 base. x2 for SE = 160, x2 for ATK Up = 320 x 1.5 for Fast Match = 480, x 12 for ability = 5760). And that's for a 3 match. I got 1 that was a FIVE match.

 

I kind of want to buff Angry-chu with my rewards. That or Emolga, because Risk Taker Emolga is like...one of the best Electric types with 105 power + Risk Taker, in terms of raw damage. Ugh...I need more RMLs. I know I'll probably chuck the Speedups into Shiny Ray.

[The Warden]

I was in the 4th tier, so 4x RML and Speedups. *Tosses a handful of confetti* Still, at least now the makers are giving us a breather with just the Darkrai escalation battle. Though it is a tad insulting that they just freely tossed Mesprit at us after the incredible and taxing difficulty that went into catching it from the Safari in the first place.

[Flame Dragon]

I am active trash with the point and click Mega Abilities. Like, I maxed out Cam and I can't for the life of get the S rank vs. Flaaffy normally because I'm so bad at using the ability. For this reason I didn't try too hard with the competition and only got 1 of each.

 

Only interesting thing this week is a Darkrai Escalation battle so if you wanted to catch up on other stuff, now is the time.

[evilfusion]

I actually COMPLETED the Escalation Battle. All 200 stages.

 

Machamp is probably now my priority for further RMLs. I took the 5 from the S-Ray competiton gave 2 to Talonflame (who was at 13), and 3 to Machamp (who was max 11). I then grabbed an RML from one of the Mission Cards I neglected to complete, and gave that to Machamp (bringing him to max 15). I then used my Skill Boosters from Eevee to bump Risk Taker to level 4, and used Victini and a Level Up or two to actually BRING Machamp to Level 15. (But I took my RMLs earned from the Escalation Battle and gave them to Emolga).

 

Machamp is a GOD in this Escalation Battle. With 5 RML, his max power is 110, Fighting (an amazing offensive typing), with Risk Taker, and Risk Taker's Skill Level adds a further, concrete multiplier. With 10 RML, his max power would be 125.

 

Risk Taker's activation rolls between Damage / 3 up to Damage x 3. At SL4, this is multipled by 2 (SL5 is multipled by 2.5, so even if you get the lowest possible roll for the activation, it's just a little less than 1x, and more likely to be buffed damage).

 

So now the rest of today can be used for Meowth grinding (as I'm officially broke. Stage 175 and 200 required full items), and then I'll see what next week brings to the table. Considering the Darkrai Escalation will still be ongoing, no idea what new content will be included, so maybe next week will be a grinding week, too. I can only hope, right?

 

Just for reference's sake, I'll list my current Pokemon RML use. Since I doubt too many of you ACTUALLY care, I'll spoiler tag it to keep my post from being stupid. Some of my choices made sense at the time I had given them the RMLs, or were prioritized because I gave them RMLs before and didn't like having them partially-RMLed.

 

[spoiler=Shuffle RML list]

 

Priority RML

 

Machamp 5/10

 

 

Fully RMLed

 

Mewtwo 10/10

 

Electivire 5/5 (gave him 3 during that one Competition, didn't like him being incomplete)

 

Golurk 5/5

 

Salamence 5/5

 

Mew 5/5

 

Yveltal 5/5

 

Xerneas 5/5

 

Suicune 5/5

 

Raikou 5/5

 

Glalie 5/5

 

Lucario 5/5

 

S-Gyarados 3/3

 

Beedrill 3/3

 

Talonflame 5/5 (currently Level 13)

 

Zoroark 3/3

 

Emolga 5/5 (currently Level 10, but is used during Meowth grinding)

 

Partially RMLed

 

Diancie 2/5

 

Genesect 2/5 (did this impulsively when Genesect gained RML capability, regretted when I realized it only gets +2 power per level, for 110 max vs 100, no plans to finish this)

 

Slowbro 2/5 (did it for that one Competition, wouldn't be THAT bad to finish, since he'd be 100 at Level 15, but M-Mewtwo Y is just sooo much better)

 

Angry-chu 2/10 (on the list to get more eventually)

 

Charizard 2/5 (ehh...might finish him off, but he's outclassed, even with 100 at Level 15)

 

Groudon 1/5 (currently Level 10. Not priority at all)

 

Heracross 1/5 (currently Level 10, same as Genesect, timing wise. Ironically, would probably be better than Genesect as RML candidate due to having a Mega, and 10 BP less normally, but also reaching 110 at Level 15, plus same ability as Genesect).

 

Total RML - 96 

 

 

[The Warden]

Charizard is 105, not 100.

[evilfusion]

Charizard is 105, not 100.

 

Is he really? Huh. That's kind of weird, because he's 84 at Level 11, so I assumed each level was worth 4 BP. Then it's possible my other "BP predictions" is off, because I guessed their final RML Attack Power based on how much BP they gained per Level, with the assumption of it being evenly distributed.

 

*looks it up* Sure enough, Slowbro's max is also 105 (and he's 88 at 12, so again, had guessed 4 BP per level). He's still majorly outclassed by Mewtwo Y's 130 w/10 RML, but yeah...

 

...and Genesect's max is 115, even though he's 102 at Level 11. Actually, that one makes sense, since Heracross is 110 max as predicted, but he naturally has 10 BP less.

[The Warden]

I RMLed my Charizard a while back and he's level 15 with 105 power, which is how I knew. My guess is that they gain a lot more power in the last 2 levels, which is why Charizard's total power gain was 25 despite being 84 at level 11. And Zoroark is power 99 at level 13 (which is 3 power per level). I reckon that's why Zoroark is only allowed 3 RMLs, because he'd be very strong (110) if allowed all 5.
 
Plus Genesect's power makes sense, since he's equally as strong as Yveltal who you RMLed to max. So if you wanna know how strong a mon would be at level 15, just compare to another of that power scale.

 

EDIT: New update and, much to my surprise, no new mega event. I guess they're finally giving us a break after 3 mega events in 5 weeks. Otherwise, Amoongus has appeared, and the Starmie/Garchomp Safari is back with the addition of a Winking Manaphy. A real world of change right there. Greninja is back and also some meh Daily Mons.

 

Oh, the safari says that the Winking Manaphy can be RMLed to 15. Something tells me he's going to be important next week.

[Flame Dragon]

Found Manaphy. Failed to kill it. I knew exactly what to do, but burning 2 moves (and I burnt another to clear them from the board since I was using Sceptile as my Mega) meant I didn't have enough to actually win. THAT SUCKED. Worse part is I was JUST going to look up what I should bring incase the stage ended up being annoying. Bah

[The Warden]

That's harsh. I found Manaphy on the first day and caught it with 0 moves left (26%). I actually did the safari a few more times just for exp for my Bellossum and Roserade (via Starmie), and also Experience Boosters. Upon quitting yesterday I had in total earned 17 S, 3 M, and 2 L. I actually got Bellossum from 7 to 10 in 3 days thanks to Starmie's exp, and I got Roserade from 6 to 9.

 

I used Rayquaza, Roserade, and Bellossum as my team, and it worked out pretty well. I very rarely lost. I was glad for the generous amount of exp stuff at least, and that Staryu made it so I wasn't exactly losing out on gold.

[evilfusion]

I didn't even end up doing the Safari very long before getting Manaphy. And I hit the jackpot, luck wise. One stage dropped an Exp S, AND an Exp L (about a 1% drop chance). The next stage? Manaphy.

 

I've actually done a lot of Greninja grinding. My Greninja is at SL4 (and halfway to 5), and I've gotten 3 RML. That still means I did the stage about 100 times, and RMLs have about a 2% chance of dropping, but whatever. And yet...Mesprit's 12.5% chance of an RML drop hasn't happened for me yet.

[The Warden]

Well, ain't this funking typical? I get 1 each of RML and Skill Booster boxes on Mesprit, and my shitty funking mons refuse to do the tiniest bit of damage needed to actually win the bleeding stage. What are the funking odds?

[evilfusion]

Well, ain't this funking typical? I get 1 each of RML and Skill Booster boxes on Mesprit, and my shitty funking mons refuse to do the tiniest bit of damage needed to actually win the bleeding stage. What are the funking odds?

 

Well, there's a 100% drop on 1 Skill Booster per attempt, and a 12.5% chance of an RML drop, so...still a 12.5% chance of getting a Skill Booster and an RML.

 

As for the odds of you failing the stage...*shrugs* It's easier to fail than I'd like to admit. I've come dangerously close to failing a few times, but admittedly none of those times involved an RML on the table.