Tomas Elliot Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 So here is the thing: after getting to the top 100 in basically every singles non-monotype tier on Showdown, I have grown bored of the ladder. Mind you, this is not the "I am so strong I am bored because nobody can put up a decent fight" kind of rant, what I am trying to say is that I have grown tired of 3 aspects of laddering on Showdown: 1) How hax impacts laddering. Basically, whenever I am not haxed I win and gain positions, whenever I am haxed I lose and fall down the ladder again. 2) How all teams I face always include the same Pokemon. This happens in all the tiers: each metagame is dominated by some specific strategies or individual Pokemon you are very likely to see in most of the teams you face. 3) How the above point influences my own teambuilding. There are Pokemon I love I never managed to use in any tier, because building a team around them that is both good from a synergy standpoint and fitting of my own style would mean not including specific checks to the overly common strategies/Pokemon. Not to mention that I often end up using said overly common strategies/Pokemon myself (my latest and most succesful RU team includes a Regen core, for example). So yeah, I am not saying there is something wrong about any of these 3 points, I am fully aware that such things are part of the game when laddering on Showdown, and I knew full well what I was getting into when I decided to return to competitive Pokemon battling earlier this year. So this is not meant to be a rant. I am not saying "I hate Showdown" or nonsense like that. I am simply saying: I love teambuilding and I love battling, but I don't want to bring it to the Showdown ladder anymore. What else can I do? Are there any initiatives started by the Reborn community I am not aware of? I mean of course there are the theme tours, but those are often at problematic hours for me (damn timezones)... Anything else? I should probably mention that I am also currently under exams, so it would be better for me to avoid things that are excessively time-absorbing... Although knowing myself, if something rekindles my enthusiasm for teambuilding and battling I will most likely dive straight into it, studies be damned... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shing Posted June 28, 2015 Share Posted June 28, 2015 Honestly, i don't know. You can plan to fight someone you know that is really good in one day or such. That could be nice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chase Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Well Tomas, the honest truth about Reborn is that it's not quite as dependent across the board on specific pokemon -and that the competition format is much different when Reborn competitions are running. For example, instead of climbing a ladder, you're fighting for a spot in a tournament, or wagering for tokens, or taking part in team efforts with other trainers, or following interested twists and limitations each and every week. My best advice would be - participate in Reborn events. They provide a different kind of feel than simply mindless laddering - and they don't necessarily need to be used with a cookie cutter team. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomas Elliot Posted July 4, 2015 Author Share Posted July 4, 2015 Well Tomas, the honest truth about Reborn is that it's not quite as dependent across the board on specific pokemon -and that the competition format is much different when Reborn competitions are running. For example, instead of climbing a ladder, you're fighting for a spot in a tournament, or wagering for tokens, or taking part in team efforts with other trainers, or following interested twists and limitations each and every week. My best advice would be - participate in Reborn events. They provide a different kind of feel than simply mindless laddering - and they don't necessarily need to be used with a cookie cutter team. Well thanks for the advice. I often have timezone problems when it comes to joining Reborn events, but I'll try and see what I can do. Lately I have spent some time on the server and, I gotta say, it motivated me quite a bit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Void Posted July 4, 2015 Share Posted July 4, 2015 Besides Reborn events, there is a huge tournament scene on the smogon forums. In fact, pretty much all the good players have moved over to tournaments rather than laddering, due to some of the reasons you've listed amongst others. The ladder is pretty low quality these days lol, there's not much point to it, the highest level of play is now found in tournaments. There's plenty of events on the forums all year round, covering pretty much every tier. As a big community they also cater to other timezones besides american ones, as there's plenty of europeans etc on the site, so you shouldn't have a problem with timezones there. If you're still interested in playing pokemon competitively but you're bored of laddering, that's definitely the place to be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tomas Elliot Posted July 5, 2015 Author Share Posted July 5, 2015 Besides Reborn events, there is a huge tournament scene on the smogon forums. In fact, pretty much all the good players have moved over to tournaments rather than laddering, due to some of the reasons you've listed amongst others. The ladder is pretty low quality these days lol, there's not much point to it, the highest level of play is now found in tournaments. There's plenty of events on the forums all year round, covering pretty much every tier. As a big community they also cater to other timezones besides american ones, as there's plenty of europeans etc on the site, so you shouldn't have a problem with timezones there. If you're still interested in playing pokemon competitively but you're bored of laddering, that's definitely the place to be. This is great advice too. Today I am rather busy but starting tomorrow I'll most definitely look into it! Thanks a lot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Reignited'Light Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 I don't like laddering on main like the reasons you said, either. It's boring and noncompetitive at times. If I ever wanted to battle/test teams, I would usually battle with friends who are "good". Kamina is a example. As much as I call him bad and other things, he's much better than the players I will meet on main ladder. Also variety of teams are good, since most ladder teams are some sort of Hyper Offense or just dumb gimmicks. If I faced the same player with a variety of teams rather than going on ladder, I would know what weaknesses I have in my own team and try to patch it the best I can. So uh overall, I feel like testing with friends is a much better. You don't have to worry about trying to hard if you mess up, and friends can usually help you out with teambuilding, if needed. Much more supportive then ladder, IMO. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Meruem Posted July 5, 2015 Share Posted July 5, 2015 Imo, the ladder is pretty boring and the ranking you get in the end hardly tells how good your team really is. I reached top 10 on the UU ladder long ago, and it was pointless in the end, since the ladder resets whenever there are relevant changes in the metagame. Plus, I would rarely come across good players, and even when I did, it would be the same players with the same teams most of the times, meaning it wasn't helping on improving my team after a while. So, as skitty said, you should test teams with friends that have enough experience and that can help you figure out your team's weaknesses, rather than waste time in the ladder. This is just from my experience with the ladder though, so feel free to keep on using it as a way to test your teams out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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