I absolutely love “the light that burns the sky” because it makes it sound so incomprehensible because you can only describe it with familiar terms doing impossible things like “burning” the sky
I really like Terastalization cause it feels like the most baseline, fair gimmick. No flashy nukes, no insane stat boosts. You either get a new type or strengthen one of your existing ones. If it weren't for the dinky hat, I would say this is far and away the best gimmick Pokemon has done. Best part is no Pokemon really gets special treatment (except for Ogrepon and Terapagos but they costed $30 so Game Freak had to make it worth it).
Maybe this is just the contrarian in me, but I kinda like the hat. It feels like most of the gimmicks aesthetically are all about making cool Pokemon cooler, which is honestly a bit boring to me. I like it when Pokemon are goofy. That said, they really should've turned down the exposure on the hats, they can get kinda hard to look at.
@@DKdrop Even then the "special treatment" Ogerpon and Terapagos got is far more balanced then mons with other gimmicks were. The two's tera options are locked hampering their opportunity cost and Terapagos is carried by it's transformation unlike Rayquaza and Necrozma who are strong pre transformation.
Idk about it being the most "fair." In theory it should have been, but it's honestly the biggest homewrecker after Dynamaxing because it adds too much variety, turning broken Pokemon with clear weaknesses into Pokemon that are suddenly A LOT harder to counter because they could be anything else instead and now your answer is just dead. On paper it does sound exactly as you described, but, in practice, it turns everything on its head and has caused a lot of problems and the biggest issue just simply comes from the fact that every Pokemon can use it (which was the same issue with Dynamaxing, on top of the extreme boosts dynamaxing gives for three turns.)
@@homerman76 Don't say "in practice" like you aren't sounding like a copy n paste of early Scarlet and Violet discussions. Yes Tera made a very chaotic early meta game, but since in actual practice things have settled and been figured out. Yes a pokemon can turn into any type to get out of their weaknesses, but not just any type with get them milage outside of that one turn match up flip. Specific pokemon gravitate to specific tera types depending on what the pokemon and it's team need consistently. It's only really a chaotic factor for the turn it's used. Especially in Doubles where you can scout out, bait out, or even punish an opponents tera with basic tools like Protect, Fakeout, Follow Me, etc.
@@homerman76This seems to be a more of a problem in singles than doubles, with Pokemon like Kingambit being a good example. Doubles has so many forms of counterplay against defensive Tera so it’s not as much of an issue there.
It is funny how perception of Mega Evolution just seems to be improving over time. I remember the initial reaction being very negative, “like something out of Digimon”. I guess it’s the nostalgia cycle - kids whose first games were X&Y are adults now, and those of us who were young adults then (and remembered Digimon) are now trying to sort out our pensions.
@@blazie42069 It actually really just depends on the groups you've been around with. I've had the same experience where most people loved megas at first, the occasional Digimon comparison certainly existed, but in general people thought it was cool. Now the opinions have shifted to seeing Megas as being part of what started Pokemon's current problems. It really all depends.
I was literally just watching the Super Monkey Ball team video and I thought to myself “man, I wonder how Moxie would rank Tera in comparison to the other generational gimmicks.” Thanks for peeking into my mind and immediately hammering this out while you were using the bathroom
If you think about it, gems are very similar to Z moves, although Z moves have the added effect on status moves and making some two turn and recharge moves into a strong one turn nuke
@@mushy2626 It’s Not A Gimmick Tho , It’s Not The Same As Mega’s & Z-Moves . It’s Not A Lore Thing Just Something To Use . Also They Disappear After One Use , Mega’s & Z-Moves Can Be Use *CONSTANTLY* Without Having To Find More !
The level 9 wingull watching an intedimensional god charge up its most powerful attack (it's about to find out why the attack is called 'Light that burns the Sky'): 👁👄👁
I think one way of maybe balancing Mega’s is instead of adding 100 BST, they set the Pokémon’s BST to something like 600. That way, no matter the starting point for the Pokemon, they’ll all be around the same power level.
This is probably my favorite video on the channel now. Its got a decent insight into all the gimmicks from all the games, has weird irl shenanigans because of the specific recording setup, and dunks on dynamax the whole time
Dynamax would possibly have been the worst competitive mechanic, but on ladder it made more strategies and Pokémon viable than I can remember otherwise. (Pre restricted at least), idk if I’m alone but I genuinely enjoyed it. Z moves are when I returned to the Pokémon games, and idk if I was just new to the concept and didn’t understand literally anything going on, but a 1 shot button that went through protect was incredibly unfun
Nice subtle foreshadowing. I also think the presence of Open Teamsheets would have helped the general opinion for z-moves and to a lesser extent, megas since either would eliminate less guessing games
I'm biased towards megas but people really don't respect how balanced trading your held item in + sacrificing a team slot for a sometimes useless pokemon is. Especially in an era before open team sheets. Oh, and if you bring more than 1 mega then you'll always have a wasted item slot but if you don't bring two you could have games where you don't bring a mega at all.
See this is cool and all, but the best megas and team comps were so game shatteringly overpowered that it literally makes no difference. You either ran a comp like CHALK and tried to outplay opponents using the same team You ran something that answered CHALK (which was like 3 megas) Or you lost. Megas are a very cool mechanic and for some of the lesser megas the trade off you mentioned is very real, but ignoring the competitive scene and like 85% of players going into tournaments with the exact same team down to the last move because of how overpowered some where, is just idiocy.
Tbh I think we should split these into concept and execution. I like megas as a concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired. They gave some lesser used pokemon a chance to shine, like kangaskhan. Loved it since gen 1, sadly it was always bad until its mega rolled in and began oppressing everything. Mega Beedrill looks dope on paper, but there's no reason to use it over most other megas. Hell, mega chomp actually got worse since it lost its speed tier.
What I enjoy about each generation gimmick Mega: new designs, how it can either buff a Pokemon or completely change how a Pokemon is used Z-Moves: I like the concept of it being “Pokémon’s Final Smash equivalent” Dynamax: it was cool how some moves could change weather or terrain whilst also dealing damage (and I like how Meowth’s G-Max move was a great money farming method) Tera: Tera Blast being Hidden Power 2.0 A balance to Megas would be to alter the stats, bigger stat buffs to Pokemon like Mega Beedrill, more of a stat redistribution to Pokemon like Garchomp (same BST but stats from speed and sp. attack moved to it’s attack stat) A fusion of Z-Moves and Dynamax would be nice, giving Pokemon that lack a strong STAB option a good STAB option that can change weather, change terrain, or provide some other additional effect
I KNOW this is an unpopular opinion, but I personally always found Z Moves as the most engaging of the gimmicks. Terrastalizing and Mega Evolution both just make a pokemon more powerful until they're knocked out, and Dynamaxing just gives you three turns of destroying everything while being borderline untouchable. None of those are really... FUN to me. Z Moves, by contrast, always appealed to me because you only get ONE CHANCE. There's more strategy to when you use it. Should you go all in on a very specific pokemon having access to Z Moves? Or should you spread thin, and make sure each pokemon has at least one chance in case of emergencies? I dunno. My own ranking would be Z Moves top, Terrastalizing second, Mega Evolution third, and Dynamaxing dead last. Also, a level 9 wingull getting EVAPORATED by Light that Burns the Sky is the best thing ever.
"in B tier we have Mega Pokemon" holy based. theyre cool in concept but goodness giving +100 bst to every other pseudo legend was not a good way of buffing old mons who needed it
Not to sound like that guy but doesn't Mega Evolution mean that some Pokemon that were mega evolved will never get an evolution even though they totally could have
Dynamax wasn’t good for singles, but in doubles I thought it was pretty cool. I think they should’ve stuck with a 1.5x health multiplier for single battles, though.
Megas are the most beloved gimmicks. It would be smart on Game Freak's part to keep them, fhey sell toys/action figures to this day and on spin off games people love them much more than any other gimmick. They can make competitive chaotic and unbalanced but they are the ones people like the most
There's plenty that can be done about them making competitive chaotic. With the power creep of the last two generations, some megas that were really powerful wouldn't be quite as powerful now. The strong new items like boots, clear amulet, and covert cloak also limit megas a lot in comparison to other Pokemon. Finally, simply adding more Megas that do different things would help a lot. A lot of people complain that megas were all offense, and while we did only get a small handful of defensive ones, having more megas that do a wider variety of things would help a lot in terms of diversity and creativity
I think mega evos are great to stick in the side games like legends ZA, leaves room for the main series to experiment with new gimmicks still and won't mess with competitive while still letting people play them.
@@hutyroI agree with this. Legends is the perfect place for it. Doesnt screw with the integrity of the main line VGC, while allowing you to let loose on the rule of cool in legends. I would love a legends style game that had all the gimmicks that sorta played like a really refined version of lets go. An actual epic jrpg style pokemon.
Tbh....in a way ints not the case? Mostly because pokemon with megas cant no longer get normal evos, so it does restrict them in the longrun (and we cant exactly give every single mon a mega). They are better off in spinoffs and the like, since there you get all the fun without them fucking with competitive or being overly restrictive. Everyone wins
@@mysticpumpkin8520it doesn't. Remember Slowbro got a mega. Not Slowking. They can also give them regional forms. Slowpoke line has one of those too. And meowth has multiple. I think they just pull names out of a hat
The only positive I can say about Dynamax is the fact it made my 3rd favourite Pokémon good (Durant) it's also quite fun in Nuzlokes where you don't let yourself use it adding some difficulty to the challenge though this isn't a nuzloke channel it's a competitive channel. I really enjoy these videos and there the reason I love competitive Pokémon so much!
My biggest issue with dynamax is that I feel every statue move should have been a different thing depending on the type of the move. Like a bug type status move maybe be called MAX web where lowers the opponents speed. Dark could've been MAX night or something and lowered accuracy for x amount of turns and so on. I just think it would've added more to the gimmick and strategy for what moves the pokemon would have. Need a 4th slot but don't know what? Put on a status move for if you Dynamaxed the pokemon.
G-Max Charizard spamming G-Max Wildfire vs. Mega Kangaskhan spamming Power up punch or Mega Salamance spamming hyper voice or double edge and roost. It's not even close. The difference in the best Pokemon for the generation gimic makes that very clear
Thanks for a good video. They should merge all the gimmicks, all of them have something good. Mega as base (consequence is that all must gain megas). Tera mechanic for charge so that stones are no longer a thing. Mega one per game, go nuts with items. One could even argue that you could give them 3 turns like dynamax. It would balance it out so that you can't spam it. And lastly Z-mechanic through protects. But add an intrinsic "life orb" to megas that takes away hp during moves for their now higher stats (and to be clear they gain no x1,3 attack, they are already buffed with mega). Pokédex describes how much they suffer.
5:21 i am the dinamax apologist 😭 i like dinamax solely bcs of the fact it actually takes strategy, like, from a competitive viewpoint theres no point in not megaevolving your designated mega as your strategy is (most of the time) centered around the mega, meanwhile in dinamax you may have a designated dinapoke but you can also surprise the enemy using that poke as a bluff be it from team preview or in battle, tho i like z moves and tera better, in fact i just dont like megas
Dynamax is antithetical to strategy for the game it's found in. Megas have obvious problems too, but dynamax is so poorly thought out that any complex decision making that the mechanic could have is instead turned into a glorified coin flip. It's super unhealthy, and manages to be tone deaf to almost every item, Pokemon and mechanic. To be frank, I'm not a fan of megas either, but I don't think Dmax defense is the move.
Competitive I’d say terra changing a type on the fly is pretty fun it was a lil grindy at the start but there’s new methods to get plenty of shards, it also seems fairly balanced all things considered yea changing a type can be crazy or hard to predict in a battle but in comparison it’s better than click for Uber powerful attack or click for 3 very powerful attacks with extra effects In general mega evolutions are amazing the new forms, stats, typing, and ability changes were fun to see it gave some unpopular or forgettable pokemon a new light, an issue was distribution some pokemon that didn’t need a mega got one or had a broken ability. Hopefully legends ZA can give some Pokémon that need a buff and not mega incinaroar or urshifu
@@KekilandF1nnB0mbr 1. Those games came out 5 years ago - I feel like it's pretty valid to have nostalgia for and miss things that were 5 years ago. If the person is 23, for example, those games might've come out when they were just becoming an adult. They might have had friends they don't talk to anymore that they played Sword and Shield online with, etc. 2. What's the problem if they are 16? Does that invalidate their experience? A 16 year old was 10-11 when those games came out, and has changed significantly in that time, so it makes sense for there to be nostalgia associated, especially given that 2019 was before the pandemic. There's no need to be judgemental over people's different experiences to yours, especially when it's something so silly as their favorite Pokemon game
Came here after the armchair therapist comment was shared to Twitter. The Light That Burns the Sky foreshadowing bit was so fucking funny I replayed it like 4 times when I was at work. Also I just recently found your channel and I've been watching this and the Gym nonstop lately, your videos have helped me get into vgc as a player with the Grand Challenges as well. Keep it up
It's interesting how you and Wolfe Glick disagree about Megas, Dynamax and Z-Movies, but all agree that Terastalization is the best gimmick. I think it shows how good of a thing it is
How. Could you. Forget. Twinkle tackle. The animation on that Z mova was TOP TIER, especially for a series as successful as pokemon. Z moves deserve to be in top tier just for twinkle tackle.
If Terastalization wasn't the latest in a line of single-generation gimmicks, it would be 100% believable as a brand new mechanic of Pokémon in general. Gen II introduced held items. Gen III introduced Abilities. Gen IX introduced Tera types. It's just another factor on the Pokémon's summary screen that you can customize during teambuilding. If it stayed as a permanent fixture of the series, it would "blend in" very quickly. It's almost a shame it won't happen, though one could argue that it makes some of the type chart woes more apparent than ever.
I will forever be peeved that Dhelmise got left out of SV so we didn't get to enjoy the experience of a 'mon having effective STAB on _four types_ [To explain, actual STAB on Grass and Ghost, STAB from the Tera type, and "STAB" on Steel via Steelworker] Also, for anyone who might be thinking it could be replicated by having Trevenant use Forest Curse on a 'mon, as that adds the Grass-type to the target [making any dual types effectively triple type, provided they didn't already have Grass as one of their types], I must break the sad news that Forest Curse fails against a Terastellized target, and likewise Terastellization clears Forest Curse Which is stupid tbh, would've made for a fun, niche counter tactic against Terastellizing
I’d love for Megas and Terastalization to become permanent gimmicks moving forward. But I feel Z moves should return in the form of the gems from Gen V, maybe even incorporate the niche interactions with status moves like Z-Splash if possible. And yeah Dynamax sucks lol
I wish dynamax didn’t suck. I don’t expect it to be anywhere near as loved as stuff like megas but it really bugs me and it’s not because I have nostalgia for sword and shield or because I hate every other gimmick and think they’re stupid. I just think they got done dirty… like a lot of sword and shield.
@@THGMR-ox7sd Give it 5 more years. People will be talking about how its an underrated gem and the kaiju fights were so cool It happened with megas. Went from "eww digimon freaks too much spikes" to "HAVE MY CHILDREN MEGA CHARIZARD Z"
I don’t care, I love the visuals of dynamax. I wish it could have been balanced in some way so you can’t just spam the same max moves until you just win instantly. Megas are absolutely the best gimmick though, even I have to agree with that even though I’m not too crazy about them. I wish dynamax was my least favourite but it has to go to z-moves. Sorry, it’s just my opinion. Justice for dynamax. Edit: Tera is amazing in every way except for the silly hats
We might see the first simultaneous mixing of gimmicks in the anime. And of course it’s most likely GOATquaza that’s going to the one to do it, it’s to be the first Mega-Tera. The new anime is 🔥
Side note but can we talk about how absurd in the best way ultra necrozma was. Its basically the ultimate dbz level power fantasy for a pokemon fan, combining badically every gimmick they could. Its a fusion of 2 legendary pokemone lole kyurem, ultra burst is basically givinig it a mega evolution, it gains a dragon type cuz of course it does, and it has a signature nuke z move, but not just any z move nuke, the most over the top power name of a move, *LIGHT THAT BURNS THE SKY*
As one of those people who came back to the franchise in 2020, I'll add that it's not just nostalgia. That gen 8 wave of new players is a lot more casual than the older playerbase. Max is more optimized for a straightforward "pick up and play" approach. Whereas Tera is more complicated to make the most of, and requires far more reads and imagination. Many of us lockdown newbies long for the simplicity of "max airstream go woosh."
I think Megas should come back with a consistent base stat total (600 maybe?) and add on a new ability instead of replacing the ability. This adds an interesting dynamic of any legendary starting off on the same power level, and the item essentially being the new ability.
I've never played the Ultra games because I can't get the 3DS inside my computer to load them properly. Is that really what the Light That Burns the Sky animation looks like? Lol
The best one is easily tera for me since it can actually include a buff for every pokemon ever as cool as megas are they are so limited i just cant put them over tetas
I know people say that the pseudo legendaries shouldn't have gotten Mega Evolutions, but when I look at the state of how they were released, I'm honestly convinced they had no idea what they wanted to do. XY introduce Megas for Garchomp and Tyranitar, but they tried to balance Mega Garchomp to the point it just wasn't good anymore and Mega Tyranitar was like ok but most people just ran regular Tyranitar because it was still good and another Mega from the pool. This probably didn't go over well and when ORAS was released with Mega Salamence and Metagross, they made absolutely sure people would use them and that's probably the reason why they're so broken. So I think they can work, I say at the level of Mega Tyranitar, but with the amount of power creep we have I honestly don't even know if that would work.
Z Moves would have been so much better if you just couldn't nuke. Also while I love Megas, I think you should have been able to waste your mega energy or something on any mon for a stat boost. That way, everyone benefits
Lowkey i thinking making it so Megas have a different stat buff depending on the species would help a lot. Like the Pseudos getting +80 and other weaker mons like get like a plus +120. That’s definitely NOT balanced, but giving EVERYONE a flat +100 really just makes it so the rich get richer. For playthrus tho, I gotta say Megas are S tier. Just use your favorite and you’re golden. God I hope Mega Altaria and Mega Ampharos are avalible early on in LZA 🙏🏻
I do think that this list is about what id say for competitive vgc, but for the fun/story side of mechanics i think my list would be 1. Z moves 2. Megas 3. G-max/D-max 4. Tera
The part about the regions only caring about their gimmick is funny because Alola was just like "yeah, bring the megas too."
Also Hoenn and Kanta has megas. So really only 3 gimmicks were region locked.
Also Hoenn and Kanta has megas. So really only 3 gimmicks were region locked.
@@Nightwalker065Can you play VGC in Kanto with megas?
@iancastro1327 I’d assume let’s go pikachu/let’s go Eevee would technically count as games where you could play vgc with megas
@@noinfo1018 vgc, not doubles (☝️🤓)
"Light that Burns the Sky" is called "Heaven-Scorching Light of Destruction" in Japanese
That move goes so damn hard
and Mimikyu's Let's Snuggle Forever was called "Bip-Bop Friend Time"
@@Bruce_P-Zpeak
Ultra Necrozma Is The *GOD OF ALL THINGS* 👑
I absolutely love “the light that burns the sky” because it makes it sound so incomprehensible because you can only describe it with familiar terms doing impossible things like “burning” the sky
@@invisible9445 Also It’s Stronger Than Arceus’s Judgement In Lore ! 💯
bro the subtle forshadowing video with Light That Burns The Sky had me dying😭😭
Am I to old to get these?
@@augstradus Sorry to say, but I think you just might be
I really like Terastalization cause it feels like the most baseline, fair gimmick. No flashy nukes, no insane stat boosts. You either get a new type or strengthen one of your existing ones. If it weren't for the dinky hat, I would say this is far and away the best gimmick Pokemon has done. Best part is no Pokemon really gets special treatment (except for Ogrepon and Terapagos but they costed $30 so Game Freak had to make it worth it).
Maybe this is just the contrarian in me, but I kinda like the hat. It feels like most of the gimmicks aesthetically are all about making cool Pokemon cooler, which is honestly a bit boring to me. I like it when Pokemon are goofy.
That said, they really should've turned down the exposure on the hats, they can get kinda hard to look at.
@@DKdrop Even then the "special treatment" Ogerpon and Terapagos got is far more balanced then mons with other gimmicks were.
The two's tera options are locked hampering their opportunity cost and Terapagos is carried by it's transformation unlike Rayquaza and Necrozma who are strong pre transformation.
Idk about it being the most "fair." In theory it should have been, but it's honestly the biggest homewrecker after Dynamaxing because it adds too much variety, turning broken Pokemon with clear weaknesses into Pokemon that are suddenly A LOT harder to counter because they could be anything else instead and now your answer is just dead. On paper it does sound exactly as you described, but, in practice, it turns everything on its head and has caused a lot of problems and the biggest issue just simply comes from the fact that every Pokemon can use it (which was the same issue with Dynamaxing, on top of the extreme boosts dynamaxing gives for three turns.)
@@homerman76 Don't say "in practice" like you aren't sounding like a copy n paste of early Scarlet and Violet discussions.
Yes Tera made a very chaotic early meta game, but since in actual practice things have settled and been figured out.
Yes a pokemon can turn into any type to get out of their weaknesses, but not just any type with get them milage outside of that one turn match up flip.
Specific pokemon gravitate to specific tera types depending on what the pokemon and it's team need consistently. It's only really a chaotic factor for the turn it's used.
Especially in Doubles where you can scout out, bait out, or even punish an opponents tera with basic tools like Protect, Fakeout, Follow Me, etc.
@@homerman76This seems to be a more of a problem in singles than doubles, with Pokemon like Kingambit being a good example. Doubles has so many forms of counterplay against defensive Tera so it’s not as much of an issue there.
It is funny how perception of Mega Evolution just seems to be improving over time. I remember the initial reaction being very negative, “like something out of Digimon”. I guess it’s the nostalgia cycle - kids whose first games were X&Y are adults now, and those of us who were young adults then (and remembered Digimon) are now trying to sort out our pensions.
Idk i remember most people being really gassed about it at the time
I feel like it's the opposite. Everyone loved megas when Gens 6 and 7 were current but anti-mega sentiment has been steadily growing.
@@LordPhilipJFryehh not really, just a really loud minority
@@blazie42069 It actually really just depends on the groups you've been around with. I've had the same experience where most people loved megas at first, the occasional Digimon comparison certainly existed, but in general people thought it was cool. Now the opinions have shifted to seeing Megas as being part of what started Pokemon's current problems. It really all depends.
Yeah mega was cool asf but then again remember how Gen 5 got hated now suddenly everyone is a fan
I was literally just watching the Super Monkey Ball team video and I thought to myself “man, I wonder how Moxie would rank Tera in comparison to the other generational gimmicks.” Thanks for peeking into my mind and immediately hammering this out while you were using the bathroom
I might be the only one who thinks this but gems from gen 5 should be considered a gimmick from how much they were used and how centralized they were
If you think about it, gems are very similar to Z moves, although Z moves have the added effect on status moves and making some two turn and recharge moves into a strong one turn nuke
No They Shouldn’t , Gems Didn’t Immediately Activate . They Were Completely Based On Luck It’s Not A Gimmick !
@@melvondrewhite2674 they activated the first time you used a move, no rng.
@@mushy2626 It’s Not A Gimmick Tho , It’s Not The Same As Mega’s & Z-Moves . It’s Not A Lore Thing Just Something To Use . Also They Disappear After One Use , Mega’s & Z-Moves Can Be Use *CONSTANTLY* Without Having To Find More !
@@melvondrewhite2674 Bruh why do you speak in Title Font
OH MY GOD LMAOOO THE “subtle forshadowing” MEME ON LIGHT THAT BURNS THE SKY IS HILARIOUS GG THAT CAUGHT ME SO OFF GUARD
Dissing dynamax not even 15 seconds into the video instantly validates the entire video
Ngl, I like dynamax. I do think it's somewhat balanced, but that's my opinion. There's valid reason to love or hate it
Megas are literally worst
delusional
I love when poke go big and go rawr...
Megas immediately go above just based on the fact that they're cooler than pressing E in maya and scaling models up@@sinnohperson8813
The level 9 wingull watching an intedimensional god charge up its most powerful attack (it's about to find out why the attack is called 'Light that burns the Sky'): 👁👄👁
Wingull: "This is fine"
8:00
The opposing Wingull hung on its Focus Sash!
Can’t wait for this to get reuploaded as this has. Z moves In it
I think one way of maybe balancing Mega’s is instead of adding 100 BST, they set the Pokémon’s BST to something like 600. That way, no matter the starting point for the Pokemon, they’ll all be around the same power level.
or just give it to pokemon who need it instead of fan favs
Exactly, as cool as dragonite is, 2 DD extreme speed kills almost anything@@minzekatze
A format where you could only bring one gimmick to the battle (like in the anime World Tournament) would go so hard
Cut to Ash using all 3
So gen 8 dynamax? Dynamax is stronger than terra and mega and it's not even close. Any serious team would be forced to run dynamax as their gimmick.
Sometimes it feels like Wolfe Glick and I are the only people who actually liked Dynamax as a competitive mechanic.
I'm in that block XD I also feel like the only person who thinks Z-Moves were so dumb. And that Megas (competitively) were such a bad idea.
I like it to I hate Tera can’t believe he made Pokémon who wear birthday hats #1
@@tlb31m probably because in terms of competitive viability it kind of is the best gimmick (despite the silly design).
@@ericbayer123 accidentally deleted my initial reply 😅. I wish megas were a good mechanic competitively.
@@tlb31m yeah, it's the best mechanic/competitive wise. I do hate the design stuff.
"Petah...the toilet's making noises."
--Moxie Boosted 2024
8:24 SPIRIT BOMB!
This is probably my favorite video on the channel now. Its got a decent insight into all the gimmicks from all the games, has weird irl shenanigans because of the specific recording setup, and dunks on dynamax the whole time
Mega evolution is so Deng cool. Ready for it to be back in a main series game
Dynamax would possibly have been the worst competitive mechanic, but on ladder it made more strategies and Pokémon viable than I can remember otherwise. (Pre restricted at least), idk if I’m alone but I genuinely enjoyed it. Z moves are when I returned to the Pokémon games, and idk if I was just new to the concept and didn’t understand literally anything going on, but a 1 shot button that went through protect was incredibly unfun
I love the subtle foreshadowing with the Light That Burns the Sky bit
needed more vine booms imo though :>
Nice subtle foreshadowing.
I also think the presence of Open Teamsheets would have helped the general opinion for z-moves and to a lesser extent, megas since either would eliminate less guessing games
I'm biased towards megas but people really don't respect how balanced trading your held item in + sacrificing a team slot for a sometimes useless pokemon is. Especially in an era before open team sheets. Oh, and if you bring more than 1 mega then you'll always have a wasted item slot but if you don't bring two you could have games where you don't bring a mega at all.
See this is cool and all, but the best megas and team comps were so game shatteringly overpowered that it literally makes no difference.
You either ran a comp like CHALK and tried to outplay opponents using the same team
You ran something that answered CHALK (which was like 3 megas)
Or you lost.
Megas are a very cool mechanic and for some of the lesser megas the trade off you mentioned is very real, but ignoring the competitive scene and like 85% of players going into tournaments with the exact same team down to the last move because of how overpowered some where, is just idiocy.
WINGULL MUST BE ELIMNATED
Tbh I think we should split these into concept and execution. I like megas as a concept, but the execution left a lot to be desired. They gave some lesser used pokemon a chance to shine, like kangaskhan. Loved it since gen 1, sadly it was always bad until its mega rolled in and began oppressing everything. Mega Beedrill looks dope on paper, but there's no reason to use it over most other megas. Hell, mega chomp actually got worse since it lost its speed tier.
What I enjoy about each generation gimmick
Mega: new designs, how it can either buff a Pokemon or completely change how a Pokemon is used
Z-Moves: I like the concept of it being “Pokémon’s Final Smash equivalent”
Dynamax: it was cool how some moves could change weather or terrain whilst also dealing damage (and I like how Meowth’s G-Max move was a great money farming method)
Tera: Tera Blast being Hidden Power 2.0
A balance to Megas would be to alter the stats, bigger stat buffs to Pokemon like Mega Beedrill, more of a stat redistribution to Pokemon like Garchomp (same BST but stats from speed and sp. attack moved to it’s attack stat)
A fusion of Z-Moves and Dynamax would be nice, giving Pokemon that lack a strong STAB option a good STAB option that can change weather, change terrain, or provide some other additional effect
I KNOW this is an unpopular opinion, but I personally always found Z Moves as the most engaging of the gimmicks. Terrastalizing and Mega Evolution both just make a pokemon more powerful until they're knocked out, and Dynamaxing just gives you three turns of destroying everything while being borderline untouchable. None of those are really... FUN to me. Z Moves, by contrast, always appealed to me because you only get ONE CHANCE. There's more strategy to when you use it. Should you go all in on a very specific pokemon having access to Z Moves? Or should you spread thin, and make sure each pokemon has at least one chance in case of emergencies? I dunno. My own ranking would be Z Moves top, Terrastalizing second, Mega Evolution third, and Dynamaxing dead last.
Also, a level 9 wingull getting EVAPORATED by Light that Burns the Sky is the best thing ever.
That poor Wingull had a Namek flashback and had no idea what that is
"in B tier we have Mega Pokemon" holy based. theyre cool in concept but goodness giving +100 bst to every other pseudo legend was not a good way of buffing old mons who needed it
I find it funny that they added 100 BST to Mega Garchomp, and it somehow ended up arguably worse than regular Garchomp.
They also messed up the megas meant to make bad mons viable. Mega Beedril is still useless, just 2% less useless than regular beedril
Not to sound like that guy but doesn't Mega Evolution mean that some Pokemon that were mega evolved will never get an evolution even though they totally could have
@@mikeymccann3074yep. Sableye, Mawile, and Audino to name a few are forever screwed.
@@CaptainObliviousV yha I guess maybe regional forums but that is basically a new pokemon
Dynamax wasn’t good for singles, but in doubles I thought it was pretty cool. I think they should’ve stuck with a 1.5x health multiplier for single battles, though.
Megas are the most beloved gimmicks. It would be smart on Game Freak's part to keep them, fhey sell toys/action figures to this day and on spin off games people love them much more than any other gimmick.
They can make competitive chaotic and unbalanced but they are the ones people like the most
There's plenty that can be done about them making competitive chaotic. With the power creep of the last two generations, some megas that were really powerful wouldn't be quite as powerful now. The strong new items like boots, clear amulet, and covert cloak also limit megas a lot in comparison to other Pokemon. Finally, simply adding more Megas that do different things would help a lot. A lot of people complain that megas were all offense, and while we did only get a small handful of defensive ones, having more megas that do a wider variety of things would help a lot in terms of diversity and creativity
I think mega evos are great to stick in the side games like legends ZA, leaves room for the main series to experiment with new gimmicks still and won't mess with competitive while still letting people play them.
@@hutyroI agree with this. Legends is the perfect place for it. Doesnt screw with the integrity of the main line VGC, while allowing you to let loose on the rule of cool in legends.
I would love a legends style game that had all the gimmicks that sorta played like a really refined version of lets go. An actual epic jrpg style pokemon.
Tbh....in a way ints not the case? Mostly because pokemon with megas cant no longer get normal evos, so it does restrict them in the longrun (and we cant exactly give every single mon a mega).
They are better off in spinoffs and the like, since there you get all the fun without them fucking with competitive or being overly restrictive. Everyone wins
@@mysticpumpkin8520it doesn't. Remember Slowbro got a mega. Not Slowking. They can also give them regional forms. Slowpoke line has one of those too. And meowth has multiple. I think they just pull names out of a hat
The only positive I can say about Dynamax is the fact it made my 3rd favourite Pokémon good (Durant) it's also quite fun in Nuzlokes where you don't let yourself use it adding some difficulty to the challenge though this isn't a nuzloke channel it's a competitive channel. I really enjoy these videos and there the reason I love competitive Pokémon so much!
Bro led with "Dynamax sucks" and the crowd cheered.
My biggest issue with dynamax is that I feel every statue move should have been a different thing depending on the type of the move. Like a bug type status move maybe be called MAX web where lowers the opponents speed. Dark could've been MAX night or something and lowered accuracy for x amount of turns and so on. I just think it would've added more to the gimmick and strategy for what moves the pokemon would have. Need a 4th slot but don't know what? Put on a status move for if you Dynamaxed the pokemon.
1:06 El hombre man
Bro's bathroom audio better than 93% of my teamates
8:34 bro decided to nuke the whole continent with that move 💀
Ultra Necrozma Is The *GOD OF EVERYTHING* 👑
Ima be honest, dynamax is easily my favorite gimmick
Second favourite for me mostly because of Gigantamax Shiny Charizard.
Just wait until Gen 10 brings back all four gimmicks in a celebration of the franchise and competitive begins to implode
I would fucking love that!!🎉🎉🎉😂
THAT DIVINE SONG AT 1:57 WHERE MY FAV GETS BEATEN UP
G-Max Charizard spamming G-Max Wildfire vs. Mega Kangaskhan spamming Power up punch or Mega Salamance spamming hyper voice or double edge and roost. It's not even close. The difference in the best Pokemon for the generation gimic makes that very clear
There is no best. Tbh the gmax Charizard would be scary asf compared to the other 2
I appreciate the video hustle 👏🏾👏🏾👏🏾
hearing “the toilet is making noise” after talking about dynamax is the scariest thing I’ve heard all week
Spidops is the best gimmick
Thanks for a good video.
They should merge all the gimmicks, all of them have something good.
Mega as base (consequence is that all must gain megas).
Tera mechanic for charge so that stones are no longer a thing. Mega one per game, go nuts with items.
One could even argue that you could give them 3 turns like dynamax. It would balance it out so that you can't spam it.
And lastly Z-mechanic through protects.
But add an intrinsic "life orb" to megas that takes away hp during moves for their now higher stats (and to be clear they gain no x1,3 attack, they are already buffed with mega). Pokédex describes how much they suffer.
I'd love a format like the one in the anime: You can use any gimmick you want, but only one out of all of them per battle
I misread the title as "who's the best gimmick Pokémon?" and was going to say "idk for doubles but for singles it's Wobbuffett"
5:21 i am the dinamax apologist 😭 i like dinamax solely bcs of the fact it actually takes strategy, like, from a competitive viewpoint theres no point in not megaevolving your designated mega as your strategy is (most of the time) centered around the mega, meanwhile in dinamax you may have a designated dinapoke but you can also surprise the enemy using that poke as a bluff be it from team preview or in battle, tho i like z moves and tera better, in fact i just dont like megas
Amen
Dynamax is antithetical to strategy for the game it's found in. Megas have obvious problems too, but dynamax is so poorly thought out that any complex decision making that the mechanic could have is instead turned into a glorified coin flip. It's super unhealthy, and manages to be tone deaf to almost every item, Pokemon and mechanic. To be frank, I'm not a fan of megas either, but I don't think Dmax defense is the move.
Competitive I’d say terra changing a type on the fly is pretty fun it was a lil grindy at the start but there’s new methods to get plenty of shards, it also seems fairly balanced all things considered yea changing a type can be crazy or hard to predict in a battle but in comparison it’s better than click for Uber powerful attack or click for 3 very powerful attacks with extra effects
In general mega evolutions are amazing the new forms, stats, typing, and ability changes were fun to see it gave some unpopular or forgettable pokemon a new light, an issue was distribution some pokemon that didn’t need a mega got one or had a broken ability. Hopefully legends ZA can give some Pokémon that need a buff and not mega incinaroar or urshifu
I know I only like dynamax because of nostalgia, but I don't have a problem with that. I enjoyed it, and that's all that matters
Yippee 🎉
I thought no one enjoyed it but I’m just glad someone enjoys dynamax no matter the reason.
Nostalgia for dynamax? Are you 16?
@@KekilandF1nnB0mbr I'm not giving my exact age, but I'm somewhere between 21 and 17
@@KekilandF1nnB0mbr
1. Those games came out 5 years ago - I feel like it's pretty valid to have nostalgia for and miss things that were 5 years ago. If the person is 23, for example, those games might've come out when they were just becoming an adult. They might have had friends they don't talk to anymore that they played Sword and Shield online with, etc.
2. What's the problem if they are 16? Does that invalidate their experience? A 16 year old was 10-11 when those games came out, and has changed significantly in that time, so it makes sense for there to be nostalgia associated, especially given that 2019 was before the pandemic.
There's no need to be judgemental over people's different experiences to yours, especially when it's something so silly as their favorite Pokemon game
@@KekilandF1nnB0mbrme when young people: 🤬
Came here after the armchair therapist comment was shared to Twitter. The Light That Burns the Sky foreshadowing bit was so fucking funny I replayed it like 4 times when I was at work. Also I just recently found your channel and I've been watching this and the Gym nonstop lately, your videos have helped me get into vgc as a player with the Grand Challenges as well. Keep it up
It's interesting how you and Wolfe Glick disagree about Megas, Dynamax and Z-Movies, but all agree that Terastalization is the best gimmick. I think it shows how good of a thing it is
R.I.P to that poor Wingull.🤣😭
This so singles pilled without being singles pilled
How. Could you. Forget. Twinkle tackle. The animation on that Z mova was TOP TIER, especially for a series as successful as pokemon. Z moves deserve to be in top tier just for twinkle tackle.
2:09 we got Skibidi Moxie before GTA VI, insane 💔
Moxie got that Future "Where you was at when we recorded in the bathroom" type setup!
If Terastalization wasn't the latest in a line of single-generation gimmicks, it would be 100% believable as a brand new mechanic of Pokémon in general. Gen II introduced held items. Gen III introduced Abilities. Gen IX introduced Tera types. It's just another factor on the Pokémon's summary screen that you can customize during teambuilding. If it stayed as a permanent fixture of the series, it would "blend in" very quickly. It's almost a shame it won't happen, though one could argue that it makes some of the type chart woes more apparent than ever.
2:10 toilet wants you to flush dmax down the toilet lmao
Dunno what you were doing differently this vid, but had me laughing way more than usual. Very enjoiyable vid
I will forever be peeved that Dhelmise got left out of SV so we didn't get to enjoy the experience of a 'mon having effective STAB on _four types_
[To explain, actual STAB on Grass and Ghost, STAB from the Tera type, and "STAB" on Steel via Steelworker]
Also, for anyone who might be thinking it could be replicated by having Trevenant use Forest Curse on a 'mon, as that adds the Grass-type to the target [making any dual types effectively triple type, provided they didn't already have Grass as one of their types], I must break the sad news that Forest Curse fails against a Terastellized target, and likewise Terastellization clears Forest Curse
Which is stupid tbh, would've made for a fun, niche counter tactic against Terastellizing
Don't forget that Tera Ghost is just a Mofongo Enabler, just cus of that it's the best
What about Gems? I loved Flying Gem Acrobatics, especially with Unburden.
I’d love for Megas and Terastalization to become permanent gimmicks moving forward. But I feel Z moves should return in the form of the gems from Gen V, maybe even incorporate the niche interactions with status moves like Z-Splash if possible. And yeah Dynamax sucks lol
I wish dynamax didn’t suck. I don’t expect it to be anywhere near as loved as stuff like megas but it really bugs me and it’s not because I have nostalgia for sword and shield or because I hate every other gimmick and think they’re stupid. I just think they got done dirty… like a lot of sword and shield.
I love Tera but Shedninja needs to return
@@THGMR-ox7sd Give it 5 more years. People will be talking about how its an underrated gem and the kaiju fights were so cool
It happened with megas. Went from "eww digimon freaks too much spikes" to "HAVE MY CHILDREN MEGA CHARIZARD Z"
I think the Terastilization mechanic IS SO GOOD. I've always wanted to play with the same pokemon as other types, it's so cool AHHH
I don’t care, I love the visuals of dynamax. I wish it could have been balanced in some way so you can’t just spam the same max moves until you just win instantly.
Megas are absolutely the best gimmick though, even I have to agree with that even though I’m not too crazy about them.
I wish dynamax was my least favourite but it has to go to z-moves. Sorry, it’s just my opinion. Justice for dynamax.
Edit: Tera is amazing in every way except for the silly hats
I like the other perspective on Megas being the captain because of how MTG’s commander format is similar to that idea
We might see the first simultaneous mixing of gimmicks in the anime. And of course it’s most likely GOATquaza that’s going to the one to do it, it’s to be the first Mega-Tera. The new anime is 🔥
Side note but can we talk about how absurd in the best way ultra necrozma was. Its basically the ultimate dbz level power fantasy for a pokemon fan, combining badically every gimmick they could. Its a fusion of 2 legendary pokemone lole kyurem, ultra burst is basically givinig it a mega evolution, it gains a dragon type cuz of course it does, and it has a signature nuke z move, but not just any z move nuke, the most over the top power name of a move, *LIGHT THAT BURNS THE SKY*
I wish I played more competitively during the z move era… the animations are insane!!
As one of those people who came back to the franchise in 2020, I'll add that it's not just nostalgia. That gen 8 wave of new players is a lot more casual than the older playerbase. Max is more optimized for a straightforward "pick up and play" approach. Whereas Tera is more complicated to make the most of, and requires far more reads and imagination. Many of us lockdown newbies long for the simplicity of "max airstream go woosh."
This is just objectively correct. Closest thing a very subjective concept can get to being objectively rankable.
Love how you just say that you're recording from the bathroom even with a picture but don't say why
I dream of a game with both megas and teras.
Toilet noises happening while trying to talk about Dynamax sounds about right.
I like Megas because they look cool :D
Also they add a nice visual flare to Pokken matches
Honestly, I can’t wait to see what gimmicks they come up with in the future
My personal ranking as a semi-competitive player is:
1.)Tera, G-Max, Mega
2.)Dynamax
3.)Z-Moves
moxie i am BEGGING you to make a youtube short with the light that burns the sky "subtle foreshadowing"
On it
your editor deserves a raise for that subtle foreshadowing edit 😭
The worst part of Z-Moves is 100% the animation for Xerneas Twinkle Tackle
Reminds me of the time I had to take an AWS certification test in the bathroom cuz it was the only “approved” room in the house 😂
8:04 subtle foreshadowing
Yall are sleeping on twinkle tackle
The lv 9 wingul clip SENT me
I think Megas should come back with a consistent base stat total (600 maybe?) and add on a new ability instead of replacing the ability. This adds an interesting dynamic of any legendary starting off on the same power level, and the item essentially being the new ability.
Foreshadowing light that burns the sky is killing me 😂
On paper I think Mega evolution is the coolest mechanic, however mechanically and for balancing I think terastalization is the best.
Won't lie I do kinda miss pure pokemon but I also can't live without Mega Mawile
8:07 Bro was really edging his nuke. XD
Someone is going to bring up agile and strong style. I just know it.
I've never played the Ultra games because I can't get the 3DS inside my computer to load them properly. Is that really what the Light That Burns the Sky animation looks like? Lol
The toilet making a noise was so funny
The best one is easily tera for me since it can actually include a buff for every pokemon ever as cool as megas are they are so limited i just cant put them over tetas
Gen 1 Hyperbeam. I really wish they brought that one back.
I know people say that the pseudo legendaries shouldn't have gotten Mega Evolutions, but when I look at the state of how they were released, I'm honestly convinced they had no idea what they wanted to do.
XY introduce Megas for Garchomp and Tyranitar, but they tried to balance Mega Garchomp to the point it just wasn't good anymore and Mega Tyranitar was like ok but most people just ran regular Tyranitar because it was still good and another Mega from the pool.
This probably didn't go over well and when ORAS was released with Mega Salamence and Metagross, they made absolutely sure people would use them and that's probably the reason why they're so broken.
So I think they can work, I say at the level of Mega Tyranitar, but with the amount of power creep we have I honestly don't even know if that would work.
Z Moves would have been so much better if you just couldn't nuke.
Also while I love Megas, I think you should have been able to waste your mega energy or something on any mon for a stat boost. That way, everyone benefits
big betrayal playing in the background caught me so off guard 😭😭😭😭😭😭
8:07 thanks for the laugh
Lowkey i thinking making it so Megas have a different stat buff depending on the species would help a lot. Like the Pseudos getting +80 and other weaker mons like get like a plus +120.
That’s definitely NOT balanced, but giving EVERYONE a flat +100 really just makes it so the rich get richer.
For playthrus tho, I gotta say Megas are S tier. Just use your favorite and you’re golden. God I hope Mega Altaria and Mega Ampharos are avalible early on in LZA 🙏🏻
I do think that this list is about what id say for competitive vgc, but for the fun/story side of mechanics i think my list would be
1. Z moves
2. Megas
3. G-max/D-max
4. Tera