The Battle of Alola, in December 2016, gave Trainers their first opportunity to compete in an Online Competition with Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. This Online Competition featured Single Battles, just like most of the battles Trainers engage in during their adventures in the Alola region. The Battle of Alola featured the flat battle format used by most Online Competitions and on the Battle Spot, so all Pokémon above level 50 were temporarily reduced to level 50 during tournament battles. Also, like in most other competitions, Trainers registered a team of six Pokémon to use for the entire competition, then selected only three Pokémon to use in each battle after seeing their opponent’s roster.
Players were permitted to use any of the Pokémon in the Alola Pokédex, the special Greninja from the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Special Demo Version, and any of the Pokémon available through Island Scan. With such a large number of Pokémon available, we saw Trainers train teams for a wide variety of different strategies.
Trainers needed to consider a major format quirk when selecting their teams: the prohibition from giving their Pokémon items to hold. Normally, a big part of battling is anticipating the opponent’s held items and having your Pokémon react appropriately. But without items such as Focus Sash, Assault Vest, Choice Scarf, and the Berries that reduce supereffective damage, battles were more straightforward in this competition. Trainers could make simpler decisions without having to consider the possibility of a Pokémon unexpectedly surviving a hit that would normally have knocked it out, or moving before an opponent that would normally be quicker than them. We saw most players react to this by using a team of fast, frail Pokémon, such as Tapu Koko and Pheromosa. But, as we’ll discuss later, many of the top-performing Trainers took a different approach.
Legendary Battles
Another major twist in the Battle of Alola involved special Pokémon that Trainers could include on their teams. Similar to the restricted Pokémon of 2016’s Video Game Championships, Trainers in the Battle of Alola could select one of Solgaleo, Lunala, Magearna, Necrozma, or Zygarde to include on their teams. However, a surprising number of Trainers opted not to use a special Pokémon at all, including one impressive Trainer who finished in the top 10 overall. Whether Trainers decided to use a special Pokémon of their own or not, Solgaleo, Lunala, and Zygarde were key opponents to consider during team construction for this competition.
Among Trainers who did choose to use a special Pokémon, Lunala was by far the most popular choice. It was the third most common Pokémon in the competition overall, and it also appeared on six of the top-10 teams. One great reason for Lunala’s popularity was its Shadow Shield Ability, which reduces the damage it takes from attacks while its HP is full. Lunala’s trademark attack, Moongeist Beam, was also key to its success. It can deal supereffective Ghost-type damage to Solgaleo and other Lunala, and Moongeist Beam has the added effect of ignoring the effect of the target’s Ability, most notably opposing Lunala’s Shadow Shield and Mimikyu’s Disguise. Perhaps the move that most separated top Trainers from the rest of the field was Roost. Only 28.7% of the Lunala used in the competition overall were taught Roost, but five of the six Lunala in the top 10 were taught this key healing move.
Solgaleo took over the lion’s share of the remaining special Pokémon slots on teams. It was the 8th most common Pokémon overall, and one team using Solgaleo managed to crack the top 10. Solgaleo has a rough type matchup with both Lunala and Zygarde, but it’s great all-around stats made it a fearsome opponent for most other Pokémon in the field. The top Solgaleo in the competition was taught Flame Charge, enabling it to increase its Speed and outpace nearly any opponent. Like Lunala’s Moongeist Beam, Solgaleo’s Sunsteel Strike has the advantage of ignoring its target’s Ability.
The third most frequently selected special Pokémon was Magearna, not Zygarde. The Mythical Pokémon Magearna didn’t make it on to any teams in the top 10, but it dished out big chunks of damage with its trademark Fleur Cannon. Magearna was also the special Pokémon that best played with strategies involving Trick Room, which once again was not as strong in Single Battles as in Double Battles. While Zygarde wasn’t even one of the 30 most common Pokémon in the competition, it did appear on two top-10 teams. Most of the Zygarde used in this competition were taught moves that could increase their stats mid-battle, such as the offensive Dragon Dance or the defensive Coil.
Alola’s Finest
Players tended to fill out the remainder of their team with fast Pokémon that could deal lots of damage quickly. As a result, speedsters Garchomp, Tapu Koko, Ninetales, Tapu Lele, Greninja, and Pheromosa each finished among the 10 most popular Pokémon in the competition.
We’ve often seen players use Greninja with the Protean Ability in competitions, but in this tournament only the special Greninja with the Battle Bond Ability from the Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon Special Demo Version was available. With Battle Bond, Greninja can transform into the quicker and more powerful Ash-Greninja when it picks up a knock out, so Trainers using Greninja tried to maneuver into positions where Greninja could get the finishing blow. Greninja can dish out huge damage to Solgaleo and Lunala with Dark Pulse and to Zygarde with Ice Beam, making it one of the most important Pokémon in the competition. Greninja was one of the most popular offensive Pokémon at high ratings as well, appearing on six of the top-10 teams.
The biggest difference for Trainers that earned very high ratings in this competition was definitely a focus on defense over offense. The top-10 teams featured five Aegislash, four Blissey, three Celesteela, two Toxapex, an Alomomola, a Togekiss, a Skarmory, and even a Pyukumuku—all Pokémon more known for their abilities to absorb damage instead of dish it out. Cohesive teams of stout defensive Pokémon come out on top in many formats, and once again defense seems to have been the best way to take home the championship in this Online Competition. Building off their Pokémon’s natural defensive power, many of these Trainers taught their Pokémon to restore their health and use moves that damage opponents when they switch into battle.
This commitment to defensive, slower battles with lots of switching can be seen in the way Pokémon were trained. Much like the Lunala that knew Roost we mentioned before, both of the Nihilego on top-10 teams were taught Stealth Rock, a significant deviation from the 71.1% of Nihilego in the competition that were not taught this key move. One of the Nihilego was also taught Thunder Wave, while the other knew both Toxic and Toxic Spikes, three moves that weren’t common enough choices to appear in the 10 most common moves for Nihilego in the competition overall. These Trainers seemed to be playing a very different game than Trainers at lower ratings, and it certainly paid off for them in the final standings.
We hope you enjoyed the first Pokémon Global Link Online Competition for Pokémon Sun and Pokémon Moon. Keep checking back to the Pokémon Global Link and Pokemon.com for information about future Online Competitions and Global Missions. And remember to check out Pokemon.com/Strategy for the latest Pokémon TCG and video game strategy and analysis.
Source: Pokémon Global Link
Pokémon Blog 