Hey, everyone! Just here to announce that the patch for slate 21 is now live!
That means
DrPumpkinz's
Mega Regirock and
Mega Registeel and
Full_Korbe's
Mega Regice are all playable! All three of them can Mega Evolve when holding the
Reginite.
I'm so excited!!! I love this trio so much and I can't wait to use them!
In addition,
Mega Meganium,
Mega Typhlosion and
Mega Feraligatr from the previous slate are also playable! (This actually happened at the same time as the previous announcement about the backup server, but there was so much else going on that I totally forgot to announce it!! I'm sorry OTL)
In addition, there are some new updates to
inkbug's M4A Random Battles format!
Every team is now guaranteed to feature a Mega Evolution, the issue with certain Pokémon knowing Hidden Power twice has been resolved
(hopefully), and our three newest additions - slate 21's Mega Regirock, Mega Regice and Mega Registeel - are also now part of the pool of possible picks!
Remember that DH is currently down due to recent technical difficulties, so you should be using the temporary replacement server
here to play M4A!
Mega Magcargo
Type: Fire/Rock
Ability: Desolate Land
Hp: 60
Att: 75 (+25)
Def: 150 (+30)
Spec Att: 110 (+20)
Spec Def: 110 (+30)
Sped: 25 (-5)
New Moves: Weather Ball, Power Gem, Eruption, Burning Jealousy, Steel Roller, Skitter Smack, Scorching Sands, Lash Out
Description: This mega magcargo gets Desolate Land because it is twice the heat of the surface of the sun which makes sense. This pokemon gets weather ball and power gem for some nice special stab moves. This pokemon gets eruption for the fact that it becomes volcano-like. Then burning jealousy, steel roller, skitter smack, scorching sands, & lash out are isle of armor moves that make sense for it to get.
Hi there!
I know Desolate Land is just about the most obvious Ability for Magcargo anyway, so this definitely looks coincidental and completely benign to me - I don't think you were copying anyone or basing it on another sub on purpose! But that said, we
have recently been trying not to allow overly similar subs with the same Abilities to compete against each other, and I'm concerned that this overlaps too much with the Desolate Land sub by
kakaks.
If you feel like you'd want some part of kakaks's sub to be done differently, you could maybe get in touch with them and share feedback? I know they've really been looking for advice and criticism on the Discord, so I bet they'd be happy to hear it!
But I wouldn't be comfortable putting both of them to vote when they're so similar; you'll only be hurting each other's chances, and I think that would be kind of unfair to both of you, I'm afraid;;
I also would sort of recommend simplifying/toning down Leaf Wrappings - at the very least, I would probably want it to be consistent with other type-changing effects like Forest's Curse and not have a completely different effect on Pokémon that are already Grass-type.
(I would also suggest making the modifier 1.25 rather than 1.3, both because it's easier to divide by that and because
the other passive Ability that increases defenses has the same modifier! That's not really a significant balance change, though, and it's not mandatory; I just think it would help the Ability to feel more intuitive, which is usually best, especially when you have multiple unusual effects at once.)
On another note, I do kinda feel like you've gone a bit... overboard? with the tutor moves on all three of these - I know we just got 18 new moves and none of these Pokémon have had the chance to learn them, so when you're focused on such a small list, it might be a bit easy to take anything that even remotely fits and want to add it... But the distribution of most of these isn't reeeally as wide as you might think, and a majority of Pokémon didn't get more than two or three of these tutor moves at most.
I would really suggest looking at the kinds of Pokémon that already get these and reconsidering whether they're necessary - I feel like Steel Roller and Lash Out on Magcargo; Terrain Pulse, Lash Out and Coaching on Leavanny; and Grassy Glide and Lash Out on Bastiodon are all pretty tenuous additions
(of note: Dubwool gets Grassy Glide because it's inspired by a soccer ball and the move's name in some languages is a reference to a soccer play, not because it's a grazing animal), and even though they're not all competitive additions, this is still a
lot of moves to be adding with each sub.
That said!! These are mostly fine, and I'm sorry if this seems super nitpicky or anything!!
I'm also really sorry if it feels like you're being called out at all!! Many of us usually give this kind of feedback on the Discord, but it doesn't seem like you've signed up there - you're not the only one getting feedback like this, I promise!
I also have a sub!
Mega Leavanny
New Ability: Swarm/Chlorophyll/Overcoat ->
Parental Bond
Type: Bug/Grass
New Stats:
HP: 75
Attack: 103 ->
133 (+30)
Defense: 80->
100 (+20)
Special Attack: 70 ->
80 (+10)
Defense: 80 ->
100 (+20)
Speed: 92 ->
112 (+20)
(
600 BST)
New moves: Apple Acid, Lunge, Quiver Dance
Description:
At long last... a parenting-themed Pokémon that
doesn't get a Seismic Toss clone!! I am grateful to its movepool for making this possible to balance for once!
Leavanny is the Nurturing Pokémon, and its most distinctive quality by far is the way it cares for young Pokémon, including its adorable relationship with its own baby Sewaddle and Swadloon and its habit of sewing and caring for any other little ones it finds.
(I love it so much it's so wonderful aaaaaa)
With that in mind, the flavor here should be pretty obvious! That said, Parental Bond is one of those Abilities that can be really broken, really boring or really cool depending on the user, and I wanted to be absolutely sure to make use of it in a unique way rather than just being Mega Kangaskhan 2.0 or using it purely for the damage boost.
But Leavanny has just what it needs for that - being Bug/Grass comes with a totally unique application for Parental Bond that no other Pokémon can match! It's time for
s t a t d r o p s !
In singles, Leavanny's newly-added Lunge is now its best physical Bug STAB, and it enables it to keep itself safer from physical moves by cutting the target's Attack cleanly in half with the first use. Meanwhile for special attacking sets, Apple Acid gets to be the rough equivalent of a 110 BP Acid Spray, getting significantly stronger with each consecutive use - it gets to act like a less powerful but more consistent Shaymin-Sky, in a sense!
Both of these are likely to force switches, and while Leavanny is hardly equipped to make a clean sweep, it absolutely loves the free turns that enables it, with two excellent setup moves in Swords Dance and Quiver Dance, access to Synthesis to keep itself from being worn down, and Knock Off and Sticky Web to provide team support when it gets a free turn.
It also gets Air Slash, which is buffed less by Parental Bond than by Serene Grace and isn't STAB but can definitely come in clutch from time to time!
In the context of doubles, Apple Acid is just as major an addition - with or without being able to beat something by itself, Leavanny's ability to use its strongest STAB move and harshly lower the target's Special Defense at the same time is a super valuable form of team support when double-targeting a threat, and it also gets twice the effectiveness from Struggle Bug and Electroweb, making it the only Pokémon that can get both opponents to -2 Special Attack or -2 Speed at once (note that the comparable moves Snarl and Icy Wind
are relevant in doubles! this will sound like a silly gimmick to singles players, but I'm pretty sure it's a legitimate supportive niche in that context).
In return, though, Leavanny is pretty easy to cover defensively! In terms of raw, immediate power, its STABs don't offer much - and they have terrible neutral coverage and leave it walled by three types, which it can't possibly cover all at once!
This is important, and I think it's a good thing - it makes Leavanny a relatively safe Pokémon to give this Ability, rather than one that poses a serious risk of being broken. With Parental Bond-boosted Lunges and Apple Acids, it can be hard to switch in safely once Leavanny is in, because physical threats are easily mitigated and resistances kind of stop being resistances after a hit on the special side; on a Pokémon with more optimal stats or a better attacking type, I would be much less comfortable with an effect like this. As it is, though, I think it just makes for a unique way for Leavanny to get around some of its usual shortcomings, offering it more chances to support its team and wear down walls without being unhealthy.
And also it's just an adorable Ability for Leavanny, which is great.
I love this line