Pokemon is more competitively balanced than League...

Tentakill Myself·Jun 7, 2015·3 votes·993 views

Think about it.

There are 721 Pokemon that are all viable competitively, as long as you know how to use them. Meanwhile, you get flamed if you pick anything that currently has below a 50% winrate.

Overpowered, oppressive Pokemon are permanently suspended in ranked battles, while we're forced to waste bans on OP shit that Riot has no intention to ever balance (#LCSBIGPLAYSMANG).

Chroma packs are FREE in Pokemon (Shinies) while we're forced to pay $5 for an alternative color we can easily change with photoshop. And every single Pokemon has them.

And finally, Gamefreak manages to keep everything balanced -- All move to item to ability interactions, they take everything into account when making a Pokemon.

Take a hint Riot, I'm playing Pokemon until you balance at least half the OP shit in the game.

14 Comments

TerffJun 7, 20157 votes

{quoted} There are 721 Pokemon that are all viable competitively, as long as you know how to use them.

Because playing pidgey is super viable competitively amirite

Also theres a reason why pokemon are broken up into tier lists, some are way better than others. So yeah "balanced" isn't really the best thing to say.

Tentakill MyselfJun 7, 20152 votes

{quoted}

Because playing pidgey is super viable competitively amirite

Also theres a reason why pokemon are broken up into tier lists, some are way better than others. So yeah "balanced" isn't really the best thing to say.

Focus Sash Pidgey with endeavor and quick attack.

^ Viable.

1000angrybeesJun 7, 20151 votes

cheap, but effective.

Sort of like leblanc.

Lord DusteonJun 7, 20153 votes

{quoted}

Focus Sash Pidgey with endeavor and quick attack.

^ Viable.

Any entry hazard, anyone with their own set up, any debilitating status effect, anyone with their own priority moves. What's your pidgey going to do when someone sends in a Dragonite and starts Dragon Dancing? What's it going to do against stealth rocks, a burn, or poison? What's it going to do against that substitute baton passer?

Pokemon is NOWHERE near competitively balanced. It has large amounts of complete RNG (well, I sure love losing because I got paralyzed and could not move for 7 turns in a row, or got crit 3 times, or missed head smash 4 times, or because someone used Sheer Cold and got lucky). The only pokemon banned from competitive play are Legendaries and for the special online tournaments they have (the Eeveelution only ones, ghost type only, etc.). Also, Shinies have a 0.0122% chance to appear. You generally need to see an average of 8192 pokemon to see ONE shiny, and it being for a pokemon you actually like or care about is even rarer.

Z StatisticJun 7, 20151 votes

Pidgey actually has decent base stats iirc for baby leagues. It's definitely not the best, but when it's allowed, I think it's ok.

I like to suck DJun 7, 20151 votes

Pokemon is also pretty straight forward and has a lot less that goes into it. You can hand someone Pokemon and they'll learn the general in's and out's quickly because it's a simple game. You have some really great points, but can you really compare Pokemon to League of Legends?

1000angrybeesJun 7, 20151 votes

that's kind of like comparing an apple to a banana. Both fruit, different flavors.

DurzakaJun 7, 20151 votes

Pokemon is so imbalanced they need tiers of power so that some pokemon can even be used.

Z StatisticJun 7, 20151 votes

That is NOT how the Pokemon competitive works.

First off, the pokemon roster is subdivided into various tiers. If you go to a tournament, the tournament allows up to X rank. Any pokemon in a higher tier is banned even if they aren't that good within the tier itself.

So in a sense, yes, it allows a large variety of pokemon to be played because you have 6-8 tiers depending on who you ask. But then you realize that's just like saying League has high diversity because the champions are different from DotA2, HotS, and HoN. If you actually look WITHIN a tier, you will find exactly the same thing as in League; the tiers are (subjectively) laid out so the 80-150 pokemon in that tier are ranked from best to worst.

And guess which pokemon get spammed over and over and over again? No, it's not a handful. It's about 30% but how many champions get played over and over again in LCS? Pokemon has much more versatility with balance because there are so many niche pokemon, but niche is not a codename for OP or sleeper OP. Niche means that if you believe the enemy is going to do something crazy, this element will do very well against it. If you think the enemy is going to do something expected, you are going to strategize against it. If you are going to counter that standard play with something unexpected, then it's niche, but that doesn't mean it's better than the standard counter.

There are worthless pokemon not named Magikarp that no one at any tier plays in competitive because they are too weak to compete in the current tier but too strong to compete in a weaker tier.

Also, there are plenty of Uber tournaments just like there are some tournaments that allow Meta Knight. It's not serious, but people still want to use Rayquaza and Blaziken. And FFA meta knight only is funny as hell to watch.

MatezoideJun 7, 20151 votes

To be fair, he has a point, a pro player just won a huge ass Doubles Tournament (The official pokemon tournament, no Smogon bullshit) with Pachirisu. It legitimately had a niche in his team and was used seriously, being the MVP in several games.

You dont see LCS pros winning matches with Gangplank, do you?

Z StatisticJun 7, 20151 votes

UoL beat FNATIC in the first game of the final match in the LCS Spring with a Varus pick.

GP isn't picked because he's fucking useless. Flareon is also fucking useless and isn't picked in Pokemon either.

Saying that everyone in Pokemon is useful because of 1 dark horse is a silly hyperbole.

MatezoideJun 7, 20152 votes

Yeah, still a shit thread. Just playing Devil's Advocate

Vistha KaiJun 7, 20151 votes

Gangplank? Is that the one swinging axes?

Yordle XayahJun 7, 20151 votes

This is one of the most uninformed/naive posts I've ever read about competitive gaming. Won't go into much detail, but I'll just say you are comparing a Real Time Action MOBA game that receives patches every month or so, versus a game with a strategy that's basically glorified rock-paper-scissors.

Am I happy with the current state of League? Not really... but your comparison is like saying "Mortal Kombat is better balanced than Gran Turismo"