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Esports

Evaluating some of the VGC community’s “hot takes” for the 2018 season

Eric BartlettBy 7 Mins Read

Recently there has been a bit of a trend going around the VGC community on Twitter where players will offer predictions about the upcoming 2018 format. What might’ve started out as something serious, this trend of posting “hot takes” quickly turned into a meme which progressively became a lot less serious. I thought it would be fun to take a look at some of these “hot takes” (serious or not) and give my thoughts on them. Maybe I’ll even give some of my own.

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  • Good one. We’re off to a great start if you couldn’t already tell.

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  • Gavin Michaels does make some quality teams, but usually he does pretty well so I wouldn’t worry about anyone stealing his thunder too much.
  • I’ve devoted a piece to why I think Metagross is a solid Mega Evolution for the 2018 format, but despite how much I love it, Salamence probably tops the list objectively.
  • Considering how great of a performance Italy put up at the London International Championships, I wouldn’t count this as a total exaggeration. Then again, that tournament was still being played using the 2017 rules.
  • Kartana didn’t win a single International or Worlds in 2017 causing some players to believe that it wasn’t a very good Pokemon to begin with. It is a Pokemon that can sweep pretty easily, but getting knocked out by almost every strong special attack and being completely walled by Celesteela are not good looks for it. Maybe it does suck.

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  • Probably something you want on your teams from now on.
  • Remember this damage calculation.
  • This might end up being a reason for why Tapu Fini usage dies out in the early months of 2018.

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  • Can it still learn Rock Slide? Can it still hold a Choice Scarf? Does it have access to many more viable sets after the introduction of Z-moves? If you answered yes to one or more of these questions, Landorus-T is most certainly not overrated.
  • Good, yes, but busted? I don’t think so. With things like Tapu Koko, Aegislash and Stakataka in the metagame Cresselia and Tapu Fini will be tough, but not impossible to handle. If you have trouble dealing with Tapu Fini I recommend you refer to the above damage calc.
  • Heatran has an amazing Tapu match-up and just so happens to be great against most Mega Charizard Y variants. Heatran being niche doesn’t seem likely to me.
  • I kind of agree with this one. Naganadel is a great Pokemon with good speed, power and offensive typing, but once people realize that they can KO it in one hit, then its usage will likely drop a bit.
  • I actually disagree with this one. I feel like Tapu Koko’s lack of offensive power will catch up to it despite its great run in VGC 2017. With that being said, Tapu Koko still has access to a lot of good support moves that could make it switch roles for this format. Basically, if you want a good Electric-type, use Zapdos.

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  • I don’t think Muk will be good this year. but if you decide to use it, please use Knock Off instead of Thief. Also Torkoal is now irrelevant because we have Charizard back.

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  • If Electrium Z Rotom becomes common, this might end up being true.
  • I don’t know…those nerfs were pretty hard on Mega Kangaskhan. Some players even exclude it from the Top 5 Mega Evolutions this year. This is 2018 people.
  • Switch something in to Mega Mawile’s Play Rough and try to tell me again that it’s a bad Mega Evolution.
  • Amoonguss is only good for re-direction since Misty and Electric Terrain exist. With some Terrain control, maybe you’ll end up clicking Spore once or twice. My money’s on Stakataka being the go-to Trick Room counter.
  • As long as you’re not running Thief on it, Muk will be alright.
  • If Landorus-T is in a VGC format, Garchomp becomes second-rate. Although, I would agree that it won’t be terrible.

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  • This one was almost too much for me. After 2017 could you even imagine a team without a Tapu?
  • I want Blacephalon to be good, but please don’t let it force lead roulette. I still have nightmares about Lillikoal.
  • Now there’s a real hot take! Mega Gyarados could be the underrated Mega Evolution that we’ve been looking for. Does this mean Pachirisu can make a comeback as well?
  • This is a true statement.

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  • This man was the master of using un-evolved Pokemon back in 2016 where Groudon and Xerneas were running rampant. Some call him insane, but I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw the return of either Cottonee or Togetic. Maybe it’s time for Eviolite Poiple to win a tournament.

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  • I think we’ve now determined a basic structure for most, if not all, “hot takes” tweets by now.
  • But seriously, poor Kangaskhan.

After looking at all of these hot takes, I figure it would only be fitting for me to include some of my own. Take from these what you will.

  • After sleeping on Latin America for this long, the region will win an International this year.
  • Some variant of Mega Kangaskhan + Landorus-T + Heatran + Cresselia will win Worlds this year. The community will riot.
  • Players will realize that Mega Metagross’ Zen Headbutt just does way too much damage, thus Tapu Lele will be the best Tapu.
  • Despite his impressive 2018 season run so far, I don’t think Ray Rizzo will win his fourth World Championship this year.
  • The Game Haus will be the number one source for all of VGC 2018’s hot takes throughout the season.

Thanks for reading!

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Shout outs to all the accounts I pulled tweets from. Follow all of these people on Twitter! 

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