Pokemon Go Esports Shows The Perfect Way To Improve GBL
I haven’t played Go Battle League seriously in a hot minute. I’m not entirely sure why that is, but Pokemon Go’s PvP mode is riddled with bugs, suffers from unbelievable lag, and doesn’t offer a lot of variety. Oh, another Nidoqueen? Stunfisk? How original.
The thing I dislike most about Go Battle League in its current format is the element of chance that’s involved. Put simply, if you lose your opening matchup, you have to make some incredibly big-brained plays to win the match. There are ways around it, but using up your first switch-out just because you’re at a type disadvantage is a huge hurdle to overcome. After all, if your opponent has a counter to your safe switch then you’re stuck in battle until you’re a ‘mon down.
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However, Pokemon Go esports presents a different format. Instead of selecting a team of three and relying on a lucky matchup, every participant selects a team of six ‘mons and chooses three to go up against their opponent - both players having seen both teams. It’s not dissimilar to VGC, Pokemon’s most popular esports format, which sees players bring teams of six, four of which will take to the field in each battle of a best-of-three format.
This all but eliminates the RNG of hopping into a battle and keeping your fingers crossed that your opponent doesn’t hard-counter your whole team. It adds multiple layers of strategy, too, as you might have to rethink a switch if you know for sure that your opponent might have brought a counter to it.
Choosing from a squad of six Pokemon also shakes up the meta somewhat. Sick of seeing Powder Snow Walrein? Bring a Scrafty. You don’t even have to choose it in your three battlers, it will scare all but
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