Battle Stadium Singles blog — Tools for Laddering (Special *gen 8* Edition)
- 1) Overview
- 2) Notes on tools & their usefulness
- 3) Deeper metagame-knowledge
- 4) Player streams
- 5) In Conclusion
Season 8, July 2020, the first season of Isle of Armor, the season of...Dragalge?
Pokemon Home battle data as presented by Pikalytics.
1) Overview
This is the generation 8 BSS version of a post I made a year ago, providing a short write-up of the various resources available for BSS online, and highly recommended for anyone seeking to climb ranked. Where not much has changed, I have taken the liberty of quoting myself from that entry verbatim.
2) Notes on tools & their usefulness
Below you will find a list of most of the tools one might want to have available during laddering.
As a more general observation, another thing outside the game itself that merits a mention here is the importance of laddering mindfully, that is to say, in a way that affords you the best possible chance of actually making progress. The specifics of how this is accomplished vary from person to person, but a common thread running throughout any competitive endeavor is having the wherewithal to know when to stop, lest risking a spiral decline in performance. In the case of the RNG-carousel pokemon can take one on, this most typically takes the form of rage-queuing, for example.
2.1 Damage Calculator
"Having the ability to almost instantly call up damage calculations is especially useful for players who are just starting out, or otherwise out of shape. To do this, simply go on Pokemon Showdown, make an exportable text file of your team, and paste it into https://cantsay.github.io/ to save your custom sets for future reference.
Not only is this convenient for situations where you are not sure about various damage ranges, and thereby empowering you to make more calculated plays (both literally and figuratively), it also allows you to infer opponents' movesets and held items, and can even affect your decisions in the team select screen.
Ideally, as a player gets more experienced, most numbers and damage ranges inevitably get internalized, lessening the calculator's overall impact as a laddering tool. Even then, there is just no excuse not to have your team in the calculator while laddering: if for nothing else than to satisfy the morbid curiosity of what could — or should — have been after a series of statistically improbable outcomes."
2.2 Usage Stats & Trends
Battle data for Pokemon Home is finally out, but because the developers somehow managed to make the interface and overall experience a downgrade from PGL, it's probably best to consult Pikalytics, which has a more palatable visual presentation of the same data.
It should be noted that Showdown also publishes its statistics, also available on Pikalytics, but because the level of competition is overall lower there — although you do initially get good games faster than on console — those should always be taken with a grain of salt.
2.3 Smogon Resources
The largest BSS community outside of East Asia is loosely affiliated with smogon, with an accompanying Discord channel. The resources on the forums themselves are instrumental for team-building, especially the Speed Tiers thread. (Updated!).
Although I personally don't put much stock in tier-lists/viability rankings, especially ones partly administered by users that don't seem to actually play the format, the one on the forums is useful for newcomers to the format, at least insofar as the discussion pertains to the specifics of each individual pokemon's role and potential in the broader format as a whole, which might not always be evident from looking at pure usage stats alone. Likewise, the sample teams thread is largely out-of-date, as expected in a still evolving format.
3) Deeper metagame-knowledge
Going beyond the basics requires the utilization of a number of Japanese-language resources that do aggregation, statistics, and analysis.
3.1 Nouthuca
An aggregator site where links to top finishers' blogs are posted at the end of each season. An invaluable resource thanks to its search options, provided one does the necessary translation work into Japanese through sites like Bulbapedia and Google Translate.
3.2 Pokesol (youtube)
A Japanese BSS news blog that keeps apace with the metagame, hosting its own tournaments, providing guides for individual pokemon, and featuring up-to-date rental teams.
3.3 Pokedb
A Japanese statistics site that does the backend battle data just like Pikalytics does, but with a more polished presentation.
4) Player streams
First of all, it should probably be mentioned that of the few competent English-language streamers that play BSS with any kind of regularity, cant say is the standout, with DragonWhale, 11oyd and 1_TP occasionally going live with their ladder sessions, as well.
Because ranked singles on console is a predominately Japanese affair, what regular, high-level, content there is out there is, unsurprisingly, mostly in East Asian languages, be it in Korean or in Japanese. Below are links to the streams and social media of a few players I think are worthy of a look given their accomplishments, varied styles, and level of consistent of output.
> kacr/Einstein <
With multiple single-digit finishes in gen 8 BSS across two accounts (that we know of), currently perhaps the biggest Japanese ladder monster. A massive grinder who tends to stick a single team for longer than most streamers.
stream / https://twitcasting.tv/ka_cr_he
twitter / https://twitter.com/Ka_Cr_He
> ir_poke <
A consistent double-digit player (2200-2100 point finishes almost every season so far) from Japan who is impressive because he plays a variety of styles, very much with an eye on YouTube content-production.
twitter / https://twitter.com/ir_poke
> SnowParty <
With the seeming retirement of Azelfhoon, probably the most accomplished Korean BSS player still around. Tends to play a variety of offensive styles.
stream / https://www.twitch.tv/picture7200
youtube / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCd6CX2LiQE2dEAPXwk2N0jg/videos
twitter / https://twitter.com/1209sung
> bannbee <
Another great Japanese player who also happens to be one of the harder memers, too.
stream / https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCNOnv5No5KtT3fmvcztSkEg/videos
twitter / https://twitter.com/bannbee__
5) In Conclusion
That's most of what I think is relevant for BSS in terms of resources at the moment, subject to change (hopefully). Maybe I'll revisit this topic a year from now to see what's what. Nevertheless, there is no substitute for actually queuing up ranked, so off you go now!
- Tox
SW-0021-9848-8999
