Glen-i

That's the problem with Smogon, the Pokémon setups they have are absolutely perfect... for fighting other Smogon setups. With a little bit of imagination and a bit of tweaking, it's quite easy to blindside a Smogon built team with a move they never saw coming. Do that often enough and they lose all momentum and give you an easy win. Which is why I suggest that Smogon be used as a base to build on and not be taken as gospel. That site certainly knows a few things, but they're too narrow-minded. I haven't been able to watch the VGC's today because I've been playing Smash and Mario Party at the community centre so I have no idea how it's going, sorry.

I'm hoping for info on One-finger Death punch 2, Shantae, Shovel Knight's last expansion, some surprises would be nice too.

Air lock nullifies any and all effects of weather, so it is a bit strange to have both out at once if they're on the same team. Rayquaza is a good counter to Groudon/Kyogre though. Air lock is always in effect when Rayquaza is present in a battle. So if a Groudon switches in, then the weather change won't do anything. So I think it's more of a way to bring some calm to a battle in an attempt to maintain control. I might be wrong, but most competitive players don't teach Kyogre Thunder, with the weather being so volatile in this gen, it's far too risky to go for it. They normally go with Ice Beam, Origin Pulse and two support moves. If they replaced Ice Beam with Thunder, they run the risk of being utterly walled by Groudon with Harsh Sunlight. My Kyogre knows Thunder though. Precisely because no-one expects it and it can really punch a hole with good prediction. In a similar vein, my Groudon knows Thunder Punch because it almost always catches a Kyogre switch completely by surprise and is endlessly funny. Kyogre hasn't got the defense and speed to cope with my Speedy Groudon setup.

Dude... Come on... Cheap shot.

Just leaving this here after @Ugh first aid showed me it.

This year's World Championships has been really varied. Some proper surprise Pokémon showing up in this Incineroar and Gen 3 legendary populated meta. Stuff like Breloom, Shedinja, Venusaur and Umbreon are holding their own quite well. Proper upset with a former World Champion getting knocked out by a Groudon with Dragon Claw of all moves. Who teaches Groudon Dragon Claw!? It's such a "me" kind of moveset. With that said, if Intimidate got nerfed, I would be over the moon. Intimidate dictates the entire doubles meta and I'm getting kinda sick of it.

While it's certainly no sweeping solution, the effects of leaks can be lessened here by people showing some restraint and at least using spoiler tags. N-E is a small enough community that this is perfectly feasible. Discussion about secrets like that is fine, but a little consideration goes a long way.

Voting is now over. Like I said before, the Switch is still alive and healthy, so there's no point in doing a top ten. So all that's left is to wait for the articles to come out.

Yes, it's the whole thing without dying. Make sure the first character you pick has decent aerial movement so you can survive the platforming section. (And of course, make sure you're good at fighting with them) Incineroar, Little Mac, Ganondorf, etc. are not great choices. If you've got it, try and use the Celebi support Spirit. Great Autoheal makes it a whole lot easier. And if all else fails, you can lower the difficulty. I think the latest update added a Very Easy option, so it should be doable. As for the second challenge, your skill tree carries over, so it's fine to start a New Game +. But make sure you do all the other WoL challenges before starting a New Game +. Or copy your file over to a different slot so you still have access to it. (I can't remember if you can actually copy files...)

Not the series I was expecting next. But that's fine. Rips from the Three Houses soundtrack is gonna be really odd in Tetris...

Don't mind me, just gonna purch a new slogan for Nintendo to use for the Switch. "Smell the box, taste the game" Rolls right off the tongue.

Having actual ranks is something I never realised Pokémon actually needed until now. Seems obvious in hindsight. I can imagine a lot of people trying out some competitive matches and getting absolutely destroyed by some nut that has a properly trained team. I've been there, it can feel a bit disheartening. At least with a beginner rank, it'd be a bit more viable to pull off a win at first. I hope Eject Pack is a one-use item. It'd be way too powerful otherwise.

Something went very wrong with the finishing attack zoom in there. It somehow thought I had lost despite you getting launched faster. First time I ever saw that happen and I was just cracking up!

Next League Night: 22nd August 8pm Room 1: @BowserBasher is host @Glen-i @BowserBasher @viceview51 @martinist @RedShell First of all, thanks to @Ugh first aid for helping come up with this theme. Astral Chain is out before the end of this month, so what better way to celebrate with some Renegade Roundup? Now, despite this being a team game, it will be treated as a free-for-all. What this means is... The Team Layouts will be set at random at the beginning of each GP. (@BowserBasher, I believe there's an option to do this on the screen where you choose who goes on what team) There'll be no bonus points for a winning team, but there will still be a Champion's Bonus for beating @RedShell and me. If you have any questions, go ahead and ask. Oh, and you must use dark blue Shy Guy. Sign up Now!

Last day for voting. @nekunando, @Nicktendo, @Dcubed, @killthenet, @WackerJr, @S.C.G and @Vileplume2000 still haven't voted. So get on that.

@viceview51 You know what you're getting for that.

Got 2 highlight videos for you this time. Here's a usual N-E shenanigans one. Blink and you'll miss something! And here's a special one focusing on everyone's favourite menu selector, Hero. BTW, a tournament has already decided to ban him. Only been, what, three weeks? He hasn't even made any waves in the competitive scene yet!

Yeah, I was pretty jammy there. It would have gone to Sudden Death if there was one more second. Ryu's a nice solid character with good flow to his attacks. It's easy to connect some combos with a bit of practice. He gets a lot more dangerous if you learn the Street Fighter inputs. It also makes him (and Ken) stand out more as the optimal gameplay style feels quite different to other characters. He was definitely my surprise hit of Smash 4's DLC. I was initially thinking he'd be boring, but once I learned how to do a Quarter Circle input, he became a lot of fun for me. Thanks for the games.

@RedShell, I think @Vileplume2000 is ready to go. EDIT: Annnnnnd he's gone. Oh well, I'm ready to go now.

Room's open and I'm still eating. And I totally didn't post that in the MK League thread.

Room's open. Still eating though. EDIT: HA! Oh man, totally wrong thread. Meant to be in the Smash Online one that.

It's not empty if you're in it.

Yep. See my last post.

Your connection seems to be acting up.

OK, Time Matches this week. I'll probably open the room at 9:15, but I won't be able to join in straight away. Got carried away playing Hyrule Warriors and haven't had dinner yet.