Candle 🇮🇹

♂️ | 26 | Moved to the other site | 🧡 @CantieSoft 🧡 |
PFP: @Rem_Phase02 | H: @Tankakuka |

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

Updated the commission sheet for 2023!
I really would love to take more comms, so sharing this around would mean a ton 🧡
And as usual, DM me on Discord or Twitter/X for any questions!!

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

@Goon_Presence are people finally coming around to the idea that ER's DLC was booty buttcheeks save for a few cool moments and overall an exacerbation of everything wrong with FromSoft's design philosophy? better late than never.

[Charlie is so tired @MooXProductions]

retweet if you’d rather eat human flesh than SA someone

[Butter 🏳️‍⚧️ @SafeButter]

i played pokemon champions for like 3 hours and had a fuckin blast and i go on here and they saying its the worst thing ever what even happened

[Iateyourpie @Iateyourp1e]

Alright 5 Hours into Champions. I have THOUGHTS. If you're wanting to hear a POSITIVE viewpoint on the game, this is your info dump.

So to give some context. I am a SINGLES 3v3 BSS player who loved Gen 8 and Gen 9 Competitive. I mostly built teams that were Non-Meta Mons and had a ton of fun creating counters for the heavily used mons. I've put somewhere between 600-700 hours of time Creating and Battling Teams in BSS in those Two Gens combined and it was my entry point into the world of Competitive Gaming.

I am not a VGC guy, I've never really enjoyed doubles, but I've created a ton of fun mons that had unique builds, items, and set ups to get creative against BIG MONS.

And I LOVE CHAMPIONS.

I want to be super clear, there are things that definitely need some time in the oven, and I'll give my gripes at some point. I think a lot of people who are upset have some valid criticisms, but I also think they are not seeing the forest for the trees.

Things I LOVE

1. It is very easy to build a winning team without owning any of the previous games, or spending money.

I'm purposely playing the game Free-to-Play as a way of showcasing that you can put a viable winning team in the ladder without having to have previous experience or games. This is SO IMPORTANT for the growth of the game. After playing the game for 5 Hours. I amassed 45,000 Victory Points. 6-7 Recruit Mon Tickets (Free Perm Recruitments) Was given 8 Free Permanent Pokemon from the Tutorial + Gifted Pokemon (Dragonite + Machamp) And had close to 400 "Quick Tickets" which allowed me to roll a new set of Pokemon to pick from.

There are Missions, Pokemon Achievements, Trainer Achievements, and Battle Pass points that allow you to passively just gain these different things simply by playing the game, and it felt great getting a good constant influx of resources.

OF the 45,000, I spent about 20,000 to put together a team that allowed me to win more than I lost, fully equipped with the Items, Natures, Abilities, and Moves I wanted for the Mons I got access to. And you get VP win or lose for every ranked match you do.

I think it's great you can transfer mons over from all the other games, but someone with 0 experience can hop in and have plenty of flexibility to get Pokemon and build a team and learn as they go, and not feel like they are screwed if their first team isn't good.

2. The accessibility rocks. They really outdid themselves making this a really good jump in point for new players. It took me an entire 2-3 minutes from recruitment, to training and getting items set up, to have ONE pokemon set up and ready to go. In previous games, this process would take hours. The menus are easy to follow, the info for everything is great. It's very slick and the UI looks fantastic. There was ONE THING I hated, but it's minor in the grand scheme of things and ill get to that later.

I thought the "Intro" did a very good job of being a fun single like player way of getting the player excited to play and did a good job of introducing new players to how the game works. Veterans will skip this, but so many people who have never played anything competitive will love this.

2.5. Team Building Still feels FUN
I think one of my biggest concerns I had about this game, was I really enjoyed some of the slower aspects of Breeding Pokemon and theory crafting, and I was concerned that it would be less fun. I never felt that one time while building my team and going through the list of mons we would get offered in the Recruitment Ranch. I spent the first half of the 5 hours exploring and crafting the team and it was super engaging for me as well as my audience. Feedback that I got from them was it was a lot easier to follow and a lot more engaging to follow and stick around while I put my team together. HUGE PLUS.

3. Battles Felt Good.

I love the UI for battles. I love how FAST they are, I love the animations. It was so easy and quick to start a battle, do the battle, and immediately jump into another one. This process felt like it took a lot longer in the other games, and it was extremely fluid. The game runs at 30 FPS, and sometimes it does show that portion. But I've been told that we haven't gotten the Switch 2 Update, so I think that will prob be updated sooner than later.

They also give you a TON of music choices for battling. Most of the mainline games had their battle themes available for FREE, so there was a good mix from the start and I enjoyed the different options. If you only love Gen 1, you can listen to the Gen 1 theme as much as you want.

Things I'm Neutral On

1. A Ton of Battle Items Missing

This one I think is tough. Limited Options is something we really haven't had before in competitive. Sometimes a few items are removed, but they absolutely removed more than just a few. This feels like a restart for Competitive, and I get why they did it. Less items means easier choices for newer players jumping on board and creates a bit of a "New" meta as a lot of Core centralizing items were removed. I think it helps and hurts a ton of Mon's as you'll have to build your Mons in a different way, but it'll also make certain non-meta mons have a more predictable item pool.

It's clear that their plan is to SLOWLY introduce the items we know and love into the mix and I actually LIKE that decision. Starting from a small pool and making the pool larger feels a lot like starting with a smaller pool of Pokemon and slowly adding more. I understand why a lot of people are upset about this, but it's a temporary downside but it will absolutely make it easier for newer players to jump in and make decisions.

IF we never got items reintroduced, this would be an awful change, but it's clear that isn't the case (They literally show Spiky Helmet in the Shop screen, and it's currently not available to be purchased. AND they have a "New Arrivals" filter which means they'll be adding things.

Things I didn't Like

1. Custom Games not allowing 6v6.

I love BSS (3v3), but I also have a huge love for Showdown Randbats. And I really like being able to do some 6v6 with friends or community members. I think not having this in there at all, when every single game in the past at least had an option to do this as a custom option blows. My hope is that they will eventually add it, but this is the clear thing that sticks out to me as just a straight up negative. Showdown Gamers def taking an L here :(

2. There isn't an easy way to see your Currency for all the different things you have.

There's a ton of Currency Options (Victory Points, Pokemon Tickets, Quick Tickets, Training Tickets, TYPE TICKETS) and there isn't a one stop place to see them all. It's just scatted throughout different menus and not a really good central place for info on what they do. I had to stumble upon descriptions for some of these and I think that this could easily be fixed with a "wallet" menu showcasing what you have. Maybe I just missed it, but def something they should fix

Things I Think People Need to Chill Out On.

1. The # of Pokemon in the Game

I was shocked when I hopped online and saw some people saying there wasn't enough Pokemon in the game. 180 Fully Evolved mons is A LOT. I love baby Pokemon, but I think a lot of games like Stadium being cited as the "benchmark" when most of those rosters were bloated by Baby Pokemon that almost no one used is ridiculous. I understand not all of the Megas being in at the start prob caught people off guard, but i'm going to assume the Mega B Season is going to add a ton of new ones. There 220ish Fully Evolved Mons that we got at the start of Gen 9, this doesn't feel that different.

Again, every indication from the dev team of this game is that they will slowly add more pokemon to the mix. This is a long term project. I'm not worried in the slightest.

2. This will "Kill VGC"

Holy Moly these takes are hurting me so much. I understand VGC and Competitive players are frustrated that they are now given less choices at the start. I think these are valid things to be frustrated about, but the overreactions make me sad. The amount of people watching my stream that had never played Competitive Pokemon before that were saying "I want to try this and give it a shot after watching you stream it" was HUGE. The VGC community makes up such a small % of the fanbase and Pokemon wants to grow it. And this game is going to attract so many new players that will start out as casual players and then stick around and learn. Immediately assuming the worst and going about it in a toxic way ONLY HURTS THE GROWTH OF THE GAME.

You have every right to have criticisms and not agree with every decision they make. That's 100% fair. But people immediately screaming the sky is falling just creates a Self-Fulfilling Prophecy where you say it loud enough people who might have had mild interest will just take your word for it and immediately bail. Negativity gets clicks, but it also hurts more than it helps when not done in a constructive way.

Will the game be a better VGC product a year from now? Absolutely. Do VGC players have some valid criticisms w/ the state of the Meta? I think so. But the overall decisions here are going to absolutely bring a ton of new people to the game and it's such a buzz kill to see so many people overly negative because they don't see the vision here.

FINAL THOUGHTS

I'm going to say what I've been saying for weeks. This game is going to be a game changer for Competitive Pokemon. There are going to be some ups and downs due to a lot of the decisions they have made of basically saying "This is a restart, we are starting from scratch" And those growing pains are going to suck for a lot of people. Including myself.

But I had a BLAST streaming this today, and the sheer amount of people that are excited to try it for themselves because of the way they are going about this is IMMENSE.

Be Patient. Understand that this is Day 1, of Month 1, of Year 1 of a big change to the Ecosystem of Competitive. Because a few years from now, we'll be happy we stuck it out.

I can't wait to create a TON of content for this game, and get more people super excited about trying Champions!

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

@guilhernunes_ This lovely clown takes up a significant chunk of my headspace; i will not allow this cruel and unusual punishment >:(

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

@RealRetroNC This was my recent Recharged Emerald HoF team; only guy you can't get in Emerald is Lunatone since they're a Sapphire only encounter

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

@ToxicWeave

[Candle 🇮🇹 @DatCandle]

@Earclacks genuinely just retire crossbow for good, what's even the point of the daily post if half of them are just a boring wash

[conor mcleod @conorgoldenboy]

Petition for @PlayOverwatch to introduce role queue for 6 vs 6 comp.

It’s yer OG mode, it should be the main comp mode but even if it isn’t and you can’t agree on that, can’t we at least get to play the roles we play? You owe it to the forefathers of Overwatch.

[Sal @Salvatore10m]

Italian labour market

[Juny @JunyIsHere]

legends za

[deeoxie @deeoxie]

bob l. slop was kind enough to give us behind the scenes of his work, wow!

[JayFii @Jayfii_]

“I’m moving to blusky” see you in 2 days

[saino @saino_m]

🌃🕯️👻

[Simon @Simon_Hypixel]

We did it. Hytale is saved. We have acquired Hytale from Riot Games.

[Mamo マモ @mamobot_art]

💜🩵

[Wanderjegson @wanderjegson]

Iono and Canari internet beef