The newest wave of Generation 4 was released late yesterday, bringing many new meta-relevant Pokémon to the game. Additionally, Niantic is has made some changes to the metagame and Raids. Let's get into the news!
NEW POKEMON
The roster of new Pokémon is sizable, and listed below. Pokémon marked with an asterisk are spawning in the wild.
Gallade, Froslass, Yanmega, Lickilicky, Tangrowth, and Ambipom are all Sinnoh Stone evolutions. That means you'll need one Sinnoh Stone and 100 Candy to evolve a Kirlia, Snorunt, Yanma, Lickitung, Tangela, and/or Aipom. Also in the realm of special evolution requirements is Bonsly, who needs 15KM walked as a Buddy to evolve.
Gallade and Froslass are uni-gender Pokémon. Vespiquen, too. Only male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade, and only female Snorunt and Combee can evolve into Froslass and Vespiquen.
- Cranidos*
- Rampardos
- Shieldon*
- Bastiodon
- Combee*
- Vespiquen
- Ambipom
- Glameow*
- Purugly*
- Bonsly
- Lickilicky
- Tangrowth
- Yanmega
- Gallade
- Froslass
Gallade, Froslass, Yanmega, Lickilicky, Tangrowth, and Ambipom are all Sinnoh Stone evolutions. That means you'll need one Sinnoh Stone and 100 Candy to evolve a Kirlia, Snorunt, Yanma, Lickitung, Tangela, and/or Aipom. Also in the realm of special evolution requirements is Bonsly, who needs 15KM walked as a Buddy to evolve.
Gallade and Froslass are uni-gender Pokémon. Vespiquen, too. Only male Kirlia can evolve into Gallade, and only female Snorunt and Combee can evolve into Froslass and Vespiquen.
RAID BOSS HEALTH
Raid Bosses in Tiers 3, 4, and 5 Raids have gotten a buff in their Stamina amount. The buff increases their health by 20%, making Raids a bit more challenging. Niantic has said that this was to offset the recent buff in super-effective damage and encourage more social play.
However, some players have expressed their anger over this change online. They argue that Niantic is too focused on what they want the game to be, and ignoring the wants and needs of their player base. They also argue that this change hurts rural players who don't have large groups to play with or the optimal counters to challenge more difficult Raid Bosses, such as Palkia.
However, some players have expressed their anger over this change online. They argue that Niantic is too focused on what they want the game to be, and ignoring the wants and needs of their player base. They also argue that this change hurts rural players who don't have large groups to play with or the optimal counters to challenge more difficult Raid Bosses, such as Palkia.
MOVE BUFFS
Many moves are having their power adjusted in Trainer Battles. They are as follows:
Additionally, Shadow Claw is having its energy increased. Ice Beam, Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt are having their damage standardized. The same goes for Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch.
All of these changes do not apply to Raids and Gyms, which the community is begging to refer to as PVE.
- Waterfall
- Smack Down
- Razor Leaf
- Confusion
- Frost Breath
- Ice Shard
- Body Slam
- Iron Head
- Dazzling Gleam
- Psyshock
Additionally, Shadow Claw is having its energy increased. Ice Beam, Flamethrower, and Thunderbolt are having their damage standardized. The same goes for Thunder Punch, Fire Punch, and Ice Punch.
All of these changes do not apply to Raids and Gyms, which the community is begging to refer to as PVE.
MOVEPOOL ADDITIONS
Finally, many Pokémon have had new moves added to their movepools. No old moves were removed to make room for these moves, so you don't need to worry about accidentally TM-ing a legacy move. A vast majority of these moves were given to Pokémon to increase their viability in Trainer Battles. If you only care about Gyms and Raids, then Roserade, Honchkrow, Ho-Oh, Donphan, and Porygon-Z are the only Pokémon that will interest you.
Here's the full list of movepool additions:
Let's first look at the improved Raiders. Donphan can now be used as an offensive Ground-type, since it gained the Ground-type Fast Attack it so desperately needed. Ho-Oh can now have a Fire-type Fast Attack if your Ho-Oh gets a lucky roll with the Fire-type Hidden Power, shifting it up the Fire-type rankings. Remember that whatever type of Hidden Power your Ho-Oh has will not change. Porygon-Z is now even more versatile with the addition of Blizzard, although it would be more optimal if it got Ice Beam.
And we also have two god-tier improvements. Sky Attack being given to Honchkrow makes it the best Flying-type attacker, pushing aside Rayquaza and Moltres. And Roserade shot up to number one among Grass-types by giving it Grass Knot. It dethrones Venusaur with Frenzy Plant and the recently-added Breloom with Grass Knot, and will prove to be a serious rival to Sceptile with Frenzy Plant (which is expected to be added in March's Community Day).
Moving onto the Trainer Battles angle, many of these moves were given to Pokémon to give them more coverage in PVP. For example, Power Gem being given to Ampharos gives it the ability to hit Ice-types super-effectively. Many other moves were given to make Pokémon better counters to the top-tier Pokémon. For example, Thunder Punch being given to Muk and Shadow Claw being given to Ursaring allow them to counter Azumarill and Giratina, who dominate in the Great and Ultra Leagues, respectively. Other moves are to just give Pokémon a more optimal move of their type, such as Alolan Muk being given Snarl.
Here's the full list of movepool additions:
- Arbok: Dragon Tail
- Clefable: Meteor Mash
- Ninetales: Psyshock
- Alolan Ninetales: Psyshock
- Wigglytuff: Ice Beam
- Alakazam: Fire Punch
- Machamp: Rock Slide
- Muk: Thunder Punch
- Alolan Muk: Snarl
- Weezing: Thunderbolt
- Starmie: Thunder, Ice Beam
- Jynx: Focus Blast
- Kabutops: Waterfall
- Aerodactyl: Rock Slide
- Snorlax: Outrage
- Ampharos: Power Gem
- Ursaring: Shadow Claw
- Mantine: Bullet Seed
- Houndoom: Flamethrower
- Donphan: Mud-Slap
- Miltank: Thunderbolt, Ice Beam
- Raikou: Shadow Ball
- Entei: Iron Head
- Suicune: Ice Beam
- Ho-Oh: Hidden Power
- Ludicolo: Ice Beam
- Chimecho: Psyshock
- Salamence: Bite
- Luxray: Hidden Power
- Roserade: Grass Knot
- Honchkrow: Sky Attack
- Drapion: Bite
- Magmortar: Psychic
- Togekiss: Flamethrower
- Porygon-Z: Blizzard
Let's first look at the improved Raiders. Donphan can now be used as an offensive Ground-type, since it gained the Ground-type Fast Attack it so desperately needed. Ho-Oh can now have a Fire-type Fast Attack if your Ho-Oh gets a lucky roll with the Fire-type Hidden Power, shifting it up the Fire-type rankings. Remember that whatever type of Hidden Power your Ho-Oh has will not change. Porygon-Z is now even more versatile with the addition of Blizzard, although it would be more optimal if it got Ice Beam.
And we also have two god-tier improvements. Sky Attack being given to Honchkrow makes it the best Flying-type attacker, pushing aside Rayquaza and Moltres. And Roserade shot up to number one among Grass-types by giving it Grass Knot. It dethrones Venusaur with Frenzy Plant and the recently-added Breloom with Grass Knot, and will prove to be a serious rival to Sceptile with Frenzy Plant (which is expected to be added in March's Community Day).
Moving onto the Trainer Battles angle, many of these moves were given to Pokémon to give them more coverage in PVP. For example, Power Gem being given to Ampharos gives it the ability to hit Ice-types super-effectively. Many other moves were given to make Pokémon better counters to the top-tier Pokémon. For example, Thunder Punch being given to Muk and Shadow Claw being given to Ursaring allow them to counter Azumarill and Giratina, who dominate in the Great and Ultra Leagues, respectively. Other moves are to just give Pokémon a more optimal move of their type, such as Alolan Muk being given Snarl.
ANALYSIS
The addition of these moves shows Niantic won't always make new moves exclusive to limited windows of time, as best exemplified by the fantastic Grass Knot and Sky Attack being given to Roserade and Honchkrow. The current culture in the game with exclusive moves being given out rapidly is causing Trainers to not evolve to and/or power-up some of the game's best Pokémon out of fear of improvement.
Additionally, the added coverage moves and move buffs have shown that Niantic is paying attention. While a majority of players do not care about PVP, the audience that does has settled into a metagame of Kingdra, Azumarill, Giratina, Skarmory, the starters with Community Day moves, Altaria, etc. These changes were a direct strike at that meta, and will definitely make an impact.
With new counters to the top-tier Pokémon, those top-tier Pokémon will fall down a bit and new ones will rise. Should Niantic come back in a few months with a jab at those new Pokémon, the metagame will be constantly changing, and keep the Trainer Battle scene fresh and exciting. Not to mention new Pokémon from Sinnoh being sprinkled in to the game, and likely the beginning of the Unova Pokémon towards the end of the year or early 2020.
That'll wrap up this rather long article, Trainers. Thank you for reading!
Additionally, the added coverage moves and move buffs have shown that Niantic is paying attention. While a majority of players do not care about PVP, the audience that does has settled into a metagame of Kingdra, Azumarill, Giratina, Skarmory, the starters with Community Day moves, Altaria, etc. These changes were a direct strike at that meta, and will definitely make an impact.
With new counters to the top-tier Pokémon, those top-tier Pokémon will fall down a bit and new ones will rise. Should Niantic come back in a few months with a jab at those new Pokémon, the metagame will be constantly changing, and keep the Trainer Battle scene fresh and exciting. Not to mention new Pokémon from Sinnoh being sprinkled in to the game, and likely the beginning of the Unova Pokémon towards the end of the year or early 2020.
That'll wrap up this rather long article, Trainers. Thank you for reading!
SOURCES: Niantic, Community Reports