By thedanies_89 & CLeonardo77
Welcome Devon’s third meta, the Zodiac Cup! Zodiac is an “allowed-list” type meta that will give players the chance to choose from a restricted list of Pokémon, including their shadow variants. Our testing at Devon Corp showed the meta had healthy balance and variety, allowing everyone to bring several uncommon Pokémon and make them shine! In Zodiac, trainers are bound to encounter some uncommon and unusual species not usually seen in most formats.
OUR THINKING
The main idea behind an “allowed-list” meta is to reduce the random chance factors and to limit RPS-style play to a minimum. By doing this, the meta encourages players’ to adopt more complex tactics and keep a careful eye on energy management. To achieve this end, Devon Corp began with around 50 Pokémon that demonstrated good coverage against the others and, most importantly, had a mixed and/or balanced bulk-to-damage ratio. On the bulky side, we identified solid picks such as Cresselia, Lapras, Greedent, Snorlax, Regice, and Cradily. On the high damage side, we observed glassier picks that could become extremely dangerous with an energy advantage, such as Excadrill, Froslass, Electivire and Dragonite. Lastly, we dropped in several generalists, or Pokémon that sit in the middle between these two categories. This last category helped balanced the meta without sacrificing a variety of species for trainers to select from.
THE EFFECT OF THE MOVE UPDATE
We designed this meta knowing that Niantic had a planned move update scheduled for after the meta’s release. For this reason, we let trainers know that we would evaluate the impact made by the update and, if needed, make adjustments no later than March 4, 2024. In the end, it turned out that 14 Pokémon were impacted by the update:
- Qwilfish (Hisuian): Aqua tail (damage increased)
- Farfetch’d (Galarian): Brick Break (cost increased, opponent’s defense drops 1 stage guaranteed)
- Furret: Brick Break (cost increased, opponent’s defense drops 1 stage guaranteed)
- Barbaracle: Cross Chop (damage increased)
- Golduck: Cross Chop (damage increased)
- Armaldo: Water Pulse (cost decreased, damage increased)
- Seaking: Water Pulse (cost decreased, damage increased)
- Sealeo: Water Pulse (cost decreased, damage increased)
- Suicune: Water Pulse (cost decreased, damage increased)
- Walrein: Water Pulse (cost decreased, damage increased)
- Gallade: can now learn Psycho Cut
- Sandslash: can now learn Sand Attack
- Staraptor: can now learn Sand Attack
- Starmie: can now learn Psybeam
Overall, we felt that the updates did not cause a significant imbalance in the meta.
One move update proved worthy of a closer look, specifically Gallade’s ability to learn Psycho Cut. This move improves Gallade’s shadow and normal rankings to the 2 and 3 spots, however, numerous hard counters remain with which to check its new strength. Additionally, Gallade’s lack of bulk and infrequent use in custom metas, all contributed to our decision to retain it on the Approved List.
FINAL THOUGHTS
The Devon Corp hopes to see trainers having a go at the different solutions that the meta offers to get the better of their opponents! Zodiac and other metas like it, open the way to extremely different scenarios, as every pick has its own peculiar role. We expect and are excited to see teams with a solid backbone, but/and a roster that only stands completed with the addition of spicy picks and/or various core-breakers. We wish you good luck and, most importantly, have fun!