Preparing for the 2.45 Datamine Sync Pairs to 15,000pts Champion Stadium | Pokémon Masters EX

Old man yaoi wasn't in my bingo card. My power rankings for this datamine: Cracked: NC Cheren, NC Bianca Broken: Larry Really good: Kabu Good: Lodge Cheren As for grid expansions: Morty: Excellent upgrade. I've been avoiding Morty solos purely due to Phantom Force MPR hell - Nate at least has a means of scrapping Fly MPRs when needed. Agile Entry 2 + Ridicure 4 improve Morty's tanking consistency tenfold. Morty's nuke also got much better, and he can play for Phantom Force finishers for efficient clears. SS Korrina: Nothing groundbreaking but neat tools. I would've liked TM Hit and Heal or Ridicure though. Red: Neat, but not enough for the "FIX RED PLEASE!!!" crowd sentiment. I feel Red gets disparaged a lot. I avoid using him because he cheeses on-type. Sprint EX combos well into all his ramping tools, although Red is not nearly as dynamic as SS Dawn. [0:00] - NC Bianca Bianca is weird. Her kit construction is akin to NC Silver in sheer antigimmick compression. She is equipped with literally all the tools needed to counter any passive any stage may throw at you. I think Bianca has what it takes to solo every Legendary Arena - Moltres is possible with the Flinch chain of the century. Bianca's Circle utilities are functionally permanent due to Extension 5 + Sync Redemption. Her debuffs make her a welcome asset to any UB archetype... it's hard to argue with that. I recognize Bianca's strengths. My problem is that she is just a decent damage dealer: pretty good, but nothing to write home about. In practice Bianca will look solid because she has fantastic facilitators in NC Rosa and NC Hop, who synergize very well with her kit, but as a standalone pair she lacks the destructive prowess of MFs like SS Gladion. Still a great pull, but Bianca's Strike label is weird. Doesn't fit her much. [1:45] - Lodge Cheren Neat freebie. The F2P Dark-type situation is dire, although Cheren draws cues from OG Karen with his set-up pace and Dark Pulse Flinch-locks. Cheren has a solid nuke for how strong Smarty-Pants is - Sp.Def drops are scarce as it is. [4:06] - NC Cheren I deliberated a fair bit on whether Cheren is "Cracked" or "Broken," much like Bianca. Cheren's ranges are yet to be determined because he has many internal multipliers derived from PMUN stacks, which he retains via mixed coverage. Cheren is more about raw strength, but you can't go wrong with Tech + Strike EX, Rebuff compression, and Fly dodges to avoid deadly attacks. Cheren is as powerful as he is linear. I wish he had Disarm 9 to guarantee his long-term utility, but I expect his PMUN multipliers to be broken so whatever. He has NC Rosa + Anniversary Skyla so he'll be fine. [5:37] - Kabu Kabu has a "Strike" mode, although not nearly as convincing as, say, Penny or Iono. The latter two have enhancements that mask their "actual" output. Kabu has a spammable attack, so he is more of a "Kiawe" in terms of pseudo-Striking. Well, provided Trap doesn't expire - Kabu probably wants Tech Charizard to handle Gauntlet comfortably. Kabu is a good generalist Support in that his kit raises all core stats at an exceptional pace - although he has to sacrifice Protect early on for Crit raises. You'll notice Kabu lacks proper Fire-type enhancements. G-Max Centiferno adds Trap, so who is he supporting? Serena? Hot to the Touch conflicts with Sleep. Kabu's antigimmicks are circumstantial really. [9:05] - Larry Larry has two modes: he can act as a pseudo-Support or as raw damage. You know DeNA fears releasing Normal-types who don't boost other types to some capacity, so Larry can make for a very good Crit + Spe + PMUN + ramp Support with Rebuff and Def drop compression. He also packs Paralysis and Trap to counter various stages. Then there is his actual damage ceiling that benefits from all the aforementioned perks, plus Normal Rebuffs. Then again, many players still disrespect Palmer despite packing better bursts. _____ The Eggmon Compendium: https://bit.ly/eggmoncompendium