Lurker > Calwings

Ezio
Lloyd

King
Jordan

Nice, good to hear you enjoyed it. I used to go to a lot more games, but the only game I've been to in the past few years is one of the games in Albert Pujols' last home series before he retired.

I voted Fukai Mori, but My Will is a very close second and they're all good overall. Also, they're not in the poll and they're not nearly as iconic, but Inuyasha: The Final Act and Yashahime had some great ending songs too. *be careful of spoilers in the visuals and comments if you haven't watched*

Final Act:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eIWQQ-Ziib0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P_E7wJU5KZc
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5tu3xK_lk8o

Yashahime:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCJ5vufe5VY
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YnGq65usuVE
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BinVMxklyR0
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4qMs9C3guPQ

Final Act ED2 and Yashahime ED1 and ED3 are probably my favorites of these.

https://twitter.com/FarfaYGO/status/1786850888457347405
https://twitter.com/dabidabli/status/1786862468699983992

I think this joke has officially peaked

Bond

Ezio
Lloyd

https://i.imgur.com/rZnerMd.png

Mina's island trial gauntlet went well. The first battles against Mina herself and Ilima were pretty easy, but then Lana gave me the most trouble out of all of them. It took me a few tries to plan and maneuver around her Lanturn's Thunder Wave and Volt Absorb so I could beat her other two Pokemon. Kiawe was easy using a combination of Popplio and Magnemite to deal with his Arcanine and then Mudbray for the other two. I couldn't lead with Mudbray to solo the battle due to Arcanine's Intimidate. After that, Cutiefly set up Quiver Dance on Nanu's lead Sableye and then swept through all of his Dark-types, though that one took a couple of tries simply because Sableye kept getting annoying critical hits to KO Cutiefly while it was setting up.

The battle against Totem Ribombee was easier than I expected too. I led with Gastly and immediately had it use Curse on Ribombee while it used Quiver Dance, then it SOS-called a Pelipper. After Gastly was KO'd, I sent in Magnemite and used Discharge, which KOd the Pelipper and did a little bit of chip damage to Ribombee. Ribombee eventually succumbed to Curse but managed to SOS-call a Blissey into the battle before it went down. I switched to Crabrawler and rearranged the Blissey's face with Brick Break, so that's the last island trial done.

For the grand trial battle against Hapu and her Ground-types, I led off with Popplio (holding the Eviolite for this battle) and hit her Golurk with Scald as it set up Stealth Rock. I tried to get creative and use Encore to lock Golurk into Stealth Rock so I could switch to Cutiefly and set up, but Hapu was smart and also switched to Gastrodon. Cutiefly was only able to set up a single Quiver Dance before being taken down to very low health, so it KO'd Gastrodon and put a big dent in Mudsdale with Energy Ball before going down. Popplio finished off Mudsdale and Golurk with Scald, then took down her Flygon with a couple uses of Icy Wind to finish the battle and cap off the Island Challenge!

King
Jordan

ShadowElite86 posted...

I'm kinda looking forward to Assault Lily coming to global.

Same, I'm interested in trying that one out too.

Just based on the horses' names (which is all I know), I'd probably cheer for Epic Ride because it sounds funny, but that horse like like a 40-something-to-1 underdog and probably isn't going to win.

I'm still only playing Revue Starlight and D4DJ Groovy Mix, and nothing interesting is happening in either of them. Yu-Gi-Oh Master Duel too if you want to count that as a gacha, but that has its own separate general.

Funkydog posted...

And Cal is retiring from the topics or CE?

I'm not just making these gacha general topics anymore. I'll still occasionally post in them, but considering how little there is for me to discuss about the games I'm playing, it'll be rare. If a new game launches that I want to try, then you might see me around more often.

I'm not a fan of any card game format with fixed decks or over-restrictive deck building conditions. Master Duel's events where they implement a custom banlist to fit the theme of the event are pretty much the extent of what I can deal with when it comes to side formats that don't allow you full freedom. I don't like being forced to play a deck that I don't enjoy, and if Master Duel had a similar event (like some kind of loaner decks only format), I would straight-up skip the event even if it meant leaving gems unearned.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1CBctbw3c0s

By far the best part of the show. 6/10 decent anime, 11/10 metal as fuck OP

At least we know where Carmen Sandiego isn't going to be tomorrow

Falcon
Bond

Ezio
Lloyd

King
Jordan

https://www.mlb.com/news/marlins-trade-luis-arraez-padres

Being a Marlins fan is a never-ending nightmare

https://iili.io/JgmfPxS.png

More story stuff. Watching Nebby get SUCC'd by Necrozma was pretty wild. Anyways, first battle against Necrozma in its Dawn Wings form. I tried having Magnemite paralyze it, but it got outsped and KO'd by Moongeist Beam, a move which ignores abilities like Sturdy. I sent out Gastly, and I thought about whether a Shadow Ball (which would be double-super-effective on the Psychic/Ghost-type Dawn Wings) would be enough to knock it out. In the end, I decided to just use Destiny Bond instead, and thankfully Gastly outsped Necrozma without any speed drops being necessary. It got KO'd and took Necrozma down with it.

Next up was the battle against the beefed up Ultra Necrozma, who is level 60 (higher than my whole team) and starts the battle with +1 stage in all of its already massive stats. Like I said, I wanted to try and beat it without resorting to the Zorua Illusion strategy first. I put the Eviolite on Magnemite, I sent it out, I picked Thunder Wave, I prayed that it would survive a Photon Geyser, and it did! Necrozma easily KO'd Magnemite with a second attack, then I sent out Gastly. I picked Destiny Bond, but Necrozma was paralyzed and couldn't move. So I picked Destiny Bond again and... THE MOVE FAILED!?

https://bulbapedia.bulbagarden.net/wiki/Destiny_Bond_(move)#Generation_VII

Destiny Bond will always fail if it was successfully executed on the previous turn.

Well, shit. All right, let's reset and try this again. Magnemite paralyzes Necrozma with Thunder Wave and then dies, I send out Gastly, pick Destiny Bond, and... NECROZMA ATTACKED FIRST THIS TIME!? Is it a speed tie, or does Necrozma not have set stats and its speed just happened to be slightly higher this time? Either way, I reset, but this time I used the 4 Rare Candies that I've found along the way to level up my Gastly and raise its speed some more. Finally, on the third attempt, the plan worked. Magnemite paralyzed Necrozma, then Gastly took it down with Destiny Bond. This was a bit annoying, but it feels more satisfying taking this big glowing bastard down with my main team than if I had brought out Zorua and cheesed it with Illusion. Even if the way I took it down with Destiny Bond is admittedly still pretty cheesy.

My current team: (asterisk = getting boosted experience for being past its evolution level)
Lv55 Popplio*
Lv56 Magnemite*
Lv57 Cutiefly*
Lv59 Gastly*
Lv56 Crabrawler
Lv58 Mudbray*

Next up is Mina's trial, which is a long one. It's basically a gauntlet of trainer battles against previous trial captains, leading up to an annoying battle against a Totem Ribombee. After that, all I have left is the grand trial battle against the last island kahuna, the trip up Mt. Lanakila, and then the Pokemon League.

Falcon
Bond

Ezio
Lloyd

King
Jordan

zinformant posted...

I feel like most folks are overpowered come that Totem battle, but you really dived into the mechanics of it necessarily. Great fights. Bullet Punch Scizor is serious Diamond and Pearl era vibes.

Thank you. My Pokemon are several levels above the Totem Pokemon, so a normal team would be quite overpowered at this point. But the fact that I'm using unevolved Pokemon with lower base stats takes away the advantage that the higher levels give me, so I have to resort to more complicated strategies to win.

Also, I've decided that I'm going to try and beat Ultra Necrozma with my current team first before I resort to the Zorua Illusion strategy that I mentioned earlier to cheese it. Magnemite resists all of Ultra Necrozma's attacks, but its signature Photon Geyser attack ignores abilities like Sturdy. If Magnemite can't survive a resisted Photon Geyser with the Eviolite equipped, then nothing on my team can and I'll go get Zorua. But if it can survive a hit and get off a move, then I might be able to win and that would feel way more satisfying.

I did more story stuff on Exeggutor Island, then fought my way through a lot of trainers in Vast Poni Canyon to reach the site of the next island trial against Totem Kommo-o. Since it's a Dragon/Fighting type, I figured a double-super-effective, Choice-Specs-boosted, STAB Dazzling Gleam from Cutiefly would do a ton to it, but I also knew that I would probably need to lower Kommo-o's speed with other Pokemon before I send in Cutiefly to finish it off. I also taught Dazzling Gleam to Gastly via TM just in case something unforeseen happen to Cutiefly.

As it turns out, the SOS-call Pokemon turned out to be a bigger issue in this battle than the Totem Pokemon itself. In my first attempt, I led with Magnemite to survive a hit with Sturdy and successfully paralyze Kommo-o with Thunder Wave, then Kommo-o SOS-called a Noivern who KO'd Magnemite immediately. I sent out Mudbray (with the Eviolite for more bulk) to KO Noivern with Rock Tomb and then lower Kommo-o's speed with Bulldoze. After a few turns, Kommo-o made a second SOS call for a Scizor... who knows Bullet Punch. My plan of Cutiefly outspeeding and KO'ing Kommo-o was now out the window, because Scizor immediately one-shotted Cutiefly with a priority Bullet Punch. Time to reset.

In my second attempt, instead of going directly to Mudbray after Magmenite, I sent in Popplio first to hit both Kommo-o and Noivern with an Icy Wind. Then, I had Mudbray focus only on lowering Kommo-o's speed with Bulldoze while leaving Noivern alive. When Mudbray went down, then I sent out Cutiefly, hoping to KO both dragons with a single Dazzling Gleam and end the battle without seeing Scizor. It outsped the -1 speed Noivern and hit both of them hard, but Kommo-o had a Roseli Berry to weaken the Fairy-type damage just enough to survive and SOS-call Scizor! After Scizor KO'd Cutiefly again, I was tempted to reset again, but I didn't. I sent out Gastly, praying that Scizor wouldn't use Bullet Punch. Thankfully it didn't, so Gastly used Dazzling Gleam to KO Kommo-o before going down to Scizor's Pursuit. All I had left was Crabrawler, but it managed to beat the remaining Scizor 1-on-1 to get me the win!

It only took me two attempts, but this battle was still a roller coaster of emotions. Next up is more story stuff, including the battles against Necrozma.

DarthAragorn posted...

Dub is good for all of them but for Love is War I actually strongly recommend the dub instead of sub

I can also vouch for the Kaguya dub being amazing, but it's not for everyone. Kaguya is very much one of those "try a couple of episodes both ways and see which one you like more" type of shows because of how the dub just has a totally different vibe than the Japanese version sometimes.

Brohemian Rhapsody

Rika_Furude posted...

I havent watched anime in years. I think the last couple I watched were Chainsaw Man and Erased, maybe I watched some other stuff

recommend me the best anime of the past few years and current anime

A few recommendations that I liked:

* Akiba Maid War
* Brave Bang Bravern
* Deca-Dence
* Eighty-Six
* Kaguya-sama: Love is War
* Lycoris Recoil
* Oshi No Ko
* Sabikui Bisco
* Sengoku Youko
* Sleepy Princess in the Demon Castle
* Spy x Family
* The Apothecary Diaries
* The Magical Revolution of the Reincarnated Princess and the Genius Young Lady (AKA "MagiRevo" for short)
* Ya Boy Kongming

This show is batshit insane and I'm loving it so far. All of the girls are great, but the blonde is definitely my favorite.

ironman2009 posted...

i'll wait for the superior dub

Sadly, it looks like this show likely won't get one. Crunchyroll isn't giving it a simuldub, and these days they haven't been doing many dubs outside of their seasonal simuldubs. So if it doesn't get a simuldub, the chances of it getting a dub at all are pretty slim.

If it does get one though, I'll gladly go back and re-watch it with the dub. I've done that with several other past shows.

https://iili.io/Jgr98Kv.gif

Carmen

Falcon
Bond

Ezio
Lloyd

King
Jordan

Ubergeneral3 posted...

The first season should end where the first series ended so if you like the orginal more if would probolly be safe to watch that and then continue one with the remake (when it gets past where the first books ended.)

I'm going to disagree with this. The original anime adapted volumes 1-3 and volume 5 of the source material, skipping volume 4 along the way. This reboot will almost certainly include volume 4, and based on what I've heard from source readers, volume 4 has some very important stuff that's necessary for the later parts of the story (which they didn't know at the time when the original anime skipped it). Plus, there are apparently already some differences in the adaptations, where this reboot is sticking closer to the source material. As a result, watching the original and then trying to jump into the reboot at that point in the story will most likely cause a lot of inconsistencies, and the lack of volume 4 will be a big problem later on.

Rika_Furude posted...

I never watched the original. What should I watch?

I'd say watch the reboot that's currently airing, especially considering that it might fully adapt the source material while the original is left incomplete. There's a decent chance that this reboot could make the original completely obsolete, just like the 2019 Fruits Basket reboot did to the original from 2001.

I went through a few routes on Poni Island, fought a bunch of trainers, and then did some story stuff at the Ruins of Hope. Nothing really interesting.

My current team: (asterisk = getting boosted experience for being past its evolution level)
Lv51 Popplio*
Lv52 Magnemite*
Lv52 Cutiefly*
Lv51 Gastly*
Lv51 Crabrawler
Lv53 Mudbray*

Since there wasn't much to talk about in this update, I'll take this time to talk about the possible last team member that I mentioned earlier. I would like to use Poipole on my team, but it comes at level 40 and has a slow growth rate, so it would take a lot of training for it to catch up with the rest of my team. So I'm going to pass on Poipole, and my current team is indeed my final team for the playthrough.

Ezio
Undertaker

Spidey5 posted...

Is this the first save that you've run since the cancelled one?

I didn't see any others in the archive since that one, so I'm pretty sure this is the first one since then.

It finally happened. After almost 50k gems sunk into the pack, I finally got an actual Sky Striker royal rare!

https://iili.io/JgwRGjI.png
https://iili.io/JgwRETN.png

Speaking of Sky Strikers... after seeing multiple videos of Joshua "Oh my god yes I love Raye I would die for Sky Striker Ace Raye" Schmidt playing a Snake-Eye variant using Sky Striker spells to help him break boards, I'm very tempted to try building a similar deck in Master Duel.

Falcon
Lloyd

TMOG posted...

Me, who has hosted multiple tournaments on CE and wasn't invited to submit the winners: >:|

I didn't see yours in the archive, so either they were from before 2017 (which is as far back as the archive goes) or they weren't Save That contests and were some different kind of tournament.

King
Jordan

I'd recommend the Ultra versions rather than the originals. I'm playing Ultra Moon right now (for the first time in a while) and enjoying it quite a bit.

Shotgunnova posted...

Nice losing streak youse gots there, San Diego. It'd be a shame if...it continued.

Can't be worse than the Marlins are doing

There was also that Sasaki And Peeps show last season, where the archmage-turned-talking-bird got isekai'd from the fantasy world into the real world, then in turn isekais the main character into the fantasy world, and the two of them are constantly going between the two worlds on different adventures. So that one's technically a two-way isekai, with both protagonists being isekai'd in opposite directions.

Even if it's really convoluted like that, at least that's some kind of innovation and creativity being brought to a genre that desperately needs it.