POLL: How will YOU play Sword and Shield

[Ophie]

I'd say I fall closest to option 3, but bear in mind "the best strategies" won't be available to look up until someone works them out, so the early weeks of every generation I usually spend trying random things that I think have the potential to be good and seeing how they perform.

Leave it to folks like us then. We Johnnies are typically on the front lines for a metagame; as we're not afraid to try out ideas even when they won't work, we're the ones most likely to find something that does. Some Johnnies take pride in being the ones to shape the metagame. (Unfortunately, many Spikes are not very fond of Johnnies.)

I'll beat the game in one sitting, seeing how I have the day off and it usually takes 8-12 hours to beat the games. I'm spoiling the Pokemon right away to plan out my teams, but I don't want the game plot spoiled. Only recent game I wasn't in a hurry to beat first time through was Go.... cause it was literally FRLG but worse story

Me, my goal is to finish this game and get a team for multiplayer battling ready by Christmas.

Speaking of holidays, November 11th is Veterans Day in the United States, which is a semi-major holiday. It means a lot of people will have Monday off that week (not me though), which is four days too early for Pokémon fans.

When it comes to PVP I'm semi-serious. I only use Pokémon that I like but they do have to be somewhat useable to make my team. Masquerain won't make my team as despite liking the design it just isn't that good. And on the flipside, Garchomp won't be used by me either as I'm just not a fan however good it is.

Heh, I've been using Masquerain since Generation IV, back when its base stat total was only 420. It gets so many surprise KOs that it unintentionally became an anchor for one of my teams. It's one of the poster children for Pokémon most people write off as being insignificant.

That being said, I draw the line at folks like Castform (and even then, I put one on a Generation III team because it's cute).

 

[Divine Retribution]

Leave it to folks like us then. We Johnnies are typically on the front lines for a metagame; as we're not afraid to try out ideas even when they won't work, we're the ones most likely to find something that does. Some Johnnies take pride in being the ones to shape the metagame. (Unfortunately, many Spikes are not very fond of Johnnies.)

I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea what you're talking about with Johnnies and Spikes (sounds like a reference to something that I'm not familiar with?), but there's a pervasive myth that competitive players fall into two neat little archetypes; those that only use "standard" Pokemon who are supposed to be good in their tier, and those who use whatever they want, often actively going out of their way to use obscure and uncommonly used Pokemon. I suspect this might be similar to what you're referring to? The truth of the matter, in my experience anyways, is that good competitive players (a group I don't necessarily count myself as part of) fall somewhere between these two archetypes. They often use standard Pokemon as there's usually a reason why these Pokemon are standard, but there's also value in using obscure Pokemon if they have a valid niche you can build around. Many opponents might not necessarily know how to play around an obscure lower-tier threat they're not used to encountering, and perhaps didn't account for when building their team.

Furthermore the USUM metagame existed in a state where if you were building for nearly any archetype except for stall, you can build a very effective team of 5 Pokemon and put nearly anything in that 6th slot and win games with it. I think this is a byproduct of generations worth of power creep. A well-known player and YouTuber I occasionally watch who exemplifies this principle is MrJamvad, who regularly ladders in OU using things like Shelgon and Shelmet. We'll see what the SwSh metagame looks like, I actually think it may be a step backwards for power creep (which is a good thing in my opinion) due to Z-Moves and Mega Evolution being axed, as well as a more limited pool of Pokemon. If this is the case, I think there's actually more room for using obscure threats that have valid niches, but less room for using random things like Shelmet that are pretty much objectively outclassed by other threats. In other words, I don't think it will be possible to build solid 5-Pokemon teams anymore and fill that free slot with whatever you want, but I think there will be a much larger pool of Pokemon with viable niches to build with. Of course it's too early to make any useful speculation, I'm only basing that on the limited information we know of, specifically what's been cut from the games.

 

[jsdnsd]

I'm not gonna lie, I have no idea what you're talking about with Johnnies and Spikes (sounds like a reference to something that I'm not familiar with?), but there's a pervasive myth that competitive players fall into two neat little archetypes; those that only use "standard" Pokemon who are supposed to be good in their tier, and those who use whatever they want, often actively going out of their way to use obscure and uncommonly used Pokemon. I suspect this might be similar to what you're referring to? The truth of the matter, in my experience anyways, is that good competitive players (a group I don't necessarily count myself as part of) fall somewhere between these two archetypes. They often use standard Pokemon as there's usually a reason why these Pokemon are standard, but there's also value in using obscur

The idea of an archetype in a gaming sense isn't to pigeon hole (pidgey hole? har har) players. It is more about describing common behaviors that manifest from how players tend to enjoy a competitive product.

Archetypes are broader, general approaches toward a metagame. It is entirely possible to shift or have a mixture of qualities from different archetypes. But usually, players have an attitude that is more salient and affects how they play/think-about a game overrall on average.

Spike-Johnny-Timmy is commonly referenced in certain card games. If you find gamer psychology interesting, google it for a fun read.

 

[Ophie]

Yeah, I had to bring it up because the three options under PVP, from top to bottom, happen to be one of the definitions for a Spike, one of the definitions for a Johnny, and one of the definitions for a Timmy, though it doesn't appear to be intentional. These player archetypes were originally meant for card designers for Magic: The Gathering, though they have since been applied to other card games, tabletop games, and video games with a high degree of functional customization, but I think it speaks to how fundamental they are in gaming if the topic creator came up with them independently. (These are not the only definitions of each type--the more general definition is that a Spike plays to prove oneself, a Johnny plays to express oneself, and a Timmy plays to thrill oneself, and there is a lot of overlap among people, as well as those who shift from one to another.)

The general pattern is that Johnnies are the archetype most likely to explore uncharted territory in competitive circles, especially Johnny-Spike hybrids, and so they're the ones to start giving a metagame shape. The pure Spikes come next, who take those fundamentals and refine them further; your typical Johnny loses interest by then, since they generally prefer not to tread heavily-traveled paths. (Timmies stay largely separate from the metagame but are the largest in number in most games.)

 

[ReneEnjolras]

Progression: I plan on taking my time. I love enjoying games for their stories.

PVP: I don't actually do PVP but I like to use Pokémon that have a reputation as "Bad". I'll have at least one of these on my team. I love kicking Gym Leaders down with unconventional Pokémon. I also choose my team Pokémon based on design and aesthetic. Like Ophie above, I love Masquerain and have used on in RSE and DPPT.

Social: I'll be using the features for fun. Raid battles sound awesome.

Trade: I'll trade with others for fun, to get Pokémon I want/need, and to be helpful.

 

[Sham]

Considering I’m leaving a day after the games come out, I’ll most likely focus my several hours trying to beat the game. I however like to take my time beating Pokemon games since I feel like rushing the games takes the spark out of them. I rushed Sun and Moon and I was kinda underwhelm out how I got the games on Friday and was finished by Sunday.

 

[Noy]

I plan to check every trash can.

 

[WeepingHallows]

Progression wise I am going to try my best not to go through as fast I usually do with a Pokemon game.

I don't really do PVP. I prefer to just use pokemon whether they're good competitively or not. I do put a little focus on moves I teach my pokemon, but it is still very casual. I did try some PVP in LGPE, but even there you could tell based on movesets and pokemon choice people were trying to be overly competitive. If a casual battling scene opens up here on Serebii I might take more of an interest.

Socially, I think camping is interesting and I definitely want to do Max Raids. Those look very fun. My only problem with the Max Raids is going to be the version exclusives. It'll mean my nephew and I will have certain battles we won't be able to do together, but in the grand scheme of things that's minor.

I definitely want to try to shiny hunt this game so I plan to try to complete the Dex which shouldn't be too difficult seeing as I'll have my nephew with the opposite version to trade with. Historically, I've only ever took the time to complete the dex in Let's Go Eevee so going forward I would love to start doing that for future games.

Me, my goal is to finish this game and get a team for multiplayer battling ready by Christmas.

Speaking of holidays, November 11th is Veterans Day in the United States, which is a semi-major holiday. It means a lot of people will have Monday off that week (not me though), which is four days too early for Pokémon fans.

My nephew was so disappointed when he found out SwSh come out the week after he is out of school for Veteran's day, especially seeing as his school is out on Friday the 8th and Monday the 11th. Now we'll have to try squeeze as much time in as we can on the two weekends before he is out for Thanksgiving.

I plan to check every trash can.

I have done that since Red/Blue. Back before I beat Let's Go Eevee my nephew saw me checking the trash cans in Silph Co. and asked me why. All I could say was that I remembered that you used to sometimes find stuff in the trash cans and he just gave me a funny look.

 

[Wingulltrainer]

I can’t really vote a specific way on this; I play the first game somewhat slowly as I try to find my way around.. I try to build my team of favorites, but several of them are in mid to endgame, so I may have to wait until game 2 for that. Subsequent games, I try to use different Pokémon To see what they can do. When I’m done with gameplay, I focus on trading and breeding. Very rarely do I attempt to defeat the elite four, unless I have a reason to do the postgame.

 

[B. Thunder Tiger]

Its not on the poll, but my plan is to play the game on my own pace, and use a team of Galar-only mons as to experience the new. After the main game, I will start mixing and matching with old mons.

 

[Blackjack the Titan]

Shield will be my main story version. I’ll probably try to fill my PokéDex and build competitive teams in that version.

As for Sword, I’ll do Nuzlockes and other challenges in this version.

 

[EmeraldArcanine]

Progression wise: I prefer to take my time and enjoy the game's features and story as I go along, not a speedrunner by any means, so as a result I'm taking things slow like I always do with Pokemon runs. I'm not into speedrunning because you don't take the time to really enjoy stuff while you're zipping on through everything just to get through the fastest.

PVP: I play with the 'mons I like tbh, instead of just getting the "standard" teams seen in competitive and whatnot. I play only with friends competitively because of this. It's easier to not be nervous about going in with an ingame team with them than someone more experienced in competitive. I wanna get back into it but also just have fun because I'm still very casual in the end.

Social: You bet your butt I'm gonna be camping like hecc and raiding like crazy, that's all I'm gonna say. Raiding's likely gonna be friend only though depending on how Y-Comm works with it. It'd be awesome if you could "summon/ask" for any online to join you if you want them specifically.

Trading: I trade for 'mons I really want to use in the ingame story, whether getting them later in the story is a problem or I really want a Sword exclusive 'mon in my shield game (For dex purposes, even if it's a very tertiary thing for me).

 

[Ophie]

My nephew was so disappointed when he found out SwSh come out the week after he is out of school for Veteran's day, especially seeing as his school is out on Friday the 8th and Monday the 11th. Now we'll have to try squeeze as much time in as we can on the two weekends before he is out for Thanksgiving.

I have done that since Red/Blue. Back before I beat Let's Go Eevee my nephew saw me checking the trash cans in Silph Co. and asked me why. All I could say was that I remembered that you used to sometimes find stuff in the trash cans and he just gave me a funny look.

I won't blame anyone involved in the making of this game for barely missing a U.S. holiday since, well, it's a U.S. thing. I can still feel a bit annoyed at the holiday being there and no one being able to enjoy this game though.

And I still check the trash cans too. I'll keep doing it for as long as they continue to tell you "There's nothing in there..." each time you check.

 

[PrinceOfFacade]

I definitely want to take my time with this game.

I've always completed a game's story in two weeks, sometimes less. I want to try to make this last at least a month. I'm sure the Wild Area will help with that.

 

[WeepingHallows]

I won't blame anyone involved in the making of this game for barely missing a U.S. holiday since, well, it's a U.S. thing. I can still feel a bit annoyed at the holiday being there and no one being able to enjoy this game though.

And I still check the trash cans too. I'll keep doing it for as long as they continue to tell you "There's nothing in there..." each time you check.

Oh yeah we're definitely not blaming them, but blaming the calendar or rather the schools for picking the wrong day. Just kidding. In all seriousness though it is definitely the way the days fell this year seeing as Thanksgiving is in the very last week of November and only three days later it'll be December 1st. If I'm being honest it was more so me that was disappointed with his days off because I wanted to play the game with him and he doesn't even know he is getting the game yet. It might be mean, but he keeps asking and all I can say is we'll have to see. I can't spoil the surprise. lol

 

[Ignition]

I'm taking my time listening to the music, talking to every person, and making sure I explore everywhere.

Don't really care about Dynamax but I'll probably do the occasional raid with my friends for Gigantmax forms

Definitely looking forward to competitive.

 

[TwilightBlade]

I'll play like a normally play the Pokemon games - slow and steady. I never rush because I'm so busy with other crap that I don't even have time to play that much anyways, so I'll play at my own pace. :]

 

[Ophie]

Oh yeah we're definitely not blaming them, but blaming the calendar or rather the schools for picking the wrong day. Just kidding. In all seriousness though it is definitely the way the days fell this year seeing as Thanksgiving is in the very last week of November and only three days later it'll be December 1st. If I'm being honest it was more so me that was disappointed with his days off because I wanted to play the game with him and he doesn't even know he is getting the game yet. It might be mean, but he keeps asking and all I can say is we'll have to see. I can't spoil the surprise. lol

Not to mention the upcoming Christmas and New Year's Day both fall on Wednesdays. For those at school, that's okay because the school will be on break the whole week, but for those who work, especially Monday-Friday jobs, it's right in the middle of the week when it's least convenient to do anything big.

And I feel for you. I've had times when I don't get to do things with family because the days just don't line up right.

 

[shoz999]

I'm gonna get my starter. Head straight into online. Get my ass kicked. Train till I beat the Pokemon Champion. Head straight into online! Get my ass kicked again! Grow some badass berries for those EVs! Head straight back into online again! AND GET MY ASS KICKED AGAIN LIKE A MAN! A POKEMAN!

 

[clbgolden12]

Legitimate question: would you guys consider beating the campaign in around five days to a week rushing through the game?

Because I didn’t think it was that fast, but the rate my friends play at say otherwise. =P