Duncan Cant Die – Pinkie's Paradise

Top 5: Favorite Poketubers

***Disclaimer Princess Pinkie is a persona, her arrogance is just a flavor, it is not our intention to insult anyone***

Dear subjects, we Princess Pinkie of house Cherryblossom are not feeling our utmost best today, still superior in every way of course the royal we decided it would be best to keep today’s subject a bit on the simple side. The Pokémon Community is filled with little gems everywhere, and though none might be such a gem yours truly there definitely is some entertaining court jesters to be find on a place called youtube. A well informed princess like me can of course tell you the best ones to spot and so we shall. So take a knee while we will show you some more of the Pokéworld. Not all of these people would officially be called Pokétubers or at least prefer not to be called that way but the Top 5 : People whom I mainly follow for their splendid Pokémon content, would not have been such a catchy title. We are a princess after all so we can call you whatever we want.

Pokétuber 5 : Pokétips

Subjects, even though I know everything there is about Pokémon there is to know already of course, on occasion it is fun to see someone else struggle to teach you how to play Pokémon. Mike from Pokétips has build his channel around such concepts. Telling you how to level up fast in a game or how to find shinies, like my Aipom Iamwright. Not only does he tell you the “strategy” guide answers to these questions he will also tell you about some neat glitches to exploit. Yet Mike does a lot of others stuff as well, like let’s plays, and some creating altering/hacking of games. In the latter he will for example examine what happens if you hack your Eevee and Pikachu so that they can evolve in the let’s go games or what happens if you trade Missingno to Pokémon Gold (the answer might surprise you). He does this in a lovely humble way with a nice tranquil voice that works great for this exact type of content. He isn’t overly reliant on catchphrases or popular slang, which is a great plus for me. He doesn’t shout and seems like a very chill fan of the games that just really likes to extent his content. So you are new to the games and wish to learn something or if you are versed in the games but wish to explore what lies beyond the borders of the seemingly possible give his channel a look for some great tips. His let’s plays can feel a bit rushed which is why he is our opener for this list.

Pokétuber 4: MandJTV

The second youtube dish we let the staff , that being Pinkie Prime who edits my stuff, serve you is Michael, from ManJTV. This is a lot like ourselves, offering some creative content with pokémon as well as well as some editorials and other lists. Tier Lists, shiny rankings and the likes. Nothing that special you would say, but Michaell does it with a lot of spirit.
We have a very different opinion on Pokémon though! He doesn’t like the super cute ones as much.. like Allcremie which has been announced for Sword and Shield, which is one of my favorites. He kinda bashed it.. but he explains it well and will never claim that he has the right opinion, which is a refreshing change in youtube world. A lot of youtubers wish their opinion to be followed mass influence people and the likes and those pokétubers I mostly dislike. To each their own, ManJTV to me emphasises that opinion best. He also isn’t to afraid top show some genuinely home brew content, like discussing the evil team he designed as a kid and repurposing it so it would fit in a game. On occasion there are some skits, like how he pretends to be a stereotypical pokémon to highlight the typings. It’s all pretty witty and fun. With enough varied content to for everyone. Unlike Mike though he does cater exclusively to Pokéfans , which is reflected in his opening greeting. He doesn’t explain a lot of things some newcomers might not yet know. However the reason why Michael takes the spot above Mike is one specific show on his channel. Pokémon Talk. In this skit show Michael plays with Plushies, mostly Bulbasaur and Squirtle as they discuss channel news or Pokémon news while having their own little comedy moments of an often slapsticky nature. These are so funny and cute that someone like us is totally sold. You can have a good time with this channel but you should really know at least a little about Pokémon.

Pokétuber Number 3: DucanCantDie

Remember when we told you not all youtubers on this list like to be pokétubers?! Well this is the one. Not only into Pokémon , he is also into Magic the Gather, building pc’s and Monster Hunter as well, quite regularly streaming some other games to just for fun. He however is best known for a concept he came up with Pokémon Roulette Free for Alls. This is a custom game modes where he and 3 guests participate in online 2 vs 2 battles with a twist. You are also supposed to take down your teammate! In the end the last one who has a pokemon remaining wins. Pokémon are randomly selected through an app that determines a few modifiers, such as which type of moves can be used or limiting people to only one type or even colour of pokémon. These chaotic battles can really be a treat to watch, with mind games and betrayals being a heavy emphasis on the gameplay. The trickery and social aspect of it , turns it into an almost Mario-Party- esque style of battling that you can’t really find elsewhere on the web. Very amusing and even kind of fun to follow if you aren’t into pokémon battling.

In fact prior to following these I never bothered to battle but these have awoken my appetite and learned me a thing or two. In a few ways Duncan can be called my senpai in that aspect. He is a bit loud and uses a lot of trendy speech patterns which can make some of his older videos seem a bit dated. I’d like to say Duncan is somewhat the Jeremy Clarkson of Pokétubing. He can be a real Mubdray-hole , sometimes even a tiny bit elitist but when you seem him play and mess with his friends, it’s almost like watching those special episodes of former Top-Gear (the only ones I like cause I dont like cars). It’s a channel about boys being boys , and having fun with their toys! More often than not that toy is Pokémon games , be it Random Battles on Showdown, Free for Alls on Ultra Sun and Moon or any other content, if there is even a small part of you that likes to see mind games and people just messing with each other this might be your channel.

Pokétuber Number 2: Patterrz

Everyone who still claims that gingers have no soul clearly haven’t checked out the Pokémon channel of this red head boy because this boy has soul in spades. When it comes to watching Let’s plays, Nuzlockes or the likes Daniel AKA Patterrz is my man. Not being a stickler for rules, nor a rusher he manages to find the ideal balance between speeding up a run, smuggling a few levels to keep us entertained and simply following the existing rules. Easy to to pick up, enjoyable to keep following and just a treat to view an entire series. Patterrz is an expert in giving his Pokémon a personality. You start to care of Jeb his Maractus and will mourn it’s death (in a nuzlocke fainting means counting a pokémon as dead and burying it in a box). Pool, Dylon and many others I still know by name.

When Daniel plays there is a love for his Pokémon, he isn’t just playing the game he is becoming the trainer. Having access to a lively community who does their own thing once more conveys the feeling of true fun. Though he assumes some knowledge of Pokémon he is fairly user-friendly to watch at least discussing movesets and abilities a bit and recapping it each episode of a series so you know what you are getting into. Recently he has begun to review less convenient game, like infinite fusion from my review for example. Currently we are watching an old series playing a hack of the original Red and blue featuring up to the Kalos dex. There is a lot of fun to be had with his channel and his personality is just an amazing asset to have as a part of the Pokémon Fandom.

The worst Pokétuber: Verlisify

We are outraged and upset that we actually have to report on this, but last week the man pushed to far making me think less of him than I already thought. This man doesnt have fun with Pokémon nor does he make content for the fans, this man makes content to stroke his ego and to provoke people into hating each other. Nearly all the youtubers on my list have been called out by Verlisify for being stupid, thiefs, racists or what not. Some of them regretfully attack back causing a bit of a war in the fandom which is very sad. Recently the community has been trying to move on, people fight and get over it. However 5 months after things have been resolved Verlisify once more is starting to make videos on how my favorite youtubers are hurting his poor ego. Do note that this is a guy who is terrible at competitive battling and blames it on everything else in the world. Duncan does indeed use hacking to generate pokémons to create his content… he doesn’t use those for the competitive scene so there is nothing wrong with that.. he uses it for entertainment. Verlisify however calls it cheating and in similar ways destroys or belittles others people’s content by naming it unoriginal, poorly informed or plagiarized.

When his channels views are to low he attacks a new youtuber just to get his name out there. Channels should be about Pokémon and the love for it from the people behind it. It shouldn’t be about how Pokémon Fan A bashing on Pokéfan B for loving the content in a different way, or blaming anyone who has a similar idea to you of intellectual theft. We should act like: Cool you discovered the same thing too! Awesome friend! You must love this game as much as I do. Jason Paige sang it already ‘You teach me and I teach you’ meaning Pokémon is something we should enjoy together not something we should entrust to a few youtube gods. Feel free to check this one out if you like.We will even link a video we recently saw of him, in part. He deserves love much like anyone else .. and I hope he truly enjoys the franchise, just throwing my feelings out here.

The best Pokétuber: Leonhart

Wholesome, that is the one word summary of the content of Lee Steinfeld AKA Leonhart. If this man was a Pokémon he would know the moves Celebrate, Heal Pulse, Charm and Round. He loves what he does and what he does is open Pokémon , the trading card game, card packs. Nearly every day opening probably close to 100 packs per week for us to enjoy. I used to be a big TCG player, even participated in some friendly tournaments where I preformerd pretty well with a cute little card deck i made around the concept of friendship and a X and Y medicham that had the ability to attack twice. Unfortunately when my mental condition got a worse it ended in being unable to work and , money dried up and I can currently not be as active with it anymore as I used to be. Leonhart is my proxy, that joyous sound of a pack that is cracked open, that sensation to see if there is a good pull, he conveys that completely. This man is a big reason why I am blogging here today. He gave up a career as an attorney to pursue his happiness by opening pokémon packs on youtube. I initially wished to be a content creator on youtube myself but I lacked the funding and the materials to do it and I am more a writer anyway at heart. When he shared a news message about him leaving his career to chase his dreams , was the moment that made me realise. ‘It’s my dream to do content, I should not make it impossible for myself if that is what I love to do I should just pursue it’ which ended with me starting my blog. So I have a lot to thank mister Steinfeld for. He is also very dedicated to raise money for mental health care, mostly for the Grant Halliburton Foundation by donating 100% of add revenues of videos in which he opens (expensive) retro packs. Once more super noble and letting his fans donate as well. Wholesome!

He is just someone I wish to succeed. Though he can cater to a younger demographic a bit it’s just incredible to see how he treats his cards and pokémon He apologises to the cards he skips, he can be happy with common (low value) cards as long as they have a cute picture and even makes those irrelevant cards relevant by putting them into a little rhyme or cute little catchphrase without it being an obnoxious thing. He gives loves to every card, every follower and values everyone even remotely interested. The joy on his face when he makes a good pull (a card drawn from a pack) can brighten my day and even something as silly as the standard “guess the energy” game can bring a smile to my face. Pokémon that would never get any love in the regular game community like Natu or Drowsee (sitting in a tree) are like tiny gifts to him, no matter how many times those cards pass by.
He is a pure fan, with an even purer heart and therefore is our.. no my favorite youtuber. Even I get humbled by his sheer enthusiasm.

Top 5 : Beginners tips for battling

Hello there little monsters, the sun is shining and it’s about as hot as a Torkoals as…uhm tail out there, so I am staying in to write you another Top 5. This week I will be there for you! Well at least those who are just dipping their feet in the world of Pokémon We all started our journey by just slapping four powerful attacks on our entire team, and sweep leagues with it. However if you ever want to Nuzlocke, play fan games or maybe play a few Pokémon matches for real, you should do well to heed these tips.

Bonus tip: Check out Pokemon Showdown
What is Pokémon Showdown? Well it is a browser based Pokémon battling game, in which you can build and test out teams, by allowing you easy access to all moves without having to go through breeding for it, or even IV or EV training. With easy slider controls anyone can build their custom Pokémon very easily and test them out in a battle. A perfect tool to practice the tips I am about to share. Play the option to do random battles as well,to get a good feeling on what movesets work and which don’t .
Furthermore I won’t be going into EV’ and IV’s in this post because these are too complex for a non dedicated post. Showdown is such an amazing tool for the aspiring battle you should really pay it a visit, after you are done reading the post of course! Otherwise I will come online on Showdown and kick your Mudbray.

*“Tehee She doesn’t mean she’ll kick me me she means your Arse’*

Tip 5: Know your move categories.
“Pinke what do you mean by that move categories, that’s not even a word’ Well no it’s two, but when I would have called it move type it would get confusing , as I am not referring to Pokémon typings. I am referring to physical and special moves.
You know the reason why you have attack and special attack with the same going for defence and special defence. Yet, so many rookie trainers run bite on Espeon or Dark Pulse on Absol, because it kinda looks cool. Now don’t get me wrong, running either of these moves can still be smart but you would not be playing to your Pokémon’s strengths, partially because the game doesn’t properly teach you how to do it correctly. When you learn a new move, it features one of three symbols. A red and Yellow explody mark, a purplish blue, ripple in the water like symbol, and a grey Yin and Yang. The grey yin and yang symbol, signifies status moves. Non combat moves that effect either stats or conditions. Toxic, Calm Mind and Laser Focus are all in this category, and should not be slept upon. The red and yellow explosion thingy signifies a physical move, it means the pokémon have a lot of muscle their, punches and clawing hurts. Most physical attackers are fairly recogniseable. If their physical stat (after like level 30 or so) is like 25% higher or more, its oftenly a good idea to run them with physical moves only. If your Pokémon is level 50, and it’s stats in a category are less than 70 I’d say for a rookie its best to ignore said move type.
The purple blue, rings signify a special attacker, these are your ‘ranged’ attackers. In generally if you feel the move would classify as magic, it’s quite oftenly a special attack. Pokémon with a high special attack stat, you oftenly want to equip with moves like Psychic, Thunder and Fireblast. Pokémon who have high defensive status you’ll oftenly want to equip with moves of the Yin Yang categorie.. Chansey for example has a high special defence modifier, and is quite safe to swap into a , let’s say Primarina. It will benefit most from the yin-yang type moves, a defensive mon will oftenly deal more damage with toxic or leech seed, then with it’s own attacks. If you understand your stats, and the role moves take onto the battlefield, you will understand what role your Pokémon has and you will be able to utilize them better.

Punching , spiiting, drugging, this is how we play Pokémon

Tip 4: Status to victory
Assuming you read the last tip, it is important to keep in mind though too not overly rely in high power special attackers and attackers either, most of the time it is unwise to run four random attacks, or even four chosen attacks, yes there are Pokémon who are so good at offence you should let them focus on it, in general you will want to be able to inflict some status conditions as well. However, aside from poison, young trainers oftenly are under the misconception that you status for its primary effect, which in some cases are true, but both burn and paralysis offer secondary beneficial effects that are way more important than a 30% skip chance or a bit of damage over time. Paralysis halves an opponent’s speed stat, which allows you to get the drop on an opponent who otherwise might have outsped and knocked out your sweet friend. Burn halves the physical attack stat, Slaking and Hitmonchan might seem scary, but when burned they will deal but a fraction of the damage they could before. Charm and confuse are great, but be sure to bring moves that are sure to hit, you do not want to deal with supersonics miss chance. Sleep still is a great status, Yawn is great for forcing an opponent to swap his pokémon, allowing you to create favorable momentum for yourself, while Spore is the best sleep move in the game with it’s 100% accuracy. Stay away from dream eater though, comboing of status you inflict can be fairly unreliable, so only use these if your Pokémon can take a hit. The best moves to combo of a status would be Hex and Venoshock. Hex being the more versatile of the two. Whatever you do, never bring a team with only offensive moves. Pokémon is not just about raw power, it has a lot to do with momentum as well and nothing can shift the balance as much as status.

Pinkie’s Life Lesson : Burning a physical pokemon is smart, but burn Ursaring and you’ll get burned yourself.

Tip 3: A good defence and build up
A good Mon is easy to build, a good team is much harder. When you begin battling, I would very much recommend taking one or two walls along. I am not referring to stakkatakka , though he actually is a wall… and a wall. The word in Pokémon terms is most of the time what a “tank” would be in your MMO like setting, however in a 1V1 format, agro isn’t much of a thing. So you will want to bring a Mon that can take a hit, Shuckle, Umbreon, Chansey, Aggron, Tyranitar, Snorlax and Slaking are functional examples but Sigilyph and Politoed are also some amazing walls. You can defend yourself in other ways as well. Protect in itself might be somewhat pointless, a well timed one, can prevent you from an explosion or even a one hit knockout move. Rest is your friend! Though it seems very unfavorable to go to sleep for two turns, the 100% heal, including any other status, because rest overrules it, is one of the greatest tools in your arsenal to build a great team. Combine it with some build up moves, that increase your stats, like calm mind , swords dance or bulk up, if possible alongside sleep talk.. and you got your first destructive combo on your hands. Buff your stats or debuff your opponent to a point where you control the momentum, Babydoll eyes, and smokescreen are quite useful moves if your opponent is not a underleveled cpu. Regardless if you heal, tank or debuff, if your opponent has to struggle to finish your pokemon, you gain the momentum and you are well on your way to victory.

Pinkie Says: Aegislash, with King’s Shield, Swords Dance,Shadow Sneak and Sacred Sword, is a good set

Tip 2: Battlefield Control
You and your opponent do not want to send out a Pokémon and use it up until it dies, if it is at a disadvantage you want to swap it out to regain control, however you can not keep swapping in and out , as a skilled opponent can probably predict that you will withdraw your Parasect when facing his Charizard and might even prepare a grass move anticipating that rock type that can hit it 4x effective. So you have to think of ways to control the battlefield in your favor, force your opponent to swap when you want to, or make it harder for him to swap so you have more liberties. We can achieve this by bringing hazard setting moves, like spikes, toxic spikes, and stealth rocks to discourage swapping, as they will take damage each time a new pokémon is sent in. On the other hand we can encourage swapping, by using moves like Toxic, Perish Song and Leech seed. Encouraging swap outs is very beneficial when your opponents tries to constantly buff himself to gain the upperhand, or to combo it with a move like pursuit. If you have the momentum, you might want your opponent to stay in, so you don’t have to predict as much an can just pick the team off one at a time.
You can even combine the two, where you force your opponent to choose between bleed damage from swapping out, or taking an increasing amount of dots, shifting the momentum dramatically in your favor. With firespin, whirlpool or other trapping moves like spirit shackle you can also force your opponent to stay in, or when he is gather to much buffs you can force a swap out, with Circle Throw, Dragon Tail or Roar. However, both methods of forced control have the disadvantage that they are rather situational. Trapping moves, lock you into your Pokémon as well, and swapping moves oftenly have negative priority meaning your opponent can always move first, play them at the wrong time and you will be the one losing control instead. So consider your options carefully, in my opinion forced control works better in double battles, while “encouraged” control is often edges out in singles.

Spikes, Seeds, Stealthrocks and toxic, Ferrothorn is a great and giving you momentum.

Tip 1: Items and Abilities
Items and abilities can flat out determine a game. If your opponent predicts the wrong item, he can lose all his momentum in a single turn. If you equip a choice scarf (speed rises by a lot but you can only use the first move you choose) and your opponent underestimates your speed, allowing you the quick kill, a match can be done , then and there. With all the items out there it might seem very overwhelming to choose one, but don’t worry, there are only a handful of good items. Forget about your charcoal, or your nevermeltice boosting one move type is a no go! Forget about most situational items as well. Sure a quick claw can shift a game if it triggers but a focus band.. not worth the risk. Aside from some berries, it will mostly be the items you will get from whatever your game’s rendition of the battle institute is. Your standard Life Orb, Assault Vest, Leftovers , Air Balloons and Choice (item) will be your bread and butter. There are a few other options out there, but those cater to a specific use of a Pokémon. Play some Pokémon Showdown to learn more about items and how they work or check out the youtube channel of Duncan Can’t Die, his channel focuses on battling with random Pokémon a lot so there is a lot to learn there for the beginning battler, and quite entertaining. Aside from a Pokémon’s item you’ll need to determine your ability as well, these are less flexible then items, and you oftenly are limited to one or two good choices. Your abiltiy generally determines your chosen moveset for example if you have a pokémon that can cure it’s status in the rain, you’d bring raindance and rest 9 out of 10 times since it just works like a dream together, if you have the pixilate ability , you’ll want to run normal moves and so on. While your ability determines your moveset, your moveset determines your item, you do not want to run an Assault Vest (higher defences but you can only bring attacking moves) on your hazard setter, you do not want to give Shedinja a Life Orb (takes 10% of your max hp after each attack but boosts power). Yet if you think about your build, and let your ability and your item synergise with your moveset, you can control the battlefield and soon THE WORLD!

Now you are ready to battle, have you ever played Showdown? Have you watched a roulette free for all on Duncan’s Channel? I certainly love them, and they have made me a better battler. So young trainer, or pro who actually bothered to read through this all, to arms! Tonight we shall claim victory on the Showdown battlegrounds! Win or lose , remember to stay pink!

*Disclaimer, staying Pink is a mindset, Pinkie does not encourage you to get sunburned or bodypaint yourself pink in any shape way or form, I love everyone, you dont have to actually be pink.* <-These are needed nowadays.