The Floating City Awaits

As I've discussed in a post a couple of days ago, the new Silph Arena competition venue of Factions has something good going for it. In addition to themed battles - which it still has in terms of "Battlefields" - it is also an entry point for the open three major leagues, or at least the other two that aren't as common on the Arena. Yet, the Battlefields remain important, as they are the norm for 4 out of 7 members of the team. The first of these Battlefields, called Floating City, has been introduced for the initial qualifiers, and even with my non-participation, I thought I'd at least try to cover it and see what I can make out of it.

This Battlefield is based on the Great League, which means Pokémon up to 1500 CP are allowed. Also allowed are Pokémon of at least one of four specific types: Ground, Flying, Steel, and Normal. It would also be expected that one doesn't bring Mega Evolutions or more than one Pokémon of a species, as is expected for the Arena in general. Altogether, the types represent the foundation (Ground), structure (Steel), means of floating (Flying), and its denizens (Normal), which totally make sense as a theme.

There is also a boatload of other restrictions as well. Mythical Pokémon are not permitted, and so are Shadow Pokémon and Regional Pokémon, those that appear only in certain parts of the world. The last restriction effectively prevents Tropius, a popular PvP contender. Five species are also banned, being Galarian Stunfisk, Altaria, Bastiodon, Chansey, and Registeel. Aside from the Chansey ban, which is similar to the Venture Cup ban, the other four Pokémon are popular and pesky contenders in open Great League - as I can attest - that might dominate the Battlefield if they are left unchecked.

Of the four types, the ones with a distinct strong-weak relationship are Ground and Steel, while Flying provides a minimal "buffer" against Ground types, and Normal types can go any which way except toward Steel. This practically demands the other types that certain Pokémon might have to dictate their utility against any and all of the four primary types of the Battlefield. With popular contenders also banned as above, this also demands Trainers to look for more uncommon and potentially surprising contenders.

Already for the first Battlefield, things are looking quite enigmatic. It is deceptively simple with only four types and yet creatively challenging with all its restrictions. But that seems the way that a Battlefield should be: a smaller but still substantial challenge for the Specialists that don't deal with open leagues, at least when they don't need to. In the framework of the Silph Arena, specific themes still carry a significance, and the Floating City that awaits some contenders of the new Factions system serves as a warm welcome for them.

One year ago: As In As All...

Two years ago: Nationally Challenged

Three years ago: Before Gold and Silver

Four years ago: Red on a Bike