As part of this "Go week" that started on Sunday, I of course can't escape discussing about the Silph Arena venue for community PvP, which still continues its run of themed cups, and this would be the one before its regionals competition, on the way to the finale of the current season. It may be considered the one by which great Trainers are formed in the eventual postseason, and it's got a great title that proves just that: "Forged", in close connection to the equipment by which metals are shaped.
The usual norms still apply: Great League, no Mega Evolution, and teams of six with no duplicates. This themed cup also has unique bans, however: no Dragon-type, Dark-type, or Steel-type Pokémon are allowed, as are any Pokémon from the Hoenn region - that is, the third generation. Apart from that, there are no other outright bans, moreover for certain species... but some of them may become banned depending on which species a Trainer elects to use. That's because this one has a "points system" much like Venture and Cliffhanger.
For all the remaining playable species, they are assigned point values of 8, 4, 2, or 1. The team has a threshold of 17 points that may be met but not exceeded. Therefore, at most 1 8-point species or 3 4-point species may be had in any case, including one of both on a team, with the rest being filled out by species of fewer points. All teams with total point values from 6 to 17 are possible, so it becomes up to the Trainer to choose which Pokémon are to be represented on a team without "breaking the bank", so to speak.
With Dark-types getting the boot, there's one type missing in the triangle of it with Psychic and Fighting, but a couple of Normal-type Pokémon may mediate the gap. The former two types are something to look out for, but so are the Water and Electric types and the popular contenders contained therein. A few other types to watch for are Poison as a buffer to Normal, Flying as a counter to Fighting, and Ghost as a barrier to Normal. Selection of species types may be just as important as considering and spending points.
It's been the case that since the start of the run of the themed cups that I've discussed their development notes, and those have persisted up to this one. Some of the highlights are the swap of Dragon with Fairy in a Retro Cup base to spotlight the latter (and removal of potential opponents and hard counters to it), and elimination of the "superstars" from Hoenn (and inclusion of species that are often banned in previous themed cups due to power and access). Trainers will still have to make this work according to the points system above.
Now, the current Silph Arena season is starting to wind down. But before that can happen, there is this themed cup for one more test of prospective Trainers for the postseason. There are seemingly a lot of restrictions in place for it, but there are also many leeways that Trainers can and should be able to take advantage of. There will certainly be much of that in the postseason, especially starting with the regionals, so this is a chance for Trainers to forge themselves and forge the very best teams possible.
One year ago: Nights of Raging Battles
Two years ago: Trainers of Might and Sorcery
Three years ago: Local EX Raid (Time and Again), 6/3/2019
Four years ago: Classical and New HP Heal Amounts
Five years ago: 3DS Pokémon Themes
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