Tuesday, June 20, 2023

Possible Silph Successors?

There's only one month and some days left before Silph Arena as the last vestige of The Silph Road closes down, and that's important to drill down in that time. Yet what also seems to be important is to determine and establish potential successors for the two-in-one institution... although the result may not necessarily become two-in-one as with the Silph Arena and The Silph Road. Regardless, the process is an ongoing one, and in fact, three of them have emerged to certain capacities. It seems important to identify them at this point in time, especially what players (Trainers) may be able to expect from them.

One of them is called Gymbreakers, and it has already established its own set of competitions, primarily those affiliated with certain regions and/or nations; it has even held its own "world cup" style competitions. The competitions are facilitated in part through the same familiar-to-gamers platform I hinted at the start of the last Cycle of Factions, so it has some similarity to Silph Arena, and there is further similarity in the usage of the themed cups from the Arena. Of course, once the Arena closes, they'll have to stand independently, and the word has been that they are ready to concoct their own team tournaments similar to Factions, so this may be its expected successor more than anything else, particularly given the above.

Another potential successor is called Project Zygarde, obviously taking a cue from the Legendary Pokémon. After the closure announcement of the Arena, a group of Trainers banded together and conceived this establishment to try to make a new host for individual competitions, so the potential of this one is for that. The application frontend is being developed, and it is highly likely that it will make individual PvP quite organized. Further, PvPoke as the leading analyzer for PvP battles has effectively partnered with this effort, and that is why their current wordmark also shows a Zygarde, in contrast to their "classic" wordmark. They may have quite a bit more to go, but they appear well on their way to establishment for their purposes.

While not a "successor" per se, Stadium Gaming deserves a mention in many ways. If this one sounds a bit odd, that's because it's more recognizable as Go Stadium; it may be apparent that the other name is being deemphasized. They're the originators of the Cliffhanger PvP format, and evidently it has continued to be updated according to recent developments in Pokémon Go. Apart from this, they have their own collection of news update roundups and valuable resources for PvP, so in that respect, they may be considered more of a successor to the side of The Silph Road - although the Cliffhanger format may then become more adoptable ex post facto, depending on the whims of Trainers and organizers.

Looking at the three potential successors above, it is apparent that none of them are "all-in-one" as it is apparent for Silph Arena and The Silph Road. Yet that may be a good thing, considering the two have presented a duality that some people (like me) may have been ignoring. What definitely cannot be ignored is that it is important that some semblance of a successor needs to be established (and soon), in order to deliver on the continuity that the Silph institution has (and had) provided. Any or all of these potential successors may just deliver on that and keep community PvP for Pokémon Go alive and well.

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