Why Pokemon NEEDS the Critical Hit

Random Crits are fair and balanced
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[@WolfeyVGC]

Did this video change how you thought about critical hits? Why or why not?

[@somebodyrandomly]

I still like them but don't like them when they crit me

[@winterbreezesrule9583]

@@somebodyrandomly Thanks Rayquaza

[@thomasrb370]

I love crits especially when I have +3 defense and zacien still kills

[@mallowtonmouse]

For some reason i thought this was an older video but i clicked it anyway lol

[@Goatkuna236]

Haven't completed the video but I'll say *YES*

[@pokeaimMD]

I like getting crits. I hate getting crit 😤

[@wezen89]

Getting crited twice in a row or getting an additional rng hax in the process would be enough for making me rage quit a get tilted for 30 minutes or so lol

[@graylee945]

I once missed a two 100% accuracy moves straight. With no accuracy drop or ability gimmick ;-; Yeah RNG can sucks sometimes....

[@LucianDevine]

@@graylee945 Gen 1 I'm guessing?

[@ysten3869]

Yup

[@michaelpeebs]

I also don't like you getting crit Joey But I also enjoy you hitting them 😂

[@404FinallyFound]

Fun fact: your opponent’s crit rate is always at least 50% while yours is set at a base of 1%

[@themanwithaplan2711]

I know I once almost lost in my first Platinum because the opponent had 3 crits

[@genblinko7801]

@@themanwithaplan2711 I once lost after getting paralyzed 6 times in a row and plenty of other times with multiple/max confusions and sleep turns. don't even get me started on crits

[@zeta5341]

​@@genblinko7801 I am so sorry you had to experience that, I would've smashed my DS if I had to deal with that shit

[@marvalice3455]

Mood.

[@pawedziedzic3250]

Im the opponent

[@MrEvan1932]

Accuracy is also another factor of randomness that a lot of people often overlook. Accuracy can literally make or break the effectiveness of moves, adding an incentive for consistency and creating a more diverse move pool, introducing a risk vs reward metric.

[@D3sdinova]

Yup, moves like stone edge are terrible because of it. 95 accuracy is barely acceptable. 80 accuracy is basically 50... if youre lucky.

[@D3sdinova]

Scratch that, i just went online again, and 95 is insanly unreliable. You are going to lose whenever you use such a underpowered move.

[@bluchicken_995]

It’s why hustle Durant is such a funny Mon it either murders everything or is 100% useless

[@kaelanmcalpine2011]

Which is why Hone Claws exist so that these things don't miss

[@justinalicea1590]

If critical hits were to go, people would just complain that their high power attacks are balanced around being able to miss and whine that all of their attacks should be allowed to hit everytime. Then about how certain moves only have effects a given percent of the time and should either be removed or always happen. Critical hits make players think "Do I want to spend time setting up and risking a critical hit undoing all of my work?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no. Accuracy has the same thought process: "Does the greater damage output make up for its inaccuracy?" Sometimes yes, sometimes no. People just feel more in control when using a move because they chose to run it and use it, whereas a critical hit is outside of your control entirely. But it only feels that way, because once you are past that 96% accuracy mark for moves, you officially are more likely to get a critical hit than to always land that move whether or not you like it.

[@TheNeilBlack]

"There's over 150 possible dual types" They could make an entire regional dex without repeating dual types and I kind of want to see it.

[@ilexdiapason]

this is why the eeveelution-only region with all new dual types is the perfect spinoff game idea

[@WillfulWonders]

@@ilexdiapason wha

[@orkaydk9430]

@@ilexdiapason idk I feel like it'd be pretty uninteresting

[@willjoyce5013]

@@ilexdiapason that sounds kinda lame comparatively, ~150 forms of the same structure wouldn't be as fun as varied ones

[@cursedsailor7473]

Also, how would you evolve them all?

[@catandfishfc]

Crits: Removed from the game Cosmic Power Clefable: This is where the fun begins

[@wowwt]

Obviously if crits were removed then there would need to be a nerf to things like this or a set cap lower than what it currently is.

[@keiharris332]

@@wowwt or just remove stall setups. I think the writing is on the wall. I love em, but the masses hate em. It provides no real counter play options and there is not many thoughtful counter play options against them at times (besides Phazing I guess). I hate to admit it... but sure, it is not so fun to play against unless you are a very methodical grindy player. Look at clash royale. They nerfed X-bow and Mortar into the dirt till they became unusable by the casual player because the casuals hated playing against and watching it. (I loved it)

[@FrostySnow1000]

@@keiharris332 kids and ppl these days have too much adhd to be patient with stall teams

[@Azun_Kurone]

@@FrostySnow1000 Why specify kids, or these days, stall has never been fun to play against (besides the immense satisfaction of finally breaking the damn stall core)

[@mightybear5441]

Damn you Lusamine!!! I toxic'd her Clefable thinking "Hehe you're done", I did not know about Magic Guard until then.

[@phantom-joke]

Wolfey explaining why it's good that he can use crits to rob games in his rank #1 master ball series makes this vid a certified "world champ diff" moment.

[@chikenugets9165]

I mean without crits there is no "world champ diff"

[@artandem9637]

@@chikenugets9165 flinch, paralysis, burn, freeze, miss: would like to join the chat

[@EndoInfinite]

Ngl, shut up and stop crying

[@GogolTheEnjoyer]

@@artandem9637 dont forgot about confusion

[@crabnebula1816]

@@artandem9637 sleep turns, speed ties

[@jamesdinius7769]

One thing to remember is that Gamefreak has to try to please both competitive players and casual players who are often children. That is no easy task. And at the end of the day, competitive players are not the majority of their consumer base. They have to appeal to the casuals. This is why Smogon is so popular for singles (and doubles for unofficial competitive). They apply external balance through banning action and tiers that Gamefreak can't as easily (though they could apply stricter rules to VGC) without alienating the majority of their customers.

[@nessa6859]

Pokemon should make a competitive pokemon game. I'll never play actual competitive pokemon because grinding and breeding for perfect mons is way to time consuming. If pokemon had a game like smogon where you can customize all your mons and battle with anything you want it'd really help grow the competitive scene grow.

[@cross-layered8538]

⁠@@nessa6859so like a combo of Coliseum and showdown? I’d be down for that

[@epicsauce2647]

For someone who clearly thinks much much faster than the average Pokemon player, you are incredible at these slower breakdown videos

[@Mark-sk6om]

Luck isn't completely gone without crits, since damage rolls themselves can often decide games, not to mention accuracy, status moves, secondary effects.

[@cassiolins1203]

Yeah, but neither of those as things would change his later argument about stall teams.

[@LucianDevine]

@@cassiolins1203 Yup, without crits the stall teams would reign supreme, and it wouldn't even be close.

[@robby2988]

True, I find more games are lose due to low rolls than any one crit

[@BorealColdstone]

@@LucianDevine The game needs to remove crits as rng and give more ways to guarantee crit to compensate so you can play around it. If that's properly balanced then its a better alternative than either completely removing crits or leaving crits completely alone

[@fortnitesexman]

i for one think damage rolls are annoying af and that status moves like freeze and paralysis make the game incredibly unfun i think the problem arises when the luck can invalidate your skill (which damage rolls and such do) the fact that i can potentially beat wolfey in a battle while not even trying despite being garbage at the game should simply not be a possibility

[@evanxlviii6387]

I don’t mind crits at all. I would rather lose to a crit than lose on time because I get stalled out. Great video.

[@pikminman13]

Showdown players: what is this “losing to time” you speak of

[@foxycraft1234]

@@pikminman13 i mean showdown players can still technically lose to timer they just have to be afk for 2 and a half minutes

[@pikminman13]

@@foxycraft1234 yea which means its entirely their fault if they lose and not due to timer stall celebrate nonsense

[@bakes1324]

I’ve stalled out so many games because I’ve been stuck with a strictly support totekiss in doubles.

[@glaxyl]

i rather lose to crit than lose to generic sweep strats with baton pass minimize and something like that

[@oucyan]

As someone who loves using defensive strategies in Pokemon, my first thought watching this video was indeed that Crits are necessary to stop my favorite strategies from being all powerful.

[@jakecovideocompany6496]

crits are a crutch for people tryin to beat chads like us

[@badaryman7139]

Wolfey, dunno if you'll read this but you are exactly the kind of representative any competitive community needs. Someone who has the maturity to understand the nuances and difficulties of balancing a game, whilst at the same time having great in-depth knowledge about the game itself! And, you have a huge following! You're a blessing to the pokémon community, keep at what you're doing, you're doing great! 😄

[@PatrickWDunne]

I feel like the best part of critical hits is to break stalls

[@markkart]

AGREED. If im facing a blissey with 6 calm minds up and i have a special attacker as my last pokemon, without crits, i am screwed

[@eryton1899]

@@markkart but the disappointment when your crit does only like 50% ;-;

[@airayne5176]

@@markkart then you shouldn't have let the bliss cm 6 times

[@foxycraft1234]

@@markkart especially if the blissey also has toxic so it would just stall ur mon with soft boiled

[@gus7807]

@@airayne5176 its not that easy

[@jjohnsonnccc]

You bring up a great point with stall teams being inherently disadvantaged to crits. I played a person once online who spent a lot of turns boosting all his stats and baton passing around. Finally when he baton passed to his Hypno (odd choice to give all those stat buffs to, but not the point), I caught a lucky crit with Bug Buzz and OHKO’d him. He disconnected and called me a shit player. Yes, I would have been majorly disadvantaged without that crit, but he also took the risk on by taking turns to using status moves instead of outputting damage. IE, he gave me more opportunities to roll the dice in my favor. Very great video! The quality has skyrocketed in just the last few months

[@XenithShadow]

To be fair he was memeing anyway if he passed the stats to an actually good pokemon he would be fine anyway. Or more likely he was a shit player, what kinda idiot doesnt batton pass with a susbstitue up if they are passing into a poke that has a 4% chance to ohko them.

[@grilledlemonsisathing1682]

@@XenithShadow assuming this isn't pre gen 6 bug buzz does go through substitute

[@XenithShadow]

@@grilledlemonsisathing1682 You are entirely correct i guess the solution is dont try to set up sweep with a hypno, when you could use either literally mega evolutions or if it's in bdsp then a garchomp/kingdra a legendary ect.

[@mylorddio8272]

You won by luck just know that

[@jjohnsonnccc]

@@mylorddio8272 right, but the point is by attacking more, I was rolling the dice more to get a crit. You can’t really get mad when the dice roll eventually helps the opposing player, when he’s taking more turns to actually get that outcome and you aren’t doing anything to cause damage.

[@j3nki541]

Pokemon always had elements of randomness in its battles. Sleep turns, accuracy, confusion, attract, paralysis. They're of course frustrating to deal with and they all have limited counterplay, but you can also incorporate them into your strategy. Plus they can add to the hype when you get the lucky roll when you really need it. Imo the fights would get pretty boring if all elements of randomness were removed, I'm fine with crits.

[@GoddamnAxl]

This somehow reminds me of the stall warrior era in Hearthstone. You armor up indefinitely and games are mostly going to both player using up their deck.

[@areallyorganizedpileofants1272]

I've played so much tf2 recently and been so involved in the community that when I heard critical hit I instantly thought "crits are fair and balanced"

[@frankwest5388]

While frustrating, it also does led to some of the most memorable moments. I can still remember the highlights, where by the power of random luck, I was able to blow up a medic, his poket scout and another random scout. Or that time I killed 4 players by getting random lazer mini gun crits. However, I also remember a moment where a soldier that I sniped shot his rocket launcher just before dying, which killed me with a crit. It’s part of what makes the game memorable.

[@peterschulkke6072]

Difference is, random crits in tf2 are unquestionably bad, unlike in pokemon

[@hyreonk]

Both of these events could have happened without criticals and would have been more memorable for it. Criticals are genuinely bad in games they appear, given and received.

[@sblack53]

FPS and Turn-Based RPG are different genres that random crits affect wildly differently. While random crits are a necessary check in Pokémon, they don’t add value in TF2, and I agree with Uncle Dane that they should get rid of random crits in pub servers (like they already have in competitive).

[@LaserBread]

Also note that TF2's crits do 3x damage, instead of Pokémon's 1.5x

[@matchamixing]

6:01 I like that through creating your videos, you've grown more of an appreciation for GameFreak's balancing while acknowledging their oversights in the competitive meta

[@Madcat1331]

This was a great watch. Your arguments combined with play examples convey the point very well while also being concise. So much so, the arguments for Crits in this video can be applied to other mechanics and games as well!

[@Ironpecker]

Been loving this type of videos as of late, it really shows how much effort you put in them, especially in the research in how pokemon is balanced

[@ciarandowling]

I think the main reason they left in crits is because Pokemon is a turn-based RPG and crits are kinda staples in that genre

[@phillipanselmo8540]

it's not an rpg but yeah

[@MoonMillenniummon]

@@phillipanselmo8540 I think he meant turn-based JRPG. I could be wrong tho

[@Slimeonian]

@@phillipanselmo8540 what? Yes it is

[@tristantancio8763]

@@phillipanselmo8540 ???? you are playing the role of a hero on an adventure to become the champion. role-playing game

[@phillipanselmo8540]

@@tristantancio8763 no you're playing the role of some random kid

[@BestgirlJordanfish]

I really do want to see more of the game feature "set criticals" like Frost Breath. I'm reminded of Fire Emblem Heroes of conditional crits. Going from ×2 to ×1.5 but breaking negative stat changes or enemy buffs is really spicy to me and keeps a chance of avoiding too much stall. It also kinda feeds a game around stat changes that I enjoy in doubles. A Move or ability that crits if HP is low, or maybe while a certain terrain is up, I think there are a lot of ways to engage with it. Or what if Synchronoise was changed to 80 power but always crit if the target shared a type? This will also make anger point and shell armor potentially spicier too.

[@peco595]

That's a great idea for Synchronoise, such a terrible move that I don't understand why it exists lol

[@AndoBanderino]

I always found the signature moves on the Urishifus interesting, they are devastating against set up mons cuz they always crit but against an offensive mom, they become the most consistent move to calculate damage with, but it's still pretty strong that it applies pressure.

[@tomwanders6022]

Im not a Competitive Pokémon player, but wouldn’t it be way better to have such a way to control crits, so you don’t have to rely on randomness? Edit: love the ideas btw. :3

[@nintendork9207]

I like a lot of this, though maybe if Synchronoise was to be adjusted like that, I'd probably set the base power to a more comfortable 55-60. 80 feels a bit too strong for a fixed crit move(even if it is as conditional as sharing a type), y'know?

[@goatles9423]

The Synchronoise buff sounds good, and I think experimenting with "set criticals" could be fun. I played Shin Megami Tensei V recently, and that game has a status move that makes the next attack have 100% accuracy and crit rate. I got a lot of enjoyment using builds based on critical hits (especially since they grant both extra damage and only use half a turn) so I wonder if a critical hit based playstyle could be balanced in competitive Pokemon Edit: I remembered that the ability sniper and the scope lens item exist. Those two plus focus energy would make a fun, gimmicky build, but it's probably not nearly strong enough to get use in high level competitive play

[@vc3245]

Appreciate the amount of effort you put into videos Wolfe. Keep it up!

[@hazza1066]

Tf2 players are going bald over this title

[@pergrineheel3018]

One of the many luck based aspects of pokemon battles. Some games I've lost because my defensive wall got crit, but It's also won me some games. Ultimately, I don't mind them existing

[@wezen89]

Agreed. Even a offensive mon getting crit could be devastating, but doing crits yourself to get crucial kills feels very good. So crit existing are never a problem to me.

[@D3sdinova]

@@wezen89 i dont mind them too much, but they are still insanely unfair. Last night i had a battle with random EVless mons with random moves against a legendary team, they crit 3 times and had 100 percent secundary effect activation. But it was a brutal and fun battle, but like how!?

[@D3sdinova]

Pokemon is like my favourite thing in the world, but im a super unlucky guy. So it can be very fustrating with the luck sometimes. Imagine getting a crit and one shotting a shiny, thats my kinda luck.

[@marioruiz5758]

I would love to see more abilities like merciless that guarantee a crit if a condition is met. Maybe a pokemon that crits if oponent boosted an stat that turn, or a move that crits if opponent is paralyzed, or an ability that makes you crit if your move was redirected

[@MrcreeperDXD777]

I feel like drapion should have merciless. It combos well with poison jab 30% poison and toxic spikes

[@nickinchi]

@@MrcreeperDXD777 not to mention drapion having access night slash & cross poison which have higher crit rates

[@reginaldlaine515]

T-Sp8kes and Venoshock

[@sheridan5175]

I'd go one further and bake it into the game's mechanics, making crits happen more often if your opponent's speed or evasion is dropped or your accuracy is raised, having moves like string shot set up guaranteed crits, etc.

[@DeckKnight]

Also to be on a mon that isn't offensively laughable like Toxapex.

[@SleepyBrady]

when I saw this vid I instantly thought the reason they need to stay is because they ignore stat buffs on defense and Special defense but don't detract from the attack buffs I think. If crits never existed then that would make defensive buffs extremely strong, almost way too powerful honestly and would make stalling a lot stronger because attack stacking buffs are more risky then defense stacking buffs by nature. I think. You take more damage then your opponents while they get even more turns to set up their defense. Crits are really good for dealing with it and honestly it would be super annoying

[@SkaalKesh]

Exactly what I thought too. Stall has to exist to prevent aggro spam from doninating everything, but you don’t want stall to snuff out a format either. There must be a balance, and crits inherently help prevent stall from getting TOO powerful.

[@vez3834]

It does also make going for a move like Swords dance, especially multiple times, more risky. Set up in general can be incredibly oppressive if not carefully taken into consideration. It gives a possibility to still KO a mon that has set up even if you were only now put in battle. It effectively gives powerful moves a more powerful secondary effect. Often lower damage moves have higher chances or better secondary effects. The strongest moves often have downsides. Draco meteor to mention one.

[@STDynamite8008]

Wolfey the way there's always this cut out card version of you in all your videos honestly hits so hard it's proper hilarious plz don't stop

[@egbas]

from someone who follows your channel for years, I'm so happy to see how many people are following you and how good the edition is!! You started as a legend already, but you're conquering the PokeTube with competitive Pokémon. each day something that I can talk more with people, and with less and less prejudices!! Congrats, Wolfie! Huge fan, you're still the same guy I've always loved from the beginning!

[@brianwisecarver4880]

I fell in love with your content a couple years ago with your wild silly challenges and the insane strategies and skill you use to win them. But these deep dives into the mechanics and philosophy of the games are making me fall in love with your content anew World champ difference babyyyyyy

[@Curious-on7ei]

incredibly well put the quality of these videos is something else

[@tsokanos1459]

remember guys like a professional nuzlocker once said: "you need to play around the crits"

[@EmeralBookwise]

Pretty much. If you were in a range where a crit makes all the difference between life and death, you were never safe.

[@D3sdinova]

Also shiny hunters... crits have a 0 percent chance of happening, except when you want to catch a pokemon, then its 100 should one take it out.

[@EmeralBookwise]

@@D3sdinova: crits can certainly be the bane random shiny encounters. When actually shiny hunting, however, you only have yourself to blame if you aren't packing a catcher with false swipe.

[@somebodyrandomly]

Me when I get a critical hit: Do it again Me when my opponent gets a critical hit: Stop. Plz don't do it again

[@makhseed]

Long time subscriber and fan, just wanted to let you know the recent step up in quality of your vids has not gone unnoticed. Love the new stuff, great to see you really coming into your own on this platform. Much love

[@pirateosu9407]

i love these informative videos from you :) theyre super fun to watch and make me want to possibly get into pokemon more

[@mrshimmo1]

I accidentally crit hit a shiny and just got memories of it.

[@gorillagamer1392]

NOW THAT’S A LOT OF DAMAGE

[@ChaoticLapras]

I genuinely like crits. It adds the spice of potentially losing/winning still I compare it to the begging for a flinch while behind which is always exciting

[@rileyackison4495]

Same

[@jackrebble]

Wolfeys videos have gotten so much better lately, it's really fun to see and sort of follow the progress as a viewer :))

[@grandmagertrude7676]

I love the added bits of randomness in competitive pokemon. Accuracy and crits makes a match so much more exciting for me

[@prysthaea7735]

Before watching the video, my take has always been that random Crits are important in pokemon for the same reason that random draws are important in MTG. Some amount of ucertainty is essential in any turn based strategy game, to avoid outcomes becoming deterministic. With minimal hidden information and no randomness, it would possible to know exactly how a match would end long before its really over, which would get really boring really fast. Crits add enough uncertainty that you have to hedge your bets and play safe when you're ahead, or take risks to aim for the margins when you know it's your only chance. It's a fine line. Winning or losing to randomness feels really frustrating, so having too much turn players away. But having too little randomness can turn high level strategy into following a spreadsheet, which can kill a game entirely.

[@hyreonk]

Can you provide an example of a game dying because it "turns into a spreadsheet?"

[@keiharris332]

@@hyreonk Pokemon, actually. Generation 1 basically has 1 or 2 teams in OU. I do believe Aria meant to say flowchart, as in there is a first order optimal strategy that has the highest win rate by far and can be mindlessly followed to victory.

[@hyreonk]

​@@keiharris332 Thank you, that's a good example I didn't know about. But that also means high random chance didn't solve the issue. So at the very least, random is not a 1:1 to variety.

[@greenstill58]

@@hyreonk can you provide an example of a game that is a just spreadsheet? Some form of unpredictability is in every game ever made.

[@XenithShadow]

@@keiharris332 Generation one is still largely determined by luck since perma freeze exists. Also not suprising gen 1 would be pretty much solved there is only like 50 legal pokemon since presumably NFE are banned/ unusable. Also generations been out quite along time there only some much inovation that can be done with 50ish choices when at least some pokemon are pretty much auto includes.

[@lukaskback9710]

I think the unpredictability of each turn makes it more interesting. Whether it is damage rolls, crits, secondary effects etc., RNG adds a layer of strategy. Even if it means you might win/lose a few matchups you shouldn’t have, learning to play to your outs, or minimising your risk of losing is a skill, and over the course of, say, 20 battles, the luck generally evens out. And even if there wasn’t an element of randomness, online play often comes down to making reads and 50/50’s. These things take skills in the same way as optimising RNG by balancing your risk and reward. Luck is a skill.

[@ThePauperGuy]

"It sucks getting hit with a blue shell while in first place" gets hit while in 2nd....

[@galathorus3256]

Very nice video Wolfe! This gave me a new perspective on crits!

[@SillySkull]

I mean imagine losing a Tournament to a crit, I think I would actually lose my mind, and if someone actually has lost a tournament to a nasty crit, then I am sorry for them because that would be a *NASTY* way to go out

[@Marapetersen1]

I didn’t exactly lose the tournament but in game 3 of my last round at my first regional in masters I was 5-2 and lost to a crit, (my opponent and I both agreed I would have won without it) if i’d won that game it would’ve been 50cp towards the 400 needed for worlds. It sent me on a spiral of feeling like I’d never be good enough because something could always just come and take away my victory and after a few more tournaments where my heart just wasn’t in it I quit the game til the pandemic started up. (Sorry for the wall under your comment just wanted to let you know you’re opinion was valid)

[@SillySkull]

@@Marapetersen1 ah don’t worry about the length of your message, it was interesting to read, and that is a very unfortunate loss to an unfortunate crit, and the fact that it made you lose passion for the game for a while just sucks

[@marinomele4575]

I know there are plenty of examples out there, but this is mine all-time-lowest: 2019, SwSh Season 3 (I think), just before the Covid breakout. My first ever tournament, an Italian Regional, with a creative team I built on my own with WP Dragapult and Lucario. After 8 round of swiss, I was one win away from the top cut. Game 1 starts, I'm killing it. First turn, 2 kills. Until... A random ice-punch froze my freshly dynamaxed WP Dragapult. I literally had no dynamax, my opponent dynamaxes and barely gets the W. I was so close. Then game 2 starts, I was snowballing pretty hard once again since my opponent didn't learn his lesson. Then the unthinkable happens... In the following 3 turns, my Dragapult gets frozen by Conkeldurr's Ice Punch once again. My Mymyku misses 3 Play Roughs in a row. And the Opposing Crit-Kiss' Dazzling crits 6 times in 3 turns. Last turn... I can still win. 1v1. My 1HP Lucario with Close Combat would just one shot his full HP Tyranytar. It Dragon Danced, but it was so slow since my opponent's had a TR team. I thought I might still be faster. He attacks first. I lost. Later we talked a bit, and turns out it was a speed tie. And I'm out of the tournament, just like that. Broken mechanics, broken pokemon, no ban-lists and most importantly... Sometimes a game's outcome is just completely luck-based. This simply can't be happening in any competitive scene. This is not competing, this is gambling.

[@SillySkull]

@@marinomele4575 honestly to be that unlucky in one sitting is actually just impressive, but if that’d happen to me I probably would’ve had some sort of rage because my goodness, the opponent getting a crit 6 times in 3 turns is just cruel, *AND* the loss to a speed tie. Competitive can be super frustrating with all this rng eh?

[@JackRule16]

Didn't blunder lose a huge game to a lucky crit?

[@GoldenXPhoenix]

This went exactly into what I had in mind as well, beside from just competitive builds, it just break stalemates in general for the casuals as well.

[@deemg4631]

Critical hit for me: "Happy if i got it" "Hate if the enemy got it"

[@christianj5950]

A pretty good video! You mentioned it briefly but it also sucks to lose simply because of matchup, that’s also a somewhat random thing (some teams are more common but you never know because the meta is so big) that can feel like it’s killed a game before it started. Crits are a great balancing factor that can actually make this more fair, not less.

[@josho.9789]

I compare it to baseball a lot. Losing on a walk off homerun is absolutely devastating, but winning that way feels incredible. That's the crit. You gotta have the good with the bad.

[@jameslowell9656]

???? What

[@WASD_ii]

I remember when I started watching your channel and how much you played around getting crit. It's so cool seeing a "random" thing get outplayed cause you know how to deal with it and I always loved that part of your videos, it's nor perfect but it definitely isn't as 1 dimensional as people think

[@strangemodul3]

Hey Wolfy, found your videos via YT Recommends. I loved this video, and it earned you a sub from me. Here's why: you made a stellar argument about why, not only are critical hits important for the game to be fun, but why they are a solid piece of game design. I've always wondered why games keep crits as a mechanic, and this video has me rethinking my typical negative thoughts on them. I look forward to your future content!

[@conlon4332]

I would be really interested in seeing a video where you try to make Pokémon as much like chess as possible. I don't know if that's possible, but it would be super interesting if it is. I think the most important aspects of chess are the total lack of randomness, the complete transparency of what your opponent's options are, but with enough options, complex enough strategy, and long enough plans, that it's very hard to predict what their next move will be. Beyond that, I think there's a lot of ways you could take it. From allowing Pokémon huge movepools to allowing players to pick from a large selection of Pokémon each turn. You could even implement a board where Pokémon have to be within a certain distance to attack, or even each have specific ways they can move, although at that point you run the risk of making it basically just chess with Pokémon pieces. I think having multiple moves available to any one Pokémon would be important for making it still feel like Pokémon. Edit: Some possible ideas, take them or leave them: In order to take a piece, the Pokémon has to move straight if it's a physical move or diagonal if it's a special move, and moves are simplified to either effective (super effective or normal damage) and therefore able to take a piece, or not effective (not very effective or immune) and therefore not able to take the piece. Maybe base stats could affect how many spaces the Pokémon can move. May need to be a bigger board if many pieces/Pokémon are involved. All the information must be clearly written out, including available moves and stats, as knowing the opponents situation and options is very important in chess. This is just one of many ways this could be done, I'm just throwing an idea out there, I've no idea if this version would actually work as a game, probably not, just some ideas I had about how things could work. I don't know if the board idea is the best bet, it might be leaning too far into chess. More of a focus on Pokémon moves might be better, but as I said I think it could be done many ways.

[@StickMaster500]

This is basically the same thing as what happens in Team Fortress 2 (even if it’s more unbalanced than Pokemon): _It’s better to get a random crit, rather than getting hit by a random crit._

[@FlamingZelda3]

The problem is in my 120 hours with tf2 it appears the random crits aid the team defending a chokepoint more than they help the team that's trying to make the push. I never minded the random crits until I started playing without them and I now see that tf2's random crits actually make the game more stall heavy.

[@sapremia]

Design Docs did a good video on critical hits for people who want to see more of a general outlook on the history and impact of them! It's a good supplement to this video, even though Wolfey just intentionally summons crits in his matches but comes in here pretending it's RNG.

[@jorisdevos5916]

very interesting one this time arround! also hard agree on your opinions at the end good stuff wolfman

[@tsuchinoko01]

oh bearded one thanks for the insight! actually learned alot from your worldchampion difference wisdom in this video

[@itsukizy]

this is a great video! as someone new to VGC, one of the most important things for me when playing is learning not to get tilted by RNG. yes, maybe i got crit or paralysed, but my opponent accounted for that and successfully used RNG to their advantage, and i also have every opportunity to do the same to them. pokemon is all about managing your odds. if my opponent can see their win condition being a crit and they get it, getting mad is stupid. they played the game to their best odds and won. luckily the VGC community is one of the most friendly and non-toxic communities i’ve ever been in and most players i know never get mad at RNG

[@wezen89]

Are you sure about the last paragraph?

[@reeba4824]

@@wezen89 there's always good and bad sides to communities, so hey, maybe this person used their odds to find a good crowd. 😁👌 It's always possible!

[@itsukizy]

@@wezen89 maybe i’m just lucky but my experience with the VGC community has been overwhelmingly positive

[@wezen89]

@@itsukizy good for you!

[@abhinavanand9032]

I critical hit the like button and subscribe button I already did when I discovered your channel and your quality has drastically improved over the time. Keep it up.

[@wonder6835]

Finally someone said it. I always thought crits are good for pokemon. The nuzlocke segment reminded me of Fire Emblem. They serve the same purpose of making the game exciting. The nullifying defensive buffs thing is the main reason though why I think crits are healthy. It makes these buffs not a win button, and prevents boring stall as the dominant strategy. I am glad you saved it as your best point. You basically put into words what I have been thinking for years. I wanna thank you for that!

[@05-redacted5]

Nobody likes being on the receiving end of a critical hit

[@totall4579]

I love how Wolfey's main argument is the same thing I've always thought. I've also thought of making crits impossible to occur on the first attack and/or making them increasingly likely on repeated attacks. This would lower the RNG while keeping all the points Wolf talks about. Hell, it might make games even more tense as crit chance keeps scaling vs stall.

[@hyreonk]

This is a truly brilliant idea. It's simply shining with potential.

[@keiharris332]

I want to add to that idea. On top of repeated attacks increasing crit rate, your crit rate is further boosted if you received no damage in the previous turn. This boost stacks with the repeated attacks boost you mentioned. This way, offensive players still get a fast game and stall players essentially are punished for building up too much. Therefore, setup moves can still be viable while making pure stall a sure-fire way to get punished.

[@grunkleg.3110]

I'd also like to see crits become slightly more likely vs Pokemon that have their defenses boosted. Not too much where it becomes unviable, but just enough that if your Clefable is at +6 and is spamming Soft-Boiled, you're REALLY opening yourself up to a crit

[@revimfadli4666]

Reminds me of Tryndamere's crit chance increase per missing hp

[@rabbits2345]

Just wanna say your videos have gone wayyyy up in production quality. Not that I didn't like your real youtube intros, but wow I'm loving the new stuff

[@der_basic]

Another great video with a good explaination of how a feature evolved over time. I barely care about crits while playing unless it's a tournament and i'm about to lose a match. Overall for a casual player i think it's not that bad to have crits in the game. And as you mentioned you can actually force more crits. My favorite example is Inteleon with Sniper and Focus Energy to ensure you land more crits and deal even more damage.

[@daphenomenalz4100]

You talked about this in one stream so i knew what you would say here too but the reasons 2 and 3 were really well thought of :0, i knew about 1 and 4. Awesome wideo as always, your content booming!!! 🔥

[@Poke-ladd]

The Amount of times I’m trying to catch a Pokémon but fail due to a critical hit is too damn high yet I never get one in a battle against leaders or finals bosses or online

[@galliussbattlefield3621]

13:38 Slow and extremely defensive strategies AKA Chansey + Shuckle. +6 Groudon can 2-shot that Chansey with Max Quake even after its fellow Shuckle has used Guard Split on it, but it feels so pleasant when you one-shot it with a crit...

[@weebboi9457]

Pokémon: “I love 200 turn games” Yu-Gi-Oh!: loses before the game even starts

[@hobbes2234]

Hey, that was a great video. I liked the animations and the explanation was well done. :)

[@vincentpey3929]

Crits belong in most jrpgs (idk about rpgs in general), they give larger variation beyond your attack power and the enemys defense, if there is sufficient customization crits could be an alternative way to deal high damage in the endgame instead of just a high stat beatstick.

[@jetstreamjackie3437]

This is exactly how I feel. Back in Gen 6 when I first tried to get into competitive, I kept running into annoying Skarmory singles teams that took 40+ turns to end. Without crits, those teams would be successful even in doubles. Crits are good!

[@hyreonk]

It's an interesting point, but they trade a little excitement for a lot of unfairness. There are other solutions GameFreak can institute to weaken this particular strategy.

[@Fincaurum]

Personally I really like to play in a way similar to the "epic sweep" videos, when the entire strategy focuses on buffing a single pokemon and then sweep with it. Often this strategies make use of baton pass, a move that is usually banned. I think crits could be a perfect way to balance moves like baton pass, just think of them as the opportunity attak in D&D, if a pokemon gets hit in a turn when it's using a move that will make it switch out, the chances of getting a crit are agumented to 1/4 ore even 1/2

[@allergic_to_zucchini_noodles]

that's just Pursuit

[@Fincaurum]

@@allergic_to_zucchini_noodles pursuit is a bad move that can at most get to 80 base power... it's not the same

[@azzix4586]

​@@FincaurumPursuit was an incredible move that let you take potshots on mons and win games in a lot of scenarios

[@jamiew624]

It's all fun and games till a Kingdra comes out holding a scope lens with the ability sniper and uses focus energy

[@fabienchamberland4791]

A reason i think we need to mention is the logical aspect. Pokemon is a game were creatures fights in a active and restless battle. Normally, they would just try to hit the opponent period. But if there lucky and hit a weak spot, then its a crit. I feel like taking out crits completly would remove the feeling of powerfull beasts fighting to the best they can, then hitting a weakspot when theres a chance. That explains a lot of moves that have higher crit ratio by nature, like slash or wicked blow. Those moves create a weakspot, therefore critting more often. It also explains the move focus energy. By focusing, the pokemon can hit weakspots more often, therefore critting more often as well.

[@frosttoros663]

Team Fortress 2 moment

[@mrpajamas4031]

Thank you Glickman! I'v'e always wondered why crits were a thing. Now I can cite you in my essays of frustration directed at inconsequential video games!

[@metroidgus]

awesome video and you nailed it on the stall issue on singles, biggest reason i avoid the smogon format and just stick to doubles where stall isn't really that viable to begin with

[@basedjiren3889]

Without crits Intimidate, Calm Mind and Iron Defense would be way too OP

[@dukeofburgerz5225]

Man, it's videos like this that help me realize how much Wolfey knows about Pokemon. Makes sense for someone who's been in competitive pokemon for a decade. But it's incredible to just get peek into the insight this man has

[@MeboDotExe]

i really love how wolfey’s advice for not getting crit is “You can’t get critically hit, if you just don’t get hit!”

[@Swayz790]

I knew it felt like I was getting and receiving more crits back in the day

[@sopadumacacoumadelicia5]

Crits need to exist otherwise some stall teams would be busted and impossible to defeat.

[@phillipanselmo8540]

GRAND DAD?!?

[@Lyth13]

No it just means people would have to run toxic

[@zoruafox7512]

@@Lyth13 ah yes have to run toxic when most great setup mons that crits would help against are immune to toxic. Magic guard clefable or reuinclus for example or steel or poison types. Are you saying everyone should run neutralizing gas wheezing so that toxic works?

[@Thoray]

This sort of explanation just says that the actual problem is game balance itself. RNG used as a balance measurement is a poor and underdeveloped solution.

[@NeonWasInUse]

ah yes, because OU isn't just swimming in some of the most potent stallbreakers in competitive history atm.

[@earthbornplays3853]

Wolfey, I would love to see you do a video going into the impact that bag items (potions, revives, status heals, etc) would have on the vgc landscape.

[@Palasid11]

That’d be interesting but complete item freedom would make stalling much worse. Limited items though? Hmmm :)

[@earthbornplays3853]

@@Palasid11 agreed, I think it would be very hard to balance but also quite interesting if they managed to do it right.

[@adamtucker1896]

I wouldn't have seen this if I hadn't subscribed, thankyou for the encouragement

[@jmormaple]

Really appreciate these informative videos debunking popular complaints!

[@aldoushuxley5953]

Wolfe, Gamefreak experimented with dual type moves like "Flying Press", which is both fighting and flying. I think in the future we might see more dual type moves, or maybe even a gimmick around that. What dual type move would be the strongest? Is it the same as thinking about coverage normally, or are there offensive type combinations which are better? What would the impact of more dual type moves be?

[@ASH-bb4sg]

ground and fighting

[@scottvanderhorst873]

@@ASH-bb4sg aggron is crying

[@keiharris332]

if we use the video he made about the best combination types, the answer is fairy steel. Althought I will always be a fan of bolt beam (electric/ice)

[@ASH-bb4sg]

@@scottvanderhorst873 lol AGGron : call an ambulance , but not for me . ( sturdy exist) Aggron ( uses counter)

[@victory8928]

@@ASH-bb4sg death intensified

[@Komoto4444]

Wolfey has really leveled up his content recently, really digging the analytical videos tuned to not-world-champs!

[@Dabrick47]

I think another thing that makes crits so annoying is that you don’t know that you got a crit until AFTER you see the damage. So you see that your attack did a lot of damage, but it turns out that it was a random crit.

[@vez3834]

It creates tension when you need to avoid a crit or get one. It gives that sense of "I've made the best decision I could, now let's see how it pans out". The best example I can think of for the opposite working well is League of legends. Most of the time basic attacks and spells will show the damage dealt right away. Crits also show it right away, but it works in that game because there are other ways of creating tension. The perceived weight of each instance of damage needs to be lowered just due to how many times you get hit in just one match. Seeing how well your Pokémon took a hit or how much damage they did to the opponent is where you have time contemplate your choices. You can also ask Lord Helix for mercy!

[@derekfarkas5538]

Last game I played was gold version. Recently got a switch and brilliant diamond and started watching this channel and now I wanna get into competitive. It’s so dense. Like world of Warcraft dense. Imagine if Pokémon VGC tournaments had payouts like Fortnite tournaments. Frequent 100k payout tournaments. Great video, subscribed

[@Poillip]

Eliminating critical hits also wipes away a huge number of moves and abilities from the game, which further reduces options and potential variance. Not that high-crit strats are common, but every once in a while, you get to see weirdos like Togekiss shine in offensive roles, which is always cool.

[@nightfox538]

To be perfectly honest, I find that you should have at least 1 Pokémon that relies on Crits. For example, I run a Super Luck, Razor Claw Honchkrow with Night Slash, Rain Dance, Nasty Plot and Hurricane.

[@Poillip]

@@nightfox538 I think it's much more important and common in the current metagame than it has been historically. Crit sets were always a potent, if high-variance, offensive option, but it was kind of a niche filled by those with the right toolkit, and not usually consistent enough to be a staple of any given metagame. Now, with mons like Dondozo buffing both defensive stats, crits become a much more viable wall-breaking tool, and not a just a general damage threat. Plenty of mons could use Focus Energy sets before, but I think the value of those sets is much higher now than it used to be. Side note, it reminds me of Gen 1 Body Slam Tauros xD That nasty speed tier critting every other hit was super fun, and totally balanced :P

[@Vexas345]

​@nightfox538 I think that's the good kind of crit mechanics. It doesn't feel bad to get crit if I know that's what your goal was and I could've played better to counter it.

[@Dabrownman1812]

​@@Poillipthey could just make anti boosting moves, not crit. For example (leaf blade ignores a defense boost and deals a bit more damage if they're defense is boosted)

[@hunterotte9555]

I always felt they were necessary specifically because of bulky stall strategies. Some mons could just never die if crits weren't a thing.

[@MarkusB69420]

This was very well explained. Thanks Wolfey.

[@byzantine5761]

10:56 the additional footnote of testing the RNG in here is also why competitive players used Fissure Ting-Lu. Unlike other pokemon, it was worthwhile and probable you can roll the odds enough to get a fissure hit. Sure, fissure is 30% accurate, but it really isn't if you roll it a bunch of times.

[@SmithYorkinster]

For me the best way would be to keep crit chance in high-crit chance moves, add more high crit and guaranteed crit moves and buff old barely usable moves with crit chance, and remove random base crit.

[@Charliezard7]

This would make stall teams too strong

[@Samuel-nj4yy]

I suppose that I am weird for liking crits after all. They just feel like dumb fun to me when you can get a sniper pokemon to work which is far removed from anything viable but let me have silly TR+Ariados nonsense.

[@z0n3h34rt]

How to avoid critical hits: “be faster than the opponent and knock them out before they can attack”. Solid advice, why didn’t i think if that. Was nice to learn about the mechanics behind it tho

[@miastrong151]

I don't play Pokémon VGC, but you are an interesting dude. I like to battle in Go, and that's all. I have been very entertained listening to you talk about type-charts and changes throughout the generations. I liked gens 1 and 5, and that's all.

[@PatrickWDunne]

1:26 People have nostalgia goggles and forget all the bad shit with Gen 1

[@m.m.2341]

To be fair, you wouldn't notice most of it in a normal playthrough.

[@rashmideulkar8343]

Thanks for this,so much today I was playing pokemon showdown and was in a random battle i was struggling to beat my opponents quagsire which had 4x spd my espeon was spamming psychic, i was wishing for a spd.drop, suddenly i hitted a crit, the attack k.o the quagsire, i was like "wait wat", i was thinking how did it killed it, thanks for explaining this

[@wierddude5477]

I may only really play yugioh and play pokemon casually but Dam I'm learning so much I feel like I can go to a tournament and not get last place, thanks for the great vids

[@damialesh2109]

Great video. Thanks for the insight!!