SeaprincessHNB
Friday Night fights are here! Do you like watching PvP battles on Twitch? You are not alone. Twitch streams featuring GO Battle League are all the rage in the #Battlers community. But there’s another kind of battling on the rise – Team Battles. Team Battles are not new, but they are growing on Twitch. Last week, we featured an amazing showdown between two cities. Going forward, one channel will feature Team Battles as a regular part of their streaming schedule. Let’s take a look at this channel and why they’ve set aside a regular time slot to highlight Team Battles. Let’s get ready for Friday Night Fights!
G2G: First, tell us a little bit about yourself and your interest in PvP.
Sosaflo: Trainer Sosaflo, hi, from the LA Region. When Pokémon GP first came out the whole point for me was to battle. It was to just travel down a park path and just battle some random person. Once I learned about Silph and GO Stadium I jumped in immediately. Getting into some great cities and meeting some amazing friend in different regions.
G2G: How did you make the leap from Battler to Streamer? And from Solo Streamer to Community Streamer?
Sosaflo: We were never a solo project. James and I had some time on our hands and we were watching the 3 big names at the time: Zyonik, Herovange, and Elite4 (merged with Go Stadium). I had always wanted to be a Pokémon shoutcaster. So we showed my videos to the top LA battlers. James edited the battles and I was all about the stats with PvPoke. We just wanted to show great battles. It was a great fit for us. From there we just kept growing. Through LA battles we connected with Poké Battle Tower and provided them gear for the LA Mega. The first big Pokémon GO Tourney. After the LA Mega I just had to find a way to unite all these LA regions. So we easily found 8 regions from TSA season 1 that came together to help create this LA community. Once COVID hit it felt like we had a chance to help these smaller regions survive. So we kept the Champions League going so our smaller communities could stick it out in these tough times.
G2G: What is “Friday Night Fights” and how does it work?
Sosaflo: Its amazing battles. It’s our version of Monday Night Football. The idea came to me when I was thinking about the LA Champions League. If there was a way we could get a second league we could make a rivalry. Enter Atlanta. When FirstOlympian wanted to do the Atlanta Champions League I was so excited. I was waiting for us to get to a showdown. I didn’t expect it was going to come so soon and it was magnificent. Basically we asked each team to present 5 battlers. These battlers then chose 5 bans. If they duplicate; no extra pick. So its good to try and not overlap for a full 10 bans. The teams have an inside draft. Where with the bans given they choose their 6 mons. No Team can have the same Pokémon twice. To determine match-ups, we draw names out of a hat. Then our MAIN EVENT is on FRIDAY where we all get together and shout at our screens watching these battlers.
G2G: How can someone get involved?
Sosaflo: Reach out to myself or FirstOlympian in the Team Rocket Academy Discord. We would be happy to set up team battles. After this week we have Team Atlanta v Team Boston.
G2G: How can someone watch the matches?
Sosaflo: We are airing them on Twitch.tv/teamrocketpvp Friday nights at 7pm PST. We do our analysis of the teams the Wednesday before at 7pm PST as well.
G2G: How do you see team challenges growing? Is this the future of Pokemon GO PvP?
Sosaflo: There’s so many ways. It’s just too vast and open and anyone can make a tourney at any moment. Look at the Specialist Cup we just had on Team Rocket. Another amazing example of how team challenges can grow. You can create a team where everyone has a different specialist class. And they battle the opposing team randomly. Or matching up classes. There is just so much out there. The future of PVP is in everyone’s hands. Right now we are taking a hard hit with the stopping of in-person tourneys. But as long as we stay strong and united we can get through this. Maybe one day we can all cheer for a Friday Night Fight at a live studio.
G2G: What has been the most surprising thing about pulling all of this together? The most challenging?
Sosaflo: The most surprising thing is the battles. The creative team we have here at Team Rocket are amazing and enthusiastic. Also I wanted people to jump on this early, I’m glad it was the next day. The battlers and the battles are the most surprising thing for me. When you get to see other battlers from around the country battle it out with your local rival or your top Ace buddy, making it come down to the 1hp proper energy swap… Ya that is the most surprising. The most challenging thing is … I’m gonna have to get back to you on that.
Here are the rules for Friday Night Fights. Each team selects 5 battlers. Those 5 battlers confer to determine 5 Pokémon that they do not want anyone to use in the battles. Team composition is basically done like a draft tournament. Within each team, only 1 battler can use any given Pokémon; there can be no duplicates. Each battler will face one battler on the opposing team. The pair of battlers will play 3 matches. Every win earns 1 point for their team. The team with the most points after all 15 matches have been played wins the Friday Night Fight event.
Still have questions? Drop them in the comments section or in the Twitch chat.
No member of either team can select one of the banned Pokémon for their battle team during Friday Night Fights.
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Combined List
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Ninetales Swampert Wigglytuff |
| Memorable Moment: “2020 NA Continentals Rd 7 (vs Caleb Peng) AND Rd 8 (vs Limonlime94). Finished 5-3 and got me to Elite.” |
| Known for: “The biggest Swampert fanboy. It’s THE BEST MUDBOI!!! If it’s eligible in a cup and I don’t run it, everyone is shocked.” |
| Weakness: “Bugs. Kill them with all of Chadelure’s fire!!” |
| Hype: “Playing two Big Krit songs (K.R.I.T Here & Big Bank), and picking a song after that to battle to.” |
Lapras Registeel Tropius |
| Memorable Moment: “Just getting invited to Regionals and participating with the World Champ Speedy that day.” |
| Known for: “Coming in Clutch.” |
| Weakness: “Triple charm” |
| Hype: “I usually play the Buffalo Bills shout song.” |
| Team Hype: “These days are crazy so make sure you stay happy and humble! You will see more from the Underground.” |
Diggersby Shadow Abomasnow Rainy Castform |
| Memorable Moment: “The Atlanta Champions Cup (Nightfall Edition).” |
| Known for: “I would like to think team building is my strongest suit in Silph.” |
| Weakness: “Abusing my Shadow Abomasnow, its one of the best sacs in the game!” |
| Hype: “I have a concentrated approach to battling so I can stick to a gameplan.” |
| Team Hype: “Building The Underground discord up with battlers from accross the globe!” |
Cresselia Umbreon Vigoroth |
| Memorable Moment: “Sunrise Cup. That was my first tournament win & I was super excited about it.” |
| Known for: “I think I’m most known for being a family man & school teacher.” |
| Weakness: “My biggest weakness is definitely Red Bull. I feel like I can’t function without one. LoL. I guess that’s an addiction as well.” |
| Hype: “Watching my favorite streamers on Twitch gets me hyped. When I see them succeed, it gives me motivation to continue to strive to be the best that I can be when I battle.” |
| Personal Message: “I’m dedicated to being the best that I can be in all aspects in life. I strive to be the best teacher everyday & also the best battler in the world. Work ethic is everything.” |
Dewgong Alolan Muk Toxicroak |
| Battler could not be reached for comment. |
Dewgong Shadow Hypno Mandibuzz |
| Memorable Moment: “My very first Silph Cup ever, Timeless. Had absolutely no clue what I was doing but managed to pull off a couple wins even with my SHINY WAILLLLOOORDDDD!!!” |
| Known for: “My love and usage of shiny pvp mons!! Flex is Real.” |
| Weakness: “Can be stubborn and set in my ways. Can be a real ‘Sour Patch’ kid, as my wife puts it.” |
| Hype: “Loading up PoGO.” |
| Team Hype: “Backstage Battlers was founded by myself and a group of 4 other people. We had all come together for a Battle of the Servers tourney and did another one after that. We decided to make a server instead of just a group chat. 6 months later the server has grown and has an amazing group of not only battlers, but people as well. All are welcome here and some of us even consider this our home. Our team consists of 4 out of the 5 admins in the server. Not only that but 3 of the original members from the initial Battle of the Servers are on the squad as well. Our team mascot is Treecko in honor of our other Admin who couldn’t participate in this battle, NationalBowler1.” |
Tropius Whiscash Vigoroth |
| Memorable Moment: “My first ever tournament sinister cup in North Fulton at a local Mexican restaurant. I went 3-2 but had some great food and met some awesome people.“ |
| Known for: “I am goofy and I try not to take anything too seriously.” |
| Weakness: “I overthink everything i do in PvP and life.” |
| Hype: “”Watching other people’s streams.” |
| Team Hype: “ATL is taking over! |
Jirachi Alolan Muk Pelipper |
| Memorable Moment: “Dropping a Focus Blast on an Alolan Rat. OHKO’d” |
| Known for: Sac swaps / team building |
| Weakness: “Lag.” |
| Hype: “Always hyped for PvP! My favorite part of any game.” |
| Personal Message: “Always discuss the game mechanics, never hate on the player.” |
Jellicent Shadow Machamp Zweilous |
| Memorable Moment: “Silph Nightmare cup – I 2-0ed Caleb Peng and was featured in his recap video. “ |
| Known for: “In PvP I am known for coming up with weird strategies (that don’t always succeed)” |
| Weakness: “I try very hard to use anti-meta Pokémon and I’m stubborn. This has sometimes cost me matches and tournaments..” |
| Team Hype: “We’re gonna send The Underground …. underground.” |
Primeape Umbreon Cresselia |
| Memorable Moment: “I have several people I battle with, and one of my favorite battles has to be the first time I beat them because it made me realize how much I had grown as a battler.“ |
| Known for: “My enthusiasm for whatever I’m involved in. This extends to PvP and real life. I throw myself into whatever I am involved in.” |
| Weakness: “Shadow Victreebell, yes, even after the Nerf.” |
| Hype: “Events like this get me hype again because it brings out creativity and camaraderie.” |
| Team Hype: “We built this server out of a GO Stadium team competition. We enjoy the positivity and love of Pokémon. We all have rough days in the PvP community, but the support from this server honestly has kept me in PvP a lot longer than I might have stayed without it. “ |
Match 1: MJGettit vs. H3ARTofMYST1C
Match 2: Rob1skii vs. ItsxxKarma
Match 3: Cdub87 vs. JamesGames1722
Match 4: Rstands4Reezy vs PokeballN
Match 5: Ilexforest vs. SkaarLord
Where and When to Watch the Battles
The Friday Night Fights broadcast will feature pre-recorded battles with live shoutcasting on TeamRocketPvP. Tune in to the Twitch channel on Friday, January 15th at 7 pm PST to catch the Friday Night Fights action.
Getting Involved
