I 100% believe in the algorithm. Literally every single time I get about 10 wins a row, the next 10 battles I'll get nothing but hard counters.

Easy to explain: The more you spend the more you are favored. This game is a casino app basically. High rollers get preference.

A word about tanking....ive clearly benefitted a few battles on their way down but ive gotten many losses on their way back up when im in the 2000-2400...to me chess did it right by instituting a rating floor....to equate it to gbl, once you hit 3000, you would not be allowed to go below 2800 even if you lost every game after hitting 3000. The idea is that the really skilled chess players could not tank and win a large cash prize in the 1500s lets say. A rating floor keeps people of like skill playing others of like skill.

Here is the issue if you have a good day, for example, go 20-5 The next day, you have now jumped up a level ypu will face players with a better skill set..... so nutrual matches you were winning the day before. If you make a mistake, you're more likely to get punished.

It seems like no matter what, 100%, reliably, when I switch my lead Pokemon, I always get matched with a hard counter. I would start putting money on it if the raid passes weren't taking it all.

After 4 years of watching GBL debates I have yet to come across a single person who can tell me why whenever I switch my team the Pokémon that I’ve seen 99% of the time just completely vanishes from my future opponents. NOT ONE PERSON. I kno what Elo is, and Elo does not explain that fact

As someone who's hit Legend in the past, and had this discussion with 2 other local Legend Rank battlers; this is how I feel about it: Regardless of what video game you play, there is a matchmaking algorithm system which pairs players based on skill level, elo, location, availability etc - and Pokemon GO is no different to any other game out there that has online functionality. The thing I hate the most about GBL is the blind three format. The game is honestly that bad into implenting this format that we are forced to approach and learn new strategies based around guesswork, which is not only out of our control, but makes it unnecessarily harder than it needs to be. What GBL is missing is a unranked mode - where we can go into GBL, and use that game mode to test out new team comps, practice battle strategies, and be able to take the time to understand how all the core mechanics work without being penalised by a shitty elo system if you make any sort of trial and error. Currently, the only way you can have this sort of unranked mode is if you're able to find anyone to do practice battles to begin with. I would like to see more tutorials for certain battle mechanics and battle strategies too. Because not only does the game do a terrible job at explaining shit, most GBL Content creators don't do a thorough job in explaining advanced mechanics and strategies to help people get out of bad situations like hard lead loss or hard counters. Maybe more of that can help players understand the game more thoroughly and be able to defeat the algorithm. Because it is definitely doable, but only if we are taught the correct way in getting out of bad situations in matches.

100% real

The algorithm is awfully suspicious when I saw one bronzor in 10 battles with a bite pokemon, but as soon as I swapped bite pokemon for poison jab pokemon, my next set had 5 bronzor...

As a 7 time legend player, I feel bad for the people who are under 2500 rank who are heavily affected by the algorithm.

So 3 main things stop me in believing the algorithm: First, you forget more good things than bad things, in general. If something is annoying, like getting hard countered, it seems like it happens a lot more than hard countering someone else, since it's annoying to you, and all the hard-fought games where you just win or just lose don't stand out either, unless they're particularly exceptional. Second, is the way the Elo system works in general: People gravitate towards 50%. In *any* given symmetrical PvP game with a functional matchmaking system, only a handful of people aren't going to be somewhere between 45-55% win rate after a large amount of battles. Third, and most significant to me, is I really just do not believe Niantic is capable of programming something so functional. Debacle after debacle, bug after bug, they have a precedent for disasters. A perfect algorithm to counter you after a while, but not too long, would just be hilariously broken in all the wrong ways.

I’ve played league of legends for a long time and having the mind set of 40% of games are easy wins, 40% of games are hard losses, and the other 20% is skill based has helped me handle the rps style of go battle league. Also if you call a coin toss wrong 5 times in a row the coin isn’t broken you just got unlucky.

Before I even knew anyone had ideas about an "algorithm" I completely expected that Niantic did have something setup to counter users after either a certain number of wins, or when the scales tip toward some greater-than-50% win ratio. This is because I have run teams that get countered by one particular Pokemon that I am seeing on like 75% of teams in the last 2 full sets I have battled. So then I change up team to counter that specific Pokemon and then that Pokemon pretty much disappears. As in, the next 2-3 sets I do, I will barely see the Pokemon that was previously in 75% of all the teams I was facing. I will finish through my sets, and maybe see it 1 more time or something if I stick with the new team. And on top of that, I have often seen that when I switch teams like that, to specifically counter a particular Pokemon, then I suddenly see all sorts of Pokemon and team comps sometimes that I have not seen at all throughout the entire open-format GBL season I am playing. Pokemon that almost no one plays, and that happen to handily counter the new team I have picked. And even still - when you do stick with a team, YES, you will eventually hit a good lead, or start winning more consistently - but this definitely takes a bit after you have switched when you are getting smacked down. Which points to the idea that when you are on an uptick of wins, or start seeing those fair leads again, the "algorithm" is then just picking randomly, or maybe even choosing YOUR TEAM as the counter to someone else who has started moving too far past the 50% win rate. I agree, however, that even if the algorithm exists, the people with the best skill, who can most skillfully maneuver through the activities of "the algorithm" are the ones that hit the higher ranks. For sure.

QOTD: My thoughts on the Algorithm are basically the same as HomeSliceHenry’s. They’re elo based and random (unless you get stream sniped of course lol). If you get a bunch of bad leads you’re just terribly unlucky with the people who you’re getting matched up against. It’s not the game giving you bad leads or bad teams.

Algorith is definitley real, but there are definitely plays that better players see and can make to flip terrible matchups. Any team can have another team that just walls it. Becoming a better player and getting better Pokemon is always possible despite what the Algorithm does to you

100% agree. I think the algorythm exists (and can be turned on to mess OR help you), but in the end, it doesn't change the way I should play. I must be able to squeeze wins in the worst scenarios, and not mess up if I have an advantage. Algorythm or not, good players are able to climb. So I should try to be a good/better player. About players tanking: It's not against the rules. For any reason, if you want to do it, do it.

This video is just straight facts, I agree with basically every point you made: 1. It doesn’t matter if the algorithm exists or not, you just have to focus on what you CAN change (aka your knowledge and skills). 2. Legends tanking is a problem with the way the game is designed and it is NOT the fault of any players just trying to maximize their rewards. 3. Legends might still want to play the game even after getting all their rewards, they are NOT required to give out free wins to non-legend players. 4. If cheating gives an advantage over other players, especially if it’s a competitive advantage, then it’s definitely unfair. 5. The state of the game right now is AWFUL and it is unacceptable that Niantic is doing nothing to fix it. Great video!

QOTD: No algorithm. Just a very stale meta in a blind pick-three format. People who run an incidental spice pick and hoping it can fight the meta often don't possess the knowledge to create a team with synergy, or the depth of team reading, move counts, and energy management, and _certainly_ not enough to break the very, very common cores that plague the current meta. As such, they are frequently countered, even when they have somewhat favorable lead matchups. It's why Grasshole -- and similar RPS team comps -- are so painfully common. Please remember, that for each general elo range, you will see a sort of 'stratification' of team comps, and respectively popular teams thereof. It's not some mythical computer program that's keeping you down; it's merely other players running what works for them and trying to climb/grind. I highly doubt Niantic _could_ even implement an algorithm that forces players in sub-tier elo brackets, because, frankly put, and based upon the absolutely insane decisions being made by the company, Niantic simply isn't that smart.

QOTD: I don’t think there’s an algorithm and my case is a proof. I’ve been playing GBL for a long time, first sporadically, where I used to hit Ace and nothing more. Then, one season I reached Veteran for the first time. Then Veteran became a given and started aiming for Expert till I finally reached it. Finally, this season, after reaching Expert 3 times on other seasons (my highest ELO being 2994 last season and then tanking) I finally reached Legend. So, my question is, did the “algorithm” finally let me reach Legend, letting me reach a higher ELO each season? Or did my skills improve enough that I was finally able to be consistent? I’ll leave the answer up to everyone here. BTW: There’s plenty of cases of youtubers getting triple hard countered and still winning and also people becoming so good with a single team, they are able to reach legend with it. If the algorithm existed, that wouldn’t be possible.

Is there a predatory algorithm? Who’s to say, but do the leads change when your teams change? Absolutely, I ran galv in the lead, exactly 2 mantine leads out of over 30 matches, switched to annilhilape and hit 7 of 10 teams with mantine/mandi leads…. Don’t let people gaslight you into thinking that’s not happening EDIT: played 10 more matches, lost lead 7 times, lost switch 5 times. Random?

It definitely exists. Every PvP game has a form of this and I 100% agree with this video. The only to climb for sure is to use the best mons. Sitting at 2200+ Eli from 1700 using the meta. Even then all sets aren’t 5-0 mostly 3-2.

People who think there is no algorithm are the same ones that think the earth is flat the sky is purple the moon is a jawbreaker and there are fairies and dragons flying around.

I don't necessarily mind the algorithm, but I think it's unfair most of the time. Some of us don't have the resources to raid or get the XLs for certain pokemon, and to get some of the meta pokemon with good ivs is hard, so, some of us like to use decent pokemon but the game screws you over. And sure you can learn, you can improven but how? The lag in GBL this season was INSANE. They made so many changes in the game that affected other side of it, specially GBL, the start lag, when you're thoring a charge move, skipping frames, frozen screen, when I say that I lost because of the game, i mean it.

Elo rating is calculated using a formula generated by a physics professor for chess. The lowest possible Elo in chess is 100. That's based off that formula. I'm guessing Niantic uses a similar formula but has a minimum of 300.

The algorithm is real. Since the game can pick your team during raid battles to best counter the moves for the raid boss, the game can also easily match you up with opponents who you can hard counter or opponents whose charged moves will counter yours.

I agree with PokèAK that the Algorithm does exist.

My view on it is that if you go on a ridiculous run with a team for instance the 27-4, you are going to start facing harder counters where you're going to have to start managing your energy better and making catches. I think this is indeed the algorithm making it harder on you because I've run obscure teams that no one should have hard countered and I'll face obscure hard counters myself. Doesn't mean it can't be overcome but yes it is real. Also a lot of algorithms take into account how much you spend on the game. If you're prone to getting frustrated and then spending to make a new build they're probably going to encourage that behaviour.

Sure there is match making, based on ELO… and that’s it. It doesn’t need more than this. And yes basically it holds you close to 50% because if you climb you face other Trainer with higher ELO till you not climb (you re not climbing at 50%) I tried it a few times… if I play daily I m ~55% winrate… but if I make a 1-2week break as I hit better players as me… and only look for climbing, I reached 2900 ELO with a 68% winrate. There is nothing more, it needs nothing more. And of course, you climb if you use meta Pokémon or Pokémon which breaks meta cores… so good players and bad players with good teams are climbing faster/higher than other… which leads finally in a different meta on different ELO ranges.

I've lost interestin battling due to the algorithm. Now I just enjoy your videos and play it casually.

There is of course some sort of algorithm for match making. The obvious is matching based on elo as well as time zone (try playing in rural area at 2 am and youll be matched with the same players over and over). There is probably other things it selects for but the one thing that is certain is that it doesnt work as Niantic intended, lol.

The algorithm is annoying but necessary. The Garbage Elo system is what hurts. I Go 3-2, and I gain 15 points. I go 2-3, and I lose 17 points? What kind of garbage math is that?

I’ve been playing the game for almost 2 years now and I finally hit expert for the 1st time in the great league remix. I think the thing that helped me the most was just sticking to the same team that I built. It had its share of weaknesses but overtime I learned how to play through the less than ideal matchups with it. Anyway I really wanted to hit legend but just can’t get over the hump and now that catch cup is here I’m back down to 2700 lol maybe next season!

I think exactly like you do Callum. People use the Algorithm as an excuse why they cannot climb past a certain rank and it just silly.

Aside of the interlude seasons (5 and 10) it was really difficult for me to get to legend rank. I used to watch a lot of gameplay on KZfaq (I still do more than ever) and got a lot of knowledge but the legend rank still wouldn't come for me. I believed I was ready for it back to season 8 or 9, but I wasn't able to get it and started blaming the algorithm, also noticing that a really good day of sets (e.g. 16/25) was always followed by a bad one (e.g. 9 or 10). I wondered how I could level up my elo if I was only able to go back and forth between the 2600s and the 2900s. I was at the point of deciding whether it was worth keep trying or not. Then, in season 11, after a heart-pounding 3/5 set with hard counters on both the 2nd and 3rd battle, with my body shaking I managed to get to 3000+. It was the biggest relief in a while. I went outside home and walked for miles. Since then, I've always been legend but there are some thing I want to make everyone notice. All the battlers are improving, fast or slowly, so levelling up is going to be more and more difficult. This season for example I floated in the 2400s for all the first month. I was wondering, "is everyone improved so much all of a sudden?". People were aware of win conds and everything else already in the 2400s. Then with battle weekend and one more day I had a blast of 600 points to get to legend. Ultra league was a blessing for me. Some seasons it was easier, others it was more difficult for me to get legend, but here comes what I want to say. The first and most important thing, alongside types, resistances etc, is mastering a team or two in every main league. Gotta be aware of the main matchups, and find the ways of winning close battles, if there are. One single meta team, if mastered, is enough to gain elo, even if it may seem to be countered every now and then. No team is perfect against all the meta. Then, there are a lot of skills that make the difference between a 2600s elo player and a legend one. I'm talking about team predictions, fast move timing, knowledge of the energy required for charge moves, sense of baiting and getting baited, knowledge of attack stats for CMPs, undercharge, move catches with also 1-2-3-4 turn pauses, cmp sac swaps,

Niantic cant fix anything with gbl thats been issues for ever. I dont think they'd have something as complex as an algorithm

The algorithm is noticeable by set, very easy set followed by difficult set and subsequent rewards. So the algorithm does not affect ranking in my opinion, but there is an algorithm I am very sure.

Callum you are not a tanker, you are a Spice lord.

I feel there is skill no doubt, but it's more luck than anything else. No amount of skill level can decide what lead you are going to get and to come back from a bad lead is very skillful, but it not possible most of the times. Also a scald debuff which is luck based or a night slash boost which is also luck based can completely flip a game. IMO it just boils down to how lucky you can get, regardless of skill level.

Well said Callum, I like how you are very balanced in your view points, at the end of the day, if you believe the matchmaking is random or not, the same players hit legend every season, the best players always get leaderboards and just because you win lead does not mean you win game, we have all experienced matches that we have won lead won switch but the opponent somehow won, winning the matches you should win and overcoming some of the matches you should have lost is a bigger factor than anything else. Truthfully nobody knows for sure what the matchmaking system entails in POGO, the only way we would know is having access to the games source files which we do not. Niantic are capable of creating such a system because in reality from an engineering standpoint it's much less complicated than a lot of other features in this game already, Niantic are bad at times however even indie developers are capable of writing engagement optimised matchmaking systems. If you are an algo believer or not be respectful, just because you strongly believe in your opinion does not make it a fact. The thing that should be focused on most is how you can improve, if you get good enough at the game legend rank is almost guaranteed

QOTD: it is real but I agree with Nerds Rising, at the end of the day whether it is real or not, we all have to deal with it and the better players can overcome it. Although Niantic can easily target who they want to (PokeAK). That is my opinion.

Yesterday i went 21-4 and gained 200 elo and made it to expert.. today i went 4-21 and literally 22 games were hard counters. a little sus. it was also same team for all 50 games.

There is a matchmaking Algorithm. It's designed to match you with teams that are weak to or strong against you. This is simply a fact but people only think of it in a negative way. For example, if your team has dragons on it, you have a very high chance of encountering a fairy, steel, ice or other dragon type. If you, get hard-walled every game, it's more of a team building issue rather than the game targeting you specifically or bullying you. The game is trying to keep matches interesting by giving you obstacles to overcome and if you built a well-rounded team then you would have answers to things that are strong against you. News flash, this algorithm doesn't discriminate. This is the same for every player. You can make the absolute most insanely random team you can think of and I promise you the algorithm will match you with the 1 person running the most random core-breaker you can think of. Luckily the number of players running that random core-breaker at a particular time is likely to be very small so you'll probably only have to face that pokemon a handful of times if you stick with the same team. On another note, if you switch your team literally EVERY battle, you will likely encounter very different Pokemon very often but those teams will likely still contain some META pokemon. The thing with the META is that they're meta for a reason, they can usually cover a wide range of pokemon so you'll see them more often than others because they're likely strong against (or weak to) a lot of pokemon.

I'm not sure if I believe in it myself, but I do have a friend who is confident its real and does tend to blame a lot of his losses on it. Neither of us are THAT great at the game. We know a lot of the tips n tricks, like team comp, catches and under charging moves etc. But neither of us are really that good at counting energy, or knowing exactly how to plan ahead for matches. I can say there are a lot of matches where it FEELS like there is an Algorithm, but I know from watching youtube channels like this and HomeSliceHenry that there are times you can beat teams that should have the advantage if you know how to play correctly. So while I cant say for sure how I feel about the existence of an Algorithm, ultimately I do try not to blame the match up system since I know, at least for myself I still have a lot of learning to do.

dont tell me there is no algorithm when i played 10 matches and 8 are steel leads with one comp, then i switch comps and the next 80% matches are counters in the lead again. then the next time i play i win lead and swap hard by 80%. the game is a factory of outcomes and our comps dont matter, thats why everyone plays the same 20 pkmn.

Is there an algorithm? Yes Is it designed to make sure that your win rate is at certain level by matching you with hard-counter team? Doubtful Does it matter? Not really Any team will have its weakness, a core breaker. Does it mean you should top-left? No. You can still win if you can outplay the opponent or the opponent misplays or the opponent lags. Point is the algorithm is something that’s out of our control. No use dwelling on it. What’s more important are the things we can control - like the team you use and how well you play.

I’ve played enough to know that it definitely exists. And I’m saying that as someone who has reached Legend the vast majority of seasons. And it does affect “how you play the game” - or rather how you compose your teams. Its existence means good stats and moves matter more than typing.

Yeah gbl is amazing but it’s been hard to make the meta fun :(

The algorithm is real. But we know there are ways to overcome it. The game will help you if you lose too much, and make it more difficult when you win too much. All done by which pokemon you face. But almost any matchup can be flipped with good gameplay.

I managed to hit legend one Time I think 1 leg gave me a free win in my final set. They had me beat, all they had to do was throw a charge attack and they won but they hit top left instead

There's no algorithm in the PokeAK sense, just the MMR system. Niantic has terrible programmers, they wouldn't be able to make work something that takes into account team comps. Even at gyms sometimes the recommanded teams have some nonsensical picks. I call bullshit about those supposed legend players in the comments that believe it's real. Let's be honest, most of the time those people are simply not very skilled players looking for excuses...

The algo didn’t stop me from playing the game cause it is what it is being able to build ultra league and xl mons which is a completely other game in itself that I do not have the time for did

I beleive in the Algo, but i do not think it has any bearing on being able to win matches. It only exists to promote balanced matchmaking and gameplay with your ELO range...but can be overcome by skill and teambuilding

QOTD: I think there is some sort of match making algorithm. Non GBL example, If you do multiple raids on the same boss, look at the autorec team . The recommended Pokémon will resist the raid boss’s charged move. I noticed this during mewtwo raids. I was able to guess the charge move based on the recommended team. HOWEVER, I don’t think any algorithm conspires to keep you down nor does it take away your agency for improving your battling skills or team building. In the end, it’s just like Callum says. The game mechanics are fixed and it doesn’t matter whether you believe in it or not. Take charge and of the variables that are in your control.

There’s been days where I just can’t get a good lead to save my life, and I’ll switch some stuff around, then all the sudden my next lead is getting walled. I think to myself “wow I am unlucky as all hell” I don’t believe in the algorithm, because I’ve hard lost lead and still won many many times due to calling baits/catching moves etc. as Jamie says “learn to count” We’ve all had good and bad GBL days, and theres a lot of factors that exist besides thinking a game is targeting oneself specifically

People who say theres no algorithm. I went 3 sets no fairy types. I decided to add double dragons and got set up with 2 FAIRIES ON MY FIRST MATCH. My win rate will forever be 55-60%

I honestly used to not care at all and not really think much of it but one day I switched a team and instantly got hard coutered by a froslass lead into infernape hard counter switch (it was pretty funny). After that I started paying more attention and it does seem like sometimes when you change team they just give you random shit thats not even good that many times. But tbh there is way bigger stuff that needs our attention rn. KingGbl a smaller content creator made a video on how the game is many times unplayable for some of us regafrding lag, stutters, the meta and the updates and the awfull inconsistency overrall with the game mechanics. These are way more important. The algorithm is just annoying occasionally

Where'd you get the CallumOnToast hat?

I've tried the starting out late in the season thing on my wife's account last season. First two sets got very easy opponents and won all 10. All of a sudden at rank 3 I ran into 5 hard counters in a row against players that seemed to be playing with the same skill as a veteran/expert trainer. And my wife's and the opponent's rank was hidden.

I don't see "giving out free wins" as justifying this. If you instantly resign, the other person cannot play 1 of the 25 games they get this day, that they cannot play because someone you decide to cheese the game. It just artificailly inflates your rating, making it more likely you will exactly just loose a game in the next sets instead, to be where you are supposed to be according to your skill. So every free win is also a future loss that'll make up for it. If you do it at least instantly resign. Don't let the other person wait out your bring in timer, even if you run 10 cp pokemon. I have no problem with people running spice.

I literally used the same team for 100s if not thousands of battles, ive always been a one trick pony so to speak, long story short, when i did finally start changing mon after a year its allowed me to see clearly a change in opponents teams making games unwinnable.

I can literally predict the leadout based on my team. The algo is not only real, it’s insanely obviously and predictable .

After encountering 5 leading dragonairs leading with dragonite in a row, same set, and 4 consecutive bastiodon leads leading with my froslass, yes, I believe in the algorythm. It doesn´t keep me from thinking "what could I´ve done better?" even if I get hard walled. Making it the closest is enough motivation, but being able to see how the algorithm plays with you ain´t fun, specially considering that the win rate will eventually even out anyway if the matchups were truelly random. It makes you feel like you can never know how good you are with respect to others, which is the point of competing. The "you shouldn´t compare yourself to others" loses meaning when you do it for fun. I respect what anyone thinks about this because reality doesn´t change based on mere opinions, but it´s something that frustrates me and many others, and is reasonable to think some might be bothered by other´s contrary opinion. Anyway, I play for fun or out of boredoom, not to get mad.

QOTD: The "algorithm" used to really bother me and I'd blame it all the time. However it just occurred to me that I haven't even thought about it in quite some time. After learning more about team building and watching other players better than me play I've grown past worrying about the "algorithm". But who knows it might still exist I wouldn't be surprised 😅

I think the algorithm is real and that it looks at your team, but I love what he said about not worrying about it. Whether it’s real or not, blaming the algorithm does not help you become a better player.

You and Poké AK should have a 1-on-1 discussion about the Algorithm problems in GBL. Both communities will def tune it for that 💯💯💯

I think there is some kind of algorithm for sure, but not as toxic as most people seem to think. I rarely change my teams but when I do I run into completely different teams than previously. I don’t think the algorithm keeps you at 50% I think it keeps you from triple hard countering teams that you are playing intentionally. I have generally around 50% win rate but I do get large streaks of both winning and losing. Currently running 5-0, 4-1 and 3-2 sets in catch cup little but the pervious cups had me all way down at 1600 elo because I couldn’t get winning sets in that meta.

What we need isn't elo. It's more a gate keeping the ones who got each level and only matching them up with others of that level. Skill based it's definitely better because if you run into a legend at 2400-2500 elo. Theres not much for the legend facing off against the ace. (Some would argue the knowledge, but i digress) The legends would match against others and you can then run spice for fun. The elo doesn't really help for this game. Since skill and elo are two different things trying to do the same thing.

If the problem is to match legend players when people are at the 2500, people should be happy cuz they can practice with better players

This is exactly right. It’s the difference between being a problem solver and lamenting a problem to the point that it’s debilitating. Well said sir!

I had no issues with ledgends tank until now as I'm playing in the 2300s and just playing 19/25 that had the ledgend badge yes I lost the vast majority of them

It doesn’t affect me who is a rank 18, and I’m pretty sure it only is in the Elo ranks

Here's my idea to test the algorithm.. the idea, you should theoretically hard win lead, hard lose, soft lose, soft win, or neutral. Record every lead for ALL games (only leads). Then, use PVPoke to get what the win number is (between 0 and 1000). Theoretically, the AVERAGE should be 500. Over the span of a day/week/season that number should be closer to 500.

In my 5 seasons of hitting legend. I just can’t find the “algorithm” everyone is talking about

For all the people complaining about the algorithm and stuff like that: most of the time, if you are hard countered on the lead and on the switch is because you have poor team building skills or you don't have enough pokemon to use. I started this game 2 years ago and I literally had only Umbreon, Azumarril, Skarmory and Drifblim. I barely hit Ace rank for few seasons. I took me months to build all the pokemon that I have now and to understand how to use them. Now I am close to Expert for the first time and the olny suggestion I would have is to practice and understand how each pokemon works. Eventually i will get better and see the results, trust me.

Qotd : algorithm = bullsh!t

This season was my first 17 win streak ever since no matter what team I used was hard counters

Come on Callum...you know very well there is an algorithm for matchups. If I ran triple shadow charmers, I would win 90% of matches without an algorithm countering that. Also, if I run a triple shadow team, I ALWAYS get matched against more shadow types. Not a coincidence

Ahhh, the good old flat-earth-theory from PokemonGo. Why is it that the majority of great players deny the algorithm, while the majority of mediocre players can't stop whining about it. Hit me with the downvotes.

Regarding legends tanking, sometimes it's just difficult to stay in 3000s in certain metas *cough catch cup cough*

I do feel like you make some great points on this, i used to be an algorithm beliver myself but now whenever i get a 2-3 im like "aw shucks i potato played one battle and it costed me." If at first you dont succeed, try try again

Ahhh the algorithm. lol I believe in it but that’s the ELO system. Elo makes it so you hit a plateau

I run whatever i feel like, regardless of the meta. Sure, I lose a lot (ran triple Bug when Talonflame was everywhere) but that goes with the territory. I play Orks in WH40K, so i am used to either winning easily or being completely destroyed based solely on RNG.

I lose most of the fights that I participate in. I almost never lose fair fights. The people I lose to are not more skilled than me, and have unfavorable match ups - as an example, they will field a venusaur against my alolan sandslash and use sludge bomb against it instead of frenzy plant. Frenzy plant is only single resisted, while sludge bomb is double resisted. Frenzy plant can be used sooner and more often and to inflict considerably more damage. The people doing this don't understand basic type advantages, and further don't even take advantage of smooth brain opportunity. How do I lose to such opponents so often? Primarily because of selective stuttering, lag, disconnects, etc.. Whenever an opponent has the upper hand, the game runs smooth. The moment I reverse that, all of the sudden there is a connection issue and I lose my energy lead. And their counter has already charged and is launching their charged move but I didn't get to see that or what they even swapped out because the last few seconds my phone struggled to load anything and i'm lucky if I can use my shield to block. Some times the protect shield doesn't protect when I have clicked on it multiple times per second for all seconds I was able to do so, with all taps displaying on screen and no actual network issues like connection broken or speed throttling. Whenever I lead with a favorable match up, the enemy has swapped out and used multiple quick moves before I can get my mon to start on its first quick move. When I have an unfavorable lead match, I don't see the countdown and can't swap out until the enemy has already half knocked out my mon and is launching its charged move. If the match times out, I lose for what is usually the opponent's bad connection.

I do think there is an algorithm, that's how most applications are run, but the cut and dry rps system that is highly based on your moves and is also why I "try" to run stuff that counters the common meta and the off meta but isn't easy and on occasion you run into someone who has an exact counter to everything you have and swaps perfectly as you do almost like.they know what you're running or an approximation. Edit: I do think people are able to oveecome ths approximate counters to your team but with great difficulty and deliberation. Otherwise, there is no point trying.

Not an algorithm believer, but after watching videos, grinding good pvp mons and playing for 5-6 seasons I hit legend the last 2 and season high of 2993 last week. That being said try to get above 2600 ASAP because the metas calm down a lot.

IMO, a glorified gambling company that rakes in billions from mobile games is gonna have an algorithm in order to regulate rewards. If you’re playing a mobile game with a gambling aspect and money involved, it’s the same as a casino, the house always wins because it turns out companies like money. I’m really not sure why people are so convinced otherwise.

Algorithm is real. You either get matches that you hard counter perfectly or matches where the opponent hard counters you. This season I didnt have yet a single match with a neutral lead. Not only that but the gameplay heavily relies on the type advantage/disadvantages. It's basically a coin flip unlike, for example, Pokemon showcase where there are so many effects and attributes which can make someone with skill and bad lead+switch beat someone with less skill and good lead+switch. In this one, I've also been sing a lot of youtubers playing GBL and 90 to 95% of the time, the person with the type advantage wins, no matter the skill. Not only the person in disadvantage needs to be really skillfull but at the same time the person in advantage needs to be really noob for those situations.

I mean. I got to 2900, then got multiple sets where I had lots of hard counter leads. I eventually tanked to 2600. But i don’t know if the algorithm is to blame. I think accessibility of Pokémon and stardust is the biggest issue for me. I basically only build budget Pokémon so I have to work with what I have. Sometimes that works out, sometimes it doesn’t.

The most obvious and easiest solution to the “gatekeeping” or “tanking” problem is to stop taking ELO into account and only match legends with other legends, veterans with other veterans, etc. I’m not saying it’s a good solution, just the easiest. I know the first few people would be stuck playing the same people over and over until others made it to the next level. And I think the algorithm is obvious solely based on the leads. There are 18 types with most mons having about 3-5 weaknesses. Neutral leads should happen way more often, but in seemingly 90% of battles someone has to swap out immediately. Of course skilled players can overcome situations with good timing, catches, energy management and whatnot. That doesn’t change the fact that the game is TRYING to make you lose or TRYING to make you win.

There has always been an algorithm. Surely the same people saying that there’s an algorithm to match your elo with another player then denied there’s an algorithm altogether. An algorithm doesn’t make you a shit or a legend player, skills does that. The algorithm is there to ensure that we all keep playing pogo as having it to easy or too hard will make a lot of people quit the game. It’s revenue for Niantic to make sure we are manipulated to keep playing the game and keep spending.

Only thing that throws me off is when I pick a completely random team And get a mirror match 😅. Shiny arbok was a funny one 😂

I don't believe in that algorythm. It all comes down to statistics. I base this theory on my previous legend runs. All it takes to climb the ladder is a nice, consistent team that can face almost all the meta mons you can find in any league. It's way better to keep winning 3/2s instead of rare 4/1 or even 5/0 streaks in the long run.

I personally dont believe in the algorithm but I wouldn’t be shocked if niantic came out and said it exists, if you believe in the algorithm I would try to correct them, my biggest problem is the source, a specific man by the name of PokeAK yaps the fuck out of it and he gives people the terrible mindset

The algo is the worst thing in the entire game. It completely ruins it. It 100% exists, it completely knows your lead, your back line and your moveset. I would easily have a 80-90% win rate with the meta pokemon with amazing PVP ivs and I have almost exactly 50% win rate every season. I can go 9/10 with the same team then run into nonstop hard counters and go 1/10……

Finally someone who respecfully tackes this theme QOTD: I think the same as you, I don't know if there's a so called "algorithm" I don't think so, but I don't have the tools to be certain if there's one. but since season 6 I've been always hittin legend, because I started getting better at the game, two seasons ago I even got in the top 50, If there's an "algorithm" it's the same for everyone, good and bad players, and if there's not an algorithm it's the same for every player again, good and bad. The only variable that exists in both cases is the player and if you keep complaining about the existance or non existance of an algorithm you're never gonna git gud.

They are still counting that money from diagla and palkia event

There’s many complaints that can be made about the game, but the existence of a matchmaking algorithm is not one of them. Instead of complaining about it, learn how to beat bad matchups

The Algorithm is a bit annoying when we tried you push up and give us hard counters but in the same case the enemy feels the same

The begining of this video sums up the modern day society sadly, great video thou

the short answer is, matchmaking algorithm being real or not doesn't affect your gameplay strategies. all the fundamentals on how to play well and succeed still hold true.