What's your opinion on Team Preview?

[Alola]

Casual players. Competitive players. Any player who has battled another through wireless communications has undoubtedly seen the Team Preview feature. What do you all think about it? Do you prefer the days where Team Preview was nonexistent, akin to how battles are generally portrayed in the anime? Do you think it gives too many advantages to the opposing player, as well as ruin tactics such as Illusion shenanigans?

Or do you think it is much needed, and provides a healthy battling system where you don't go into battle too blindly and certain gimmicks don't run amok freely? Does it allow for players to add more depth to their strategies for battling? Should it stay, or no?

 

[Zexy]

It should be an option for the sake of players who like to use it, but I believe it's nicer and more challenging without it, it adds a harder new (well, old) layer to the battle. It is more realistic as portrayed in the anime, too. I believe Team Preview should exist but not be forced or used in tournaments; and when two players online wish to battle with it, they only get paired up if they both have it active and vice-versa.

 

[SpikOriundo]

I only got into battling online with SM, as it was the first game I had original... Unless you count the Vietnamise Gold I had.
So well, I don't quite know how it used to be, but I like it, you don't have to worry about strategies you can't counter unless you know about the existence of the Pokémon in there.

 

[Bob Fizzle]

I think Team Previewer promotes much more aggressive and offensive play. Some may disagree, but I'm going to call that a good thing.

-Without Team Previewer, players are forced to make certain assumptions about their opponent's team. Since I don't know what my opponent's win condition is, I am always at risk of sacking my counter to it and leaving myself vulnerable to getting swept. Conversely, I don't know what answers to my own sweepers my opponent might have, so I end up playing more conservatively until I've seen his whole team.
-Although certain archetypes such as stall or sticky web HO are fairly obvious, scouting becomes much more valuable not only to scout my opponent's sets but the 'mons themselves.
-Similar to above, dedicated leads and anti-leads become much more valuable and viable because I don't know if my opponent is running a dedicated lead himself.

While you can certainly argue that all of the above are certainly valid arguments and critiques against the Team Previewer, I would liken Team Previewer to a chess board. Being able to see the whole board from the start of the match allows good players to play multiple moves ahead and opens up a whole new level of prediction and counter-play that is at best risky without knowing the opponent's team beforehand.

 

[Soki]

I have to say I dislike it. I sometimes play in competitions which only allow you to use 3-4 Pokémon, so whenever I see the Team Preview I have to go and guess which Pokémon they're gonna use and just ugh, I prefer to just not know what I'm going against than to guess wrong It also makes it more fun and challenging for me to just have no idea what I'm up against, and it also helps me more if the opponent has no idea what I'm using either haha.

So yeah I'd very much prefer for this to not be a thing anymore. But I get the point from competitive players that this helps them to be more strategic and all.

 

[Zeb]

I think it's good for the game. There's too many Pokemon, moves and abilities these days to try and predict every possible combination of what your opponent is keeping in the back with zero information. So just seeing their team gives a bit of knowledge about what to expect, but doesn't ruin everything.

It also stops Zoroark/Illusion being completely broken.

 

[Pyrax]

I like it, but it really should be an option in the menu like the other restrictions.
You can predict the opponent's strategy beforehand, which they can use to catch you off-guard. if I see a Rain team for example, I'm expecting their Drizzle Pokémon, a Water-type, and something to counter Grass or Electric-types. So I choose three mons with an advantage based on my prediction. My opponent can then choose a different set of three mons to counter mine.

 

[Bob Fizzle]

I don't think it should ever be optional in matchmaking games. For games against random opponents, it needs to be consistently on or consistently off. I wouldn't be against tournaments being able to turn off the previewer, but the most important thing is that it has to be defined beforehand and it has to be consistent given how much it changes battle strategy for both players.

For casual, essentially private, matches, I can get behind an option to toggle team previewer off or on as an individual option, but for any matchmaking system or tournament, it needs to be set one way as part of the competition's rules and left that way.

 

[Almonds]

I sometimes wish the Team previews were off because countless times I've seen teams that are way too predictable and way too obvious that it takes out the thrill of battling someone online.

 

[Muur]

Poor Zoroark.

It's probably better to have it tbh. I guess if you want a surprise, cover your screen