5th Gen Triple & Rotation Battles

In the 5th Generation, we were introduced to two new forms of battling known as Triple and Rotation Battles.

The former has you using three Pokemon at once, and you have to plan your attacks and positioning carefully since a Pokemon on the far left can't attack something on the far right (and vice versa) while the center can attack literally anyone. Some moves can even hit anything regardless of position.

Rotation Battles on the other hand, also has three Pokemon used but you have only one on the field at a time, with the twist being that is you can rotate team members as you attack the foe and it can make your moves harder to predict because you might aim for someone's weak spot only for them to rotate to something that takes the hit better.

Did you enjoy these new battle styles? And would you have wanted them to be more prevalent throughout the game? Any strategies you loved using?

I LOVED Rotation Battles, it was a lot of fun predicting what the opponent was going to do next, being very satisfying when you got it right.


In all honesty I wasn't overly keen on Triple Battles, mainly cause of the limitations of the Pokémon on either side, so I preferred Double Battles to Triple ones personally but I still liked the idea of them even though I wasn't very good at them haha :)


I definitely would have liked to see more of each throughout, and I liked how they had Charles to introduce you to them in-game.

When it comes to Triple Battles and Rotation Battles, I find myself liking Triple Battles more. This is because they improved it from the Double Battle format. As for Rotation Battles, they are not my thing since there is always a chance the opponent will ruin the setup for me doing a super-effective attack.

Triple is alright nothing too enticing about it. As for rotation battles I think they're so much fun. I just love trying to guess what my opponent is going to switch to and countering them. I think I'm pretty good at them!

I took a fancy to the new battle formats; they provided a fresh breath of air from the monotony of singles. I preferred Rotation Battles to Triple Battles, simply because they offered a completely new strategy of fighting. Predicting opponent's rotations, and calculating your's added more elements of fun. Whereas Triple battles just seemed like an expansion of Doubles, not too great and loses its novelty too after a while. I wished that they incorporated more of these battles in the games. IIRC there were only like 3-4 opportunities where you battle NPC trainers in such formats.

I preferred Rotation to Triple Battles. I just think that Triple Battles were a little too much. Rotation were really unique as it became much more of a guessing game where Triple Battles were just a little annoying tbh. That said, I could have done without either format. Doubles are enough for me!

I loved how these new battling styles made you put more thought into your strategies, especially with placement in Triple Battles and prediction in Rotation Battles.

I enjoyed Triple Battles more than the Rotation Battles, as sometimes they can get strategic when opponents might gang up on you all at once. I think the Battle Subway might have been a bit more interesting had they incorporated these two styles.

I love these new Battle Systems they introduced! I'm particularly fond with the Rotation Battle! It can be fun yet tricky -- you get to see the opposing team's Pokémon but you never know which Pokémon you're exactly gonna face on the next minute! That really adds the thrill in battles, not to mention it really tests a Trainer's prediction, knowledge and battling skills.

I was kinda expecting to see this format (along Triple Battle) at least from one Gym Leader battle, similar to how Liza and Tate showcased Double Battle in RS!

Pendraflare said:

I think the Battle Subway might have been a bit more interesting had they incorporated these two styles.

Click to expand...

I agree, it would have been more fun to challenge with these added. At least 6th Gen seems to have learned by incorporating Triples and Rotations into the Battle Maison so that's taking the right step, albeit a generation later than first introduced.

I find the triple battles to be convenient for me in so many different ways. But the rotation battles just tend to piss me and a lot of other people off more than anything lol

flight said:

Triples were ok for the most part, while rotation battles were just really gimmicky and disappointing. Both formats are generally pretty annoying though.

Click to expand...

I played Black so I was exposed more to the Rotation Battles, and while they can be gimmicky they can be fun as well because you don't know what your opponent is going to do. Triples on the other hand are a bit harder because you have to consider your Pokemon's placement.

They are both challenging in a way but very fun because it does add a fresh slice of strategy to the battling table. Not everyone likes it, but it's always cool to try new things.

I was doing Triple Battles most of the time because I'm using White, and I enjoyed it quite a lot, because I need to implement some good strategy and placements to make sure my team can battle optimally, because some attacks won't hit if you're too far from the target.

Rotation Battles are quite good as well, at times you wouldn't know which opponent Pokémon would you face because both of trainers are switching the position at will, not to mention the type advantages and whatnot, but it's still enjoyable.

I think they're really neat! I haven't gotten too much practice with them though since their metagames don't seem to be very common in competitives. I imagine they'd both have their own set of strategies, tiers, and viable sets, but they don't seem to have been as carefully studied as singles have been over the years :c