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Thoughts on starters now that their evolutions have been out for a while? & Rank them!

Sheep

Sheep

  • Togepi Egg Pokémon General Cadet
    • 42,805
    Posts
    18
    Years
    A few people weren't sure about the starter evolutions originally but grew to like them more over time (especially now that the games have been out for over a month!). Others changed their mind completely on their starter once they saw they evos. And some (like me) loved their original starter choice even more once we saw what they evolved into.

    So what do you think of each line now that they've been out for over a month? Additionally, how would you rank each line? For me..

    1) Sprigatito line
    2) Fuecoco line
    3) Quaxly line

    But I honestly like them all.
     
    I'd say my ranking of starter lines has stayed consistent throughout the entire reveal cycle, even past the release.

    Even though I favoured Sprigatito on the day that the starters were revealed, Fuecoco eventually made its way into my heart and never left. When the full games were leaked, I found pretty much all starter evolutions disappointing... and yet somehow Fuecoquito's were the most salvageable, despite my desire to keep the little baby unevolved forever. Heck, as eDgY and thin as Skeledirge is, it's growing on me because of its music motifs (especially its Torch Song animation!) and absent-minded look not very unlike its basic stage's. I do admit I like Floragato due to its yo-yo gimmick, but Meowscarada was a huge disappointment. And Quaxly I never paid much attention to, but its evolutions catapulted it to the bottom of my starter line rankings.

    Here, have some rankings.

    Overall line: Fuecoco line > Sprigatito line >>>>>>>>>> Quaxly line

    Basic stages: Fuecoco >>>>>>>>>> Sprigatito > Quaxly

    Middle stages: Crocalor = Floragato >>>>>>>>>>> Quaxwell

    Final stages: Skeledirge >>>>> Meowscarada >>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>> Quaquaval
     
    I rank them in this order:

    1. Meowascarda – I knew I was picking Sprigatito regardless because of its cuteness and the leaks revealed that Meowascarda had stats, abilities, and moves that suited my play style. I used this creature for practically every storyline, challenge, and so on as my lead Pokémon, and I also use it competitively as my main go-to physical sweeper. I have strongly bonded with Willow, which is my Meowascarda's nickname. I love Meowascarda's animations. It shows that you can make a cute, pretty, and feminine Pokémon without overdoing it like a certain Pokémon on this list. Meowascarda has now become a favorite of mine, but not quite all-time yet.

    2. Skeledirge – I had a feeling that this line would be more defensive, which I knew wasn't my style in a regular playthrough. Thus, I didn't choose this line as my starter. However, that doesn't mean I couldn't obtain one later and use it competitively. With that said, I use Skeledirge on one of my Trick Room teams competitively and it doesn't disappoint. I use it as a very slow bulky attacker with Unaware to ignore opponent's stat boosts and boost its Special Attack with Torch Song. I also love its foghorn sounding cry.

    3. Quaquaval – I strongly dislike this Pokémon, mainly because of its design, which is unusual for me, as I don't care too much for a Pokémon's appearance. I was disappointed though. I was expecting a strong, Donald Duck-like sailor or pirate that looked like a tough fighter or something. Instead, we just got a huge mesh of unnerving weirdness. Quaquaval is too overly designed. It is overly animated, has a weird body shape, and has too much going on. Competitively though, it is pretty good. Its ability Moxie raises its Attack when it KOs a Pokémon and when used with Aqua Step, it gets Speed boosts as well, making it a good physical sweeper. At least it has something good going for it.
     
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    If the duck were to have a redesign (appearance), then I would rate it as first since it's a monster with the hidden ability. After that the croc is better than the cat for battling, since Protean got nerfed. I still like the cat the best, but miss the second evolution stage using the cat's cradle animation when it attacks.
     
    First stage: Fuecoco > Sprigatito >> Quaxly. Finds Fuecoco to be more unique-looking than a grass cat.

    Second stage: Floragato >> Quaxwell > Crocalor. Dislikes Crocalor's sombrero (technically nest, but shh) and spaced-out expression. Is no fan of Quaxwell, by any means.

    Final stage: Meowscarada > Skeledirge >> Quaquaval.
    • Would have liked a smaller mask and more cat-like body on Meowscarada. Contains a lot of good elements: the cape, the pop of color in the flower, the mask overall, and even the expression. Could not go too wrong with magician cat.
    • Appreciates trying to go with something more than just "fire crocodile". Dislikes the top of its head, however. Sticks out too much. Likes the bird on it, also.
    • Good colors and the interesting peacock tail for Quaquaval. Hates the dance more than anything.
     
    I'm probably the only one who hasn't vibed with the Fuecoco line ahah. Fuec is kinda cute and the final evo has a cool theme going on, but it's just the wrong style for me.

    Sprigatito and all its evos are amazing. Definitely my favs! Love Meowscarada, it was a great final form.

    Quaxly is really cute too, love its little cool "hair". The middle evo is like an awkward teenage phase, but Pignite, Servine and Quilladin survived that so this one could too. Quaquaval looks really cool with its colors and peacock like appendages etc, and the dancer idea is lovely. The only thing is some parts of its design make it look uncanny. Maybe I could look past it if I used the pokemon a lot and grew used to it.

    So Meowscarada > Quaquaval > Skeledirge for me.
     
    1. Fuecoco
    2. The cat one
    458. Quaxly

    I don't mind Quaxly but the rest can go.

    That being said I miss when Pokemon names were two words related to the Pokemon put together. Quaxly is sort of like that. Not really a fan of any of their names.
     
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    Maserati777 said:
    That being said I miss when Pokemon names were two words related to the Pokemon put together. Quaxly is sort of like that. Not really a fan of any of their names.
    Click to expand...
    idk about the Quaxly line, but the other two seem to still follow that convention?

    Fuecoco is fuego (Spanish for fire)+cocodrilo (Spanish for crocodile)
    Crocalor is crocodile+calor (Spanish for heat)
    Skeledirge is skeleton+dirge, with dirge being a type of song composed mainly for funerals/mourning/etc (it's probably loosely based on Dia de los Muertos)

    Sprigatito is sprig+gatito (gato is Spanish for cat, and gatito would basically be "kitty")
    Floragato is flora+gato
    Meowscarada is meow+masquerade

    or do you mean something else?
     
    My rankings.
    First stage: Quaxly < Cat<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Fuecoco.
    Middle: Quaxwell<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<Fire Hat<Floragato
    Final: Quaquaval<Meowscarada<Skeledirge.
    Overall: Qua<Cat<Croc
     
    chriton said:
    This is the first game where I haven't used any of the starters. I put them in the box as soon as possible
    Click to expand...

    You missed out on some really good starters then! 😊
     
    I really enjoy these starters, much more than the previous generation ones. My favourite is Quaxly, who of course I picked for my Pokémon Scarlet adventure, still in progress. I grew very attached to Quaquaval because of its amazing in-battle animations, especially when making use of brick break and aqua step, its signature move. The stats are very good as well with a solid attack, nice defenses and moxie as an ability, which is not something to laugh about.
    As for the grass starter, I like Meowscarada a lot since it reminds me of a certain Digimon (Piedmon) due to its neat conjurer appearance. Finally, Skeledirge, whose name's impactful even has one of the sombrest cries out of 'em all. Once again what a fabulous kit of starters, Paldea has.

    Come on, everyone, my beloved Quaquaval needed a bit of appreciation.
     
    I consider Meowscarada to be my favorite evolution line of a starter pokemon in the whole series so no bias there...

    I would rank them #1 Sprigatito #2 Quaxly #3 Fuecoco
     
    Hashimi said:
    Come on, everyone, my beloved Quaquaval needed a bit of appreciation.
    Click to expand...

    I appreciate everything that it can do in battle, but it is just way too overly designed for me.
     
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    3. Quaxly line
    Quaxly goes on a downward spiral for me design-wise. I like Quaxly, but Quaxwell honest to god puts the "mid" in middle-stage, and Quaquaval is...uh, something. It's like if a gacha game character designer was in charge of this thing. It's strangely not very Spanish, but that'd be fine on its own if there wasn't a certain starter this generation with more Mexican than Spanish influence (hopefully I'm wrong on this one though). It's also quite strange that Quaquaval and Meowscarada both end up being fast physical attackers; sure, they're vastly different beyond that, but there's a strange amount of overlap between these two.

    2. Fuecoco line
    On one hand, thank god Fuecoco doesn't turn into a fursuit. On the other, I feel that Skeledirge is emblematic of Game Freak's many pitfalls when designing a fully evolved starter. It's a pretty drastic shift from the dopey Crocalor, and I feel there's just too much going on at once, with the Día de Muertos motifs and the crocodile-plover symbolism and the singing and...it's a little bloated, isn't it? Fuecoco was my favorite of the three starters when they were first revealed by a landslide, especially because it looked like an apple/pepper, but Crocalor instilled a few doubts within me. Skeledirge made a good first impression, but I've grown less fond of it over time; it's not horrible, but making Crocalor and Skeledirge look more naturally like evolutions of Fuecoco would've done a better job. I will say however that for a crocodile, its design does a good job of conveying that it's not the best physical attacker, and it's pretty cool as a defensive starter that can also snowball out of control offensively.

    1. Sprigatito line
    Sprigatito was by far the weakest of the three starters for me because of how generic it looked, but it's funny how Floragato and, eventually, Meowscarada, won me over. Floragato looks elegant and tricky, and Meowscarada logically follows this by becoming an even more elegant trickster. Meowscarada's design is much simpler than the other two; to me it communicates its motifs much more elegantly than Quaquaval, and isn't trying to do everything all at once like Skeledirge. Its signature move is also silly and Protean is always a great ability, even if it got nerfed in SV. Sure, the cat stood up, but at least it doesn't suddenly become roided out like a certain cat from Alola.

    All in all, Paldea's starters have subverted my expectations, for better and worse.
     
    Now that I have actually seen all three lines on my own screen:

    1: Sprigatito, Floragato, Meowscarada. I love all three stages, though Meowscarada started out as a mon I like rather than a mon I love.

    2: Quaxly, Quaxwell, Quaquaval. I like all three stages, but it's not a cat =P

    3: Fuecoco, Crocalor, Skeledirge. Easily the worst of the three for me since I only like Crocalor. I'm neutral on Fuecoco and dislike Skeledirge.
     
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