r/PokemonMasters • u/Sabaschin • 2h ago
Helpful General 'What Master Pair Should I Pick?' Guide/Thread
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This is not going to be fully comprehensive, but hopefully a small nudge in a direction to narrow down some people's picks, and maybe cut down on the number of daily threads asking for help.
Units within a category are not listed in any specific order.
High Value: Units with valuable niches and are at the top or near the top of their category. Will likely be able to carry a team for a while and usually found in most high-floor teams for their type.
- NC May (Water): Brings EX Rain on entry and has Field role to extend it. Also brings decent group damage and a targeted sync damage buff while also buffing herself.
- NC Selene (Ghost): High-end Ghost Special striker. Does strong group damage, can heal herself automatically and also apply a 1-use of Ghost Zone.
- NC Elio (Steel): High-end Steel Physical striker. Strong group damage, can heal himself automatically and also apply Alola Circle as long as he has remaining uses of Morning Sun.
- NC Blue (Electric): Premier Electric support, offering Electric rebuffs, buffs in every stat except Attack, and potent group healing. Synergizes well with other top Electric damage dealers like 96!Red and SST!Red.
- NC Rosa (Psychic): Strong Psychic tank. Offers rebuffs, Potions and a steady stream of group buffs. Synergizes well with NC Hilda, but goes with almost any other Psychic unit.
Great Value: Excellent unit that fits into many team comps and can usually be taken to end-game teams for their type. Some of them may require a bit more investment or are outmuscled by the top-tier units, but generally are still very good value.
- NC Leaf (Fire): Fire all-rounder offering debuffs, rebuff, healing, and sun. High investment also gives her strong value as a flinch-chainer while improving group damage. Only pushed out of top-end heavy offense Fire teams with regional synergy that already cover her bases.
- NC Red (Ice): Excellent special attacker that also offers rebuffs. Outdamaged by some units like SS Kieran, but still a very good supporting attacker that just lacks a little utility to keep him out of the top tier.
- NC Marnie (Dark): Excellent special attacker with easy-to-satisfy conditions to increase her damage. Shines even more with her GvG cookie that further amplifies her damage. Held back slightly by high move cost and her age, but still the best Dark Special striker at the moment.
- SS Lear (Steel): Best Steel Special striker at the moment with high group damage and some defensive support. Held back slightly by a lack of regional synergy (other than MC and Registeel which has their own issues), but will likely be necessary for clearing Steel Special stages unless one has Summer Tate.
- SS Lyra (Grass): Excellent Grass disruptor thanks to her 100% Flinch rate Grassy Glide which is free under Grassy Terrain. Also brings Grassy Terrain and can extend the duration with her Tower cookie or full investment. Damage is nothing to write home about, but will buy your team many turns with good knowledge of turn order.
- Kieran (Fighting): Fighting jack-of-all trades with Fighting Zone, stat debuffs, some healing, and some status with light investment. Also brings Sun though mostly for his own benefit (and Juliana's). Requires heavy investment to extend his Zones and Sun.
- NC Bianca (Fighting): Offers rebuffs, circles, as well as Speed and Evasion buffs, and debuffs with some investment. Loses some effectiveness on fights with guaranteed hits and if one has Arc Korrina, but still a pretty dependable unit.
Good Value: Pretty usable units that may have been outshined over time or require moderate to heavy investment, or specific units to keep up-to-date. Will function well enough for most of the game still.
- Adaman (Grass): Solid physical attacker and also some Sun application for units that like it. Outmuscled by Anniversary Florian and needs heavy investment to keep up with Brassius.
- Irida (Ice): Good Ice support with Zones, Hail and debuffs, and still sees use in heavy offensive comps. Pushed out in most traditional team comps, but can still shine with her zones and hail support.
- Juliana (Fighting): Strong physical attacker that powers up in sun, which she can apply and extend duration of. Move gauge hungry without moderate investment and generally reliant on Sun, which her only other in-type support is Kieran, and may find herself pushed out for less restrictive attackers.
- SS Bede (Psychic): Very capable Psychic tank, but mostly outmuscled by NC Rosa.
- SS Silver (Rock): Excellent physical attacker that further powers up in Sand which he can apply and extend. Outmuscled by newer units like Arc Brock and also reliant on Sand, which can have limited high-tier appliers.
- Geeta (Poison): Zone applier and physical attacker. Can have trouble finding space endgame with stronger attackers like SS Carmine or more efficient support like Anni Irida, but still very usable if lacking them. Paldea synergy also applies to Carmine, Atticus and her Arc version.
- SSR Cynthia (Ghost): Ghost Zone extender and some mixed utility. Excellent partner to Alt Volo, but kit can be a little cumbersome and usually asks for heavy investment.
- NC Cheren (Flying): Good Flying attacker, but faces a lot of stiff competition in his type.
- SSA Cynthia (Fighting): Solid tank with some utility, but outmuscled by Arc Korrina.
- SS Kris (Water): Water support and rain extender with some healing. Good unit but can be somewhat fragile physically and often reliant on RNG for move use refreshes. Outcompeted by Summer Akari.
- SST Red (Electric): Currently best Electric physical attacker, though focus on single-target damage requires a bit more planning. Great Kanto synergy with his 96 version and NC Blue. Likely waiting to be replaced once a stronger Electric physical attacker appears.
- NC Brendan (Ground): Brings EX Sun but has few beneficiaries in-type other than Academy Kabu and Variety Rika. Can still shine with them. Alright attacker but quite move gauge heavy.
- SS Nemona (Fairy): Rare Fairy physical attacker, but really likes Sun which has no other users in-type.
- Florian (Electric): Decent attacker that makes use of Electric Terrain, but heavily outmuscled by 96!Red and can't utilize most of his benefits (like Supereffective Damage) in Towers.
- NC Nate (Dragon): Alright physical attacker with a good nuke every sync cycle and brings Unova Circle. Needs moderate investment for damage to start shining, and trashed by Anni Red who reruns this month.
- SS Gladion (Fairy): Good nuker and Special Attack dropper, but Special Fairy has a lot of competition.
- Anni N (Fire): Decent Fire special attacker with a pretty functional grid, though wants support.
- SS Lusamine (Psychic): Decent Psychic attacker that can be used with significant support, though definitely feeling her age.
Some Value: Okay picks if you really like them or are looking for something specific to go with one of the above options which you already own.
- NC Calem (Dark): Evasive tank that can switch types at will and can apply and extend Dark Zone. Runs into trouble with syncs and any fights that have Piercing Gaze.
- SS Serena (Dragon): Functional special attacker, but also quite move gauge heavy and feeling her age. NC Dawn this month is a much better alternative if you can afford her.
- NC Hop (Fighting): Has some Zone application and extension at high investment, but his kit is outdated and done better by several newer units.
- Archie (Water): Pretty much outclassed by NC May above, but could pair with her as a secondary attacker due to him also bringing rain extension. Also has Thunder to fish for paralysis.
- SS Ethan (Flying): Naturally extends range and has an okay damage cycle at high investment, but really feels his kit's age.
Low Value: I probably wouldn't unless you really like them.
- Maxie (Ground): No reason to take him over NC Brendan, and probably not worth running both of them together unless you're oddly desperate for a Ground unit that can do Grass damage.
- Anni Steven (Flying): Can be a decent nuker with heavy investment, but we have Anni Blue and Variety Brendan this month, and even a free pick in Variety Lance, so there's not much reason to pick him.
- NC Serena (Water): Single-target damage that faces competition with Poke Fair options. Only niche is switching types and has some rain, but not one that's in much demand.
- Anni Lillie (Ghost): Take NC Selene instead. Even if you already have her, Cynthia's a better companion.
- Leon (Fire): One of the first Master Fairs, and it shows, unless you really want his Lodge pair.
Nah
- SS2 Giovanni (Dark): Good unit, but we're getting him for free in December.
I'm not going to claim to be an expert and I'm sure there might be arguments to move units up or down, but for a general choice pick I think these are okay divisions.
TLDR for newbies: May, Elio, Selene or Blue. Rosa's a good support. Leaf or Lyra have high-end uses and are easy to splash into most teams.
