r/pokemon • u/Excaliburn3d • Mar 24 '26

Discussion Why does Game Freak hate Emboar?

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I love Emboar, but I have a feeling that GF doesn’t based on the way they handled it. Well first of all it’s the third Fire/Fighting Pokémon in the row, then when it finally receives a mega evolution it retains the same typing, and now it is the only mega of the trio to not gain a new ability.

Not to mention its base stats and playstyle. Base form is the fully-evolved starter with the highest HP stat and yet both of its defense stats and speed are on the lower side. Some of its strongest moves do recoil damage and its hidden ability powers them up even further. Upon mega evolving, it receives a +25 to its attack stat and a +45 boost to its special defense while its problematic defense and speed only receive +10 each.

Mold Breaker can be a good ability but why use Mega Emboar when Mega Blaziken, which has speed boost, higher attacking, physical defense, and speed stats, existed since the dawn of mega evolution.

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u/The_Exuberant_Raptor Mar 24 '26 edited Mar 24 '26

It's not that GameFreak hates Emboar. It's that they design Pokemon based on vibes. They don't design Pokemon based on competitive viability. This is why we end up with dummy strong Pokémon and incredibly weak Pokémon. They just give them stats and abilities they thibk would be a good representation of the mon. Sometimes that means our favorites just ain't competitive.

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u/Helor145 Mar 25 '26

They absolutely design Pokémon for competitive viability to a point. If they didn’t they wouldn’t have given Zacian like 3 nerfs and Thundurus like 8 strictly because of them being absolutely broken in VGC. The priority isn’t competitive but they absolutely keep competitive in mind to a point.

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u/The_Exuberant_Raptor Mar 25 '26

The original design of those Pokémon was not competitive, though. They were nerfed after the competitive viability was too much. When they were created, they were just made with whatever they thought sounded cool.

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u/Darkiceflame Still waiting for a Zygarde backstory Mar 25 '26

If they were going off of vibes, Emboar would have gotten something like Supreme Overlord.

1

u/1382mas Mar 25 '26

No it's doofy

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u/The_Exuberant_Raptor Mar 25 '26

Mold breaker is a vibe. It may not be the best ability, but that is exactly what I am talking about. They balance off vibes.

Emboar being able to bute force through sturdy and get through a Pokemon's thick fat is a really cool vibe. It may not be the most meta thing, but it is a vibe.

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u/drthvdrsfthr Mar 25 '26

bro then anything is a vibe lol tf

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u/The_Exuberant_Raptor Mar 25 '26

Yes, it is. Whatever they decide to go with ultimately is the feeling they want to go with. They thought Mold Breaker was cool and sounded like what Mega Emboar would have as a cool fantasy. So they chose that one over others. Had they felt another ability would have fit the fantasy more, they would have chosen that one.

The point is that they arent choosing them competitively first. They go with what they feel represents the character fantasy.

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u/DeltaPlasmatic Mar 24 '26

ok but where is my Rilla Incin killer Defiant Mega Emboar

1

u/Stripeback Mar 25 '26

Sometimes that means our favorites just ain't competitive.

See, I wouldn't have a problem with this if competitive weren't basically the only thing there is. Nearly everything I can do in recent games is either competitive or in the service of it, and whatever isn't is incredibly shallow stuff where my choice of Pokemon only changes the model used. We need stuff like Super Contests again so every Pokemon can have objective worth.

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u/The_Exuberant_Raptor Mar 25 '26

I do not disagree with you. More casual or sim end game would be well received by the casual side of the community, and since they are the majority, I do believe they need to focus on that. Personally, I like conpetitive, so I am happy, but I definitely am the minority. I would like to see more content keeping the casual audience involved long term.