Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Ranked Battle Series 2 brings new rule

Series 2 of Pokemon Sword and Shield’s Ranked Battle is live now and will bring with it – in the view of many – an important rule change.

The new series went live on January 2, 7pm PST and will conclude on January 31, 15:59 PST (18:59 EST and 23:59 GMT). Ranked Battle is where competitive Pokemon Sword and Shield trainers can go to prove they are the best.

Competitive Pokemon battles

The great thing about ranked battles is that you will be given a definitive ranking based on your results. This will allow you to directly compare yourself to other trainers. The rank you receive will be specific to the tier you’re in. Those tiers are as follows, with the Master Ball tier being the best.

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• Master Ball tier: Max
• Ultra Ball tier: 10
• Great Ball tier: 7 to 9
• Poke Ball tier: 4 to 6
• Beginner tier: 1 to 3

Usually you will face a trainer from the same tier. Of course, the most competitive battles will take place in the master ball tier where the best trainers reside.

Series 2 rules

As mentioned above, Series 2 changes up the rules a little bit. Specifically, the new ruleset only allows some Gigantamax Pokemon, which are as follows:

• Charizard
• Butterfree
• Pikachu
• Meowth
• Eevee
• Snorlax
• Corviknight
• Drednaw
• Sandaconda
• Centiskorch

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Ranked Battle format

There are two types of battle in the Pokemon Sword and Shield competitive scene: singles and doubles. The format for each of them, according to Serebii, is as follows:

Singles

Pokemon Restrictions: Galar Pokedex.
Pokemon Limits: Team of 3 to 6 Pokémon from Level 1 to Level 100. All Pokemon then set to Level 50
Match Length: No limit
Battle Time: 15 Minutes
Your Time: 7 Minutes
Team Preview: 90 Seconds
Turn Time: 45 Seconds

Doubles

Pokemon Restrictions: Galar Pokedex.
Pokemon Limits: Team of 4 to 6 Pokémon from Level 1 to Level 100. All Pokemon then set to Level 50
Match Length: No limit
Battle Time: 15 Minutes
Your Time: 7 Minutes
Team Preview: 90 Seconds
Turn Time: 45 Seconds

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Series rewards

At the end of each season, or ‘series’, there are also rewards given out. What you will receive is dependent on the tier you finish in and are as follows:

• Master Ball tier: 3x Gold Bottle Cap and 600 BP
• Ultra Ball tier: 1x Gold Bottle Cap and 300 BP
• Great Ball tier: 3x Bottle Cap, 1x Ability Capsule, 1x Bold Mint, 1x Calm Mint and 100 BP
• Poke Ball tier: 1x Ability Capsule, 1x Bold Mint, 1x Calm Mint and 50 BP
• Beginner tier: 1x Ability Capsule, 1x Bold Mint, 1x Calm Mint

These rewards can be claimed when the season finishes from the screen in the above picture.

It’s still early days in Pokemon Sword and Shield but it looks like the new Ranked Battle feature is already proving popular among trainers.