ZA season 7 is already the worst (and I'm talking about the entire franchise)

Pokemon Legends: ZA has been my favorite comfort game ever since it came out, and while it's far from perfect, I still enjoy it a lot for a few reasons. One of them is a shiny hunt, probably the boss of the group, since I managed to get shiny Latios, Latias, Cobalion, Virizion and Terrakion for the first time in my history with the franchise. Pokemon Legends: ZARanked battles are nothing to scoff at though, and I've loved being ranked in real-time matches since launch with very accessible training options. However, Season 7 is officially here and it's one of the worst things I've ever experienced Pokemon.

One could argue that Pokemon Legends: ZA's approach to battles is not suitable for VGC. Despite this, the game still has a fairly active competitive scene, with users regularly organizing tournaments. It is very different from the regular competition Pokemonbut not only are the battles real-time instead of turn-based, but teams are made up of three pokemon and have different rule sets compared to the official regulations for Pokemon Scarlet and Violetfor example. Unfortunately, Season 7 might have the worst set of rules I've seen in the entire franchise, and it can only get worse from there.

pokemon-legends-za-dlc-home-compatibility-champions-transfer-mega-evolution-pokedex-update

Pokemon Legends: ZA Home Support is getting an update

The new season of Pokemon Legends: ZA has just started with news regarding Pokemon Home compatibility and things might get even better on Pokemon Day.

Pokemon Legends: ZA breaks a massive rule of competitive team building

If you need rewards like all types of special Poke Balls, Poke Dollars and the like, play ranked battles in Legends: ZA very worth it. Even more so if you want to get exclusive Mega Stones Pokemon Legends: ZAincluding Blaziken's, which is available for the first time in Season 7. At the same time, the competitive meta is now very frustrating and very samey, as the ruleset not only allows all creatures in the Pokedex, but also allows everyone to use up to two limited Pokemon. These are:

Xerneas
He howled
Zygard
Mewtwo
Kyogre
Groudon
Rayquaza

Drag your weapons to fill the grid

Easy to medium hard

IN Pokemon Legends: ZAIn Season 6, these were limited to one per team, which made it difficult to pick, as the best pick still depended on the composition of the team and what other players were using. The ruleset still allowed players to use up to three Legendary or Mythical Pokémon at once, but the absolute strongest in the game were limited to only one per team. Even if most matches were dominated by Xerneas and Kyogre, teams could be fielded to counter them and still have fun.

My best team in Pokemon Legends: LAST season was Overqwil, Rotom Mow, and Swampert. In season 7 I still use Overqwil and Rotom Mow to fight Xerneas, Mewtwo, Kyogre and Groudon.

How Legends: ZA's Restricted Pokemon Ruin The Game

However, now each team can run three Legendary and Mythical Pokémon Legends: ZA while also using two limited mons, which usually translates into very unfun and repetitive team compositions, all using a combination of Xerneas, Mewtwo, Kyogre, Groudon, and Rayquaza with side mons like Genesect, Darkrai, Magearna, etc. This is the first time in the franchise that you can use an entire team of limited mons and Poskem two that contain a nice, terrible result. You can still try not to use Legendary and Mythicals, but it's very hard to get wins with fun, creative sets like Focus Energy + Scope Lens Kangaskhan, as opposed to spamming Life Orb, Focus Sash, and Expert Belt on OP Pokemon like Xerneas and Kyogre.

Rayquaza is an almost automatic inclusion in most teams, as is Mega Rayquaza Legends: ZA Mega Evolve doesn't require any held items, so he can easily use Focus Sash to make him more durable.
Geomancy Xerneas with Life Orb can decimate most meta threats even without super effective hits and is very durable.
Kyogre has access to his Primal version, but the base form remains an awesome pick thanks to the huge move coverage and incredible stats.
Groudon has become one of the most used ground-type Pokemon, to the point where Garchomp is rarely seen.

I never thought there would be a time when I would miss the Garchomp meta Pokemon Legends: ZAand yet here we are. I rarely see Ice-type Pokemon now because Rayquaza is mostly Sashed, so you don't get much out of using Ice-types to break Sash. Any movement can do it. Most of all, though, I really hate how the game now lacks most of the “standard” Pokemon since their meta status has dropped and restricted Pokemon are everywhere. Season 8 could be even worse, perhaps allowing any number of restricted Pokemon, but that remains to be seen. Still, Season 7 is arguably the lowest point in the franchise for competitiveness, allowing players to forget that most common Pokemon even exist and becoming an outdated Legendaries battle.