Turns out when you skip Rally you miss out on a Roll Cake Voucher and 300 gems. 😬 I'm borrowing a method from a friend: do Areas 1-9 the week prior, compile + edit them, and leave Area 10 for Monday morning. That lifts some tedium off my dumb baby brain. This should also explain the absence of NC Cheren or NC Bianca.
[0:00] - Da Freebie
Another first with the Ice Upgrade. The general consensus is that Ice was underwhelming until the release of Irida, and then NC Red. Dunno, I used to think Ghetsis and Hala were plenty to manage Ice-weak content, but I digress. Ice is a bit odd in that it tends to focus on Hail as its personal field effect, and then some with Spe reduction. Ice Supports are also average.
[0:10] - Area 1: Strike + Field
It's one of those seeds that needs another Area for the Rally tool to do its thing. From the two possible outcomes, Strike + Field doesn't repeat in one, so it's best to spend double boosts here. One of the seeds repeats Strikers a bit, so out of an abundance of caution I whipped out a shiny Strike Seel whose been chilling in my Lab. Dunno, Hala could tank later or something.
[0:54] - Da Seed
Oh, also a seed I haven't had yet I don't think. What's interesting about this one is that Strike + Sprint repeats thrice on Areas 2, 5 and 8, while Tech + Support also repeats thrice on Areas 3, 7 and 10. Good seed if you've been deranged by handing out Tech Role cakes to Lenora or something, but I'm struggling for double boosts altogether. I rely on Strike + Tech for points, which is wholly absent. On the plus side, I have room for team flexibility to try and keep things interesting.
[1:00] - Area 2: Strike + Sprint
Looking at my 6*EX Water Strikers, I noticed Pryce could enable Cakewalk Barry. Pryce also tanks Special damage reasonably well. I think this was the intention with Rally - coming up with cute solutions by virtue of restrictions. Too bad the double boost system completely ruins the idea.
[2:14] - Area 3: Tech + Support
My Bug options were remarkably doodoo. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I ran NY Lillie DPS, but since this is an Ice Upgrade run I focused my efforts on a physical Ice-type, and who better than SS Silver. Please don't say SS N. I EX'd SS Silver because he has Inertia at base so he can chunk in Gauntlet. Either way, I'd rather split my Tech + Support double boosts, so I brought Dojo Gloria here because she is a cohesive SS Silver enabler.
[3:44] - Area 4: Field + Sprint
Ice-types have yet to have a Field/Sprint pair, so I was dreading this Area. However, the shop offered 3 options: Stats Down Upgrade, Sun Upgrade, and SE Upgrade. Sun Upgrade is good because Area 10 NC Leaf moment, SE Upgrade is less good if I don't roll an adequate UB, and Stats Down Upgrade is something I haven't worked with. And well, it sounds good on paper. It activates with ANY stat drop, and there are plenty of ways of accomplishing that. Beating myself over spending two Ice debuffers before this though. The Stats Down Upgrade made this Area much easier.
[5:31] - Area 5: Strike + Sprint
I probably should've taken the Ice Upgrade that was on discount instead. The idea was rotating field effects for Lana's MUN stacks, but the Stats Down Upgrade was far too overkill. Whoops.
[6:49] - Area 6: Tech + Field
I kinda forgot this double boost existed. Been a while since I've used Thunderbolt Red in Rally. Anyway, I wanted a Spe debuffer to amplify Cakewalk. Tech Lapras was a fair bet. Lodge Silver's Enfeeble activated the Stats Down Upgrade right away.
[8:11] - Area 7: Tech + Support
This is Palmer and Argenta's BC. It features Wise Entry x2, Clear Advantage 5, Acc drops and heavy physical damage. It's fairly challenging actually. Wise Entry x2 walls SS Roxie who is otherwise a perfect counter, so I went with the two physical Ice-type Techs I had remaining. I didn't have to bring two, but you know, it's thematic. SS N's debuffs activate the Stats Down Upgrade. I brought SS Steven because I learned my lesson from last Rally that it's better to detach him from NC Leaf for Area 10.
[10:02] - Area 8: Strike + Sprint
NC Silver moment. I wanted a Sand debuffer, and I just unlocked Lodge Volo. Could've been Strike Marowak I suppose. This is a +10E Wulfric, but it'll be our little secret.
[11:21] - Area 9: Support + Field
I meant to bring Melony for Sleep, but this lineup has a lot of status overlap. Bea's Flinch bypasses that while improving set-up speed. Variety Thorton has consistently been putting work in most of my Rally runs.
[12:58] - Area 10: Tech + Support
Me and Thorton are like brothers, only closer. I didn't have to default to the obvious NC Leaf clear, but there is a whole Dana with SE Next right there.
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The Eggmon Compendium: bit.ly/eggmoncompendium