Summary
When jumping intoPokemon Scarlet and Violet’s The Teal Mask DLC for the first time, many players may be tempted to start with a brand-new team to explore the land of Kitakami with. The Teal Mask adds nearly 100 new and returning critters not previously available inPokemon Scarlet and Violet, so it makes sense that many players would want to try some of them out in their DLC playthrough. However, it can be tough switching to a brand-new team of mons, so players will have to make the tough choice of sticking with their base game party, or trying something new.
Players looking to try out some new mons could try including additions to The Teal Mask like Poltchageist or Applin’s new evolution Dipplin, or even theDLC’s mascot Ogerpon. There are a variety of mons returning from previous generations that players may want to get their hands on as well, many of whom originate from the Johto Region. While the prospect of having a team composed of these mons sounds exciting, players may not want to give up on their original playthrough team just yet as the land of Kitakami holds some surprise challenges.
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The Pros of Using a New Team for The Teal Mask
The obvious benefit of using an all-new team in The Teal Mask is getting to try out some of the new additions likePoltchageistand Dipplin, as well as the returning mons with exciting picks like Kommo-o, Mamoswine, and Milotic now available. Additionally, there are all the regional variants for the returning mons such as Alolan Sandslash and Alolan Ninetales that will be available now as well. Players could easily construct a solid team of just these new and returning mons and find success while playing through the story of The Teal Mask.
Another good reason to use a new team of mons inThe Teal Maskis to have critters more in line with the levels of the trainers players will be battling throughout the DLC. Most of the mons players will face in The Teal Mask will be between level 50-70, so players who have their original playthrough team at level 100 will be able to breeze through the DLC without much of a challenge. In order to add a layer of difficulty to their playthrough of The Teal Mask, it may be worthwhile to box this original team and invest in a new set of mons that are closer to the level of the creatures they’ll encounter in the DLC.
The Cons of Using a New Team for The Teal Mask
While it may be appealing to use a new team of mons to take advantage of the additions to The Teal Mask, there are some risks associated with doing so that might have players reconsidering boxing their original team. The biggest flaw of using a new team is that most of the mons players will encounter early on that would be potential team members are base-stage mons. Given that players will have to face a series of battles early in the DLC againstKieran and Carmine, using all base-stage mons against level 50+ teams can be more difficult than intended, even for players looking for a new challenge.
Another issue players might run into when trying to build a team using the new mons added in The Teal Mask is the type overlap that can potentially occur. There is an abundance of Grass types among the new Teal Mask mons, with Poltchageist,Dipplin, and Ogerpon all having it as one of their types. As such, players can end up being incredibly vulnerable to Bug and Flying types, both of which are very common among the teams used by trainers in the land of Kitakami.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violetare available for Nintendo Switch. The Teal Mask DLC is also available now.
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