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Should You Pull? Special Costume Ingo & Accelgor

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TL;DR: Should You Pull?

What Does It Do?

All Aboard!

The subway has made its rounds, and it’s pulling into the station once again. And what’s this? The Subway Boss has made a bit of a change. No longer paired with Excadrill, he now stands beside his Accelgor, and is ready to take on a new role in the service industry… as he serves up a freaking locust swarm of Bug type damage potential. 

Decent Attack, middling Bulk, and high Speed open the book on our dear Subway Boss-turned-Buttler, and sets the stage for what’s to come. To start our review of their moves, we begin with Quick Attack. This is a 0-bar Normal Type attack (this will be important later) that has fairly high damage at the cost of only being 3 uses per battle base. Infestation is next, and we’ve seen this several times already: low damage that also traps the opponent. Nice for setting up and getting a bit of damage over time, or tying into effects that capitalize on hitting trapped opponents (hint hint). Coming Through! is Ingo’s Trainer Move, and it grants +2 Evasiveness to the user, and +1 Accuracy and Evasiveness to the entire team. And then comes the crown-jewel of the kit; Bug Wish. We’ve encountered several Zones this year, but this one… is perfectly alright. It’s probably the least exciting zone that we’ve had, but it’s still a great effect to have available, as we’ll look at a bit later. To finish moves off, Express Line Bug Impact is their Sync Move, and it follows the same line of thought as most Tech Sync Moves as of late; a boost based on a specific effect. In this case, it will deal more damage if the target is trapped, which Ingo & Accelgor just happen to be able to manage for themselves!

And now we come to skills. Team Viral Haste 9 is first, and it raises the team’s Speed whenever you use any status move. This means that the team will get buffs off of Bug Wish or their Trainer Move, making it a nice passive buff that just about any team appreciates. Defense Crush 9 is next, and this is a skill that we all should be pretty familiar with by now, though maybe not with a 9 behind it. That’s right; every attack posed by Ingo & Accelgor will proc a Defense drop, allowing them to snowball fairly quickly. Finishing off skills is Bug Shift, which turns Normal Type attacks into Bug Type attacks. In short; it makes Quick Attack into a Bug Type move.

So what exactly can we infer from all of this? Well, we have a Zone-setting Sync pair that traps, melts Defense, buffs team Speed/Evasion/Accuracy, and hits like a flying train if their Sync Nuke is set up properly. They can help to breathe new life into an otherwise languishing type, and can even take advantage of their rare buffing profile to shore up weaknesses on non-Bug teams. 

But, on the other hand, we’ve also got a Sync Pair that... doesn’t actually do a whole lot most of the time. Outside of setting up Bug Zone, launching Sync Nukes, and adding some buffs to the team, their damage output is very lackluster, meaning their utility really comes in bursts. Yes, they can drop the enemy’s Defense, but we have a distinct lack of really good Physically-oriented Bug Type damage dealers in the game right now. That is, outside of… okay, moving on; Ingo & Accelgor are really designed to work with Emmet & Escavalier first and foremost, which leaves specific parts of their kit far less useful when paired with just about anyone else. They’re still fine with other Sync Pairs, but they do leave a bit on the table with just about anyone else.

Champion Stadium: Master Mode

For many players, seeing a Bug weakness show up on the Champion’s Stadium can elicit a groan. We don’t have many generally available outstanding answers to it, so neutral-damage counters tend to be just as viable. Ingo & Accelgor may not fix this problem, but they can definitely lessen it. Under the influence of Bug Zone and with some particularly strong Tech skills, Ingo & Accelgor can allow even mediocre Bug Type attackers to shine, and can raise the effectiveness of the “best” Bug Type attackers to new heights. The one problem is the fact that when a stage is not weak to Bug, Ingo & Accelgor can still be useful, but their utility does drop.

Legendary Arena & Gauntlet

Tech units have had a new chance to shine thanks to the emphasis on Legendary battles, and Ingo & Accelgor are no exception. Powerful buffs for preying on a Bug weakness combine with strong stat-drops and a devastating single-target Sync Move to make this pair really shine. And while less useful outside of a Bug weakness, they’re still perfectly viable and very useful in their own right

Extreme Battles

Not a whole lot to say here. Bug-weak stages will hate seeing Ingo & Accelgor take the stage, and they could also be useful in the event that we have future stages that set their own “zone” effects or an emphasis on trapping/Defense drops. That aside, they’re… fine.

Battle Villa 

Ingo & Accelgor can leverage some Defense drops… and that’s about it. Everything that they do relies on MP in one way or another, so they’re not really useful here.

How To Use It?

Sync Grid

These are generally the most important tiles to pick up:

  • Blind Spot (⅗) is a must-have for Sync Nuke builds, as it’s easy to setup and offers a lot of power.
  • Relentless (⅗) is another easy-to-activate and powerful tile for Sync Nuke builds. It also ties directly into…
  • Quick Attack: Defense Crush 9 (⅗) is a great pick for supportive and Sync Nuke builds alike, as it softens up a single target for a quick-KO.
  • Quick Attack: MP Refresh 3 (⅖) is a must for most generalist builds, as it actually offers fairly solid attack damage, but needs more uses in most cases.
  • Bob and Weave (⅗) is a great tile to pick up, but it’s also locked pretty far into its quadrant and is pretty expensive, making it only really good for dedicated Sync Nuke builds.
  • Coming Through! MP Refresh 3 (⅖) is a must-have if only due to being on the way to more important tiles. It’s also useful on its own though, as Evasion and Accuracy have genuine use for many teams, especially when trying to set up Bob and Weave.
  • The two Sync Move Power +25 (⅗) tiles are nice for nuke builds, as they can enable a very large damage boost post-boosts.

Next are the tiles that are nice to have, but are either niche or not generally worth going out of the way for:

  • Quick Attack: Follow Through 9 (⅗) is great for more offensive builds, as it can set up a guaranteed Critical Sync Move.
  • Coming Through! Super Preparation 9 (⅗) can be extremely useful for Sync Nuke builds used against Super Effective stages. It’s a fantastic tile, but it’s only useful for this one scenario.
  • Bug Wish: MP Refresh 2 (⅗) is nice for longer battles, like Legendary Arena bosses in particular.
  • Insect Acceleration 2 (⅖) can be useful for sluggish teams, but isn’t a top choice for most teams.

Finally, these are the tiles that are probably best to ignore unless they somehow play into a bigger strategy in some way:

  • Stationary Target 3 (⅖) is good in theory, as it can provide a fairly large boost to Quick Attack in particular. However, Quick Attack’s limited MP and Infestation’s low power makes this a sub-optimal choice for the majority of builds.
  • Infestation: Move Gauge Refresh 3 (⅖) doesn’t do a whole lot. Infestation is the only move that Ingo & Accelgor can use freely without worrying about MP, but the occasional 1 Move Gauge bar on a Speed boosting unit isn’t really worth the investment on most teams.
  • Pokey Trap 3 (⅗) would be a nice choice for a little extra damage over time, but it’s expensive and locked into the very bottom of a less-than-ideal quadrant of the grid.
  • Fast Runner (⅖) is an easy skip. It’s not easy to reach, and stages that reduce evasion are not very common.
  • Burst In (⅖) doesn’t offer much power or utility. Just aim for Follow-Through 9 if you hit ⅗.  
  • Bug Wish: Move Gauge Refresh 3 (⅗) offers no genuine utility.

Sync Grid Levels & EX Viability

If your primary goal is simply calling up Bug Zone and using Ingo & Accelgor for their basic, more supportive functions, then ⅕ is perfectly fine. This is a Sync Pair that can join your team and do the job right off the bat with basically no major issues. However, ⅕ gives virtually nothing as far as the Sync Grid goes, and expanding on that role will require a higher Sync Move level to pull off. ⅖ doesn’t actually offer much either. Quick Attack MP Refresh and MP Refresh on their Trainer Move are the main pickups for Ingo & Accelgor, which gives them some team utility and more consistent attacking utility, but stopping at ⅖ really doesn’t offer a tremendous amount over ⅕, as ⅗ is where the floodgates open and the full Sync Nuke and utility open up. 

In the end, sticking with ⅕ is fine, and ⅗ is ideal, so aiming for one of these two extremes is generally going to be the best way to go.

When it comes to EXing Ingo & Accelgor… that largely depends. If you’ve got them at ⅕, then all that you’re realistically netting is some additional speed and bulk along with extra damage on a Sync Move that you probably won’t really use. But at ⅗, the tremendous Sync Move damage alone is enough reason to take it one step farther. At that point, it is definitely worth EXing Ingo & Accelgor.

Lucky Skills

Due to their Sync Nuking capabilities, Critical Strike 2 is generally the way to go. However, builds not focused on Sync Nuking or under ⅗ Sync move level could also appreciate Defense Crush 2 to add to a more supportive function. From the Deluxe set, Super Powered 3 is a great choice if you plan to strictly use Ingo & Accelgor for Bug-weak stages, then Mind Games 2 can be useful if you go for a more supportive set and wait to pair them up with Alder & Volcarona in particular.

Team Comps

Right off the bat, Ingo & Accelgor are literally designed to work with Emmet & Escavalier. They fill in the latter’s gaps perfectly, and enable a team comp. that grants unrivaled Bug Type damage. All that this setup really needs is some Critical Rate support, which can be easily be provided by a plethora of units that are currently available. Lillie & Ribombee in particular are great for this, as they can triple up the Bug Type team bonus, deal more damage/gain more recovery with Leech Life, help boost Ingo & Accelgor’s Sync Nuke sets with Evasion support, and max the team’s Critical Rate as well. The one drawback to this set is that it doesn’t provide Ingo & Accelgor with any Attack support, so their Sync Nuke set will tend to be sub-optimal.

Moving on, by far the most attractive reason to use Ingo & Accelgor has to be Bug Zone. This boost can make Guzma & Golisopod, Lusamine & Pheromosa, or Burgh & Leavanny far more viable than they once were, but arguably the best Sync Pair in no way related to Ingo to pair this with has to be Alder & Volcarona. While a large part of Ingo & Accelgor’s kit is heavily focused on physically supportive function, Bug Zone alone is enough to tremendously boost our dear solar moth’s damage output, and raise the defeated champion to new heights.

If dropping a Biblical-plague-of-locust-style Sync Move is your goal, then Ingo & Accelgor are going to need support with Attack and Critical Rate alike, as they have absolutely no way of self-buffing either of these stats outside of a few sub-optimal Sync Grid tiles. And speaking of their grid; Critical Rate support can largely be skipped if you pick up Quick Attack: Follow-Through 9, as it’s fairly simple to setup a guaranteed-Critical Sync Move with it. Regardless, the best options for this role are going to be the usual suspects; Hilbert & Samurott, Sonia & Yamper, and Hop & Zamazenta are all great picks, with many other Support units bringing up the rear to varying degrees.

So getting away from the “Bug damage” schtick for a bit, what other teams appreciate Ingo & Accelgor? Well, Sync pairs that appreciate Accuracy, Speed, and/or Evasion can welcome them into the fold to help shore up those weaknesses.

Is It Worth Pulling?

This one can be a bit of a tough call. If Emmet & Escavalier were your hold-out for this event, then throwing a few gems towards Ingo & Accelgor could net some fairly huge damage output. If not, then they can be useful for breathing new life into an otherwise stale type. They’re not “must have”, and will probably sit on your bench more often than not. But in the moments when they are needed, Ingo & Accelgor will come through in a big way.

Editor's Note

We sincerely apologize for the delay on this article, being released close to the end date of the banner. The author had the draft ready ahead of schedule but I failed to schedule a proper timeline for the review and publication that would have been more suitable for the banner's period. We strive for quality above quickness so we are convinced that we should still take the appropriate time to publish our articles in a satisfying state but we will keep working hard to improve the consistency of our scheduling and publication process in the upcoming months to avoid those situations as much as possible. Thanks for your understanding!

Spark - GamePress Site Lead for Pokemon Masters EX

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About the Author(s)

Long-time Gamepress fan and writer for Pokemon Go and Pokemon Masters sub-site

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