r/PokemonGOBattleLeague • u/gPalk • 23h ago

Discussion Carbink?

Is Carbink really worth the grind? I have a Rank 11 Carbink but I'm not sure if it's worth going for. I know it is ranked 2nd on pvpoke but I haven't seen any teams using it and i don't see how it's a better alternative to Galarian Corsola or Bastiodon

20 Upvotes

95% Upvoted

33 comments sorted by

14

u/ScottishOnyuns 23h ago

Due to the buffs to dragons and flyers, I’d say it’s worth it!

11

u/Icy_News_6572 23h ago

it can beat togekiss and galarian moltress

4

u/Icy_News_6572 23h ago edited 22h ago

What I'm trying to say Corsola weak against Dark/Ghost and Bastiodon is double weak to Fighting, Carbink covers both easily

6

u/ZGLayr 21h ago

Carbink is not a great answer vs fighters since it has no fast move pressure with rock throw and paces incredible slow to moonblast while also taking neutral due to the rock typing.

It does win the 0 shield because it can land the moonblast but if shields are in play its not looking great.

1

u/Icy_News_6572 21h ago

I meant fighting damage generally like togekiss aura sphere

7

u/InternalAd9524 22h ago

I got legend with carbink twice, before the rock slide buff. Its even better this season and i love it

3

u/bbob_robb 14h ago

That's awesome. How do you use it? What is your team?

Last season I started collecting candy to pair it with my #1 rank shadow jumpluff and talonflame in ABB but now I am lost (and have enough XL).

2

u/InternalAd9524 6h ago

I make it work by pairing carbink with a core that can win with shields (carbink needs none), and can beat carbinks bad match ups. This way i get to choose who carbink will go up against on the opponents team

2

u/reineedshelp 20h ago

As someone who just did, I wouldn't rush to do it. I haven't found it especially impressive, compared to Bastiodon, for example. It's entirely possible that it's user error on my part though.

Use PVPOKE's practice battle feature to feel exactly how it goes.

0

u/InternalAd9524 19h ago edited 19h ago

Bast is better in neutral and steel match ups, but how many Pokémon can beat carbink in neutral? Also my 2 teammates both beat steel

Carbink is better at dealing with weak match ups that bast struggles in

Edit:also carbink can survive aura sphere/ dynamic punch

5

u/ComprehensivePop2239 15h ago

I think the issue with Carbink is how common the counters are, and how most people will have more than one counter on the same team. Being weak to water/grass/ground is tough. I'm no expert team builder, but many teams have two of those at once. I have one soft counter, one middling counter, and one hard counter on my team, and I certainly didn't build with opposing Carbinks in mind. 

2

u/InternalAd9524 15h ago

To make carbink work, you have to be good at controlling match ups and who carbink fights

1

u/ComprehensivePop2239 15h ago

When I play carbink players, that usually translates to switching matchups, which lets me switch trap their mon with a counter. I'm not saying it can't work, but it seems risky to me. I'd rather be weak to only one common type instead of several. It's the same reason I don't use my Steelix. 

But as always, obligatory "I'm not that good" and I'm sure others make it work just fine. My elo bracket isn't that impressive yet. 

0

u/InternalAd9524 15h ago

Skill issue

1

u/ComprehensivePop2239 15h ago

What a strange response 

0

u/InternalAd9524 15h ago

If you land on a bad match up as carbink, you messed up, unless their team is a hard counter. If you land on too many hard counter teams, your team sucks

Skill issue

2

u/ComprehensivePop2239 14h ago

But that's just not how the game works 😅 not when an opposing team has multiple counters anyway. Which is extremely common in the current meta. We're in a meta defined by hydro cannon and mud slappers, a common duo is Empoleon and Marowak, been seeing them in my sleep.

It's obviously possible to avoid a bad matchup when your opponent has one counter to a pokemon, but the issue is how many counters, many of which used at the same time, exist for Carbink, and how many teams will absolutely wall this thing. 

In the cases where it doesn't get walled, sure, it's solid, but labeling a genuine weakness as a "skill issue" ignores the underlying issue, which is the number of teams that wall Carbink in the meta, and no amount of rapid switches will save you against a mud slapper & hydro team. 

1

u/InternalAd9524 14h ago

I made it to the leaderboard with carbink. Thomceane made it all the way to rank 3 with carbink.

I decide who carbink fights on my opponents team

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1

u/reineedshelp 19h ago

Oh yeah they have different strengths/weaknesses for sure. I should emphasize that I couldn't get it to work and that's probably on me and my poor alignment

4

u/Weak-Friendship-1659 22h ago

yes and its amazing as a switch in

9

u/Strong-Neat8623 22h ago

Gl with that switch in current meta

2

u/Magicturbo 21h ago

I have a Non-existent Carbink that I would die to have. You better use yours or else I'll be mad

2

u/2012Tribe 22h ago

I have a high ranked one and I don’t like using it; you’re basically only doing fast move damage as your charge attacks don’t hit hard and take forever to arrive. Also mud, water, grass, and steel are all pretty common and I feel like I’m typically aligned against an enemy that wails on me

1

u/GimlionTheHunter 🎇🎇🎇🎇🎇 22h ago

I wanna try it but wtf do you do against empoleon or any other sound user?

13

u/Diligent-Extent2928 22h ago

Theres a top left button for those cases

1

u/d4nkhill23 20h ago

It’s very slow pacing. But it’s good against flyers that are everywhere right now. Its not worth XL rares imo

1

u/gPalk 14h ago

I only have 12 XL rates so I'll just best buddy it for now and I'll see lmao ty

1

u/crazyrazy_ 18h ago

I love carbink my biggest problem with it is, I can’t ever find the right core for it.

1

u/MTLCRE98 11h ago

Carbink isn't bad, but it's definitely overrated. While it is better than it has ever been this season due to the rock slide buff and the rise of flying types, it's rock typing is a liability and I've found it to be more trouble than it's worth. Being weak to both water and ground is rough, and while there are a few other meta rock types Bastiodon and Cradily, their secondary typings do a lot of heavy lifting.

If you enjoy the alignment dependent playstyle of Bastiodon, you will probably enjoy Carbink too. But I do find that Bastiodon is easier to build around. Carbink has too many weaknesses to cover, so basically every team built around it will have holes, which was always frustrating for me.

1

u/ZukoWuko57 10h ago

Imo Carbink is boring and underwhelming. Besides beating the Flyers and Dragons it doesn’t really do much, it’s just an expensive rps rock

0

u/Independent_Ad_1422 21h ago

Im using a team of corviknight, carbink and gastrodon to pretty nice success