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Infamous for being one of the hardest shiny hunts of any pokemon. You need to have a copy of Pokemon Ranger, play the entirety of that game plus bonus post-game missions, just to get a Manaphy egg. Oh, and there is only one egg PER COPY of Pokemon Ranger–not per save… per cartridge. Seriously. How’s the pokemon? Really good actually! As we have seen in previous draft leagues, Pokemon with 100 across the board has shown to be very good. Solid, versatile stats are incredibly valuable in a format where you can tailor your team every week. Exactly two moves push Manaphy from good, to a great pick: Tail Glow and Heart Swap. Tail Glow is an extremely rare move which boosts special attack by three stages. For those playing at home, a three stage boost means the special attack stat is multiplied by 2.5x. Great start, but it gets better. With Heart Swap, Manaphy can transfer those stat changes to ally pokemon already on the field. If you are careful with your speed stats, you can give your attacker a 2.5x power boost on the same turn they attack. Heart Swap works by swapping stat changes with the target. An opponent boosts up too much? Heart Swap. Your ally clicked Draco Meteor and now has lowered special attack? Heart Swap. It is a crazy powerful move to enable other pokemon on your team. Not that it needs the help. It has access to STAB Scald, and coverage in Psychic, Energy Ball, Shadow Ball, Ice Beam, and Alluring Voice. It can hit basically every pokemon for neutral damage and after a Tail Glow, that is going to hurt. Special attention should be paid to Stored Power which gets boosted two ways with Tail Glow. Synergy! With great versatility, strong offensives, and incredible support options, Manaphy is a high-tier pick. It shouldn’t go later than the 2nd round.

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