The well-known streamer Cr1TiKaL has put 100 dollars into Pokémon Unite and invested in strong items. He wants to show how unfair it can be in the new MOBA and how obvious the advantages are that you can acquire with ‘Mom’s credit card’ faster than everyone else. You can see how he dismantles entire lobbies single-handedly and feels so dirty due to Pay2Win that he doesn’t dare to go to church anymore.
Who is this about?
- Charles White Jr (26) is better known online as Cr1TiKaL or MoistCr1TiKaL. On YouTube, his channel pengiuz0 has 8.6 million subscribers, and on Twitch, he has 2.9 million followers as moistCr1TiKaL. His fans love him for his dry humor on serious topics.
- He streams a variety of games, most recently the suddenly mega-popular Final Fantasy XIV. However, he has now dedicated himself to Pokémon Unite, the new MOBA where the cuddly pocket monsters bash each other’s heads in 5 vs. 5 battles.
- On Twitch, he is the 3rd largest streamer for Pokémon Unite and is also among the top 100 streamers across the entire platform, based on the viewing hours of his content (via Sullygnome). Cr1TiKaL is therefore a big deal and reaches many people when he speaks.
What has the streamer done? Cr1TiKaL has put down some serious cash and shown in a stream how much stronger his Pokémon are after an investment.
“Tonight I will be number 1, all thanks to the credit card”
Cr1TiKaL says at the beginning of the stream: “I hate it, but I want to see where this goes”. You can then see how he pumps a ton of upgrade materials into his held items.
- The “Muscle Band” at maximum level 30 gives him +15 attack power and 7.5% faster attack speed.
- Additionally, there are items that increase movement speed, heal passively, or increase his crit chance.
- All nicely pumped up, and depending on the match, he selects 3 of the expensive and powerful items.
When he joins the match, he feels a bit disgusted with himself because it’s really “dirty” and therefore, he can’t go to church this Sunday. With such jokes, he lightens the otherwise serious topic again and again.
He has fun shopping: “The strongest Pokémon will be Mom’s legendary credit card”, he yells every time he has to return to the shop to convert real money into resources, he keeps playing the mom card: “Mom, mom, I need more money!”.
While shopping, Cr1TiKaL sarcastically notes that Pokémon Unite did not think of the whales – whales are the biggest spenders in a free-to-play game. Because the upgrade materials are only available in 50 packs, but he needs hundreds of “Item Enhancers”.
In the second part of the video, he then shows the effects of his investment, which, according to his – of course, very serious – statement, will definitely earn him a contract as a pro (from minute 3:15).
“Spend money, you poor noobs” – Clip shows how clear the differences are
How strong is he thanks to cash? Critical plows through his enemies in the lower ranks. He chooses Absol, Zeraora, and Machamp, Pokémon that already deal significant damage and become real killing machines through the items.
When a team gives up after a short time, he comments dryly: “I can understand that, they could feel the money my character sweats out”. Due to his high advantage in the early game, he diligently collects experience and is then so strong later that he almost farms the whole enemy team in their base, again and again.
His devastating verdict on Pokémon Unite is finally: “This is the worst pay-to-win I have seen in my whole damned life!”.
That’s why it’s annoying: Sure, any player can pump an item to level 30 with enough time invested, but currently, that might not even be really possible without spending money. Because the missions that give “Item Enhancers” are limited. Only in weeks can you reach such a high level on several items purely through playtime.
Until then, as a stingy (or normal?) player, you have to hope not to encounter a whale who tramples you into the ground just because mom’s legendary credit card struck. But really big worries should only concern players from level 9 onwards, only then can you upgrade items and encounter such opponents… but that doesn’t really make it better.
This is how MeinMMO author Philip Hansen sees the pay-to-win nature of Pokémon Unite:
I myself, Philip Hansen, have now played a lot of Pokémon Unite and am several leagues higher than Cr1TiKaL, in Expert 2 and have played over 100 matches. So far, I have not invested a cent in Pokémon Unite and my 3 held items are at level 10 – all through materials I obtained through normal play and quests. However, this has cost me almost all my saved up wealth, and level 30 is far away.
Currently, I can still keep up quite well. But now and then, you have the feeling that the enemy with their Pokémon is significantly stronger, whether that’s due to held and significantly leveled up items, it’s hard to say in the heat of battle.
My level 10 “Muscle Band” only gives +5 attack power and 2.5% attack speed. Cr1TiKaL’s maximum item’s stats are three times as good. Such a difference is definitely felt.
Philip Hansen
Freelance author at MeinMMO
What do you think, have you also felt like you were only losing because the opponent invested a lot of money? Do you find the Pay2Win accusations in Pokémon Unite justified or do the players and the big streamer overreact? Let us know in the comments.
For those who just started with the new MOBA and want to get an advantage without paying: Pokémon Unite: 10 tips beginners should know about the new MOBA
