If you manage to climb to the Master Cup in Pokemon Unite, you don't have to worry about falling back down to Ultra. No, once you're at the top, you're there for good – or at least until the season ends. However, some players feel that this mechanic is having some unintended consequences, as reports of Master players throwing games are making the rounds.
Numerous fans have taken to r/PokemonUnite to complain about the issue, saying that Master players, who know a loss won't punish them as much as Ultra players, are "trolling" in games by intentionally playing poorly. A common theme from the account is that some Master players are abandoning teamwork, typically by playing as whoever they want and not communicating with their allies at all.
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In one of the top threads on r/PokemonUnite, players discuss their frustrations with these Master players. "I swear the amount of Master ranked players not calling a lane and then running towards my lane where we already have two people who called it and refusing to go the other way…", complains games_moriarty, who also complained about Masters stealing kills from lower-level teammates
Being unable to demote from Master rank has enabled a lot of Master ranked players to sabotage games. from
PokemonUnite
"As I started getting paired with people with Master borders it seemed like there was a HUGE influx of people who just didn't really care how the game went", says a player in another thread. "It was like playing in Great tier all over again."
The general consensus is that Master players are using ranked to experiment with new Pokemon, since they know they can't be demoted. Fans have come up with possible solutions, such as making it so they can fall back into Ultra tier, or only pairing Master players with each other, so they don't interfere with anyone trying to climb out of Ultra.
This isn't the only issue players are experiencing in ranked mode. Elsewhere in the subreddit, others complain about getting too many bot matches – with bots who don't even know how to play the game. If you're put in an AI match, it almost always guarantees a free win, but some feel that this goes against the spirit of the game.