★ VGC 2024 Regulation F Metagame Discussion

[SpencerJRocks]

Hey any sample teams

 

[Flarefox_7]

Hey any sample teams

Victory Road should have some

 

[Choruto]

So its been a few weeks since the Reg F ladder was released and I have some opinions but right now I feel like writing something on a mon that got a big buff with the release of the DLC and that I think is criminally under-rated by most people, and is rapidly becoming one of my favorites

Im talking about Glimmora
The buff that came with the release of the Indigo Disk was that Glim now gets access to the move Meteor Beam. If you dont know, its a 120 BP Rock move that takes 2 turns to charge but increase special attack by 1 before using it. With the power herb item, you can skip the charge time and just obliterate targets turn 1. Now I will admit, I used to not believe in the meteor beam. I was too used to my and sets that I diden't even really consider the meteor beam one until I actually tried it. I have changed my ways, it is so busted.

The biggest things with Meteor beam that makes it such a buff compared to before are
1. The damage
2. Ability to protect and change moves while keeping that power after one meteor beam
Theres more benefits and draw backs, but these 2 are the main things. Lets start with the damage

The sheer damage is honestly crazy and has carried me so hard.
Take these calcs
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 196 HP / 52 SpD Raging Bolt: 163-193 (72.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 28 HP / 4 SpD Flutter Mane: 121-144 (90.2 - 107.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 44 HP / 140 SpD Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 193-228 (106.6 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 36 HP / 4 SpD Landorus: 187-222 (110.6 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Especially the Lando and Shifu calcs. The fact that you can tera into a Ground/Water resist (I like Water) and completely catch an opponent off guard with a quick Lando OHKO can turn a normally bad match up completely on its head. The Shifu calc is also really nice, as you can tera into water and set up spikes before getting a quick kill with either Torn or Glim . Most people lead a combination of Lando , Rilla and Incin especially with the Dozogiri baiting out the Incin and Rilla (Parting shot/intimidate cycling and fake out cycling). Glim just eats a lead like this up, even the Shifu gets obliterates by
I mean take a look at the standard tailwind HO team, which goes something like
(Sometimes with )

With tera and meteor beam, Glim has a good match up into Lando , Incin , Torn , Rilla (Esp since most are dropping HH), and to a lesser extent the Shifu and Flutter which the Torn can handle.

I have personally won tons of games just with the Torn-Glim combo, and even if they drop they whittle down my opp enough so that Dozogiri can clean up. There are a few problematic MU's, like Hands , Bolt and Dengo but for now at least they are much less common. I assume that later on in the format I will run into more problems, same as Dozogiri in general as people adapt to handle it, but for now It feels very strong if you can position right.

The meta in general is very positive for Glim as the aforementioned mons plus a few other problem mons like and (Even smaller things like a lot of mons dropping ground coverage) are seeing a lot less usage, which makes my life much easier. For example the premier fake out users from Reg E in Hands and Rilla are being replaced by Incin which Glim beats, especially with being practically immune to fake out if your opponent wants to dodge the threat of spikes being set up. Talking about spikes, while im getting less usage out of it from before its still a fantastic ability, especially on Dozogiri and I dont think you can ever really go wrong with it.

The second positive is being able to switch up moves and protect. Especially after +1, Glim is like a magnet for attacks. People focus it down so that It cant start snowballing with the +1 stab sludge bombs and earth powers, especially against mons with super effective attacks or fake out. Being able to block these attacks and bait them out without sacrificing the damage that I previously had to with sash or sitrus is a very big boon, as I showed with some of the damage calcs. Even just being able to switch moves is very useful, though its a bit of a trade off with the not being able to click a rock move twice, which has been awkward a few times (Less than you think though).

That brings me to downsides, which there are a few but not nearly enough to offset the benefits for me. Not being able to click the rock attack twice has screwed me over a few times, but I usually have earth power to cover for it and its not been that much of a problem. The worst is the accuracy though, I like dont see a reason why it should be 90% accuracy. Its already a 2 turn charge, like why??? Its not like Hydro where its enough to dissuade me from using it completely and im usually clicking meteor beam only once per game, but still its so annoying and I have lost quite a few games due to misses. Its such a mild annoyance.

One thing I want to mention is the opportunity cost over something like or . I think the set is almost just a straight upgrade to , like the only thing specs offers is turn 1 boosted sludge bomb, but you literally can just click meteor beam and then get the same boost. is more complicated, and I think you can run it, but I really do recommend . Most common mons dont carry moves that can OHKO, and you can just tera out of a weakness anyways. If you are going to tera, why not run so you deal more damage to boot. Glim is just better served as a sweeper than a mon to sack for spikes and maybe some turn 1 damage, especially since practically all teams have some form of fake out or priority than can break the , or even are just running faster than you are like against Flutter for example which as a sash set is a pretty bad MU.

Thats pretty much the end of my essay on Glimmora . I dont normally like touching on winrates and usage stats, but I thought I would bring something up from the Tommy Tuesday tour. Among the mons with more than 10 players using them, Glim had one of the highest winrates, at I think 58%, along with Drago , Registeel , Bax and Ting lu alll at 55-60% win rate (Yeah weird selection lol. Ting lu comeback??). I used it in the tour to go 7-3 (If I played a bit better I could have pre easily gone 8-2, but what can you do :< Next time), and the 17th player also used it without a Dozo . I think Glim is really under-used and heres some of my thoughts on why I think you should consider it, sorry if its a bit of a word spaghetti. Im prolly missing something but Its very late and Im pretty sleepy
Also sorry for all the icons, this was a pain to type idk how Leo does this consistently lol.

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

I want to talk about Fire/Water/Grass cores. This format they seem very effective, as they cover each other's weaknesses well. Let's have a look at a few:

+

+

Sets
This is probably the most popular FWG core you'll see in regulation F (at least for the time being), and for good reason. All three have pivoting moves, all three have priority (the former two have STAB on it), the former two bring great defensive synergy to your team while the latter offers incredible burst damage. It's also surprisingly customisable too - Incin can run almost any item it wants, from Safety Goggles to pinch berries, Rillaboom can either go bulky Assault Vest or add on more damage with Miracle Seed, while Urshifu can go Choice Scarf, Detect +3 attacks or even Swords Dance. You can round this core out with Pelipper, Archuladon and maybe Chien Pao for some extra power.

+

+

Sets
While the last core focused on pivoting and burst damage, this one generally focuses more on bulk. In addition to being an FWG core it's also a Dragon/Steel/Fairy core, another solid archetype. The three cover each other's weaknesses really well, and all appreciate each other's presence. If Hydrapple runs Supersweet Syrup, Heatran and Primarina can run Magma Storm and Hydro Pump to unleash huge damage without worrying about missing. Hydrapple is underrated - Assault Vest lets it stick around for a long time, firing off Fickle Beams which can potentially be devastating. 30% doesn't sound like a lot, but anyone who's played in metas where Scald was everywhere will know what I'm talking about. You can round this core out with Porygon2 (all 3 mons do well in Trick Room) or Indeedee + Iron Crown (Incineroar wants nothing to do with Primarina, and doesn't like Heatran's Earth Power either).

+

+

Sets
While the last core was bulky, this one goes straight for the jugular. Torkoal sets up the sun, triggering the abilities of Walking Wake and Lilligant. There's not really too much to explain about the core - just nuke stuff under sun. You could run a bulkier support set on Torkoal if you wish, or swap Walking Wake's Life Orb for a Choice Scarf (if you do run Modest nature and Flip Turn instead of Protect), and you could run Sash and Protect on Lilligant instead of Sleep Powder. Farigaraf is a great partner for this core, as it can set Trick Room for Torkoal and block priority against the rest of your team. Other good teammates include Flutter Mane (loves sun too), Raging Bolt (smashes most Rain cores) and Whimsicott for speed control and backup sun setter.

+

+

Sets
Similar to the first core, but this one is generally much more aggressive. It apes (pun intended) the physical priority cores we used to see everywhere in regulation d, so naturally Chien Pao is a great fit. Physical Enamorus-I is another solid partner, as like Entei it's immune to Intimidate (actually benefitting from it).

 

[PenguGuy1]

Me personally, I think that Orthworm has a niche in this early meta. With Earth Eater and the Steel typing, you avoid every single one of Lando-I's common moves, in Earth Power, Sludge Bomb, and even Sandsear Storm. Orthworm with 12 ATK investment and Heavy Slam OHKO's the Speed Booster 212 HP/132 DEF Flutter, with Heavy Slam hitting it for 120 BP and super effective damage.

12 Ark Orthworm Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 212 HP/132 Def Flutter Mane: 158-188 (100.6%-119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You can run Iron Defense+Body Press, invest more attack to hit bulkier Flutter sets, and if you really want to, you can use Shed Tail instead of maybe Heavy Slam or even Protect. I run Tera Water btw.

 

[PenguGuy1]

So its been a few weeks since the Reg F ladder was released and I have some opinions but right now I feel like writing something on a mon that got a big buff with the release of the DLC and that I think is criminally under-rated by most people, and is rapidly becoming one of my favorites

Im talking about Glimmora
The buff that came with the release of the Indigo Disk was that Glim now gets access to the move Meteor Beam. If you dont know, its a 120 BP Rock move that takes 2 turns to charge but increase special attack by 1 before using it. With the power herb item, you can skip the charge time and just obliterate targets turn 1. Now I will admit, I used to not believe in the meteor beam. I was too used to my and sets that I diden't even really consider the meteor beam one until I actually tried it. I have changed my ways, it is so busted.

The biggest things with Meteor beam that makes it such a buff compared to before are
1. The damage
2. Ability to protect and change moves while keeping that power after one meteor beam
Theres more benefits and draw backs, but these 2 are the main things. Lets start with the damage

The sheer damage is honestly crazy and has carried me so hard.
Take these calcs
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 196 HP / 52 SpD Raging Bolt: 163-193 (72.4 - 85.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 28 HP / 4 SpD Flutter Mane: 121-144 (90.2 - 107.4%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 44 HP / 140 SpD Tera-Water Urshifu-Rapid Strike: 193-228 (106.6 - 125.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 156+ SpA Glimmora Meteor Beam vs. 36 HP / 4 SpD Landorus: 187-222 (110.6 - 131.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Especially the Lando and Shifu calcs. The fact that you can tera into a Ground/Water resist (I like Water) and completely catch an opponent off guard with a quick Lando OHKO can turn a normally bad match up completely on its head. The Shifu calc is also really nice, as you can tera into water and set up spikes before getting a quick kill with either Torn or Glim . Most people lead a combination of Lando , Rilla and Incin especially with the Dozogiri baiting out the Incin and Rilla (Parting shot/intimidate cycling and fake out cycling). Glim just eats a lead like this up, even the Shifu gets obliterates by
I mean take a look at the standard tailwind HO team, which goes something like
(Sometimes with )

With tera and meteor beam, Glim has a good match up into Lando , Incin , Torn , Rilla (Esp since most are dropping HH), and to a lesser extent the Shifu and Flutter which the Torn can handle.

I have personally won tons of games just with the Torn-Glim combo, and even if they drop they whittle down my opp enough so that Dozogiri can clean up. There are a few problematic MU's, like Hands , Bolt and Dengo but for now at least they are much less common. I assume that later on in the format I will run into more problems, same as Dozogiri in general as people adapt to handle it, but for now It feels very strong if you can position right.

The meta in general is very positive for Glim as the aforementioned mons plus a few other problem mons like and (Even smaller things like a lot of mons dropping ground coverage) are seeing a lot less usage, which makes my life much easier. For example the premier fake out users from Reg E in Hands and Rilla are being replaced by Incin which Glim beats, especially with being practically immune to fake out if your opponent wants to dodge the threat of spikes being set up. Talking about spikes, while im getting less usage out of it from before its still a fantastic ability, especially on Dozogiri and I dont think you can ever really go wrong with it.

The second positive is being able to switch up moves and protect. Especially after +1, Glim is like a magnet for attacks. People focus it down so that It cant start snowballing with the +1 stab sludge bombs and earth powers, especially against mons with super effective attacks or fake out. Being able to block these attacks and bait them out without sacrificing the damage that I previously had to with sash or sitrus is a very big boon, as I showed with some of the damage calcs. Even just being able to switch moves is very useful, though its a bit of a trade off with the not being able to click a rock move twice, which has been awkward a few times (Less than you think though).

That brings me to downsides, which there are a few but not nearly enough to offset the benefits for me. Not being able to click the rock attack twice has screwed me over a few times, but I usually have earth power to cover for it and its not been that much of a problem. The worst is the accuracy though, I like dont see a reason why it should be 90% accuracy. Its already a 2 turn charge, like why??? Its not like Hydro where its enough to dissuade me from using it completely and im usually clicking meteor beam only once per game, but still its so annoying and I have lost quite a few games due to misses. Its such a mild annoyance.

One thing I want to mention is the opportunity cost over something like or . I think the set is almost just a straight upgrade to , like the only thing specs offers is turn 1 boosted sludge bomb, but you literally can just click meteor beam and then get the same boost. is more complicated, and I think you can run it, but I really do recommend . Most common mons dont carry moves that can OHKO, and you can just tera out of a weakness anyways. If you are going to tera, why not run so you deal more damage to boot. Glim is just better served as a sweeper than a mon to sack for spikes and maybe some turn 1 damage, especially since practically all teams have some form of fake out or priority than can break the , or even are just running faster than you are like against Flutter for example which as a sash set is a pretty bad MU.

Thats pretty much the end of my essay on Glimmora . I dont normally like touching on winrates and usage stats, but I thought I would bring something up from the Tommy Tuesday tour. Among the mons with more than 10 players using them, Glim had one of the highest winrates, at I think 58%, along with Drago , Registeel , Bax and Ting lu alll at 55-60% win rate (Yeah weird selection lol. Ting lu comeback??). I used it in the tour to go 7-3 (If I played a bit better I could have pre easily gone 8-2, but what can you do :< Next time), and the 17th player also used it without a Dozo . I think Glim is really under-used and heres some of my thoughts on why I think you should consider it, sorry if its a bit of a word spaghetti. Im prolly missing something but Its very late and Im pretty sleepy
Also sorry for all the icons, this was a pain to type idk how Leo does this consistently lol.

Just tried out Glimmora, and it's nuking things left and right. I clicked meteor beam into Wake expecting it to survive, and it just drops lol. Glimmora is really good yet kinda underrated.

 

[flutterfan]

Me personally, I think that Orthworm has a niche in this early meta. With Earth Eater and the Steel typing, you avoid every single one of Lando-I's common moves, in Earth Power, Sludge Bomb, and even Sandsear Storm. Orthworm with 12 ATK investment and Heavy Slam OHKO's the Speed Booster 212 HP/132 DEF Flutter, with Heavy Slam hitting it for 120 BP and super effective damage.

12 Ark Orthworm Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 212 HP/132 Def Flutter Mane: 158-188 (100.6%-119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You can run Iron Defense+Body Press, invest more attack to hit bulkier Flutter sets, and if you really want to, you can use Shed Tail instead of maybe Heavy Slam or even Protect. I run Tera Water btw.

Yeah, I’ve been noticing a couple of on Showdown specifically. Which like you said, is mostly being used as a counter. Heavy Slam also hits Flutter for super effective and Body Press after an Iron Defense or two, can OHKO Incin as well. It’s definitely picking up a little bit and can really cause some problems. You could also use the classic Reg C strategy of Shed Tail Sitrus Berry Orthworm, switch to Dragon Dance Dragonite. Which is a very interesting strategy, but it works is what is nice about it.

 

[PenguGuy1]

Regulation F is finally here on the Showdown Ladder!! I'm excited about the new paradox Pokemon, so I'll cover some that I find interesting or fun to use

...

I think that (they have sprites now!!) is a very underrated Pokemon. Its typing is great offensively AND defensively, resisting most hits like 's nasty Wood Hammers, and being neutral to most types it would be weak to thanks to its Fire typing, like 's STAB Ice moves, 's Surging Strikes, 's STAB Fairy moves, etc.

Its bulk is good as well. 105/121/93 is nice, and if you do not like how low the SpD is, Assault Vest can fix that. 's physical defense is good too, allowing it to tank a lot of strong physical hits.

also has a vast movepool, being able to be supportive with Snarl, Breaking Swipe, and Howl. Burning Bulwark is an incredible signature move, automatically shutting down physical attackers foolish enough to try to bonk it with their STABs. It has Dragon Dance, allowing it to be a good setup sweeper (you can also use this with Drought up, activating Protosynthesis)

...

It's no doubt that is the new scariest SpAttacker in the metagame, boasting a higher SpA stat than , which I'll remind you has a SpA of 135. Its HP stat is 125, which is not only huge, but this can make it very hard to remove, especially with Assault Vest (91 Def and 89 SpD aren't bad either). Thunderbolt and Draco Meteor are always strong STABs, but the star of the show is its signature move, Thunderclap. If you don't know how that move works, it's a Special and Electric version of Sucker Punch (btw, Thunderclap is 70 while Sucker Punch is 75). This move can just delete Choice Scarf , which makes even MORE impressive and broken. It also has great supportive options, Electroweb, Snarl, Taunt, and even Dragon Tail (If you can make it work I guess...).

...

I'm surprised that no one is mentioning , because not only is it a good sleeper pick, but it is also (IMO) the BEST new Pokemon coming in the DLC. It's typing is bad, being weak to common offensive types (Ghost, Water, Grass,), and not resisting much back. But it makes that downside up with its stats. 125 Spe and 120 Atk are great, outspeeding most threats like AND , , and all forms of . But what I'm crazing over is its signature move, Mighty Cleave.
It's a 95 Base Power Physical Rock Move, that, get this, phases through any form of Protect. You heard me right. We have ANOTHER Pokemon that can bypass Protect (Go eat your heart out, Gouging Fire). Close Combat, Pyscho Cut, and Throat Chop.

Anddd that's all I have to say! I could write about the others, but I don't have much time, and I can't spend all day writing this. What do you think is the new broken Pokemon in Regulation F, or what Pokemon has potential?

I agree with the first two, but I feel that Iron Boulder's typing is kinda holding it back. Like, something under tailwind that has a super effective move against it, Rilla Glide, etc. You get killed by those things because of your subpar bulk. But hey, if you can make it work, that's great. I'm not saying it isn't a threat, but there are many more worry some Pokemon out there.

 

[PenguGuy1]

Me personally, I think that Orthworm has a niche in this early meta. With Earth Eater and the Steel typing, you avoid every single one of Lando-I's common moves, in Earth Power, Sludge Bomb, and even Sandsear Storm. Orthworm with 12 ATK investment and Heavy Slam OHKO's the Speed Booster 212 HP/132 DEF Flutter, with Heavy Slam hitting it for 120 BP and super effective damage.

12 Ark Orthworm Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 212 HP/132 Def Flutter Mane: 158-188 (100.6%-119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You can run Iron Defense+Body Press, invest more attack to hit bulkier Flutter sets, and if you really want to, you can use Shed Tail instead of maybe Heavy Slam or even Protect. I run Tera Water btw.

You can also drop Protect for Shed Tail, forgot to mention that.

 

[koL reivaZ]

i guess roaring moon is still roaring mid

 

[PenguGuy1]

i guess roaring moon is still roaring mid

Yeah, it was kinda unfortunate that he was doing so well in regulation e, then just fell off.

 

[Heracross65]

Ref F Tier List?

 

[Major Armstrong]

Ref F Tier List?

Here's a link to some usage stats from December that should help.

 

[PenguGuy1]

Bro what happened to Hearthflame Ogerpon (ik its incin)

 

[flutterfan]

Bro what happened to Hearthflame Ogerpon (ik its incin)

What happened to Hearthflame Ogerpon? Well, yes, Incin is a big part of its downfall. But I don’t think that Incin is the reason specifically. I think it was more new toy syndrome for Hearthflame. Hearthflame Ogerpon looks so promising on the outside but it can fail to deliver sometimes. See, the issue with Hearthflame is that you’re forced into investing into is Attack and Speed stats due to the Tera boost. The other Ogerpon forms don’t have to do this(Maybe Teal Mask sometimes, but not all of the time) Which makes Hearthflame super frail and since it can’t hold Sash, this is a big liability.

I’m not saying Hearthflame Ogerpon is bad, no. In fact, I think it’s probably one of the most threatening Physical Attackers that we have legal. It’s just that you can’t really afford to invest that much bulk into it. Also, yes, Incin causes some problems for Hearthflame as well(Intim, fire and grass resistance, etc.)

 

[Vinc2612]

I'm going to comment the Bo3 ladder 1500+ as this is the one I'm interested in:

Ladder stats analysis

Flutter Mane and Incineroar are in more than half of the teams. Incineroar is a bit more present in the 6, while Flutter Mane is a bit more present in the 4. No surprise at all, they are the top 2, and will probably stay that way.

• Flutter Mane has an awesome typing. Ghost is the best defensive typing for an offensive Pokémon (because of Fake Out) while Fairy could claim the title of best offensive one. Incineroar becoming the premium Fire Type made Heatran and Ogerpon-Hearthflame drop in usage, by a lot. Incineroar resisting Steel and Ghost made Gholdengo drops in usage. Those are three less Fairy Resistances. Those are three more reasons to spam fairy moves.
• Incineroar is back as the best pivot Pokémon. Intimidate is the best ability. Fire/Dark is a great defensive typing. Fake Out and Parting Shot are two awesome support moves. Those three perks are enough by themselves, allowing you to freely pick any item and any tera-type you like (don't forget to pick one to be immune to Amoonguss though, either Tera-Grass or Safety Goggles).

Urshifu-Rapid-Strike , Rillaboom , Tornadus and Landorus-I complete the top 6, about 30 % usage. FRUIT is real. FRUIT is played a lot. FRUIT is meta. And it looks like Landorus-I is the favourite 6th wheel, no surprise either, given how strong it is against the top.

• Urshifu-Rapid-Strike and Tornadus is still a great offensive duo. Tornadus brings speed, rain, and a super effective move against Grass. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike brings raw power that does not care about Intimidate.
• Rillaboom has great synergy with the rest of the top meta. Fake Out is great, Grassy Glide is an awesome priority move, and Rillaboom has a great bulk to withstand almost any move.
• Landorus-I has some insane damage output with just two moves: Earth Power and Sludge Bomb. Sheer Force and Life Orb provides a boost of 70 % to those moves, with a drawback so small that it becomes almost irrelevant (you're losing the 10/30 % secondary effects). Landorus rips apart most defensive cores.

Ogerpon-Wellspring and Raging Bolt are next, with a solid 24 % usage. I'm a bit surprised about Ogerpon, which I didn't meet as much so won't comment much. But Raging Bolt is good and is probably raising: bulk is good, damages are great, speed is a bit lacking but its signature move fix it to an extend. Being splasheable helps, being a quickfix to UrshiTorn helps even more.

Amoonguss and Chien-Pao complete the top 10. With Kingambit at 11th, here are all the Pokémon used over 15 % (more precisely over 16.69 %). All were solid in Reg E, all are still solid in Reg F for the same reasons:

• Amoonguss is still as good as ever. It is a fantastic pivot, redirecter, and a slow Spore is still awesome. Safety Goggles are increasing in usage and we all know the sole reason. Knock Off being more used (hi Incineroar) means that those glasses aren't even enough.
• Chien-Pao is the backbone of hyper offense. Its speed tier is fantastic, its attack stat is fantastic, its ability is even better. I'm both glad and sad that it didn't get Triple Axel.
• Kingambit is the premium Intimidate deterrent. With Incineroar's omnipresence, it basically has a base attack of 228, with more than respectable bulk. Dark is a bit less effective as an offensive type now but that's a detail beside the rest.

And as we go down, we meet the 10 % usage club with Indeedee-F , Iron Hands , Archaludon , Whimsicott , Landorus-Therian , Walking Wake , Latias and Entei .
Three kind of Pokémon here:

• Indeedee-F , Archaludon , Whimsicott and Walking Wake are the core Pokémon from non-FRUIT strategies. Indeedee is the core of psyspam, Archaludon is a great rain abuser, Whimsicott found its niche over Tornadus as a sun setter (and beat up abuser) while Walking Wake is the best sun sweeper
• Latias and Entei are solid non-meta picks. Latias is the premium defensive tailwind user, having an excellent typing to check the dangerous Urshifu-Rapid-Strike, Landorus-I and Rillaboom. Entei is the second fairy resistance, first offensive one, thus helping against Flutter Mane. Inner Focus is an awesome ability to ignore Intimidate and Fake Out, while Sacred Fire does great damages and cannot be switched in by any physical resistance (hi Urshifu!). I expect this one to go up.
  • If you still doubted on Flutter Mane status as S rank, I hope the part on fairy resistances conviced you now
• Iron Hands and especially Landorus-Therian looks like leftovers from pre-DLC and their usage will probably go down. Incineroar is an awesome role compression of both and they become harder to justify bringing in. I can still have some hope for Iron Hands (even if Raging Bolt looks like the superior Electric Type now), not for Landorus-T. I might be proven wrong though.

My preliminary tier list

And finally, here is my preliminary tier list (the top obviously follows the usage stats, but mid tiers let me mention some honorable mentions that I still believe in). They are limited to Pokémon I have experienced playing or facing (or both) so I obviously missed some, sorry about that.

S: Flutter Mane , Incineroar

A+: Urshifu-Rapid-Strike , Tornadus , Rillaboom , Landorus , Raging Bolt , Amoonguss , Chien-Pao
A: Ogerpon-Wellspring , Kingambit , Latias , Entei , Archaludon
A-: Walking Wake , Indeedee-F , Whimsicott , Iron Crown , Gholdengo

B+: Farigiraf , Porygon2 , Dondozo , Tatsugiri , Registeel , Dragonite , Heatran , Urshifu
B: Iron Hands , Gouging Fire , Sinistcha , Cresselia , Glimmora , Chi-Yu , Metagross , Weezing
B-: Landorus-T , Torkoal , Venusaur , Suicune , Roaring Moon , Iron Bundle , Ursaluna , Regidrago

C+: Grimmsnarl , Annihilape , Pelipper , Ogerpon-Hearthflame , Armarouge , Terrakion , Smeargle
C: Hatterene , Iron Boulder , Araquanid , Primarina , Ninetales-Alola , Hydrapple , Zapdos-Galar
C-: Lilligant-Hisui , Milotic , Tyranitar , Dragapult , Gothitelle , Regieleki , Ogerpon-Cornerstone , Armarouge , Comfey , Moltres-Galar , Orthworm , Blaziken , Politoed , Bellossom

https://www.smogon.com/stats/2023-12-DLC2/gen9vgc2024regfbo3-1500.txt
+ ---- + ------------------ + --------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------- +
| Rank | Pokemon | Usage % | Raw | % | Real | % |
+ ---- + ------------------ + --------- + ------ + ------- + ------ + ------- +
| 1 | Flutter Mane | 56.91443% | 131963 | 52.814% | 68951 | 59.012% |
| 2 | Incineroar | 56.76801% | 137978 | 55.221% | 66575 | 56.978% |
| 3 | Urshifu-Rapid-Strike | 32.84486% | 77218 | 30.904% | 38236 | 32.724% |
| 4 | Rillaboom | 30.92665% | 72884 | 29.169% | 36456 | 31.201% |
| 5 | Landorus | 28.60947% | 61458 | 24.597% | 30883 | 26.431% |
| 6 | Tornadus | 28.52001% | 69027 | 27.626% | 24041 | 20.576% |
| 7 | Ogerpon-Wellspring | 24.44770% | 53829 | 21.543% | 28679 | 24.545% |
| 8 | Raging Bolt | 23.80721% | 55449 | 22.192% | 24143 | 20.663% |
| 9 | Amoonguss | 19.72070% | 45692 | 18.287% | 21488 | 18.391% |
| 10 | Chien-Pao | 17.27988% | 38521 | 15.417% | 19759 | 16.911% |
| 11 | Kingambit | 16.69517% | 38428 | 15.380% | 15725 | 13.458% |
| 12 | Indeedee-F | 10.46292% | 26556 | 10.628% | 13030 | 11.152% |
| 13 | Iron Hands | 10.33435% | 27770 | 11.114% | 13947 | 11.937% |
| 14 | Archaludon | 10.12347% | 28029 | 11.218% | 15026 | 12.860% |
| 15 | Whimsicott | 9.99964% | 28091 | 11.243% | 9771 | 8.363% |
| 16 | Landorus-Therian | 9.99837% | 25092 | 10.042% | 11108 | 9.507% |
| 17 | Walking Wake | 9.78544% | 26772 | 10.715% | 14327 | 12.262% |
| 18 | Latias | 9.66221% | 22473 | 8.994% | 8049 | 6.889% |
| 19 | Entei | 9.53758% | 20299 | 8.124% | 10484 | 8.973% |

 

[LovelyLuna]

It's been a little over 2 weeks since the Regulation F ladder was up, and Portland is just around the corner. The meta has developed and after experiments, dominant cores have been built. Here are my current thoughts on the meta.

Text Wall 2

I want to talk about Farigiraf and Porygon2 and how they've..really fallen off. Trick Room is at an all time low right now, Indeedee being on Tailwind Iron Crown teams and the other Trick Room setters falling out of viability. I believe this is because of Latias . The "unorthodox pick" I mentioned before has been dominating limitless tournaments and having its share amount of play on the ladder. I believe Latias replaced Farigiraf and Porygon2 because Semiroom is very similar to Balance, just with a trick room mode. The trick room abusers are lacking right now, at least relative to the available exploiters of Tailwind, which is why most Farigiraf teams seem to have replaced it with Latias . Not to mention how Latias applies a great field presence alone, to the point it wants Recover over Protect.

Latias Kingambit has been a common duo as they cover each other so well, Latias threatening problems like Landorus and Urshifu-Rapid-Strike , while Kingambit pressures threats to Latias like Flutter Mane and Gholdengo , especially with an Assault Vest equipped. Kingambit forego Swords Dance much easier now with how common Intimidate is, and it's why Assault Vest finds itself to be the most successful set so far.

I'd also like to talk about Registeel who's seen usage on these teams, thanks to fantastic defensive stats and Iron Defence Body Press, it becomes a sweeper very difficult to stop, especially with Ogerpon-Wellspring and Incineroar support. Basically Hisuian Goodra if it had 50 more Defence and resisted Flutter Mane .

Moving onto the only Trick Room setter who managed to stay relevant; Indeedee , it seems to mainly exist on Tornadus Urshifu-Rapid-Strike paired with Iron Crown , giving you two fast offensive modes. I do still think Armarouge and Hatterene are solid, as they output huge damage and Indeedee is a fantastic support Pokemon.

Chien-Pao Entei is a rising threat that has eclipsed Chien-Pao Dragonite thanks to not sharing a Fairy weakness and to Sacred Fire, a very strong STAB that has a 50% chance to burn, meaning even resists like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike can not risk switching in. Like Dragonite , it has Inner Focus allowing it to ignore Incineroar and Landorus-T when blowing through teams with Sacred Fire or Extreme Speed. Speaking of Landorus-T , it pairs great with the duo as an Intimidator which doesn't stack the Fire typing and works as a switch in to its incarnate form .

I also want to talk about Whimsicott Walking Wake which is seeing a great amount of usage, however, it really doesn't deliver. It's not ever hard to check defensively and offensive teams have a positive matchup into it thanks to Landorus and Flutter Mane . The archetype is so inconsistent, Walking Guard got as low as a 34% winrate. Whimsicott is really not that great of a Pokemon and neither is Walking Wake, I apologise for the propaganda I spread with my earlier post.

As for individual Pokemon, I think people have been sleeping on Iron Hands . Great on both Balance and Tailwind, Use it, trust me. Iron Hands may not like Incineroar but God, it's meta matchup is insane. Think of your Top 20 Pokemon real quick and then ask yourself, how many of them beat this Iron Hands 1v1?

One Puch Mon (Iron Hands) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Quark Drive
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 4 HP / 156 Atk / 4 Def / 220 SpD / 124 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Fake Out
- Drain Punch
- Wild Charge
- Ice Punch

From my personal Top 20, it's beating almost 70%, easy, and when Terastallised, only 4 of the 20 pokemon can stab up to it, 4 lower on the list for the record. As seen in the set above, if worried about Incineroar , all Iron Hands needs to do this Regulation is just go a bit faster, which allows it to better deal with Incineroar . Being able to chunk them for 50 to 60% (Nerd of Now spread) or 45 to 53% (Dex spread) before they can get off a Parting Shot is huge, especially because unlike Iron Hands , Incineroar can't heal itself throughout the course of the game and has to be more careful with its health. How is this beast B+ or even B to you guys?

Another incredibly overlooked pokemon is Ogerpon-Hearthflame . I find the Follow Me set very strong right now, being a better Amoonguss and Rillaboom answer than its Wellspring counterpart. Even when prioritising Defence to be a reliable redirector, you have so much offensive pressure, especially with Tera, OHKOing many neutrals. I also find offensive variants pretty strong because of how hard they are to slow down. 2HKOing Latias , Entei , and Raging Bolt , yes, you heard me, the 125/91 physical bulk Pokemon gets 2HKOd most of the time by a resisted attack. However, Incineroar is a hard wall if not running Stantrum and Rain Dance Tornadus is a great way to show it down, which means most teams aren't too worried, why I think pairing it with a pokemon like Urshifu-Rapid-Strike to scare away these stop gaps is ideal. Their synergy goes further, Follow Me Hearthflame shutting down Rillaboom and who want to hit Urshifu-Rapid-Strike with their devastating priority, and threatening Amoonguss in and out of Tera with super effective damage, very under explored duo imo.

One last team I wanted to talk about are the following: https://pokepast.es/624165b2274d4351

After going extinct in Regulation E, Gyarados looks like it's making a comeback, this 6 top cutting multiple of the recent limitless tournaments. Its defensive typing and good movepool makes it always a good Pokemon in a vacuum. Faced issues in Regulation E because it was a very hyper offence centred metagame, which wasn't ideal for Gyarados , pivoting in and out and crippling Pokemon throughout the game with Thunder Wave and Taunt are what it does best, and the introduction of Incineroar , Latias , and Raging Bolt has slowed down the metagame for it to shine. The team utilises Calm Mind Raging Bolt which can be unbreakable on the special side after a single turn, and combines it with Intimidate to make it a sturdy wall on both sides, while hitting incredibly hard in the process. Rillaboom and the Offensive pressure from Chien-Pao Entei make its job easier.

Ending off the post, here's my Top 30 again!

S - 1-2, A+ - 3-5, A - 6-11, A- - 12-17, B+ - 18-29.

1. Incineroar
2. Flutter Mane
3. Amoonguss
4. Urshifu-Rapid-Strike
5. Rillaboom
6. Ogerpon-Wellspring
7. Chien-Pao
8. Iron Hands
9. Landorus
10. Tornadus
11. Kingambit
12. Raging Bolt
13. Urshifu
14. Goldengo
15. Landorus-T
16. Latias
17. Entei
18. Indeedee-F
19. Ogerpon-Hearthflame
20. Roaring Moon
21. Dondozo
22. Chi-Yu
23. Iron Bundle
24. Glimmora
25. Tatsugiri
26. Archaludon
27. Dragonite
28. Iron Crown
29. Pelipper
30. Suicune

 

[koL reivaZ]

iron bundle getting overlooked

 

[flutterfan]

Looking at Day 1 of Portland, a few common trends stuck out to me.

First and foremost, Chien-Pao and Entei is a very strong duo that had WAY more usage than I expected it to. There’s a reason why Sacred Fire is only given to 2 Pokemon in the game. On top of Entei also getting Extreme Speed to be able to go for the Tera Normal mode. Assault Vest seems to be the preferred item on Entei, with Choice Band being 2nd. Its just like Dragonite, just better because of Sacred Fire mainly, on top of resisting Flutter instead of being weak to it.

Also, the real surprise to me was that Farigiraf made the Top 12 usage. I know that LameLiarLeo up thread said that Trick Room was kinda done. Apparently the players at Portland beg to differ! There was even an Araquanid on stream paired up with Farigiraf, run by content creator MoxieBoosted. However, it seems like Farigiraf was mostly being used to block priority instead of Trick Room, making the situation with Farigiraf even more interesting. To me, this seems like a hard meta read more than just a typical Top 12 Pokémon.

I was also surprised that there was only 1 Latias on stream. Latias I thought for sure was gonna make at least 2 appearances on stream, maybe even make Top 12. But it didn’t even come close. However, there’s an easy reason why this happened.

!!!

See, the Dragon/Psychic typing may help against Tornadus, Urshifu Water, and Landorus Incarnate. However, it does NOT help against Flutter Mane. Which I think is why Latias’s usage was kinda low throughout this tournament.

So yeah! That’s my take on some of the surprises to me that happened during Day 1 of Portland.

 

[PenguGuy1]

Looking at Day 1 of Portland, a few common trends stuck out to me.

First and foremost, Chien-Pao and Entei is a very strong duo that had WAY more usage than I expected it to. There’s a reason why Sacred Fire is only given to 2 Pokemon in the game. On top of Entei also getting Extreme Speed to be able to go for the Tera Normal mode. Assault Vest seems to be the preferred item on Entei, with Choice Band being 2nd. Its just like Dragonite, just better because of Sacred Fire mainly, on top of resisting Flutter instead of being weak to it.

Also, the real surprise to me was that Farigiraf made the Top 12 usage. I know that LameLiarLeo up thread said that Trick Room was kinda done. Apparently the players at Portland beg to differ! There was even an Araquanid on stream paired up with Farigiraf, run by content creator MoxieBoosted. However, it seems like Farigiraf was mostly being used to block priority instead of Trick Room, making the situation with Farigiraf even more interesting. To me, this seems like a hard meta read more than just a typical Top 12 Pokémon.

I was also surprised that there was only 1 Latias on stream. Latias I thought for sure was gonna make at least 2 appearances on stream, maybe even make Top 12. But it didn’t even come close. However, there’s an easy reason why this happened.

!!!

See, the Dragon/Psychic typing may help against Tornadus, Urshifu Water, and Landorus Incarnate. However, it does NOT help against Flutter Mane. Which I think is why Latias’s usage was kinda low throughout this tournament.

So yeah! That’s my take on some of the surprises to me that happened during Day 1 of Portland.

I've also been using Farig on ladder to protect my Iron Boulder from Sucker Punches, Aqua Jets, Grassy Glides and Fake Outs and I've gotta say, its been working out amazingly well. me personally, I like Tera Fairy Gleam, Psychic Noise, Troom and Helping Hand with Safety Goggles.

 

[PenguGuy1]

I've also been using Empoleon+Gouging Fires and its really good. I don't have to run Clear Amulet, so I can get some power with Booster Energy. Lando-I added really helps. I have Rilla and A-Tales for support, but I'm at a loss for redirection users. Preferably a Follow Me user, but rage Powder works just fine.

 

[4Kuser]

Looking at Day 1 of Portland, a few common trends stuck out to me.

First and foremost, Chien-Pao and Entei is a very strong duo that had WAY more usage than I expected it to. There’s a reason why Sacred Fire is only given to 2 Pokemon in the game. On top of Entei also getting Extreme Speed to be able to go for the Tera Normal mode. Assault Vest seems to be the preferred item on Entei, with Choice Band being 2nd. Its just like Dragonite, just better because of Sacred Fire mainly, on top of resisting Flutter instead of being weak to it.

Also, the real surprise to me was that Farigiraf made the Top 12 usage. I know that LameLiarLeo up thread said that Trick Room was kinda done. Apparently the players at Portland beg to differ! There was even an Araquanid on stream paired up with Farigiraf, run by content creator MoxieBoosted. However, it seems like Farigiraf was mostly being used to block priority instead of Trick Room, making the situation with Farigiraf even more interesting. To me, this seems like a hard meta read more than just a typical Top 12 Pokémon.

I was also surprised that there was only 1 Latias on stream. Latias I thought for sure was gonna make at least 2 appearances on stream, maybe even make Top 12. But it didn’t even come close. However, there’s an easy reason why this happened.

!!!

See, the Dragon/Psychic typing may help against Tornadus, Urshifu Water, and Landorus Incarnate. However, it does NOT help against Flutter Mane. Which I think is why Latias’s usage was kinda low throughout this tournament.

So yeah! That’s my take on some of the surprises to me that happened during Day 1 of Portland.

I agree with all of this, but I'm kinda surprised that overtook as the superior Water-Type, and too.
AMOONGUSS WILL NEVER DIE (It's still a Top 12 Pokemon lol)
finally overtook , and is nowhere to be seen.

 

[LovelyLuna]

Here is the list of the Pokemon who have made it to Day 2, I'll go over the entirety of the regional once it's complete but for now, #FAKE REGIONAL

 

[Mr. Goodra]

View attachment 589009

Here is the list of the Pokemon who have made it to Day 2, I'll go over the entirety of the regional once it's complete but for now, #FAKE REGIONAL

Thanks so much for this visualizer, it's been very thought provoking.

I known

has very good synergy with numerous mons but seeing it so high is wild to me. Running it has drawbacks for your own team so I wouldn't think it'd be that splashable. I hate super squishy mons personally, and as someone who likes more of a bulky balance playstyle, it making your own mons have negative defense is super unappealling lol. Making one incorrect prediction and losing a mon for it sucks, but I guess that's also why

users pick it so much (to get 1 hit knock outs that couldn't be otherwise).

continues to haunt the format as per. I was thinking about it and there's a couple of factors for me where this amount of usage does make sense:

1) Godly STAB combination. Ghost/Fairy is just disgusting to try and switch into coming off of nuclear special sweeper stats.

2) Incredible flexibility - because the STAB combo covers so much, you've often got a couple of moves to toy with. You can actually make

quite supportive with Taunt, Trick Room etc. It's always going to be able to adapt to what surrounds it in the meta with a great movepool and no need to run coverage unless crucial for your team.

3) WHERE ARE THE GOOD FAIRY RESISTS?! I feel like there are very few fairy resists that are splashable mons across playstyles, or where using them comes with team building costs.

,

and

are the most splashable resists listed in this top cut, but

won't fit a number of playstyles and loses to Taunt or Psyshock

, and

and

have typing overlaps with

and

, two hugely influential mons.

Of the mons with 10+ uses that made day 2, 4 are weak to fairy, 1 resists, and 5 are neutral. We see some more Fairy resists across the 8-5 usage range, perhaps they'll pick up if

doesn't settle down? I think

is criminally underrated and usage will increase as Reg F evolves (it threatens so much of the meta and it's a chonky boi).

That being said, pleasantly surprised with

's showing. People have been writing that mon off with

's return, but it has a good mix of supporting abilities and the option to inflict nuclear damage, and it's clearly still putting in the work.

 

[flutterfan]

View attachment 589009

Here is the list of the Pokemon who have made it to Day 2, I'll go over the entirety of the regional once it's complete but for now, #FAKE REGIONAL

This list of Pokémon that made it into Day 2 is super interesting to me. Urshifu Single Strike being that high in the usage specifically. I really thought that we kinda stepped away from that Pokemon in Reg E but now it’s back! I’m also surprised that there were no Walking Wake that made it into Day 2. Walking Wake was a Pokémon that everyone was hyping up, thinking that sun teams were back and that Hydro Steam was overpowered. But, turns out it bombed.

Also, I gotta know who’s running the Magmar, because that’s a Pokémon that a lot of people are looking at for that redirection option. And to see it make it into Day 2 surprises me and doesn’t surprise me at the same time. It’s not like redirection will ever magically disappear, but I thought both Ogerpon‘s and Amoonguss’s usage stats would be much lower.

Thundy-I in Day 2 REALLY caught me by surprise, the Prankster Thunder Wave really can help out with speed control and it also has some solid damage options with the Thunderbolt and the Wildbolt Storm. Again, an interesting call for this event in particular. However, I get why I’m seeing it here. Especially knowing the support it can provide.

Last thing I wanna touch on, and this is really important to me personally. 5 GLIMMORA IN DAY 2?! WHAT WAS POWER HERB METEOR BEAM COOKING UP??? Like, I know it’s a pretty solid buff for it, but I didn’t expect it to be used that often. And even weirder was that there were(probably, knowing that most people run Glimmora with Dozo) 2 Glimmora without Dozo? I guess that people are going all in when it comes to hazards and Meteor Beam strats, lol.