Who Reigns Supreme? The Historic Saga of VGC's Fiery Rivals
Art by ScoopedDoodles!
A note from the author: When I originally wrote this piece, it was before the release of the Indigo Disk DLC. However, after attending San Antonio Regionals, I caught the flu and was unable to do much work on this piece while sick. I was still committed to releasing this piece as it took me down memory lane with some really great VGC moments with Arcanine and Incineroar. Thank you for reading and enjoy!
As players excitedly wait for the introduction of Pokemon new and old in The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero Part 2: The Indigo Disk, many have anticipated the return of the king, Incineroar. In Incineroar’s absence, a classic fire type, with a new typing, and the ability Intimidate, has taken the throne in Regulation E. Could we see Incineroar claim what once was his in this new generation of Pokemon? Let’s take a deep dive into each of these Pokemon, what they once offered, and what they can offer up now.
I. Introduction
A. Brief overview of Arcanine and Incineroar
Arcanine is a classic Generation 1 Pokemon from the Kanto region. Known as the Legendary Pokemon, Arcanine was given a complete makeover in the Hisui region with a new typing. The now Fire/Rock type comes with new coverage moves and STAB-typing that has proved extremely successful in Regulation E with 6 championship trophies to its name.
Incineroar is the staple Fire starter in the Alola region. At first, this Pokemon lacked access to its hidden ability, Intimidate, and in early March 2018 was finally freed from its hidden ability jail as players were given access to the ability for the first time. Before the release Incineroar’s hidden ability, many could only theorize the destructive potential of this Pokemon. Its official release proved to be fruitful to all who would use it.
B. Introduction of Hisuian Arcanine, Incineroar, and their impact/significance in the competitive Pokémon scene
Hisuian Arcanine has seen incredible significance as a major force on most teams in Regulation E. Arcanine’s Intimidate, Rock Typing, and incredible move pool make this an offensive foe, a defensive pivot, or even a supportive teammate. Many players use Hisuian Arcanine in Fire/Water/Grass cores on a majority of top teams alongside Rillaboom and Rapid-Strike Urshifu. Pairing this Pokemon with the new Tera mechanic of Scarlet and Violet proves to be an even bigger problem for opponents thinking that a simple Ground or Water type move will knock out this Pokemon. It would be a disservice to not mention Kanto Arcanine in this article, so we’ll break down it’s historical use in the next section!
Incineroar has been the glue for many successful teams in the past 5 years since it’s release with Intimidate. This Pokemon, like Arcanine, is offensive, defensive, and supportive, all the while tanking some of the grandest attacks in the game such as a +2 Fairy Aura boosted Moonblast from Xerneas. Incineroar’s access to the move Fake Out also sets this pokemon apart from Arcanine.The ability to safely lead Incineroar and to completely flinch an opponent's pokemon is a big step ahead of Arcanine. Looking back at Top Cut placements from 2018, 2019, 2020, 2021, 2022, and now, hopefully, 2024, Incineroar is back and better than ever with the Tera mechanic to carry new teams even better than before to 1st place.
II. Historical Context
A. Arcanine's legacy in competitive play
Arcanine has seen notable play in formats such as VGC 2012, 2017, early Sword and Shield Series formats, and even a bit in early Scarlet/Violet Series formats as well. VGC 2017 is by far one of the most impressive formats for Arcanine, and to accommodate this claim, check out this short write up from Smogon giving us a brief overview of Arcanine in 2017.
1. Overview of Arcanine's movepool and abilities
Arcanine has 3 notable abilities for a Pokemon with good stats all around. Intimidate, lowering the opponents Attack stat by 1 stage upon entering the field, Flash Fire, an immunity to Fire type moves as well as powering up your own Fire type moves, and Justified, raising Arcanine’s attack for everytime it is hit by a dark type move.
As for Arcanine’s movepool, the list could go on forever. Notable offensive moves include Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Wild Charge, Play Rough, Burn Up (older gen. move), Close Combat, Psychic Fangs, Outrage, Crunch, Flamethrower, Fire Blast, Dragon Pulse, Heat Wave, Overheat, and Tera Blast. Notable Defensive/Supportive moves include Helping Hand, Morning Sun, Roar, Will-O-Wisp, Charm, Howl, and Snarl. This is most of Arcanine’s movepool barring some moves considered not useful or as commonly used, and it’s incredible to see how much can be fit into the 4 moveslots given to players on Arcanine.
2. Notable achievements in championships and wins
Arcanine’s crowning achievements to date include 2nd, 5th, 7th, and 8th at the 2017 Pokemon World Championships. Piloted in that order by Sam Pandelis (AU), Nils Dunlop (SE), Rene Alvarenga (SV), and Dorian Andre Quinonez (PE). While the Pokemon World’s 2017 Top Cut is the only cut to feature Arcanine, Arcanine was used for many other Worlds events, and was usually contending for a spot on a team against pokemon such as Landorus-T, Salamence, Krookodile, Hitmontop, Gyarados, and Scrafty. A big shout out to @ryuzaki_vgc (Trista Medine) and her work collecting and cataloging Worlds Top Cuts. See her resource image here.
Taking a look at another very helpful resource, Nimbasa City Post, we come upon an article from 2017 talking about how Arcanine was famously apart of a team core with Tapu Fini and Kartana in 2017. This team core would be piloted by some of the best in VGC at the time and would result in the following achievements:
Sam Schweitzer finished 3rd at the 2017 Dallas Regionals
Nick Navarre finished 4th at the 2017 Dallas Regionals
Baris Akcos finished 3rd at the 2017 Leipzig Regionals
Davide Carter finished 2nd at the 2017 Leipzig Regionals
Markus Stadter won the 2017 Leipzig Regionals
Edward Glover finished 13th at the 2017 Athens Regionals
Yan Sym finished 25th in the online Melbourne Challenge
Tobias Koschitziki finished 22nd in the online Melbourne Challenge
Curtis Cousins finished 5th in the online Melbourne Challenge
For a COMPLETE list of Arcanine’s historic usage, I recommend this Arcanine Limitless VGC Page.
3. Prize money earned by top Arcanine users
As for prize money earned, Arcanine as listed on Limitless in the old paystructure earned a total of $267,250. We’ll cover Hisuian Arcanine’s winnings in a further section with the modern day pay structure. Top Arcanine earners include Regional Champions, International Champions, and Worlds Finalists! Find more on the Arcanine Limitless VGC Page to see some of VGC’s best Arcanine players.
B. Incineroar's impact on the competitive scene
The Introduction of Intimidate
Incineroar was not a popular Pokemon before it was given access to it’s hidden ability, Intimidate. In early March 2018, Incineroar’s hidden ability was released in the middle of the format with no warning. It’s usage shot up like a bamboo sprout and has never stopped growing since. The only way to gatekeep this Pokemon from the competitive metagame is to not include it in the game at all. With the release of the 2nd DLC for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, Incineroar is finally in the game.
Intimidate as an ability, has been argued as the best ability in the game. When a Pokemon with this ability enters the field, the attack stat of both opposing Pokemon are dropped by 1. Pair that ability with spectacular typing, a great stat line, Fake Out pressure, and a move pool that knows little bounds, and you get Incineroar. Incineroar holds three 1st place Worlds finishes in 2018, 2019 and 2022. It also holds a multitude of Regional, International and even Players Cup 1st place finishes as well. Incineroar has essentially done what Wolfey Glick has done, which is win every type of event ever held, with the only exception being Nationals before it was turned into Internationals. If you’re looking to see how impactful Incineorar has been with this ability, the accolades earned with this Pokemon paint a perfect picture.
2. Competitive landscape before and after Incineroar's inclusion
Pokemon with the ability Intimidate have been instrumental to almost every team that has existed in the past decade and more. Before Intimidate Incineroar, most teams would use an Intimidate user with pretty good stats, if Landorus-Therian was legal for play than that would typically reign as the top Intimidator. There were very few usable Pokemon that can be put onto a team like Incineroar can. Hitmontop was used for many years and is still considered every now & then, but in comparison Incineroar just seems to be the better pick for most compositions. It fits nicely onto any team in Fire, Water, Grass cores, and can be the perfect Pokemon to tie together a team composition lacking so much offensive, defensive, or supportive pressure.
3. Championships and wins attributed to Incineroar users
Thanks to Limitless VGC’s Incineroar page, we can list some of Incineroar’s biggest winners!
Paul Ruiz finished 1st at the 2018 World Championships
Emilio Forbes finished 2nd at the 2018 World Championships
Nils Dunlop finished 3rd at the 2018 World Championships
Yusei Matsuno finished 4th at the 2018 World Championships
Arash Ommati finished 6th at the 2018 World Championships
Naoto Mizobuchi finished 1st at the 2019 World Championships
James Baek finished 3rd at the 2019 World Championships
Kazuki Kobayashi finished 4th at the 2019 World Championships
Meaghan Rattle finished 5th at the 2019 World Championships
Alex Gomez finished 6th at the 2019 World Championships
Eric Rios finished 7th at the 2019 World Championships
Stephen Mea finished 8th at the 2019 World Championships
Eduardo Cunha finished 1st at the 2022 World Championships
Guillermo Castilla Diaz finished 2nd at the 2022 World Championships
James Baek finished 3rd at the 2022 World Championships
Paul Chua finished 4th at the 2022 World Championships
Calvin Foster finished 5th at the 2022 World Championships
Davide Carrer finished 7th at the 2022 World Championships
Naoto Mizobuchi 8th at the 2022 World Championships
This is only the Top 8 of each VGC Series that Incineroar has been legal for the World Championships. There are numerous Regional and International wins not listed as it would take up way too much space in this article. Just know, Incineroar has the credentials to prove itself if the Worlds Finalist list was not enough.
III. The Rise of Hisuian Arcanine
A. Introduction of Hisuian Arcanine and its unique traits
Hisuian Arcanine has been the hottest Pokemon on the block in Regulation E. With seven championship trophies it seems that nothing will stop this Rock/Fire type phenom. Arcanine, now with a dual typing in Rock, provides additional coverage into match-ups that before may have been more difficult to deal with. When Hisuian Arcanine was first released its usage in earlier regulations was low as players were skeptical of it’s potential performance compared to Kanto Arcanine. In time players saw the new potential and piloted Hisuian Arcanine to multiple championship wins.
1. New abilities and movepool
Hisuian Arcanine gains 1 new ability, Rock Head. This ability enables Arcanine to not take recoil damage unless it’s from Struggle, Life Orb Chip, or Crash damage. Most notably, for the 150 Base Power Rock move, Head Smash, the user would typically take a massive amount of recoil damage. With Rock Head however, this would make the user immune to said recoil damage. While it is unlikely in its current state to switch from Intimidate to Rock Head, who knows if a future meta game reveals Rock Head Arcanine as the latest open team sheet hidden tech.
Rock STAB is the big change for Hisuain Arcanine with Rock Slide and Head Smash. The movepool besides that mostly stays the same. You no longer have access to the ability Justified, and that’s okay when you’re hitting opponents for 150 BP with no recoil damage or other consequences. A Hyper Beam at 150 BP will make you wait a turn, or Steel Beam at 140 BP takes 50% of your health, but with Rock Head you’re just built different.
2. Initial community reactions
A glance over Regulation D at Pittsburgh Regionals on September 9th, 2023, will reveal the love and admiration many players had with Hisuain Arcanine. Notably, Brendan Zheng and Stefan Mott are the only two players listed with Kanto-Arcanine for this Regional.
Regulation E reactions have been very positive and with each passing win at Regional tournaments, Hisuian Arcanine continues to impress even the newest of players.
3. Potential advantages over Kanto Arcanine
One on one, both Arcanine’s will have access to Intimidate to weaken the other’s attack stat. Beyond items and Tera usage, Rock STAB from Hisuian Arcanine should be able to have the edge on Kanto Arcanine. With a new found Normal Type resistance due to the Rock typing, not even Extreme Speed will get the leg up in this format. However, with the ability Justified and the move Close Combat, don’t count out Kanto Arcanine just yet. Then again, if we’re purely considering these Pokemon 1v1, it seems easy to justify super effective Rock Type moves versis non-STAB Close Combat. What do you feel is best? Let us know in the comment section below, we’re curious as to what our readers may think.
B. Championships and Wins
1. Comparing Hisuian Arcanine's success with Arcanine and Incineroar
The key component in this comparison is time. The amount of time a Pokemon has been in a game for legal play within the VGC format of that given period will sway many opinions on the topic of comparing wins for Arcanine, Incineroar, and Hisuian Arcanine. Arcanine and Incineroar have been around for years, format after format, with a strong showing at 2017 Worlds for Arcanine, and an even stronger showing for Incineroar following that in the 2018, 2019, and 2022 World Championships.
Hisuian Arcanine has yet to even sniff the possibility of being relevant in a Worlds VGC format, and from the time that this article is being written, players can only guess which Pokemon may or may not be legal in August 2024. Overall, Hisuian Arcanine hasn’t had the fair share of time Kanto Arcanine and Incineroar have had in VGC. We’re going to need a few more Regional Dex Formats for Worlds in the coming years to really have a keen sense on where this Pokemon stacks up against some all time great Fire Type Pokemon.
2. Evaluating its performance in key tournaments
Look no further than almost every 1st place finish in Regulation E to find Hisuain Arcanine on a team. This Pokemon has been the dominant Fire type for the format and that’s saying something considering players also have Heatran legal for play as well. It’s performance revolves around it’s role as an offensive and oppressive powerhouse on most teams with Choice Band, Flare Blitz, Extreme Speed, Rock Slide, Head Smash, and a couple other moves to change in and out. It’s ability to easily knock out foes, and do enough chip damage for their partner Pokemon to take necessary KOs is not an understatement. Type resistances alone alongside Tera Grass, Tera Fairy, or lately, Tera Normal, allow Hisuain Arcanine to live a super-effective hit and keep on battling for another turn or two. Hisuian Arcanine has proved its worth for this format and strives to stay relevant in future formats with newly introduced Pokemon to take its place.
C. Prize Money Comparison
1. Analyzing the economic impact of Hisuian Arcanine's success
The prizing for the 2024 season was finally updated after many years of lack luster winnings. Sure, a few thousand dollars for 1st place was still a good amount of money, but with the game growing and attendance reaching new peaks with each coming tournament, the Organized Play portion of TPCi took notice and decided it was time to give back to players just a little bit more.
1st place can now expect $6000 in Regional winnings alongside the usual 72 Booster Packs.
As for how much money Hisuian Arcanine has earned so far, the VGC Limitless page has not been fully updated in a hot second so we got some help from one of our writers, Marcoangelo, and he was able to come up with this short list from recent events. A big shout out to Marco for his work on this list and compiling the totals. It’s a little crazy to think that in such a short amount of time, Hisuian Arcanine has earned $112,000 between the Masters, Seniors, and Juniors divisions. Just imagine how Incineroar will stack up with modern day prizing.
2. How Hisuian Arcanine’s new wealth stacks up against Incineroar’s old money
Stacking up Incineroar’s total winnings against Hisuian Arcanine isn’t a fair comparison with the new prizing increase this season. A quick look at Incineroar’s Limitless VGC page will reveal an astonishing $435,000 in prizing. This prizing was based on the chart shown below.
Additionally, in eligible markets, the top 16 Pokémon video game players will receive Pokémon TCG booster packs, regardless of attendance.
1st–2nd place: 72 booster packs
3rd–4th place: 36 booster packs
5th–8th place: 18 booster packs
9th–16th place: 9 booster packs
In the 2024 season, the Master’s Division 1st place cash prize is double that of a 1st place 201+ person Regional cash prize from the previous prizing format. For many players pre-2020, a 200+ person Regional would be a dream, and now we’re easily seeing 400-700+ folks at an event, and more if they’re not capped! Incineroar had forty-five 1st place finishes, in modern-day prizing that would be about $270,000. More than half of Incineroar’s net prizing pre-Scarlet/Violet would be from 1st place finishes if the 2024 prize table was used. Imagine just how much more money Incineroar will earn in the coming seasons. It’s possible to theorize Incineroar peaking past 1 million dollars in total prize money as long as the current prize table stays the same or increases, as well as Incineroar continuing to be legal in the upcoming VGC formats.
IV. Regulation F Metagame
A. Overview of Regulation F changes
Regulation F brings a new group of Pokemon to the VGC format. Some notable choices from Portland Regionals include Incineroar, Entei, Raging Bolt, Iron Crown, Whimsicott, Metagross, Latias, Latios, Registeel, Primarina, Smeargle, and Gouging Fire. Another change in this regulation is the welcomed return of old and new TMs within the game. For example, Expanding Force has made a comeback on many Psychic type Pokemon looking to spam the competition. Previous to this, the move had only been given to a select few Pokemon, and is now a TM that many other Pokemon can learn. One lesson to learn from Portland Regionals with these changes is that older team concepts from other regulations with new TMs can prove to be just as good as new team archetypes built with the newly introduced Pokemon. Keep an eye out for some new Pokemon at the top of the usage charts!
1. Incineroar's return to the competitive scene
It was easy to anticipate the successful return of such a consistent Pokemon to Scarlet and Violet. The Fire type with everything you could ask for has dominated the usage charts. The expectation for a first place finish at the 2024 Portland Regionals was high, but it came in 3rd. There are many more events for Incineroar to place in 1st, so if you need a Pokemon to help glue your team together, look no further than Incineroar as a possible option.
2.) Anticipated strategies for both Pokémon in Regulation F
JagSamurott’s Incineroar
Incineroar @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 36 Atk / 164 Def / 44 SpD / 12 Spe
Adamant Nature
Flare Blitz
Knock Off
Fake Out
U-turn
Learn more about VGCCorner’s (Brady Smith’s) Incineroar Breakdowns on his X thread!
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Poison
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 188 Def / 76 SpD / 4 Spe
Impish Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn/Parting Shot
- Knock Off/Protect/Taunt/Snarl/Roar/Will-O-Wisp
- Fake Out
Or
Incineroar @ Sitrus Berry
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Water/Grass
EVs: 236 HP / 4 Atk / 100 Def / 156 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn/Parting Shot
- Knock Off/Protect/Taunt/Snarl/Roar/Will-O-Wisp
- Fake Out
DevonCorp Sample Hisuian Arcanine
Hisuian Arcanine @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Normal/Water/Fairy
EVs: 180 HP / 52 Atk / 140 DeF / 0 SpA / 20 SpD / 116 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Rock Slide
- Head Smash
- Extreme Speed
2. How Hisuian Arcanine adapts to the evolving metagame
Hisuian Arcanine Regulation E Usage Chart
Now compare the Regulation F usage chart shown first with the Regulation E chart using official Regulation E Regionals as the data pool. We see the rise of Hisuain Arcanine in Regulation E and how popular it became amongst players with a near 34% peak usage rate.
The adaption of Hisuian Arcanine within Regulation F will be a tough sell between Incineroar, Entei, and Gouging Fire all vying for the coveted Fire-type slot on a competitors team. However, a STAB Rock Slide into any of these Pokemon could prove to be quite effective. In time we’ll see if players will take a chance on Hisuain Arcanine, but for now it appears that the biggest adaption for Hisuain Arcanine may be to not use it at all.
Note: Ryan Haig piloted Hisuian Arcanine to 7th place at Portland Regionals!
3. Community expectations and discussions
For this piece, I couldn’t do all the guessing myself! We asked the community who they thought will be more dominant in Regulation F, and by a whopping 35/45 total votes, the Incineroar believers have taken the poll! It seems clear from our small sample poll that the community expects a big turnout from Incineroar in future events. Even with a new form on Arcanine, a new big bad Fairy type, new powerful Water types, and even the Ruination Pokemon that drop or lower stats, Incineroar has the backing of the people to prove itself amongst the newest foes and become the high usage king it once was.
V. Conclusion
A. Summarizing the historical impact of Arcanine and Incineroar
Arcanine and Incineroar leave a significant impact on the metagame whenever they are legal for use in a VGC format. Limited Regional Dex formats like VGC 2017 allow Pokemon like Arcanine to shine when there are limited options. Incineroar has proven itself within a Regional Dex format as well as playing around with the big dogs of Pokemon in National Dex formats where legendary Pokemon are legal too. As we introduce Incineroar into future Scarlet and Violet VGC formats, we’ll have to see where Arcanine stacks up in the metagame.
B. Assessing the potential significance of Hisuian Arcanine
Hisuian Arcanine earned a significant amount of CP and money for those who udilizied it during the Regulation E format. As for future significance in Scarlet and Violet, we’ll need a Limited Regional Dex format once again for this Pokemon to truly shine like it did before the introduction of Incineroar, Entei, and Gouging Fire. Theoretically, if there was a format with limited viable Fire types, it is possible for Hisuian Arcanine to go toe-to-toe with Incineroar if they were the two top Fire-type Pokemon in that metagame.
C. Final thoughts on the evolving dynamics in the competitive Pokémon scene
Grassroot tours on Limitless as well as analysis tools like LabMaus continue to push the scene into a more accessible space for everyone to play. Let’s not pretend traveling to Regionals, and even local events, is not an expensive endeavor. Event weekends are full on vacations that can be optimized and cost effective, but they’re still a pretty penny for most who attend. Online events still allow those who may not be able to afford to go to as many IRL events the opportunity and experience to play amongst some of the best. Open Team Sheet has proven to be an effective tool, for players new and old, to level the playing field in terms of information management. Previously, you’d have to hope you could have friends scout out top teams and concepts in order to reduce the surprise of matchups you may have not expected. Tournaments have grown larger and the format change to bring Day 2 Swiss rounds to VGC has seen its fair share of criticism. Swiss rounds enable all to play all day if they choose, win or lose. The previous system had a single day of play where players could see 9-10 rounds depending on how many players were in the tournament. After playing 10 rounds of Pokemon, it’s safe to say the change to 9 rounds in Day 1, with 4-5 additional rounds in Day 2, has been a more sustainable format for many. Not everyone agrees with the changes, and for now it’s what we’ve got until TPCi changes the format to something different. VGC has been around since 2008, and we’ve only seen an increase in participation for players. Gone are the days of VGC lotteries to play in Regionals, unless you count RK9 sign-ups as the same thing. Overall, we’re in a really great spot to see the game continue to grow. Part of that is due to growing attendance, and another part of that is due to VGC content creators growing themselves and their communities. Finally, we’d like to once again give credit to all those in the community who give back to the player base through hosting tours, creating useful tools, and providing players with the knowledge of how to play better. If you’d like to learn more about all the resources available to you as a player, check out our Up-To-Date VGC Resources article for more information.
Thanks for reading!
Sources:
Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Official DLC Page. Pokémon, https://scarletviolet.pokemon.com/en-us/dlc/.
Smogon Pokémon Database - Arcanine. Smogon, https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/arcanine/.
Smogon Pokémon Database - Hisui Arcanine. Smogon, https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/arcanine-hisui/.
Smogon Pokémon Database - Incineroar. Smogon, https://www.smogon.com/dex/sv/pokemon/incineroar/.
Smogon Pokémon Database - Arcanine 1v1 Set. Smogon, https://www.smogon.com/dex/ss/pokemon/arcanine/1v1/.
"Arcanine, Tapu Fini, Kartana: Its Place in the Meta." Nimba City Post, 2017, https://www.nimbasacitypost.com/2017/02/arcanine-tapu-fini-kartana-its-place-in.html.
Limitless VGC - Incineroar Tournament Results. Limitless, https://limitlessvgc.com/pokemon/incineroar/results/.
Limitless VGC - Hisui Arcanine Tournament Results. Limitless, https://limitlessvgc.com/pokemon/arcanine-hisui/.
Limitless VGC - Arcanine Tournament Results. Limitless, https://limitlessvgc.com/pokemon/arcanine/results/.
Pokémon Database - Type Chart. Pokémon Database, https://pokemondb.net/type.
VGC 2024 Metagame Analysis - Google Sheets. Google Sheets, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1BEeBzmcSyoGzZHFIEpGVaMN0DLXz4AsSqDx7xv_DBpY/edit#gid=0.
