Defiant Against The Blizzard
A Pokemon VGC 2025 Louisville Regionals metagame Preview
Welcome back to DevonCorpPress, my name is Ryan B Hebert and I have the pleasure to bring you a special metagame preview for Louisville Regionals this upcoming weekend. Thank you for all the love and support for our first preview article this season, The Early Dondozo Gets The Tatsugiri: A Pokemon VGC 2025 Baltimore Regionals Preview. Since Baltimore Regionals, we’ve had three more major events in South America and Europe that certainly have pushed this limited-time Regulation H metagame forward past its previous starting point. I considered doing a write-up for those events, however, I feel that being based in the U.S. I’m not in as much of the International loop as I’d like to be. I felt that it would be dishonest of me to write about those events. I’ve also been waiting for the team results of the Lima Special Event to release this report, so a special shout out to Victory Road for finally having those up for everyone to see. For now, our attention can turn back to North America for this weekend, and we’ll have to see if either larger event can leave a lasting impression on NA players.
As I noted in my first Regional Preview, I’ve seen reports in the past detailing “players to watch” and I think that the 2024 VGC season was living proof of how almost any trainer can be a champion. For those of us deep in the scene, we know which names to follow to create thrilling storylines for the season, and that’s what makes Pokemon such an exciting game to follow. For those of you new to this community, I cannot wait for you to see the magic that is competitive Pokemon. I promise you that after watching a regional for the first time, you too will yearn to reach the great heights of players that have come before you. At the end of the day, it is the people that bring us back to the community, and to this game.
Before we delve into this write-up, I’d like to personally highlight some very helpful videos from top players in the scene branching out with content focused on upcoming events. Please take a moment to watch and take in their predictions for Louisville and beyond. I’ve written this piece without influence from TalonVGC and Michael, so that I may have my own thoughts on the format at this time. However, after this piece is finished, I’ll be watching their work ASAP to see if my thoughts align with their own!
10 Teams for Louisville! - TalonVGC
What to expect for Louisville and Lille! - Michael Kelsch
Baltimore Regionals:
Player Total: 647
Baltimore Regionals feel like a faded memory at this point with 3 other majors happening between then and now. However, it’s important to note that this was the most recent North American Major, followed by the regional in Europe, and 2 events in South America. Top players/teams from Baltimore should be kept on everyone’s radar just in case they make an appearance at Louisville! It’s not as likely for some of the EU or SA players to make appearances at NA regionals, but you never know who may show up! As for super deep dives into this Top 8, I think that many content creators have given their fair try with each of these teams, but with how the metagame has developed, it would probably be within your best interest to look into Dortmund, Joinville, and Lima event teams. However, keep these Reg H Baltimore teams in mind in case Toler Webb and friends decide to make a comeback with an updated version of their Top 4 team.
What we got right: First off, Paul Chua showing up with his Ninetales-Alola team has this writer feeling proud as we made a call to keep an eye out for this elusive Snow Fox Pokemon. Top 8 for this tournament should not be a surprise with P2/Ursaluna/Gholdengo teams leading the charge alongside the one and only Incineroar. Flamigo also came in clutch with 2/8 Top Cut team showings. There was also a Sand Stream Tyranitar to continue the weather wars trend we had been discussing prior to this event, making 3 different types of weather in Top 8 with Sun teams being left out this time around. Garchomp was favored as a faster Ground/Dragon-type Pokemon in this event too. Funny enough, this event sees Sneasler sneak into 10th place, and a Dragapult into 16th place. This event quite literally shaped where the metagame would change with Michael Kelsch’s Dragapult/Sneasler combo coming in to push the metagame forward after this event. Kyle Livinghouse did have a Dragpult/Sneasler team in Top 16, but it is a far different team composition than what the Germans had created in Dortmund.
What surprised us: A Rain team pulling off a Regional win is definitely a bit of surprise for us. We’re by no means saying Rain teams aren’t capable in this format, clearly, we figured that this archetype could make Top Cut but would get held back by talented opponents prepared for this early format team archetype. Archaludon is as strong as ever into this format with the ability to withstand and offensively run down most of the top Pokemon in Regulation H. Dondozo/Tatsugiri DID manage to make it into Top 8 cut, but players were ready with plenty of answers for the fearsome pair. Haze, Intimidate, and big damage from the likes of Guts Boosted Facade from Ursaluna can naturally do the trick. Please also note the LACK of Rillaboom in Top 8. Many Pokemon usage tools had been tracking Rillaboom as a top 2 or 3 Pokemon for the format, sometimes over Incineroar. We’ll see in the upcoming events that while Rillaboom has increased Top 8 appearances, Incineroar and Gholdengo shine as the top 2 Pokemon in the Regulation H metagame.
What comes next: 3 events follow Baltimore Regionals to expand and develop the format overseas, the question remains, how influential will an EU and 2 SA events be on the North American metagame? I foresee some NA players expanding upon their teams and considering their match-ups with meta development from Dortmund, Joinville, and Lima!
As for what YOU need to take away from Baltimore, have an answer for Porygon2/Ursaluna/Gholdengo/Amoongus. Without a proper way to stop Trick Room, Ursaluna becoming burned, or Amoongus Rage Powdering away powerful moves from a Nasty Plot Gholdengo, you’re going to struggle against a very popular team for players looking to sweep with huge powerhouse hitters. Archaludon Rain will still be on the loose, so you better know what your own gameplan against this wall of a Pokemon supported by a cast of wet characters in the Rain, since…water is wet. (Come at me in the comments if you disagree on this one.) Finally, let’s not forget about the continued use of different weather setters as well as offensive Tera-Ice Ninetales-Alola in future metagames.
Joinville Regionals:
Player Total: 111
Joinville and Dortmund in the same weekend was an early season fever dream for Pokemon fans watching from home. Baltimore Regionals, which happened the previous weekend, certainly gave each of these events an excellent starting point for metagame development, especially with Gabriel Agati dominating yet another event with a variation of Paul Chua’s team from Baltimore Regionals. From our weekly series, 10 Reg H Teams To Try From This Past Week, “Gabriel’s team features Choice Band Garchomp and Choice Specs Ninetales-Alola over Paul’s Focus Sash and Life Orb!” Ninetales-Alola giving weather teams a run for their money, even with all of the doubters obsessing over Pelipper, Torkoal, and Sunny Day Whimiscott being easy disruptors to powerful Tera-Ice Blizzards. Joinville had decent attendance and its metagame should be taken in the context of being 1/7th the size of Dortmund and Baltimore Regionals. Smaller events are by no means a walk in the park, but it does not provide as large of a sample size of teams and stats in comparison to that of larger events. Would the Top 8 of Dortmund and Baltimore be the same if fewer players were in attendance, it can be hard to say. At any event, you can only face SO many people, but the variance in who you play and what you match up into can differ greatly.
What surprised us: LET IT SNOW! Oh, the weather down in Brazil is frightful, the Blizzards were SO delightful. My fellow readers, I did not expect such a quick introduction back to Ninetales-Alola, but it feels as if I’ve been transported back to a time in 2017 when the Speed tier for this Pokemon was favorable enough to allow it to make a difference in the metagame. Yes, this Pokemon is weak to Sneasler, but it’s incredible against the rising usage of Dragapult, the continued use of Garchomp, the reintroduction of Rillaboom, and an ever-so-wonderful Freeze Dry for Primarina, Dondozo, and Gastrodon. If you’re looking at this Top 8 asking yourself, where is Dragapult, apparently, they all stayed in Europe the same weekend for Dortmund Regionals. This event had 111 players, and Lima had 109 players total. Dortmund had a player pool of 700 players. To say I was surprised by the variance is mostly due to my lack of knowledge regarding the player base in South America. They’re also having a rough go with local VGC events being granted to them as a “mistake” this season, taking the local opportunities away, thus stripping South American players the opportunity to grow their scene with their local game stores. Europe is also having a tough time with the changes to the local scene, but Dortmund managed to gather 7x the number of players Joinville did on the same weekend.
What comes next: Dortmund Regionals happened around the same time as this event, just in a different time zone. However, this was a big event for what was to come in Lima, Peru the following weekend. We’ll be taking a look at their top cut in a bit to see how Dortmund and Joinville may have influenced this special event!
As for what YOU need to take away from Joinville, Ninetales-Alola is here to stay with this regulation. As far as this metagame is confirmed, with the uptick in Dragon-types, and the lack of Fairy-types, Ninetales proves to be the effective Ice-type threat we’ve been lacking. The Defense buff in Snow allows Ninetales-Alola better longevity against some of the physical abusers in the format such as Incineroar, Kingambit, and Sneasler! Zee’s Vivillon team made some waves in this event from Baltimore Regionals, I’d be sure to keep an eye on this exciting Bug-type paired with some powerful Pokemon in Regulation H like Gholdengo, Garchomp, and Kingambit. Finally, I’m reiterating that while this event is fun to admire with all of the Ninetales-Alola in cut, the variance in players and matchups was 1/7th that of Dortmund. Who knows if some of this Top Cut would make it as far with their teams if they were to face differing players and teams at a larger event...
Dortmund Regionals:
Player Total: 700
Kudos to Europe for beating out North America for the largest VGC event of the season so far! This event brought out some of the very best to compete and this top cut absolutely reflects that. Take notice of the team variation as well as the complete domination of Dragapult through Top 8 and Top 16. Baltimore did not get to witness the meta-development of Dragapult because it was that event that helped players realize how powerful it could be again. Shout out to Kyle Livinghouse for being THE Dragapult representation of Top 16. Anyways, focusing back on Dortmund, with Hydreigon, HELLO, and Garchomp taking the top spot with Clefable, Gholdengo, Annihilape, and Whimsicott, Dragapult/Sneasler failed to secure a Regional win, but they’re still a fearful combo coming for a Regional title very soon. Correction, Michael Kelsch and the Germans are coming for a title with Dragapult/Sneasler.
What surprised us: 700 players and Dondozo/Tatsugiri failed to make it into Top 8. In fact, it couldn’t crack Top 32 placing 33rd as the best position in the tournament. Can you blame the archetype for falling short with Haze Primarina and Misty Terrain/Unaware Clefable running around? Rillaboom also dominated on a majority of teams stomping any Water-types in its path. In the best way possible, HOW did Jack Clarke build and maneuver his way so far in this tournament? We give props to you, Jack, for rocking with such a baller team that also features Hydreigon and Kommo-O. Fluttermane really had a stranglehold on Regulation G and beyond… A closer look into this team has us putting in some earplugs with Toxtricity’s powerful Tera-Normal Choice Specs Boomburst alongside Soundproof Kommo-O, Ghost-type Driftblim, and a potential Tera-Ghost on Hydreigon should Jack choose to Tera that Pokemon to keep it safe instead. Imprison Indeedee-Male provided ample support while using its own Tera-Ground as a means to potentially face Gholdenglo, Sneasler, Kingambit, Magmar, and Electrabuzz outside of its use of the ever-so-powerful, Expanding Force in its Psychic Terrain.
A Rain team managed to make its way back to Top Cut with Fevzi Ozkan taking 5th place. I figured that after a big win for Rain in Baltimore, surely, players wouldn’t let this team past Day 2. However, we must note that some of the best players in Europe were in attendance, and Fevzi is on that list! This variation of Rain drops Amoongus for Sinastcha and has Grimmsnarl over Basculegion. Innovations to this team concept will allow it to continue to thrive, but we’ve got to see for how long as more Balance-centric teams with powerful Dragon-types become even more prevalent.
What comes next: Louisville Regionals is likely the next big event after Dortmund, and Americans are watching the Italians and Germans for their next big steps in meta development. However, the Lima Special Event follows Dortmund and will have a similar player pool to that of Joinville.
As for what YOU need to take away from Dortmund, Dragapult/Sneasler Balance is here to stay, it’s a matter of who can pilot this team to victory first. The metagame should allow it to stay strong and consistent due to its groundbreaking presence in Top 16 cut at Dortmund. Toler Webb and Chris Han had a killer Porygon2/Ursaluna team that continues to make its way into Top Cuts around the world. This Trick Room team is lethal for players unprepared and could be looking for its own title very soon. Keep an eye out for Gholdengo/Re-direction on this team as well because if you’re not careful, Gholdengo will Make It Rain all over you. Finally, players like Jack Clarke give me the confidence to say that this format is FAR from over when it comes to creativity and surprising opponents with obscure Pokemon in the Pokedex. There could be a strategy sitting under all of our radars that is just waiting to break through the competition at the next event. Be ready and educate yourself on anything that could be a new threat. Today’s meme could be tomorrow’s standard dream team.
Lima Special Event:
Player Total: 109
Huge shoutouts to Victory Road and Nimbasa City Post for getting out this Top Cut as well as for the Pokemon usage breakdown chart. Once again, we’re met with a ~100-person event that honestly has me curious about the upcoming event in Louisville. Porygon2 takes a 2nd place finish in the wake of Farigiraf, while Talonflame, Gyarados, and Charizard all make a wonderful appearance in the Top Cut. Lima’s Top Cut has some clear influence from prior events with high usage of many meta-relevant Pokemon seen in prior events over the past month.
What surprised us: As seen in previous formats, a variant of Psyspam/Sun-Room made its way into Top Cut with Charizard. Charizard was a Choice Scarf Pokemon making use of the Sun outside of Trick Room with Solar Power Tera-Fire Overheats burning the competition to a crisp. We had not previously seen Sun in Reg H make its debut in a Top Cut scenario like this, and with a fan favorite like Charizard not seen since the days of Dynamax, it is a welcomed return. We’ll be interested to see if players in NA make note of this team, especially against the ever-so-popular Gholdengo/Amoongus/Re-Direction teams. Only one of those Pokemon can Terastalize at a time against Charizard’s powerful Fire-type spread moves.
Peruvian players in Top Cut through Top 16 made use of Gyarados to navigate this tournament. Utilizing Taunt as an effective counter to the setup of Trick Room against Rage Powder Amoongus with Safety Goggles as well as Waterfall for powerful STAB and Icy Wind for additional Speed Control. Gyarados’ immunity to Ursaluna’s Headlong Rush as well as cycled Intimidates nerf Ursaluna into a useless physical attacker with not too much counterplay. Pairing this Pokemon with the powerful Dragapult/Sneasler combo, Choice Specs Ninetales-Alola, Tera-Flying Assault Vest Kingambit, and Follow Me Magmar makes this a balanced team that could be a crucial step in the metagame for Louisville Regionals this coming Saturday. Gyarados over Incineroar is not a choice I would expect with the power of Fake Out/Parting Shot pressure, so we were surprised to see it showing up. Nonetheless, kudos to the Peruvian players making their mark with a unique spin on Dragapult/Sneasler.
The Day 2 usage graphic provided by Nimbasa City Post paints a great picture of how influential Dortmund and Joinville were to this Special Event. Dragapult/Sneasler/Kingambit usage at an all-time high with the choice Fire/Water/Grass Pokemon as well as Gholdengo also taking top usage spots. Torkoal grabbed a significant percentage off of this usage chart and that should be noticed by all players moving forward. Rain and Snow have gotten a lot of the spotlight, but the TRUE light may shine through even more with results like Lima.
What comes next: The Louisville Regional follows up a few weeks of International fun for players in North America, and we will wait to see if local scenes and International events are the metagame-testing grounds for this next big event. Many NA players are well connected to players in the EU and SA so keep yourself ready for another event’s big team to make a splash.
As for what YOU need to take away from Lima, Torkoal’s usage could be seeing a rise and players may be readying up their explosive Sun teams. Keep an eye out for Torkoal with powerful partners like Lilligant-Hisui, Sunny Day Whimsicott, Charizard, or even Typhlosion-Hisui. Flying-types are flying high to the top of the rankings with the likes of Flamigo and Gyarados. Keep an eye out for Scrappy Flamigo tearing through any type in its way, or for Gyarados to provide incredible pressure with Intimidate, Waterfall flinches, Icy Wind, and Taunt. While Hydreigon did not make its way to Top Cut of Lima, don’t count out Dragon-types that have yet to make a big appearance. Kommo-O, Hydreigon, Dragapult, Salamence, and Dragonite are seeing major play at major events this season. Will that be it or will another pseudo-legendary Dragon like Baxcaliber or Goodra make their way into the metagame too? Finally, I have hope for many of the low-usage Pokemon of this format. A one-off Pokemon with a niche can make a difference, even in a format with Open-Team Sheet. Remember to not underestimate the lone outlier from an opponent’s team as it may have a purpose unknown to you! Creativity lives on and favorites may fit under the right conditions.
LabMaus/Limitless Teams to Watch
LabMaus has an AMAZING “Top Teams” section on its website, and they’ve once again provided us with some Top Team screenshots to give players a heads-up on what the data says!
Toler Webb’s Top 4 Team from Baltimore Regionals sits on top of the usage charts for LabMaus with the ever-so-popular Dragpult/Sneasler team in 2nd, and Paul Chua’s Baltimore team in 3rd place. LabMaus pointed out in their tweet that “Rillaboom, Sneasler, Primarina, Kingambit, a Dragon-Type, and a Follow Me user" happen to be a popular team build. They also noted Double-Dragon-Types and Ninetales-Alola as notable additions to the metagame as well. If I were approaching this weekend with this graphic in mind, my team would need to be able to answer most, if not each of these teams. For larger events in NA and EU, there’s so much variance in players that you never know if you could hit 5 Porygon2/Ursaluna teams in a row, or hit Dragapult/Sneasler your entire run.
Click on this image to go to LabMaus's Top Teams Page!
These Top Teams pull from a more diluted pool of tournaments, rather than one single tournament, which could mean that some of these teams have been repeatedly tested and used by some of Limitless’ tournament warriors. However, now that we have a few official tournaments mixed into the data on LabMaus, many of these teams have been tried and tested through bigger tournaments than what can be found online. As always, do your research, do your testing, and be weary of ALL of the data presented. A team with a 45-16 W/L record and 73.77% Win Rate can be impressive but that’s out of 61 total Wins and Losses. The top team on this graphic has a combined 392 total Wins and Losses at a 66.33% Win Rate. It’s all about taking in each piece of data rather than cherry picking certain aspects of this data to validate your beliefs on a certain Pokemon or team.
If you’re looking for some of these teams and their pastes, I recommend checking out the VGC Paste Regulation H Repository and Victory Road VGC.
LabMaus also noted that players should keep an eye on these winning and second place teams from the past 2 weeks from tournaments with 50 players or more! Check out the two images below!
Notable one-off Pokemon from teams include Poliwrath, Pawmot, Gastrodon, Yanmega, Ceruledge, Hydreigon, Lilligant-Hisui, Glimmora, Breloom, Murkrow, Corviknight, and Indeedee-Male.
A helpful Find for VGC beginners!
Through my preparation for Regulation H, my friends and I came across this incredible graphic for Reg H that I felt would be a disservice to all of you NOT to share if you haven’t seen it yet. A huge shoutout to YTPublic for this killer Regulation H meta-team graphic. If I were a beginner in VGC, looking to find my way around a metagame, this graphic is THE first step into what one could expect from their opponents when sitting down to play VGC. Take it all in, ask questions, stay curious, and ask yourself how these teams fair into your own teambuilding and preparation.
Pokemon to keep an eye on:
It sounds cheesy to start out this section like this but I think that EVEN with an open team sheet, it would be extremely beneficial for any player to familiarize themselves with most if not ALL legal Pokemon in the Regulation H format. If you’re curious to see if there’s an easy way to look at the top Pokemon in the format, their tera types, abilities, move usage percentages, and more, I want to recommend StatCrusher.com. This brand new resource works similarly to that of Pikalytics and LabMaus, however, the simple breakdown and in-depth percentage usage of everything for each Pokemon is presented clean and easy to use.
It should go without saying that the top 10 Pokemon, heck, even the top 20 Pokemon in usage right now are already on your radar. Some of these Pokemon listed below may make the top 10, and some may be outliers that players are continuing to experiment with! I’m here to hopefully bring to light why these Pokemon have specific case uses in Regulation H and what to expect from them!
This set still reigns supreme, especially with the newfound dominance of Dragapult at Dortmund Regionals. With the present lack of relevant Fairy types, Dragapult is on top of the Dragon-type totem poll. Being one of the fastest Pokemon in the format, maxing out its Speed stat at 213, not too many Pokemon can catch up unless they’re holding a Choice Scarf or are supported by Tailwind. The most common set right now involves Choice Band, Tera Dragon, and Dragon Darts for impressive spread damage. Very few may opt for Tera Ghost to be rid of the Dragon-type weakness and may use another coverage move like Tera-Blast in order to get around waiting for a turn of Phantom Force. With very few Fairy-types in the format, Dragapult will be guaranteed to put in work during each battle. Banded Outrage is no joke either, and if the field conditions aren’t ideal for Dragapult, Banded U-Turn allows Dragapult to safely swap into another Pokemon. Clear Body prevents stat drops from Pokemon with Intimidate, as well as blocking Parting Shot from Incineroar! It’s safe to say this Pokemon’s Attack Stat won’t be going anywhere. Dragapult sits in a niche spot in Regulation H as a big damage dealer, just as Dragon-types were meant to be. Dragapult does suffer against Kingambit, Clefable, and other rare Fairy-type Pokemon, so do your best to use the rest of your team to take full advantage of Dragapult’s power. Ninetales-Alola is a newfound threat carrying Choice Specs, Life Orb, or even Focus Sash. Pairing Dragapult with Sneasler will prove to be a crucial partner for Regulation H against Fairy-type and Ice-type foes. Remember to be careful in front of opposing Archaludon, a few defense boosts from Archaludon’s Stamina and a defensive Tera will give Dragapult a tough time.
Common Pairings: Sneasler, Magmar, Electrabuzz, Primarina, Incineroar, and Sneasler
Man…I’ve been waiting for this one! Dragonite has seen such a dramatic shift in how it is used that you really need to keep an eye on this Pokemon. Thanks again to StatCrusher.com for providing us with some eye-opening data regarding EVERYTHING with Dragonite. Tera typing on this Dragon-type ranges from Flying-type for extra powerful Tera Blast STAB to Normal-Tera for a pumped-up Extreme Speed. However, in August, 59% of Dragonites were using Tera-Normal, whereas in September that is now down to 44.92%, with a majority opting for Tera-Flying at 49.18% usage. Times have certainly changed, and one can probably blame the rise in Rillaboom usage as well as Sneasler. While Psychic Terrain and Armor Lock Farigiraf still lurk in the Regulation H shadows, players are opting for STAB Flying coverage rather than hard-hitting, high-priority Extreme Speeds. Dragonite’s ability Inner Focus was at an all-time high in August with 72% of high ladder players opting for immunity to Fake Out and Intimidate. However, as of September, the decline of Inner Focus and the return of Multiscale is quite the revelation for players looking for a bit more longevity on their Pokemon. With the lack of Fairy-types, Dragonite has been sitting pretty, however, the rise in Ninetales-Alola could see an even stronger response to Multiscale in the coming month. Choice Band continues to be the dominant item, however, with 4 attacking moves, some players have been experimenting with Assault Vest. You lose out on additional Attack damage without Choice Band. If you’re Multiscale, you’ll open yourself up to Intimidate, so be cautious about how you use certain items with certain abilities. Multiscale paired with Choice Band is a favorable combination to survive a Super-Effective attack while also taking an Intimidate without fear of losing out on too much damage with the boost from Choice Band. Inner Focus and Assault Vest could also work to create an unstoppable and immune to Intimidate attacker with improved Special Defensive bulk for the likes of Ninetales-Alola, Primarina, and opposing Special Dragon-type moves. Low Kick and Outrage are fractionally below Ice Spinner on Dragonite’s move usage chart, giving this Pokemon an expansive movepool to work in many different ways depending on your team’s needs. Low Kick against the likes of Steel-types, and Outrage as a Dragon-type delete button can work in tandem with the right team members requiring additional coverage or an extra boost in offensive pressure.
Common Pairings: Kingambit, Gholdengo, Dondozo, Tatsugiri, Garchomp, Amoongus, and Incineroar
How the mighty have RISEN, Garchomp may as well be a Flying-Type because it’s been one of the highest placing Dragon-types at many of the top official events this season so far. Dragapult is not far beyond this offensive threat, but the Ground-type diff is REAL. Regulation H is not only lacking Fairy-types, but also good Ground-types as well. The likes of Landorus are no longer present, and while we still have access to Ursaluna, it is Garchomp’s Speed and Attack stats that continue to make this Pokemon extremely alluring to use. Maxing out at 169 Speed allows Garchomp to deal massive Ground-type damage to Steel-types like Gholdengo, Archaludon, and Kingambit. However, Rillaboom gives Garchomp a run for its money with Grassy Surge weakening the power of Earthquake. Luckily for Garchomp, its ability, Rough Skin, dissuade opponents from using contact moves, or else they take 1/16 damage of its own maximum HP. Dragon Claw provides neutral STAB coverage against most Pokemon as well. With Clear Amulet, Garchomp didn’t have to worry about Intimidate or Icy Wind Speed drops, however, the data on sites like StatCrusher.com tell us that high-ladder players have shifted heavily toward Life Orb Garchomp rather than Clear Amulet. My guess is that Life Orb provides a necessary boost in damage that may tip the scales in your favor a bit more than Clear Amulet. However, with the steady success of Incineroar, who knows if this trend will last through October. Gholdengo and Incineroar may be some of the most popular Pokemon in the format, but not if Garchomp has something to do about it!
Common Pairings: Kingambit, Incineroar, Gholdengo, Amoongus, Primarina, and Vivillon
Water-types in Regulation H WISH they could be the star that Primarina has proven itself to be. When a format doesn’t have Tapu Fini, Primarina is the next best thing. Powerful new Fairy-type Pokemon such as Fluttermane and Enamorous are not legal for use in Regulation H. Hatterene is a fantastic Fairy-type, but its Speed is a little too slow to reliably hold a spot on a Balance team like Primarina can. With Liquid Voice, Primarina can spam Hyper Voice as its Water-type STAB move and use Moonblast as its powerful Fairy-type STAB. At first glance, Rillaboom, Gholdengo, and Archaludon can be troublesome counters on paper. However, Primarina’s bulk paired with proper teammates can prove troublesome for other Pokemon like Incineroar, Tyranitar, Volcarona, Dragapult, Murkrow, and most importantly, Dondozo. However, it’s not necessarily Primarina’s offensive coverage that helps against Dondozo, but rather the use of the move Haze paired with Primarina’s defensive typing. Haze resets the stat stages of all active Pokémon on the field to 0. Tatsugiri’s Commander boosts on Dondozo instantly vanish and Dondozo’s movepool which usually consists of a Water STAB, Body Press, Earthquake, or Order Up, proves very ineffective into opposing Primarina. One major change for the premier Water-type of Regulation H has been the shift from Tera-Grass to Tera-Poison. Tera Steel has consistently sat in the #2 spot for popularity, but Tera-Poison has taken over the top spot for Primarina’s defensive Tera-type. Sneasler’s uptick in usage presented an opportunity for Primarina to not only wall Dragapult on its own but also wall Sneasler with a single Tera-type change. Not to mention Tera-Poison’s resistance to Grass-types like Rillaboom, Tera-Poison Primarina is ready to knock out the competition with a beautiful tune.
Common Pairings: Sneasler, Kingambit, Rillaboom, Gholdengo, Electrabuzz, and Incineroar
We’ve got a real lack of viable Fairy-types in Regulation H, however, Unaware Clefable continues to be one of the top threats to Dondozo. Unaware ignores the opponent’s stat changes such as stat boosts and reductions. Notably, you’ll find Clefable able to launch powerful Moonblasts into Dondozo doing 35%-40% per turn. Water-Tera in August was dominant on Clefable, but Tera-Steel has now officially taken the lead in usage by a little over 1%. This Pokemon is a great redirector for your team against Pokemon like Amoongus with Safety Goggles. Dragapult doesn’t stand a chance when using a Dragon-type move redirected into your Fairy-type! Helping Hand can be the perfect 1.5x damage boost for other Pokemon on your team to take advantage of. If your team doesn’t have an answer for Dondozo such as Haze, Clear Smog, or your own Unaware Pokemon, you may have a tough event ahead of you! Luckily, the prevalence of Dondozo/Tatsugiri teams has not been as common in comparison to other archetypes. In my last preview, I suggested that players may innovate Clefable in ways that differ from what we’re used to, and in Dortmund, we got the Italian Clefable. A Tera-Water Clefable with Misty Terrain to set up a Terrain almost extinct to Regulation H and Scarlet/Violet as a whole. I wanted to note that Skill Swap happens to have a large percentage of usage on StatCrusher, but I stick by my recommendation of Helping Hand unless you have good reason to swap Unaware onto another Pokemon.
Common Pairings: Rillaboom, Gholdengo, Volcarona, Kingambit, and Talonflame.
Teams using Ursaluna revolve around Porygon2/Ursaluna Balance. It is still my strong opinion that leaving Ursaluna and Gholdengo as legal to use Pokemon in Regulation H is a bit of a cheat code. This Pokemon, alongside its Bloodmoon variant, proves to be a top threat in the format. This Pokemon is not at the top of the usage charts because it does require the right Speed Control to be piloted effectively. However, usage charts don’t necessarily reflect the rankings of many official tournaments. Ursaluna continues to dominate Top Cuts thanks to initial success from Toler Webb and Chris Han at Baltimore Regionals Top Cut. Intimidate from Incineroar proves a tad annoying, but the damage boost from Guts will help offset the Intimidate Attack drop. A common partner to Ursaluna, Flamigo, whose immunity to Intimidate helps against most of Ursaluna’s threads like Rillaboom is now a staple partner for Ursaluna/Porygon2 teams. Rillaboom with Grassy Glide priority in Grassy Terrain is also problematic for Ursaluna but Tera Ghost on top of your own redirection or Intimidate user will help alleviate the damage from Rillaboom. If you’re looking for one of the best physical attackers in Trick Room with the Ground-type coverage you’ve been praying for, look no further than Ursaluna as your best answer. While we continue to list Substitute on the graphic above, please note that the usage of Earthquake surpasses EQ by 20%. However, given Rillaboom’s continued relevance, we will continue to suggest Substitute as a viable late-game Win-Con. The results continue to speak for themselves on LabMaus’s Top Teams page as well as every major Top Cut.
Common Pairings: Porygon2, Amoongus, Gholdengo, Incineroar, Flamigo, and Indeedee-Female
Last time, I questioned how this Pokemon got through to Regulation H. Now, we can say, how the mighty has fallen… in usage that is. While Bloodmoon has fallen drastically (-9% from August to September) in usage this past month, the Top Cut results speak a different story. Ursaluna Bloodmoon/Farigiraf just pulled off its first major win in Lima, Peru for Regulation H, beating out Porygon2/Ursaluna. Having one of the best abilities in the game, Mind’s Eye, enables the Pokémon with this Ability to hit Ghost-type Pokémon with damage-dealing Normal-type and Fighting-type moves. It also prevents other Pokémon from lowering the Pokémon's accuracy and ignores changes to the opponents' evasion. Safe to say, this Pokemon has not let anything stop it from using its moves other than being knocked out before it can deal damage. Blood Moon is a powerful 140-base power Normal-type delete button for almost anything in the format that doesn’t resist the hit. Hyper Voice deals considerable spread damage as well, and let’s not forget that Ursaluna Bloodmoon is one of the best Ground-type Pokemon in the format with Earth Power, dealing fearful damage to Steel-type foes such as Gholdengo, Archaludon, and Kingambit. This Pokemon also has a variable Speed stat allowing it to run as a slower option in Trick Room, or as a Turbo-Bear with a max Speed variant in Tailwind allowing for devastating damage to even the fastest of Pokemon like Dragapult. As of now, most trainers are taking advantage of this Pokemon for its Speed variation and spread damage capabilities on Rain Teams, or teams with Priority Speed Control like Whimsicott or Murkrow. Bloodmoon Ursaluna and Farigiraf have been a common pairing on some of the faster teams in formats due to Farigiaf’s Armor Tail ability blocking priority Grassy Glide, or getting up a clutch Trick Room at just the right moment against a faster opponent.
Common Pairings: Farigiraf, Porygon2, Amoongus, Incineroar, Indeedee-Female, and Flamigo.
This is easily my favorite pick of Regulation H. Results over the past month only validate how good Scrappy when paired with an incredibly offensive dual-type like Flamigo. When Scrappy Kangaskhan left us, I never thought the next Pokemon to step up would be Scrappy Flamigo, and yet, here we are. With the ability to hit Ghost-types like Gholdengo, Dragapult, Annihilape, and Typhlosion-Hisui with Close Combat, Flamigo can deliver big damage without fear of type immunities. With Rillaboom, Gholdengo, Incineroar, Amoongus, and Archaludon at the top of the Regulation H usage charts, Flamigo is a no-brainer with the movepool to hit all of these Pokemon with super-effective moves. Wide Guard provides an extra leg up on the supportive side of things as well, stopping Psyspam’s Expanding Force, Typhlosion-Hisui’s Eruption, Primarina’s Hyper Voice, Gholdengo’s Make It Rain, Garchomp’s Earthquake, and even Zoroark-Hisui. At base 90 Speed, Flamigo is on the faster side of Pokemon at middling Speeds. I made an error in my prior write-up for Baltimore Regionals, due to an update in Scarlet/Violet to the ability Scrappy, Flamigo is immune to Intimidate with this added buff to Scrappy. Incineroar does not scare off this bird one bit. Flamigo doesn’t boast the best defenses with 82 HP/74 Defense/64 Special Defense, so Pokemon with powerful attacks will be able to put a sizeable dent into Flamigo if given the right opportunity. Finally, as of September’s monthly usage stats, Tera-Ghost is the new preferred Tera-type over Tera-Steel. Tera-Steel is a defensive Tera-type with 10-type resistances as well as 1-type immunity, but Tera-Ghost with Focus Sash provides Fake Out immunity as well as.
Common Pairings: Porygon2, Ursaluna, Incineroar, Gholdengo, and Amoongus
I’ve listed Ninetales-Alola last because it is truly a niche pick on this list.
I love that I added Ninetales-Alola to our list for Baltimore Regionals as a niche pick because since then Ninetales-Alola has proven itself as an effective offensive Ice-type that is anything but niche. With Ninetales-Alola being one of the fastest weather-setting Pokemon in the format, slower weather-setting Pokemon have the leg up on Ninetales if sent out onto the field at the same time at the beginning of a battle. However, there is a lack of Ice-types and Ice-type move coverage in Regulation H, leaving Rillaboom, Dragon-types, and Flying-types unchecked. The biggest change in usage for this Pokemon is players turning it into more of an offensive threat than ever before. Thanks to the likes of Paul Chua and Gabriel Agati, Ninetales-Alola fits into this metagame as a Tera-Ice phenom. Blizzard levels the playing field with super effective damage as well as the threat of potentially Freezing your opponent for an unknown amount of turns. Freeze Dry covers your Water-type counters like Primarina, Pelipper, or Dondozo while providing a single-target STAB Ice-type move too. Ninetales-Alola is on the faster end of the Speed spectrum for Regulation H, maxing out at 177 Max Speed, and with other support moves available like Icy Wind and Encore, Ninetales can be the perfect Pokemon to fit into your team! Let’s not forget that when in Snow, Ninetales’ Defense stat is also boosted by 1.5x too. Be on the lookout for this pick and check your teamsheet to see if Ninetales is holding Focus Sash, Choice Specs, Life Orb, Covert Cloak, or Light Clay. While this Pokemon is being run offensively, any player, at any time, could pivot back to a more supportive set with Aurora Veil if given the opportunity at the right time.
Common Pairings: Garchomp, Kingambit, Incineroar, Dragonite, Amoongus, and Rillaboom
The perfect partner to Dragapult, and a decent replacement for Urshifu, this Pokemon provides the coverage necessary to decimate any counter to Dragapult as well as leaving opponents scared of the RNG with Dire Claw! Tera-Stellar provides additional damage needed for specific knock-outs as well as the always helpful Fake Out to flinch a Pokemon when necessary. Fighting and Poison-type coverage conveniently cover a majority of the format offensively, and Dragapult can cover the rest of the weaknesses with Dragon and Ghost-type coverage. Sneasler sits on the higher end of the Speed Tier spectrum, even with Poison Touch over Unburden. This Pokemon hits hard (130 Base Attack), moves fast (189 Max Speed), and will be a nuisance as long as Focus Sash is active. Sneasler will not be going anywhere in this format, so keep an eye out for it on Dragapult teams as it partners best with the other fastest Pokemon in the format.
Common Pairings: Rillaboom, Kingambit, Primarina, Electrabuzz, Gholdengo, and Incineroar
We’ve got 10 stellar descriptions above our honorable mentions, and while I wish I had more time for everything, this piece is of the essence before Louisville Regionals. I’ll work harder next Regional Preview to be sure I can include a descriptive breakdown of every Pokemon on this list!
Kilowattrel is certainly a great Closed Team Sheet Pokemon, operating in Open Team Sheet however is a different game entirely. Weather Ball can deliver devastating damage with the right weather on the field, but in an Open Team Sheet, those conditions can be a bit too volatile for a lasting strategy. Most players will opt for a Tera-Ghost, Competitive ability, Focus Sash Kilowattrel with Protect, Air Slash, Tailwind, and Discharge. Top teammates include Garchomp, Weezing-Galar, Toedscruel, Ursaluna Bloodmoon, and Incineroar.
Vivillon continues to appear in Top Cuts around the world since Zee’s placement at Baltimore Regionals. This Pokemon will opt for Tera Ghost, its Compound Eyes ability, and Focus Sash with Sleep Powder, Hurricane, Protect, and Rage Powder. Compound Eyes boosts Vivillon’s accuracy by 1.3x, making Sleep Powder and Hurricane more likely to not miss the opponent. Most players opt to max out the Speed stat to 155, but with many threats above 155 Speed, it’s a niche pick for a specific team. Common teammates are Garchomp, Primarina, Kingambit, Incineroar, Porygon2, and Gholdengo.
Porygon2 is a very popular Pokemon that needs no introduction. This Pokemon holds an Eviolite, and players currently go for Tera-Fighting with Tera Blast, Trick Room, Recover, and Ice Beam. Most Porygon2 will have the Download Ability for a better chance at a +1 Special Attack boost upon entry, however, the occasional Porygon2 may try and use Trace as a means to copy a specific opponent’s abilities. Porygon2 has been making waves since Baltimore Regionals on Toler Webb’s Top 4 team and it will not stop dominating the competition. Historically, this Pokemon is a fantastic defensive wall to use on Balance/TR teams to outlast your opponent with strategic positioning with other Pokemon on your team such as Incineroar and Amoongus.
As much as GameFreak/Pokemon may take away from the games, they also give back to them as well. Welcome back, Follow Me Magmar and Electabuzz. Both Pokemon are used in large part to the innovations of players like Michael Kelsch whose Dragapult/Sneasler team takes advantage of Magmar’s Follow Me. Other players have swapped out Magmar for the likes of Electabuzz as well. At the end of the day, it comes down to preferences, as well as which abilities/speed tiers you’d like to use. Vital Spirit proves to be incredibly effective against opposing Amoongus, while the occasional Flame Body could come into play for Magmar if a time direly wanted to try and Burn opposing physical attackers with Follow Me pressure. Electabuzz caps out its Speed at 179, while Magmar can only reach 159. Electro-web in combination with Electabuzz’s Speed can be a fatal combination for any team trying to outspeed Dragapult/Sneasler with Tailwind. I love seeing both of these additional Follow Me users in play since prior formats have only allowed us to experience Indeedee-Female, Maushold, and Clefairy as the primary Follow Me Pokemon. Keep an eye out for each of these Follow Me Pokemon and don’t forget how fast they can be!
Final thoughts:
Once again, we’ve brought forth a behemoth of an article before a major event and I hope that players waking up on Saturday morning in Louisville can take a quick read over what we’ve got to say. I’m grateful to every one of you for taking the time to read our piece, even if it was just for a moment! For those of you not attending Louisville, watching this weekend’s event at home, or maybe attending a local event of your own, let this preview serve as a reminder of what may be at your next local event. When watching the regional this weekend, keep us in mind for what we may have previewed correctly, or maybe think about what we failed to mention if there’s something left out!
Be sure to share your thoughts with us below and on social media, and if you play in Louisville this weekend, come and share a team report with us after to tell folks all about your experience!
If there’s something we’ve forgotten or an idea for a section you’d like to see added, comment below or DM Ryan on X or Discord at RyanPbHebert!
Thank you again for reading and best of luck competing this weekend.
Ryan B Hebert
Founder of DevonCorpPress