competitive_discussion

[foggy lodge]

I hope Pelipper isn't allowed day 1 in champions dude let Politoed be employed just for a bit of time

Damn which ones

Iron Hands Flutter Mane Chien-Pao

Miraidon Ogerpon Farigiraf Hands?

[warm estuary]

Don’t worry with if mega gengar is back polititoed perish song will see play

[warm estuary]

Koraidon also

[rustic mountain]

yea and chi yu brute bonnet

[warm estuary]

Chi yu I maybe

[foggy lodge]

Koraidon Bonnet Flutter Chi-Yu

[warm estuary]

Oh yeah

[foggy lodge]

Damn dude wtf

Ursaluna is gen 8 right

[rustic mountain]

yea

cppl repeats but still

[warm estuary]

I goat cinderace sucks in vgc

[rustic mountain]

it had some time in swsh

[warm estuary]

I know

Broken in singles but I prefer vgc sooo

[foggy lodge]

19 days for Pokémon Day!!!!!

Champions release date!!! #cope

[warm estuary]

#it’sgonnahappen

[forest arrow]

Hoping is base za dex

[foggy lodge]

I just hope Incin isn't allowed in the first format

Give us base Arcanine

[warm estuary]

Hoping there’s flutter incineroar rillaboom raging bolt and urshifu

Joking

[foggy lodge]

Hoping a nuke hits your house

[warm estuary]

I hope they disappear

[warm estuary]

I was joking

[foggy lodge]

But you may manifest it

We have to avoid every chance

[warm estuary]

I hope there’s arcanune veluza lucario and raichu

That’s better

[foggy lodge]

And Gengar

Actually megas are confirmed as the first format

So most likely Dragonite allowed since day 1

[forest arrow]

Base Za makes sense

[foggy lodge]

And Dnite is prettu broken but it wouldn't have tera

[forest arrow]

Here’s to hoping

[warm estuary]

Choice band mega dragonite

[foggy lodge]

I wonder how Dnite without tera does

[warm estuary]

Oh wait

I’m dumb you can’t mega and use another item

Lmaooo

[foggy lodge]

Lmao

[warm estuary]

Well anyway bye chat

[foggy lodge]

Bbye

[bold geode]

https://pokepast.es/1654ea37a9999ecb

@tawdry urchin if I were to make a Lugia team this is how I would do it personally

Explanation:
Went with Tera Water over Steel on Lugia as it helps more with certain Pokemon like Ice Rider and Sun MUs (lets you stall out TR easier). Still a CM sweeper but now we have Protect and we can stay safe
Zamazenta helps with Dark types and spread damage, and is also hard to remove.
Incineroar is good support, can help set up, let's you weaken stuff, and Helping Hand can boost Lugia maybe letting you do some better damage even after 1 Calm Mind
Landorus is your main Miraidon MU and where you actually don't use Tera on Lugia as you want Landorus to have access to it when necessary, as it lets you take Glacial from any Ice Rider partner better and behind Light Screen you live Draco with Tera Steel even with Electric Terrain up. This also gives you good spread damage.
Whimsicott is your speed control and also helps with Miraidon. Landorus and Whimsicott let us experiment more with Tera Water on Lugia to help us with other MUs cuz with that tera you are weak to Miraidon still but Lugia vs Miraidon deadass is a 1v1 that's rougher and they have to expend resources on Landorus and Whimsicott making it maybe a bit easier for you (easier to handle Miraidon if it's at -2 after a Draco in an attempt to nuke Landorus that can fail with Tera Steel + Light Screen)
Urshifu is good damage that also gives another Glacial resist

There's other intricacies with the team but that's just the basic information

[foggy lodge]

zzz

[warm estuary]

And that’s how you actually build a team

[warm estuary]

Zenless zone zero mentioned?

[solid frigate]

Nah just sleeping

[warm estuary]

😔

[solid frigate]

People really can’t get over reg H

[warm estuary]

How does clear smog on ammongus to counter dondozo sounds?

[craggy dagger]

it was used a bit in the past

[solid frigate]

it was good but in Reg F its harder to use clear smog

[craggy dagger]

but that usually means sacrificing a slot for either protect or like
an attacking move

[warm estuary]

I’ll keep it in mind

[craggy dagger]

dozogiri counters are usually hard to come by though
unaware clefable usually does the trick
but clefable isn’t
that good in this regulation

[craggy dagger]

😭

[solid frigate]

https://tenor.com/view/kamen-rider-kamen-rider-build-sawa-takigawa-kiryu-sento-gif-2148167273580114559

[bold geode]

So it's not bad but Sludge Bomb chips Tera Grass Dozo well which you force with Spore and is better generally so like
I would just use Sludge Bomb unless you just have a very crippling MU into Dozogiri

[warm estuary]

Clefable doesn’t get play basically

[warm estuary]

Yeah guess what I’m not running clear smog

[warm estuary]

The impossible has happen

I won a game on a double protect

The odds have been beaten

[solid frigate]

YOUUUUUUUUU

[solid frigate]

Welcome to the bro is not beating the luck allegations

[craggy dagger]

i haven’t lost a single double protect yet :D

[tawdry urchin]

Ok I greatly aprricate this but I have some issues, first I don't understand having incin. Ik it's really good at a support but it's so slow it'll get ko'ed after fake out. Rapid strike having sash over whimsacott? Surging strikes is a hard counter to calyrex and fluttermane why not run scarf? I only see zamazaneta being good against cir, I'd rather a restricted that can help kill the meta restricts or syngise better with lugia than being a body press slave.

[bold geode]

1. TW can make it faster plus it's bulky so it can take some hits unless they're nuclear which you'd rather not go into Lugia tbh
2. The Sash makes sure you don't have to necessarily match TW each time cuz if CSR is in TW, Scarf no matter
3. Zamazenta not only helps with Ice Rider which is a pain but basically all those spread moves you use Friend Guard for? He can block and with being hard to remove that's multiple turns you can use WG or Body Press, it actually funnily enough synergizes better than say CSR or a restricted like that

Plus Whimsicott with Cloak let's it get at least one support move up before going down, though it does have SOME bulk
Sash you'd have to run Protect to do so which you weren't

[craggy dagger]

calling zamazenta a body press slave is crazy

[bold geode]

I mean

[solid frigate]

Lmfao

[tawdry urchin]

Wasn't zam gaining body press THE reason why it got play? 😭

[craggy dagger]

kind of?
but also it got to see more play because of spread moves and being able to tank things :D

open team sheets only just started so back in older generations it was better to be more offensive
and zam didn’t really give that
offensive stuff

[tawdry urchin]

Great so either I get to outspeed calyrex/ miraidon or not get destroyed by electro drift 🥀

[craggy dagger]

that’s kind of the issue with playing niche stuff
there is no proper counter play around meta and you’ll always have a big weak spot

[bold geode]

I mean it had some other tools all this time but body press was the lil boost it needed

[bold geode]

Honestly it's kind of a bitch either way LMAO
Miraidon honestly is kind of a bitch anyways, it just does a lot, hence why when I made that team I made it to where there's more of a Landorus centric game plan
Ultimately with Lugia you wanna play the long game but it's hard to do that in front of Miraidon

Like I guarantee you if you were having any success against Miraidon before it was cuz you were using so much support and protection that you managed to scrape by barely

[warm estuary]

https://pokepast.es/428507419aff0a10
does this look good?

I feel it does

[bold geode]

I think it's fine at least as a start but I question the Tera Blast

[warm estuary]

I knew that was what you were gonna ask

And it’s mainly bc it can catch people off guard and also i din’t wanna run electro web

[tawdry urchin]

So I just auto lose against miraidon and cir... Zam won't do shit against tera water cir and landious won't do shit to miraidon if cir is in trick room

[warm estuary]

Also if I am playing against other raging bolt and they go for dragon moves i become immune and then I cook them

Kinda

[bold geode]

It's a gameplan
I wouldn't say you auto lose but
You do better into everything else and you can win it
Plus deadass look
If it's CIR in TR, no tera Lugia + WG, Ice Rider can't touch you, you can set up easy

It's the Miraidon that's concerning but um
Figure out the turns lol

You're not gonna beat everything automatically that's where learning how to play the game comes in

Ultimately what I did at least here was I made it to where you could still play around Lugia but you also got other offensive threats to help as well as offense if shit goes real south

[craggy dagger]

:o
looks fine

tera blast is an interesting choice but i can’t say anything cuz i’ve done that too

[warm estuary]

Thanks

[gentle crag]

oio_314 has given 1 Gen Rep to spaceowl_yuzu

[bold geode]

They just tera against you cuz they dodge the Dragon moves so

You kinda don't?

[warm estuary]

Oh so I am not the only one at least

[craggy dagger]

tera fairy is common but fairy blast is something you don’t see often

[craggy dagger]

i ran ice blast cuz funny bolt beam coverage

[bold geode]

Personally I would go with Electoweb or Snarl

[craggy dagger]

went 20-8 with that team

[warm estuary]

Lmaooo

[warm estuary]

Snarl you say🤔

[craggy dagger]

snarl is prolly better cuz they have tbolt no?

[bold geode]

Up to choice

[craggy dagger]

i mean
i guess it depends on speed control and the pilot’s choice

[warm estuary]

I dunno i never really run raging sooo

I’m searching for help

[bold geode]

You could even do Volt Switch if you really wanted

[craggy dagger]

no

[tawdry urchin]

I don't think 1 calm mind is going stop a shadow or ice rider from ko'ing me 😭

[craggy dagger]

don’t become me
or is volt switch actually become a thing

[craggy dagger]

so now you see the issue right :D

[bold geode]

Not popular (idt I've really seen it) but it's not horrible

[craggy dagger]

i remember volt switch iron hands

speaking of
what happened to iron hands btw

[bold geode]

Wide Guard

Do you know what that move does

[warm estuary]

I think I saw someone on stream at a regional using volt switch

Sometime ago

[craggy dagger]

ik volt switch iron hands made an appearance on stream but like

[tawdry urchin]

"figure out the turns lol" great thanks pal that's gonna help me prevent miraidon for slaughtering Lugia 😭

[gentle crag]

1uk919 has given 1 Gen Rep to dollarmonke

[warm estuary]

I’ll think abt it

[bold geode]

I mean
Once again you're playing around your Landorus more in that MU, the Landorus can potentially beat Miraidon, you just gotta figure out the rest

[tawdry urchin]

Don't see zam doing shit against high horse power lmao

[warm estuary]

Snarl can be good against flutter mane so that’s preatty good

[bold geode]

Calyrex does not one shot Zamazenta with a HHP unless that mfer got MULTIPLE boosts

Which if it gets that far well you kinda lost anyways

[foggy lodge]

My Zama lives a crit HHP

[bold geode]

Plus if you need to stall TR in fact here

[craggy dagger]

[foggy lodge]

😎

[bold geode]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2535564629-ofo3kqvwk7w0is1f9fidit9dxtgri2cpw
Replay here I show you
HH HHP no KO Zama

[craggy dagger]

webs slow
snarl lowers spatk
both are spread

i like snarl cuz bolt lives for longer than u think

[warm estuary]

Electroweb is stab

[foggy lodge]

Its broken

[warm estuary]

But snarl looks better

[foggy lodge]

Volt switch Bolt + Incineroar is so broken

[warm estuary]

Lowers special attack plus helps against flutter

[warm estuary]

No

[foggy lodge]

Actually that duo got 2nd at worlds

With that same tech of volt switch Raging Bolt so you can pivot around with both

[warm estuary]

I know bolt lives a lot also I’m running him assault vest

[warm estuary]

Guess what I’m still not using it

But thanks bc i din’t know it got second at words

[foggy lodge]

https://pokepast.es/94f06b794ab079eb

[foggy lodge]

I wasn't trying to convince you lol

[warm estuary]

Lmao

[foggy lodge]

Weather ball Bolt is the call🔥

[warm estuary]

I just played against a politoed

[warm estuary]

So trueeeee

[foggy lodge]

Politoed in reg F💔

[warm estuary]

[foggy lodge]

They have to let it go

[warm estuary]

I know it was you undercover

Joking

[foggy lodge]

I love Politoed but even I know its not its time

[warm estuary]

Mega politoed

[shadow wind]

Walking Fraud bruh

[warm estuary]

@craggy dagger I’m running snarl what do you think

[warm estuary]

Ew walking wake

[foggy lodge]

it is

[craggy dagger]

[foggy lodge]

specs Walking Wake is the way

[shadow wind]

But it does beat lando !!

[foggy lodge]

Trust

[warm estuary]

[shadow wind]

It might be

But I like protects

[warm estuary]

Dragon fang walking wake

It’s the way

[foggy lodge]

Throwback to Walking Wake getting 2nd at a regional

[warm estuary]

It was all dream

[tawdry urchin]

Ok that guy was clearly fucking braindead... He wasted his tera on indeedee and then used 2 multi hitting moves the same turn while you're spamming wide guard

[foggy lodge]

https://pokepast.es/b3ff09cce3f73106

[shadow wind]

https://pokepast.es/ab33b2d618aeed60

I'm trying to make sun work one last time in sv

[foggy lodge]

Did you see Marco and Dyl's Birmingham team

[shadow wind]

I did not

[foggy lodge]

Let me search it

[shadow wind]

For the last like 2 months I haven't seen anything on vgc

[foggy lodge]

https://pokepast.es/92bc7fabab42b40d

[warm estuary]

Hisuian lilligant

[shadow wind]

Someone else suggested that but I just don't see it with supporting torkoal

[warm estuary]

It’s very good

Strong in the sun and with after me you move faster even outside of trick room

[bold geode]

Point I was tryna show you was

1. Zama lives a HHP pretty handily
2. Lugia with natural typing and WG walls out Ice Rider
   Actually kinda walls out CSR too

[shadow wind]

It would help with my flutter mu

[bold geode]

So Zama helps because not only does Body Press do good damage but it also helps keep Lugia safe

[tawdry urchin]

"walls" prosides to take half hp

Your opponent could've easily won that game if they weren't braindead

[bold geode]

Tbf I could've done way better too but still

I'm saying the Lugia
WG blocks Lance
Immune to Ground move
In that situation
Ice Rider no touch Lugia

WHICH IS WHAT YOU ARE WANTING TO BUILD AROUND AND GAS UP

[warm estuary]

Mu is matchup right?

[shadow wind]

Yuh

I am very scared of flutter with this team

[warm estuary]

Oh then I I dunno how much it would help

Hisuian lilligant is fighting type

[shadow wind]

I mean Lilligant-H outspeeds flutter in the sun

[tawdry urchin]

Don't see that doing anything against miraidon though

[warm estuary]

Yes but it’s weak to flutter also

[bold geode]

Why do you think I keep saying "Landorus centric gameplan" with Miraidon

Are we just blocking that out

[shadow wind]

But flutter is weak to the whole genre of physical attacks !

[warm estuary]

Oh right

[shadow wind]

Although some flutters would definitely live anything Lilligant has

[tawdry urchin]

Try that team without sab and tera steel against miraidon and cir and tell me how it goes ☕

[shadow wind]

105 atk is not that high

252+ Atk Life Orb Sword of Ruin Lilligant-Hisui Leaf Blade vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Flutter Mane: 130-153 (80.2 - 94.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[warm estuary]

That’s one way to kill

[shadow wind]

Leftover damage amps but still shows

[bold geode]

I am just

[undone sage]

Has Taunt msgd you at all?

[warm estuary]

Ok so you might wanna consider lilligant

[foggy lodge]

Ain't no way its life orb swords of ruin booster

uhh solar blade picks up the KO

[shadow wind]

I just picked the first option

[warm estuary]

I think lilligant is still good in the team

And solar blade pickes up the lo

[bold geode]

You know what I've tried
If you wanna do stuff your way, fine
But if all you're gonna do is just argue with fuckin people when they try to give you advice because your precious little fucking ego is hurt, then don't come in here asking for advice
We try to tell you that Lugia is fucking dogshit, you won't listen
I try to help you, you won't listen
I PRACTICALLY hand you a saving grace on a silver platter and you won't listen
Believe what your delusions want you to, but if you're just gonna come in here, ask a question and then argue, I'd rather you just not ask shit at all
I am done with you now, goodbye

[undone sage]

Woah

[bold geode]

Chat I'm gone, behave yourselves

[warm estuary]

He finally told what everyone was thinking

[tawdry urchin]

[shadow wind]

I think it for sure could be

This is just the first draft too so very open to changes

[warm estuary]

Draft?

[shadow wind]

Like first version

[warm estuary]

Ohhh

Sorry my draft league enthusiast ass taught of draft like a draft league

Lmaooo

The problem is deciding who to replace

[shadow wind]

Yeah

But also the team has not been working in general so I might just go back to the drawing board

[warm estuary]

Oh ok

this is lilligant moveset i would go https://pokepast.es/916f7a2a946d3104

You can also use sword dance for setup and upper hand as an offensive move

[foggy lodge]

No sleep powder is troll lowkey

[shadow wind]

Bro just wants Marco sun in Reg F

[foggy lodge]

I know people don't like it cuz it misses but when it connects it can just give you so much advantage

[shadow wind]

Lowkey me too

[warm estuary]

Or yes sleep powder too

[foggy lodge]

And Lilligant can still do stuff outside of clicking sleep powder so if you don't want to risk the game on sleep powder misses

[warm estuary]

Upper hand is underrated

[shadow wind]

It should've been +4 prio

[warm estuary]

Look at this beauty of a move

[shadow wind]

Losing to fake out is dreadful

[warm estuary]

True

[shadow wind]

Man this team literally just loses to flutter

Needs Firepon I think

[warm estuary]

Could also work

At this point you just need someone to kill flutter

Hear me out

Brute bonnet gets his ability by the sun and can also use dark moves to kill flutter manes

Like sucker punch

[shadow wind]

I think he would just explode to flutter

[foggy lodge]

Sucker is not picking the KO against Flutter

[shadow wind]

Proto atk might

252+ Atk Protosynthesis Brute Bonnet Sucker Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Flutter Mane: 87-103 (53.7 - 63.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[warm estuary]

Mhh

Then I dunno

Hey at least it was a decent idea😭

Well anyway bye bye

[foggy lodge]

It wasn't even near to koing LMAO

[stone trellis]

If you had to choose between being shot in the head and beating Ballistic Wistfully, what are you choosing?

(This is what you have to beat btw)
https://youtu.be/bquX2-R7-gs?si=a6mY28LDreO48myx

[shadow wind]

What just beats flutter in sun

I know I'm literally asking what beats a fish in water

[foggy lodge]

Rockpon

[shadow wind]

Uh how?

I don't think power whip would even do enough

[foggy lodge]

I'm pretty sure that's actually the reason why Marco and Dyl chose it for their team

[foggy lodge]

No but you can chip it so it's in range of other stuff and a supported specs Flutter doesn't just kill it like the other Ogerpons

[shadow wind]

I'm torn right now between max speed jolly incin or max spdef careful incin

AV

Something seems off here

[quaint oriole]

for a zacian-c team core is kyogre basically demanded or could i possibly sub it for lunala?? i'm new to comp and couldnt find much online, so any explanation is welcome

[craggy dagger]

@molten oasis

[craggy dagger]

zacian works with Lunala, but it can be a little rough to position unlike kyogre
i’ve tested zacian lunala and it mostly comes down to who you play against
against shadow rider you should be fine but into something like groudon, it can be rough

Lunala offers a lot of utility which zacian likes + the added benefit of +1 meteor beam into incin to try and shut it down

[shadow wind]

I liked using Zacian with Groudon but it definitely isn't the best partner for it

Speaking of

[craggy dagger]

lol

lunala just is good with almost anything

[shadow wind]

Lunala is very awesome

[stone trellis]

Perks of being a tank with actually good offense and moves.

[bold geode]

Kyogre is a lil better
Lunala ain't too horrible but Kyogre is better cuz you have something to deal with Sun and with Incineroar

[bold geode]

I hate Lunala, it's so damn good

Fuckin who thought "ah yes let's give something the ability to block spread, set speed control, be immune to Fake Out, and a signature move with Mold Breaker attached, oh btw it also can use Meteor Beam to sweep if it wants"

[molten oasis]

Miraidon or Kyogre>

You’re too weak to incin with Lunala and zacian

[foggy lodge]

https://youtu.be/2SCpN_wEk2s?si=ECsZtiLl7l51r2ry

[bold geode]

Unironically I think the Bolt Balance version with Landorus and Chien Pao is somehow the worse version?

[foggy lodge]

Yeah dude the version that won a regional and now a VR is the worst

[bold geode]

That sarcasm or

[shadow wind]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2535659681

My glorious king 3v1s

I miss having a real restricted format

[craggy dagger]

stares

what do you mean weak??
-# oknoyouhaveafairpoint

[shadow wind]

Fraudrex can't even ohko simple bike while at +2

[molten oasis]

Go go gadget miss meteor beam and now you can’t hit incin

[shadow wind]

I miss being good 😔

[shadow wind]

Ended up 29-6, this ladder is so funny

There's a lot of Kyogres and not that many Miraidons

[foggy lodge]

People forgot what the best restricted was

[shadow wind]

Unfortunately Kyogre > Miraidon in the Groudon mu

Kyogre CIR 😔

It's like I forget how to play the game when I see those 2

[foggy lodge]

that sounds so miserable Lol

But that's why

Sitrus berry CIR is based

[shadow wind]

Leech seed !!!!

👎

[foggy lodge]

Sitrus berry !!!!

6 7 !!!!

[shadow wind]

Oh nah

I'd probably continue playing this ladder occasionally

It's funny and I love restricteds

Less mus to learn

[foggy lodge]

Conner what are you gonna do when champions releases and Groudon gets put back in the cage for 2 years

[shadow wind]

And also the elo is extremely low

[shadow wind]

Explode

Nah I'll actually learn how to play without him

Unlike right now where the entire reason for my success is him

[foggy lodge]

What is a good mega for you

[shadow wind]

Primal Groudon

[foggy lodge]

Not a mega lil bro

[shadow wind]

😔

[foggy lodge]

Excadrill!!!

[shadow wind]

Honestly I don't even have a favourite kind of team

[foggy lodge]

Then Incin Rilla slop

[shadow wind]

Yuck

[foggy lodge]

Now archetypes will be called slop

Hyperoffenseslop

[shadow wind]

I think I like teams based on vibes

[foggy lodge]

Hard trick room slop

Sunslop

[shadow wind]

Like I don't even know what kind of team my current one would fall under

Groudonslop 😔

[foggy lodge]

Fr

[shadow wind]

https://pokepast.es/7ef5a8624cd17c63

Like it's soft tr but also sun

[foggy lodge]

Your team is just Groudonslop, you only use it because it has Groudon

[shadow wind]

Exactly

Out of my 313 teams in my builder right now there's 145 Groudons

[foggy lodge]

LMAO

What do the other ones have

Toedscruel slop

[shadow wind]

Reg F

Reg F slop

Or sometimes I play oms

Like I had 37 full potential teams

Man I miss that om

https://pokepast.es/49f197dce30fc5da

My single favourite om of all time

[foggy lodge]

My teambuilder is sad

[shadow wind]

That slider on the side is for my team list

[foggy lodge]

Damn thats a sash roaring

[shadow wind]

Sash roaring moon with draco !!

[foggy lodge]

Holy shit dude LMAO

[shadow wind]

Full potential used your highest stat as your offense stat when doing damage calcs

So give a physical mon draco and it has no drawback

Or a mon with a super high spdef stat an av and now they have specs and band without being locked into moves

Also having 1.5x spdef like normal

Agility was banned though

[bold geode]

https://x.com/serebiinet/status/2020656498771410994?s=46&t=5MT2FWHUmxNF_VirsU1qpw

Serebii.net (@SerebiiNet)

Serebii Update: The next Pokémon Scarlet & Violet Online Competition has been announced, the Grand Challenge 2026 V. Runs Regulation F rules

Details @ https://t.co/NWlAdn5F0o

X · Feb 9, 2026, 12:30 AM

[craggy dagger]

am i gonna be ur teambuilding slave partner again

[bold geode]

Champions isn't out yet, the silly content farm time hasn't struck yet

[craggy dagger]

fair enough

[rustic mountain]

taunt hasnt hit me back in a bit

[rustic mountain]

might actually b able to play this

1st gc in like 4-5 of them

[forest arrow]

I’m thinking of participating this one too

https://tenor.com/view/pokemon-porygon2-pixel-art-nintendo-game-freak-gif-18136630

[rustic mountain]

nice

wat r u thinkin of runnin

[forest arrow]

P2 Ursa

https://pokepast.es/933565a63709a891

Simple but effective

You still running bolt balance?

[rustic mountain]

yeh idk if im gna for the gc tho

p2 ursa is good, it will prolly b targetted heavy cuz its been doin so well

same reason idk if i wanna stick w/ bolt balance

[forest arrow]

yeah for sure I’m still on the fence, just comfortable with it

[rustic mountain]

same for me w/ bolt balance

which is the main reason id still run it despite that

nd just skill diff

im interested in drago crown i just havent jumped into it. i like how it can take advantage of the type chart

[forest arrow]

Honestly should be fine, I’m just worried about the horoarks and dumb stuff we’re gonna have to face

[rustic mountain]

always

[forest arrow]

tangs regidrago team is pretty tuff too

[rustic mountain]

yea theres a cppl around that are good imo

[forest arrow]

Yeah Ghold feels more comfortable imo, but crowndeedee is super fun

[molten oasis]

I’m gonna compete

Bringing Primarina back

Tested it for a while today and did pretty good with it, however I’ve gotta work on patching mu’s so, doing that tomorrow

[foggy lodge]

Potentially last grand challenge before champions ||cope||

Actually yeah it is the last grand challege before champions

Because after this is only global challenges

[waxen dock]

Huh?

I thought its in 3 months

Wait

Its in 2 weeks

I will register in maybe friday

[real prairie]

https://x.com/VGCVictoryRoad/status/2020784745567646094?s=20

Victory Road VGC (@VGCVictoryRoad)

🚨 The 2026 Grand Challenge V has been announced, with sign-ups opening this week, on 12 February at 00:00 UTC!

🌐 Online
🗓️ 20–22 Feb 2026
🎮 VGC Regulation Set F

📖 All info: https://t.co/Khqoq8WiDf

X · Feb 9, 2026, 9:00 AM

ah @bold geode beat me to it

[leaden fox]

Welp; need to make sure my team is ready then lol

[leaden fox]

Thankfully practiced with a team for several weeks in case xP

[quaint oriole]

might opt into miraidon since it's the most accessible to me rn, thanks everybody for the input tho!!

[solid frigate]

Miraidon Zacian cooks so go for it

[warm estuary]

Woah woah woah new grand challenge

Another one that I won’t play

[warm estuary]

Remove cope

I want Pokemon champions💔

[bold geode]

Do it

[bold geode]

TOO SLOW MFER I GOT IT ON LOCK

[warm estuary]

I don’t have a team

[bold geode]

https://tenor.com/view/there-is-motion-at-your-door-motion-detected-cat-cat-meme-zabubu-gif-5914111783178335158

[bold geode]

Make one

[warm estuary]

Make me one

Joking I have. A team but I don’t have raging bolt

[bold geode]

You can probably trade for a Bolt atp

[stone trellis]

I ragebaited my friend into beating Silent Clubstep because he thinks it's easier than Bloodbath (he has never seen the level).

[bold geode]

How far did he get

[warm estuary]

Where do I trade it

[stone trellis]

I don't know, he said he'd start after school.

He does have a 120 Hz phone, so he might get to the blue orb part.

[bold geode]

We got trading channels here
You'll have to wait for a bit but you can ask for a Raging Bolt there and wait and see

[warm estuary]

I could try

Before going to tournaments i just in general wanted to wait for champions

Also have nothing to trade for a raging

[stone trellis]

I highly doubt he'll ever get past the straight fly though.

[real prairie]

That's why your name is orange and mine is blue

[real prairie]

https://x.com/VGCVictoryRoad/status/2020890433581375508

Victory Road VGC (@VGCVictoryRoad)

A limited wave of sign-ups for the 🌍 Europe International opens in 3 HOURS, at 7 pm GMT (19:00 UTC)! ⌛️ #PokemonEUIC

📍 London, United Kingdom
🗓️ 13–15 February 2026
🎫 £85 (MA), £40 (SR/JR)
📖 Info: https://t.co/X47BGogCwh
📝 Sign up: https://t.co/GmoYhS7pE4

X · Feb 9, 2026, 4:00 PM

[quaint oriole]

any advise on the rest of the comp?? dont rlly know what i need to care for, so i was going for sum basic urshifu rapid, roaring moon, amoonguss, rillaboom, maybe incin but idk what to swap it for

only thing i know is calyrex s being kinda problematic, but urshifu can take care of it, but the core's kinda vulnerable to incin shenanigans

[shadow wind]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536171579-8alqparggajlpa7s8f9446ach2j6y3cpw

Reg I brainrot

[shadow wind]

Some might say I still have it

Others say I'm carried by Groudon

[stone trellis]

I should get back now.

@shadow wind Wanna do a Bo3 round?

[shadow wind]

Reg I?

Cause maybe

[stone trellis]

Yeah.

I still need some derusting.

[shadow wind]

I'll do it as long as it's not CIR Kyogre

[stone trellis]

No worries.

It's CIR-Miraidon with Iron Valiant.

[shadow wind]

Yeah sure I'm down then

Wait wanna do ots?

[shadow wind]

ggs

[stone trellis]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536199267-jiqn9hcsyk74rm9x3ghs1thnm017223pw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536204813-fpjqjshli2fv2nwobnm3qdhtea68orxpw
(I forgot to save the link for game 3 but Conner won)

[shadow wind]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536208610-xg782j7sa2jqnff1d1d6fmnrsnvhsvkpw

I forgot how terrible my Lando MU is

I should've figured out how fast it was so then I could play my Ogerpon smarter

How fast was it by the way?

I know it's faster than 112 because Groudon interaction but with tailroom I have no clue

[stone trellis]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536211584-d9t7ydwuwg7j7iehtye1lc4k545j12apw

[shadow wind]

Interesting

Any reason for that exact speed?

[stone trellis]

4 Speed EVs.

I just put them there because I had nowhere else to put them.

The Discharge tech made them ragequit 💀
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536215576-bejcq0k1rax28e7yt298vvn3s5wmud3pw

[real prairie]

the absolute temptation to sign up, but then id need to take Friday off work, sort accomodation and build a team in 3 days lol

all whilst working

[shadow wind]

Feel like I might be Icarus if I play any more

[stone trellis]

If I've ever learned anything from laddering, it's that caring about your GXE is for idiots.

So just aim higher no matter whether you lose or not.

You will eventually go back to where you were and even above that.

[shadow wind]

It's very true but higher number cooler

And I've only ever hit 80 once in vgc

[stone trellis]

The peak rating is the higher number you should care about, not the GXE.

My maximum was like, 1597 (I think).

[shadow wind]

Elo?

[stone trellis]

Yeah.

[shadow wind]

I've hit 1800 once before

But it was bo1 so I don't value it very highly

[stone trellis]

I was never that good, so...

I'm actually cracked at random battles.

[shadow wind]

I hit 80% in ranbats but never really went for high elo

[stone trellis]

I take advantage of the fact that I presume every game is about to be an asswipe in my opponent's favor to play like my life is on the line.

[shadow wind]

See I do that in Reg I

I love Pblades and Draco

[thick talon]

I just like those pokemon, if anything id prob have a team with archaludon and zygarde or something

[solid frigate]

What format are you even playing

[thick talon]

I haven't even played yet, I'm just team building phase rn

well more like shiny hunting atm

I have a shiny alpha froslass, shiny zygarde and hunting for a few more

I got a shiny weak armor ceruledge so I guess that's something

some shiny pallets look nice

other times it's just aura ngl

I would say double because it has more variety ngl

instead of like setup and baton pass or smthn like that

• I could have a mon have trick room to cancel out their trick room if a time comes for that, and or support another mon like zygarde

I haven't really been too in depth with comp pokemon, just watch a good bit and scroll thru Smogon SOMETIMES

[shadow wind]

Smogon 😔😔😔

[rigid bridge]

how can my caly-s be outsped by a lando with lifeorb? No tailwind up, no TR and no Speed debuff on my caly...still got outsped by it for some reason

252 Speed EVs on Caly

[shadow wind]

Got a replay?

[next stump]

how can you be sure lando was life orb? was it open sheet?

[foggy lodge]

https://x.com/adisubra/status/2020678369743159664?s=20

Adi Subramanian (@adisubra)

This month was supposed to be a Global Challenge, not a grand challenge.

Maybe tells us something about champions release hopium.

X · Feb 9, 2026, 1:57 AM

[next stump]

because life orb wouldn’t proc normally

[foggy lodge]

Yeah in bo1 you can't know a Lando item

Unless it outspeeds which isn't weird

The other item that Lando-I runs is scarf

[shadow wind]

I hate Lando I 😔

[foggy lodge]

I learned to love him

[shadow wind]

I've never made a team that beats him

[foggy lodge]

Lando carrying replay🥰
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regfbo3-2536016162-4e42b94r414hqhgwcgnhferedl3yvjbpw
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regfbo3-2536017981-jbvnnlrbeptumd7ylyiy7ee65hyh0o8pw

[shadow wind]

I miss when mons had 120 stats and that was it

I love Chien pao

What was wrong with Gen 9

Swear every mon is a threat

[foggy lodge]

Lmao

It was sword of ruin boosted

[shadow wind]

And raging bolt is fat

[shadow wind]

125/91

😭

[next stump]

You’re coming into competitive at a really exciting but awkward time because there’s like a 90% chance that everything drastically changes on Pokemon day in 3 weeks

So if you can/are willing, I’d wait for that day and get super into things once we know what’s happening with competitive

I’d love to tell you to start playing on showdown now but you’re most likely wasting your time since stuff like tera may not exist in 1-2 months (for now)

[shadow wind]

And it's going to be a paradise

[solid frigate]

Exciting is a strong word Dillon lol

[foggy lodge]

https://x.com/FleetwaySphere/status/2020723181171167590

FleetwaySphere (@FleetwaySphere)

Lamine Yamal has suddenly changed his favourite pokemon to Ice Rider Calyrex after a recent revelation on Zygarde's strength;
"I didn't know he was that ass holy shit"

X · Feb 9, 2026, 4:55 AM

[shadow wind]

People with Miraidon at the beginning of sv

[forest arrow]

Ice rider let’s gooooo

[rigid bridge]

Sadly I alr turned off my pc🥲

[rigid bridge]

I asked the dude if he was using choice scarf or smth else and he said he’s on life orb

[shadow wind]

You might be able to find it through the showdown replay system

[next stump]

he could be trolling you

assuming you’re not forgetting something about the board state it has to be scarf

[shadow wind]

So I just need to play like it's a restricted format

Do not look at my elo

I swear I've been trolling this entire reg

[rigid bridge]

I sadly can’t find it in the replay system. Guess he was trolling me then. Im like 99% sure there was no tailwind and no debuff on me

[solid frigate]

It’s 100% scarf if there is no tailwind or anything

Lando Timid Max speed is 168

[dense latch]

i knew my goat lamine would know ball

[shadow wind]

I just got bo1 cheesed so hard

Maybe the hardest I've ever been got

[foggy lodge]

What was it

I just lost to fucking tera water liquidation Cetitan an hour ago lmfao

[shadow wind]

Tera ground annihilape shadow sneak mimikyu weakness policy cir

[foggy lodge]

Ape gets shadow sneak

what i didn't even know that

[shadow wind]

Mimikyu

[foggy lodge]

Ohh

[shadow wind]

Mimikyu ape lead

[foggy lodge]

I can't wait for tera to be gone so bo1 ladder is playable again LOL

I love tera in bo3 i hate tera in bo1

[shadow wind]

I tried to volt switch the ape so I could get sun out and my oger kills the mimikyu

[foggy lodge]

The sequence was

Tera ground ape gets hit by volt switch it final gambits into ogerpon and mimikyu got tr up

And then they got cir in tr and mimikyu shadow sneaked the Caly ice

[shadow wind]

Nah they gambited the Miraidon for whatever reason

[foggy lodge]

Lmao

[shadow wind]

But like

Zero chance I win that interaction

[foggy lodge]

https://x.com/SHADEviera/status/2021016563680436735?s=20

ビエラ (@SHADEviera)

Umbra3人でロンドンの大会に向けて出発！！！！！！！！！
意味不明に世界大会レベルで練習したから良い結果を出したい😁🖐️🎶

X · Feb 10, 2026, 12:21 AM

Will japan team steal an IC again

[shadow wind]

What is sash max speed toedscruel 😭

[shadow wind]

So I have learnt that Groudon needs to be +3 to ohko single target cir with pblades

[molten oasis]

Fraudon

[shadow wind]

Nah ohko on cir with a neutral hit is some Miraidon type stuff that he wasn't made for

Sometimes I wonder what's going on in my opponents head

+5 76+ Atk Tera Fire Groudon Precipice Blades (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Ice: 204-241 (98.5 - 116.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

Now would you believe

[molten oasis]

[shadow wind]

+3 76+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Ice: 196-232 (95.1 - 112.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO

But this is single target

My Groudon has skipped out on some protein meals

But it's ok, he makes up for it in other evs

Groudon @ Leftovers
Ability: Drought
Level: 50
Tera Type: Fire
EVs: 132 HP / 76 Atk / 28 Def / 252 SpD / 20 Spe
Adamant Nature

• Precipice Blades
• Heat Crash
• Bulk Up
• Protect

I love my 142 spdef Groudon

[shadow wind]

So CIR and Kyogre are just 100% of the ladder now

What are we even doing 😭

[shadow wind]

Think I found the plateau

I've been losing and gaining the same 70 elo for like an hour

Gotta call 'er

I ain't goin anywhere

Happy with my gxe though

76 after 90 games is good for me

Might be time to learn Reg F now 😔

[foggy lodge]

Its time to use Incin Rilla Bolt...

[shadow wind]

NOOO!!!

[foggy lodge]

https://tenor.com/view/puss-in-boots-wolf-puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-wolf-puss-in-boots-the-last-wish-pick-it-up-sword-fight-gif-27423366

[shadow wind]

I can't

I refuse

[foggy lodge]

Uhh Ursa P2

[shadow wind]

Gouging fire !!!!!

Paonite !!

[foggy lodge]

Dondozo Ting-Lu...

[shadow wind]

Probably not

I'm not a Ting Dozo kinda guy

[foggy lodge]

Orthworm

[shadow wind]

Oh nah

This will be a tomorrow me task

Too busy doing hypixel housing parkour

[foggy lodge]

I'm gonna try to shiny hunt a Poliwag

Isn't Poliwag's shiny like invisible

Bruh

[solid frigate]

It’s somewhat visible in darker lightings in SV but yeah it’s still hard lol

Why not just make the entire line Green but keep Politoed the same

[foggy lodge]

I think I'll have to search it in SV

Wait no its better in shield

Because i can do the chain method

[solid frigate]

I think in Sword and shield is better than in SV

[foggy lodge]

And then i just transfer it and evolve it in SV

I don't have to worry about skipping a shiny one in the overworld in sw sh

[solid frigate]

Oh yeah true

[rustic mountain]

just beat that hzoroark team on ladder, its so flawed

that dude mustve had a hell of a run cuz i just dont see it

[foggy lodge]

I honestly think the team is good outside of the Horoark lol

I like the Whimsi Regidrago Urshifu Rilla stuff

And Gambit seems good to patch up certain MUs like TR or balance

But Horoark is just such a bad mon I think it's a mon that needs to force 50/50s and win those 50/50s always

Like it asks the player to always win the mindgame of a Horoark lead which basically means to just outplay

[undone sage]

He prob will some time today then. We've just arrived in London

[waxen dock]

I won against someone in top 300 in ingame ladder while using reg h team(he has legendaries paradox and restricteds while i had none of that and i still won)

[stone trellis]

Sweet.

Time to farm motherfuckers for a while.

@shadow wind This game made me appreciate you even more, because the IQ of the average Groudon player has to be reaching polar temperatures.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536740226-fm2vf3vsx0i35m4qvvulh91sxj3e4eypw

[shadow wind]

Kelvin is pretty high so it makes sense

[stone trellis]

In Celsius.

[shadow wind]

Bro played grok and is then saying all Groudon players

[stone trellis]

Not all Groudon players, but always a Groudon player

[shadow wind]

If we’re being honest it’s most Groudon players😔

They use him for his stats not for his heart

[leaden fox]

tbf, If we think Kyogre and Groudon are seeing a lot of play currently; wait until their Primal forms are playable in doubles again xD

Wait.... interesting question here: If Primal Reversion doesn't work the same way as Mega Evolution, would that mean we can Tera them as well? 😅

(I probably know the answer to it, but would be funny if they could xD)

[bold geode]

Unironically I wanna ask Grok to make me a team for VGC

I think it'd be good content

[shadow wind]

They’re not seeing a lot of play

[shadow wind]

6 Rayquazas

[bold geode]

Immediately jumping off a cliff

[shadow wind]

It might just give you bolt balance if we’re being real

[bold geode]

Low-key I shit you not
The few games I played with Lugia I was able to deduce that Lugia was better than Rayquaza

[shadow wind]

I disagree

Espeed gaming

Bro might just be a worse Dnite but that’s ok

[bold geode]

No trust me bro

I spent a whole month with Rayquaza

It's genuinely worse

[shadow wind]

Dragon ascent 😔

[bold geode]

Yeah but that ain't enough

It genuinely needs it's mega back

[shadow wind]

Groudon doesn’t

On my life he just needs Tera gone

Tera ruined my life

It doubled my taxes and broke my fingers

[foggy lodge]

ChatGPT give me a team for the Grand Challenge V tournament for Pokemon Scarlet and Pokemon Violet on the Nintendo Switch

[foggy lodge]

But it gave it a real fire stab

[rustic mountain]

yea i think as u mentioned the 50/50s from hzoro just seem too volatile

[shadow wind]

The sun gives me free fire stab 😭

[foggy lodge]

But you boost it further!!!

Conner primal groudon can now use heat crash

It used to run fire punch in gen 7

[shadow wind]

Well actually it used eruption 🤓

[rustic mountain]

ew

[bold geode]

My thing with the Sydney team is that I think it's one of those that's actually good and pretty well built but can't be pulled off by anyone

[shadow wind]

Bro primal Groudon is going to explode to Lando I

I hate that guy

[foggy lodge]

Chien-Pao!!!

[bold geode]

Have to consistently pull off the Zoro tricks

[rustic mountain]

good teams generally can b picked up by ppl and have success, this isnt one of those to me but well see

usually its very specific player built teams that dont convert in that way like wolfey perish or a boyt team

[bold geode]

Idt it is either but like
I think it at the very least was a good team for that specific player

[rustic mountain]

this kinda fits that mold

[shadow wind]

Primal Groudon + Pao would be like heaven

[bold geode]

Idt it's a bad team tbh
It's actually pretty well built
It's just not like Bolt Balance or HO for example where you can just pick up the team and do well

[foggy lodge]

Nah I think Horoark is just terrible I wouldn't be surprised if people picked up the team and changed the Horoark to something like

Booster SpA Flutter

[bold geode]

Have to be precise, and you actually have to be able to pull off the mindgames

[rustic mountain]

its def not bad it won. couldve just been the call for that tour/weekend

[bold geode]

Oh idt it's a good Mon either but I think they did a good job of building in a way where you kinda have to respect it

[rustic mountain]

not everything needs to sustain its success its just this team doesnt seem like one to last

which is also fine

[bold geode]

Like usually you can protect to scout if it's Zoro but when you're staring down a Whims Ursh

[foggy lodge]

The Australians just also have very weird metas tbh

[rustic mountain]

yea i could see this

[foggy lodge]

Regice top cutted the same regional but also at Auckland a super weird Gapdos team won

[bold geode]

Yeah
Idt it's game breaking but like
I think it shows just like
How you should actually build when considering building around an off meta pick

[rustic mountain]

yea they must know player assumptions/tendencies well enough to take advantage continuously of those kinda interactions, like oh u wanna fake out my drago? well its zoroark. u wanna cc my gambit? its zoroark etc

[bold geode]

Yeah like the team was built and played in a way where even tho the Mon is kinda ass it still brought value

[rustic mountain]

its just hinging ur gameplan on that a lot of the time seems not great since u have to get those calls right everytime. they mustve figured out something to where the 50/50s arent actually 50/50s otherwise they either had insane luck or pushed it to like 70/30 80/20s

[foggy lodge]

Yeah

[rustic mountain]

nd as mentioned previous, u can just not bring hzoro either

[bold geode]

Well a lot of the time they led Whims Ursh for example so like
You couldn't really scout

[rustic mountain]

mind games still exist in a sense w/o actually having to bring something thats a bit more of dead weight

[stone trellis]

Only thing you'd need now is someone that benefits from the sun.

[bold geode]

Yeah that's really what I think the main thing about that team is
Just the fact you can't really like play 100% safe

[stone trellis]

Dude, imagine Pdon and G-Max Charizard in one team.

[rustic mountain]

id rather not

[rustic mountain]

main reason im such a fan of balance

so many times i get a turn wrong or lose resource and still can manage a w

[bold geode]

Yeah same

[stone trellis]

Pdon could use shit like EQ freely without hurting its partner and Charizard could just annihilate anyone that tries to do anything.

[rustic mountain]

it seems very broken haha

they r both strong enough on their own

[dense latch]

i think i burnt myself out of balance through reg h and f

[bold geode]

I'm actually playing a more offensive team for this coming GC and it's definitely different from what I usually do LOL

[dense latch]

marcofiero sun has been very fun in the 25ish games i've played with

[rustic mountain]

offense can b good for the gc

[foggy lodge]

You didn't play Politoed balance in reg H that's why

[stone trellis]

And it's not like you can bring Rillaboom in to counter it, since it'll die within eight nanoseconds.

[dense latch]

oh god i forgot about that random politoed in that one team

[bold geode]

I think offense is really good for the GC
I feel like more offensive teams usually dominate the GC

[foggy lodge]

It was wild dude LMAO

[dense latch]

if i played in the gc i would probably bring the sun team

[stone trellis]

I do not know what to bring to the GC.

[dense latch]

tera fairy helping hand dazzling gleam would be great to watch in cart

[stone trellis]

When does signing up begin?

[bold geode]

Actually I have an announcement
I do not plan on bringing Incineroar to this coming GC

[rustic mountain]

better for bo1, not as much draining of brainpower

u need enough techs to really push the envelope but not enough u make ur team cheese

or, u just skill diff consistently

[foggy lodge]

I was building something with some friends for the GC

[rustic mountain]

i think friday

[foggy lodge]

We have to see what we'll do but the initial idea seems fine

I can't wait for someone else to finally suggest Dozogiri to close the team

[rustic mountain]

fuck dozogiri

dozo is cool solo

[bold geode]

I thought about using DozoGiri but nah

[rustic mountain]

i mean itll prolly b fine but i just hate it

[bold geode]

I just don't have enough Dozogiri experience under my belt

But yeah I'm not using Incineroar
It's probably fine on my team but I think I got a better pick to use in its place for the team

[rustic mountain]

nice

[bold geode]

Which is wild cuz on every serious team I've had this season I've used Incineroar

[rustic mountain]

incin the goat

[foggy lodge]

I hope it gets sent to the shadow realm in champions

[rustic mountain]

think most of my teams have used incin wen its legal hahah

[foggy lodge]

Atleast for a bit

[rustic mountain]

hopefully to start

cant imagine itll b for awhile

[foggy lodge]

Give us regular Arcanine in the start

[rustic mountain]

im hopin we get za +dlc dex for the beginning

[foggy lodge]

It would be cool

[rustic mountain]

minus the legends

[foggy lodge]

Dengo Annihilape Amoonguss kingdom,,,

[rustic mountain]

w. megas? idk

theyll b around idt theyll dominate necessarily tho

[foggy lodge]

I think Amoonguss will be pretty huge but idk about dengo and ape

[rustic mountain]

shroom will always b good

[stone trellis]

https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536940801-itnyxfg8imbodvwi461s366iptcqh1epw

[rustic mountain]

the others, we only know of them existing in a tera format. sure theyll b good still but how will they be actualized w/o a mechanic they both benefit greatly from

[foggy lodge]

We can use Clefairy + Mega Clefable

hmmmmmm

[foggy lodge]

Yeah

I wonder how megas will be as a whole in champions

Cuz in 6-7 gen (fuck you) only a small fraction were really viable

Like 10 being generous

But now we have like double the amount of megas there were back then

[rustic mountain]

not many new ones seem good either

[foggy lodge]

Yeah that's also the thing like

Outside of like Heatran and Starmie I don't see many being really game breaking

[rustic mountain]

exca will b good

bax seems solid

[dense latch]

it's gonna come down to abilities for most

[rustic mountain]

starmie i think is gna suck

[foggy lodge]

Starmie is lowkey cope because it doesn't get wave crash and without wave crash it doesn't do enough damage

[dense latch]

all the good megas were either greatly helped by or carried by their abilities

[foggy lodge]

Yeah

[rustic mountain]

is it tho? some would really need some very good abilities to even b considered. u gta factor in the mon in base form too as something ur bringing so ur not just spamming mega evolve t1 everytime for it

[foggy lodge]

That's why Weezing will be broken none of the megas were independent from their abilities

https://tenor.com/view/weezing-gif-26949547

[dense latch]

like yea some will def just suck bc the mon is bad bad

[rustic mountain]

idk i just think the wait for abilities thing is tru in a sense but also like r we really expecting these insane 1 off abilities for every mega? cuz w/o that most of em dont seem good enough to consider

[foggy lodge]

I think its also that most of the old good megas were something of

[dense latch]

like i dont see chimecho victreebel o malamar doing great even with amazing abilities

[rustic mountain]

right

[foggy lodge]

Atleast decent typings + movepool + and the mega just adds what they lacked in stats and abilities

[dense latch]

but some of the ones that ppl are still on the fringe might

[rustic mountain]

and a lot of em were already good mons to begin w/

[foggy lodge]

Salamence

Mega Mence is so bullshit

[rustic mountain]

yea

[foggy lodge]

I'm actually scared of Dnite

Because like we've only had a good Dragonite in tera but

[rustic mountain]

i also never played a mega format so like i may just not get what it is that makes a good mega. u did have average/sub par mons like gengar and kang dominate a meta

[foggy lodge]

It has gotten so much buffs with tera, loaded dice, new moves, abilities buffs

And now it has a mega so like it can do a lot of stuff

[rustic mountain]

agreed

i think mega dnite kinda meh but maybe itll b good. regular dnite i think converts into the mega meta

really tho its like is scale shot in the game immediately?

[foggy lodge]

Yeah like even if the mega isn't that good you ca still use it with another set

[foggy lodge]

Idk because it was a dlc move in sw sh and sv

But idk how they will translate that to champions

[dense latch]

yea those were two of the mons which seem eh in base but just had really broken abilities

[rustic mountain]

exactly

[dense latch]

shadow tag is only given to underwhelming mons and parental bond is parental bond

[rustic mountain]

yea so thats wat i mean for the others

they need this 1 off broken ability to contend

[foggy lodge]

Gothitelle is not underwhelming i swear

[rustic mountain]

to offset the major weaknesses they usually provide

otherwise its lookin rough

[foggy lodge]

no nvm its carried by shadow tag LMAO

[rustic mountain]

oh wait, crabominable mega prolly will b good too

[foggy lodge]

Gothitelle is weird because its one of those mons that doesn't seem as good in theory but they work wonderful if you get them on the right team

[foggy lodge]

Crabominable seems pretty good

But it needs the right partners

And right partners = whatever gets hard TR to work

[stone trellis]

WHAT THE FUCK
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9vgc2026regi-2536951432-cf18vi4qslxkn1ay570v0qt8hmtixi2pw

YEEEEEEEEEEEEESSS

4 CSRs fought, four beaten.

I am going to make this motherfucking horse looks like Sukuna in JJK chapter 232 after I'm done.

[rustic mountain]

p much lol

[left bobcat]

Mega golispod has POTENTIAL

[stone trellis]

Oh boy, here comes the new Terapagos!

[leaden fox]

If it's ability is great, very likely

Though likely will be best in a TR situation

[forest arrow]

I want absol to be good but thats wishful thinking

[shadow wind]

I feel like I need to get unnecessarily attached to some random mon that's decent

Would give me a reason to play in non restricted formats

[forest arrow]

Im ready for Kanga

cool mon

[shadow wind]

I've heard horror stories of that guy so I'm a bit put off

[molten oasis]

Mega Delphox with psychic surge

[forest arrow]

Levitate

[forest arrow]

Ive heard zard is just as bad so Ill choose the ladder

[molten oasis]

https://tenor.com/view/dobby-gif-22195730

[shadow wind]

I think if the paradoxes stay zard won't be that big of a problem

[forest arrow]

I honestly think we will be paradox free at first

But you could be right

imagine chien pao Kanga

dear lord

[shadow wind]

I wonder how they'll handle Primal Groudon and paradox mons

If I'm lucky they won't get the sun boost

Oh actually caly exists

Never mind please let flutter mane carry me

[forest arrow]

Mood lol

[shadow wind]

Look I've already seen how badly Groudon takes astral barrage and primal groudon doesn't get any stronger in that regard

252 SpA Life Orb Calyrex-Shadow Astral Barrage vs. 132 HP / 252 SpD Groudon: 99-118 (51.5 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Why can't he just live 2 😭

[forest arrow]

Lucario Z and Absol Z being a single point faster than it is wild lmao

[shadow wind]

Yeah they love speedcreep

[molten oasis]

Speed crept just to die to astral barrage anyway

[shadow wind]

Whole point of speed creep is that they'll kill CSR first

[molten oasis]

They’re not bulky and calyrex is

Absol sure but not Lucario

[shadow wind]

They don't need to be bulky if they outspeed and kill 😭

That's the entire point of speed creeping by a single point

[bold geode]

@rustic mountain I fucking lied, imma play my balance team cuz I'm a filthy balance player

[red willow]

So reg for the gc is paradoxes and such allowed, restricteds naw?

Im prepared for shifu and bolt to reign supreme

[forest arrow]

Yeah Regulation F

You would be correct, bolt balance is one of the main teams to beat

[red willow]

Prolly still a little more up my alley than current reg anyways lol

CSR Zama variants getting a little stale for me lol

[shadow wind]

I love showdown

Did I just get "little buddy"ed 😭

[forest arrow]

lmao

[shadow wind]

I recognize this guy from other ladders but I don't watch games anymore

[shadow wind]

Bro this game is so ridiculous sometimes

Firepon and CIR

In the sun 😭

[left bobcat]

Only 76%?

GUUUGHHHH

[shadow wind]

😔

I hate this guy

[rustic mountain]

[solid frigate]

Urshifu:

[rustic mountain]

? its in sun surging does nothing and wicked blow aint doin shit

cc is gna tickle

[shadow wind]

It's ok ! My +6 Groudon with helping hand was able to do 60 !

It was a 1v3 so honestly it wasn't that big of a deal

[rustic mountain]

nice

[shadow wind]

I ended up on a pretty nice winstreak so now I'm done playing Reg I brainrot for the day

Wish I didn't lose so many but it's bo1 so it's going to happen

[solid frigate]

Oh wait I forgot he plays Groudon

[shadow wind]

How does one forget such a fact

[rustic mountain]

lmao conner is like the groudon guy to a fault

[solid frigate]

Don’t remind me about it when Monke brainrotting me in another server lol

[shadow wind]

Sometimes I forget Groudon isn't like a top 5 restrictred

[rustic mountain]

conner, u always forget that

[solid frigate]

to SWSH you go

[shadow wind]

Ok but he does well

[rustic mountain]

[shadow wind]

It's probably just cause he's useable though

[rustic mountain]

i think u do well w/ groudon idt it makes it a good restricted

[shadow wind]

Fair

Helps when people don't know the mus

[rustic mountain]

ive told u b4, if u played actually good restricteds ur wr would be even higher

[lofty tartan]

Conner doesn't believe in that.

[rustic mountain]

ik

[lofty tartan]

I give him credit for tenacity.

[rustic mountain]

his prerogative to play what he wants, just something i feel is tru

[shadow wind]

If I didn't play for Groudon I probably wouldn't play still

[rustic mountain]

[shadow wind]

But yeah I'd probably do better with a better restricted

But I do have a Miraidon on the team

So we're 50% of the way there

[rustic mountain]

just think tho miraidon + something good

[shadow wind]

I can't even imagine it

I would be able to drop the scarf and snarl

No longer held back by a 90 spdef restricted

[rustic mountain]

hahaha yea i think ud b 80%+ after adjusting to using better tools

[shadow wind]

Maybe

[rustic mountain]

[shadow wind]

But it's the end of sv anyway

Too late to teach an old dog new tricks

I'm the old dog and the single trick I know is Groudon

[rustic mountain]

yep

to the single trick being groudon not that its too late to teach

[shadow wind]

But but but

I NEED to be able to blame 100% of my losses on pblades even if I hit them all

[rustic mountain]

wouldnt even really be teaching cuz u know vgc pretty well at this point, more just getting a feel for how certain mons are w/ actually playing them

[shadow wind]

I like to think I know the restricted side of vgc

But the non restricted side

I might know nothing

Where's my king to protect

[rustic mountain]

eh depending on the format there might b something

sv had plenty of protect the king strats in lower power formats

[shadow wind]

I guess bolt balance is kind of protect the kingish...

[rustic mountain]

eh not even that there was dengo and gambit in series 1 and 2 also dreigon

reg f is still higher power lvlish compared to regional dex

[shadow wind]

Reg F makes me want to die

[rustic mountain]

[shadow wind]

I don't even know what about it

I'm just dreadful at it and every team has been made

[rustic mountain]

lotta ppl dont like it, which is funny cuz it won the poll

i dont like it as much as the first go around

[shadow wind]

I think I dislike it for the sole reason that Groudon doesn't exist

[rustic mountain]

def dont dislike it i just really had fun w/ it the first run thru

also think its partly me not swapping teams this time

[shadow wind]

I started halfway through F so my non restricted format experience so far is the Reg Hs and now Reg F again which I haven't really touched

My non restricted teambuilding is really really bad

[rustic mountain]

reg h is cool ill always stand by it being overhated

[shadow wind]

I agree it's definitely overhated

It was my peak elo but it was bo1 so meh

[rustic mountain]

yea u missed some good ones, mainly series 1 and 2 and reg c

[shadow wind]

Yeah I wish I played those for sure

[rustic mountain]

they were pretty short all things considered

i wouldve liked more time in series 1 and 2

[shadow wind]

I wish I got to see prime Palafin

[rustic mountain]

dude

it was awesome

i played palafin a bunch

[shadow wind]

I'm a palafan but never got to see him in his prime

[rustic mountain]

dude ppl were complaining about arc/palafin/shroom look at the fwg core now lmfao

[shadow wind]

I take that over Reg F demon core

I wonder how wonderful Primal Groudon will be

[rustic mountain]

it was already getting phased out by reg c but urshifu coming back in reg d completely took it out

[rustic mountain]

ur gna b on cloud nine

its a completely meta centralizing threat

[shadow wind]

Just pray it's only cloud nine and not delta stream

Least funny joke of 26

[rustic mountain]

[forest arrow]

Bro you’re gonna have a Xerneas next to the thing

You’ll be okay

[shadow wind]

As long as walking wake doesn't get to have fun

Actually if wake exists my beloved slug comes back

[rustic mountain]

yea cuz walking wake is so good lmfao

[forest arrow]

Lmao

[rustic mountain]

wen has it ever had fun (done well)

[shadow wind]

That one regional or something

[rustic mountain]

right haha

[forest arrow]

It got runner up at the regional

[shadow wind]

Nah I just mean if it can hit Primal Groudon for 4x in the sun it might see some use

[forest arrow]

I actually really liked that set tho, it was AV

[rustic mountain]

and was never seen again

[shadow wind]

With jet

[forest arrow]

Yeah