Scarlet and Violet VCG player attacks their own Pokémon to pull off ultimate ‘big brain’ play

In competitive VGC, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet players always have to be one step ahead of their opponent. Sometimes, this means doing the unthinkable—and one player did this today by attacking their own Pokémon in an absurdly risky yet genius play to counter Trick Room.

Attacking your own Pokémon in VGC double battles isn’t exactly new, but it’s something your opponent won’t always be prepared for. Ever since Pokémon pro James Baek stunned everyone by burning his own Pokémon to avoid being put to sleep during the 2023 Charlotte Regionals, VGC players have had to be more aware of that slight possibility.

One competitive player took it to a new level today, using an even riskier and wilder version of this strategy to pull off an incredible play no one would ever see coming: they used their Thundurus to paralyze their own Iron Bundle to accomplish several different things against a tricky Trick Room team. 

Thanks to Thundurus’ Prankster ability, it was still able to move first under Trick Room and use Thunder Wave on the ally Iron Bundle. With Iron Bundle paralyzed, it not only avoided being put to sleep by Amoonguss’ Spore but also cut its speed to move before the opposing Flutter Mane under Trick Room.

In doing so, Iron Bundle was able to use Encore and force Flutter Mane to use the same move from the previous turn—Trick Room. The opponent could only watch as their own Flutter Mane reversed the effects of Trick Room they had set up for their slow team. That Flutter Mane would also then be locked into using Trick Room over and over again for a few more turns unless it switched out, essentially making that slot unable to attack.

Suddenly, all of the momentum shifted back to the speedier team.

This was obviously a very risky play that could’ve blown up in the player’s face if Iron Bundle was unable to move due to paralysis. But thankfully, it wasn’t fully paralyzed and was able to execute one of the most exciting and brilliant plays in competitive VGC. Let’s just hope the paralysis didn’t come back to bite Iron Bundle later in the battle.

So if you’re tired of losing to Trick Room teams, consider running Encore and paralyzing one of your own Pokémon to recreate this big brain play. In addition to Iron Bundle, Ogerpon and Illumise are two other Encore users in Regulation E.

Just pray your Pokémon doesn’t get fully paralyzed, or you’ll look silly.