Hisuian Arcanine rules Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s meta—but it’s not as popular as you think

Hisuian Arcanine took home another big title at the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Latin America International Championships (LAIC) in an epic finals showdown on Nov. 19, winning all five major VGC tournaments since Regulation E began last month.

LAIC was the first of three international VGC events ahead of the 2024 World Championships, and Hisuian Arcanine was the Pokémon on everyone’s mind going into the tournament. While Roaring Moon might’ve stolen the show on day one, it was Hisuian Arcanine who eventually came out on top again by the end of the weekend.

At this point, pro players like the 2016 World Champion Wolfe Glick are keeping track of the Hisuian dog’s incredible win streak. Four regional titles and now one international title brings Hisuian Arcanine up to five major Pokémon tournament wins in a row.

All five of these wins come after the meta shift from Regulation D to Regulation E, which finally allowed new and returning Pokémon from The Teal Mask DLC. Although Hisuian Arcanine made its VGC debut back in Regulation D, it’s thriving more now than ever before, effectively replacing its original Gen I form as a great Intimidate user. On top of being one of the best Intimidate users, it’s also proving to be a hard-hitting physical attacker with a Choice Band, Rock Slide, Head Smash, Flare Blitz, and Extreme Speed.

Given its hot win streak, you’d think Hisuian Arcanine would be the most popular Pokémon in the metagame right now, but that’s not actually the case at all. The Fire/Rock doggo was the eighth most-used Pokémon at LAIC and was only run on 23.8 percent of teams. 

It’s still impressive to be on the top 12 graphic but it’s nowhere near the likes of Flutter Mane and Iron Hands, both of which had over 50 percent usage rates. It’s interesting more people aren’t gravitating toward Hisuian Arcanine despite its perfect win rate in Regulation E so far.

Of course, Hisuian Arcanine’s success may not last long. We’ve seen meta threats like Palafin and Ogerpon do incredibly well at tournaments before plummeting soon after. Whether players eventually find more counters to the fire dog or a better Intimidate user replaces it in the next regulation, it could be only a matter of time before Hisuian Arcanine falls off. After all, one of the best Fire-type Pokémon and Intimidate users in VGC history—Incineroar—will likely make its return to competitive play after The Indigo Disk DLC is released. 

Regulation E is expected to end on Tuesday, Jan. 2, so Incineroar could be back to break the Pokémon meta again as early as the beginning of next year. That may also mark the end of Hisuian Arcanine’s VGC success until the next big format change.