The next format for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet VGC was ushered in on May 31, and everything is about to change. From July 1 to Sept. 30, Regulation D will be taking over as the new VGC format, introducing tons of Pokémon into the meta.
If you’ve been keeping up with the VGC 2023 season, you’ll notice all regional and international tournaments will be finished by the time Regulation D comes around. That means the World Championships will be the first major event under the new ruleset, as pointed out by World Champ Wolfe Glick
This comes as a surprise, considering how many new Pokémon will be thrown into the meta. According to the Regulation D ruleset, all Pokémon transferred to Scarlet and Violet via Pokémon HOME will be legal in VGC with the exception of Restricted Legendary Pokémon like Mew and Mewtwo. In other words, Alolan and Galarian Pokémon will be returning to the competitive scene, while the Hisuian Pokémon from Legends: Arceus are finally making their VGC debuts.
Between the returning threats and new additions, there’s no way of knowing exactly where the meta will go from here. In the past, we’ve had regional tournaments to test out new formats before jumping into larger tournaments like internationals—which had been the case with Regulations B and C. With Worlds this year, we won’t have any major tournaments to give us an idea of what the Regulation D meta will look like. Players will have to rely more on smaller local events, online battles, and trends within the community.
That being said, players already suspect a few Pokémon might take over the meta. Wolfe Glick, for example, mentioned Regieleki, Urshifu, Rillaboom, and Ursaluna. Given how strong these ‘mons all look on paper, it’s very possible they’ll be able to shine in Regulation D and at Worlds later this year.
