Tons of powerful Pokémon added to Scarlet and Violet VGC with huge regulation change

As of July 1, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s VGC ruleset has officially switched over from Regulation C to Regulation D—and the whole meta is about to change.

Previously with Regulations A, B, and C, players were limited to only using Pokémon originally found in the Gen IX titles for competitive VGC battles. Rather than competing with over 1,000 different species, the pool of legal Pokémon was narrowed down to less than 400, which is how weaker Pokémon like Murkrow were able to thrive in the cutthroat VGC environment for a time.

But with the new Regulation D ruleset in place, players now have the option to use Pokémon transferred over from other games via Pokémon HOME. Most notably, the powerful Hisuian Pokémon from Legends: Arceus are officially legal in VGC for the first time ever. Ursaluna, Ursaring’s Hisuian evolution, already seems terrifying under Trick Room with its massive attack stat and Guts ability. 

In addition to the Hisuian ‘mons, we’ll need to keep an eye out for returning VGC threats like Landorus and the Legendary genies. Landorus was already strong before, but now the Legendary genies each gain access to signature storm moves that could make them even more troublesome to deal with. Sandsear Storm, for example, is a base 100 multi-target attack with a 20-percent chance to burn each of the targets. That’s right—Landorus now has a move that can burn and cripple physical attackers.

Related: Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Ranked Battle Regulation D ruleset, explained

Between all the new and returning faces to VGC, the meta will no doubt see a huge shift between now and the World Championships, which are set to begin August 11 to 13 in Yokohama, Japan.