The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet Europe International Championships are happening this weekend in London, and some of the best VGC players are there competing for the prestigious title and a potential invitation to Worlds later this year in Japan.
Following Fort Wayne Regionals earlier this month, EUIC is the next major tournament to feature the four Treasures of Ruin under the new Regulation C ruleset. It’s still early in the format, but all of the Ruinous Pokémon except Wo-Chien have had a strong presence so far.
And with Ting-Lu, Chi-Yu, and Chien-Pao impacting the meta, we’ve seen many players gravitate more toward a dominant core of four specific Pokémon—Flutter Mane, Amoonguss, Palafin, and Arcanine. The Grass-Water-Fire core plus the incredibly popular Flutter Mane has quickly proven to be a tough combination to counter and will likely stick around for a while.
But outside of these popular picks, there are also some underrated Pokémon that have the potential to be very good in Regulation C. Dot Esports had the opportunity to interview top VGC players at EUIC to get their takes on the most underrated Pokémon right now.
Azumarill
Paul Chua and Alberto Lara were quick to mention Azumarill. The Water/Fairy Pokémon has a huge type advantage over all of the Dark-type Treasures of Ruin. It resists all STAB attacks from Chi-Yu and Chien-Pao while also being able to hit each of the Ruinous Pokémon for super-effective damage.
Alberto pointed out that Azumarill’s primary means of offense, Play Rough, comes with a 10% chance to miss. If players decide to run the aqua rabbit in Regulation C, they’ll have to rely a lot on a slightly inaccurate move. Other than that, Azumarill seems to be a perfect counter to the Ruinous Pokémon.
Scizor
Like Azumarill, Scizor’s name was brought up more than once. Paul Chua mentioned the Bug/Steel-type Pokémon is especially good against Ting-Lu, the most common Treasure of Ruin at EUIC. Bug is generally seen as one of the weaker types in the game, but it hits Dark types for super-effective damage. With a high Attack stat and STAB Bug-type moves on its side, Scizor can slash through Ting-Lu’s bulk better than many other Pokémon in the format.
Aaron Traylor also talked about Scizor’s potential going into Regulation C during The Pokémon Company’s EUIC VGC Preview Roundtable. He explained how Scizor has an answer for any of the Ruinous Pokémon: “It is probably the best Pokémon to use the Bug-type same-type attack bonus, which annoys Wo-Chien and Ting-Lu; it can deal much of Chien-Pao’s health with Bullet Punch; and if it has a defensive Tera Type and holds an Assault Vest it can destroy Chi-Yu with Close Combat.”
Scizor does have a glaring weakness to Fire-type attacks from Chi-Yu or the popular Arcanine, but as Aaron mentioned, a solid defensive Tera Type can help Scizor tank those otherwise devastating Fire attacks. From there, Scizor is free to get a strong attack off on any of the Ruinous Pokémon.
Orthworm
Orthworm actually made a big stream appearance on day two of EUIC during an intense match between Alberto Lara and David Koutesh. David showed off the giant worm’s Shed Tail strategy in which it creates a substitute for Dragonite. The combination of the substitute and Dragonite’s Multiscale Ability buys the dragon enough time to set up with a Dragon Dance before dishing out damage.
Shed Tail isn’t Orthworm’s only perk, though. Orthworm’s signature Ability, Earth Eater, not only makes it immune to Ground-type attacks but also heals its HP when hit by one of those attacks. This works great against Ting-Lu, who commonly runs Ground-type attacks like Stomping Tantrum or Fissure. It’s also perfect if Orthworm’s ally uses Earthquake to deal solid damage to both of the opponent’s Pokémon while healing up the worm. During his interview with Dot Esports, Aaron Traylor admitted Orthworm was one cool Pokémon he’d lost to at EUIC with Shed Tail and Earth Eater on its side.
Great Tusk
Prior to Regulation C, Great Tusk was one of the most-used Paradox Pokémon in the format. In fact, it was the star of Justin Carris’ winning team at Charlotte Regionals, the last tournament before Regulation C introduced the four Treasures of Ruin into VGC.
However, it somehow went from being the third most-used Pokémon at Charlotte to being completely kicked out of the top 12 at EUIC. The fact that its usage went down is interesting, considering its Fighting typing gives it an edge over the Dark-type Ruinous Pokémon. For that reason, Joseph Ugarte and Alberto Lara believe it should still be quite good in Regulation C despite its huge drop in usage.
Kingambit
Like Great Tusk, Kingambit became a strong pick for many players before Regulation C took over. But because it shares its Dark typing with the Treasures of Ruin, it’s starting to be replaced on many teams with either Ting-Lu, Chien-Pao, or Chi-Yu.
Rather than relying on any of the Ruinous Pokémon, Nick Navarre chose to go with Kingambit as the Dark type on his EUIC team. Between setting up with Swords Dance and moving first with Sucker Punch, Kingambit has proven to be an effective counter to the one Pokémon everyone seems to be running—Flutter Mane. And although the samurai was still the 11th most-used Pokémon at EUIC, Nick felt it should’ve been higher up on the list. The way it handles Flutter Mane should be too good to pass up.
Jumpluff (and sun teams)
Back at Vancouver Regionals, a certain sun team piloted by Abdullah Mohayyuddin felt unstoppable and ended up winning the whole tournament. That team centered around Torkoal and Lilligant, while the past Paradox Pokémon Flutter Mane and Great Tusk could also take advantage of the sun thanks to their Protosynthesis Ability.
Now that Regulation C is here, we haven’t seen as many sun teams like Abdullah’s. Both Joseph Ugarte and Alberto Lara did, however, stumble upon an interesting sun team with Jumpluff at Fort Wayne Regionals, the first Regulation C tournament. Both players praised the Grass/Flying cotton Pokémon who fills a supportive role with the ability to put foes to sleep, similar to Amoonguss. Whether it’s with Jumpluff or another sun team, that core certainly has the potential to shake up the metagame.
