Treasures of Ruin: How to use 4 of Scarlet and Violet’s strongest Pokémon

With Charlotte Regionals being the final Regulation B tournament regulated by TPCI that just ended, Regulation C happens to be right around the corner, going live on April 1. The new format will allow the use of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s Legendary quartet, the Treasures of Ruin.

This quartet consists of Chien-Pao, Chi-Yu, Wo-Chien, and Ting-Lu. Not only do the four of these Pokémon have incredible stats, but they also possess powerful abilities that have the potential to warp the meta around them.

That being said, these Pokémon aren’t necessarily the most intuitive to use, and building these Pokémon to bring out their best potential can be a little challenging.

Related: Wolfe Glick and Markus Stadter dominate Pokemon Regional tournaments with unusual Paradox Pokémon

You don’t necessarily have to worry about learning how to optimally use the Treasures of Ruin in a competitive setting, however; we’ve got you covered on that end.

How to use the Treasures of Ruin for Regulation C VGC in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet

Chien-Pao

Chien-Pao is one half of the face of hyper-offense in Regulation C VGC. Combining its base 120 Attack stat with its signature ability, Sword of Ruin, that lowers the Defense stat of all Pokémon on the field other than Chien-Pao by 25 percent, it not only turns into a killing machine but also lets its partners deal massive amounts of damage. Pair this Pokémon with strong Physical Attackers for great success.

Since Chien-Pao is so fast and offensive we will be taking its strengths to the next level through our recommended build:

Item

Focus Sash

Ability

Chien-Pao has access to only one ability, its signature: Sword of Ruin.

EVs and Nature

For Chien-Pao, the very basic 252/252/4 EV spread in Attack/Speed/HP respectively works best. Chien-Pao is frail and will fall to single hits a lot of the times from common threats in the meta, but that’s we we have it run a Focus Sash to survive at least one hit, letting you distribute its EVs almost entirely in Attack and Speed.

A Jolly Nature works best for Chien-Pao as this lets it speed-tie with one of the most popular and fast Pokémon in the format—Flutter Mane—and potentially get a one- or two-hit knockout before Flutter Mane can take Chien-Pao out instead.

Moves

Here is the moveset that we recommend you use for this particular Chien-Pao build:

• Ice Spinner
• Sucker Punch
• Sacred Sword
• Protect

Ice Spinner is the most reliable Ice STAB that Chien-Pao has access to while also getting rid of terrains such as the pesky Psychic Terrain from Indeedee. Sucker Punch provides strong STAB priority, while Sacred Sword gives Chien-Pao impeccable coverage, letting it OHKO other Chien-Pao, Kingambit, and Tyranitar, while also allowing it to hit Dondozo through its potential Defense boosts.

Tera type

Tera Ice and Tera Dark can both be considered to power up Chien-Pao’s STABs, but the ideal Tera type proves to be Ghost. Not only does it let Chien-Pao ignore the very common Extreme Speed from Dragonite, it also lets it ignore Fake Out and Fighting moves such as Sacred Sword in the Chien-Pao mirror, which it was originally four-times weak to.

Chi-Yu

Chi-Yu just happens to be the second half of the duo spearheading the hyper-offense archetype in Regulation C VGC, for similar reasons. Its respective offensive stat of choice—its Special Attack—is even higher than Chien-Pao’s Attack stat, sitting at a base 135, so you can imagine the copious amounts of damage it can put out through Special hits, while letting its Specially-abled teammates go berserk as well due to Beads of Ruin, the Special counterpart of Sword of Ruin.

Since Chi-Yu is also fast and offensive, we will be sticking to its strengths as well in our recommended build:

Item

Choice Scarf

Ability

Chi-Yu has access to only one ability, its signature: Beads of Ruin.

EVs and Nature

We recommend two EV spreads for Chi-Yu using a Choice Scarf:

1. 252/252/4 in Special Attack/Speed/HP
2. 116/252/140 in HP/Special Attack/Speed

The first EV spread maxes out your Speed through EVs and the Timid Nature, letting you outspeed everything except Speed-buffed Booster Energy Iron Bundle and Flutter Mane.

The second EV spread utilizes the Modest Nature to give you just enough speed to outspeed non-Booster Energy-buffed Iron Bundle and everything slower. This allows Scarf Chi-Yu to maximize its Special Attack and gain a bit of bulk, letting it hit very hard and fast while being able to survive some crucial hits.

Moves

Here is the moveset that we recommend you use for this particular Chi-Yu build:

• Overheat
• Heat Wave
• Dark Pulse
• Snarl

Overheat will let you take out a lot of Pokémon in the format in a single hit. Heat Wave provides strong spread damage, while Dark Pulse is the best Dark STAB Chi-Yu has access to. Snarl lets it play a fast, supportive role that is especially oppressive when going up against the Indeedee-Armarouge matchup.

Tera type

Tera Grass or Tera Fire are solid options for Chi-Yu. If you need Chi-Yu to survive a hit from Water- or Ground-type attacks while also being immune to powder moves, choose Grass, but if you want more firepower, choose Tera Fire.

Wo-Chien

Wo-Chien was probably the most underestimated Treasure of Ruin when players were first introduced to the quartet. But with Terastallization, this leafy snail can get rid of its poor typing, sit on the field to be a disruptive and supportive tank, and proceed to never die due to its amazing recovery, bulk, and damage mitigation through its ability, Tablets of Ruin, that lowers every Pokémon’s Attack stat by 25 percent that isn’t Wo-Chien.

Just like earlier, we are going to focus on this Pokémon’s strengths and set it up to be incredibly bulky in our recommended build:

Item

Leftovers

Ability

Wo-Chien has access to only one ability, its signature: Tablets of Ruin.

EVs and Nature

An EV spread that will work well in the early Regulation C metagame will be 252/180/76 in HP/Defense/Special Defense, along with a Calm nature. This EV spread and Nature will make sure that Wo-Chien survives a Choice Specs-boosted spread Heat Wave from Chi-Yu, with the rest of the points being dumped into Defense.

Moves

Here is the moveset that we recommend you use for this particular Wo-Chien build:

• Foul Play/Ruination
• Leech Seed
• Pollen Puff
• Protect

Foul Play is a great STAB option, especially with all the Chien-Pao-centered physically offensive teams running around. If you’d prefer your damage more consistent, run Ruination instead. Leech Seed lets you sit on the field and deal chip damage while recovering passively, while Pollen Puff allows you to heal teammates and also hit opponents with Bug coverage if necessary.

Tera type

Fire, Water, and Poison are all good Tera options for Wo-Chien. Choosing one is up to you and your team’s defensive needs, as the resistances and weaknesses of each type differ slightly. That being said, all three Tera types cover for a good portion of Wo-Chien’s weaknesses.

Ting-Lu

The Treasure of Ruin that happened to be overshadowed by the more offensive ones but soon became the one most feared by competitive players, Ting-Lu is surprisingly oppressive when built correctly. Apart from being able to comfortably delete opponents with a specific set, it also reduces the Special Attack stat of every Pokémon on the field by 25 percent, letting it be a great mix of offense and support.

For our recommended build, we will be focusing on its bulk and offense at the same time:

Item

Assault Vest

Ability

Ting-Lu has access to only one ability, its signature: Vessel of Ruin.

EVs and Nature

A simple 252/252/4 EV Spread in HP/Attack/Special Defense rounds off Ting-Lu’s bulk as well as offense, especially with the Adamant Nature boosting its Physical Attack stat even higher. Combined with Assault Vest as its item, Ting-Lu will be extremely tough to remove from the field, especially with its ability acting as further Special damage mitigation.

Moves

Here is the moveset that we recommend you use for this particular Ting-Lu build:

• Stomping Tantrum
• Payback
• Heavy Slam
• Fissure

One-hit knockout moves aren’t the most common in competitive Pokémon, but Fissure synergizes incredibly well with this Ting-Lu set. Since Fissure has low accuracy, you’re probably missing the move most of the time. 

Stomping Tantrum is a move that doubles in power if the previous move used fails to affect the user. This means that if Fissure misses for Ting-Lu, it can use a 150 BP Stomping Tantrum to make quick work of its enemies. Quite the brutal combo, since if Fissure connects in the first place, then the opposing Pokémon will be taken out in a single hit anyways.

Payback doubles in damage to become 100 BP if Ting-Lu moves after the opponent, which will almost always be the case since Ting-Lu has a base Speed of 45.

Heavy Slam acts as good coverage, but is mainly there to one-shot opposing Flutter Mane.

Tera type

Steel or Poison make for good defensive Tera types for Ting-Lu. Steel lets it resist Ice, Grass, and Fairy, while keeping its Fighting weakness. Poison allows Ting-Lu to resist Fighting hits, but it won’t resist Ice moves.