All Water-type starters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet VGC, ranked

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Regulation G set has been around for a few months now, and players around the world have been enjoying it. However, some trainers have been looking for an opportunity to use some of the more experimental creatures that are available. This has led many of them to consider Starter Pokemon.

Since Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Indigo Disk expansion brought back every starter from the main series' history, many players have been looking for every opportunity to use them. While Incineroar and Rillaboom are the definitive best Fire and Grass starters for VGC, some trainers may want to know more about the Water-type critters.

Note: This article is based on usage rates and data from Pikalytics, as well as the author's opinion.

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Ranking every Water-type Starter Pokemon for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's VGC

9) Samurott

Samurott was never good at any point in the franchise's history, but it does have an interesting regional variant (Image via Game Freak)

Samurott is an incredibly slow and frail offensive attacker with no real definitive role on a team.

Its regional variant was interesting to see in singles, but VGC is strictly a format for double battles, so neither form has been able to find even a slight niche in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive meta.

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8) Feraligatr

Feraligatr was made for a time before double battles, and it was never optimized for the new battle mode (Image via Game Freak)

While Feraligatr's Sheer Force hidden ability and access to Dragon Dance makes it a threatening set-up sweeper in singles, this does very little to help it in double battles.

Though it could find small success with a redirector like Amoonguss, set-up sweepers that cannot easily receive support from their teammates through abilities are far too slow for the current metagame.

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7) Inteleon

Inteleon is an interesting support pick in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's VGC (Image via Game Freak)

Inteleon is a fast but frail creature that many players have been using, thanks to its interesting set of utility moves. It is used for its access to support moves like Icy Wind, Soak, Taunt, and Haze.

Inteleon is still not an incredibly common pick due to it being outclassed by bulkier Water-type critters that serve a similar role.

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6) Greninja

Greninja's Battle Bond ability is still banned from competitive play (Image via Game Freak)

Since Greninja's Battle Bond ability is still banned from Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive scene, Greninja does not have a decent ability for double battles.

This significantly hurts its viability, but it still has access to valuable priority moves like Shadow Sneak and Water Shuriken.

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5) Quaquaval

Quaquaval has a decent niche as a physical attacker, but it serves much better in single battles (Image via Game Freak)

Quaquaval has the potential to deal a lot of damage, but it lacks any reliable spread damage or utility. Its surprisingly low speed stat also prevents it from outperforming any other sweepers in the meta.

Quaquaval does have access to Ice Spinner to clear terrain, which is nice.

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4) Swampert

Swampert is a decent bulky supporting choice with access to a variety of coverage options (Image via Game Freak)

Swampert has amazing bulk and a defensive typing that only leaves it weak to Grass-type attacks. With moves like Yawn and Wide Guard, the critter can support its teammates and put enemies to sleep.

Swampert also has access to powerful Water-, Ground-, and Poison-type attacks, which is a valuable coverage combination.

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3) Empoleon

Empoleon is a bulky special tank that synergizes well with other starters in the meta (Image via Game Freak)

Empoleon is one of the most consistent Water-type starters in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, thanks heavily to its secondary Steel typing and access to Ice-type attacks.

Recently, players have been using Water Pledge with Empoleon since Rillaboom and Incineroar can employ their respective Pledge moves in the same turn for massive damage.

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2) Blastoise

Blastoise is the best Water-type starter for players in need of a supporting tank (Image via Game Freak)

Blastoise has been the tank of choice for many players due to its access to Fake Out and Flip Turn. This allows it to stun an opponent on the turn it is sent out and deal a bit of damage with Flip Turn before being switched out to repeat the process again.

Blastoise also has Yawn and Helping Hand for more supporting utility.

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1) Primarina

Primarina is a great offensive Water-type tank in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet that can perform well in Trick Room and Rain teams (Image via Game Freak)

Primarina is essentially everything to like about Empoleon, but it focuses on offense rather than defense.

Both Primarina's Special Attack and Special Defense stats are higher than Empoleon's, and the secondary Fairy typing gives it a few valuable resistances, as well as additional offensive coverage. Its Liquid Voice ability also turns Hyper Voice into a Water-type move while increasing its damage.