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The newest season of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive scene has been around for a couple of months, and the metagame has somewhat established itself with its altered rule set. The biggest change in this set is that players can now use only one creature from the restricted list.
With every player only having access to one of these potent Legendary Pokemon per team, they need to think hard about which one to pick. Fortunately, by analyzing usage rates from a popular VGC stat tracking site called Pikalytics, we have organized a tier list to determine the best restricted monsters to use in the current metagame.
Note: This tier list uses both data from Pikalytics and the author's own opinion
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Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Regulation G Restricted Tier List
S-Tier
Based on usage rates from Pikalytics, these are the five most popular restricted Pokemon in Regulation G:
- Terapagos
- Zamazenta Crowned
- Calyrex Shadow
- Miraidon
- Calyrex Ice
Terapagos and Miraidon are the two newest additions, so many players are using them for testing to determine if they are worth climbing the ranks with. Miraidon in particular shows a lot of potential thanks to its Electric Terrain ability that provides amazing support to Paradox Pokemon from Pokemon Violet.
The Calyrexes are bound to be metagame staples as they are easy to use in doubles thanks to redirection moves and set-ups like Trick Room or Tailwind. Their ability also boosts their stats when they knock out an opponent. Zamazenta Crowned is a great choice due to its secondary Steel attribute and free defense boost when it enters combat.
A-Tier
Here are the restricted picks that inhabit the A-Tier for VGC's Regulation G season:
- Kyogre
- Groudon
- Lunala
- Koraidon
- Zacian Crowned
The Hoenn Legendaries are great in their own right in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Access to weather-changing abilities is very important to keep the battle in the player's favor, although Rillaboom is equipped to take down both Groudon and Kyogre.
Lunala is an interesting option to see high up in the popularity charts, but it is being used as a supporting pick with Wide Guard and Trick Room being two of its most popular moves in the format. Koraidon is a decent creature, but Groudon is the better option since they both essentially serve the same role of sun setter on competitive teams.
B-Tier
Here are the creatures that make up the B-Tier for Regulation G:
- Lugia
- Rayquaza
- Kyurem White
- Ho-oh
- Eternatus
Creatures in this tier typically use a stall playstyle or just do not fit into any meta-defining team compositions in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. Lugia, Ho-oh, and Eternatus all use a similar playstyle with slight alterations. They rely on using some form of sustain like Protect or Recover to stay in the fight, with their secondary focus being to deal damage.
Kyurem White is a decent choice, but it requires snow to keep up with other restricted creatures in terms of power. As the weather conditions are a bit gimmicky to set up, snow teams are too predictable at the moment. Rayquaza simply turns the weather off, thereby taking the weather advantage away from all players, including its trainer.
C-Tier
Here are the restricted creatures that inhabit the C-Tier:
- Dawn Wings Necrozma
- Reshiram
- Dusk Mane Necrozma
- Altered Giratina
- Origin Palkia
- Dialga
Much like some of the members of the B-Tier, C-Tier picks often have a generalist playstyle that does not synergize well in double battles. Others like Dawn Wings Necrozma simply operate less effectively than their counterparts in higher tiers on this list.
Since Game Freak has been trying to move away from stall strategies, the Pressure ability of the Sinnoh legends has been made less viable, leaving them outscored by restricted creatures with better abilities. Overall, these creatures are not worth using seriously in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive season.
D-Tier
Consisting of the remaining restricted monsters, here are the creatures in the D-Tier:
- Origin Giratina
- Mewtwo
- Zamazenta
- Solgaleo
- Palkia
- Zacian
- Kyurem Black
- Necrozma
- Zekrom
- Cosmog
- Cosmoem
- Kyurem
- Origin Dialga
- Calyrex
The problem with many of the monsters in this tier is that they have better variants already available that perform much better in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Regulation G. Calyrex, Zamazenta, Necrozma, and others all have alternate forms that are better suited for the metagame.
Cosmog and Cosmoem are pre-evolved creatures, so they should stay far away from serious competitive usage. Mewtwo is sadly not competitively viable and has not been for quite some time now. With so many powerful Ghost and Dark-types in the current metagame, Mewtwo likely would not stand a chance in most battles.
