Why is Incineroar so good in Pokemon VGC?

Ever since its introduction in Generation 7, Incineroar has been a consistent presence in the official Pokemon competitive format, VGC. At the moment, in the current VGC24 Regulation G meta, the cat sits at a whopping 76.81% usage. For context, this meta allows restricted Pokemon, including legendaries like Kyogre, Miraidon, and Zacian-Crowned.

Thus, it's worth taking a look at what makes the Heel Pokemon such a force to reckon with in competitive play. Keep in mind, this will only take this mon's capabilities in Doubles into account, and not its performance in Singles.

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What makes Incineroar so good in VGC?

Incineroar and Litten at the Blueberry Academy (Image via The Pokemon Company)

When it comes to the competitive scene, there are four factors of a Pokemon to take into consideration.

• Base stats
• Typing
• Ability
• Movepool

Once we take a closer look at these four factors of the Heel Pokemon, the reason for its success will become a lot clearer.

Base Stats: Here are Incineroar's base stats

• HP: 95
• Attack: 115
• Defense: 90
• Special Attack: 80
• Special Defense: 90
• Speed: 60
• Total: 530

It has a good Base Stat Total of 530 as a fully evolved Starter. Its stats are distributed interestingly, with its 115 Attack and 60 Speed being the two that stand out. However, what makes the cat interesting is its 95/90/90 spread in HP/Def/SpDef. This gives Incineroar a surprisingly good natural bulk, and by altering its EVs, it can be made to tank physical or special hits even better.

Typing: The dual Fire and Dark type combination comes with a lot of small benefits that add up. Fire typing takes away the weakness to Fairy-type moves and the common Bug-type pivot move, U-turn. Meanwhile, the Dark typing gives it immunity to status moves used by Pokemon with the ability Prankster, such as Klefki and Whimsicott. Hence, its typing further improves the cat's longevity.

Ability: While the cat has access to Blaze like all Fire-type starters, its hidden ability, Intimidate, is used in the competitive scene. Intimidate lowers the opposing Pokemon's Attack by a single stage when Incineroar enters the field. By switching multiple times, the Heel Pokemon can quickly reduce the offensive capabilities of any physical attacker on the opposing team.

Movepool: This mon has access to multiple moves to leverage all its previously mentioned beneficial traits - Fake Out for guaranteed priority damage and flinching on the first turn, Will-O-Wisp to burn physical attackers to make them weaker, Knock Off to remove an item, Parting Shot to pivot out while dropping a Pokemon's stats, etc. All of these make Incineroar the ultimate support Pokemon.

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How to use Incineroar in VGC: Terastallization, items, and nature

In the current meta, where Terastallization allows a Pokemon to change its type, it's common for the cat to Tera into Ghost to avoid being Fake'd Out by other mons, including other Incineroar. Grass and water are other options that take less damage from powerful attacks like Kyogre's Water Spout.

Impish (Def+/SpA-) is the preferred nature, but some sets run Jolly (Spe+/SpA-) to outspeed opposing cats. Rocky Helmet is a good option to further chip the opponent's mons that are using contact moves, but Sitrus Berry is a good option to restore a little health.