Pokemon Scarlet and Violet | Meta Report For Ranked Battles Season 1 | Pokemon SV

Ranked Battle Meta of Season 1 for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (Pokemon SV). See the overview of each stages of the meta, competitive battles, Pokemons being used & more!

This article is intended for an audience with a certain level of knowledge of the competition.
Please be aware there is will be a lot of Pokemon slang in this article.

Season 1 Brief Overview

Seaon 1 Rules & Battle Meta

No Paradox & Legendary Pokemon Allowed

The early stages of the Ranked Battle Meta. Many players were excited to use the new Paradox and Legendary Pokemon, but the rules stated the no usage and made the start of this season very chaotic.

List of Pokemon Not Available

Great Tusk	Scream Tail	Brute Bonnet	Flutter Mane
Slither Wing	Sandy Shocks	Iron Treads	Iron Bundle
Iron Hands	Iron Jugulis	Iron Moth	Iron Thorns
Wo-Chien	Chien-Pao	Ting-Lu	Chi-Yu
Roaring Moon	Iron Valiant	Koraidon	Miraidon
Galarian Meowth	Perrserker	Wooper	Quagsire
Charmander	Charmeleon	Charizard

Main Topics In The Beginning Of The Season

Duelist Style With Breloom And Mimikyu Was Popular

This lineup duo was found in the Sun Moon version "Breloom & Mimikyu" and used as a strong pair. Since these 2 were confirmed to be in Scarlet & Violet in the early stages of the release, there were many players who chose to start training these 2 Pokemon to start.

In Reality, It Was Difficult To Rely On Original Styles & Moves

Since it was a well known duo, there were already countermeasures for these 2 in the early stages of the battling meta. There were some players that used abnormal Brelooms likes ones that don't learn Spore and made them into Weapon styles by making them learn all Attack moves.

Hydreigon Dominates In Pivots

At this time when you have made it to Steel Terastal, it was clear that there were no Fairy types in the meta that was strong against Hydreigon which made them one of the strongest in pivots.

As mentioned above, your opponents will use Mimikyu & Breloom or Dragonite, so using the duo of Corviknight which can use "U-turn" to safely bring out Hydreigon was used a lot since it was a stable tank to these pairs.

Garganacl Had The Attention

Because it was the beginning of the season, there weren't many players that can counter the signature move "Salt Cure" so Garganacl was used in many styles. Fissure Style and Steel Wall Body Press Style, Protect & Substitute Style started to be in act, and the [Necessary Evil] position in the meta was gradually being established.

New Item "Covert Cloak" Had Great Ratings

Once Garganacl had the attention, the countermeasure was "Covert Cloak" which had great ratings. With this, it was getting harder to win with just Garganacl. While maintaining versatility and being able to use this item properly, the Pokemon that was being called was the Gholdengo.

Needed A Countermeasure For Ability "Unaware"

The 3 new Pokemon that has the Ability "Unaware", all had high useful specs and was being used in season. It was being used as a wall in most of the styles, and at least 1 of these Pokemon was being used. Inevitably when making a style, thinking of the processing method of these Pokemon was very important.

Main Topics In The Middle Of The Season

Addition Of Azumarill & Kingambit

As a meta to countermeasure Hydreigon, the Fairy type Pokemon was Azumarill. Thinking of the opponent's moves, the Assault Vest styles were fairly popular.

At the same time, with Gholdengo as the main, Kingambit was being used for going against the Ghost type Pokemons. As a result Assault Vest Kingambit styles were used commonly, and from this period Hydreigon were starting to get harder to use.

Gradually Speed Stats And Styles Are Changing

Azumarill and Kingambit are both Speed stats at 50. Since many players were starting to use Skeledirge and Corviknight, players were starting to distribute their stats to increase the speeds of Azumarills and Kinambits so they can countermeasure them.

Especially in the end, Kingambit was being used as an Attack/Speed Swords Dance Style, and it was able to defeat Corviknight with faster speed by using Swords Dance. Instead of being a duelist, it started to change its styles to match their opponent's styles.

Bulk Up Style Annihilape Was Popular

As a combination with Grimmsnarl's walls or "Will-O-Wisp", Annihilape that can stack "Bulk Up" was starting to become popular. There weren't many players, but some were struggling with accidentally giving damage and raising the power of its signature move "Rage Fist" or the usage of "Taunt".

Many Players Used Choice Bands & Specs

Item	Main User

At this time, to countermeasure the Ability "Unaware" and Pokemon like Garganacl which doesn't have much weaknesses, items that can instantly increase attack power like Choice Band and Choice Specs were added into the styles. This was a different approach compared to the other games and series.

Will-O-Wisp Volcarona Came Into Top Power

While Volcarona that holds the Specs were increasing, Volcaronas that has learned Will-O-Wisp & Morning Sun that can make Physical attacker struggle was also head of some styles. Since these kinds of Pokemon increased, the difficulty of making a strong style was a new problem.

Increase Of Fire Tera Type Physical Attackers

Other than Volcarona, there was an increase of Skeledirge and Dragapult and others, that can burn its opponents. As a countermeasure, to avoid their Physical Attackers to not get burned, Fire Tera types were being used commonly. With the increase of the Fire Tera types, they will attack with Tera Blast which was a danger to the Physical attacker Corviknight style, "Corviknight & Clodsire" duo since Corviknight is weak to Fire types.

Main Topics Of The Ending Stages Of The Season

Increased Demand For Stealth Rock

As Dragonite and Volcarona's appearances increased in the meta, Stealth Rock's priority increased, which made the usage of Garchomp and Hippowdon increase as well. Garchomp appeared in the middle of the season using "Dragon Tail" which was rated high, and it was a different type of strong Pokemon compared to the punching Garchomp.

Easy Win Was Being Targeted

Since it was the final part of the season, to countermeasure the 2 routes above, many players started adding Stat Boosting Attacker that can defeat 3 Pokemons with 1 Pokemon to their styles.

Especially Dragon Tail is not effective to Fairy types, and if they were in a Substitute state, it was an absolute weakness so players who were in this situation needed to think of other options.

Countermeasure For Azumarill's Electric Tera Type Increases

As the Fire Tera type increased, the Burn effect was less effective, so the meta changed. The Physical attacker trend changed to Electric Tera type. By using Dragon type Pokemon with Electric Tera types while holding Life Orb and Choice Band it can defeat Azumarill with Tera Blast and with this new change, the age of the Azumarill defeating Dragon was starting to decrease.

New Fairy Types To Countermeasure Dragon Types Were Not Completed

Since the Azumarill's meta of being strong against Dragon was broken, the problem that was in the beginning of the season the lack of strong Fairy types were back in place. There was no good solution for this, there were many players who started to look for Fairy Tera types that can defeat Dragon types.

Focus Sash Requirements Were Defined

Since there was a lot of Pokemon with the Ability "Unaware" in the meta, for the position of the Focus Sash Pokemon that has high fire power without Stack moves or Pokemon that can make favorable conditions without Stack moves were being added. Meowscarada that can throw Toxic Spikes or Gholdongo with Thunder Wave styles were commonly used.

Gengar's Popularity Increased

As a fast Special Attacker, the Fastest Gengar had the attention. Poison & Ghost & etc, the Gengar can attack in various ways and started getting popularity from the middle to the final stages of the season. The accuracy of hitting was insecure, but changing the battle's situation with "Hypnosis" was a trick in the sleeve, which made this Pokemon that you could not let your guard down.

With Gengar's "Destiny Bond & Encore" it can almost certainly defeat 1 of your opponent's Pokemon. It can also prevent other Stat Boosting Attacker that are slower than itself, such as the Annihilape styles which was also a strong point.

Stored Power Style Espathra Was A Hit

From the early to middle of the meta, the Calm Mind Stored Power Espathra was not a style commonly used, but it was used as a spot keeper for some players. It can use Substitute which will help it not get easily defeated, and some styles "even if the style was known, it was harder to defeat" and in situations it was a strong Pokemon.

Main Topics Of The Final Stages Of The Season

Fire Spin & Encore Dragonite Gets Recognized

Dragonites that differentiated other Dragonites started to appear by using Fire Spin to seal opponent's move to change their Pokemon and using Encore to restrict movements. Fire Spin's accuracy is a small part to worry about, but by decreasing its Opponent's HP by great amounts, this style was not one that you can ignore.

At The Same Time Dragon Tail Styles Were Also Increasing

Fire Spin styles were catching many players eyes, but there were "Dragon Tail + Thunder Wave" styles that held Rocky Helmet, increasing in the meta environment.

Fire Spin style Dragonites were mainly dealing damage on Dondozo which was brought on to fight Dragonites, this type of style was mainly for different types of opponents in the meta and work as a general purpose wall so they were similar, yet very different.

HP & DEF Thunder Wave Gholdengo Becomes Reclaimed

HP & DEF Thunder Wave Gholdengo were becoming reclaimed as attackers for Physical opponents. It was a style that has a low rate of using Terastal, it was still strong against Annihilape and Azumarill so it was commonly used to make up for the type effectiveness of the pivot. The items that it can hold was pretty free, so players were using Leftovers or Weakness Policy just to be on the same side.

Unusual Events That Occurred Against Dragonite

As mentioned above, Rocky Helt Dragonites were increasing, so the meta Dragonite styles were greatly changing. It was not something that we were expecting, but since Encore and Thunder Wave was not effective and it can handle its HP with Recover, the HP & DEF Gholdengo had become stronger than the Dragonite and an extreme meta combination had created.

Stealth Rock + Swords Dance Kingambit Research Continues

When the Stealth Rock styles had started becoming popular, the pressure from the Stealth Rock + Swords Dance Kingambit was starting to increase and players were starting to experiment with them. The meta for Garchomp and Hippowdon were very strong, so people started to research on new Pokemon that can use Stealth Rock. At this time, the 3rd new style for Annihilape, Stealth Rock Style came into place, next to the Bulk Up Style and the Choice Scarf Style.

Meta Quickly Changes In The Final Stages Of The Battle

Since the meta was fairly strong, Season 1's main goal was starting to look like "Who's the Most Powerful Stealth Rock Setter?" But in the Final Stages of the Battle, the main goal was how to break them like the bottom countermeasures listed below Especially, you needed to [Choose + Play] or there was no way of winning and many players were not able to use the Swords Dance Kingambit or were not able to bring it to play.

Styles That Gives You Advantages On First Turns Increases

The Swords Dance Kingambit was wiring down, but there was other Attackers that were using the Stealth Rock. As for this, there was an increase of Pokemon like Ground Tera Type Garchomp with an enhanced Attack, which has strong fire power on its first move and was able to push through and create an advantage. Since there was no Fairy types, this role was mainly given to Dragon types.

Difficult To Overcome The Numerical Disadvantage

In these styles, there were Pokemon with "Unaware" or Dragonites that was mentioned above, waiting in place. So as a simple Stat Boosting Attacker, it was difficult to overturn the numerical disadvantages and it was a great problem in line.

Due to this, if you are to battle against Dragon type with a Dragon type on the first turn, you must need to come up with a way to avoid the opponent's Dragon type to get an advantage.

Season 1 Meta Summary

Ending With An Unclear Solution To Overturn The Numerical Disadvantages

To answer "How to countermeasure the numerical disadvantages?", since it was the final part of the meta, there wasn't much players that could answer to this and the time limit had come to an end.

In the styles listed below, there are Pokemon that pushed through with high firepower on the first turn so it is exciting to see what kind of answers that will come up in the Season 2 meta.

First Move Fairy Tera Burst

To explain the result for the problem of the lack of Fairy types was [first move with Fairy Tera Type + 2 Pokemon that are low dependent on Tera Types] because you were not using a direct Fairy type Pokemon and was still being able to use a Fairy type into your pivot.

Additionally to that, on the last day of Season 1, the need to be strong against Dragon types on the first turn increases, so getting the advantage gameplay by using the Tera Burst on the first move was the most efficient build to go..

Example Of Strong Builds Being Used

Looking At Results Tinkaton Was Also Correct

In the stronger builds, the Tinkaton was being used fairly common. Other than the first Fairy Tera type, this was the correct Pokemon for the Fairy slot. It was also one of the Pokemon that was "Great Stealth Rock Setter" and when it holds the Air Balloon, it can be strong against all types of Dragon Pokemon on its first turn which made it the best match in the Fairy meta.

Example Of Strong Builds Being Used

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Builds & Movesets for Ranked Battles

Series 1 Best Build & Moveset

Palafin	Grimmsnarl	Dragonite
Breloom	Gyarados	Gholdengo
Baxcalibur	Dragapult	Sylveon
Mimikyu	Scizor	Hippowdon
Meowscarada	Glimmora	Cloyster
Amoonguss	Clodsire	Dondozo
Skeledirge	Garganacl	Heat Rotom
Hydreigon

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