★ VGC 2024 Regulation G Metagame Discussion

[wholesomeisland]

A Pokemon that is really getting overshadowed is.

This thing does so much damage with its boost from the ability Intrepid Sword, alongside super reliable and strong STAB Behemoth Blades. This thing pick up KOs that it really shouldn't

Here are some calcs with the ability boost:
+1 116 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Calyrex-Shadow Rider: 154-183 (88 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
+1 116 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Calyrex-Ice Rider: 186-218 (89.8 - 105.3%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Life Orb Sheer Force Landorus Earth Power vs. 204 HP / 4 SpD Zacian-Crowned: 213-252 (110.3 - 130.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
And with the ability+Swords dance:
+3 116 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Rillaboom: 235-277 (113.5 - 133.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+3 116 Atk Zacian-Crowned Behemoth Blade vs. 244 HP / 0 Def Ursaluna-Bloodmoon: 186-220 (84.9 - 100.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

These are just some highlights, and just with Behemoth Blade. Somedecide to run Sacred Sword or Close Combat to hit the likes of,,,, andreally well. Some decide to drop the Fighting Type coverage for the STAB and strong Play Rough, wiping the board with dragons such as,, and.

Good partners for:
- supplies Fake Out support for, either letting it pick up OHKOs on stuff likeor, or maybe getting a free Swords Dance setup. Fake Out also allows you to just Fake Out and attack one slot, allowing you to pick it up next turn.also provides healing support for, granting it better longevity. Grassy Glide is good to snipe Focus Sash Pokemon, while leaving the possibility to nuke Water types thatcan't hit as hard likeor.
- yet again grants the same Fake Out support foras. Incineroar helps your bulk on the physical side, while also packing Parting Shots for special attackers.is really helpful at hitting Steel types if you aren't running fighting coverage. Taunt onhelps into the Trick Room matchup.
-makessuper powerful, while again giving some priority to the team. Ice coverage is nice when going up againstand, two Pokemon thatstruggle with.
-Any Defiant user like,, or, as they can make your opponent regret bringing Intimidate to the battle. I personally likeas it fairs super well against Trick Room.
-feels a bit underrated, but dual screens makean absolute brute. If there is anything faster than, you can just get Thunder Waved by a partner.also has Fake Out, with damage negation in Will-o-Wisp and Parting Shot

Finally,isn't the one to just be one shot.

Here are some calcs:
252+ Atk Groudon Precipice Blades vs. 204 HP / 20 Def Zacian-Crowned: 162-192 (83.9 - 99.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252+ SpA Mystic Water Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 204 HP / 164 SpD Zacian-Crowned in Rain: 160-190 (82.9 - 98.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

can be built in so many different ways. Some Tera Types for him would be Water or Ghost btw.

zacian still is an amazing pokemon after dominating in swsh vgc, its back for more.

ive settled into this team https://pokepast.es/eb8b60e7e45a5399 where its zacian, standard fwg )incin waterfu rilla) Lando I and torn, and while it does struggle into trick room it feels very fun to play. might swap a couple mons around but the core is there.

I also want to point out that gouging fire makes a really good partner for it, allowing zacian to basically have pre-nerf intrepid sword if its switching in next to gouging fire. Ive theorized a little bit with zacian + gouging + chien pao + galar zapdos, and it seems to have some merit.

specifically zacian + zapdos galar, zapdos galar is able to take care of incineroar mainly and provides a also decent supporting option with access to tailwind, coaching, taunt, and knock off to remove berries or other troublesome items. plus the thunderous kick defense drops can help zacian do a lot more damage. It can also function as a good pivot with u-turn, and its a decent defensive tool for zacian being immune to the ground type attacks zacian doesnt like to take very well. thats one of the downsides for using gambit for me, double steel means mons like groudon or landorus-T have a free precipice blades or earthquake.

Zacian also hits a amazing speed tier, alot of pokemon are in the 135 tier like the new bikes miraidon and koraidon, along with sv vgc staples like flutter mane, chien pao, all of which seem to be somewhat popular currently, and with a jolly nature and 156 EV investment in speed, it garanteed outspeeds one of these mons if they dont also have a speed boost.

Zacians toughest matchups seem to be calyrex ice, zamazenta, groudon, and tera fire koraidon. specifically for zamazenta and opposing incineroar, landorus incarnate form makes for a great partner, while also having good defensive synergy, as zacian resists ice and landorus is immune to ground. calyrex ice is a bit tricky, as it can go for tera fire or water and stop zacians behemoth blade from doing super effective damage, allowing for a nearly garanteed trick room, then calyrex ice can use its coverage moves to hit zacian with high horsepower or close combat. the combo of clear amulet along with this makes it very tricky to reduce the damage of calyrex ice, and i personally have not found a consistent answer. for koraidon, tera fire which is its most common set walls both of zacians stab moves, going from a good matchup due to play rough being 4x effective, to a bad matchup as now it threatens STAB sun boosted flare blitzes. Groudon is also tricky, as depending on the partners zacian has seems to really effect its matchup. something like walking wake trivializes the matchup, as it just clicks hydro steam, but in almost every other matchup its not really worth running. mons like rillaboom and chien pao can force groudon to terastallize or face super effective grass or ice STABs respectively, but that doesnt seem to help.

Overall i think if built right zacian is a very strong pokemon, and its strongest partners seem to be gouging fire, rillaboom, incineroar, landorus incarnate, and urshifu-rapid-strike.

 

[PenguGuy1]

While playing, there is a certain interaction that I find very peculiar. This is the interaction betweenand.

One of's best partners is Speed Booster, with fast Icy Winds to stop faster teams and fast Taunts for Trick Room teams, boosted by being immune to Fake Out. Icy Wind allows you to slow down opposingwhen you have Speed Booster. This allowsto then out speed and chip or even KO the opposing. But, themay feel inclined to Terastilize into the Fairy Typing to not get flat out KO'd by a Shadow Ball. Not even the Focus Sash prevails, as a Icy Wind+Behemoth Blade combo easily drops.

This becomes even more difficult when Tailwind is up for the, as they could then force a Tera out of, but if thedoes Tera, thecan drop to a double up. This can be used as a bluff, ascould swap into something like a, as it threatens Spores, heals allies and with Rocky Helmet, makesthink twice about clicking an attacking move.

Somerun Tera Dark, yet somerun Close Combat or Sacred Sword. I find this matchup very interesting because there is no hard win or loss here, but whichever player is better at the game. This is one of those instances that RNG isn't as prevalent, so this feels more like a skill based matchup.

Of course,run around alongside, a counter to. Same thing as howruns alongside. This also shows why VGC is just so hard to play, at ever small bump or turn there are many options.

 

[wholesomeisland]

While playing, there is a certain interaction that I find very peculiar. This is the interaction betweenand.

One of's best partners is Speed Booster, with fast Icy Winds to stop faster teams and fast Taunts for Trick Room teams, boosted by being immune to Fake Out. Icy Wind allows you to slow down opposingwhen you have Speed Booster. This allowsto then out speed and chip or even KO the opposing. But, themay feel inclined to Terastilize into the Fairy Typing to not get flat out KO'd by a Shadow Ball. Not even the Focus Sash prevails, as a Icy Wind+Behemoth Blade combo easily drops.

This becomes even more difficult when Tailwind is up for the, as they could then force a Tera out of, but if thedoes Tera, thecan drop to a double up. This can be used as a bluff, ascould swap into something like a, as it threatens Spores, heals allies and with Rocky Helmet, makesthink twice about clicking an attacking move.

Somerun Tera Dark, yet somerun Close Combat or Sacred Sword. I find this matchup very interesting because there is no hard win or loss here, but whichever player is better at the game. This is one of those instances that RNG isn't as prevalent, so this feels more like a skill based matchup.

Of course,run around alongside, a counter to. Same thing as howruns alongside. This also shows why VGC is just so hard to play, at ever small bump or turn there are many options.

Pretty much all of zacians mus seem skill based with the right team surrounding it, mons like lando I and incineroar help patch up is harder mus like zamazenta and caly ice respectively

I think zacian has a very good spot in the metagame right now, it doesn't feel like it has any super bad matchups, and I think with the right player and team it can go far, would not be surprised seeing it win something like naic or the next reigonals.

 

[LeonLeeds]

Old Faces, New Places:

As much as I enjoy farming ladder points with broken classics like Amoongus, Raging Bolt, and Chien pao, it's important to innovate and create more ways to respond to the evolving meta. A format ago we saw mons like Landorus I experience a meteoric rise, and mienshao + tsareena have become more popular in reg G than ever. I want to talk about a few mons that may be forgotten about in dex that could serve a key role in your teams.

Sandy Shocks:
Shocks is really interesting as speedy screens setter on sun structures. You can't get one shot by practically anything that's faster than you besides a specs iron bundle. Koraidon with options like flame charge, swords dance, and scale shot really appreciates the added bulk. Key resistances to miraidon, bleakwind, and neutrality to Calyrex's moves means you should always get at least 1 or 2 screens up without getting whittled down. Your stabs are very useful, volt is good for pivots, and eerie impulse is another option to completely neutralize a flutter, raging bolt, that can still do plenty of damage even with screens up.

Gholdengo:
Cheese String man currently eats alive the most powerful restricteds including zama, zacian, terapagoas, and calyrex-I. It sets up effortlessly and a certain tera into the right matchup becomes an auto win. Unlike most spread move users it doesn't rely on its signature move to succeed. Being immune to fake out means your guaranteed to get the jump on clayrex with support from tailwind. Some people will just ignore gholdengo and get heavily punished in the end game.

Hisuian Goodra:
Goo is the best kyogre-tornadus counter in the game. Bolt is weak to ice beam, and ogerpon-w should counter but bleakwind easily gets a 2hko, and deciding to tera gets rid of water absorb. Goodra is versatile enough to run practically anything you want, from elemental moves to idef + body press, flash cannon for tera fairies and flutter, acid spray, phasing, and is bulky enough to survive double ups. Spore immunity is huge, but gooey isn't the worst option in the world.

I've been having tons of fun with this format and encourage players to build with creativity in mind, you may just stumble on a hidden gem...

 

[eththhHTEHwhh]

I have been using this calyrex - shadow rider with this set
Calyrex-Shadow @ Choice Specs
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tera Blast
- Astral Barrage
- Expanding Force
- Trick
Paired up with this indeedee - F
Indeedee-F @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Trick Room
- Imprison
- Helping Hand
And a raichu using this set
Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Nuzzle
- Fake Out
- Endeavor
- Volt Switch
This three pokemon are mainly used to counter two restricted pokemon
Zamazenta-Crowned and Miraidon

This may explain some wired stuff like Tera Ground Tera Blast Calyrex - Shadow and Tera Fairy Raichu. Next I needed a form of speed control so i added Whimsicott but mine was diffrent
Whimsicott (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Tailwind
- Tickle
- Fake Tears

But this was not the final set i used for Whim, after playing some games i decided to replace fake tears with moonblast. The reason was that calyrex was doing so much damage even without fake tears so moonblast was the better option. You may be wondering WHY THE HELL IS TICKLE IS HERE !??! Some of you might not even what does even tickle does, well it lowers the defence and attack of the target, i did not add it for the attack drop istead for the defence drop. This is because I mentioned about Zamazenta-Crowned before so this is why added tickel there. to finish of the team i added
Incineroar (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 172 Def / 60 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
And
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 44 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Please tell me your opinion this team

 

[PenguGuy1]

I have been using this calyrex - shadow rider with this set
Calyrex-Shadow @ Choice Specs
Ability: As One (Spectrier)
Level: 50
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Tera Blast
- Astral Barrage
- Expanding Force
- Trick
Paired up with this indeedee - F
Indeedee-F @ Psychic Seed
Ability: Psychic Surge
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Follow Me
- Trick Room
- Imprison
- Helping Hand
And a raichu using this set
Raichu @ Focus Sash
Ability: Lightning Rod
Level: 50
Tera Type: Electric
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Nuzzle
- Fake Out
- Endeavor
- Volt Switch
This three pokemon are mainly used to counter two restricted pokemon
Zamazenta-Crowned and Miraidon

This may explain some wired stuff like Tera Ground Tera Blast Calyrex - Shadow and Tera Fairy Raichu. Next I needed a form of speed control so i added Whimsicott but mine was diffrent
Whimsicott (F) @ Focus Sash
Ability: Prankster
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Calm Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Protect
- Tailwind
- Tickle
- Fake Tears

But this was not the final set i used for Whim, after playing some games i decided to replace fake tears with moonblast. The reason was that calyrex was doing so much damage even without fake tears so moonblast was the better option. You may be wondering WHY THE HELL IS TICKLE IS HERE !??! Some of you might not even what does even tickle does, well it lowers the defence and attack of the target, i did not add it for the attack drop istead for the defence drop. This is because I mentioned about Zamazenta-Crowned before so this is why added tickel there. to finish of the team i added
Incineroar (F) @ Assault Vest
Ability: Intimidate
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 12 Atk / 172 Def / 60 SpD / 12 Spe
Careful Nature
- Flare Blitz
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Fake Out
And
Urshifu-Rapid-Strike (F) @ Choice Scarf
Ability: Unseen Fist
Level: 50
Tera Type: Water
EVs: 44 HP / 172 Atk / 4 Def / 76 SpD / 212 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Surging Strikes
- Aqua Jet
- Close Combat
- U-turn
Please tell me your opinion this team

Definitely a unique team, wondering what the spreads do exactly. For, maybe run an attacking move like Dazzling Gleam, other wise Taunt completely invalidates. Protect and Tera Ghost or maybe Tera Grass should probably be run on, and with no, this team could just straight up lose toteams, withandseeming quite good into this team. Overall a pretty good team that needs some tweaking.

 

[fyfyy]

I am kind of surprised no one has picked on Choice Scarf Kyogre and Farigiraf core as of yet. Tera Water-boosted Water Spouts are a delete button, also many Pokemon like Landorus and Archaludon can deal with common meta threats like Miraidon and Zamazenta-C . I think people playing Kyogre as a slow Assault Vest Tank isn't the right way. Its easy to control weather and set it again against Terapagos thanks to Tornadus , some positioning and priority control with Farigiraf can easily make such cores extremely threatening.

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

I am kind of surprised no one has picked on Choice Scarf Kyogre and Farigiraf core as of yet. Tera Water-boosted Water Spouts are a delete button, also many Pokemon like Landorus and Archaludon can deal with common meta threats like Miraidon and Zamazenta-C . I think people playing Kyogre as a slow Assault Vest Tank isn't the right way. Its easy to control weather and set it again against Terapagos thanks to Tornadus , some positioning and priority control with Farigiraf can easily make such cores extremely threatening.

I’ve experimented a bit with Scarf Ogre on ladder, it’s decent but 3 attacks, assvest or bulky Calm Mind are all better imo. Wide Guard has also become more common, and Rilla, Bolt and Waterpon can all take any one attack from it and smack it back with super effective stab.

 

[fyfyy]

I’ve experimented a bit with Scarf Ogre on ladder, it’s decent but 3 attacks, assvest or bulky Calm Mind are all better imo. Wide Guard has also become more common, and Rilla, Bolt and Waterpon can all take any one attack from it and smack it back with super effective stab.

I think its really easy to handle Wide Guard, also if someone got the courage (I do) run Hydro Pump on Kyogre .

 

[fyfyy]

I’ve experimented a bit with Scarf Ogre on ladder, it’s decent but 3 attacks, assvest or bulky Calm Mind are all better imo. Wide Guard has also become more common, and Rilla, Bolt and Waterpon can all take any one attack from it and smack it back with super effective stab.

Bulky Calm Mind set is by far the worst set in my opinion. Relying on moves like Origin Pulse after you invest resources in setting up is really risky.

 

[Wicked_Blow]

Nice Zamazenta won a regional

 

[Lilherc]

Bulky Calm Mind set is by far the worst set in my opinion. Relying on moves like Origin Pulse after you invest resources in setting up is really risky.

I agree 100%. As someone who has been experimenting with Kyogre all regulation, I think setup Kyogre is definitely bad. I like your proposition for choice scarf, however I think it’s too weak into trick room. Instead I suggest Tera electric choice specs.

236+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Ice in Rain: 210-247 (101.4 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Electric Kyogre Helping Hand Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Kyogre: 216-254 (104.3 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Helping Hand Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 212-250 (102.4 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO


There are several more interesting calcs, especially when playing against miraidon teams and utilizing electric terrain. Turns Kyogre into a nuke. This also allows water spout to surprise OHKO Pokemon that opponents may not expect to be OHKO’ed. Tera electric thunder allows you to counter common wide guard users and bulky water types that typically wall Kyogre.

 

[fyfyy]

I agree 100%. As someone who has been experimenting with Kyogre all regulation, I think setup Kyogre is definitely bad. I like your proposition for choice scarf, however I think it’s too weak into trick room. Instead I suggest Tera electric choice specs.

236+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Water Spout (150 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Calyrex-Ice in Rain: 210-247 (101.4 - 119.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Choice Specs Tera Electric Kyogre Helping Hand Thunder vs. 252 HP / 252 SpD Assault Vest Kyogre: 216-254 (104.3 - 122.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

236+ SpA Choice Specs Kyogre Helping Hand Ice Beam vs. 252 HP / 124 SpD Assault Vest Rillaboom: 212-250 (102.4 - 120.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO


There are several more interesting calcs, especially when playing against miraidon teams and utilizing electric terrain. Turns Kyogre into a nuke. This also allows water spout to surprise OHKO Pokemon that opponents may not expect to be OHKO’ed. Tera electric thunder allows you to counter common wide guard users and bulky water types that typically wall Kyogre.

In my core specifically I had an Imprison Trick Room Farigiraf which stopped TR most of the time. I also had Throat Chop Chien-Pao which threatened other Farigiraf

 

[PenguGuy1]

Since we're on the topic of, I thought I might just paste in a team.

https://pokepast.es/6ef95e8a72ffc72f

This team uses Choice Specs Tera Waterto deal loads of damage, with Origin Pulse being swappable for something like Hydro Pump to beat Wide Guard. Ice Beam and Thunder are the moves of choice here because BoltBeam coverage is absolutely absurd.

is the next Pokemon of choice, as it puts on loads of pressure while beatingand,along with.is overall really underrated right now.

Next is bulkyas it deals loads of damage under Rain, while granting some priority to the team and hitting Steel/Dark types for really good damage, such asand. Mystic Water grants a nice boost that allows you to pick up KOs your opponenet may not anticipate.

Next up is, with Psychic Terrain blocking priority. I went withoverbecause of redirection and even afterfaints, the terrain can still be there, as well as being a good way at negating damage from, a Pokemon that this team can struggle with.

Then comes, a notoriously good support Pokemon with disruption, redirection and healing. I went withoverhere because that allows me to beat Trick Room, something thatcan struggle to overcome sometimes, with opposing,, and even sometimesrunning around on those teams. Ice Beam can force a Tera out of, and you can go for the double up with Spore.

Finally is's best partner,. This Pokemon has speed control in Tailwind, Icy Wind, and even Bleakwind Storm if you're lucky. It also hits grass types super hard.

Overall, this team is pretty solid. In testing, I found that mostteams are weak to.

 

[Falcon11]

I use a team with a main strategy of trick room. I use trick room instruct, scary face Oranguru with drought, sunny day Torkoal. I use armour cannon Armarouge to utilize Torkoal's drought should it get KO'd. I then put Treecko (my favourite pokemon) with the eviolite, helping hand to support my mons further. To counter fire-types, i use assault vest, stomping tantrum and fissure (to either OHKO or power up stomping tantrum)Ting-lu, with assault vest, it's affordable to miss a fissure and power up Stomping Tantrum. To further counter fire types, I use rocky helmet, yawn, helping hand, waterfall, Earth power gastrodon. I have only just starting out and know this team probably has a long way to go. Opinions?

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

I use a team with a main strategy of trick room. I use trick room instruct, scary face Oranguru with drought, sunny day Torkoal. I use armour cannon Armarouge to utilize Torkoal's drought should it get KO'd. I then put Treecko (my favourite pokemon) with the eviolite, helping hand to support my mons further. To counter fire-types, i use assault vest, stomping tantrum and fissure (to either OHKO or power up stomping tantrum)Ting-lu, with assault vest, it's affordable to miss a fissure and power up Stomping Tantrum. To further counter fire types, I use rocky helmet, yawn, helping hand, waterfall, Earth power gastrodon. I have only just starting out and know this team probably has a long way to go. Opinions?

Trick Room is solid, and I think Oranguru could be a decent choice (Instruct gives it a niche over Farigaraf). I would use Ice Rider Calyrex as your restricted on that team. Ditch Treecko - Amoonguss is way better. I also don’t think you need Armarouge - you have Calyrex and Oranguru to set up Trick Room for you. Torkoal is good, so for the final slot I would use Flutter Mane - it gives your team some Speed and Torkoal lets its ability actually do something. Here’s a rough draft of the team:
https://pokepast.es/6628d89b70c06d6f

 

[PokeknightVGC]

Gonna make the hard call that Ho-Oh might actually have a pretty decent result going into LA. It's going to be that one mon where once someone finds out the right team it will be a defensive staple for the rest of the format. (Ting-Lu + Kommo-o situation)

 

[Cuddly]

Case for Clear Amulet Zacian
While most would assume that if you want to use Zacian, you should give it Rusted Sword always so it can be in its Crowned Form. Having higher base Atk and Speed, it seems like a no brainer, but here is why I say that you could porentially run Clear Amulet on Zacian and it’d be a viable alternative
1.
No doubt one of Zacian’s biggest problems in current Meta and why Zamazenta has taken over her spot as the more popular Galar dog is because of Incineroar. More specifically the part where Intrepid Sword got nerfed hard and where Zamazenta got Body Press to ignore intimidates and threaten Incineroar.
With Clear Amulet, you can preserve your Intrepid Sword boost against Intimidate user.
And despite the drop in Atk it definitely is worth it.
Max Atk neutral nature
258 (+1) / 430 (+3 from Sword Dance)
202 (+0) / 303 (+1) / 404 (+2) / 505 (+3)
Max Atk Adamant
283 (+1) / 472 (+3)
222 (+0) / 333 (+1) / 444 (+2) / 555 (+3)
Comparing the Zacians when Incineroar comes in, Clear Amulet Zacian is clearly stronger by a large factor. About 27.7% in fact.
And you may ask “well what if I run less than Max Atk Zacian with different EV spreads” which is perfectly valid.
Say you want to run Bulky Sword Dance Zacian that outspeeds Miraidon.
Regular Zacian would need to run more Speed EVs and would have less Atk EVs. Just a basic spread for both forms
EVs: 252 HP / 20 Atk / 236 Spe Jolly (143 Atk 214 after +1)
EVs: 252 HP / 100 Atk / 156 Spe Jolly (183 Atk)
So even with significantly less investment, Zacian-H will have higher Atk than Zacian-C after intimidate. It’ll even outdamage make Atk investment Zacian-C.

And this isn’t just about Intimidate either. Losing your Steel typing can help vs Incin as you lose your Fire weakness too.
44 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zacian-Crowned: 144-170 (85.7 - 101.1%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO
44 Atk Incineroar Flare Blitz vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Zacian: 72-85 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 1.6% chance to 2HKO

Incineroar can easily KO Zacian-Crowned after chip or any kind of boost like Sun or SoR or what ever meanwhile regular Zacian can easily tank it. While yes, Tera exists, Zacian-C is required to Tera in order to survive a hit from Incineroar while Zacian-H is not and can even survive multiple hits with things like Grassy Terrain or Rain being up, which additionally makes Zacian even tankier vs Incineroar.

Oh and last thing is hitting back vs Incineroar. As mentioned before, Zacian-H will have preserved its Atk boost against Incineroar which will matter a lot.
+1 20 Atk Zacian Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 170-202 (85 - 101%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO
108 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 146-174 (73 - 87%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
+1 252 Atk Zacian Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 206-244 (103 - 122%) -- guaranteed OHKO
252 Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 162-192 (81 - 96%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Sitrus Berry recovery
252+ Atk Zacian-Crowned Close Combat vs. 236 HP / 20 Def Incineroar: 178-210 (89 - 105%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Zacian with Clear Amulet and Close Combat is much more of a threat to Incineroar than Zacian-C. Even with full investment, an intimidated Incineroar will not be OHKO’d. You need Max Atk Zacian-C to OHKO Incineroar after intimidate, meanwhile even with just 20 Atk you can OHKO Incineroar with Clear Amulet Zacian.

2.
Another important factor for Clear Amulet is speed control.
Zacian-C is clearly faster than its base for obviously. It can hit more speed benchmarks than its base form naturally. Even though max Speed Zacian-C doesn’t outspeed that much more than its regular form, it can invest less into Speed while hitting same benchmarks and investing more into defenses or offenses (although as seen it’ll still be doing less damage against Incineroar).
However, that small speed advantage I think is greatly outweighed by Clear Amulet making you immune to common speed control options, namely Icy Wind/Electro Web, as well as Bleakwind Storm.
It’s really that simple. It’s pretty valuable since Zacian will almost always go first against majority of things, only relevent thing outspeeding it being Calyrex-S.
3. bunch more Fire, Fighting, and Ground types
This is more of a trade off deal that depends on your team. The Steel typing Zacian-C has is very valuable, coming with tons of resistances, immunities, and making types neutral to Zacian. However this is a double edged sword. This Steel typing means Zacian is weak to Fire and Ground while also losing its Fighting resistance.
In one corner you resist Grassy Glide, Glacial Lance, Dazzling Gleam, Moonblast, Bleakwind Storm, Blood Moon, Expanding Force, and more.
However in the other corner, you take neutral damage from P Blades, Heatwave, Heat Crash, Eruption, Flare Blitz, Sandsear Storm, Earthpower, High Horsepower, Headlong Rush, Mystical Fire, and resist Close Combat, Body Press, and Collison Course.
You lose a bunch of resistances but also lose important weaknesses and gain a fighting resistance. You do gain a Poison and Steel weakness but who really cares that much anyways when those attacking types are not so common. Most common case is Heavy Slam Zamazenta-C which with Sacred Sword you’ll win ignoring Teras (which case Zacian-H can Tera as well).
So it’s really team dependent and match-up dependent.

4. (random bullshit drops)
A lesser factor is the slight anti-RNG element of Clear Amulet vs Shadow Ball, Psychic, Bleakwind, Liquidation, Play Rough, etc.
Using Clear Amulet you don’t have to worry about randomly losing because of a small percent of a stat drop.
Oh and you can additionally avoid nichier options like Fake Tears or Leer you might find on some support Pokemon, which kind of is like Icy Wind but not really. So I mentioned them here.

Anyways that was my TedTalk about why you should consider using Clear Amulet Zacian, and I hope you have a great day.

Edit: Btw shout out to PokeBurm for featuring Clear Amulet Zacian on his video.

 

[Eliseokart11]

An issue for me is Wide Guard. Usually my teams have Caly-S or Terapagos as a restricted holding choice specs, and I find it hard to get around Pelipper or Mienshao spamming Wide Guard. Any good counter are loopholes? Maybe Taunt could work?

 

[wholesomeisland]

An issue for me is Wide Guard. Usually my teams have Caly-S or Terapagos as a restricted holding choice specs, and I find it hard to get around Pelipper or Mienshao spamming Wide Guard. Any good counter are loopholes? Maybe Taunt could work?

For mienshao you can consider air slash tornadus who also provides speed control with tailwind, or moonblast whimsicott

Pelipper you can use strong electric type attacks from mons like raging bolt

 

[GULLY]

An issue for me is Wide Guard. Usually my teams have Caly-S or Terapagos as a restricted holding choice specs, and I find it hard to get around Pelipper or Mienshao spamming Wide Guard. Any good counter are loopholes? Maybe Taunt could work?

Feint is good for stopping Protect and Wide Guard. U can also use Armarouge or Gallade and Imprison the Wide Guard lol

 

[ChrystalFalchion]

So, the Stockholm regionals have finished, here are the top 8 teams:

1. Michael Kelsch:
2. Joji Kaieda:
3. Marco Hemantha Kaludura Silva:
4. Matt Maynard:
5. Frederik Nielsen:
6. Nils Dunlop:
7. Donald Smith:
8. Lorenzo Allemanga:

A few interesting things about this

• Very even distribution with the restricteds, with Zamazenta, Terapagos, Miraidon and Ice Calyrex all having 2 placements each.
• Only 2 teams had Incineroar. So despite how good it is, clearly you can still build a perfectly good team without it.
• Only 1 Flutter Mane. I remember this thing being the most popular (and arguably best) mon in the format.
• Whimsicott outperformed Tornadus, both being more frequent and placing higher.
• REGIDRAGO! I love this thing, kudos to Nils for taking it to top 8. With Flutter seeing less use, I can see this thing being strong.
• Latios made 2 appearances, (even winning) a Pokemon which hasn't seen much use for a long time.
• Rock Ogerpon isn't just for Trick Room teams.
• Iron Hands makes 2 appearances. I remember a lot of people saying it was bad now that Incineroar was around. At a glance I'd say it was chosen as the Fake Out user over Incineroar since it resists Electric, letting Miraidon fire off its Discharges more easily (it can also actually use its ability now, ain't no one running Booster Energy on that thing).
• Not one appearance of Shadow Calyrex. It seems the bubble has burst. The Pokemon everyone was hyping as the best restricted, still has yet to make a top 8 appearance. I think the main issue with the Ghost Horse is that you can easily prep for it without trying. If you look at the top 8 teams, almost all of them have something that can at the very least soft check it. It's one of those Pokemon that on paper is an absolute monster, yet in practice just struggles to deliver.

 

[Mr.GX]

I do think will pop off sooner or later once people start underestimating it a bit. imo, the reason why it's not placing well is it's been over-prepped for. The current "standard" team has some flaws which can be exploited, and it's only a matter of time till a new standard is established which might end up dominating.

Call it a hunch if you want, but I do believe time hasn't yet started yet, and it certainly shouldn't be underestimated.

 

[LeonLeeds]

I do think will pop off sooner or later once people start underestimating it a bit. imo, the reason why it's not placing well is it's been over-prepped for. The current "standard" team has some flaws which can be exploited, and it's only a matter of time till a new standard is established which might end up dominating.

Call it a hunch if you want, but I do believe time hasn't yet started yet, and it certainly shouldn't be underestimated.

Specs w/ trick, expanding force on psy terrain, and np draining kiss with sash all seem hard to maneuver. You run into too many wide guards and incineroars. The way I believe this mon can break through is tera fighting tera blast. With life orb, you are guaranteed to ohko incin that's running the normal 252 HP 60-80 SpD, and astral barrage is so absurdly powerful against neutral targets you don't necessarily need the tera or choice specs boost. Also get super-effective coverage against the common zamazenta-c and Terapagos, as well as weaken common threats like Chi-yu, chien-pao, urshifu-s, and ursaluna-b. This set is especially lethal in close team sheet which is what I play the most on the ladder.

 

[Sappaling]

View attachment 620645
Welcome to the VGC 2024 Metagame Discussion thread for Regulation G! This metagame is currently not released however it will be up on May 1st through August 31st. Although this thread used to be for general restricteds discussion, this thread is now dedicated to Regulation G discussion ONLY. The ruleset of Regulation G legalizes All non-mythical Pokemon and is a 1 restricted format.

The following Pokemon are BANNED

Banned Pokemon

(BB)

NEW ABILITIES

New Abilities

Tera Shift: When the Pokémon enters a battle, it absorbs the energy around itself and transforms into its Terastal Form.
Tera Shell: The Pokémon's shell contains the powers of each type. All damage-dealing moves that hit the Pokémon when its HP is full will not be very effective.
Teraform Zero: When Terapagos changes into its Stellar Form, it uses its hidden powers to eliminate all effects of weather and terrain, reducing them to zero.

If you're new to VGC, be sure to check out the other posts in the forum and to join our Discord! You might also want to look into resources like VGCPastes, VGC Guide, VGC damage calculator to help you get started​

I think that shed tail choice scarf cylizar could potentially combo well with terapagos because it adds setup time and can potentially tank multiple hits because of Tera shell.