The Top Teams in Regulation F

Hello hat lovers!

We have decided to greatly exceed our quota by posting a second time in 2025. This is a brief guide on the top teams that have populated grassroots tours and the ladder, Showdown ladder of course because we do not have an in game ladder because Big Pikachu wasn’t feeling very festive, including notes about variations of these archetypes. Sample pastes are provided to practice with or against, as well as a very brief overview of how each team functions. In some cases, some players who placed highly at major tournaments with these archetypes have also released their pastes publicly, which will be provided when available. These teams are what I would consider to be the teams that you should be most familiar with when preparing for this format, at least at present.

A quick note on the sample pastes: a lot of these sets are recreations, either by me, taken from other publicly available teams, or from other players who have provided similar guides online. I wish I could credit every single person who contributed those spreads, but I placed them in a personal compendium, and the pastes from this post were taken from that compendium, with the original source often being lost in the process. Just know that if you have publicly provided guides that were well informed, I have probably seen it, and those ideas may have made their way into this post as well. Thank you all for the work that you do, truly! 🫡

The F in Regulation F Stands for Fake Out Fake Out Fake Out Parting Shot U-turn Protect Fake Out Fake Out Fake Out

Japan Balance (sample paste)

Stefano Greppi VR (sample paste)

These two teams are what have defined Reg F: Incineroar, Urshifu Rapid Strike, Rillaboom to form a Fire/Water/Grass core, standing with the Reg F boogeyman in Calm Mind Raging Bolt. Chien-Pao and Landorus-I as the last two is a team known as Japan Balance, once seen as the top threat in this format. This team, however, has declined in popularity lately as players have instead mostly preferred a version with Ogerpon Hearthflame over Chien-Pao, the version that won the first large grassroots tournament in Reg F 2.0. This team is boring, soulless, and is the VGC equivalent of unseasoned chicken, but might forever remain the biggest threat of this format.

Other Variations:
After the Fire/Water/Grass + Bolt core, any two of Landorus-I, Chien-Pao, Flutter Mane, Amoonguss, Ogerpon Hearthflame could realistically round them out to form a team, with Hearthflame sometimes outright replacing either Incineroar or Rillaboom.

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Rerererere ud ud ud ud ud (sample or actual paste from Justin Carris, I don’t remember)

One of the best balance killers in the format, this team uses two Pokemon with nuclear spread moves in Iron Crown and Regidrago that also utilizes Dragon + Steel coverage that matches up well versus a lot of common Pokemon, while being supported by two redirectors. It also has two speed control options in Tailwind and Trick Room to further enable the offensive pieces.

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Nils EUIC (sample paste)

This team won the highest level official tournament in Reg F 1.0 and has remained a popular choice in Reg F 2.0 thus far. Despite lacking spice, the team is undeniably strong overall, utilizing fast and strong offensive pieces in Flutter Mane and Choice Scarf Urshifu, a slow Trick Room mode with Ursaluna, and stable pieces in Incineroar, Amoonguss, and Porygon2.

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Tyo Snow (actual paste)

Articuno winning a regional might be the closest thing we’ve had to repeating a Pachirisu moment, as not only did one of the worst legendaries in history win a major event, it did so by ending a player’s absurd 16-0 run, and further supplanted this team as a legitimate threat rather than just cheap gimmick that caught lightning in a bottle. This is also an unbelievably frustrating team to play against with all the Blizzard Freezes and Snow Cloak dodges.

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Casino (sample paste)

Aptly named Casino because of its propensity to miss moves, this team is probably the most straightforward Tailwind offense team in the format, utilizing strong offensive Pokemon that also synergize well together, and Icy Wind that further pushes for speed advantages versus opposing fast teams.

Other Versions:
This team will also often run Bold Chi-Yu, so be prepared for it to survive attacks that you may not have expected. There are also older versions of the team that still see play that feature Assault Vest Entei over Chi-Yu.

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Ting-Lu Dozo (sample paste)

Ting-Lu and Dondozo as a duo have titanic defenses and aim to slowly wear down opponents with Ruination and Sand Tomb and by putting them to sleep with Yawn, and can pick and choose their match ups by trapping Pokemon with Sand Tomb. Beyond that, Gouging Fire supports the team by further weakening opponents with Breaking Swipe and can boost the team’s glut of physical attackers with Howl.

Other Variations:
The archetype has trended heavily recently towards using Loaded Dice Scale Shot Dragonite, but there are older versions with Choice Band that may still see play. This team will also sometimes drop Gholdengo for different Pokemon.

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Balan Tour Winner (sample paste)

Boring Reg F balance in a different font, this version utilizes double Fake Out and double redirection to support Dragon Dance Roaring Moon, thus far a relatively uncommon pick in this format. This team has not yet had sustained high usage outside of being a popular pick among high finishers at Perth in Reg F 1.0, but given that it won an International sized grassroots tournament recently, and the fact that its function is relatively straight forward, I would expect this team to become a staple in this format.

Other Variations:
Kiran Singh won Melbourne Regional in Reg F 1.0 with Raging Bolt over Iron Hands, and that version still holds up today, as he also recently finished top 8 in the Balan tour with the same six Pokemon.

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Wolfe Orlando/James Katsaros Perth (actual paste)

Check out Wolfe’s movie about this team and tournament run!

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Scott Vancouver (actual paste)

No introduction required, please check out Scott’s team report on this site!

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Giraffe Blood Moon (sample paste)

This team finished second at Charlotte, and despite being one of the first events of Reg F 1.0, it has remained popular all through early Reg F 2.0. Don’t be fooled by the three low base speed Pokemon and the fact that one of them carries Trick Room: this team is very offensive and likes to operate under Tailwind, with Trick Room often being used as a secondary option.

Other Variations:
2024 Dortmund Regional was won by a variation that had Flutter Mane, Incineroar, and Wellspring over Tornadus, Iron Hands, and Hearthflame. There were also variants that further diverged with Raging Bolt over Urshifu, though these two variants of the archetype have seen little to no play recently. On versions without Tornadus, expect Ursaluna to be slower and the team overall to lean heavier on Trick Room. Iron Hands will also commonly alternate between Assault Vest or Clear Amulet depending on the player.

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Brian Collins/Chef HTR (actual paste)

Check out Brian’s and Ben’s team report here!

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Gholdy Drago (sample paste)

This team was popular all the way back in Reg E and has seen an uptick in usage lately. It operates off of a lot of the same principles as the Iron Crown team, utilizing a strong Steel type to pick apart Fairies for Regidrago. Along with Casino, this is one of the most straightforward Tailwind offense teams that should be accounted for.

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Other Teams of Note

These teams range anywhere from new threats that haven’t yet fully established themselves (Dozo Weezing), low usage, cheesy threats that you should probably still prepare for (222 Dozo and Vanilla HTR), or once successful teams that should probably now be fully retired as recent metagame developments have been unkind to them (Gouging Fire + Kingambit).

Dozo Weezing (sample paste)