Thought Experiment: Hydreigon vs. Latios

Hey there Hat Lovers,

Today’s article is going to be a bit of commentary on metagame trends and reference to past formats. The history behind the comparison of these two Pokemon is rich. In both the 2012 and 2013 formats, Latios was the default choice for a strong, Specs-boosted Draco Meteor. However, in both seasons Hydreigon showed up later in the metagame, and by the World Championships seemed to be the favourite of the two. Why was that, and why is it that Hydreigon has started out so strong this year while Latios is so irrelevant? Does Latios have anything to offer to this metagame in place of Hydreigon? That will be the topic of the article today!

Thinking about Hydreigon

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T12 Pokemon on Battle Spot Doubles

Hello Hat Lovers!

Since VGC 2015 is essentially ORAS Battle Spot doubles we can start practising for the format so we’ll be ready for those early January Premiere Challenges. I’m going to give a rundown of the 12 most common Pokemon on the Battle Spot Doubles ladder including their moves, items and abilities.

The data for Battlespot usage comes from here: http://3ds.pokemon-gl.com/battle/oras/#double

Keep in mind that the top 12 is based off of what gets used the most and not what is the most successful. Data is subject to change as time goes on.

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VGC 2015 Rules Announced!

Hello Hat Lovers!

The rules for VGC 2015 have finally been announced. These rules will be put into place January 1st 2015. Here the rules regarding team construction:

  • VGC 2015 will be played on Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire versions. Players cannot use two Pokemon with the same Pokedex number. Players cannot have two of the same item on their team.
  • The following Pokemon are banned: Mewtwo, Mew, Lugia, Ho-Oh, Celebi, Kyogre, Groudon, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Manaphy, Phione, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie. Hoopa and Donut-Steam-Monster will be banned once Game Freak officially reveals them.
  • Soul Dew is banned.
  • Pokemon must have a blue pentagon on their status screen. This blue pentagon will indicate that the Pokemon was obtained in generation 6.

This is the same format I was expecting, and I’m glad we finally got it confirmed. Now we know exactly what we’re dealing with next year and people can stop making ridiculous claims about the format being Hoenn-Dex only or Primal Legendaries being legal. These rules are the same as the battle spot doubles ladder on ORAS, which means we will have an in-game ladder to play on throughout the whole year.

As you may have noticed, we’ve started Brigette’s PC 2015. This will contain sets for VGC 2015 Pokemon and we’ll be adding sets that we’ve used as well as those from tournament reports on Nugget Bridge.

Cheers,

~Umbreon out

VGC 2014 Retrospective

Hello Hat Lovers!

With ORAS coming out this week we’ll be saying goodbye to the VGC 2014 format as we knew it. Move tutors from ORAS will available for use in the current format, meaning we’ll have a slightly modified metagame for the rest of the year. On that note We’d like to take a look back on the 2014 format and reflect upon the last year.

History as Players:

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