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Pokemon VGC 2018 Ruleset announced

N

Not75Drops

Member
https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/a-new-video-game-championships-format-for-2018/

Goes into effect on 1 January 2018. We won't have a detailed list of rules until December, but here are the main points.

• All battles will be Double Battles played in Pokémon Ultra Sun and Pokémon Ultra Moon

• All Pokémon in the National Pokédex are allowed, with the following restrictions:
- Pokémon must have the Alola symbol showing they were caught in the Alola region
- Mythical Pokémon, some Legendary Pokémon, and Ash-Greninja are not allowed

• Duplicate Pokémon are not allowed

• All items are allowed, but duplicate items are not allowed

• All Pokémon are set to Lv. 50, including Pokémon below Lv. 50

• Player time is 5 minutes
Click to expand...

The biggest change from this year is that the number of Pokemon allowed has been greatly expanded due to the re-introduction of the National Dex. The second biggest seems to be that Mega Evolutions are allowed again, after being banned this year.

"Some Legendary Pokemon" most likely refers to cover legendaries that are banned every year unless specified, and some other legendaries will be ineligible just based off the fact that they can't be caught/bred in Alola. We'll have to see what US/UM contains.

Current Banlist: Mewtwo, Mew, Ho-oh, Lugia, Celebi, Groudon, Kyogre, Rayquaza, Jirachi, Deoxys, Dialga, Palkia, Giratina, Phione, Manaphy, Darkrai, Shaymin, Arceus, Victini, Reshiram, Zekrom, Kyurem, Keldeo, Meloetta, Genesect, Xerneas, Yveltal, Zygarde, Diancie, Hoopa, Volcanion, Cosmog, Cosmoem, Solgaleo, Lunala, Necrozma, Marshadow, Ash-Greninja.
 
S

Serpens007

Member
The big question is if they are going to allow Megas or not. I think not, and the following year will be Megas allowed.


National Dex means I'll try to use Feraligatr like in BSD!
 
N

Not75Drops

Member
Serpens007 said:
The big question is if they are going to allow Megas or not. I think not, and the following year will be Megas allowed.


National Dex means I'll try to use Feraligatr like in BSD!
Click to expand...
Back when they revealed the preliminary ruleset for 2017 last year, they specifically mentioned that megas were not allowed. The fact that it isn't mentioned here means that they likely will be legible. Notice that it also says that all items are allowed.

Next year will likely be the last Gen 7 circuit, so they'll probably allow the cover legendaries in for that.
 
A

Atheerios

Member
Serpens007 said:
The big question is if they are going to allow Megas or not. I think not, and the following year will be Megas allowed.


National Dex means I'll try to use Feraligatr like in BSD!
Click to expand...

This time megas are allowed.


Remember that only Pokémon that are catcheable in SM/USUM will be allowed.
 
T

Toxi

Banned
Landorus, Cresselia, and Heatran aren't catchable in Alola. Thank God.

On the other hand, get ready for Tapu domination.
 
C

Carl7

Member
Awesome. The best thing about Sun and Moon is how creative a player can be when team building, but, for a very questionable reason, they decided to limit it to 1/3 of the of the roster in VGC 2017.
 
N

Not75Drops

Member
Carl7 said:
Awesome. The best thing about Sun and Moon is how creative a player can be when team building, but, for a very questionable reason, they decided to limit it to 1/3 of the of the roster in VGC 2017.
Click to expand...
They've been doing it since Gen V. The first year after a new generation releases, they stick to that game's dex.

It's a bit of a double-edged sword. One one hand, it prevents people from using the previous standard threats and it feels more fresh. On the other hand, less Pokemon to work with means that the new threats will be extremely common.
 
C

CelestialWolfZX

Member
Megas huh, looking over the ones currently allowed I'd say Mega Salamence would be the one to dominate all (And probably replace Arcanine as well)... but lets see what USUM adds first. Maybe they can add an Ultra Beast that counters Mega's. Ahaha... you can tell I don't like Mega's a lot.

The other question is how many other legendaries are going to be added in Ultra Sun and Moon, because I have a feeling that game might open the floodgates like Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire did.
 
B

backlot

Member
The Shadow Knight said:
It is confirmed to have Beast Boost, just like every other UB.
Click to expand...

Maybe they'll give Ultra Beasts Hidden Abilities this time. I do really like the idea of a terrain nullifier though. Having to use one of four Fairy type Pokemon if you want to block a specific terrain is pretty stifling for team building.

CelestialWolfZX said:
Megas huh, looking over the ones currently allowed I'd say Mega Salamence would be the one to dominate all (And probably replace Arcanine as well)... but lets see what USUM adds first. Maybe they can add an Ultra Beast that counters Mega's. Ahaha... you can tell I don't like Mega's a lot.

The other question is how many other legendaries are going to be added in Ultra Sun and Moon, because I have a feeling that game might open the floodgates like Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire did.
Click to expand...

Battlespot Doubles has a pretty similar ruleset and its top 30 listed Pokemon includes Kangaskhan, Charizard, Salamence, Metagross, Swampert, Gengar, Mawile and Gardevoir for Megas. Tyranitar and Garchomp are there too but people don't Mega them very often. It would be nice if we got some new ones but at least it seems like Swampert is more usable this gen.
 
T

The Shadow Knight

Member
backlot said:
Maybe they'll give Ultra Beasts Hidden Abilities this time. I do really like the idea of a terrain nullifier though. Having to use one of four Fairy type Pokemon if you want to block a specific terrain is pretty stifling for team building.
Click to expand...

It would be really nice if they'd give the Ultra Beast more diverse abilities by giving them hidden abilities.

Gengar too please.

I wonder if Game Freak will address the dominance of the Tapus in VGC through natural in-game additions. I'd imagine most designs for USUM were already complete by the time VGC settled into its meta.
 
B

backlot

Member
The Shadow Knight said:
It would be really nice if they'd give the Ultra Beast more diverse abilities by giving them hidden abilities.

Gengar too please.

I wonder if Game Freak will address the dominance of the Tapus in VGC through natural in-game additions. I'd imagine most designs for USUM were already complete by the time VGC settled into its meta.
Click to expand...

Gengar should definitely get a Hidden Ability now that it doesn't have Levitate anymore.

Tapus/Terrain has been dominant in Sun/Moon since day one. They've had time to consider balance changes to them if that's even something they want to do. I could see them just saying "this is the terrain generation" and then just nerfing it in gen 8.
 
N

Not75Drops

Member
The Shadow Knight said:
It would be really nice if they'd give the Ultra Beast more diverse abilities by giving them hidden abilities.

Gengar too please.

I wonder if Game Freak will address the dominance of the Tapus in VGC through natural in-game additions. I'd imagine most designs for USUM were already complete by the time VGC settled into its meta.
Click to expand...
It probably won't be addressed until Gen 8. Masuda commented on how over-centralizing Mega Kangaskhan was during Gen 6 and it was sorted out in Gen 7. Same thing happened to weather wars. Though I don't think the Tapus are on that level in terms of power.

As you said, USUM have likely been in development for a while now. I recall that ORAS began development a year before XY were released. There usually aren't huge changes within the same generation.

I don't know how much it's used, but I can see the Terrain Extender being unobtainable in Gen 8.
 
A

ash_ag

Member
So, that likely means National Dex is going to be in USUM. I wonder if they are going to involve Ultra Space to make old Legendaries obtainable. Seems like a good substitute for Hoopa's rings feature in ORAS.
 
S

Serpens007

Member
Not75Drops said:
Back when they revealed the preliminary ruleset for 2017 last year, they specifically mentioned that megas were not allowed. The fact that it isn't mentioned here means that they likely will be legible. Notice that it also says that all items are allowed.

Next year will likely be the last Gen 7 circuit, so they'll probably allow the cover legendaries in for that.
Click to expand...

Shit, you're right. Well, back to the drwaing board then. I'll try to use Feraligatr anyway lol

Not75Drops said:
It probably won't be addressed until Gen 8. Masuda commented on how over-centralizing Mega Kangaskhan was during Gen 6 and it was sorted out in Gen 7. Same thing happened to weather wars. Though I don't think the Tapus are on that level in terms of power.

As you said, USUM have likely been in development for a while now. I recall that ORAS began development a year before XY were released. There usually aren't huge changes within the same generation.

I don't know how much it's used, but I can see the Terrain Extender being unobtainable in Gen 8.
Click to expand...

Terrain Extender was an Item no one used. It isn't that useful when most people has at least one Tapu to swap terrain, and having far better options like Life Orb for Koko, Specs for Fini/Lele, etc.

This year will be quite fun to see the Tapus meta mixed with the past meta. Gen 6 didn't add this kind of Pokemon for VGC 15 so it was centralizing, but I can see a good chunk of pokemon getting use even with megas
 
Z

Zelias

Banned
Difficult to make predictions for this year until we know what USUM will make legal, like for example the Genies of Healthy Meta.
 
F

Firestorm

Member
CelestialWolfZX said:
Megas huh, looking over the ones currently allowed I'd say Mega Salamence would be the one to dominate all (And probably replace Arcanine as well)... but lets see what USUM adds first. Maybe they can add an Ultra Beast that counters Mega's. Ahaha... you can tell I don't like Mega's a lot.

The other question is how many other legendaries are going to be added in Ultra Sun and Moon, because I have a feeling that game might open the floodgates like Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire did.
Click to expand...
Keep in mind that what move tutors are available also matter. If Hyper Voice doesn't come back it'll help a lot with keeping Salamence and Gardevoir under control.
 
S

Serpens007

Member
Well, thinking about it, Thundurus isn't going to be as good. Psychic Terrain for priority, Misty Terrain for status, doesn't benefit from Electric Terrain, etc. Landorus is still going to be a threat, but there are plenty of faster Pokemon with access to Ice moves and whatnot. Tornadus with a seed and acrobatics might be a threat, but not as strong as Flying Gem T. We'll have to see.
 
D

Dr. Black Jack

Member
So they're opening it up to National Dex but only allowing the plus symbol? Wasn't the point of symbols/Pokemon Bank so that you wouldn't have to reraise the same damn Pokemon every generation? Ugh. Like, I get that it shakes things up but it's so antithetical to what Pokemon is supposed to be about.
 
B

backlot

Member
Dr. Black Jack said:
So they're opening it up to National Dex but only allowing the plus symbol? Wasn't the point of symbols/Pokemon Bank so that you wouldn't have to reraise the same damn Pokemon every generation? Ugh. Like, I get that it shakes things up but it's so antithetical to what Pokemon is supposed to be about.
Click to expand...

The point of the symbols was to force exclude older gen Pokemon from rated matches and tournaments. I wasn't expecting them to just hit the reset button again this generation with a new symbol but I guess it makes sense when you consider that one of Mega Kangashan's balance changes (removing its ability to learn Power Up Punch) only works if you exclude pentagon Pokemon.
 
S

Smasher89

Member
They always push the reset button for new generations, making exclusive moves for the prior generation illegal, and then by the end of the generation release stuff at a solid pace and the regular move tutors. Key moves like icy wind and helping hand changes a lot of stuff in the meta!


But maybe, this time Surf pikachu can be legal for VGC if obtainable in ultra!
 
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