By Joe Ugarte, contributing writer

Last year, Regulation Set H opened the VGC Championship Series season with a fresh metagame, featuring a group of Pokémon not commonly seen at the top of competitive Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet play. With the removal of Paradox Pokémon, commonly restricted Pokémon, and other Legendary Pokémon, many of VGC’s common powerhouses were absent, leaving lots of room for exploration. With a return to Regulation Set H at the start of this season, players now have the opportunity to revisit this unique format. Let’s take a look at what we can expect coming back into this set of regulations!

Steel is one of the most important types to include on a Regulation Set H team due to its outstanding defensive profile that lets it slot into many team compositions. Kingambit, Archaludon, or Gholdengo appears on a majority of Regulation Set H teams, each having useful properties that can serve as a strong foundation for their entire team.

Kingambit stands out as one of the most threatening setup Pokémon in Regulation Set H, using Swords Dance to skyrocket its Attack stat and exert pressure with its huge damage output. Many Trainers opt to stack the damage with Black Glasses or a Dread Plate plus a Dark Tera Type, allowing Kingambit to single-handedly decimate teams if given the opportunity to set up. Swords Dance Kingambit is typically used alongside Pokémon like Rillaboom, Electabuzz, and Sneasler, which provide valuable opportunities for Kingambit to set up. Safety Goggles are occasionally substituted for the offensive items, trading damage for immunity to the powder moves Spore and Sleep Powder. Assault Vest is the final common item used by Kingambit, elevating its natural bulk to new heights and allowing it to immediately attack rather than focus on its setup.

Archaludon mainly runs two items in Regulation Set H: Assault Vest and Power Herb. Assault Vest is a common item used by Archaludon on rain teams, which pair it with a rain setter like Pelipper so it can use Electro Shot, which immediately charges in the rain and boosts Archaludon’s Special Attack by 1 stage. It also has access to an incredible Ability, Stamina, which gives Archaludon a Defense boost when it is hit by attacks, powering up another staple move, Body Press. These Archaludon opt for Tera Types like Grass, Fighting, or Bug, allowing partners with multi-hit moves resisted by those types to target it safely, stacking Defense boosts immediately for minimal damage. This results in an incredibly strong Body Press, which uses the user’s Defense stat to calculate the damage. Federico Camporesi used this on his Regional winning team alongside Loaded Dice Bullet Seed Rillaboom to activate Stamina. Power Herb Archaludon can function independently of rain setters on some occasions, as it can attack with Electro Shot in one turn by consuming the Power Herb. Archaludon then uses Flash Cannon and Draco Meteor to tear through the opponent’s team in combination with a Stellar Terastallization. These Archaludon typically run Sturdy so they can survive any attack from full health, allowing them to train more in their Speed and Special Attack.

Gholdengo is an incredibly well-placed setup Pokémon in this format. It can run a range of items effectively but typically leans into its main setup move, Nasty Plot, so it can wipe entire boards in a single turn with its spread attack Make It Rain. Its natural typing also gives it an incredible defensive profile, pairing well with many staple Pokémon. Gholdengo is so effective at setting up due to its Ability, Good as Gold, which protects Gholdengo from any status move that targets it. This allows Gholdengo to avoid a lot of common counterplay to setup Pokémon, like Encore, Sleep Powder, Spore, and Taunt. Gholdengo can run many items with its setup set, including Life Orb, Leftovers, Grassy Seed (when paired with Rillaboom), and Metal Coat. Trainers sometimes opt to focus on maximizing the damage output of Gholdengo from the start by equipping it with Choice Specs in combination with a Steel Tera Type to power up Make It Rain.

Ursaluna and Bloodmoon Ursaluna have dominated the competition in Regulation Set H, both being crucial members on winning teams throughout its first run. Although they function differently, it’s undeniable they both provide incredible value to many competitive teams in the format.

Ursaluna utilizes one set, but it does its job well. Flame Orb activates its Guts Ability, which gives it a 1.5× boost to its Attack while ignoring the normal reduction in physical damage from the burn and protecting it from other status effects. Facade is one of its biggest assets, which does so much damage (thanks to the burn doubling its damage on top of the same-type attack bonus and Guts) that it essentially knocks out every Pokémon that doesn’t resist it in one hit. Ursaluna also has a useful Speed stat for this format that allows it to either run minimum Speed to maximize its value under Trick Room or train its Speed enough so that, under Tailwind, it can outpace even speedy Pokémon like Sneasler. This gives it a lot of options when featured on teams with both Trick Room and Tailwind.

Bloodmoon Ursaluna also threatens one-hit knock outs using its powerful signature move, Blood Moon. While the move cannot be used on consecutive turns, it boasts a massive 140 base power. Hyper Voice and Earth Power round out Bloodmoon Ursaluna’s arsenal, both contributing greatly to its offense. Its Mind’s Eye Ability allows its Normal- and Fighting-type moves to hit Ghost types, limiting viable switch-ins for Hyper Voice and Blood Moon. Bloodmoon Ursaluna can leverage more items than its counterpart. Life Orb and Focus Sash help maximize offensive potential, with Life Orb amplifying Bloodmoon Ursaluna’s damage output when combined with a Normal Tera Type, and Focus Sash simplifying board states by allowing Bloodmoon Ursaluna to play riskier.

Assault Vest Bloodmoon Ursaluna has also carved out a significant niche for itself, capitalizing on its bulk and high Special Attack to effectively receive and return damage. Assault Vest opens up another move slot for Bloodmoon Ursaluna, which is usually used on Vacuum Wave. This strategy typically features defensive Tera Types, like Electric, Water, and Ghost. Leftovers and Covert Cloak sets deserve an honorable mention, typically dropping Hyper Voice in exchange for Yawn.

Rillaboom and Incineroar are still in Regulation Set H, and they are better than ever, with both providing incredible defensive capabilities and useful options to allow teams to cycle Pokémon around more effectively.

Incineroar leans into its Ability Intimidate to reduce the damage of many physical attackers in the format, and this Ability pairs well with Parting Shot and Fake Out to keep an effective cycle going to disrupt the opposing team. Flare Blitz and Knock Off are Incineroar’s other common moves, giving it good damage output and removing critical items from other Pokémon. Incineroar can use many items—like Safety Goggles, Sitrus Berry, and Assault Vest—to increase its effectiveness at receiving certain attacks. Incineroar’s typing also makes it a great switch-in for many attacks in this format, particularly attacks from Gholdengo.

Rillaboom has similar pivoting and disruption applications to Incineroar, with Fake Out for disruption and U-turn to cycle out of battle. Rillaboom also leverages its Ability Grassy Surge to provide terrain control, giving it a different niche from Incineroar. Grassy Surge helps limit the effectiveness of Indeedee teams by canceling out Psychic Terrain, weakening Expanding Force, and removing protection from priority attacks. Rillaboom also likes to take advantage of its high Attack and decent Speed to throw out powerful Grassy Glide and Wood Hammer attacks, pairing with Grassy Terrain to do respectable damage.

Maushold and Annihilape have established themselves as a terrifying duo. Maushold uses Beat Up to power up Annihilape’s Rage Fist while providing passive damage reduction with its Ability, Friend Guard, which reduces the damage its partner takes when Maushold is on the field. Follow Me rounds out Maushold’s supportive options, making it incredibly difficult to land a direct hit on Annihilape. Maushold often runs Safety Goggles to protect itself from the likes of Amoonguss and Jumpluff but can also opt for a Focus Sash to survive any redirected hit once, like Close Combat from Sneasler. An Annihilape alongside a Maushold typically runs HP recovery items, like Sitrus Berry or Leftovers, to stick around longer after getting set up. This duo is a big threat to many teams, requiring well thought-out answers to avoid getting overwhelmed.

Dragonite and Sneasler have seen lots of play on many strong team compositions in Regulation Set H, naturally pairing well together due to a range of factors, including role compression, offensive coverage, and consistency. Because of their versatility, these two Pokémon often show up on what are called “balance teams,” which prioritize keeping their options open and having Pokémon that can perform several different roles without being too dependent on each other. Dragonite is one of the premier Dragon-type Pokémon in Regulation Set H. Its Ability Multiscale allows it to survive almost any hit from full health, meaning it can safely use Tailwind to support its team or use Scale Shot to tear apart opposing Pokémon while giving itself a Speed boost. Dragonite is often taught Haze to clear stat drops and ruin teams that rely on stat boosts. Sneasler pairs well with Dragonite because it can use Fake Out to buy free turns, use Coaching to give Dragonite Attack and Defense boosts, and attack with Dire Claw and Close Combat to neutralize the Fairy and Steel types that would otherwise safely switch into Scale Shot. Sneasler also runs Focus Sash, which means no matter how powerful a move is, it’s unlikely to knock out Dragonite and can’t knock out Sneasler without a second attack or other damage source to follow up, so one of them will typically get to attack.

Sun, rain, snow, and sandstorms have all been impactful in Regulation Set H, which is very rare, even in Regional Championships formats. Weather is one of the most impactful field conditions in any Pokémon battle, and Regulation Set H provides quite a large variety of weather setters and Pokémon that benefit from certain weather conditions.

Sun teams lean a lot on Jumpluff as the main Chlorophyll Pokémon, typically exploiting its fast Sleep Powder along with a versatile support kit that features moves like Rage Powder, Sunny Day, Encore, and Tailwind. Torkoal is the most popular sun setter by a huge margin, typically favoring an Eject Pack Overheat set to cycle out and allow stronger sun-based attackers, like Charizard and Hisuian Typhlosion, to enter battle. These teams also typically employ a strong Ground type to pair with Jumpluff, including the team used by LAIC Champion Marco Silva, which featured an Ursaluna that attacked with a powerful Earthquake while Jumpluff supported it.

Sandstorm teams were originally the most unexplored of the weather teams but have recently surged in popularity with the return of Regulation Set H. Tyranitar operates as the main weather setter for sandstorm teams, typically running an Assault Vest to increase its already high Special Defense to astounding levels, making it great as a switch-in against other weather teams. Sandstorm teams typically leverage Excadrill as the main attacker, as it’s able to exert lots of pressure with a Stellar Tera Type and the moves Iron Head, Earthquake, and High Horsepower. Earthquake at first sounds counterintuitive when paired with a Tyranitar ally, but with a simple Terastallization into Flying type, Tyranitar can now safely spam Rock Slide next to Excadrill’s Earthquakes to exert maximum pressure on the opponent’s switch-ins. Sandstorm is not the most used weather condition, but it is incredibly threatening nonetheless.

Rain is very strong as well, with two strong setters that can allow for unique builds in Regulation Set H. Pelipper and Politoed both bring unique qualities to the table. Pelipper offers more offensive utility and access to Tailwind for its partners, while Politoed leans more into a supportive kit with moves like Icy Wind, Perish Song, and Encore. Teams with Pelipper frequently utilize Basculegion, which exerts a lot of pressure using its powerful rain-boosted Wave Crash and Last Respects to sweep games at the end. The most successful Politoed rain team was used by Wolfe Glick to win the Toronto Regionals, focusing on combining Perish Song with Gothitelle on a team that also used a unique Swift Swim Pokémon: Life Orb Kingdra. Archaludon is a mainstay on every rain team, using the rain to benefit its signature move, Electro Shot.

Snow functions very differently than other weather conditions, with its only viable setter, Alolan Ninetales, using it more to override other weather than for the benefit of an offensive partner. This isn’t to say that Alolan Ninetales gleans no benefit from its snow, which allows Blizzard to hit with 100 percent accuracy and unlocks the use of Aurora Veil to reduce damage taken on its team’s side. If this wasn’t enough, Ice types receive a Defense boost in the snow, so Alolan Ninetales becomes surprisingly bulky, surviving hits it otherwise wouldn’t. With its unintrusive weather condition being conducive for consistent pivoting, Alolan Ninetales slots perfectly into balance teams.

Speed control is exceptionally important in Regulation Set H, with fast Tailwind Pokémon setting up offensive partners to immediately pressure opposing teams. Whimsicott and Talonflame by far perform this role the most consistently, using their increased priority Tailwind to immediately assist their partner in outspeeding opposing threats. As long as Talonflame is at full health, its Gale Wings Ability not only allows for an increased-priority Tailwind but also priority Flying-type attacks, like Brave Bird or Dual Wingbeat. Gale Wings compared to the more common priority-granting Ability Prankster has both a benefit and a drawback, since Talonflame loses its priority on Tailwind once it takes damage. Talonflame also has access to Will-O-Wisp, which is incredibly useful for reducing the effectiveness of physical attackers. Whimsicott is the other Tailwind Pokémon of choice, since Prankster also lets Whimsicott use any other status move with increased priority. Encore, Taunt, and Fake Tears all provide unique utility, enabling Whimsicott to focus on disrupting the opponent’s turns or increasing partner Pokémon damage output instead of using its own attacks.

There were 12 live events using Regulation Set H held globally in the 2025 season, with one being international (LAIC, held in November). Here is a short summary of the teams that won each tournament with a short breakdown on each team and the contributions it made toward the meta, in chronological order.

Champion: Nicholas Morales (Team)

This team focused on exploiting Archaludon’s Stamina Ability by having Maushold target Archaludon with Population Bomb to give Archaludon a stronger Body Press. The significance this win had was showing how strong Archaludon rain teams could be and opening up exploration into targeting your own Pokémon with multistrike moves to proc Stamina.

Champion: Davide Miraglia (Team)

Though a little dated by current Regulation Set H meta standards, this team gave Gholdengo its first big win in Regulation Set H. Partnering Gholdengo with a partner using Follow Me ensured Gholdengo got effective setup turns. This team served as an early stepping stone to later developments for Tailwind teams.

Champion: Gabriel Agati (Team)

This team established the strength and flexibility of Alolan Ninetales on balance teams, utilizing a unique Choice Specs set that encouraged other competitors to reevaluate Alolan Ninetales and consider dropping the frequently used Aurora Veil in favor of other support moves, like Encore, or focusing fully on offense with items like Life Orb.

Champion: Andrew Zheng (Team)

This team was one of the first iterations of the popular “Ground type + Porygon2 + Incineroar + Amoonguss” compositions, paving the way for future adaptations and giving Sneasler its first major win after it increased in use throughout the first few tournaments.

Champion: Nils Dunlop (Team)

The pairing of Excadrill and Tyranitar wasn’t explored as much before this win, which showcased that rain and sun teams weren’t the only weather-focused teams that could perform well. This unique take on the meta encouraged others to explore this archetype more going forward.

Champion: Federico Camporesi (Team)

Continuing the development and exploration of the rain archetype, this team utilized a unique Loaded Dice Rillaboom with Bullet Seed to activate Stamina on Archaludon. This was also Swords Dance Kingambit’s first big win, showing it has what it takes to go all the way.

Champion: Marco Silva (Team)

This team established that weather was indeed a powerful asset to many teams and utilized the powerful pairing of Porygon2 and Ursaluna alongside offensive use of sunny weather to have lots of options for approaching games and exerting team-preview pressure. This team and the other finalist team explored faster Ursaluna under Tailwind, which became an important meta trend going forward.

Champion: Carson Confer (Team)

This team’s particular utilization of a male Indeedee (known as “psyspam” among many players, although the term may have other definitions) was an incredibly powerful archetype that only got better as the meta developed. This win established the strategy’s ability to compete and resulted in further exploration and development of Sneasler and male Indeedee on many highly performing Regional Championships teams.

Champion: Eden Batchelor (Team)

This team continued the development of balance teams in Regulation Set H, showing how strong Assault Vest Bloodmoon Ursaluna and this new take on a balance team could be. This win led to the development of more teams focused on a core of Dragonite, Bloodmoon Ursaluna, and Gholdengo (DUG), a combination that is still popular to this day.

Champion: Oliver Ramsay

As the first and only instance of the same team composition taking back-to-back Championships, this team’s win solidified the consistency and strength of the new DUG core, resulting in lots of meta development around efficiently dealing with this kind of team going forward.

Champion: Wolfe Glick

This unique take on a rain team was a bit of an anomaly, showing that underused rain Pokémon, such as Politoed and Kingdra, had real merit in Regulation Set H. This team was centered around Gothitelle, using it as the main method to win weather control over other weather teams and keep Pokémon trapped within Politoed’s Perish Song.

Regulation Set H has shown time and time again that many strategies and archetypes have merit and can perform well in any given tournament. This is a format that isn’t overly centralized, meaning that although there are certain Pokémon and sets that are used consistently throughout tournaments, many ideas can win.

Keep an eye out for new or interesting ways established Pokémon can be reworked, as even today, people are experimenting with unique sets, defying what is considered the norm for certain Pokémon. This November’s LAIC will surely be an entertaining celebration of one of Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet’s most engaging formats!

For more Pokémon VGC strategy and analysis, visit Pokemon.com/Strategy.