Scarlet & Violet — Competitive Reference

01At a glance

Gen 9 is the first mainline generation in years to ship without an alternative battle gimmick alongside its core mechanic.

Mega Evolutions, Z-Moves, and Dynamax are all absent. Terastallization is the only transformation, and every Pokémon in the regional dex has access to it.

02Terastallization

Once per battle, one Pokémon changes its type entirely. That single decision shapes every other choice on the team.

Terastallization activates each Pokémon's Tera Type — a property fixed for each Pokémon and modifiable in-game using Tera Shards. Activation is instantaneous, costs no turn, and persists for the rest of the match, including across switch-outs.

How activation works

• Cost — instantaneous, takes no turn.
• Persistence — active for the rest of the match, including across switch-outs.
• Limit — one Pokémon per team, once.
• Visibility — the Tera Type is announced and visible to the opponent for the rest of the battle.

What changes when you Terastallize

Defensive typing is fully replaced. Offensive STAB follows two distinct rules.

A TeraFairy Dragapult, for instance, gains 1.5× STAB on Moonblast (matches the new Tera Type) and retains a 2× boost on Shadow Ball(matches its original Ghost typing). This double-STAB rule is the principal source of Tera's offensive ceiling.

Standard Tera vs Stellar Tera

The Stellar Tera Type, unlocked through the Indigo Disk DLC, behaves on a different axis — sustained pressure rather than a single decisive flip.

The three strategic uses of Tera

The cost of activation

• Spending early — secures an early lead but exposes the win condition for the rest of the match.
• Saving for endgame — preserves flexibility but risks losing the Pokémon before it Terastallizes.
• The right moment — usually the turn the opponent's read commits them, when reversing the matchup converts directly to a kill.

Interactions with abilities and moves

03Type chart and Stellar

The 18-type chart is unchanged from Gen 6. Stellar is the only addition — and it lives outside the chart entirely.

• No defensive entries — a Stellar-Tera Pokémon retains its original-typing weaknesses and resistances.
• Offensive only — Stellar-type Tera Blast and any move converted by Stellar Tera receive the 1.2× per-type boost.
• Strategic role — a fourth Tera category alongside defensive, offensive, and win-condition uses, distinguished by sustained pressure.

04Battle mechanics baseline

Gen 9 inherits its core combat mechanics from Gen 8, with only minor adjustments. The values below apply identically across Smogon and VGC formats unless explicitly overridden.

Status conditions

Field effects

05Abilities introduced

Several Gen-9 abilities became defining elements of the metagame. The list below is restricted to those with measurable competitive impact.

06Items introduced

Several Gen-9 items reshaped what individual Pokémon could accomplish. Cosmetic and routine items are omitted.

Booster EnergySingle-use

Activates Protosynthesis or Quark Drive once when held, removing the need for Sun or Electric Terrain. Consumed on activation. Made every Paradox Pokémon a credible offensive threat on standalone teams.

Loaded DiceMulti-hit

Multi-hit moves (Bullet Seed, Rock Blast, Population Bomb, Triple Axel, Icicle Spear) always hit at least four times. Turned Maushold's Population Bomb into a 90-BP guaranteed-multi-hit attack and made Cetitan a credible Belly Drum sweeper.

Mirror HerbReactive boost

On stat-stage increase by an opponent or ally, copies the boost to the holder. Single use. A Calm Mind from Iron Valiant becomes a free Calm Mind for the Mirror Herb holder.

Punching GlovePunch boost

Boosts punching moves by 10% and removes their secondary effects, including contact — turning Iron Hands into a contact-immune wallbreaker that ignores Rocky Helmet and Static.

Clear AmuletStat protection

Prevents the holder's stats from being lowered by other Pokémon. The single most consequential item against Intimidate-stacking offensive cores.

Covert CloakSecondary blocker

Negates secondary effects of opposing moves (flinch from Iron Head, burn from Scald, Special Attack drop from Make It Rain). The first item to comprehensively address random-effect attrition.

Ability ShieldAbility protection

Prevents the holder's ability from being changed, suppressed, or copied. Negates Worry Seed, Skill Swap, Gastro Acid, Trace, and Mummy — niche but absolute when the matchup demands it.

07Signature moves introduced

The selection below reflects moves that had a measurable effect on the metagame either through power, mechanics, or broad distribution.

08Competitive formats

Gen 9 hosts the standard Smogon tier hierarchy and the official VGC rotation. Each format applies additional rules layered on top of the generation's base mechanics.

Smogon Singles & Doubles

VGC — Official rotation

09Defining bans

Gen 9 has produced one of the most active competitive banlists in the franchise's history, driven primarily by Terastallization amplifying threats that would otherwise have been manageable.

The table below covers the most consequential OU bans rather than the current banlist, which evolves and is best read directly from each format's tier page.

10Iconic Pokémon of the era

Curated by competitive impact rather than usage percentage. Several entries appear despite spending parts of the generation on the banlist.

Singles — Gen 9 OU

Kingambit

Late-game cleaner

Supreme Overlord — Black Glasses — Sucker Punch

The era's definitive late-game cleaner. Supreme Overlord scales offensive output with each fainted ally; the standard Sucker Punch / Iron Head / Kowtow Cleave / Swords Dance set closes games no other Pokémon can reach.

Great Tusk

Wallbreaker · Spinner

Protosynthesis — Booster Energy Speed

The format's archetypal physical wallbreaker and hazard remover. Booster Energy Speed sets outpace the unboosted ladder; Headlong Rush, Ice Spinner, Knock Off, and Rapid Spin compress hazard control, breaking, and momentum.

Iron Valiant

Mixed sweeper

Quark Drive — Booster Energy SpA / Spe

The most-suspect-tested Pokémon of the generation. Mixed offensive presence with Booster Energy, dual setup options (Calm Mind, Swords Dance), and a typing — Fairy/Fighting — with no resistances coming in.

Glimmora

Suicide lead

Toxic Debris — Stealth Rock — Mortal Spin

The premier suicide lead. Toxic Debris on a physical hit + Stealth Rock + Mortal Spin + Sludge Wave produces 1.5–2 layers of hazards plus a fast wallbreaker shell.

Gholdengo

Hazard pivot · Wallbreaker

Good as Gold — Make It Rain — Recover

Good as Gold restructured how teams approach hazard control. Make It Rain, Recover, Nasty Plot, and Trick versatility make it both a defensive cornerstone and a wallbreaker depending on the set.

Dragapult

Versatile pivot

Infiltrator — Choice Specs / Band / Dragon Dance

A versatile pivot. Choice Specs Tera Blast, Choice Band Tera Ghost, Dragon Dance setup, and Defog utility — each set comparable to a tier-defining role on its own.

Garganacl

Stallbreaker · Wincon

Purifying Salt — Salt Cure — Recover

The era's defining stallbreaker and stall component. Salt Cure's passive 1/8–1/4 chip damage cycles past most defensive answers, and the Iron Defense + Body Press set converts physical pressure into a wincon.

Ursaluna-Bloodmoon

Special wallbreaker

Mind's Eye — Blood Moon — Earth Power

A 113/65/64 bulky Special-Attacker with Blood Moon — a 140 BP one-shot-per-cycle attack — Earth Power, and Mind's Eye coverage. Slow and immortal in many matchups.

Iron Treads

Hazard control

Quark Drive — Booster Energy Speed — Rapid Spin

The principal non-Tusk hazard remover. Booster Energy Speed sets clear hazards on an offensive shell; widely paired with Glimmora to break the hazard mirror.

Ogerpon

VGC core (4 masks)

Embody Aspect — Ivy Cudgel — mask system

Across Doubles formats, all four masks were viable and each defined distinct VGC archetypes. Embody Aspect on Tera produces a built-in stat boost no other Pokémon line has access to.

VGC — by regulation

• Regulation G — defined by Calyrex-Shadow as the dominant Restricted slot, often paired with Urshifu, Incineroar, and a Tornadus-Therian Tailwind setter.
• Regulation H — without Restricted or Paradox Pokémon, surfaced bulkier compositions led by Archaludon, Pelipper rain, and Annihilape before its eventual suspect resolution.
• Regulation I — re-allowed Paradox Pokémon and re-established Iron Hands and Flutter Mane as core threats while keeping Restricted out.
• Regulation M-A — current Champions rotation; live archetype data lives on the Timeline and per-Pokémon pages.

11Where to go from here

The above is the static reference for Gen 9. The current state of any of its formats lives in the rest of Pokékipe.

• Live meta data — Pokémon stats for usage and matchups, Team Builder for assembling a team in any Gen 9 format, Timeline for tier shifts and tournament results.
• Terminology — every term used above is defined in the Competitive Glossary.
• Workflow — the VGC Teambuilding guide walks through the actual build process; the Core Mechanics guide covers the underlying systems (EVs, IVs, natures, speed tiers).
• Other generations — when the corresponding pages ship, they will be reachable from the Guides hub.