How Game Freak Broke Starter Pokemon

Starter Pokemon used to be pretty bad competitively, but over the years Game Freak has transformed them into major threats. This is how Game Freak broke Starter Pokemon.
Thumbnail art by Sergi Romero: / sergiromero
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[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

Happy JPR Friday! Hope your weekend is off to a great start 🎉 Also made a minor oopsie when discussing the Gmax forms, meant to say that Blastoise and Venusaur won the Junior & Senior divisions, not Junior & Masters, my b 😅

[@drunkenpumpkins7401]

And you showed H-Samurott with Sharpness isntead of regular Samurrot with Shell Armor at 4:17

[@TheShadow1347]

Meganium is probably the worst starter Pokemon ever

[@gengstar09]

WHERE IS YOUR INTRO

[@rockowlgamer631]

The best thing they could do to make Meganium more viable is to change it completely. Give it possibly the Fairy typing. move some of that attack stat into it's special attack stat Give it the ability Triage Give it Draining Kiss, Pollen Puff, and other healing moves Boom, now it's a healer in doubles and in singles, it's harder to beat.

[@HowManySmall]

​@@rockowlgamer631here's hoping ZA makes meganium a starter 🙏

[@Luvluvangel]

I’ll never forget how much potential decidueye had as a sniper archer BUT THEN GOT THE MOST MID STAT DISTRIBUTION IMAGINABLE. They done my boy dirty

[@Grand-Master_Owl]

I feel your pain bro 😔

[@ShayTheValiant]

That's why I chose Hisuian Samurott for my team in Legends Arceus. I saw Hisuian Decidueye's stats and said "no thanks". It was also because I already planned to use Sneasler. I didn't choose Hisuian Typhlosion either because I already planned on using Hisuian Zoroark.

[@Endershock1678]

And ability

[@Glory2Snowstar]

They also made “Decidueye but better” with Dhelmise in the exact same Gen RIP

[@ShayTheValiant]

@@Glory2Snowstar I absolutely would have used Dhelmise on my team in Sun and Moon if it wasn't found so late in the game.

[@Shadow-Joop-157]

The fact that Game freak put an Incineroar in Kieran's team shows that they know they created a monster

[@bdt2002gaming]

Conspiracy theory: Giving Kieran Incineroar to show the buffs off to the single player audience may explain why it’s taken so long for this thing to get nerfed. It’s all in the name of Incineroar and comments like these doing free marketing for them.

[@maxstrike3022]

Meganium should get Regenerator. If it's gonna be a punching bag, it might as well make the opponent suffer to earn that KO.

[@theking8347]

Too much competition in the Regenerator game. Give it Triage

[@Endershock1678]

@@theking8347 Regenerator is more clean of a buff. For triage to work, you would need to give it partial fairy typing and a bunch of fairy moves, which isn’t a particularly realistic buff unless it gets a regional or mega form

[@skeetermania3202]

@@Endershock1678Triage would be the more flavourful and unique buff, so I prefer that.

[@goGothitaLOL]

@@theking8347between Tangrowth, Amoonguss, and Hydrapple, that’s stiff competition for a grass-type regenerator

[@theking8347]

@@Endershock1678 Giga Drain and Synthesis get priority from Triage Strength Sap too if they gave it that

[@Niall_Sene]

Game Freak's intentions with Meganium need to be studied 💀

[@gummybearking1249]

Nothing to study game freak hates grass type just compare its weaknesses to the other starter types.

[@lunitaaditya3376]

@@gummybearking1249 you say that when rillaboom exist

[@heyarnold2006]

​@@gummybearking1249 Not ALL of them. After all, Meowscarada has the most broken move in the entire game with Flower Trick.

[@marcorodriguez8792]

To be fair, we need bad starter pokémon. Not all pokémon can be great

[@squares4u]

Meganium is in PRIME condition for a mega evolution or new form for a Legends game. I feel like it’ll happen, I’m manifesting it 🔮

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

the thumbnail reminds me of Casey's Chikorita vs Ash's Charizard from the Johto anime

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

That was actually the concept behind it lol, I thought it portrayed my idea pretty well lol

[@EF01]

Poor Meganium :(

[@funtimepichustudios]

@@JPRPokeTrainer98I agree with your thumbnail. It was incredibly accurate.

[@sobbleco6248]

The sad thing is that Inteleon has the stats of a good singles Pokémon, but definitely got robbed in the ability apartment.

[@defeatstatistics7413]

shoulda had infiltrator

[@mectainea5575]

I think the worst part about it getting sniper is that its a special attacker yet almost every move in existence that has a higher crit ratio or guaranteed crits are physical moves. There’s almost nothing in the special department aside from its own signature move, frost breath (which it doesn’t learn) air cutter (also doesn’t learn), aeroblast (aka Lugia’s signature move) and 10,000,000 volt thunderbolt a z move exclusive to pikachu (which is mediocre as heck on pikachu because no light ball) . Even if snipers a good ability, Intellion would never be able to utilise it properly

[@Toast0nyx]

​@@mectainea5575ironically, it's also the only pokemon intended to be a "sniper". But as you mentioned there's nearly no physical moves with heightened crit chance. So the sniper ability is poorly named since the best usage of the ability is pairing it with mostly contact moves.

[@avch1209]

Inteleon should have had a unique ability that makes all his water-type moves always critical or never miss.

[@bluekirby_64]

Who at Gamefreak had the brilliant idea of giving Sniper to a special attacker when most high-crit moves are physical?

[@head-clanka69]

He’s a sniper, it makes perfect sense

[@rolandodr98]

To be fair, it's design is like a sniper, especially the GMax Form, but that is GameFreak prioritizing the wrong stat.

[@julianh.5372]

No. They should have said its a "sniper" which means it's an accurate shooter (being more creative), thus said lets reskin/just use compund eyes. Why? No i can spam hydro pump, blizzard, etc. With base 125 spatt no other mon can just run specs and attack like that. ​@@rolandodr98

[@adrianstyranitar717]

All intelon really needed was a secondary type like just extra stab would be good enough to survive in a lower metagame.

[@dude6074]

Tbf they gave it a signature move that has a high crit chance

[@Slimeonian]

2:48 just wanna say, Venusaur’s Base Speed stat is indeed 80, and doubling that IS 160. However, Chlorophyll doesn’t double the BASE speed of a Pokemon, it doubles the actual speed stat. For example, a Venusaur at level 100 with max speed investment will have a speed stat of 284. With Chlorophyll, that number gets doubled to 568. Which means its speed is basically equivalent to Base 209

[@derekfoxwit3058]

flower frog goes brrrrr

[@spyroclone152]

I am still beyond salty on how terrible GF treated both Delphox and Chesnaught while trying to make Greninja Charizard 2.0. I don't think there's ever been a generation where GF blatantly synthesized a favorite as much as they did with generation 6's trio. From stats, movepool, broken abilities, a pseudo mega form, anime screen time, to even animations in game, Greninja was just handed it all. Meanwhile, Delphox's signature move was delegated to being an apology letter coverage option for removing HP Fire, it's in game animations were truly a travesty that made it stiff as a board, and also got a hidden ability that might as well be a joke. Chesnaught over here got a severe allergy to flying types in a gen dominated by Talonflame, and also was the one starter to possibly receive the least amount of screen time in the anime (Chesnaught specifically). Listen, I do not hate Greninja, he's objectively cool and I did use him quite a bit. But I can only really see Gren as the starter that GF MADE from the ground up to be the favorite, rather than trying their hand to balance the other two starters accordingly to be just as loved. I can't be too harsh on the frog, it got nerfed pretty badly in gen 9, whilst also being just straight surpassed somewhat by both Cinderace and Meowscarada. But either way, I really think GF shifted their paradigm in starter mechanical design after they kind of blundered gen 6's trio. I've noticed that they really do want to try and emphasize a uniqueness to each starter to be a valuable member that can be used beyond the game credits ... some more than others (Incineroar). I do genuinely think Gen 9 has one of the best starter trios that we've gotten in a long time, in terms of mechanical power & balance. Here's hoping they can keep this trend going with Gen 10, and future regional starter variants moving forward.

[@robertlupa8273]

Braixen ended up being more popular than Delphox iirv

[@Henkita2]

they tried to do the same thing in gen 7, they just forgot to make incineroar an actually cool design lmaooooo

[@spyroclone152]

@Henkita2 This happens in every gen. GF tries to push extra promotion on a single starter in some way, whether it be anime screen time or just a slight edge in combat. However, Gen 6 was the most egregious example where there was such a significant gap of power, promotion, and intentional favoritism for one starter that this trio might as well be deemed the Greninja show with 2 cardboard stand-ins feat. The Kanto gang. I usually don't mind when there's a promoted favorite of the three, but this is one of the few times where I felt GF truly synthesized the hype by giving one starter everything and the other two practically nothing to make their golden child look even better. They put so many eggs into Greninja's basket that they didn't even give baskets to Delphox or Chesnaught.

[@Henkita2]

@@spyroclone152 i didn't see them doing it much in gen 8 and 9 Yeah they pusher cinderace and meowscarada a bit but nowhere near even incin levels Gen 5, gen 2 and hisui also had no clear favoritism and gen 4 had a bit towards infernape in the anime but most of favoritism was towards lucario Gen 3 was split between sceptile and blaziken (yet mudkip is the most popular one lmao) So really it's just gen 1 and gen 6 that were very clear about favoritism, with gen 7 that tried really hard but incin is not cool enough for it

[@onebear6504]

Preach!!!!

[@kirbydedede2494]

What bothered me to no end, the Gen VI starters do not get mega evolutions while the Kanto and Hoenn starters do. Greninja does get a pseudo-mega-ish to coincide with the anime. But nothing for Chesnaught and Delphox.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

exactly why Gen 6 is so disappointing, the Gym Leaders and Elite Four also don't use the main gimmick ie. Mega Evolution lmao

[@Aozame]

No Kalos Pokemon except Diancie got a mega evolution. It's real dumb.

[@zlectricute1906]

5:45 Since Gen 5, all of the Unova starters had a signature move. Samurott had Razor Shell, Emboar and Heat Crash, and Serperior had Leaf Tornado

[@kailesperance1922]

I don’t think Leaf Storm was Serperior’s signature move, the move was introduced in Gen 4 and was learnable by a fair amount of pokemon.

[@500shades6]

​@@kailesperance1922Leaf Tornado, not leaf storm

[@olafmikoaj3121]

Only Heat crash. Other 2 were learned by more pokemon

[@Celestia282]

​@@olafmikoaj3121They weren't true signature moves; you're right. However, the only mons to get them were older ones that weren't obtainable in the main story. So, they were sort of signature moves.

[@theamazingspooderman2697]

Leaf Blade, Blaze Kick and Muddy Water in Gen 3?

[@blitz0590]

To this day, I can’t believe they gave Meganium Leaf Guard. Why couldn’t they give it something useful? Maybe we’ll get a regional or mega in Pokémon Z-A.

[@kailesperance1922]

They should have given it Thick Fat.

[@shadycactus7896]

@@kailesperance1922Too similar to Venusaur

[@xuansangdotrinh1055]

​Good one actually! No sandstorm dmg, no poison dmg, no stealth rock dmg, no recoil dmg.

[@chadnorris8257]

Regenrator could make sense. Let it heal on switch out, to help it tank better.

[@F14thunderhawk]

Serperior and Chesnaut are the ones benefitting from ZA not Meganium. Meganium will suck forever especially since Tropius takes the same design premise and does it infinitely better.

[@Degenerate6987]

3:23 the Blaziken's name being censored is concerning

[@kitsterling8665]

It's because it's name was... well, to put it in a KZbin friendly way: "self unaliving".

[@Wesker1984]

​@@kitsterling8665I have no reservations using the proper terminology, as in suicide.

[@kitsterling8665]

@@Wesker1984 Fair. Generally I prefer to call things as they are too, but you never know what stupid thing will get you banned.

[@robertlupa8273]

@@kitsterling8665 yeah, same. I've had several of my comments removed for reasons unknown, so I'd rather be cautious.

[@shatteredsentient5321]

​@@kitsterling8665BANZAAAAIIIII

[@MisterLitera1]

I really hope meganium gets a mega/regional form someday, IT NEEDS SOMETHING

[@JPRPokeTrainer98]

Let’s hope 🙏

[@sandy_nes31]

In my fanmade region, i'm thinking of maybe creating an Grass/Fairy Meganium, Water/Ice Feraligatr and maybe a Fire/Ground Typhlosion I'm still making ideas, but the Johto starters need some treatment

[@king_of_rats_Monfernep]

Not solar power, that's right.

[@lucygirl1111]

@@sandy_nes31 grass/fairy could be good but it would allso make it quad weak to poison

[@Endershock1678]

@@lucygirl1111 Yeah, but it’s poison type. Not the worst type to be weak to.

[@crawdaddy1234]

Gen 1 Starters: YEAH! We got mega evolutions and G-Max forms! We’re good again! Incineroar: 😛

[@HokutoShinkento]

only the pokemon poser "fandom" would think a very good support is broken when all it does is stop the traditionally high attack busted brokenmons that every other comp game suffers with

[@crawdaddy1234]

@@HokutoShinkento Your comment isn’t condescending at all. I’m very thankful that you provided this insightful response. Clearly you are wise and kind and benevolent and desire only to help the community grow and flourish. No one could ever accuse you of being insufferable, elitist, conceited, or a d****e monkey. Clearly you have the biggest pen15 in the world and have no insecurities at all.

[@jwanie366]

I thought Incineroar's dominance would only last for its own generation. Boy, was I wrong. As long as Game Freak keeps coding it into future games, it's never gonna go away!

[@Endershock1678]

People thought Incineroar fell off in the first Regulation F tournament where it lost, and then it proceeded to win EVERY SINGLE TOURNAMENT after that point.

[@vanquish1333]

@@Endershock1678every time people thought something fell off this gen, it’s come back like 2 weeks later 😭😭😭 Dozo, Amoonguss when Rilla got GG again, Urshi-Rapid, and Caly-shadow just to name a few

[@HokutoShinkento]

Because you cant make a good support "fall off".. because only pokemon "fan" kids think that would be considered broken in the first place. In every other comp game a brokenmon is the high attacker unbalanced ones but cringey kids here are so petty and annoying they think a support that checks said issues is the broken one solely because theyre too peanut brained to deal with it themselves

[@what.are.you.doing.stepbro]

​@@HokutoShinkento frr. Incineroar is good to have cause it checks some broken pokemon

[@MaykonDourado]

"Why are we still here, just to suffer" -me a Meganium fan

[@nicolasromani3523]

Maybe all starters could get a stat buff so they sit at 550? It'd be a small change that could be just enough to buy them a niche.

[@hie4771]

objectively right totals for starters gen 1 - 500 gen 2 - 450 gen 3 - 500 gen 4 - 535 gen 5 - 720 gen 6 - 500 gen 7 - 525 gen 8 - 530 gen 9 - 530

[@rhysgrealish5227]

In Inclement Emerald, they changed Meganium's hidden ability to Triage which gives priority to healing moves like Giga Drain. They also made it Grass/Fairy and gave it access to Draining Kiss. Not sure if any of this would be enough to make Meganium workable competitively, but at least it's something. That and they gave Delphox Magic Guard to ignore Stealth Rock.

[@PokeVenture_]

You made an error with Venusaur. Venusaur doesn't get a base 160 speed stat in the sun. Any ability or item that doubles a certain stat does not double the base stat, but the actual stat that you can see in its summary. A max speed Venusaur has a speed stat of 284, in the sun that would be 568, which is even faster than max speed Regieleki, which has a base speed of 200, its max speed is 548.

[@asuddenredfox3626]

Samurott: I don’t get it, how are you so much better than me? Hisuian Samurott: Let me see your swords. Samurott: [hands Hisuian Samurott his swords] Hisuian Samurott: Hmph, no wonder, I’ve seen hammers sharper than these blades.

[@Grand-Master_Owl]

I seriously wish that Swampert had a better hidden ability instead of Damp, I think the Regenerator ability would fit well since it's based on an axolotl, such a missed opportunity 🤦‍♂️

[@kailesperance1922]

Maybe Water Absorb could work

[@tavvviaiavia]

true but regenvest swampert sounds just disgustingly good

[@ViníciusFaggian]

They were afraid of making Swamps too strong 😢

[@jorgefrade8900]

Make the boy sip on some sap

[@onebear6504]

Regenerator has singlehandedly made Slowbro line good regardless of generational power creep & situational meta since their inception, with its regional being the only competition. Giving an already good-great pokemon that is like giving Wonder Guard or Huge Power to Charizard just because.

[@kailesperance1922]

Mega Blaziken is worse than its regular form actually. Mega Blaziken can’t hold a Focus Sash to save it from being screwed over when it tries to click swords dance. Yeah, the Mega is faster, but that doesn’t matter when you’re gonna be outspeeding everything in only a few turns. Also, you can use a different and stronger Mega.

[@castform7]

Meganium is like that one friend who you're super chill with but is really easy to make fun of.

[@castform7]

Anyone: Mentions competitive Incineroar: Someone call? If not I can just Parting Shot out.

[@LordDumbash]

WE NEED REGENERATOR SWAMPERT

[@marinagaleotti]

Inteleon is already one of the most hated starters and then they also dunked on him in competitive, damn it.

[@arafzaman760]

What makes it even worse is that gamefreak later introduced rapid strike Urshifu which had an auto crit move that goes through protect

[@shatteredsentient5321]

​@arafzaman760 and they couldn't make snipe ahot always crit smfh

[@edgargaebolg9307]

​@@shatteredsentient5321 Who'd get a guaranteed critical attack that never misses? - Spy lizard expert in headshots - Funny weed cat

[@MrChristianCain]

"gen 6 starter signature moves are disappointing" spiky shield is incredibly good though? Like moxie boosted recently put it as the best move in all of vgc, it's just a straight up better protect

[@tavvviaiavia]

mfw singles

[@vanquish1333]

I honestly forgot that Spiky Shield was Chesnaught’s signature move bc I only really see Ogerpon and Glimmora using it

[@onebear6504]

I legit thought it was Togedemaru's signature move tbh

[@PatlandOneTwoThreeFourFive]

Typhlosion: Heeey! I got myself a regional form! Meganium: Heeey! I'm getting mine next! Typhlosion: Heeey! I doubt it!

[@errorbirdesther]

It might happen in legends Z-A

[@The_Psycho_Red_Ranger]

lol nice SpongeBob reference

[@uttkarshsingh2920]

Greninja Gets defeated in anime for plot Immediately gets hardest Nerf in Pokemon history (which sucks more for him since he isn't pure type) Gets nerfed in smash etc etc Isn't present in many games after his introduction even though oldest starters were Gets sidelined by basically a grass type greninja which is one point faster...

[@onebear6504]

Crazy how much what was once the number 1 favorite pokemon of ALL TIME WORLDWIDE in a global pokemon popularity poll through google that receives pretty much everything amongst the gen 6 trio (broken ability, busted new form, most anime screen time, etc) has fallen

[@uttkarshsingh2920]

@@onebear6504 Pokemon company couldn't handle Greninja getting more famous than Charizard

[@onebear6504]

@@uttkarshsingh2920 dam you might be onto something

[@uttkarshsingh2920]

@@onebear6504 I sure am They made Charizard have 2 Mega making greninja a subject of hate from Delphox and Chestnaught fans They made Ash most of Rivals have a Charizard They made Greninja lose to Charizard for plot They immediately took away battle bond with retcon Nerfed Protean Hyped him in opening only to bring him back for 1 episode(even bayleef might be more present than that) Introduced basically a grass type greninja who is one point faster and has better skill Didn't put him many games (despite him being most popular) and immediately nerfed him when it returned Keeps nerfing him in smash, games, anime etc

[@JustaGr8GuyHere]

2:58 I petition we use JPR’s ability descriptions from now on (or if it’s the editor is coming up with it).

[@tabbender1232]

Torterra has shell smash now

[@edgargaebolg9307]

And it's still bad

[@nicholasharlan6504]

Mentions Hisuian samurot… doesn’t mention its signature move being one of the craziest moves added to the singles format.

[@cossakrose]

I know it won't happen, but I'm still hoping that Meganium will be a regional form Starter in Legends ZAAAAA... and that they'll actually make it good, not just bad again.

4:36 It should have debuted as just Kecleon's hidden ability and I will die on that hill.

[@shatteredsentient5321]

Hidden Ability changes I would like: Blastoise: Mega Launcher Meganium: Triage Typhlosion: Drought Swampert: Regenerator Sceptile: Sharpness Torterra: Solid Rock Samurott: Swift Swim, also Ceaseless Edge Chesnaught: Iron Barbs Decidueye: Long Reach now gives a 1.3× boost to non-contact moves, also Triple Arrows

[@SuperbGorilla]

I am now gonna spend my life trying to make a meganium thats kinda competitive

[@markmushyguy]

I use it on my gen 9 ou team. It can sometimes be viable

[@SuperbGorilla]

@@markmushyguyTera fire, hidden ability and synthesis make it a good sun Mon. Also it's quite good physically so knock off and grassy glide ( or any grass move really) could be the last two moves

[@markmushyguy]

@@SuperbGorilla oooh first I wanna say thank you for even trying and caring for meganium. It's my favorite starter just bc it makes me think outside the box. Meganium isn't an offensive Mon and I think that's why people think it's bad. I like to run defensive moves. In a battle give it tera fire, either ability, for it's move give it leech seed, reflect, synthesis, and energy ball. For it's ivs make it a special Defensive Mon. It's actually really good. I've been able to survive a calm mind 2x dragon pulse from raging bolt.

[@SuperbGorilla]

@@markmushyguy it's not my favourite or anything I just thought I'd do It for fun. I'm not that in on competitive Pokémon so I don't know how good it is

[@SKsuprakirby]

Incineroar just need Body Press and he gonna solo UBERS. EDIT: He only has 90 def, so it's not as strong as i thought it was.

[@ShayTheValiant]

Don't give GameFreak ideas 😂

[@PokeVenture_]

How would Body Press benefit him? A base 90 defense stat isn't worth combining with Body Press.

[@SKsuprakirby]

@@PokeVenture_ I thought he had at least 100. welp. I guess Intimidate really makes him bulkier than what he his really

[@crawdaddy1234]

Just give Incineroar, like, Extreme Speed or some fire type Drain Punch, so it no longer needs Flare Blitz. 😂

[@SantosOverlord]

bitter blade incineroar?, you crazy

[@FlamingPhoenix1425]

My (overleveled) Serperior in Black Version: I'm too weak That same Serperior in Teal Mask: UNLIMOTED POWER!!!!

[@HoodlumCallum]

Venusaur doesn’t have base 160 speed under sunlight, that’s not how it’s calculated

[@mashedpotatos3750]

🤓👆

[@SuperbGorilla]

I used grookey in a shield play through and it became my favourite line so now people probably think I'm a competitive player

[@MaykonDourado]

Grookey is the best orangutan

[@cookiestall9240]

Give this poor Meganium the fairy type or something... show some mercy !

[@aporue5893]

meganium is cute,why do people hate it? :(

[@stevenashley27]

Love how you mentioned Tapu Bulu and Kartana as one of few answers to Mega Swampert in gen 6, when they weren’t out till Gen 7, right before segwaying to Gen 7

[@Cruxxy21]

Honestly last couple games I didn’t really vibe with any of the starters, and ended up using Pokemon I’ve not used before. Snowrunt -> Glalie for Sword, and Pineco -> Foretress for Scarlet. Interesting change to my main pokemon’s type matchups.

[@peteypiranalover]

I never understood why venusaur got chlorophyll. It never came across like faster in the sun. You would think he would have got tanks ability

[@Nicole-wt3wr]

Primarina is also quite the monster was UU in 7 and gen 8 and is a OU staple in gen 9

[@Brandon.thebaby]

prim is so goated in gen 9

[@Nicole-wt3wr]

@@Brandon.thebaby fr always in my team with assault vest just tanks everything .

[@Zoroark_Master]

As a meganium fan, it makes me very sad But as a massive Blaziken&serperior fan (both in my top5 fav mon of all time) it makes me exceedingly happy (also charizard for being in my top10 I suppose)

[@adityaswamy9647]

I really wish swampert gets regenerator with its flip turn.

[@colmodonnell3405]

Torterra popped off in the Teal Mask🎲

[@SnowPea453]

Meowscarada is a prime example of a broken competitive starter.

[@anthonyt425]

As a very early casual pokemon fan of the first 5 generations the power creep in modern pokemon is scary.

[@SteveScapesYT]

Watch them make totally Grass + Steel Meganium with Arena Trap regional forme (keep in mind Grass is the type that sucks but is good because it counters really good types, so any decent grass with a trapping ability would be completely busted)

[@k-8543]

Wait, didn't Empoleon's hidden ability Defiant was changed to competitive during gen 9.

[@KitoAkari1612]

Yes, that’s true

[@misterzygarde6431]

I feel like Meganium should get a combination of Filter and Tinted Lens as a way of compensating for it being so mid. Call it… Power Flower

[@F14thunderhawk]

skip giving it fair abilites. Remove overgrow and leafguard, give it Orichalcum Pulse. And Meganium would STILL suck.

[@jorgefrade8900]

​@@F14thunderhawkspecial huge power maybe?

[@vanquish1333]

7:27 Speaking of Lando-T, I think it’s important to note that Incin slowly managed to power creep it and drive it into minimal usage over the past couple years

[@ZoofyZoof]

when I played Scarlet, I unknowingly skipped the first gym and had no idea it exists

[@Anonymous36]

Don't talk about my daughter Chikorita like that

[@GeorgeDCowley]

2:55 Remember, it's the actual stat that doubles. Worth mentioning that there's been a tiny bit of BST escalation.

[@keeganstormblade5456]

4:15 Looks like a mistake was made here. You're talking about Shell Armor for regular Samurott, but the pop up is for Hisuian Samurott's hidden ability, Sharpness, which you bring about later in the video. Oops.

[@nomad8690]

They could've gave Meganium Thick Fat for its HA

[@SonBlackHeart22]

I remember how excited I was that Meganium got new moves in gen 9 only for it to still be terrible one day Meganium will be good or decent idk ;-;.

[@javieryanezteran]

I haven't seen the vid, I probably won't, but the Johto reference! 👌 *chef's kiss*

[@leonshirogane5541]

they knew what were their doing...just don't know how much of a flood gate that is. is kinda like the quotes "your scientists were so preoccupied with whether or not they could that they didn't stop to think if they should"

[@reactionlessssbu-clips2723]

Gen 3 started with signature moves Swampert Muddy Water, Blaziken Blaze Kick, Sceptile Leaf Blade. Gen 4 kinda didn’t have one besides Empoleon with aqua jet… Gen 5 heat crash, razor shell and i forgot what serperiors was

[@GeorgeDCowley]

Leaf Tornado?

[@eljordinio7647]

It's pretty ironic that serperior is the best starter from unova competitively when in the unova games, it's barely even usable. Its movepool is so shallow it's not even knee deep and grass doesn't get a lot of good matchups in unova besides Clay and Marlon Like they should have given it some rock, ground, psychic and more offensive and accessible poison, flying, steel and dragon coverage with at least 70 base power. Heck, even give it superpower to really take advantage of contrary

[@ElectroBlastLuigi]

That thumbnail has to be a reference to Ash's Charizard battling Casey's Chikorita in Johto or Richie's Pikachu in the Orange Islands

[@dimentdash]

Someone did not do their Primarina research. Top tier UU and niche in OU in Gen 7/8 and is currently OU in Gen 9 and VGC players think it might be great in Reg H.

[@vanquish1333]

It’s also been good in past VGC formats, being one of the best dynamax attackers in some formats in Gen 8

[@njivwathomassilavwe2056]

I'm just glad my favorite starter is viable. Contrary leaf storm is so much fun

[@tktyga77]

JPR, you got the doubling wrong in misapplying to mean base stat instead of their actual stat yet again & Growth got buffed in Gen 5 to include both Attack & Special Attack like Work Up (twice that in sun). Think of Chlorophyll & its weather ilk (Swift Swim, Sand Rush, & Slush Rush) like an Agility/Rock Polish boost, & fathom how much Sceptile would appreciate Growth & getting Thunder Punch coverage back with mixed potential. You should also see how much of buffs Sinnoh starter lines got this gen

[@deejayf69]

The fact that GameFreak doesn't make any stat adjustments to the Starters/change their regular form typing, makes me sad.

[@Thewiiboy55]

I think game freck did that on purpose because they know we going keep are strongest pokemon on are team.

Comically broken Pokemon in Gen 2: -Has access to Curse, solid defensive stats, and can use Rest properly Average weak scrub Pokemon in Gen 9: -Hidden Ability allows user to heal on top of using a Berry, will turn into an advatageous type with a third STAB, will both attack and raise a stat on the same turn, and most likely will be minmax to abuse a good offensive stat while keeping a nice bulk or speed.

[@marche800]

Incineroar being good in double is probably on perpose he a tag team wrestler

[@sirotes8451]

Love the mini rant about the name, starter pokemon, at the beginning lol

[@Sh4dowgale]

9:15 LET'S GO!!! BLASTOISE, MY BOY!

[@Brandon.thebaby]

Empoleon & Swampert are the goats for being competitively viable in solid tiers, OU & UU mostly, without really using their hidden abilities, damp is useless & defiant on Emp is extremely niche. two goated bulky waters

[@Brandon.thebaby]

and yes ik competitive is now empoleon’s hidden ability bla bla bla, but Empoleon’s strength is in its defensive utility, not really offense output

[@george5387]

I really hope they give meganium a better hidden ability in the next generation or when the johto remake happens. Just like they changed empoleon's defiant to competitive in gen 9, it's never too late.

[@lthefifteenth661]

At least Meganium got Body Press. Gotta take what small wins we can, ladies and gentlemen.

[@minhkhng7045]

A bit bummed that you didn't mention about Primarina. Primarina's immense special stats (highest SpAtk and SpDef among ALL Non-Mega starters) and excellent typing make it great/acceptable in singles and doubles. However, in Showdown it had always lived in UU due to the superior Water/Fairy Tapu Fini. Then, Fini gets dexited from Gen 9, allowing Primarina to jump to OU, and as of August 2024, is the 15th most used OU mon. Edit: Primarina is also currently the most used starter in OU (among 3 others) and is the only Alola mon in OU.

[@vasudevagudimella1141]

Even if Tapu fini added in Gen 9 Primarina can't be replaced because it has it's own game play And tapufini can't break wall like primarina with her new tool Psychic noise It's genuine OU pokemon from Gen 9 ; Not just because there's no Tapu fini

[@OnOtterPilot]

Haven't watched the video yet, but wanted to say, how GOOD the thumbnail is!

[@jovalmathew]

Venusaurs speed in sun with chlorophyll is equivalent to base 209 speed, not base 160

[@Sasori2105]

Surprised how little mention of Primarina there was in this video despite its solid presence in OU this gen. And I've completely given up hope for Meganium. Gamefreak seems hellbent on keeping it terrible and there's nothing we can do to stop them 😓

[@Michael-kw1mz]

LeBron could as long as he doesn't play basketball. He still would have 4 years of eligibility if he played football or baseball according to the NCAA.

[@jamiewalsh3349]

Still annoyed that Charizard was the only Kanto starter that didn't win in the 2022 worlds. You let us down Spanish dude.

[@kageedgar4002]

Bro spent 12 and a half minutes to tell us Incineroar got intimidate

[@mcl4549]

I love the ability descriptions

[@browncow5210]

Gens 1-2 had very generalist statlines to get through the game, and they started min maxing and handing out signature moves in Gen 3. That said, the Kanto guys got new forms, Typhlosion got eruption, and Gatr got sheer force and lot of great setup and coverage options. Meganium has it rough.

[@typemasters2871]

Some old starters need better hidden abilities to give them a competitive niche Then there are starters who want better distributed stats (or just a straight up stat buff in the case of Infernape) And of course updated move pools is always nice to have

[@F14thunderhawk]

Some starters want a better hidden ability. Some want better movepools Some want better stat distribution and some starters are Meganium

[@typemasters2871]

@@F14thunderhawk indeed

[@pketr5]

Meowscarada uses Overgrow instead of Protean in VGC. Meowscarda's typing is actually good in VGC and changing to a pure type could be a very bad idea. Dark type protects from Prankster. Grass type protects from Spore and prevents redirection from Rage powder. The best reason is that Grass Tera Overgrow Flower Trick is a great always critical hitting defense stat ignoring nuke. Especially in a format where Dondozo is rampant. Dondozo's unaware prevents stat boost, which Meowscarda doesn't use anyway. Which meant that it is usually the only attack that can hit Dondozo that hard. Focus sash also allows Overgrow to more likely happen

[@GoodJobPatrick]

Sometimes it’s hard being a Grass Starter guy.

[@247_______]

especially if your favorite starter is Sceptile? Torterra? Decidueye?

[@Wafflefrieslmdh]

I like how they followed up incineroar with rillaboom

[@airolz2501]

Hisuian Decidueye is actually quite good in the reg H format of vgc and will probably get a lot of usage soon!

[@MZghidorah_editz]

I loved playing showdown with serpirior sweeping teams with zapdos

[@drewbernert7050]

4:16 Ah yes, regular Samurott with Sharpness Armor. My favorite starter in gen 5

[@redjirachi1]

Even outside a Wolfeyvgc video you can't escape the Heel Pokemon. I am pretty convinced one of the starters in Legends Z-A is gonna be like a Fire/Steel or Fire/Fairy Incineroar

[@paulsteaven]

Look, another: "How bad is Meganium actually?"

[@LrnecBuma]

Key point missing. Thet swapped empoleons ability. It was only the sister ability that raises the other offensive stat. But that means they are looking at old starter abilities

[@johnsonnguyen1374]

Being a Meganium Bro, I just cry

[@multivewer]

Thanks for the superior ideas