The FIRST International CHAMPION team of Gen. 9 • Pokemon Scarlet/Violet VGC Battles

[@daking6361]

The best part of any big VGC tournament Aaron using the winning teams on Road to Ranked

[@chrustopher]

I was unsure about Palafin at first but seeing it win all of these huge tournaments while being a key part of the team is insane, what a good mon

[@KamiPain75]

It has legendary stats idk why most people were having doubts about the dolphin. In fact I was surprised it was not banned from first day.

[@TheTriforcekeeper]

@@KamiPain75 I agree with you! That thing has 160 base atk, 100 speed, decent bulk and a 60 base power priority STAB move. Not sure how that is surprising.

[@chrustopher]

@@KamiPain75 oh yeah the stats are insane, i think what was making people doubt it at first was having to set up zero to hero, but it's clearly worth it and isn't too hard to do anyway

[@tommy4540]

I really miss being able to see the opponents team details after the match

[@CybertronVGC]

Me too :(

[@wowcharlottee]

same! i hope that gets added in a game update

[@maromania7]

Honestly what shocked me most is that 2/8 teams only had one paradox pokemon, and Chupa didn't have any. I expected maybe 1 team to be like that given thier strength, but just goes to show that a solid team synergy is still more important.

[@JACQU33N]

You're so right. I think this is the most interesting seasons of VGC ever.

[@dylanyang8220]

i see dragonite, i click

[@ziion2670]

Simple man

[@soulofsomething6651]

Dragonite is a Good Boi

[@base-vegeta3611]

Right call me an old fart but I think gen 1-3 prime pokemon

[@ziion2670]

@@base-vegeta3611 1-4 was prime hoenn the best region for sure

[@MaPercheNo2004]

I see comment i cant heart

[@CinderRed]

Glaive Rush won’t trigger its effect if it misses or hits into a Protect. However, if Bax moves before other Pokémon, then all remaining attacks aimed at it will always hit and deal bonus damage . The effect lasts until Bax uses another move. So Glaive Rush into Ice Shard is a good way to remove the drawback without having to give up your damage output.

[@TheSamuraiH0B0]

Knoxville will be my first regional. I compete in! You really helped me get into vgc. So thank you for that :)

[@toruno7710]

I'm currently getting into pokemon and now that i have completed the game i'm looking toward competitive. I want take the Time to REALY thank you for all the in-depth analysis that you provide as well the wholesomeness showcased in everystep of the video. Watching you feel Bad for the rock slide miss of your oppenent and commending him for playing well made me go "damn this dude's the best". Please keep it up, i need you to navigate this mindfuck that is competitive pokemon !

[@juliajohnson8702]

As far as the flutter mane at 53:00 goes, there's actually a good chance that it was something like assault vest. They showed moonblast, dazzling gleam, mystical fire and there's a very good chance that the final move is shadow ball. As we know that it wasn't scarf and they didn't protect, vest feels almost like the most logical item.

[@jwanie366]

QOTD: the amount of damage Palafin can dish out when given all the boosters that the one on Gavin’s team had, even against Mons that resist water attacks

[@AstroPC96]

Mystic water boosted, Tera Water STAB Boosted, Rain Boosted, Superman boosted Wave Crash! Yeah, nothing resists it at that point lol!

[@hellishchild6831]

New video as soon as im going to bed. Guess I got something to watch at work in the morning!

[@joshbreesus2781]

thank you for sharing so many teams with us and making great vids, you are appreciated!

[@splak_5624]

it's bonkers that you can lead palafin + hands, swap palafin out for pelipper, then volt switch back to palafin so you have palafin in hero mode in the rain in one turn

[@KazefuYousomo]

I was cheering for one of my fellow Aussies to take the OCIC, but even though we didn't take it, you can't be disappointed with the calibre of play on display at the event. I only managed a 5-4 record myself, but I was happy since that was my best International performance so far, and it was great to interact with so many great people :)

[@galxeviv9576]

Palafin does it again. This team is actually insane, no idea how so few people are using palafin yet the few who do keep getting huge win rates! Also as a random note I reached top 1k in masterball tier with my iron valient team :D Thanks for the amazing videos Aaron!

[@lucasgarcia2781]

Hey, do you have the team breakdown by any chance? I love iron valiant and I want to build a team around the pokemon but idk how. Thanks!

[@galxeviv9576]

@@lucasgarcia2781 I have a rental code and I can break down my team simply enough in this comment if you'd like

[@christopherheiser6090]

Let’s hear it brother!

[@galxeviv9576]

@@lucasgarcia2781 So, Lets start with the unique piece of Iron Valiant. Nothing too crazy, max attack adament but speed is made to be 1 point lower then attack for quark drive. Held item is focus sash since it's so frail. Second, Iron Valient's fav partner is Iron Bundle, icy wind to give speed control, hydro pump for a strong water move, encore to distrupt and the rarely used electric terrain for quark drive attack AND SPORE PROTECTION (so clutch). The second core I have in the team is Annihilape + Grimsnarl, solid bulk on annihilape with typical bulk up rage fist shenanigans, paired with screens on grimmsnarl for better bulk then maushold. Grimmsnarl also runs scary face for speed control (and I sometimes surprise trick room teams by self scary facing to underspeed after it's set up lol) With the 2 cores in mind I needed 2 more pieces. Next comes in Gholdengo with weakness policy, oh boy it's a menace to society. Screens plus nasty plot gholdengo is a free win when opponents are carless. Final slot I chose a stand alone pokemon to deal with bad type coverage matchups. For that I chose Sandy Shocks with special attack booster energy. Huge damage stabs and with flying tera tera blast destorys typical counters like great tusk. Also casually 2 shots dondozo with boosts and just a monster overall! This is a pretty simplified breakdown but hopefully it helps without being a full essay long read lol. Hopefully the postepaste ev spreads + moves makes it easy enough to understand, and if I get lucky enough to have Aaron cover the team then that's a bonus lol!

[@galxeviv9576]

Rental Code: KR5QXM and pokepaste is on (the app with the bird, youtube keeps deleting the comment when I mention it's name 😑) my username there is "Vivethen" hoping Aaron sees the tweet lol

[@sparx6766]

I love your videos. I recently just got back into competitive and watching you not only helps me learn but keep up with current meta, keep it up! I'm gonna need it lol

[@Jordin4498]

After getting gavins Palafin event mystery gift and seeing this video I made the rest of his team in violet same Tera types moves abilitys items did the best I could with vitamins and feathers to match the stats and used mints. I even have a shiny iron hands. Thanks for showing the teams stat spread. I only tested the team in one ranked double battle in violet and won without using a Tera type.

[@chromenoir4603]

Just in time to watch with dinner! Keep the battles coming! Your content is great!

[@drywalltele9435]

Every lunch break at work I watch these videos thank you!

[@geist2604]

QOTD: I really like the 2 Dragon core and specifically the unique Dragonite set. I thought that Dragonite had fallen off a bit between Series 1 and 2, but it turns out I was wrong.

[@Play_It_Cool_]

Woah, I'm interested in Masayoshi Kuroo's team that got 20th with... Vivillon??

[@mattminter4870]

Feel like I want to mention that Bax can’t be burned due to thermal exchange, not sure if you thought of that much when facing up against will o wisp!

[@MunkeeMazik]

I was thinking the same thing! Between that and the Lum on Dragonite, I feel like there wasn't really much threat from wisp.

[@Emvymcla]

Insane dragonite set. I was reading into the normal Tera with close combat iron hands, if it turned into a flying type instead genius move

[@Krodriguez1994]

I learn something new every time I watch one of these

[@DisplayName317]

Zooming in on that Klefki team in second place. Very interested to know how that one works.

[@Jia-dw3bp]

It was hilarious watching Alberto pilot that team live. There was so much paralysis cheese (prankster thunderwave klefki) and the commentators were saying things like it was the "keys to his victory" and that it "opened the door" for Alberto to go finals

[@spheralcobra4346]

QOTD: Palafin! It’s been my fav Pokémon ever since the game came out and I even used it on my play through team!

[@DrGandW]

Holy crap Gavin Michaels, I feel like the first time I heard that name I was in high school, now I’m finishing my Masters

[@travisparnell2795]

I remember in San Diego, persons were frowning on Pelipper.. now look at my boy!! Awesome team, and it was an awesome tournament to watch

[@infinitecypher88]

The play is to lead palafin + hands, hard switch pali into Peliper, slow volt switch hands into pali. Instant turn one Hero form in the rain 👍

[@evansmoak836]

Dear Aaron, please take note that the Amoonguss in your paste has an error, it should be Regenerator instead of Effect Spore!

[@coolguynice6433]

QOTD: the Baxcalibur, poison tera lets it deal so well with the bundles, flutter manes and hands that kept rain in check at the start of series 2. It might be more meta defining than anti-meta.

[@ziion2670]

Statement of the day?

[@Maple.leaves]

I LOVE palafin & dragonite. So happy to see them getting use!

[@MrRussor]

57:19 Anyone else noticed that Bax is just a reskin of Dragonite?

[@TheButTickler]

I’m glad they still haven’t banned Palafin. It’s easily my favorite gen 9 Pokémon, but I would definitely understand if they did ban it. Very very strong boy

[@davidbeer5015]

I could see Smogon doing it, but why would the official competition? Maybe ranked if it was high enough in play and they did a format like in swsh where the top x mons were blocked for a series?

[@finalGambitShedinja]

did nobody notice the obscene amount of crits in this video? like 4 turns in a row in game 4 what’s up with that

[@lionheart4424]

My favorite thing about this team is the fact that the very first "pseudo-legendary" (Dragonite) is working together with this gen pseudo (Baxcallibur). Edit: Also the name of that Bax I believe is some sort of reference to Godzilla. Love it!

[@saintjulian94]

I love it how both Dragonite and Dragonite V are the MVPs in both VGC and TCG championship team respectively

[@skeeeeeeter]

Unexpected but cool top 20 finish: Vivillon

[@yopokoh6894]

you should showcase the second place corviknight team

[@thatshype_]

Can I ask what you use to hold up all those vinyls! I would love to use that for my collection! Love the Porter and A&B love btw

[@jcoyne4718]

QOTD: as a Dragonite fan, I've been loving how good Dnite is this gen. I think Tera Flying + Tera Blast is a really interesting way to give Dragonite a good Flying STAB, especially since it lost Dual Wingbeat this gen.

[@keithpalacios9417]

Is the 252 in HP more viable for Palafin than 252 in Speed?

[@YammiestYam]

What a great showcase!

[@wpmer]

Rising moon klefki second place team? Aaron please do a video on that team!❤

[@CybertronVGC]

If Alberto publishes a code I will certainly cover it!

[@floofflez1134]

Wooo new Aaron upload! QOTD: Baxcalibur, I just love it's goofy cry

[@JohannesBee]

What an incredible team!

[@Culinary_Chapters]

Where can I find the VODS you mentioned in the preview?

[@andrewmcbain8123]

why so much concern over a body press into a poison terra bax?

[@peter7596]

Dragonite\Palafin 🤝 Baxcalibur/Volcarona Aesthetically pleasing offensive cores

[@DonYagamoth]

This may be a strange question, but: What is the thinking behind switching Palafin in at ~27:08 in the video? I have a general grasp as to why it's good, but it wouldn't have occurred to me as the first thing to do. I feel like learning this may improve my play a lot Thank you for your insights :)

[@ben_mxller]

Pelipper has done everything it needs to do: set up the rain so palafin can do more damage and allowed palafin to go hero forme. Also, since flutter mane is asleep there is no threat of big damage onto the palafin when it switches in. Additionally at this point, pelipper is pretty useless: it's damage output is lacking and tailwind doesn't really help. In order to push the tempo and threaten with big attacks, going into the transformed palafin is the way to go

[@alx1457]

amazing bgm

[@DarkseidTCG]

Only 1 paradox pokemon. Incredible.

[@Zaceean]

shoutout to that one twitch chatter that said he didn't know how gavin could win because his team had no offense

[@matparadize]

In Game 3 you could have E. Speed the Fluttermane with the Tera Fairy to end the game even more quickly right? Thanks for the great video!

[@mattminter4870]

Technically extreme speed is higher priority than jet punch yes, but both moves are increased priority so didn’t matter which move Aaron went for

[@abandontheweak2646]

How does it feel to be such a beast bro?!

[@nite3130]

So noble of you to wish your opponent had not missed in last game 😅Interesting choice to run Amoonguss with Effect Spore I think, although it didn't see any proc. Other than that, Dragonite so versatile in this Gen, fun to watch.

[@cyberdevil3000]

Amoonguss is regenerator, I think Aaron just missed that inputting the team into showdown

[@wafflemonkey8083]

You were a crit magnet this video

[@pokatana4130]

Baxcalibur peeks my interest :))

[@alx1457]

aaron what skin for pokemon showdown are you using?

[@scottcrysel]

Palafin really is a superhero

[@natcole5981]

Why terablast over dual wingbeat on d nite?

[@ciscochavez2320]

Just when I thought I couldn’t find something to watch

[@tranhuy2304]

When you mentioned tera water palafin without zero to hero and get mystic water and rain boost, i reminded myself that I underestimated that tiny dolphin and get one shot despite I resisted too😂😂

[@whyjon2990]

I need to see that klefki that was played in the second place team of that tournament that this team won. where can i find this

[@PG-Gaming]

Definitely Palafin. There are some great supporting Pokémon that feel like they are only here to make Palafin stand out.

[@cutthroat795]

I hate the design of hero form palafin but man is it a good Pokémon. I want to see how it stacks up to the Pokémon home meta

[@Imoxone]

Hey, Aaron, Are you planning on competing in Knoxville or any other tournament this season?

[@CybertronVGC]

I'll be commentating Knoxville but hoping to play Vancouver and EUIC at least this year :)

[@trxyjxzy1075]

Omg I've only been playing vgc for like a week and I already got featured making bad plays on my favorite KZbinrs channel. IM LEARNING 🤣 I was so nervous when I saw cybertron was my next opponent LOL

[@evanhughes5696]

I know very little about Japanese as I haven't taken a class on it since I was in middle school... But when teams with mons with Japanese OTs names display, they're in katakana. From what I remember katakana is mainly used for words that have been translated from other languages... Does anyone know if they display differently for English speaking games? Like for example, does a Japanese player see their mons names in hiragana or kanji? Because Pokemon is a Japanese company and they have original Japanese names. I could just be mistaken about how it all works but seeing gyrados name displayed gi-ya-ra-do-su (ish) in katakana seems weird? Idk just noticed this to be honest.

[@DisplayName317]

All Pokemon names are written in katakana and display the same in Japanese games. Gyrados is one of the few Pokemon whose name is identical in English and Japanese.

[@garrettpost233]

Aaron, did you run into that houndstone team with water tera gholdengo in the last couple of days? I had a pretty similar game against a team like this with water tera gholdengo surviving the palafin wave crash / dragonite double up after leading gholdengo / bundle and nasty plotting. I wonder if that was you! Either way, I just want to say I love all your videos, and in particular really have enjoyed playing that houndstone team 😊

[@CybertronVGC]

That was not me! Thanks for watching the videos and glad to hear you enjoyed it :)

[@wesbrown738]

Aaron I think I got you on (switch) ladder? GigaChadVGC?

[@CoachYale]

I'm a simple man I see palafin I hit like Love palafin teams that mon is so fun

[@Victor-ko8nf]

🔥

[@DAFFITIVGC]

please make the new Regional Champion from Bochum

[@TheJuicyTangerine]

Interesting thing is that some mons could completely shut this team down. I dont see a way for this team to deal with stuff like ferrothorn or gastrodon. But these pokemon aren't meta, so none of the meta pokemon are really good matchups into this.

[@M1sterE321]

4:30 You say base 70 attack and the rain and item add up. You are aware the base attack goes to 160 in hero form, aren't you?

[@CybertronVGC]

Yes, of course - the point was to highlight Palafin's strength even before it transforms into hero form when you lead with it, as I mentioned at 4:28

[@MaPercheNo2004]

You upload i click

[@michaelcollazo7911]

too bad pursuit doesnt exist otherwise palafin would not exist.

[@joshuastreet8664]

Dragonite❤

[@ciscoortega9789]

One hour!? You spoil us

[@teddywarlock5379]

Ban Flutter Mane and Iron Bundle.

[@lonelywout]

May i ask why your pokemon showdown looks like that? Its pretty cool and the basic looks a bit boring :)

[@MrRussor]

Why do you feel bad when they miss with moves like rock slide? That's the price you pay for using moves that aren't 100% accurate. It's not something you should feel bad about. I mean it's still bad if you have to rely on misses to win, but on the other hand, they're also relying on hits to win...

[@ShinyPixelgon]

First

[@PurpleSlays]

[@roberthenderson3769]

hey cybertron! This here is a team i made myself from scratch that i call kingchilly! would you consider using my team even if it's off-camera for a few matches in ranked battles and let me know what you think? Team ID: 1D90DQ