Why did Everyone Stop Using this Broken Pokemon?

[@RayRizzoVGC]

Download Raid for free iOS/Android/PC ➡ t2m.io/R_RayRizzo and get 2 strong Epics+1 Legendary champion ⚡ Available via this link only. 🍀 Take part in the SpringHunt event and get your gift at springhunt.plarium.com 💎 Prizes include GAMING CONSOLES and Amazon gift cards with a total value of $10,000! 🔥 Additional bonus - after downloading Raid with my link redeem the code "SPRINGHUNT24" to receive more rewards! ⌛ Hurry, this offer is available exclusively from April 15th to May 31 for both new and existing players 📱Link for IOS users to enter Raid Shadow Legends codes ▶ plarium.com/en/redeem/raid-shadow-legends/

[@gaminggranny1541]

Recreate the intro of undertale 🌩

[@GDKsan]

short answer: incineroar Long answer : the second DLC came and re introduced the seventh gen first partner pokemon litten enabling through its evolution to get incineroar.

[@haydeniskander5306]

Eh, Incineroar certainly didn't help, but if Landorus-Therian couldn't stop Iron Hands, then Incineroar alone shouldn't have been able to either. I think the bigger culprit is actually Raging Bolt, who almost literally does Iron Hands's job but better. It's faster, has better priority w/ Thunderclap, has more utility with Snarl, has a better Paradox ability in Protosynthesis, and isn't vulnerable to Intimidate. Not trying to suggest that Incineroar didn't play a role. It certainly did. But without Raging Bolt, Iron Hands would still have a unique niche that nothing else could really fill, even w/ Clear Amulet over Assault Vest.

[@namo2403]

if we are talking about reg f and before, the rise of incine+rila means that if you do run a physical attacker, it either has to have covert cloak, clear amulet or inner focus, which was why when incine first came back, he was the 2nd most used fire type behind entei then came raging bolt, a bulky av special lightning type which does the job of iron hands without the drawback of getting intimidated iron hands is just a weaker mishmash of incine, rila, rbolt if we are talking about reg g, incine is always the goat of restricted formats, there's nothing much to really say intimidate, fakeout, dark stab, parting shot = good into almost every restricted mon except kyogre

[@agamerjoinedyt]

raging bolt might fall off a bit cuz of miradon

[@haydeniskander5306]

@@agamerjoinedyt So far, it actually appears as though Miraidon is falling off a bit because of Raging Bolt! haha But who knows, maybe someone will start cooking with it. Edit: I could be wildly off about all this, though.

[@namo2403]

@@haydeniskander5306 and kyogre is falling off because of pelipper caly-ice, zacian, zamazenta, solgaleo, dialga all benefit from the rain to remove fire super effective meanwhile for caly-s, lunala, giratina in rain heavily cuck koraidon funnily enough, kyogre loses to pelipper due to wide guard and tailwind and raging bolt already has legendary stats so you might as well use another restricted

[@PabloMartinezDutra]

20:07 the GOAT called it. Iron Hands is now a 2x World Champion.

[@Iris_VGC]

Ray got sponsored by raid shadow legends, he’s a real KZbinr now

[@nathanieljones8043]

Trust me that isn't the bar the bar is getting so big you don't need to do ad reads for garbage games

[@georgecortes3416]

Ray sponspored by Raid Shadow Legends...Ray'd Shadow Legends...

[@lordgrub12345]

@@nathanieljones8043 yeah, if you aren't like on 10 million range you aren't a real youtuber 😡

[@wastedninjadude]

Iron valiant is only trash in open team sheet formats. It’s high speed and (assuming closed team sheet) having the opponent not know whether it’s physical, special, or mixed is very powerful.

[@quanghoang6901]

​@wastedninjadude still really underwhelming tbh. Iron Valiant is just too frail and dies to pretty much anything above average and doesn't get resisted.

[@Matthias-pj6th]

Haven't watched yet, but I'm going to put my guess here and double-check later. 1: Iron Hands was the only good Electric STAB for the longest time, but we now got Raging Bolt who's better in practically every way. 2: The main utility Iron Hands brought to a match besides it's bulk and Electric STAB is Fake Out, but now we got Rilaboom and Incineroar who are both MUCH better Fake Out users. 3: Incineroar and Hisuian Arcanine means that Intimidate is more common than it has ever been in VGC, which means that all dedicated physical attackers like Iron Hands are fighting an uphill battle. EDIT: Finished watching, and good to see that I was pretty much on the money.

[@altariamotives16]

Thanks, saved me 20 minutes

[@godemaikr1373]

imagine itimidate a robot

[@muitohm]

"Iron Valiant is complete garbage and is always nowhere to be seen in competitive play" As a singles player, that phrase is so weird to hear

[@mandalorianhunter1]

Yeah it's really weird to hear but we will see what happens when Miraidon comes

[@blazechaos212]

I think it's because how mixed attackers are not good in VGC.

[@why3994]

​@@blazechaos212It's just weird when people say "competitive play" when actually they meant to say VGC

[@xaviersgd]

⁠@@why3994because vgc is official competitive play.

[@MelodyLumina]

tho to be fair don't ppl mainly run val in ou cuz flutter isn't an option

[@christopherballero866]

When seeing Incenerior every other Pokemon says either I'm doomed or how do I work with you

[@akshayreddy4071]

Doubt that's gonna be the case for reg G, most of the huge threats seem to be special attackers this time as opposed to gen 8, tho ofc big cat incineroar always finds a way

[@MusSupremeJAR03]

Monopoly be like:

[@nerdyfalco408]

Short answer: incineroar. Long answer: incineroar.

[@Nagatem]

Poor Brian Hands has hit some hard times

[@cjchu2597]

I can't believe his wife left him

[@inferno7892]

​@@cjchu2597and she took the car

[@cjchu2597]

@inferno7892 no, you can't be real. how is Brian supposed to get to the next regional now?

[@aidanbauzo2122]

@@inferno7892she took his revaroom 💔

[@Short_Bloom]

I think once Reg G rolls around, Iron Hands could have a place in Miraidon teams as an answer to Pokemon that could give it trouble like Flutter Mane, Zacian, and opposing Iron Bundle. It'll probably remain a niche pick, though.

[@zomorion9183]

You mean G?

[@Short_Bloom]

@@zomorion9183 Whoops

[@Endershock1678]

Flutter Mane and Bundle I get, but how exactly do you propose Iron Hands lives a Zacian Play Rough without committing its Tera?

[@Abalamski]

Yeah running 2 electric types on the same team sounds fantastic, like what? Lol can’t even justify it for fake out since it’s outpaced by Incin,Rilla, hell even mienchao Double ground weakness and double fairy weakness? Will get deleted by flutter and and lando. Both of which have been top 10 meta picks for months

[@calapai7]

I've been using min speed Clear Amulet Hands in a Miraidon team and it's great against Trick Room, especially BloodLuna

[@Ensani420]

That’s the longest explanation of Incineroar I’ve seen in a while

[@inferno7892]

Wolfey:hi

[@jerisj.8971]

The effective base stat total concept is something I haven't actually put to practice before. That's a great side note for me.

[@Wafflefrieslmdh]

fortunately, this aged like milk

[@LexClone5]

With Miraidon on the way, Iron Hands just needs a rebranding so it can check the top threats. Fake Out alone is insanely good to have in High Power Level Formats, and when you have the damage output and the bulk to live strong hits, it has the chance to provide value

[@kiwi40238]

I don't think Hands is ever gonna be mainstream again because with Miraidon Groudon also comes and Groudon has phenomenal coverage so a tera grass/flying Hands isn't gonna cut it.

[@LordKamek]

I have been using clear amulet Iron Hands on my Reg F team for ages because my Archaludon was always using assault vest and I am rarely disappointed. Iron Hands survives so much, even Flutter Mane (as long as Flutter Mane isn't choice specs). Hilariously, all 4 moves my Iron Hands has were the ones in the pool lol. HIGHLY recommend clear amulet Iron Hands

[@blazechaos212]

Why are mixed attackers non-existent in VGC but are thriving in singles?

[@snider1365]

Well part of what makes mixed attackers so dangerous is that it’s hard to know what moves they have, but vgc is open team sheet so you always know what their move set is.

[@christianherrera1322]

Additionally, part of the reason you used a mixed attacker is to hit a broader selection of targets. In doubles/vgc it's a lot easier to have different pokemon specialize in hitting other targets because you can have multiple pokemon on the field that naturally or can simply compensate for what your pokemon may lack coverage or power for

[@Endershock1678]

@@snider1365 Even before OTS, mixed attackers weren’t great. In singles, you want Pokémon to match up into as many things as possible, so Blaziken for example, should matched up well into both special walls and physical walls to prevent switching, but in VGC, you have your partner to cover for your bad matchups, so you don’t need as much coverage

[@hanscaniagochan8448]

part of it because of ots, but even then why you want use a mon with mediocre (kinda) sattack/attack instead of using another mon with high attack and help it with its partner. in some situation it can be helpful to some extent but unless the meta somehow got warped to mixed attacker is needed you better off not doing that

[@ClasIsMid]

@@Endershock1678 not the best example bc blaziken will never run a special set but a mon like infernape would be a traditionally better answer thanks to its good stab coverage and decent ability to threaten a lot of targets. even now you can say iron valiant and be right bc it can also use mixed sets on top of purely physical or special sets

[@Darkwater2013]

Your editing has once again been fantastic. I see Iron Hands coming back, the damage boost in electric terrain is big and Miraidon likely everywhere. Although they have many shared weaknesses. On a site note, I would like to see a buff for Mewtwo. I am not even sure what ability could be strong enough to give Mewtwo a lot of viability, I guess shadow tag could be nice. But seriously, Calyrex is just OP and Mewtwo just sits there crying or something and Tera makes Calyrex even more broken. Dark type Pokemon will be more important with Calyrex around and maybe normal type Pokemon, too, so Iron Hands might just get some more targets that way.

[@MsVilecat]

It's so easy to negate electric terrain with grassy surge or even psychic terrain (which are very popular), and that means you'd likely end up with 2 electric type on your team.

[@Darkwater2013]

@@MsVilecat It is just as easy to set it up with Miraidon again, since it gets Volt Switch. Terrain and weather just work that way. Plus, I didn't say you have to run Iron Hands on a Miraidon team, you can also bring it to matches when the opponent has Miraidon which now potentially helps the trick room mode of your team, if you plan it that way. Iron Hands isn't limited to a supporting role, it can deal serious damage with the ability related attack boost and electric terrain boost for wild charge. Doubling down on types isn't as bad anymore, since tera is a thing. Double water/grass/fire have all been strong. It really depends on how your team works and related dual-type combos. In single restricted formats getting the most out of your restricted Pokemon is usually very important, so using those to enable Paradox Pokemon to carry some of their weight is a good idea.

[@tobs-00]

Iron Hands - the two time (consecutive) world champion!!

[@iceblockyt212]

Anyone here after it won worlds?

[@Mysterious-Stranger]

Once again, props to the editor. The memes and references in here are killing me (in a good way)

[@nicholaschan5022]

the gurren lagann refernece

[@SilverScarletSpider]

the editor should just remove the awkward camera shots and making it more visuals

[@RyChu376]

Ray Rizzo making a DBZ Abridged reference… I’m happy this evening

[@manlikevirus]

the editing in this video was so fun. Loved the assault vest bit especially!

[@TheVenusaur]

Hey Ray! I just wanna say I'm thankful for your informative videos. I've been playing pokemon for a very long time but I've never got into vgc until recently. It truly is a different side of this franchise and I've been really happy to learn it. Thank you :)

[@Zaileir]

LMAO the shot of Nick Donnelly at 11:48 is so good

[@Hugo-yz1vb]

Aaaaand... 🎵 Guess who's back? Back again, Hands is back, tell a friend 🎵

[@96Gorilla]

Loved the editing in this video. Very informative and very funny!

[@memekeeper-gaming3552]

Short answer: Incineroar Long answer: iiiiinnnnnccccciiiiinnnnneeeeerrrrroooooaaaaarrrrr

[@tiagoSS90]

Wouldn't it be a surprise if it won Worlds this year?

[@Kazeshindo]

For someone new to VGC, this is probably the best type of video around. It explains the meta, as well as giving advice for getting around it. Thank you, Mr. Ray Rizzo, sir. 😂

[@qweschuning]

7:02 awesome edit

[@kza6648]

Talking about stats, its good to point how hp base stat contributes about 40% more to your bulk than the defense stat(2 hp stats are 40% better than 1 in each defense usually), the math would be more complicated there but it means iron hands has a insane effective stat total because of that aswell

[@paulsteaven]

Pawmot before 2024: *He can't keep getting away with it...*

[@higdoooo]

Having the move cards change color for typing would be a cool addition to add Ray!

[@kallum39]

IT WON WORLDS BABYYYY

[@KanderUdon]

Brian hands never dies

[@RockOrso2]

Groudon,Koraidon & Miraidon gonna come make them more usable, especially the Violet paradoxes like Valiant or Crown, so Hands could possibly return.

[@MikerrrTT]

That Starforce soundtrack hits hard

[@kostasnikos5157]

I would like to see a vgc battle between you and Wolfe! You both are living legends!! It would be amazing!!!

[@tysondennis1016]

Imagine falling off due to a Pokémon that you have a type disadvantage against. That’s embarrassing.

[@aesir748]

And to think that past paradox pokemon are only going to get better once Groudon is legal. FM and RB now get paired with a bulky physical attacker with a 120 bp spread move

[@LilskeevsGaming]

the King has spoken! love ya ray! always hype when I see you upload

[@santajohnsduraorduraclause4678]

Bro got hit with the “I don’t wanna play with you anymore”

[@darkcheaker]

Iron Hands one-tapping dark Moltres is hilarious.

[@kalarse]

Seeing the owned counter brings me such great memories :'3

[@lrodshrek6086]

Not using it? The world champ certainly did.

[@lj4888]

12:25 ... did you just make a David Pakman reference 😂

[@DameBlackwell]

"What happened to Iron Hands?" Incineroar happened.

[@typemasters2871]

Talking about how Landorus-T would Tera just to have a strong physical flying type STAB reminds me of how there are Pokemon that lack a specific STAB option due to either no move existing besides certain signature moves or no option being available in the Pokémon’s move pool. I’m no competitive expert so I am not sure what type and physical/special combo need better moves (besides physical electric due to Supercell Slam being too risky) so I can’t make a list that include all the combinations that need better wide spread attacks. I could definitely see Tera Blast potentially being brought back and reworked to work without tera but that would end up becoming “Hidden Power 2.0”.

[@blacktarsalmon6697]

Great video, but one small nitpick is that all the move carb backgrounds being green really confuses me and doesn't look particularly pleasant either

[@KojayTV]

I’ll take this into account for future videos, thanks for pointing that out!!

[@PurpleSlays]

Such an awesome informative video, Ray. Also congrats on the sponsorship

[@GunnarClovis]

The Rizzler Strikes Back

[@Shadowmonunite]

16:17 unseen mistake caught me off guard.

[@se44th]

nice video ray. sad to see the downfall of hands, my second favorite paradox after slither wing and only one that was decently usable

[@AllegedlyHuman]

That movepool joke had me cracking up lol

[@aoxVGC]

I actually see it picking up to be honest, with max spdef investment and clear amulet its high hp means you tank anything you need to on the special side and avoid intimidate, you benefit on the side with electric terrain in case your opponent has miriadon out and its good into terapagos as that will increase in usage

[@jacobcross9415]

Another beautifully edited video!

[@nemohimself2580]

Knock off counter iron hands: Drain punch Volt switch Wild charge Belly drum Knock off my assault vest, see how that goes.

[@p1k4chu99]

4:15 dayum yall dont like mixxed iron valiant in VGC? In singles it goes crazy

[@DarkseidTCG]

You either die a hero or live along enough to shill for raid shadow legends.

[@zhanyao2481]

valiant slander is insane, vgc a different world fr

[@lamandyu]

I miss Ray at the competitive scene so much. Is he competing this year?

[@gavanator7]

Rip Brian hands.. you will be missed 🙏😔

[@zawaray4229]

These thumbnails are amazing!!

[@lelandwhitehead56]

Small note: Trick room reverses the speed order for the most part, but not entirely. It is actually possible to be fast enough that you outspeed ‘slow’ Pokémon inside trick room.

[@doginpillows20]

It's hard to set up, but true, also priority still acts in the same order

[@SkyNinja759]

I hope when Pokemon moves past paradox pokemon they take it as a learning experience and apply their knowledge to the normal, current day, pokemon. I want Hariyama to be as viable as Brian Hands is/was. The gen 3 sumo has gotten the bad end of the stick for decades now.

[@sconettilda8580]

Hariyama actually was very good in the reg1 for quiet long time, it either had offensive and defensive tools in guts + fake out + wide guard and was really usable

[@SkyNinja759]

@@sconettilda8580 He can compete with cherry picked regional dex formats, but as soon as the power levels get any higher he falls off hard.

[@ldmtag]

I know what ability they need to give Mewtwo! Make a new ability that adds +1 priority to all of Mewtwo's moves!

[@Beegsire]

No matter what, I will always be a Brian Hands believer.

[@axelblaze4088]

Guys I might be wrong on this, but I have a small feeling The Champ doesn’t like Urshifu

[@KneeckohGaming]

Hey, I made it in a Ray Russo video! Pretty cool!

[@irism4ney]

And then he won worldz again

[@skeetermania3202]

Two consecutive Worlds wins says hi.

[@chazzburke9073]

The Wo Chien slander was uncalled for

[@caduGoldenBoy]

iron hands 2024 world champion LOL

[@opressora2436]

YOOO, RAID AD 🔥🔥🔥

[@javiersantinopanganiban9613]

Me over here in showdown playing reg g with miraidon and iron hands

[@Ringoismybirdo]

Are you ever gonna re enter the competitive scene seriously a rematch between you and wolf would be the biggest battle in vgc history

[@winterwatson6437]

rip brian

[@johnrainsman6650]

What do you guys think of Iron Hands fighting Alolan Graveler?

[@leaf_plant_thing2]

damn i already use clear amulet iron hands lmao

[@gligarguy4010]

Why must Ray bully my boy Pincurchin 😢

[@pato9467]

Ray is back

[@gaminggranny1541]

IronValiant haters when a pokemon doesnt invest into HP/defenses

[@CultFX23]

this video didn't age well AT ALL

[@harleyjo4875]

I miss the Hands

[@Blizzi88]

Still using Hands in Trick room and I am place 500 something

[@terrysalt]

Just out of curiosity, does intimidate always activate before booster energy? Or is it just because Iron Hands is so slow that it activates second?

[@doginpillows20]

Abilities activate in speed order

[@terrysalt]

Thanks. :)

[@BunnyWitchcraft]

STOP DISSING THE GOAT PAWMOT

[@rebornreaper194]

Wait, are you that guy that Wolfey talked about?

[@evelyie]

Video resume: Incineroar

[@ammonbert1707]

I feel like you ignored the concept of a mixed attacker entirely in this video 😅 Mixed Iron Valiant is definitely a threat with hardcore '4-move syndrome'

[@bazuso6494]

mixed attackers really only exist in singles

[@blazechaos212]

​@@bazuso6494why are mixed attackers not threatening in VGC?

[@kachebelka3416]

Except mixed attackers typically aren’t great in VGC because the ability to hit on both sides of the spectrum is rarely more valuable than additional bulk or speed. The difference in damage you can do for hitting on one side as opposed to the other typically isn’t as large in VGC so you’d rather have a Pokémon that can actually take a hit unlike iron valiant Edit: also wanted to add that although you do see mixed attackers in smogon, in generations past gen 3 they are quite rare due to the phys/spec split making it usually unnecessary. While running both physical and special can help you deal with walls like chansey, again this is coming at a sacrifice to something usually. Whether that’s getting rid of a useful move to throw on an attack on the other side of the physical special spectrum, ev spreads not being optimal, or item, usually there is some sort of loss.

[@bazuso6494]

@@blazechaos212 Mixed attackers typically don’t hit as hard as single stat Pokémon and evs are also much more important and matter more in doubles so you would be wasting additional bulk or speed

[@patrol2omega]

I keep spamming Iron Hands on my Trick Room teams, but only on Switch or Showdown since Pokémon has NEVER held a tournament in México and we're in 2024 🙄🙄🙄 I'm not Mexican but my wife is ❤

[@MH61632]

GURREN LAGANN REFERENCE 🌀

[@ryanburka3971]

Rip this video

[@andrewarmstrong24]

Raid Shadow Legends more like Ray-d Shadow Legend!

[@kayladecant7332]

Absolute banger video

[@ThewiseOrangutan]

in short it was INCINEROAR!

[@raizen4597]

Miraidon 👀

[@Joe-cp5ud]

I’ve had more fun this gen than ever before, and on the same note, gen 10 and the new switch can’t come fast enough.

[@thinkinginsideout4053]

came back after championing 2024

[@wentoneisendon6502]

Lmao the memes