What Happened to Palafin?

[@friendlysend8624]

Don’t worry everyone, palafin is just busy saving paldea, he’ll be back later this season.

[@tomato325]

He's just stopping tinkaton from killing another corviknight he'll be back soon enough

[@franciscofernandes4623]

Lmao

[@Carter_Fendi]

@@tomato325loo

[@davidmandel8960]

He is a pokemon team member by day, disappearer by june.

[@shinobipanda7760]

@@tomato325lol

[@MakinItRain24-7]

Don't worry he was just switched out for now. He'll come back out with better stats in a little bit

[@rohateanonis4657]

Mega palafin

[@MegaSpamziken1996]

*heheheha*

[@_Smiling]

Urshifu >

[@Dontcare_at_all]

This is the most beautiful thing I've ever read

[@Dr._is_sleepy]

HE’S BACK!

[@TaIathar]

Remember: You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the villain. Palafin died a hero. What a beautiful and touching story. Thanks Wolfe

[@CyanPlushCaptain]

You either die a hero or live long enough to see yourself become the zero.

[@BluhBluhDuck]

Meanwhile Palafin in Singles: Do you know how I got those scars?

[@strivfe8007]

Im so damn tired of seeing this quote every damn day

[@Ashfold_Eberesche]

@@strivfe8007 Where the fuck are you visiting that you see this quote literally every day?

[@iiokrammii693]

​@@strivfe8007Fall asleep rn

[@jamesdinius7769]

This Pokémon is an excellent example of the differences between singles and doubles. Palafin is really hard to use in doubles due to the faster pace and plethora of ways to punish it on the switch. Meanwhile, it's banned from Smogon OU because switching around is much easier, and flip turn gives it excellent positioning capability.

[@Lauren_C]

The removal of Pursuit in Gen 8-on also robbed Singles of a tool that could’ve majorly dented Palafin (especially with hazards up) before ever activating its ability.

[@emmetstanevich2121]

There's also the fact that, since vgc is 4v4, it's harder to ensure you can activate zero-to-hero if you don't lead with palafin compared to if it were 6v6 doubles

[@masonkline2644]

doubles also sucks ass

[@grass_snake80]

smogon OU is stupid i wish people would stop bringing it up

[@Lauren_C]

@@grass_snake80 If you’ve any alternative formats for playing singles-format, I’m all ears.

[@freddyfazbear6495]

I guess you could say he went from Hero to Zero

[@Theprocrastinaterartist]

EPIC JOKES

[@mumbosauce4]

This gave me a lil chuckle

[@lit5895]

frfr

[@CubeBizz]

boooooooooo

[@brandonisburied]

sadge :(

[@illegalmemedealer3549]

“A player at Orlando changed the entire meta with a new Palafin team. That player was me.” Biggest “I’m him” moment fr

[@nicoborken9963]

half of ss's mtpo vids:

[@ayanamii5334]

World champ difference

[@MoxieBoosted]

I got absolutely cooked for saying gyarados was better back in may...

[@jakesawaguchi4928]

It's good to remember that palafin is still a VERY good mon. I feel like it's a similar enough issue to Dondozo- so many people knew how to play against it that you come in with an info disadvantage. Urshifu's addition makes its chances of a return in Reg D way lower, but honestly I think you can expect to always see a few palafin here and there.

[@archanasoni9666]

Dozo can still sweep if your team doesn't have tools for it which you may or may not have

[@aricodorado]

Playing in nationals and uploading content. This guy is everywhere

[@foggydaugie]

Imagine he recorded it all backstage during nationals

[@Johten]

He's at 9-2 rn hopefully he doesn't lose anymore 🙏🏻

[@Richer_97]

10-2 as of now!

[@peterbenoni1470]

​@@Johten10-2 last I saw+

[@mew2871]

@@Johteni think he’s out now sadly

[@UHavABadConnection]

I feel like an important addition to remember when talking about palafin is that hero-palafin effectively has no ability. While thats not the worst thing in the world, Regigigas wishes it could have no ability, it does mean herofin has one less finger to thumb scales in battle with. Wolfey's pala-amoon-arca core kinda shows that in the other two having continuously reapplicable effects in regenerator healing and intimidate attack drops but after it transforms herofin now only has the pivot typing to add to the team

[@GravityIsFalling]

Palafin effectively has technician due to jet punch being 50% stronger aqua jet

[@pawedziedzic3250]

6:16 I love when Wolfey does this, best brag possible. Just like with "only once a player won with a Perish Song team before". Truly world champ difference

[@bluebaron6811]

Reminds me of what happened to Durant in SWSH. Both were very meager in their own right, but thanks to gen 8's Dynamax and Palifin's Ability, they were both "play good, do good" Pokémon.

[@dannyphantom3591]

What happened to Durant I swsh?

[@Uohhhh777]

​@@dannyphantom3591mold breaker durant was better

[@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917]

​@@dannyphantom3591 Hustle boosts attack but lowers accuracy. So, it's decent attack with Hustle made it threatening but inconsistent. However, in a meta without legendaries where Dynamax boosts the power of moves and ignores accuracy, Durant was a devastating threat that could easily sweep teams. It fell off pretty hard because if you just use Max Guard, or even just Mimikyu, it's pretty easy to counter. It's only really threatening if your opponent is like "Oh, the silly little ant, what's that thing gonna do?"

[@raphaelkgh218]

​@@ashblossomandjoyoussprung.9917thanks for the information! Never knew an ant could become so threatening! Durant also has access to truant of all abilities too... Mayne GameFreak knew they created a champ, durant finally got the attention it deserves, atleast in gen 8!❤

[@itsukizy]

to anybody curious, the North American International Championships are currently happening, with both finalists decided, facing off tomorrow, and Palafin is on one of the finalists teams. there’s a good chance it takes home another international, claiming all three this season. it’s still absolutely a good pokemon, just not as dominant as it was around EUIC.

[@theannilators7479]

I like the beginning story, with Wolfe saying it’s going to be good, everyone sleeping on it, and Wolfe just going “no, TRUST ME!!” And then building its gold standard team

[@Chronoflation]

Between Magikarp evolving into Gyarydos, Feebas into Milotic (to a lesser degree), Wimpod into Golisopod, Wishiwashy having it's school form, and Palafin's Zero to Hero, Gamefreak really seems to have a thing for making the strongest form changing (including evolution) "normal" Pokemon of their generations. Kinda wild that it seems to almost always be the water type, kinda like how pseudo legendaries are almost always dragons or dragon-like in the case of Tyranitaur, Metagross being the only outlier, if I'm not mistaken (in a gen that also had a pseudo-legendary dragon)

[@raphaelkgh218]

Yeah

[@Pika250]

Tinkaton almost had that pseudo vibe to her. If only her base stats reflected this, I could see her Attack stat get significantly higher, so she isn't quite as reliant on her signature Gigaton Hammer.

[@madjester9844]

Honestly I think Palafin will skyrocket once more once Incineroar returns. It's a far better pivot than Arcanine which can support Palafin and remove/check annoying grass types while Palafin can do good against opposing popular Incineroar. We'll just have to wait

[@lovelyluna733]

Same, it'll also mean that Palafin can use Eject Pack to a better use due to more common intimidate. Although it's going to be hard for Palafin to outperform water types like Urshifu with unseen fist

[@arcanine_enjoyer]

100% gonna be happy if Incineroar comes back in the DLC but I dislike Palafin as a Pokémon. I'd love it to stay never used.

[@JTruong3rd]

All it takes is someone thinking outside the box. Maybe one day Palafin will return to save the day when people need him the most.

[@capricous7196]

You need to switch 2 times to get its hero form that's all there is to it, so it won't be likely to see palafin getting attention as much as its used to be

[@SuperDestroyerFox]

I guess you could say raid shadow legends went from zero to zero.

[@CamKoudo]

6:17 Wolfey out here singlehandedly transforming the metagame 😂

[@Pabs1234]

One idea is to use eject pack/button this negates the use of flip turn, this is especially useful against intimidate users such as guarados

[@sconettilda8580]

Then you won't have any item, which is not always acceptable

[@619Slipk]

Fast forward to this man winning worlds this year with palafin

[@therapistivy]

wolfe: palafin is back to zero reg h: nuh uhhh

[@corpo238]

hey wolf, you’ve influenced me a lot to get into comp

[@wholelottanuts]

how, he is terrible

[@ronanjoyce9862]

Ignore the bait acc. Good luck xx

[@princevermilion8799]

​​@@wholelottanutscap, world champ difference is real

[@HydrxUndertale]

Sameee!!!

[@diamonddrawsthegoat]

@@wholelottanuts used Bait! It’s not very effective…

[@nestrior7733]

This is the kind of stuff I was looking forward to with this meta game. You'd think that giving people access to overpowered Mons with any Mono Type they want would make things stale. But no. While a META surfaces at times, it also introduced a lot of innovation to combat it. And Gen 9 is close to perfect for this, imho.

[@meadnex331]

I love how thoroughly you explain exactly what makes each thing good or bad

[@immortaliron2475]

I’d compare palafin to something like a slightly better slaking. Good stats with a great movepool but held back by its ability. Granted the swap out isn’t as bad as truant, but it’s so cumbersome to set up sometimes where it’d be better to use a different water type, like iron bundle or the new to reg d urshifu.

[@spartax8986]

Spot on

[@royalgelly8948]

The ability is nowhere near as much of a drawback as Slaking. Palafin has been banned in singles because "switching out" is nowhere near as much of a drawback, in fact it's a positive.

[@awoooga5857]

​@royalgelly8948 where talking more about vgc, where switching is much more dangerous than in singles.

[@immortaliron2475]

@@royalgelly8948 granted that’s singles, where switching is a lot more common. This is vgc

[@Gspoink]

Granted 1 turn which you do nothing is even more of a liability to slaking because everyone and their mother runs protect.

[@Eltipoquevisteayer]

It could have been interesting making zero palafin somewhat usable (bulkier and faster) and switching between forms everytime it had to switch

[@aerowalker3]

Palafin is easily my favorite gen 9 Pokémon, simply because it’s an adorable dolphin Pokémon that is also beefy as heck. The fact that it had such a strong competitive start is phenomenal news to me, even if it is phasing out of the meta

[@kekkomoshenji7966]

Something tells me the return of regieleki is going to be real impactful of palafin

[@ze-panda]

Im suprised no one's using Tsareena since her ability Queenly Majesty doesnt allow any prioty moves to be used to be a counter against Palafin

[@yomireal7570]

There are better mons for that job

[@Zaceean]

me swapping my tsareena in to block grassy glide and save palafin

[@boop53]

Armor Tail Farigiraf was used a little iirc

[@doomgirl5341]

Tsareena is not a good pokemon, fine, but not got good Having to run her JUST to counter palafin is not a good strat. There are better pokemon that block priority and have better usage like Indeedee with the tools of being a good support pokemon with follow me, helping hand, heal pulse and possible trick room setter

[@felixdaniels37]

Tsareena was fantastic pre-HOME, but she definitely struggles with how severe the post-HOME power creep has been. There's too many strong flying types running around now and tons of good grass types fighting for that team slot.

[@SERMareep2007]

8:40 We will not acccept Wo-Chien slander here.

[@ProfDragonite]

I dunno. Nothing makes me smile more than when I use Shed Tail with my Dragonite, then proceed to Shed Tail AGAIN with my Palafin after he Forme changes. So many rage quits.

[@scottcrysel]

Palafin is pretty GOATed by this point in the season, so it's pretty natural people now have teams built to punish it

[@Promatim]

Palafin reminds me a lot of Norman's Slaking in Nuzlockes. It is very dangerous to face, but you know what is coming, and you can ruin Slaking's day by predicting it.

[@mihael5722]

It’s interesting watching this rn because I just got back from NAIC where several palafin were in the top teams

[@Kleabu46]

I can feel wolfey hating himself doing that sponsor spot for raid. I’m dying😂

[@hugomvpais]

You either die a hero, or live long enough to see your usage rate drop to zero

[@ceoofjeanneism6777]

The landorus T theorem, when something is really good it reshapes the meta and stops being as good since everything has an answer to it.

[@dragonghast5856]

Palafin didnt fall off, he just switched out so he could come back in hero form

[@Clepston]

“The major benefit, of course…” as perish song is used in the background. Okay, Wolfe, we see you.

[@codyssmith73]

I feel like the strat with Palafin would be to try & get the most out of its Zero form. It’s not a bad Mon in its Zero state by any means IMO.

[@selder_7]

Wolfey playing Sonic Heroes music when discussing one of his wins, what a banger

[@imn_fauler6098]

When regulation D releases, wolfe is going to use heatran with cresselia, thundurus and harvest arboliva:)

[@galethewhirlwind3252]

Wolfey working overtime. He’s competing at NAIC and still finds time to upload.

[@superzockertvyt9630]

If someone found a way to make Zero form Palafin good and just have the Hero form as an added bonus they could probably do well with it

[@frosthammer917]

But palafin has nothing going for it other than Hero's big boy stats. It has no special ability, its moveset is quite limited and mostly just attacking moves.

[@superzockertvyt9630]

@@frosthammer917 Imagine if they gave it pure power as its hidden ability

[@frosthammer917]

@@superzockertvyt9630 That would just be stupid broken. Funny but stupid broken. Palafin would have less bulk but the attack power equivalent to a base 190 atk mon off the bat.(so significantly more than hero Palafin)

[@dynnolism]

As to the question which rock I've been living under, I'd say that I have been flinching over and over under rock slide

[@matteoengelland782]

I was never interested in competitive Pokemon but he presents it so good i want to try it myself. Good Work!

[@puffywhy89]

He’s waiting for DLC and Reg D. He is ready to cook…

[@Rmoney213]

3:13 is where the sponsor ends.

[@kirbyhypno2522]

"Oh yeah, and Fluttermane just kinda showed up and is in literally every single team in the tournaments"

[@Sk-gk8zq]

I really shiny hunted one just for Wolfe to tell me it has gone missing

[@realmdarkness]

The question is Wolfe... Will you be using Palafin in the next tournament?

[@PkHunt13]

Palafin flip turned out of the meta

[@monke7587]

Love the use of Ace Attorney music over the past few months! ❤

[@supermariomaker1734]

It makes sense why they don’t use paladin because the vgc is mostly or all about doubles which means zero to hero becomes more of a liability because switching out a Pokémon into hero form can make other mons vulnerable verses singles where you only have to worry about one mon at a time.

[@joshuastreet8664]

Rip Palafin, look how they massacred my boy ❤️

[@Cdv3_]

ZtH is just a bit too clunky for doubles format, where having a predictable turn 1 absolutely kills your momentum. Palafin is a great example of another Pokemon that was “balanced” around VGC, but is completely broken in singles.

[@Lauren_C]

Had Arena Trap/Shadow Tag not gotten the banhammer, or if we still had Pursuit, Palafin would get stuffed in Singles. 🙄

[@finngabriel3907]

The choice of dolphin shoals as the music for this video is A+

[@andychua2766]

Looks like it is really good so the meta developed to counter it and with dlc more counter options became commonplace so it lost its foothold in the meta

[@huhwhat21212]

any1 else just notice that palafins abiliity is h2o backwards

[@Sidorio]

I love this competitive usage statistic videos, very interesting stuff!

[@DARam4009]

And the sad thing is that it'll never be seen again this generation, thanks to Urshifu-RS arriving with Regulation D. You've also got Basculegion, Gyarados and Azumarill will still be pretty significant to check Urshifu and god knows what DLC will bring.

[@mattmanley7118]

Good to see ya Wolfey. I’m kind of glad there is less Palafin around.

[@snorp_lord6141]

To be honest, I kinda like that Palafin didn't just steamroll everything- it's a balanced mon, with drawbacks to match it's strengths. That's what good design looks like! I'm so glad all water types are balanced so well :)))

[@senny-]

Zero to Hero was actually a friendlier version of bad Abilities like Slow Start and Truant, but it's still too much.

[@remington238]

No it isn’t, it’s the lightest little requirement for a Pokémon to work compared to truant or slow start. Y’all are just spoiled

[@cephalosjr.1835]

@@remington238 I’m not sure that’s what that word means. If anything, competitive players, who have to put in great effort to eke out their wins, seem like they’d be the opposite of spoiled.

[@irwanimationtad]

palafin become too popular making it predictable. Palafin: *suffering from success

[@gonzalotorneralonso417]

Could u do more videos about pokemons like this please?? Like the rise and fall of other pokemon throughout générations, doesnt need to be this one spegifically (incineroar, landorus T)

[@maxim9461]

The true definition of a gimmick Pokémon

[@splinter360]

Not really.

[@djmetcalf3815]

I was always skeptical of how good Palafin would be. You become predictable with in in team preview. You have to go 1 vs 2 on turn 1 and there’s not a lot of turns to be waisting time switching out.

[@nautilus2612]

Being unpredictable is overrated. Everyone knows what Amoongus and Chi yu do, but what they do is excellent anyway.

[@Clodsireenjoyer-bc9cd]

1:33 “lets talk about the sponsor of today’s video” My brain: Raid shadow legends. Wolfey: Raid shadow legends

[@thebestplays3413]

Man palafin is such a cool idea i wish it was still viable

[@niello5944]

I wish it has a better design.

[@owenschabacker2321]

Same

[@wholelottanuts]

@@niello5944 wym better design?

[@JubioHDX]

@@niello5944 what more could you possibly want out of a superhero dolphin?😭 its cute in its zero form and looks like superman in its hero form i think the design is good

[@F14thunderhawk]

its a pokemon that megaevolves by switching out without an item restriction. its as centralizing as Mega Rayquaza since its just baby Mega Rayquaza but with the only upside being that you have to burn at least 2 rounds on Palafin to make it useful at all.

[@peekopyro1840]

Wolfey randomly upload new video in the middle of big tournament.. such a world champ difference 😂

[@Jiroscopio_]

I watched the whole video and I still didn't really understand what happened. I understand counters started to become more popular, but for such a drastic disappearance, I would have expected something equally drastic to have changed in the meta

[@_y4020]

He doesn't really "identify" anything as a root cause in the video, but he suggests it might have to do with the rise of Gyarados, which itself performs really well against Palafin teams (he cites the water+fire coverage and taunt as reasons). This created a new team structure that not only beat Palafin, but also beat Dondozo and is beaten by Amoonguss, meaning that the Dondozo teams that Palafin teams succeed against are also fading whereas Amoonguss, one of Palafin's big counters, is spiking in usage. So in total, the rise of Gyarados decreased the chance of seeing Palafin's good matchups while making Palafin's bad matchups more prevalent.

[@i_like_chomp6382]

Gyarados/Iron Hands/Chi Yu all have excellent matchups against Palafin teams while also being more consistent and in control

[@88porpoise]

He doesn't know but speculated on four factors played a role: 1) Counters to Palafin teams (such a Gyaradoa) became more common, 2) Good matchups for Palafin (namely Dodonzo) became less common, 3) People got better at exploiting Palafin's drawbacks (utilizing the obvious switch out), and 4) Other pokemon (particularly Azumarill) were explored replacing Palafin by giving up some power in exchange for smaller weaknesses. All that makes perfect sense although the rapidity of its decline is surprising.

[@OpinionPiece]

Wolfe uploading at video during a tournament. World Champ Difference Baby!

[@pandasempai6459]

But imagine if you could swap out Arcanine for Incineroar.

[@nahxmed]

shoutout to the editor! video was such a visual delight

[@christheenbyVT]

unfortunately i think palafin coming back is very unlikely, Basculegion-M is a better choice for rain teams (we finally have a swift swim user that isn't mediocre) and outside of rain teams, Palafin has very stiff competition from Urshifu Rapid Strike.

[@highroll1607]

New Wolfy video my day just got 10 times better

[@Pishooter]

He fallen down probably because pokemon home came with a lot of counters for him (thunder kyogre, palkia, being almost completely outclassed by urshifu), and most important, annihilape who destroy flip turn leads, because of the free bulk up (and rage fist boost if he decides to use flip turn)

[@PrismaAce]

bro home isn’t available in reg C. AND FLIP TURN???

[@AsterPringlei]

He is talking about doubles, Wolfey doesn't cover singles because it's not the official format for Pokemon

[@Pishooter]

@@AsterPringlei oh... forget anything i said

[@jonming6676]

The day this gets uploaded, Palafin actually makes it to the NAIC finals…timing is impeccable

[@justwallaby7551]

hero to zero

[@jordynstief3225]

Maybe it's just on hiatus and training in a secluded location for a while. You figure, Regulation D just started.

[@diamondapple123]

Unlucky timing, Palafin got to NAIC finals

[@IndigestionMaster]

Dude your videos always have the best music from ace attorney / deltarune & undertale and super mario galaxy 1/2

[@hindelsoft4650]

Ironically the main problem with Palafin is that it's a lot more balanced than anybody thought. Sure on paper the Hero stats seem amazing and Jet Punch seems broken, but he's actually not that fast and not that bulky and only his single target moves. After going through the pain of setting it up all it can do is target one enemy and hope to OHKO it, while needing to hope it itself doesn't get OHKO'd. Most Palafins die from targeting the wrong pokemon while Protect and Ally Switch put them at a great disadvantage while the rest of their team is half-dead from the set up.

[@lastmandalorian8815]

Dropping in just to say using Dan Mason for background music is *chefs kiss*

[@oreoeater6615]

No hero?

[@CyberseGreninja]

Palafin went into retirement after fighting All For One and passed the torch to Urshifu

[@Idk-eb8lc]

1:32 aw hell naw

[@zg9064_]

insane timing to upload this the same day that Palafin makes it to NAIC finals honestly

[@Rcd5000]

To understand what happened to Palafin, Kyogre with max hp, max spAtk, modest, choice scarf, and water spout is better in almost every way.

[@kery_5131]

Kyogre isn't legal

[@Rcd5000]

@@kery_5131 o. I mean in just link battles, it is and it’s pretty broken.

[@laxbeastmode]

Wolfe the type of guy to predict Palofin to be number 1, just to personally make Palofin meta himself

[@matheuscarvalho7014]

Does anyone know the song that plays at 8:00 minutes?

[@abcder733]

It's the B-side theme of level 3 in Celeste, called Celestial Resort (Good Karma Mix).

[@matheuscarvalho7014]

@@abcder733 thanks

[@RapidStrike3]

Wolfe, I have taken this video very seriously and will get Palafin to #1 on showdown

[@thomasmartyn65]

Wolfey is the very best, like no one ever was! In VGC he wins them all, from Players Cup to Worlds! He has fans across the land, cheering by his side! Use Wolfey Blast to understand the power that’s inside!! WOLFEY GLICK! USE WOLFEY BLAST! (The best is he) HE WINS ALL THE VGC! WOLFEY BLAST! (Ooh we are the fans) OF THE BEST WIDEO MAN! WOLFEY GLICK! USE WOLFEY BLAST! (A trainer so true) HAS WIDEOS ON KZbin! HAS THE WORLD CHAMP DIFFERENCE TOO! WOLFEY GLICK! USE WOLFEY BLAST (Use Wolfey blast) WOLFEY GLICK!

[@exigency2231]

this is painful to read

[@mumbosauce4]

Truuuuuu

[@nodupes2129]

u fr uploaded this and then palafin made finals of NAIC and could potentially win it tomorrow

[@badanimator984]

Flip turn palafin seems kinda op on paper but it’s much worse

[@KingPirateVideos]

I love to leed Dondozo and Palafin, switching Palafin for free to Tatsugiri and rampaging with Dondozo while having a broken finisher in the back, Hero Palafin :D

[@gabrielcarvalhoseixas3112]

0:42 Br🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷🇧🇷

[@Ewokpenguin]

Thank you for the Dolphin Shoals In the background :]