How a “Bad” Legendary Pokemon Won a Tournament

Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring this video! New subscribers get a free mystery gift with your first membership purchase - go to bespokepost.com/wolfeygift and enter code WOLFEYGIFT at checkout.
After literally never being good, Articuno finally won a big tournament. Here's how it happened.
Check out all my Scarlet and Violet videos here: • Scarlet and Violet
Check out the secret channel►: / @bonuswolfe684
#Pokemon #ScarletViolet #WolfeyVGC
Patreon►: / wolfeyvgc
Tiktok►: / wolfeyvgc
Twitter►: / wolfeyglick
Instagram►: / wolfeyglick
Producer/Lead Editor: / whit_edit
Edited by: / iconiqlast
Thumbnail Artist: / kaatokunart
Thumbnail Designer: / devilmaycats

[@WolfeyVGC]

New Bespoke Post subscribers get a free mystery gift with your first membership purchase - go to bespokepost.com/wolfeygift and enter code WOLFEYGIFT at checkout. Thanks to Bespoke Post for sponsoring!

[@ngopeytonvgc]

First also big fan wolfe pls heart the comment

[@blahbah9254]

Couple of times you have interchanged the spDef stat to Def stat . so the boost is 100 to 150 not 125 to 187.5

[@obiwancannoli1920]

​@@blahbah9254the def stat he shows is not the base stat, it's the defense at lvl 50 31IVs 0EVs

[@blahbah9254]

Oh thanks. I didnt know that @@obiwancannoli1920

[@NintendoFan---481]

Hey I'm your old subscriber and I want to tell you my birthday is in March 22 ❤

[@PedroHenrique-mk5zi]

Low IQ: Spam Ice Stab. Medium IQ: "Your moveset must be versatile to deal with different situations". High IQ: Spam Ice Stab.

[@EyeWasBored]

to be fair, the moveset is quite versatile, just not in terms of typing

[@Endershock1678]

Low IQ: Haha, funny blizzard to brrr. Medium IQ: I should optimize my moveset to take advantage of its longevity, utilizing roost and bright power with a strong defensive Tera like water to let it stay on field and optimize its evasion. High IQ: Haha, funny blizzard go brrr.

[@iamaperson7545]

Weak aura: I am in peace with my coverage and utility STRONG AURA: 4 STAB ICE MOVES BABIIIIIII!!

[@byzantine5761]

One of the reasons Wolfe won one of his most recent tournaments in the final match was him electing not to overthink and just click the strong move with the strong Pokémon. And it worked

[@obiwancannoli1920]

Curve bell meme

[@EigenMemes]

Worth it to note: In Snow/Hail Blizzard does not become 100% Accurate, it actually bypasses the Accuracy Check entirely.

[@kINg_Of_yOuTuBe__]

Does that mean there is now way make the blizzard miss in snow except for flinching

[@EigenMemes]

@kINg_Of_yOuTuBe__ Yes, the only way to stop it, is to make sure it never goes off in the first place

[@glacierwolf2155]

Minimize mfs: 💀

[@vallar57]

Does Detect cause it to miss or it bypasses that as well?

[@4SS-FART]

​@@vallar57 it wont hit through protection moves, no. anything after the protection is a binary "nope" - its not simply reducing the attackers accuracy to 0% for that turn. Just as blizzard in this case has a binary "yes", rather than being set to 100%. So yeah, detect works as normal, since it has priority over blizzard still edit : It used to have a small chance - i dont think that was intentional though. it was patched a few gens ago

[@Evectrolyte]

“For the first time in almost 30 years, Articuno truly looked legendary” Spectacular ending quote. So great to see, what should be a powerful Pokémon, finally get to show what it is capable of.

[@Fidothedog11212]

Also made me remember I'm an old bastard

[@FoxxPlushie]

That quote was so incredible that it froze me, it was really chilly....

[@ronnycrawf2441]

Articuno was my first legend I caught when I played Fire Red as a kid. Exploring seafoam islands and finding it was so cool, it’s nice to see it finally able to do something in VGC.

[@GerardoLeonVE]

Such a corny line, I love it

[@scottygagnon4287]

Articuno was really good in gen 1...

[@latrodectusmactans7592]

“My child will use a variety of coverage moves” “My child will use Ice Beam, Blizzard, Freeze Dry, and Sheer Cold on an Ice type with Tera Ice”

[@devonm042690]

"I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face. I'll throw a straight right jab at him, but I'll stop short just before I hit his face."

[@ivyartemis2431]

fuck it, we choice specs sheer cold

[@lakshaybareja6562]

I am so glad I caught this regional live. Everybody was so hype in twitch chat because the finals was between a guy who was undefeated and the guy running an articuno

[@107Pedro]

Yeah I watched it after and was still hyped lol "CMON ARTY YOU CAN BEAT THE MONSTER"

[@Endershock1678]

It should also be added, Day 2 was absolutely nuts. So many weird Pokémon, strange team comps, crits, misses, and the day even started with 2 sheer colds. Everything about the stream was hype, and the Articuno was the cherry on top.

[@DeathChaos]

@@Endershock1678I absolutely agree, after all the tornshifu tournaments and then people once again settling into meta teams, watching this regional was an absolute treat, I can't remember the last time i was this hyped watching a regional since recent times.

[@eduardude9184]

It feels weird to see a pokemon in competitive with all moves being of the same type

[@astridparungao4971]

When they're one trick ponies, but that one trick pony is all it needs to dominate and get good results. In short, it just really works.

[@numberhunter62]

It's definitely weird but nothing is straight up immune to Ice type so that's less of an issue than some other types.

[@Murkglow]

Sheer Cold is only technically an Ice move, it's typing really means nothing. Also, Freeze Dry is somewhat unique in that it changes the SE range of the type, getting around Ice's weakness to Water. You could say it's a different "type" than normal Ice (a "coverage" move essentially). The only "doubling up" is Blizzard and Ice Beam, which isn't uncommon. You often see Pixelated Hyper Voice and Moonbeam or Surf and Muddy Water on the same moveset.

[@gentlepeeps3351]

To be fair each ice tote move does something different freeze dry is also basically coverage

[@Bladieblah]

​@@astridparungao4971 The concept of one trick pony does not even make sense in VGC since a team literally has to work well as a whole to succeed. All the moves being ice type is not one trick, it's just one common trait. Each of the moves has a different function, there just wasn't a reason to add moves of a different type. It's more coincidence than it being a "trick". And this is slightly unrelated but in some games "one trick" is a derogatory term for what is essentially a specialist or an expert, like in a MOBA or a game like Overwatch. It's copium, another bad excuse for losing and not acknowledging your opponent is just better ("they're not better than me, they're just a one trick". "I can play 3 characters at a mediocre level so that makes me better than someone who can play one at a high/decent level".)

[@violetmiraidon]

Who would win? Several well constructed teams utilizing meta staples and powerful team comps, or a funny bird wearing glasses?

[@dummykeir1717]

Agreed meta forget weather exist this season

[@adhyawhan]

The glasses are also funny

[@ComboFood]

A funny bird with 4 ice moves wearing glasses

[@legromp2357]

That sound effect when Articuno put on the choice specs was hilarious

[@Warlord_Megatron]

A bird with all damaging moves of just one type

[@BiohazardScott]

*And Articuno learns FREEZE DRY, an ice-type move that deals super effective damage to water types.

[@kobiemartinbose6126]

Seeing Articuno tank a fire Ivy Cudgel AND a wicked blow at the same time and shrug it off so effortlessly speaks that Articuno really is legendary.

[@FortooSP]

FIRE IVY CUDGEL??? WAS THE OGERPON TERA’D?

[@tuanthanhtruong7918]

​@@FortooSP not tera but he did wear the fire mask,making ivy cudgel a fire atk with 100 power.

[@FortooSP]

@@tuanthanhtruong7918 Mf I know that. You didn’t need to say it was a fire move and a hundred base power. Thanks for letting me know it’s mot tera

[@An0nymous_L0gic]

I love how every time flinch comes up, we already know what clip is going to immediately follow.

[@erickmiranda6717]

Dude's been playing Pokémon for years and still gets salty about this stuff. Smh.

[@controlcon]

​@@erickmiranda6717the king of liking his own comments?

[@skkadoot9533]

@@controlcon i'm gonna like your comment so it looks like you did the same

[@erickmiranda6717]

@@controlconYes... 'Cause they're really important for me...

[@ecilion3047]

​@@skkadoot9533professional hater

[@lordgrub12345]

That team was chill as fuck. It really iced the competition.

[@axell15thewispmaster79]

Really?

[@brettstearns3488]

Cold blooded killers

[@Blue_Baron]

Its was pretty cool

[@legromp2357]

nice

[@Alernategem]

Straight to jail

[@ugandianos_]

articuno only thrived because butterfree didnt exist in scvi. Rigged.

[@Doomzdeh]

Maractus would’ve swept. This is absolutely outrageous

[@GhostRider-sf6vr]

😂😂😂😂😂

[@TwilightChomperEnthusiast]

Nah, it will only be a “bad” legendary once I hear about Silvally getting anything good sometime this decade…

[@BlazingJ972]

They buffed multi attack to 120 base power in gen 8. That's probably it but it's something

[@HoverMelon2000]

Woah it's that guy from Fry Em Up's comments!

[@TwilightChomperEnthusiast]

@@BlazingJ972 That was really it. I know it’s supposed to be an inferior Arceus, but they didn’t need to make it awful in pretty much every way!

[@TwilightChomperEnthusiast]

@@HoverMelon2000 Really??

[@robertparkhurst4034]

Fixing Silvally’s ability to learn all of the Pledge moves instead of just Grass Pledge would be a neat upgrade

[@lilithkitsune7152]

I think one of the best things about S&V is the fact that terrestrialisation has caused a lot of pokemon that were held back purely by type to be allowed in the limelight. It's been great to see the variety and I honestly kinda hope they pull a gen 3 and keep a new mechanic for the first time in forever (g3 referring to keeping abilities)

[@erickmiranda6717]

They're not keeping it. They will come out with something new so you buy the next game. Also, the design choices for Teras are the worst I've seen in years. Like Fire Teras getting a chandelier in their heads and Fighting Teras getting just a fist...

[@numberhunter62]

@@erickmiranda6717 Well Pokemon is primarily designed for children, and they might think the goofy hats are funny or cool. Also, the did keep megas when they introduced Z-moves so it's not impossible. Terra just can't be the primary gimmick focus.

[@lilithkitsune7152]

@@erickmiranda6717 I can want something, even if it's unlikely to happen. Like the other reply says they kept megas around for the z-moves portion so it's not impossible. I also wonder how ogerpon will work without terra (they could just drop it though tbf) The head ornament thing is just you being nitpicky. I care more about the gameplay effects than the hats being works of art, plus you never know if they might improve it if they actually kept it around since it would be worth investing more time into it if it'll be around more than just 1 generation.

[@erickmiranda6717]

@@lilithkitsune7152 So? I can answer the same way you did. I can be nitpicky for a game that has nothing going for it. New mons look like ass and the game is boring to play with no soul put into it. I guess the competitive side gets benefited from the gimmick but they're definetely gonna drop it. They could keep it, but the new gimmick is always gonna negate it or else it wouldn't be a new generation. Learn to get different opinions than yours. specially on the internet. You sound too flakey. Also, GF doesn't care about waht YOU want.

[@erickmiranda6717]

@@numberhunter62Leaving Teras in will mean nothing with the new gimmick. And the "Tera hats" are just mediocre design, there's no way around it. It's not the only case within Gen 9 and you know it.

[@jthmastermind]

My favorite thing about Gen 9 has been the resurgence of older Pokemon in the Meta. Tyranitar, Articuno, Arcanine, Dragonite... it's really interesting to see.

[@lucifermorningstar8562]

Tyranitar got less usage in Gen 9 though.

[@HazeEmry]

Tyranitar dropped off hard in gen 9. Though being at the top for 7 or so gens is a great feat.

[@HarryPotter-uv8yp]

Honestly, I always loved Articuno’s design as a kid. It was enchanting. But as I grew older, I came to lament its place in Pokemon due to my understanding of its mechanics. Still, it remained my favorite of the birds. …so seeing this…kind of made me tear up a bit. It’s Pachirusu all over again, and it’s beautiful.

[@kitsunekirin7781]

I think it's worth noting that Articuno was in fact on the winning team at Space World '97, piloted by Toru Miyazawa. Of course, this was with gen 1 mechanics, ~31% freeze rate ~90% accuracy blizzard, and Articuno was blessed with a 125 special stat at the time (which pulled double duty as both its special attack and special defense).

[@fatyoshi696]

it bothers me when people say articuno was never good, it was actually top tier in nintendo cup 97, the first ever competitive pokemon format, where it could spam nuclear 120 power, 90% accuracy, 30% freeze chance blizzards off its gigantic base 125 special and not have to be afraid of freezes itself

[@Iamyourpadisah]

Yes, but that would require Wolfe to be able to acknowledge the existence of the first three generations.

[@andrewjones1395]

I mean, Gen 1 was a lawless wasteland that barely held together. Plus, that version of Articuno was still poor, if somewhat stronger in Special, but the insane Blizzard of Gen 1 is doing most of the heavy lifting there. 90% accurate with 30% to freeze, back when freeze was ENTIRELY a death sentence because there was no practical way to thaw? That's not the bird being good, that's the move. Don't confuse/combine the two to mean the same thing. Not to mention that version of Blizzard only exists in JP versions of Gen 1, so the rest of the world never saw that. But yeah, take a single, brief, very specific instance, and you're technically correct that Articuno wasn't ALWAYS terrible. The best kind of correct. You really showed us.

[@marcotrickshotpolo5078]

WE DONE WITH THE 90s

[@luizbezerra4373]

True that. "Never" means "not even once", and Articuno used to be amazing in Gen 1, before the Special split into SAtk and SDef, and Blizzard's debuff

[@MarloMaverickk]

Bro if it werent for Hail here or Tera it wouldnt be shit. Blizzard on Articuno's meaty 125 special is what got it. Thats combining a tool with its own quality. Articuno is also generally good/decent in Gen 1 OU to this day so idk what he did wrong lol ​@andrewjones1395

[@solgerWhyIsThereAnAtItLooksBad]

Rolling that 4 year old’s first pokemon playthrough moveset 🔥🔥🔥

[@Satherian]

14:14 Articuno taking barely any damage from Ivy Cuddle and Wicked Blow (aka two of the scariest damaging moves) says so much

[@fahimmahmud7534]

Seems like Articuno had the WORLD CHAMP DIFFERENCE babayyyyhhhhh....

[@AdminAbuse]

Comedy

[@Winterbraid]

I don't play competitive myself but it always makes me happy when one of my favorites gets a chance to shine

[@gregorymirabella1423]

Articuno would've been great all this time if it got to keep its 125 special attack stat like the other 2 birds did.

[@teno777]

Errr… no, it still wouldn’t have.

[@lucifermorningstar8562]

It would have been slightly better but not really that much of a difference.

[@jblen]

Did articuno just have a higher stat total than the others? On Pokémon db it just says "in gen1 acticuno had a special stat of 125" and I can't find anything else about the change (on the first handful of results of Google which is all I cared to check) I also think it would have been broken if it kept mind reader. Online forums disagree but I think mind reader sheer cold is busted, especially on a tanky Pokémon.

[@gregorymirabella1423]

@@teno777 Yes it would.

[@gregorymirabella1423]

@@jblen Articuno had the lowest bst at 485. Zapdos was 490 and Moltres was 495. In gen 2 they were all increased to 580.

[@TheGlactic]

Wolfey: Odds are most of you think your subscribed but arent. Me: I watch your videos regularly man, im definitely subsc- oh im not... World champ difference right there.

[@onebear6504]

Not so related but... In contrast, I just watched Wolfey again after a long long while and just realized that I was actually subscribed (⁠･⁠o⁠･⁠;⁠) To add context, I rarely subscribe to a channel unless their content is consistently something I like or I just wanna support em so the list isn't too big and I can navigate better lol

[@TheBoss-ih1rf]

​@@onebear6504cool story bro

[@poro9084]

for people wondering - those emotes wolfey sometimes uses in this video - like abomasnow in 13:03 are from game Ragnaron Online - mmorpg

[@MsVilecat]

A classic

[@welcometohamton2649]

Good times. Good times...

[@dju164]

noticed immediately ♥

[@chardo.]

I love this. Articuno has been my favorite legendary ever since the beginning. I was always on the believe that GF should just swap its two special stats, but this warms my heart too.

[@Blazerman004]

Something to mention was Patrick D (Pdonz) getting Day 2 at Worlds this past year with Articuno!

[@Pd0nZ]

Wolfe mentioned it in another video. I'm just happy to see the bird having the success its having! ❄

[@bransonlincolnberger]

i love articuno so im glad it finally did something 😭 ive had one sitting in my pokemon pearl pc boxes since 2018 and ive always believed in it ❤

[@azaleawa]

that thumbnail is so cute,, and guilty gear cameo omf lfg

[@exotic9417]

Mr. Busta himself

[@phatnana2379]

Doesn't have much to do with actual VGC but Kanto Articuno is a STAPLE of a USUM Battle Tree Super Doubles team I got +1500 wins with. Articuno is a bulky Tailwind setter that's immune to Hax-Walrein's OHKO spam (Sheer Cold and Fissure), beats Gyarados with Freeze Dry, and Phys-Def Mega- Venusaur with Z-Hurricane... 3 Mons known for ending streaks

[@theoreticallyinsane5]

Articuno is also notably quite strong in the earliest competitive Pokemon format ever: Space World Poke Cup (1997). Articuno's Blizzard is the strongest unboosted Special attack in all of Gen I, tied only by Zapdos's Thunder, but unlike Thunder, Blizzard had 90% Accuracy and since it was JP Red/Green, it also had a 30% chance to freeze. Plague Von Karma has an excellent video about it (When Pokemon was a Televised Esport), highly recommend checking it out if you've any interest.

[@Jabarishabazz444]

You’re editor is top notch I enjoy learning about Pokémon strats and what better than a funny video to entertain/teach me

[@iPharaoh54]

Kinda wish that since they changed Hail. They should have also changed Freeze to Frostbite. A Special Attack effecting Burn is actually quite amazing

[@je19493]

In swiss round 3 on stream of that tournament, you could see a game changing snow cloak activation when articuno dodged a parting shot from incin then hit it with sheer cold the following turn

[@Nexzash]

I love Articuno since I wiped out Lance's team with him in pokémon yellow 25yrs ago, glad to see my favorite legendary in the spotlight.

[@adhyawhan]

I remembered a pokemon page said about this "your 10 years old self pokemon just won a regional tournament"

[@adamw9764]

Ice has always been my favorite type in any of the games, glad to see it being pretty useful and solid in certain situations.

[@proshot10]

The old thumbnail was way better

[@FlamingZelda3]

Articuno has always been my favorite legendary. Nice to see it shine even if only for a brief moment. Also watching that top 8 live was super hype.

[@domenichughes7792]

Articuno was my favorite in my Yellow playthrough as a lil kid. Glad to see it finally getting some justice

[@GamingLairDX]

Id argue that Articuno was great in 1997 with Red and Green Nintendo Cup. Maybe 2nd to Jynx due to freeze being a 30% chance instead of 10%.

[@SupahTrunks7]

Was watching the tournament live and was so stoked when Nikhil won. I have a soft spot for articuno so i'd been rooting for him the whole of day two. You were right that he wasn't just lucky with secondary effects and sheer colds, he said himself that he didnt even click sheer cold until his first stream match on day 2, so he went all of day 1 without it.

[@gunterthesinger]

This video reminded me how much I love Articuno and the ice type in general. Even if they require some creativity to use.

[@lycopolis4132]

Given the amount of players at this tournament and chien pao being the only ice type people prepared about, it's statistically very very like that in the days before the competition, someone, somewhere, actually had the following discussion "-Damn your team has so many ice weaknesses -I know but, I don't really care. I have my Pao check so what is any gonna do with my ice weakness? Pull out articuno and blizzard me to death? /s -Hahaha yeah right"

[@Chicxy_Madness]

Was watching it live, it was insane ! I love how chat was spamming "when's Wolfey gonna fight" though 💀

[@Vilianess]

I saw the competition live and I was laughing at the amount of sheer colds being hit. Glad that the team got so much attention.

[@Paina.]

"Odds are, you might think you are subscribed, but you aren't" My jaw dropped when I realized I was NOT subscribed. I have been watching your channel a lot lately cause the algorithm keeps throwing your videos at me (which is great). I thought I had already subscribed lol

[@stan_1999]

Sheer Cold, Ice Beam, Freeze Dry, Blizzard and Specs is such a bawler set

[@bigtoadtim3331]

Dude that's such peak pokemon. A random bad pokemon getting a random buff and suddenly becoming a crazy sleeper hit and taking everyone for surprise

[@RandomSwitchGamer]

Great freaking video Wolfey! I was going off at work while listening to Articuno taking this tournament by storm And that transition at 11:10 was freaking awesome, and that final line of the video is tear worthy... Great time and video for anyone who is an Articuno fan

[@karlols2321]

You uploading every saturday is making me so happy. I am so addicted to your channel I have rewatched so many videos these past 3 weeks lmao. Thank you Mr. Wolfey

[@johndrury9757]

If you use the bright powder item you can go for a build centered around your opponent missing attacks. I have been using this build and as a beginner articouno has helped me win a lot of matches

[@xmangle5382]

I mean, it might provide some results but still relies in luck, most serious players would rather have something consistent

[@seantomlinson3320]

That was fun. Thanks for the breakdown. I’m astonished by surviving both Ogerpon and Urshifu. Amazing.

[@starbeam7679]

I love seeing how METAs in games change like this. The fact that a new kind of team can show up and destroy everyone because of how unexpected it is, and is then countered by using more odd methods. Its fun to see METAs change and adapt, like a group of creatures evolving to survive their conditions.

[@Dadmagic]

Animation was off the charts for this video, great work team!

[@luxthetiger]

Aurora veil plus intimidate is wild haha

[@WhirlyBeepBoops]

Woo, justice for Antarctica! (A member of my extremely nostalgic Heartgold Kanto team)

[@EeveeFlipnoteStudios]

Shoutout to the person who makes the thumbnail art for these videos. They are eye-catching and lovely.

[@TheKayzor]

Excellent video, love seeing the history of a pokemon like this and how they're good now. But also props to the editor, that was fire, and there were a ton of cool transitions and animations here!

[@Supreme_Rage]

Wolfeys changes thumbnails and video titles more than the amount of times Incineroar switches in

[@dubbleder4050]

Can we talk about how incredible these edits are?! Wolfey's essays are always amazing, and he deserves the shine he gets, but these edits are just as next-level.

[@Alexandra-ez8rj]

16:40 I see that phone number. Thanks, that song will be stuck in my head for the rest of forever.

[@azsolus7845]

My favorite Pokémon since it’s debut in the 90s , loved this majestic pigeon so much I would draw it while in class. Finally getting its spotlight

[@DGFTardin]

Freezai may have beaten you to it in terms of date, but your vid is more in depth! It's always nice when one of your favorites that forever sucked randomly gits gud!

[@sworbet7708]

I’m so happy Wolfe did a video on this. ❤ Articuno has always been my fave legendary bird.

[@sythraxx777]

Just wanna say thanks Wolfey I've always been a competitive singles player since 2013 I dabled in doubles alot in gen 7. And usually I find vgc content kinda boring but you make it all so interesting I could listen to you talk and teach for hours something I thought I would never be into could be fixed with just the right charismatic person one day I hope I can meet you! Wish you the best in your upcoming journey as Champion and on KZbin

[@PonyJammin]

I'm so happy for Articuno during that tournament, and I'm glad the players brought it and let it shine. It's always been my favorite of the original trio, and it's such a shame it never managed to do anything until now. Good job, ice bird, I hope to see more of you in the future! (Twitter was hilarious that weekend, truly something to see)

[@risel56]

I can't be the only one that noticed the Ragnarok Online emote bubbles. Whoever edited this video is someone of culture as well.

[@matthewdalida7170]

Was looking for this comment 😂

[@senpafl4405]

Articuno always had a special place in my heart, great to see it getting some time in the spotlight!

[@deviousdieselmusic]

Wolf your video quality is fantastic right now! I’m happily subscribed. I’m so glad you love what you do because I genuinely enjoy your videos so much! So informative and enjoyable. Thanks man 🫶🏻

[@f0k681]

Team Mystic stays winning.

[@LaserfaceJones]

The whole video could've been the clip at 14 minutes and I'd have believed it. Good god that defense.

[@ThatRedHusky]

excuse you Mr Wolf, chili ice cream is delicious. Appreciate the use of my boi Potemkin tho

[@mofoprada]

Great video, Wolfey. Nice to see the Articuno resurgence continue with tournament wins in 2023 & 2024. For a legendary that got robbed of its stats by Game Freak after Gen 2’s debut, it’s so refreshing to see it make a comeback in the meta. Ice Types should have never been this frail to begin with. But the Gen 9 buff is a great way to make up for the mistakes by Game Freak after Gen 2 came out.

[@kulrigalestout]

The thumbnail art is adorable, props to the artist :3

[@NaloCSGO]

As a long time fan seeing your high quality analysis get the high quality editing it deserves is awesome, I absolutely loved the editing at 16:30 with the real life backdrops.

[@Luigiman59able]

Crazy good video. I love the deep dives on the mechanics of underutilized Pokémon

[@Bismarck-S]

I need to stop being chronically online 💀

[@joshlewis8860]

It’s always really impressive when a player sneaks a new team comp straight into the meta by winning a tourney out of no where. They really put in the time to understand current used teams and found a way to exploit other team’s weaknesses while covering for their own. I think that’s super impressive, and super entertaining to see in a video like this too. Great video!

[@Shiradrenaline]

I'm so happy you did a vid on the Blizz'd n Blasted Cuno Squad. Really been enjoying the top tier players reviewing (and using) it!

[@mobes8876]

Chili and Ice Cream shouldn’t mix. Oof. The Filipinos and their Sili Ice Cream would like a word

[@MsVilecat]

I'm glad it's shaking the meta a bit, hopefully we'll see more variety in pokemon brought to doubles.

[@Endershock1678]

I don’t get this take. Reg F has an insane amount of diversity, with well over 70 or even more Pokémon reaching top cut of regionals since the beginning of the Regulation. Even to the point where players in Beastcoast or other creators like Moxie is saying this format is too decentralized. This tournament is a great showcase of this. In the top 8, we had 22 different Pokémon, and just outside the top 8, we had Pokémon like Roaring Moon, Okidogi, Iron Boulder, Annahliape, Whimsicott, Goodra, and Volcarona in the top 16 alone. Even teams with 3 or so similar Pokémon often played very different archetypes.

[@gerrynava981]

Have you been living under a rock

[@ShaDoWZ0D]

Man that video was insane, your editing, editing of scenes, flawless work!!

[@Mocita]

I never thought I'd see Ragnarok Online emotes used in this video. That brought back so many memories.

[@user-sq6ql2qz7f]

When there's a title like this, it's always wolfe

[@oscarmccormack1611]

0:45 Okay, I feel the need to correct the record: because there was no doubles format in Gens 1 & 2, and because the doubles mechanics (competitively) were deeply flawed in Gen 3, the only viable format to judge Articuno for those generations was a singles format: either 3v3 or 6v6. What's more, there weren't official doubles tournaments at all until Gen 4. In a singles context, for the first 3 generations, Articuno is pretty good. It's not great, but it's solid, with a unique defensive profile and one of the strongest special attack stats for an unrestricted pokemon (especially in Generation 1, where Blizzard has 90% accuracy). Post Gen 3, in both doubles and singles, yeah, Articuno is pretty crap. Singles it loses 50% of its health every time it switches thanks to the ever-present Stealth Rock, in doubles it dies to any strong Rock Slide, and in both it fails to have any redeeming traits.

[@cuttlefish6839]

Gen 1 it's amazing gen 2 it's mid gen 3 it's bad Gen 3 introduced many amazing pokemon and gen 2 introduced strong pokemon that become better in gen 3

[@Skeloperch]

You're missing more pieces of the puzzle to Articuno's Gen 1 viability - Freeze is an insta-kill and Special was one stat. All the Legendary Birds had 125 Special stat, including Articuno, meaning they could all hit equally as hard. Steel wasn't in the game yet and Fire didn't resist Ice yet either, meaning the only Ice resists were Water and Ice. Fighting an Articuno in Gen 1 was especially scary since the only Rock types with any viability were also part Ground meaning they ate massive ish from Blizzard. There was no way to thaw from Freeze other than getting hit by a Fire type attack meaning your frozen Pokemon were as good as gone. All these combined to make Articuno an absolute menace in the meta, and basically every strong trait I mentioned was eradicated by Gen 2's balance changes.

[@MrCheeze]

Not to mention that, in the original japanese Red and Green (but not international Red and Blue), Blizzard has an insane 30% freeze chance, which makes Articuno even better. Although surprisingly, it still ends up being the worst legendary bird, and the second-worst ice type (beating only Dewgong).

[@camilo5]

the quality of the animation is insane, I really enjoyed the editing with the lesson

[@T0beyeus]

I remember when Ting-Lu was super popular because it has access to Fissure, I think it will be a similar situation where Articuno will fall off once the Meta adjusts. I still think Ice Type needs a small buff, mainly being resistant to Water Type. Now if only they would buff the Bug Type!

[@redgamer2754]

Articuno has NO RIGHT TO BE SO ADORABLE IN THE THUMBNAIL

[@lulzellezlul6975]

It has all the freaking right brotherman

[@erickmiranda6717]

That thumbnail is so cringe is not even funny.

[@joopvanhedel1372]

This shows how deep Pokemon can be. With more than 1025 playable characters, 1083 if you count regional variants as separate Pokemon. 1 small change to the game can change everything

[@rimimimimimimimim4170]

damn this is such a well put together video. I knew about the ice type change in the meta, but this video was great

[@LuckyLucyHi]

Even Nikhil in his interview predicted that Articuno would quite quickly be usurped by sun teams making a comeback to counter it, so we should revel in it while we can. Was a great tournament to watch with Nikhil and Emir catching everyone out.

[@noofalshekar]

Love the vid (I love the blue boosting bird)

[@DGFTardin]

Serious question: Why not Regice instead? It has way higher SpDef an slightly higher SpAtk, in exchange of a little Hp, and speed though Articuno isn't outspeeding much anyway. Is it just because of Sheer Cold?

[@IschmarVI]

Articuno gets Haze, Freeze Dry (although to be fair, Regice gets thunderbolt for water types) and benefits from tailwind (a move it can learn btw.). And then there is also that sheer cold nonsense. Plus, it is still plenty bulky on the special side. I guess it is just easier to fit into a team. (as regice not only needs snow but ALSO needs trick room). Oh, and Regice also doesn't have snow cloak.

[@dominicpirola8240]

Base 90 speed is really relevant against a lot of mons, while mid compared to flutter mane ogerpon urshifu etc it's still faster than a LOT of the metagame, flying typing let's u wall landorus I, rillaboom, weakens close combat from urshifu and iron hands so if your likely to burn tera on Articuno anyway having the option of being ice flying rather than pure ice is extremely useful not to mention regice does not have the ability to dodge 80% of 100 base accuracy moves making articunos bulk and expected favourable variance far exeed that of regice (12% chip heal every turn vs 80% chance to dodge a tera fire Ivy cudgel ohko is WAY worse of an ability)

[@samuelamity8971]

Long time play VGC player and this is some solid content man. It really shows context while being constantly being entertaining. Your stuff has come a long way since your initial foray into being a real youtubist.

[@StaticPika]

I love watching all of Wolfes vids! They are so inspirational and also educational! Seeing something that is not normally used is amazing to see and hope other mons become usable as well! 😄

[@quinnmccann2576]

I’ve been killing it with Frosmoth on the ladder, and someone won a tournament with it.

[@KLightning18]

Lock on Sheer cold Tanky Dodge Blizzard

[@KLightning18]

CALLED IT A FEW SECONDS BEFORE IT HAPPENED, the sheer cold. Let’s see if he talks about lock on.

[@dominicpirola8240]

Lock on... You can just switch out- basically a single target perish song that forces the user to waste two turns while the target can just bring in incineroar

[@mctoasted504]

Just wanted to say I loved the phone number joke at 16:42

[@absolutetrash7880]

12:30, guess you could say that joke got a...Chilly Reception