Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV)

Best Abilities for Competitive Battle

7

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Certain Abilities like Intimidate or Prankster do exceptionally well in Competitive Battles for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on to learn what best abilities to use for competitive play in Gen 9 and how to make the most out of them.

List of Contents

Best Abilities for Ranked Battle

Intimidate

Gyarados ImageGyarados
Intimidate 		Salamence ImageSalamence
Intimidate 		Arcanine ImageArcanine
Intimidate

With Incineroar gone, other users of Intimidate can get a chance to shine. Gyarados and Salamence immediately stand out as Intimidate users because they are also powerful offensive threats, while Arcanine is a potent support Pokemon with offensive capabilities.

Intimidate is a valuable Ability to have on your team because its ease of use and powerful effect of lowering opposing Pokemon's Attack stat by 1 stage.

Prankster

Murkrow ImageMurkrow
Prankster 		Grimmsnarl ImageGrimmsnarl
Prankster

Prankster Pokemon give your team all-important support. Being able to move first regardless of Speed is very advantageous and can set the tone for many battles. Sableye and Murkrow offer Prankster-boosted Speed control in the form of Quash and Tailwind.

Abilities That Affect The Weather

Tyranitar ImageTyranitar
Sand Stream 		Torkoal ImageTorkoal
Drought 		Pelipper ImagePelipper
Drizzle

Early on in a new Pokemon game's lifespan, people tend to gravitate towards building Weather Teams due to intuitive Pokemon choices and consistency.

Tyranitar, Torkoal and Pelipper were all excellent Pokemon to build around after the release of previous mainline Pokemon titles. It is expected that these Pokemon will also do well as the Scarlet and Violet metagame continues to develop.

Abilities That Are Useful In Weather

Houndstone ImageHoundstone
Sand Rush 		Lilligant ImageLilligant
Chlorophyll 		Golduck ImageGolduck
Swift Swim

Pokemon that can thrive in Weather are often good to slot into teams. These Pokemon are often also synergistic with the Pokemon that can set beneficial Weather for them, because they offer 'fast and slow modes' for their teams.

Dugtrio, Lilligant, and Golduck are all significantly faster than their partners. Varying Speed gives teams versatility especially when faced with different forms of Speed Control.

Weather's Effects in Battle

Weather Effect
Sun ・The damage of Fire-type moves are increased by 1.5x
・The damage of Water-type moves are decreased by 0.5x
Rain ・The damage of Water-type moves are increased by 1.5x
・The damage of Fire-type moves are decreased by 0.5x
Sandstorm ・Rock-type Pokemon's Special Defense are increased by 1.5x
・Pokemon that are not Ground, Rock or Steel-type take damage equal 1/16th of their maximum HP at the end of each turn
Snow ・Ice-type Pokemon's Defense are increased by 1.5x

Defensive Abilities

Farigiraf ImageFarigiraf
Armor Tail 		Hatterene ImageHatterene
Magic Bounce

Abilities that protect its user somehow are powerful Abilities to have. These Abilities are ideally on support Pokemon, but Hatterene can be a potent Special Attacker in Trick Room.

Abilities That Give Immunities

Hydreigon ImageHydreigon
Levitate 		Armarouge ImageArmarouge
Flash Fire 		Gastrodon (West Sea) ImageGastrodon (West Sea)
Storm Drain

Abilities that give its user immunities are very useful, especially when used in conjunction with Terastallizing.

Hydreigon, for instance, can Terastallize into a Steel-type with an immunity to Ground. Armarouge can Terastallize into a Grass-type that is immune to Fire, while Gastrodon can Terastallize into a Fire-type that is immune to Water.

Unaware

Dondozo ImageDondozo
Unaware 		Skeledirge ImageSkeledirge
Unaware 		Clodsire ImageClodsire
Unaware

Unaware is a useful Ability because Pokemon with this Ability are able to ignore an opponent's Stat increases. Tanky Pokemon can use this Ability effectively because of their natural defenses.

Unaware is especially useful in formats where buffing one's stats with moves like Swords Dance or Nasty Plot is prevalent.

Related Guides

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet SV - Competitive Battle Partial Banner

Learn Competitive Battling

Team Building Guides
Competitive Team Building for Singles Ranked Battle Competitive Team Building for Doubles Ranked Battle
How to Build a Trick Room Team How to Build a Weather Team
How to Build a Hyper Offense Team Paradox Pokemon Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids
Treasures of Ruin Builds for Competitive Battles and Tera Raids HOME Transfer Pokemon Builds for Ranked Battle and Raids
Competitive Strategy Guides
Best Abilities for Competitive Battle Best Held Items for Competitive Battle
When to Switch Pokemon Team Preview: Which Pokemon to Choose?
How to Use Substitute in Competitive Battle List of Competitive Terms
Battle Timer: Who Wins When Time Runs Out? New DLC Competitive Cores and Matchups
VGC Tournament Results
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Oceania International Championships VGC Tournament Results: 2023 European International Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Portland Regional Championships VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Hartford Regional Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Milwaukee Regional Championships VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Fresno Regional Championships
VGC Tournament Results: 2023 Japan National Championships Pokemon World Championships 2023

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