Use these 4 “banned” Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet to wreck your friends in battle

I’ve been having way too much fun with my own gameplay of the game, but honestly, if my friends who also played Pokemon Scarlet and Violet decided to battle me I would get smoked. Luckily, competitive Pokemon community forums revealed the best Pokemon to have if you needed something overpowered, as they are apparently banned for competitions.

Smogon, a community with forums and matchmaking for competitive Pokemon battles, has eliminated four Pokemon from its competitive community due to how “overpowered” they are. However, Smogon’s rules apply only to their community—not official events, as it’s not affiliated with the official Pokemon Video Game Championship (VGC).

At Smogon, out of a group of nine council members, seven out of the members voted in favor of the ban. The reason? These Pokemon would quickly overpower the meta, making the format much less fun or fair. Here are the four Pokemon banned from Smogon.

Flutter Mane

Flutter Mane, a Paradox Pokemon, appears to be an ancient relative of Misdreavus. According to Smogon, it has powerful advantages as a fairy and ghost Pokémon, along with huge special attack and speed stats.

Houndstone

Houndstone is the Pokemon evolution of Greavard—the popular ghost dog Pokemon. It isn’t especially overpowered, but a single move—Last Respects—is overpowered. The move gains strength as other Pokémon faint, which gives it a huge advantage if it’s the last Pokémon standing, or close to it.

Palafin

Palafin is an adorable dolphin Pokemon, but it can turn into a… dolphin-like superhero with a super powerful ability called Zero to Hero. Council members called it “far too powerful, demanding, and low-cost”.

Iron Bundle

Iron Bundle—which looks exactly like a Delibird—appears to be a “future relative” of it. It’s in the list because of its “exceptional offensive abilities that are too hard to defend against”, however it was the only one of the four Pokemon whose banning was not unanimous.

There might still be a lot we haven’t discovered yet from the new Pokemon Scarlet and Violet, so there might be more Pokemon banned from the community. Still, if you’re just playing with your friends, you can definitely use these Pokemon to absolutely wreck them to bits. Have fun!

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