People liked Regulation Set A and loved Regulation Set B. The latter ruleset has been used in a lot of Regional-level events and even OCIC, but it will be Regulation Set C the format that will define the 2023 season. This will be used not only in EUIC, NAIC, National Championships in Asia, and many Regionals, but also in the Premier Challenges when local events come back in May!
As we already did when Regulation Set B started, we have talked a bit with some of the best players from all around the world so that they can give us some of their insight regarding the Treasures of Ruin that are now allowed in the new ruleset of Pokémon Scarlet & Pokémon Violet VGC!
| New Pokémon allowed in Regulation Set C | |||
|---|---|---|---|
 |  |  |  |
| Wo-Chien | Chien-Pao | Ting-Lu | Chi-Yu |
Table of Contents
Wo-Chien
| Icon | Pokémon | Typing | Abilities | HP | Atk | Def | SpA | SpD | Spe | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wo-Chien | DarkGrass | Tablets of Ruin | 85 | 85 | 100 | 95 | 135 | 70 | 570 |
Brought to you by 
Justin Tang, the 2023 Knoxville Regional champion!
Wo-Chien is a Legendary Pokémon, one of the four Treasures of Ruin Pokémon. Its signature Ability, Tablets of Ruin, makes all active Pokémon on the field without this Ability have their Attack mutiplied by 0.75. Reducing the damage of other Pokémon allows Wo-Chien to stay on the field for most of the game. With moves like Leech Seed it is able to last longer by slowing withering the opponents and getting more health back. Other notable moves it gets are Pollen Puff and Ruination. Pollen Puff is a 90 base power move that also heals your ally for 50%. This is also good at hitting other Wo-Chien and Grass types in general. Ruination is the signature move for the Treasures of Ruin and can be utilized very well with Wo-Chien. The move deals damage equal to one half the target’s current HP. The chip damage Wo-Chien can deal with Ruination and Leech Seed really adds up.
What Wo-Chien has that holds it back is its poor typing. Dark/Grass is weak to a lot of commons moves in the format, which is why you often need to Terastallize it. I recommend Poison Tera Type because it makes you resist Fairy- and Bug-type hits and also makes you immune to poison from Glimmora.
Leftovers is definitely needed for all Wo-Chien. It allows you to recover even more HP after taking damage and also pairs really well with Leech Seed. This allows Wo-Chien to be almost unkillable and can stall out your opponent. That being said, make sure to have your Wo-Chien answers for Regulation Set C! Wo-Chien stall is real and will be really annoying to deal with.
Chien-Pao
| Icon | Pokémon | Typing | Abilities | HP | Atk | Def | SpA | SpD | Spe | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chien-Pao | DarkIce | Sword of Ruin | 80 | 120 | 80 | 90 | 65 | 135 | 570 |
Brought to you by 
Taran Birdee, the 2023 Perth Regional champion!
Chien-Pao is one of the two enablers alongside Chi-Yu, with its Sword of Ruin Ability lowering the Defense stat of all other Pokémon on the field. Its typing, Dark/Ice, matches up well offensively into the metagame, with a STAB Ice Spinner and Sucker Punch to remove Psychic Terrain and have very strong priority, respectively. Sacred Sword or Brick Break are great coverage options for opposing Treasures of Ruin, and Haze deals with Dondozo because it is guaranteed to be faster with max Speed. Its ability to power up extremely strong physical attackers, while dealing respectable damage itself, will make Chien-Pao a force to be reckoned with in Regulation Set C.
Chien-Pao will often hold a Focus Sash, as its defenses are lackluster. This will let it potentially get off one strong attack and then Sucker Punch after. However, I would recommend you try out Life Orb, to make use of the high Speed stat of Chien-Pao and push its damage to the next level. A Ghost Tera Type for Chien-Pao would be my suggestion, especially with Life Orb. This will block Fake Out, Fighting-type attacks and the very common Extreme Speed from Dragonite. Ice, Dark and Fighting Tera Types are also options to increase Chien-Pao’s damage output.
The most common partner for Chien-Pao is currently Dragonite, who can throw off incredibly strong Extreme Speeds or Tera Blasts when paired with Terastallization and Sword of Ruin. However, this is not the only strong partner, as most good physical attackers will gain value next to Chien-Pao. Notable choices are Palafin, Dragapult and Scizor.
Ting-Lu
| Icon | Pokémon | Typing | Abilities | HP | Atk | Def | SpA | SpD | Spe | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ting-Lu | DarkGround | Vessel of Ruin | 155 | 110 | 125 | 55 | 80 | 45 | 570 |
Brought to you by 
Sanghyeon Na, 3rd place at the 2021 Trainers Cup and Team Korea‘s manager in the World Cup!
Ting-Lu is one of the Treasures of Ruin that with its Ability Vessel of Ruin, which lowers the Special Attack stats of other Pokémon without the Ability. Along with defensively bulky base stats, the Ability offers this Pokémon amazing bulk from both physical and special attacks. It learns various STAB moves like Earthquake, Stomping Tantrum, Snarl, Throat Chop and also worth mentioning… Fissure. It also has some status moves such as Stealth Rock, Substitute, and Taunt down its pocket.
Due to its unique Ability, the Pokémon tends to take part in teams built around physical attackers or bulky stall game plans. From a bulky Assault Vest set to an offensive Weakness Policy set and a stall plan with Leftovers, Ting-Lu can be played in various ways to suit diverse situations. Some recommendations of Tera Types are Poison, Ground, Water, and Grass. Poison and Water are two of the most popular defensive Tera Types, and Grass can suit the same objective with additional immunity against major status moves including Spore and Leech Seed. Ground Tera Type boosts Ting-Lu’s offensive side as its major attack moves are Ground-type.
An interesting way to use Ting-Lu in your team is Fissure. With Fissure and Stomping Tantrum, you may aim for a surprise OHKO at low risk. If the first Fissure misses, Stomping Tantrum doubles its power the next turn. In a sense, this means you still get the same value of damage pressing Stomping Tantrum twice by using this combo but with the chance of one-hit KO as a huge cherry on top.
Ting-Lu’s true powers come from the synergy it creates with its team, utilizing the Ability to its best. Here are some example sets for you to try Ting-Lu out!
Chi-Yu
| Icon | Pokémon | Typing | Abilities | HP | Atk | Def | SpA | SpD | Spe | BST |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chi-Yu | DarkFire | Beads of Ruin | 55 | 80 | 80 | 135 | 120 | 100 | 570 |
Brought to you by 
Abraham Orta, one of the top-ranking players in Latin America!
Chi-Yu is a very interesting Pokémon. With the Ability Beads of Ruin it can multiply the Special Defense by 0.75 for all other Pokémon on the field, which will surely hit hard paired along any high-Special Attack user.
We all know that the Dark/Fire typing can be really good for defensive purposes, and in the same way it can Terastallize into a Grass or Water type to cover its weaknesses. However, it’s important to notice that it will be walled by its counterpart, Ting-Lu. Ting-Lu can one-hit KO Chi-Yu with Stomping Tantrum and will resist well both STAB moves from Chi-Yu.
As far as team compositions, I expect it to be paired with Sun teams, actually Lilligant + Torkoal + Flutter Mane + Chi-Yu would be a good starting point to build with it, since it benefits from Heat Wave boosted by the Sun in the same way as Flutter Mane activates its Protosynthesis with Harsh Sunlight weather. Fire Tera Type-boosted Eruption from Torkoal with Chi-Yu next to it will destroy (almost) everything on the field!
Speaking of items, it is oriented in offensive teams which can deliver high output damage. If you want to attack inmmediately with Flutter Mane, run it with Choice Scarf since Heat Wave + Fairy Tera Type-boosted Dazzling Gleam will do a lot of damage to any Pokémon. It could also be used alongside a Tailwind user and hit hard with Choice Specs or Life Orb. There’s also other ways to use it, like with a Focus Sash in case you need it to stay longer in the field.
In conclusion, I expect Chi-Yu to do pretty well on Regulation Set C since Flutter Mane, which has very high Special Attack and Speed stats, is a perfect pair to it and it’s hard to lower the Special Attack of both before they deliver the final blow.
Conclusions
What do you think about these Pokémon? Do you agree with these players’ takes?
Time will tell about this metagame, but the tournaments are just about to start! We will see our first major events this very weekend with the Sydney Regionals first and the Fort Wayne Regionals later, while Asian players are readying their best-of-1 strategies to use in the Global Challenge I and Europe carefully observes before EUIC. Don’t miss out!
