Outsiders might not understand, but one tiny mushroom has been the most consistent Pokémon in the meta since the beginning of Scarlet and Violet—and its tournament success and usage stats prove it too.
Amoonguss is no stranger to the Pokémon VGC meta. The mushroom was first introduced in Gen V and was the centerpiece of the infamous “CHALK” teams that dominated the Gen VI meta. In the modern Gen IX meta, we constantly see Amoonguss working alongside the likes of Flutter Mane, Iron Hands, and Ting-Lu.
In fact, according to Pikalytics, it’s been the second most-used Pokémon in Reg. C on Pokémon Showdown where competitive players test different compositions. When it comes to recent major tournaments, Amoonguss has consistently been in the top five most-used Pokémon, reaching as high as second place just below the very overpowered Flutter Mane.
What makes Amoonguss so good in VGC is its ability to support its allies. It can put foes to Sleep with Spore, redirect attacks with Rage Powder, and heal allies with Pollen Puff. Some also run Clear Smog to reset the stats of Pokémon that often set up like Dondozo or Kingambit.
Interestingly enough, Game Freak tried to bring in Amoonguss competition when they introduced its Paradox counterpart, Brute Bonnet, in Gen IX. On paper, Brute Bonnet is supposed to be the stronger one of the duo—compare its 570 base stat total to Amoonguss’ 464. Brute Bonnet beats Amoonguss in every stat aside from Special Attack, which hardly matters when the latter isn’t an offensive threat anyway.
However, Amoonguss is still used way more than its Paradox relative because of its ability and typing. Brute Bonnet has seven type weaknesses, while Amoonguss only suffers four. Plus, Amoonguss’ Regenerator ability allows it to heal a bit of its HP when it swaps out of battle, while Brute Bonnet’s Protosynthesis isn’t nearly as useful for support Pokémon.
Players are so aware of how dangerous the little mushroom is that they’ll do almost anything to stop it in its tracks. For example, the Grass Tera Type is pretty common because it’s one of the few ways Pokémon can avoid being affected and put to sleep by Amoonguss’ Spore.
Similarly, we’ve seen multiple players burn their own Pokémon to avoid the pesky sleep status. We’ve even had instances where Gholdengo used Trick to give Amoonguss a Choice item to lock it into a single move.
As the 2023 Fresno champion Emilio Forbes said, players are now forced to take these extreme measures just to counter this one mushroom.
It might not look it, but Amoonguss’ impact on the meta is truly terrifying.
