The Pokémon Scarlet and Violet developers have addressed a bug regarding one of the new moves from The Indigo Disk DLC, and now it’s temporarily banned from Play! Pokémon events with Portland Regionals just two days away.
One of the most notable new moves introduced in The Indigo Disk was TM226 Dragon Cheer since it’s the key to evolving Dipplin into Hydrapple. Dragon Cheer is a support move that boosts the critical hit ratio of the user’s allies, and the effect is doubled if the ally is Dragon-type. In other words, this is a fun new move to try out on a Dragon team in double battles.
On Jan. 4, however, The Pokémon Company revealed there’s a bug that makes Dragon Cheer stronger than it’s supposed to be. The boosted critical hit ratio isn’t supposed to stick with the affected Pokémon after switching out, but the newly-discovered bug makes this possible. This means a Pokémon boosted by Dragon Cheer could be switched out to keep it safe and then reenter battle later while still retaining its critical hit boosts.
As an unintended effect that can be abused, Play! Pokémon confirmed Dragon Cheer will be banned from events until the bug is fixed—likely in mid-January or later in version 3.0.1. Unfortunately for VGC players, the next major tournament is Portland Regionals… this weekend. Regulation F is a brand-new format that adds Pokémon and moves from The Indigo Disk DLC, so it’s unclear how many players considered Dragon Cheer in their prep for Portland. Regardless, it’s always a bummer to hear about a last-minute change to the rules just two days before a tournament—especially if you spent a lot of time building a fun dragon team that utilizes the new move.
This isn’t even the first time a bug has interfered with a tournament on such short notice since The Indigo Disk’s release back on December 14. Version 3.0.0 fixed a bug involving Weezing’s Neutralizing Gas and the Paradox Pokémon’s signature Abilities, Protosynthesis and Quark Drive. Some competitors at San Antonio Regionals had specifically built teams around Weezing and Roaring Moon with Booster Energy, but no one was aware the interaction between the Abilities was due to a bug until days before the event. That bug was fixed when the DLC was released, leaving players scrambling to build completely new Scarlet and Violet teams since their Weezing and Roaring Moon strategy would no longer work.
Looks like this banned move situation is yet another L for Roaring Moon and its dragon friends in the Pokémon Scarlet and Violet competitive scene.
