On the competitive side of Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the next ranked ruleset, Regulation F, was just announced on Nov. 30, while the highly anticipated Dragon King online tournament had to be canceled and rescheduled in Japan.
We’re still two weeks from The Indigo Disk’s Dec. 14 release, but the DLC is already looking to play an important role in Regulation F, the next ruleset for ranked battles. As things currently stand with Regulation E, ranked battles allow the use of Pokémon from Part I of the DLC, The Teal Mask. Naturally, Regulation F will add to this, throwing new and returning ‘mons from The Indigo Disk into the competitive meta starting Jan. 4.
This is huge for two reasons—we’ll see new Pokémon like Archaludon in action for the first time in competitive play, and we’ll have to figure out how to deal with the return of terrifying threats from the past.
It’s already been confirmed The Indigo Disk will add all Starter Pokémon to the Gen IX games, including one of the strongest Pokémon in VGC history, Incineroar. As soon as Incineroar steps into Regulation F, it’ll likely shift the whole meta, knowing how large of an impact it had in previous generations. The Gen VII Starter is known for its ability to conveniently cycle in Intimidate and Fake Out throughout the battle and serves as one of the best support ‘mons to have on your team.
Meanwhile, Japan’s epic Dragon King Battle Qualifier Online Competition had to be canceled due to a display error involving the two main stars of the event, Koraidon and Miraidon. Each participant was required to bring either Legendary dragon to the tournament originally scheduled for Dec. 1 to 3, but the bug forced the whole event to be rescheduled for mid-January 2024, according to Serebii.
Originally, the Dragon King Battle Qualifier was set to use the current Regulation E ruleset, but now that it’s been rescheduled to mid-January, The Pokémon Company may choose to use Regulation F instead. That would mean players would need to rethink and rework their teams to account for all the Pokémon being added from The Indigo Disk—and the Reg F meta will likely be vastly different from what we’re currently seeing in Reg E.
The Dragon King Battle Qualifier will determine which eight players from Japan will move on to the Dragon King Battle event on Feb. 25.
