GS Cup Announced as Pokémon’s 2016 Ruleset
Today, Pokémon announced the ruleset we’ll see in place for the 2016 World Championships as well as all events after January 1st, 2016. The GS Cup ruleset is one that should be familiar to anyone who played in 2010 as well as those who played in the Generation Showdown tournament late last year.
If you’d like an analysis on the format, make sure you check out the first part of this great guide at Pokémon’s strategy site. Don’t forget to also check out the stats from the Generation Showdown for ideas or cool teams from 2010 for inspiration.
Simplified Ruleset – 2016
- All matches are played in the Doubles format.
- Time Limit: 90 seconds for Team Preview, 45 seconds for each turn, 15 minutes for the match for all tournaments at Regionals-level or higher.
- Players choose 4 of their 6 registered Pokémon after team preview.
- Pentagon Rule: All Pokémon must have the blue pentagon on their stats page indicating they were caught, bred, or received as an official gift in Pokémon X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire.
- Species Clause: No two Pokémon on your team can share the same Pokédex number.
- Item Clause: No two Pokémon on your team can hold the same held item.
- The following items are banned:
- Soul Dew
- The following Pokémon are banned (all forms):
- Mew
- Celebi
- Jirachi
- Deoxys
- Phione
- Manaphy
- Darkrai
- Shaymin
- Arceus
- Victini
- Keldeo
- Meloetta
- Genesect
- Diancie
- Hoopa
- You may have up to two of the following Pokémon in your Battle Box:
- Mewtwo
- Lugia
- Ho-oh
- Kyogre
- Groudon
- Rayquaza
- Dialga
- Palkia
- Giratina
- Reshiram
- Zekrom
- Kyurem
- Xerneas
- Yveltal
- Zygarde
About the Author
Firestorm is one of the co-founders of Nugget Bridge and the Community Manager for eSports Tournament Platform Battlefy. He has been playing Pokémon since 1999, competitively since 2007, and attending tournaments since 2010. He lives in Vancouver, Canada with a degree in Interactive Art & Technology + Communications. You can follow him on Twitter at @rushanshekar.
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GS cup, oh boy. Not only are the primals are allowed, but so is Mega Rayylmao. This is gonna be interesting, that’s for sure. Kinda looking forward to this.
(plz mega ray don’t be new mega kang plz don’t be new mega kang)
Is Lugia going to be any good without Multiscale? I’ve only taken a quick look at it, but Cresselia has about the same bulk, arguably better typing, and doesn’t take a restricted slot. It loses in the offensive department, but Lugia isn’t exactly an offensive powerhouse either. I guess Lugia’s higher speed can be useful, but it’s still slower than Mega Ray and running enough speed for the difference to matter means losing on bulk.
Be careful what you wish for.
But genies are still here
What was CHALK-T will quickly turn into the same thing but with Xerneas over amoonguss and Groudon over Heatran. Both Lando and Thundurus have not stopped being incredibly useful mons with powerful tools, they are just no longer the front and center of what will destroy most teams. Kang Groudon Xerneas loves the support that those two provide, so I really don’t see why people who hated last format think that this will immediately solve the problems they had with it.
For those of you who are complaining about not having access to these Pokemon, a certain 13 year old from NC whos username is a main character(Rhymes with bulk), has 3 letters that stand for something and 2 digits is doing a Uber legend giveaway next week. Leave a like if u want me to do the giveaway.
Anybody got a reliable source on how each of the weather mechanics interact?
I’ve been using Gravity Sableye today. If they have no way of stopping it next to Groudon, then they’re getting impaled on some spikes very fast.
Also, Role Play and Skill Swap are likely to see more use as players get more creative with ways to get their permanent weathers to stay on the field, but at the same time, not require switching out due to the increased level of punishment that a switch ends up having due to the sheer power of the Pokemon in the format.
This is interesting obtaining legit Pokez for this will be silly. I do like how unique this format will be. Smogon doesn’t have anything even remotely close to this.
I tested some of the Primal Weather mechanics in game because I was curious as to how they would interact with stuff like Cloud Nine or ability changing moves.
Here are the results: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1XyYZdB-_NMlS0_kQBYi0AoT9YACvWFQ_eRCtwyUHQW8/edit?usp=sharing
Honestly, I’m fine with legendaries. Pokemon wouldn’t re-add them if they felt they were un-conterable. Now I just need to figure out a way to speed run through one of my games for legendaries while keeping all of my good Pokemon.
Pokemon Bank.
5$
SO. I love the format. I feel like the meta will be really, really diverse (sure, we can expect a primal on every team, but the second slot will be neat), and CHALK will basically become obsolete. So, I think it will be a fun year.
However, is there any news on how this will implement on battle spot? I would like to, you know… PRACTICE the format outside of events, and I’m sure a lot on here agree.
My prediction for CHALK:
Cresselia will be the go-to choice for a non-restricted TR setter
Heatran will mostly disappear in favor of Groudon
Amoonguss will go down in popularity, but might still see some use depending on how common Xerneas ends up being, with Clefairy/Clefable taking over as the top redirector
Landorus will be less dominant, but will remain popular because it’s still the best Intimidator and also has a decent matchup with Groudon
Kangaskhan will still be the best non-restricted mon, most teams will probably choose either her or Rayquaza for her mega
Thundurus will be useful mostly for speed control and denting Kyogre
Wonder how much the metagame will change from Generation Showdown. That was a fun Battle Competition that pretty much had the same ruleset (minus pentagon). Some stuff I recall off the top of my head.
– Mega Ray was great but not like some unstoppable god. Biggest reason it was borked in singles is because the format meant that Ray could set up and blow up things after things without much of a retaliation. Not as easy to do that here. Speed control is also more prevalent here and Rayquaza’s relatively weak bulk and Dragon Ascent defense drops are more easily exploited. Did I mention that it takes up both your Uber and mega slots?
– Mega Salamence was a cool alternate option and generally has a matchup advantage vs Ray which is neat.
– Kanga/Xern was a great pubstomping combo but I had a harder time pulling it off once I started climbing.
– Primal Groudon was super consistent and I ran him in all my 30 matches. Had serious issues with random cheeses like Worry Seed Whimsicott and Role Play Thundurus/Liepard, and Skill Swap Cress+Kyogre wasn’t fun to play against..
– Gravity was used quite a bit but I’m not sure if it’s really that great since the enemy PDon could also wage a Precipice Blades war against you.
– There was a surprising number of Liepards.
I’m as blown away by this new format as anyone. Don’t see the reasoning for all the negativity, it provides a completely different metagame and is going to be extremely entertaining and fresh.
Don’t understand why you wouldn’t be able to play with these rules on Battle Spot, isn’t half the fun of competitive Pokemon attempting to climb the ladder against everyone else in the world? Silly idea if that actually turns out to be the case. Can’t wait to see some of the teams people build!
Yeah, you’re right. I forgot it doesn’t have Multiscale. Cress is the better option here, even more so because it has Skill Swap, to reset the Weather once another Primal gets in, and also offers TR support.
Just be glad there’s no Darkrai
I’m sure there’ll be a patch before of right after New Year, to transform the Flat Rules in the VGC rules, and they’ll also probably release an official ladder.
Just testing VGC 2016 on PS and I was noticed:
– Gravity Cresselia/Groudon is a thing.
– Mawile is much better pokemon in this format than the last format.
– Landorus-I is pretty good pokemon, it’s able to use Earth Power to one shot Groudon and 60% to 70% on Kyogre with Grass Knot.
– Rayquaza is not that strong pokemon compare to Groudon and Kyogre.
– Skill Swap is really strong in that format, it’s allowed you to use skill swap on your own Primal in Trick Room. You could have Levitate Groudon next to Desolate Land Cresselia.
– Ludicolo/Kyogre is strong.
– Mega Salamence is still solid pick over Rayquaza, it doesn’t override Primal weather. That’s huge.
– I am surprised on number of Liepard.
It’s interesting format, I am really looking forward how the metagame is developing.
In Smog Dubs Ubers, where you can have all your team be box legends if you wanted instead of just two, Mega Rayquaza is still a gigantic threat. Not quite at the same level of crazy as in Singles but it’s pretty crazy. I can only imagine how much havoc it will wreak.
Yes I know the two formats are very different. Yes I know Smogon is the scum of the world. Just my thoughts.
Personally, I’m excited. Now I can run my favorite Mega, Houndoom, and not get laughed at! I’m also excited to see all of the crazy shenanigans that people come up with. This will definitely by a fun format. Time to hac- I mean, “soft reset”
Gotta say, skill swap cress is going to be amazing with Kyogre for Vs. Groudon matchups. The thing is, people are parading how it is nice with groudon- after all, no weaknesses- however, I feel it is just as good with a kyogre. A levitating Kyogre doesn’t sound like much at first, but when you think about it, it’s basically your one-stop Groudon counter. You set your primordial sea back up, and also become immune to Groudon’s stronger stab, while resisting the other. It makes for a really solid counter, IMO.
For the lugia viability questions, I think it might have a niche. I learns roar, which might be a cool answer to xerneas+kangaskhan because it is one of the few mons that can easily take an attack from both mons and has roar. You roar an xerneas and it no longer has a power herb or stat boosts. Maybe roar would be good against primals, but I haven’t tested it that much. Tailwind is always good too.
i knew this would happen sooner or later when i first saw that they were pentagoning all the old legends in oras. if not for the omnipresent primals this could have been one of the most interesting formats in a long time. glad i spent the last few months trying to pick up all the ubers so now i’m practically ready to go.
Already started working on a hyperoffensive team:
Primal groudon with ground/rock coverage
Cresselia icy wind trick room skill swap and moonlight
Heatran which is scarfed with flash cannonheatwave willowisp and has dragon pulse to counter these legendary dragons
Kang with hammer arm ice punch
Bulky speedy staraptor for tailwind intimidate and flying coverage
Life orb sylveon
This team canwork in tailwind or trick room 🙂
Oh yeah, also how do we practice VGC 16 when they switch to the ruleset if battle spot is not allowing these mons? Is it only online tournaments that can be used for practice? (I cant go to local tournaments) 🙁
So, I’m testing Primal Groudon/Cresselia (Skill Swap, Gravity & Toxic)/Xerneas/Kangaskhan. I really like the team so far, but am not sure what else to use.
Never was a fan of hyper offense but that’s the way it is. Gonna go brainstorm and SR a lot I suppose if the team I have my eye on sorta works
Still interesting to see what the metagame will become now though.
Probably Groudon/Kang/Xern with Gravity&Skill Swap Cresselia.
Okay, screw my first post. Today in school i was thinking many cool possibilities. My opinion is now significantly less negative, i guess it was just a “shock” first when announced. Few thoughts:
– I guess the most centralizing mon is Primal Groudon. 2 immunities and only very easily covered weakness, incredible offensive and defensive stats, good movepool, epic ability and very powerful STAB spread move.
– Mega Ray is powerful, no doubt, but i guess its pretty literally new Mega Salamence. Crushingly powerful in singles because after 1 setup, rip. However, it still is weak to both Ice and Fairy, which is obv not good thing. Despite its power, it needs some kind of team building and something to help it to crush everything, however when team is built right, it should be absolute monster, just like mence. Also if you use ray you cant use kanga, and kanga still most likely will be one of the top mons in the meta.
– Rip current weather setters. Every current weather setter will be most likely completely gone; including even Mega Charizard Y. Honestly it was stupid to make primal weathers to completely negate normal weathers as long as primal mon is alive. Shame, Snow Warning Sash Aurorus + Scarf Kyurem-W would have been so much fun.
– I also have feeling that Thundurus will be now more common than Landorus. Many mons that Landorus used to beat, such as Heatran or Charizard Y, are either now either less popular or just gone. Cresselia probably becoming even more popular, Primal Kyogre existing or Ray and Xerneas that doesnt give single bidoof about Lando expect RS flinches doesnt really make situation better for Lando. Still, good matchup against Groudon, still having fast rock slide and still probs being premier Intimidate mon is something, but Lando should be much less defining now. Thundurus is kind of mixed bag, but imo its situation is better. Thunder Wave can be used to atleast somehow stop Xerneas or Ray from setupping, it would have ability to heavily dent Kyogre and Taunt to stop (inb4 mental herb) TR Cresselia, which is likely going to be even more popular than these days.
– Multiple current good or even great mons will suffer but then there is few mons which probably will raise at popularity. Thanks to Primal Groudon, i have feeling that having bulky water isnt necessary anymore. Their Ice Beam is too weak against Mega Ray, and quite commonly they cant even use their STAB move thanks to Desolate Land. Rotom-W however will be decent because it walls BOTH primals and actually has decent matchup against Ray, too.
Will be interesting meta, i guess, but still have mixed feelings how it will go. Also still upset about getting these mons.