Stats for Season 2 of Pokemon Global Link Competition Released
With the completion of Season 2 of Rating Battles on the Pokemon Global Link, the rankings of the top twelve most used Pokemon in each format have been released, as well as extensive data about each individual Pokemon. While simply getting accurate data about the usage of the top 12 Pokemon on Special Battle Spot, as well as the type of data on all Pokemon we received last generation would have been helpful in its own right, these statistics are by far the most detailed I have ever seen in Pokemon. Each Pokemon is listed with its most common moves, ability, items, and natures, as they were in Generation 5’s Global Link. What is new is that each Pokemon is now also listed with their ten most common teammates instead of six, as well as a bunch of new information on two totally new tabs. One tab includes the 10 moves each Pokemon used most frequently to score knock outs (rather than in matches it won like the text suggests, judging by the lack of non-attacking moves) and the 10 enemy Pokemon the Pokemon in question defeated most frequently, while the other new tab shows the Pokemon who most frequently defeated the Pokemon in question and the 10 moves they cumulatively used most commonly to do so.
I think this information should be really valuable to players when teambuilding because it offers a lot of relatively objective data about what is happening in rated battles. What Pokemon are successfully countering common threats? What enemy Pokemon are players selecting common Pokemon to counter for them? What items, moves, abilities, and natures are players using on their Pokemon? These questions are all answered by this data. There’s far too much to export into an article, so I encourage players to check out the data themselves on the Pokemon Global Link website by logging in, clicking Rating Battles, changing the drop-down menu option to Season 2, clicking Special Battles, and viewing the data on the bottom of the page.
One thing that is easy to present in an article are the 12 most common Pokemon in last season’s Special Battle Spot competition:
#1 Garchomp
#2 Rotom-Wash
#3 Kangaskhan
#4 Talonflame
#5 Salamence
#6 Mawile
#7 Tyranitar
#8 Aegislash
#9 Charizard
#10 Gardevoir
#11 Meowstic
#12 Manectric
Expect a more detailed write-up from me in the near future comparing these stats with the data from Winter Regionals top cut and Showdown’s usage stats, but here are some fun bonus facts from the data for now:
- The top 12 features seven Pokemon capable of Mega Evolving. Four of those Pokemon are generally considered by most players to be the game’s strongest Mega Evolutions in the cases of Kangaskhan, Mawile, Charizard, and Manectric, all of which held Mega Stones over 95% of the time they were used. The other three Pokemon who can Mega Evolve from the top 12 — Tyranitar, Gardevoir, and Garchomp — are much more frequently seen using other items, with Tyranitar having only a 14.3% chance of holding Tyranitarite, and Garchomp and Gardevoir combining for less than a 10% rate of holding their respective Mega Stones.
- As you might expect compared to the data from North American Regionals, the data here has some Pokemon that tend to be more common in Japan at a much higher rate of usage. Given that Japan is by far the region with the most players participating in Battle Spot, especially at high ratings, I don’t think this is very surprising. Obvious beneficiaries include Aegislash, Gardevoir, Meowstic, and Mawile, with Amoonguss finishing meaningfully higher in North America than it did here. It’ll be interesting to see how data from European Nationals looks in comparison to the isolated North American data and the heavily Japanese-biased Battle Spot data.
- With that said, the top of the data is incredibly similar. #1 on both lists is Garchomp, #2 is Rotom-W, #3 is Kangaskhan, #4 is Talonflame, #5 is Salamence, and Tyranitar is #6 in North America and #7 in the Battle Spot stats, so the top of the metagame seems to be pretty well defined, with regional preferences filling out the slots below, at least for now.
- It shouldn’t be surprising at this point, but 88.3% of Garchomp used Rough Skin. It’s funny to think back that only a year and a half ago at 2012 Worlds, most of us thought Sejun was crazy for using it over Sand Veil…
- What may be more interesting about VGC 14’s most common Pokemon is that no item on Garchomp reached 20% usage, with five different items finishing between 9% and 19% usage. Flexibility is clearly something players value in an environment with item clause, especially now that the type gems aren’t available.
- Talonflame is a Pokemon that a lot of players have strong opinions about. While we’ll continue to debate its usefulness, getting objective data on the way people are using it will be helpful for team building. Unsurprisingly, Life Orb and Adamant are both the most common choices of Talonflame players, though Choice Band is at a respectable (and probably underplayed) 23.5%. What is a little more surprising is Sharp Beak and Sky Plate combining for 12.1%…
- I feel like most people would guess that Gardevoir’s most common item — probably by far — would be Choice Scarf. That assumption is apparently incorrect, with Choice Specs being used 34.2% of the time and Choice Scarf being used only 29.9% of the time. This doesn’t feel reflective of my experiences to me, at least with the players I was playing with at the end of the season, but I guess I’ll have to start questioning my assumptions about Gardevoir a little. Sitrus Berry was next at 20.0%.
- The data does a pretty good job of suggesting counters. The top 4 Pokemon who defeated Mawile? Garchomp, Rotom-W, Charizard, and Talonflame. For Kangaskhan, the top 5 includes Garchomp, Mawile, Aegislash, Talonflame, and …other Kangaskhan. The data doesn’t lie in this case. If anyone reading this finds themselves struggling with specific Pokemon, look at the stats under the “When you lost” tab.
- If I would have told you while I was casting in Vancouver that Tyranitar’s second, third, and fourth most common attacking moves in generation 6 would be Dark Pulse, Fire Blast, and Ice Beam, I might have been thrown off the stage, but here we are. It’s really interesting to me how some of the most powerful Pokemon can adapt to new metagames. In the case of Tyranitar, adapting to use its coverage instead of power to get around Intimidate and the buffed Will-o-Wisp.
- Smeargle’s most common item was Focus Sash at 75.9%. Choice Scarf was only used 18.4% of the time. While I think almost everyone thinks Dark Void should have stayed banned, it’s fun to see Transform at its 5th most used move.
- Meowstic’s second most common move at 63.9%? Swagger. Swagger is god.
About the Author
Scott started playing VGC in 2011. He finished 17th at US Nationals, then lost in the final round of 2011 Worlds LCQ. He finished 10th in the 2012 World Championships and qualified for Worlds again in 2013 after going into US Nationals second in CP. Instead of playing, he commentated at US Nationals and the World Championships in 2013 and 2014. Follow him on Twitter @NBNostrom!
Related Posts
Nugget Bridge Update →
GS Cup Announced as Pokémon’s 2016 Ruleset →
2016 Pokémon World Championships Date & Location Surfaces →
NPA News: Season 4, Week 1 →
30 Responses to Stats for Season 2 of Pokemon Global Link Competition Released
Leave a Reply
You must be logged in to post a comment.
“Swagger is God.”
Hah, I love this more than I should.
Great article! I’ll have to check it out in depth when I get home. Looks like it was a great time for me to switch to VGC format since I get to start teambuilding with lots of data.
One thing I still can’t get around is MegaKanga behind a Sub. I was playing in singles and behind a Sub I just couldn’t kill it. Even with max sp atk Life Orb Infiltrator Noivern.
Yo this is cool stuff. My own list of fun stuff:
-Outrage is the 5th most common move on Garchomp, ahead of Substitute or Swords Dance by a significant margin. God help us all.
-More Rotom-w didn’t have Hydro Pump than Thunderbolt, which I find intensely bizarre.
-The VAST majority of Rotom-w are Modest at 67.4%, which pretty much contradicts everything I knew about Pokemon. I guess I play PS too much!
-Facade is not in the top ten moves for Kangy
-19% of Talonflame had Taunt. Thanks, Smeargle.
-4.7% of Salamence had Sleep Talk. Thanks, Smeargle.
-Volt Switch was vastly more popular than Thunderbolt on Manectric, which I guess is just another meta thing I didn’t know about.
Cool stuff, thanks for the article!
If anyone is feeling lazy, you’ll be happy to know that you don’t actually need to log in.
That said, yes, I love this data. It’s both informative and entertaining, like Air Balloon on Azumarill.
Wow, that’s a ton of information provided. Being able to see what beats what (Pokemon and moves), common pairings, lovely stuff. I literally couldn’t ask for more.
One quick think I saw just clicking around: Telepathy on Gardevoir dominated over Trace, (64 to 31%) which I found surprising, considering the only really common spread move that hits your ally is Garchomp’s Earthquake. And Tracing something like Khan’s Parental Bond, an opposing Intimidate, and so on, is really helpful.
Best way to KO Kangaskhan? Another Kangaskhan
I love that Flareon’s second most common item is Power Anklet. Pro strats.
Really great info to have team-building wise. The detail is pretty fantastic and interesting for making choices and just to see what most people are leaning towards. It’s super user friendly too which is just gravy.
The lag on the Global Link website is silly. Comparable to how my 3DS handles that Triple Battle at Restaurant Le Wow with Aurorus (it’s so big).
p.s. To: fashion-conscious Pokemon Trainers, they’re giving away a 50% off coupon for clothes!
If only I hadn’t already bought every clothing item in the game…
dat Hammer Arm
This picture is VGC 2014.
Having an opposing Kangaskhan Power-Up Punch you only to be OHKO’d immediately after by Hammer Arm is just the best.
I think the days of having Iron head on Mega Mawile will be gone. Looking at the stats. 70% are using Iron Head but Fire Fang isn’t too far behind
Amoonguss’ 6th move used to defeat other pokemon is Struggle.
I’m sure there’s something like Meowstic/Klefki that also has this.
This is really interesting stuff! I like how Kangaskhan has fire blast more than facade. Sheer cold is also Abomasnow’s 7th most popular move…
I wish they would seperate the data for different regions though (like the select region button on the trainer rankings.) It would be fascinating to see how the usage differs between US and Japanese battlers. I have a hunch that Meowstic wouldn’t be nearly as high among US battlers for example.
FINALLY they count Rotom as something other than Electric/Ghost…
Garchomp is still king
I thought I had a stroke of genius with AV Mamoswine… I guess not many people thought the same
ALRIGHT…
…who used abra?
From how the stats are, I would think that the “When you lost” Tab is heavily influenced by the raw usage number, as Garchomp is on top of this list at most Pokémon. Being the most used Pokémon, this shouldn’t be a surprise, though. Having said that, I can only disagree with the statement in the article:
Especially the bold part.
When you use the Tab that is influenced by usage, you will use the most common Pokémon instead of the most effective. While it is obviously a very easy way, nobody should complain about how only a limited amount of pokemon seems to be viable. What I am trying to say is, that Kangaskhan is only on top of the “What beats Kanga?” list because it was used so often and not because it is the ideal way to deal with other Kangaskhan, obviously.
So please just keep that in mind and don’t build a team of the 6 Pokémon that seem to have the best match-ups combined, when they have actually just the greatest usage and are therefore on top of most “What beat it?” lists.
I still don’t know why people still use Meowstic. I mean, sure, Prankster is nice, but that thing can’t ever get a KO on its own without relying on ParaSwagger.
Season 3 stats are now up: External
Will be interesting to see how this develops.
True, but if you get enough support going for the team, it can get real bad real fast. Quick Guard is for blocking any Fake Out, and forcing mind games with whether or not the opponent should use priority attacks. Safeguard is to block opposing Will-o-Wisp, Swagger, Dark Void, and Thunder Wave. Charm Meowstic is so good with weakening powerful physical attackers really quick. Swagger is also a strong move on it, not only for the SafeSwag combo but to increase your odds against special attackers. Thunder Wave and Trick Room provide speed control. Helping Hand boosts the power of your more offensive Pokemon’s attacks. Yes, Meowstic won’t be getting any KOs on its own, but it sure as heck will help its teammates get them.
I look at these lists and just have to facepalm at all the terrible things happening:
1. Absolite on Mawile
2. Dazzling Gleam over Moonblast on Gardevior.
3. Minus Manectric
4. The craziest list of Natures used on Garchomp.
5. Protect made top ten on everyone’s list. Hmmm…I am detecting a pattern.
6. No stand out neutral natures on Aegislash. I would have thought a mixed Aegislash would have more…. something. At least over the other natures.
All critique aside, I am absolutely shocked by this list; mostly because Manectric is on it (*heheh* shocked, manectric, lols). I would have thought it would be underused and surpassed by Ampharos, if anything. As mentioned before the metagame looks similar but with a few tweaks. I would say that Kanghaskan has replaced Hitmontop’s priority, Gardevior has taken the supportive role of Cresselia (to some degree), and Aegislash has overturned the steel titan Metagross.
To wrap up: What Megas, if any, are you surprised did not make this list and why?
I would say Scizor, because it’s typing is just so good apart from dealing with Talonflame and Aegislash. But that is what your supportive Mons are for.
The Absolite, Minus Manectric, and Garchomp natures aren’t really worth mentioning because their usage percentages are both so low that they can easily be explained by screw-ups that weren’t noticed until it was too late. Likely by newer players who tend to not double-check their stuff. Garchomp in particular is prone to being used by newbies who have no idea what they’re doing just because they heard it’s really good (which it is when actually used right).
As for the rest… the Protect usage is still pretty low on the mons it should be that low on. Quiet > Neutral natures on Aegislash. As for the Gardevoir thing… Go ask the Japanese.
Manectric’s used more than Ampharos because it can deal with Garchomp (with a small amount of help) and steel-types a lot better, isn’t TR-reliant, and can abuse Volt Switch very well in both terms of fleeing and spreading around Intimidate, which is excellent in this meta. It can be annoying to deal with. Amphy can be good on the right team but is overall much more niche, resulting in much lower usage.
I only half agree with what you mean here. Obviously, since it is based on actual amounts of KOs rather than percentages, there is a huge bias toward Pokemon with vastly more appearances than normal, which is why you get silly stuff like the most used Mega, Kangaskhan, countering itself. However, I pulled the things I did before you started bolding for a reason: it is a fairly accurate picture of how to counter the most common Pokemon without sinking to lower BST counters. The first entries in most Pokemon’s listings are a pretty accurate picture of the best counters that aren’t liabilities in many matchups. The two most common Steels (both of whom are not weak to Fighting), a faster Pokemon with Rough Skin, and priority machine Talonflame show up on top for Kangaskhan for a reason. Obviously, since it is by actual KOs, things using WoW and Intimidate are underrepresented because they don’t strike killing blows, and you won’t see many more obscure counters, but since Pokemon need to do more than be counters to one Pokemon to be good there’s probably a reason they don’t have higher usage in most cases. Especially in the case of the Pokemon near the top, their counters are common specifically to be their counters, which is why they have the higher number of appearances to begin with.
Of course weird stuff is going to show up when there’s like 8-9 options listed at 0.1% and very few uses are being represented — Mawile also has Lucky Egg as one of its items, for instance, and most of that sort of case is probably people trolling or forgetting to change items when they get on Battle Spot. Minus for Manectric isn’t much more common, and I imagine that’s mostly accounted for by Plus/Minus gimmick teams. The most common nature for Aegislash is Quiet and the third most common is Brave… which are definitely what people looking to go mixed would run, in addition to being the standard for non-mixed sets. Odd complaints — the only one I kind of agree with is DG being more common than Moonblast on Gardevoir, as the love Japan seems to have for DG as anything but a filler move is something I don’t think I’ll ever understand. DG in general seems to be a lot more popular at lower ratings, too, so I wonder how much of the ratings are infected by that, since I don’t see a ~~~POKEMON USED BY TOP TRAINERS~~~ caveat this generation.
As far as the Megas: I don’t think anyone should be surprised. While the non-Mega Pokemon in the metagame still have a lot of shifting to do before we end up with a metagame that feels stabilized, I think the rough order of strength of Megas are pretty well defined (which is also why all of the common non-Megas counter at least one of them). Kangaskhan, Mawile, and Charizard are pretty obviously a cut above the rest (and even including Charizard in that group or not is something I imagine a lot of people have strong feelings about), with Manectric a distant fourth. I would expect that usage drops pretty significantly before probably Gengar, Tyranitar, and Venusaur come up next, and that there’s probably a big gap again after that before Scizor, Gyarados, Aerodactyl, and Abomasnow(and maybe Lucario) round out the list of Megas that aren’t incredibly obscure.
With the Season 3 stats popping up, I got some input.
The current data recorded includes a Pokémon I use on my team, but hasn’t been used by anyone else on the ladder up to the point where the data was recorded.
When I look at the data, I can say something about the “When you won” and “When you lost” tabs:
This definitely has some influence on the accuracy of those 2 tabs, because there might be Pokémon listed that you would deem a counter/strong pick according to the data, but which have probably only dealt the killing blow a lot.
..If I just pointed out something painfully obvious I apologize, I myself wasn’t exactly sure how they gather the data for those 2 tabs, but this has cleared it out for me.
To all the Absolite Mawile haters, I apologize.
I went on Battle Spot to test a 5 pokemon team and decided to grab a decoy 6th pokemon. I grabbed a random Mawile and gave it the first item in my bag which was obviously Absolite. I played a good chunk of matches with the decoy Mawile team to iron out kinks in my core team. It’s not that I didn’t know what I was doing, it was just that I didn’t think it would matter what my decoy Pokemon holding random item was holding.
My team is pretty weak to status, and safegaurd would be nice, but I still can’t use that thing to save my life.
Is there any statistics like this for items? I’m interesting in finding out what has Assault Vest most often. I have a theory about a few staples that get it, but otherwise it seems to be almost random things like Scizor or different Rotom forms.
At this point, I think you’d have to go through and look at the item list for each Pokemon.
Out of the top 12 Pokemon for Season 2 on Special Ladder only Tyranitar (6.4%) used it more than 1% of the time. I myself use it on Tyranitar and Scrafty.
Other Pokemon I looked up I thought might carry it: