Reg M-C Week 1 Meta Report: Rillaboom and Mega Salamence Open in S
By ChampTeams Editorial
Regulation Set M-C opened on 8 September. One week in there are enough results to build a real board, so the tier list on the site is no longer carried over from Reg M-B with predicted placements. This one is built from 24 tournaments and 1193 teams played between 8 and 13 September. Here is what the opening week actually shows, including the places we called it wrong.
This board reads a single week of online events. There are no official Play! Pokémon results on Reg M-C yet. Expect the order to move as more events are played, particularly below S where the gaps between Pokémon are small.
The S tier
Eight Pokémon opened in S. Two of them are new to the format.
| Pokémon | Usage | Win rate |
|---|---|---|
 Rillaboom | 8.2% | 52.7% |
| Mega Salamence | 6.3% | 54.3% |
 Sneasler | 8.7% | 51.8% |
 Kingambit | 5.3% | 51.1% |
 Gholdengo | 2.1% | 57.4% |
 Incineroar | 5.0% | 50.8% |
| Hisuian Arcanine | 2.3% | 55.8% |
 Basculegion | 4.7% | 50.8% |
Rillaboom is the most used Pokémon in the format at 8.2%. Grassy Terrain is the obvious draw, but the reason it fits everywhere is Fake Out on a Pokémon that outspeeds Incineroar. It wins the Fake Out war against the format's other main slow pivot, and Grassy Glide gives it priority that does not need the turn back.
Mega Salamence is the headline addition and it earned it. 6.3% usage at a 54.3% win rate is the strongest combination of volume and results in the format, and it won the r/VGC Regulation M-C Kickoff Cup, the largest event of the week at 165 players.
Gholdengo is the most underused Pokémon in the format
Gholdengo has the best win rate of anything with real usage, 57.4%, on only 2.1% of teams. It also forms the most successful pair in the format with Rillaboom: 96 teams at a 58.6% win rate. If you want one thing to take from this week, it is that this pair is winning far more than its usage suggests.
| Pair | Teams | Win rate |
|---|---|---|
| GholdengoRillaboom | 96 | 58.6% |
| Gholdengo + Mega Salamence | 90 | 57.8% |
| Excadrill + Mega Salamence | 61 | 57.8% |
| Archaludon + Mega Swampert | 42 | 59.0% |
| Mega Froslass + Kingambit | 39 | 58.6% |
| Hisuian Arcanine + Mega Raichu Y | 32 | 60.2% |
Where the new Pokémon actually landed
We published predicted tiers for the M-C additions on 9 September, before any events had been played. Now that there are results, here is the scorecard. We got four of ten right, and every single miss was too generous.
| Pokémon | We predicted | Actual | Win rate |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rillaboom | S | S | 52.7% |
| Mega Salamence | S | S | 54.3% |
 Indeedee | A | A | 48.5% |
| Mega Golisopod | A | A | 49.0% |
| Mega Lucario Z | S | A | 47.3% |
| Mega Baxcalibur | A | B | 46.9% |
| Mega Garchomp Z | A | B | 47.1% |
 Baxcalibur | B | C | 54.4% |
| Mega Absol Z | A | C | 36.0% |
 Toxtricity | B | D | 28.9% |
The pattern is worth naming. Every miss was in the same direction, which means the predictions were not noisy, they were biased. We rated the new Pokémon on their stat lines and abilities and did not discount enough for the fact that a new Pokémon has to beat an established one for a team slot. Mega Absol Z is the clearest example: it has Sharpness and it sits above the format speed ceiling, and it is losing 64% of its games.
The two we called correctly at the top were the two that did not need the format to change for them. Rillaboom and Mega Salamence are both proven designs that simply became legal.
What to watch next week
- Whether Gholdengo's usage catches up to its results. A 57.4% win rate at 2.1% usage does not usually stay that way.
- Mega Lucario Z. It is being used at A-tier levels and losing more than it wins, at 47.3%. Either the sets are wrong or the hype is.
- The first official Play! Pokémon event on M-C, which will carry far more weight than any online result here.
- Mega Baxcalibur's ability, which we still have not been able to confirm from a reliable source.