With the release of Pokemon Scarlet and Violet happening over a month ago, trainers have started to look at leaks from datamining done before the games' launch. In these leaks, it was revealed that many mons could be transferred up to the ninth generation by using Pokemon Home. This includes both classics such as some of the strongest Legendary Pokemon like Groudon, Kyogre, and Rayquaza, as well as modern twists on new Pokemon like Hisuian Lilligant and Zoroark from Pokemon Legends: Arceus. These new additions will surely add many switch-ups to the current meta in both singles and doubles formats. With only 400 pocket monsters available in the Paldea region, players have a fairly limited pool to choose from, but new strategies are sure to open up with these new additions.
Some of the most potent transferable Pokemon, however, come from Pokemon Legends: Arceus' Hisui region. It gave new regional variants and evolutions to many older critters that could use a bit of a touch-up, like Basculegion, Wyrdeer, or Kleavor - making them more dominant than they had ever been before. One of the most menacing monsters is Ursaluna, an evolution of Ursaring and an all-around threat to shake up the highest tiers of competitive Pokemon battling.
Ursaluna is One of the Best Physical Attackers in Pokemon Ever
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With Gen 9, there were some notable nerfs to popular counters for physical attackers in Pokemon, like stall strategies not being as viable after having PP cut from nearly every recovery move, some stall Pokemon's move sets being nerfed like Blissey no longer getting Toxic, Wish, or Teleport, and others. A lot of the new meta forming in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet is based on physical attackers like Annihilape, Meowscarada, and Great Tusks. Once Pokemon Home opens up, trainers will be able to get their hands on Pokemon from older games, and Ursaluna will be a great bet to join them among the most used pocket monsters.
With a base Attack stat of 140, it joins Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's Iron Hands as tied for the 12th-best Attack in the game after considering all transferable Pokemon. That alone would make it a viable pick to put on a team, but tacking on its 130 base HP stat and 105 base Defense also makes Ursaluna a relatively tanky Pokemon. A mon with all those stats would be a good bet to be used on a decent chunk of teams already, but there's more under the hood of what makes Ursaluna a potentially stunning addition to Paldea.
Abilites in Pokemon can often make or break some sets, and Ursaluna is blessed by Arceus with Guts. Guts is an Ability that allows the user to boost its Attack by 50% when inflicted with a status condition (unless niche situations like thawing out of freeze come into play). So if Ursaluna were to hold a Flame Orb, an item that burns the user, it could enter battle with Guts activated and do massive amounts of damage with moves like Facade, High Horsepower, Play Rough, Earthquake, Drain Punch, and many more fantastic options for sweeping opponents. These are already popular in Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's competitive battles, too.
If properly set up with a Trick Room out, it can also be the first Pokemon to move on most turns. If trainers were to max out Ursaluna's EVs in both Attack and HP, have perfect IVs, have Guts, hold a Flame Orb, and have a good move set, it could one-shot most Pokemon that are topping the charts as far as usage goes in VGC. Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's top 5 Pokemon in competitive would mostly be annihilated by moves like High Horsepower, Facade, Drain Punch, and Bulk Up. Gholdengo, Meowscarada, Sylveon, Chi-Yu, and Iron Valiant (just to name a few) would all be easy for Ursaluna to knock out while moving after it due to Trick Room. As such, with the Pokemon Home transfer just around the corner, trainers should start preparing for Ursaluna to get a high usage rate.
Pokemon Scarlet and Violet are available on the Nintendo Switch now.
