How good are the new Abilities added in Scarlet and Violet? 

Another bad aspect of Mycelium Might I discovered while playing: some abilities instantly cure status conditions when they get them. I used Spore on an Insomnia Banette, and it went to sleep when Insomnia would normally prevent it. But then it instantly woke up, since Insomnia wakes up a Pokemon if it somehow ends up asleep. So Mycelium Might didn't even do anything other than make me move last!

good as gold is even crazier in singles because it prevents defog, one of the ways of removing entry hazards, and Gholdengo itself blocks rapid spin and mortal spin due to it's typing. One of the craziest abilities this gen for sure

It's fun to lead with Zoroark and pretend to be a Palafin that's going to switch out, but then instead let loose a Flamethrower or something when they think they can safely set up.

Power Creep is so crazy though. Long gone are the days when a legendary pokemon simply got access to pressure.

One interesting thing with Espathra is that it also gets stored power, so copying something like a belly drum still gives a huge damage boost on the special side

Trivia Tatsugiri's form affects which stat gets boosted when Dondozo uses Order Up. Curly Form increases Attack by one stage. Droopy Form increases Defense by one stage. Stretchy Form increases Speed by one stage.

Tatsugiri and Dodonzo are like a Yu-Gi-Oh polymerization monster. Though it's a bit of a bummer that you can't pull off a Yugi and just have one creature SUMMON the other in order to perform the fusion into something else with buffed stats. I imagine that would be pretty busted.

I love Zero to Hero from a flavor standpoint. Honestly the only thing that would have made me like the ability more is if they let us give our Palafins two nicknames, one for when they are Zero mode and one for Hero mode.

One thing that I think is important to note is that none of the past Pokémon are Fire type so unless they terastalize they only get the harsh sunlight boost too coverage moves and don’t get stab boost on top of it. Iron Hands, Iron Thorns, and Miridon are all Electric types so the electric terrain also boosts they stab moves.

Something to add about the ruin abilities: sure it affects one of your pokemon vs 2 of your opponent, but even better is the fact that, if you're using one of the two that lowers a specific attack stat, you pair it with a Pokemon that uses the other attack stat. For example, using tablets of ruin with a special attacker!

Guys listen to this. Grafaiai’s signature move, doodle, changes the ability of you and your teammate to that of the target’s. It also gets prankster. Now what if you paired this up with a slaking……….

i love the way wolf discusses abilities in general then validates them competitively, and does so in such a clear manner

Since the launch of the game, I've wondered if the reason the included the ability shield is because they expected all of these overpowered abilities to cause skill swap to enter the meta?

Wind Power actually does go into effect when tailwind goes up, same as Wind Rider. Not sure why the description doesn't state it, but I've used Kilowattrel a lot on OU ladder and in my solo playthrough, so Bulbapedia definitely needs to update its page lol

The fact that Wolfe thinks of preventing spoilers for us is such a lovable trait from him. Keep up the good work my dude!

Here's something interesting: Anger Shell can trigger multiple times if Klawf is healed back over 50%. Leftovers, Shell Bell or a partner with Heal Pulse could let it snowball.

Btw Kilowattrel gets a wind power boost when it sets tailwind and when it uses heat wave

Showdown shows Supreme Overlord as 10% per fainted ally, but there is a chance they could be wrong, like with Protosynthesis and Quark Drive at the start of the generation. Also Wind Power activates when Tailwind is set for your side on Showdown too.

Glimmora has become a primo hazard setter in singles because it only needs 2 move slots to have all three types of entry hazards, and the slower singles has more need for entry hazards.

I think something interesting to do with Orthworm is to make its Terra Type Electric and have it with its Earth Eater ability. So now it has no more super effective types and is immune to the one thing that could’ve hurt it for 2x damage. Because Iono gave me good ideas.

They are definitely setting up a "miraidon vs koraidon" season with those abilities.

My thought for Palafin is to use Flip Turn to go into Cyclizar and use Shed Tail to go back to Palafin.

Espathra totally should've gotten Flatter. Would've highly complimented it's base stats and it's signature ability

These abilities are insane, almost as insane as the world champ difference.

Good as gold also blocks defog....for some reason and ghost types are immune to rapid spin so you can use him to just negate most hazard removal

One thing to note 'bout Protosynthesis 'n' Quark Drive is that they don't give you a regular stat-boost like Swords Dance or Nasty Plot, it just directly boosts the stat without increasing the stat-stages, so it can't be removed with Haze 'n' stacks with other boosts similarly to Choice items.

Could you technically lead with palafin, switch to Cyclizar, use shed tail, then go into hero mode palafin with a substitute?

For Supreme Overlord the boost is 1.2 for the first death and an additional 0.1 for each after. EDIT: For context, it’s a free life orb with only two teammates fainted.

just a note about good as gold: it also protects from your allies moves. So, Gholdengo cannot be affected by, say, Helping hand.

Something fun you could do with Palafin is to have it use Flip Turn to switch out and have your other partner use Volt Switch or U Turn to force Palafin back in, giving you a turn 1 Palafin transformation while still applying offensive pressure, and that's without taking into account the 2nd pokemon you bring in (for example, a rain setter).

Note that Wind Power is also boosted by tailwind similar to Wind Rider. This makes it a quite useful ability since kilowatterl can setup its own tailwind and boost its damage output. Currently serebii doesnt note this activation method unlike Wind Rider which is likely where the mistake comes from.

I actually really find Wind Rider and Wind Power to synergize in a really fun way, at least in my playthrough team. Killowattrel starts with a Tailwind. Then, next turn, it gets a buffed up Volt Switch, which will either do good damage or straight up kill. Then, swapping to Brambleghast, it will get the speed and attack next turn on whatever comes out or the Pokemon you were facing earlier. I also like using Trail Blaze on Brambleghast to keep Boosting it's speed stat so that it will retain the speed from the Tailwind even after it fades

With sharpness I expect we'll see more items or abilities that interact with cut type attacks going forward like we do with sound types now. It'll be interesting

In Metronome Battles on Showdown, Opportunist is almost everywhere. And it's fun to watch it. I love the ability.

As a girl who loves her balanced hackmons, these new abilities are fascinating to mess with

Videos have all been pretty top tier for Scarlet and Violet, you're killing it Wolf

I really like your discussion videos like this one. It's well structured, well paced, informative, interesting, no additional bullshit. I could have read all of this on serebii myself but having the info in a video format is convenient as an overview on top of which we get your opinion on the strength of the abilities. Thanks for making cool content!

I’ve been using armarouge weak armor with weakness policy plus sucker punch sableye to boost armarouge special attack and speed by two stages instantly. It’s been working really well on ladder and sableye gets access to helping hand so it can boost heatwaves coming off armarouges doubled SpA stat.

Another good thing about the ruin abilities specifically for the ones that lower attack stats is that if you pair them up with a teammate who could benefit from a raise to the corresponding defense stat you could make them very difficult to kill.

There is one thing about wind powered that wasn't mentioned that makes it a little better. Tailwind triggers it. I know you showed it in the background but was probably worth mentioning

Guard dog is good against hazard teams if it can’t be swapped out due to dragon tail and circle throw

Something important to note, wind power activates during your own tailwind if I recall correctly. I remember Iona’s kilowattrell using it

Love to see content like this and you explain things so clearly! I'm a baby to competitive Pokémon but interested in trying it out this gen. Sounds like the meta might get insane with some of these abilities!

I only just started playing doubles yesterday for gen 9, not vgc, just doubles, and oh my the brokenness of Tatsu and Dodonzo, tatsu holding a mirror herb, kinda niche but it’s fun having him chill in the back while Dondozo is out, and getting a free boost from an opponent eventually, which happens 9/10 cause opponents want to get some type of boosts to take on Dondozo (which side note, obv he has unaware so idk why I ALWAYS find opponents setting up on it in my doubles matches) and using the fish and saber tooth tiger (I still mix up all their names I only know Ting Lu) with an instruct Orangaru, with bulldoze and fling light ball for some speed control has been so heat for me.

Kilowattrel is very fast and does learn Tailwind, so it can easily set it up one and get an electric boost. I'm using it on a DisQuake team with Krookodile.

Don’t overlook this aspect of Koraidons ability, with the fact it always gives him a 3rd stab with fire! Ontop of boosting his attack, this ability is the true juggernaut. Electric terrain only boosts miraidons 1 of 2 stabs even more

When Miror B.'s theme started to play in the background around 4:35 it brought so many memories back

I love your videos. They're informative without making me feel talked down-to. Let's get you to 1M!

I'd personally say Hadron Engine is better than Orichalcum Pulse, simply because not only is it a boost to Miraidon's Sp Atk, it also boosts its STAB moves thanks to Electric Terrain. While Koraidon does have a few Fire moves to take advantage of the sunlight, it doesn't get a STAB boost like Miraidon does.

If we are considering the certain effects of these, Hadron Engine is the best. If you do the math, Miraidon’s electro drift will do around 300 base power with Hadron engine, electric terrain, and STAB boost

18:13 I love how Dachsbun is perfectly on beat with the music.

Hey Wolfey, the Wind Power ability by Kilowattrel gets activated by Tailwind, so you can set up tailwind turn one and then use a devastating Volt Switch turn two which is what happened against me yesterday.

15:40 yes, it is 10% boost to attack and special attack per fainted ally

Hey Wolfey, one thing you missed is that Wind Power works when Tail Wind starts. I feel like there is some niche use for Kilowattrel to set up tailwind and then hit for a double powered move before switching out of getting KOed.

This was really helpful! I'm finally getting through making my sand team but I really wanted to make a rain team as well, so keeping the danger dolphin in mind seems like a good idea.

Worth noting that Wind Power also activates from Tailwind, which youre likely to want to run on Kilowattrel anyway and boosts its Electroball further on top of getting the Charge boost. I also just watched Boyt wipe 2 Dondozo teams with it, so I'm gonna say its better than youre giving it credit for.

If you feel safe, imagine how would it be a Ferrothorn with Well-Baked Body, and then try not to have a mental crisis

Idk why but wolfey bouncing up in the beginning of the video like a whack a mole is super funny

Yo, Wolfey, this video got me thinking of how abiltied and Dynamax work in tandem, and I thought "damn, Coalassal would be really with Tera". So I thought it would be a cool experiment to see which, lets say, 3-5 Pokemon from previous regions you'd like to see return and why

Something to know about Good as Gold, it also blocks Helping Hand! I learned that the hard way on Showdown with an Indeedee and Goldhengo

Well baked body+ tera steel + Daschbun's Former Fairy typing also provides an interesting idea... because you still get stab on your previous typing there will only be 1 type that can hit Daschbun effectively... immune to fire, but with the former fairy typing, fighting is out, leaving only Ground to hit it Really hard

I agree that Wind Power isn't as good as a lot of these abilities, but maybe isn't as hard to activate as you're saying here. Since Kilowattrel has access to tailwind, it can actually activate its own ability while boosting its speed. That said, it'd be much better if the 'charged' state lasted after the first use of an electric type move...

Thanks for the video, Wolfey! I'd like to see your thoughts on the new moves introduced if that's something you were keen on doing :)

Orthworm also gets shed tail. Which means you can use it to freely switch in a mon after healing it by an ally’s earthquake.

Personally i think Toedscruel ability is nice but very situational, say for instance you lost your partner this turn and Toedscruel spores; Now you have a guaranteed sleep turn to switch in another Pokemon and set up. Very situational but can be nice i guess.

Holy, just realised that Wolfie has almost 800k subs! Damn so close to 1 mil good luck Wolfe and keep it up!!

Love you're videos man,you always help me get better at the game and improve my skills,I love to put some on well searching for member to put on a team or well shiny hunting keep up the good work

I feel Sharpness really benefits Gallade Gallade gets Psycho Cut, Leaf Blade, Sacred Sword, X-Scissor, Aqua Cutter, Night Slash, Slash, Aerial Ace and Fury Cutter (and Air Slash) All of those are powered up by Sharpness Sacred Sword is effectively 135 Power attack that ignore the target's stat boosts. 202(.5) Power after factoring in STAB Aqua Cutter becomes 105 Power Psycho Cut becomes 105 Power. 157(.5) after STAB Leaf Blade becomes 135 Power Night Slash becomes 105 Power Slash becomes 105 Power X-Scissor becomes 120 Power Fury Cutter becomes 60 Power, but 120 on the second turn, and maxes out at 240 Power on the 3rd Aerial Ace becomes 90 Power Air Slash also becomes 112(.5) Power, but Air Slash is a Special move and Gallade's Sp.Atk is the same as Kirlia's Sp.Atk You trade away either Steadfast (+1 Speed when flinched. Fake Out) or Justified (+1 Atk when hit by Dark-type)

I’m curious as to why they made just one ability for entry hazards. Seems like rocks or spikes could have had one too.

The tatsugiri combo is so powerful. i may need to try it out sometime

The boosts from Protosythesis/Quark Drive are unique from your current stat boosts, since it cannot be dropped via Intimidate or moves that lowers stats.

I feel like ghost Tera type garganacl could be interesting. Halving ghost damage means that it only has one weakness when terastallized (dark) and before it terastallizes it could use curse to boost its defenses. When it does terastallize, it could put a curse on enemy’s Pokémon. It also has access to recover to minimize damage from curse. Just something to think about…

I can’t be the only one that when the datamines came out for the abilities, thought Mycelium Might was gonna be the ability of Maushold. I thought it was some pun of an ability.

I find this gen of Pokémon interesting competitively because it feels like the Pokémon company really tried to make the abilities and move sets synergize with the Pokémon they created. It feels like a lot of thought went into the design of how these Pokémon function and I think that’s awesome

Good to know Wind Rider only activates on wind moves, specifically. It just so happens that the only Flying type move I ever tried on the thing was Gust, but it's nice to know other Flying moves will still be effective if I see it in the wild.

I’d say miraidons is better because electro drift also gets that terrain boost

World Champion differents Baby

New subscriber as of today. Thank you for all of the videos about the new stuff in SV 🥰

I think orthworm might see some use with its superior switch in against common ground attacks, then being able to use shed tail to protect a new mon coming in.

"Sharpness is just given to pretty underwhelming Pokemon" Hisuian Samurott: *Are you sure about that?*

18:56 Wolfe showing in the background that Wind Power also triggers from Tailwind lmao

I think an interesting thing about Mycelium Might that's definitely more risk-reward is that because you go last, your Spore sort of gets an extra turn. Since the Sleep Counter is only decremented when the 'is fast asleep' message is displayed, if you Spore a Pokémon and it has the message appear immediately, that's one turn of your sleep already used and if it only lasts 1-3 turns, that means they could wake up as early as next turn, so the turn your opponent misses an attack you spent already using Spore. On the flip-side, if you Spore a Pokémon that's already moved, it is guaranteed to be asleep for it's next turn while you can do whatever you want. Of course, the question becomes "is it worth the damage that my opponent can do to rob them of that turn?" which is why I referred to it as 'risk-reward' and definitely in VGC with it's faster pace, maybe blanking the move on the same turn you click Spore is all you really need. But it's interesting to think about.

Hey something about wind power, it's also triggered by Tailwind so it's not that bad. It doesn't tell you that it's there, but it goes off for Tailwind. It went off when a wild kilowatrell used tailwind, and I didn't hit it with a wind move. It was power gem

These videos coming out are amazing, never got this much info before!

Something that should be mentioned about wind power is that it does trigger if tailwind is used. At least that's what it currently does in Pokémon showdown

I love the orichalcum pulse ability the most personally at least as a casual who does raids, cause I can just use Koraidon against someone weak to fire but I'm just gonna use his broken fighting move, but other players in the raid with me get boosted flame attacks at the same time, it definitely is massive help when it boosts 3 Pokemon at the same time and potentially 4 with basically no setup. I saw one raid the other day though that was an Ice Tera Baxcalibur and it was funny just watching all my teammates boost his stats while I spammed sword dance and one shot it from like ⅚ HP

I love how creative a ton of these abilities are! While I'm not a huge fan of most of the past or future pokemon, the main pokedex of the game was full of super interesting pokemon that I love from both a design and a balance perspective. While there are some that seem a bit overtuned, these abilities are a great way to make each pokemon feel strong and unique, which I absolutely love!

an awesome thing about opportunist is you can use moves like swagger, flatter, and spicy extract, or abuse a defiant/competitive ability pokemon of the opponent to boost your own stats without the downsides

You can use a mon with contrary together with the the ruin abilities.

Espathra's currently on my team. Opportunist + Stored Power is breaking some more difficult wild encounters. Plus a Gym that it was actually weak to.

thanks for including that oinkologne mud shot animation

These thumbnails kill me lmao! Thanks for the vid tho! Keep up the good work

I wonder how Cud Chew would react with Recycle. Because of its ability, Bombirdier is the only Pokémon that can have four STABs. Also, if multiple triggers happen at once (for example, Torch Song used by a Pokémon holding Throat Spray), Opportunist will sum them up.

I've been testing, to limited success, flip turn palafin with steam engine passho berry coalossal. It's a good turn one if you don't already suspect a water type move coming in like from, say, dondozo. It's still loses to flamigo in the back on this particular team BUT it's untauntable so it can read and rock slide murkrow. It's been pretty limited success-wise, I like have a zero percent win rate versus dondozo, but I also had no idea how it works and now that I do it might be a little better. Edit: to clarify, you target your own coal with the flip turn. Or you read the water move coming in and either flip targeting something else or just switch out.

I just thought of pairing Palafin and Flip Turn with Palossand's Water Compaction. With Palafin's weak offensive stats, it can get a great boost to Palossand while accomplishing the form change.

9:45 maybe with Gholdengo being quite popular bypassing Good as Gold could be nice but I doubt Toadscruel will see play even with this

Hey wolfey love the content. I think u could do a fun video on interesting new “cores” or pairs for team building.

good as gold is such an amazing ability the only downside is it ignores your own allies status moves too (like helping hand) but that's so insignificant when you can just ignore status mostly

Focus Sash Glimmora was a great asset in my elite four run

I caught an electric tera Orthworm in a 6 star raid. Having no weaknesses by becoming an electric type with Earth Eater seems great, especially when combined with Orthworm's monstrous physical defense, but I'm not sure how viable it would be competitively. When I saw it I had to catch it though, seemed so cool.