After a chilling new Pokémon Scarlet and Violet DLC trailer introduced us to Poltchageist, the convergent counterpart of Sinistea, the Grass/Ghost-type Pokémon is looking to be an interesting meta pick in VGC when it becomes legal—but something is holding it back.
While Poltchageist might just look like the matcha form of Sinistea, who’s nowhere to be seen in the VGC meta, the new DLC Pokémon comes equipped with a brand new Ability, Hospitality, that works perfectly in VGC’s double format. Whenever the matcha ghost switches into battle, Hospitality will heal its ally’s HP.
Depending on Poltchageist’s stats and how much HP the Ability heals, this could have a place in the meta, according to pro VGC players Jeudy Azzarelli and Neil Patel.
But, unfortunately for Poltchageist, its typing may hold it back.
On top of having Brambleghast with the same exact typing, we also already have a Grass Pokémon that likes to heal its allies and switch in and out—Amoonguss, the best support Pokémon right now. The little fungus has already won three World Championships, the most recent being this year on Shohei Kimura’s winning team, and it doesn’t look like it’s going to stop anytime soon.
So, unless Poltchageist (or its possible evolution) has really good stats or turns out to be more of an offensive ‘mon, it’ll be hard for it to take the Grass slot on the team over Amoonguss. It’s not impossible, though.
Coincidentally, another DLC Grass Pokémon in the same boat as Poltchageist is Applin’s new evolution, Dipplin. What sets Dipplin apart from Applin’s other evolutions, Flapple and Appletun, is its signature Supersweet Syrup ability and new move, Syrup Bomb.
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Supersweet Syrup is a unique ability that lowers the evasiveness of the opposing Pokémon when Dipplin is sent into battle. This is perfect to pair next to Pokémon with inaccurate spread moves like Tornadus’ Bleakwind Storm or Landorus’ Rock Slide. Meanwhile, Syrup Bomb constantly lowers the target’s Speed stat by one stage for three turns, acting as a form of sped control. This will either slow down a target enough for your ‘mons to eventually outspeed it, or it’ll force them to switch out to reset the stat drops.
But like Poltchageist, Dipplin has some competition when it comes to VGC viability. One of the best Pokémon with speed control is the Grass/Fairy Whimsicott—who happens to be returning with the DLC. As a Pokémon with the Prankster ability, Whimsicott can quickly set up Tailwind to boost its allies’ speed and use other status moves to help set the team up for success.
It’s always hard to compete with Prankster Pokémon, so it might be a while before Dipplin finds its footing in the meta.
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Of course, we won’t know for sure if or how Poltchageist and Dipplin will fit into the VGC meta until we get a look at their full stats and moves. But, given how good Amoonguss and Whimsicott have been, it’s tough for any Grass support to replace them.
