Incineroar has been one of the most popular Pokémon in the VGC metagame, but results from the World Championships show signs of weakness for the Gen VII Fire Starter.
The Regulation G meta at Pokémon Worlds this year has been ruled by a handful of threats like Rapid Strike Urshifu, Rillaboom, Calyrex, and, of course, Incineroar. The chances were very high that at least one of these Pokémon would take home the trophy. It wasn’t to be, however, with the ever-present fire cat instead running into its first slump.
In a shocking turn of events though, there was a lack of Incineroar in the top eight Pokémon teams. In fact, only one team made it to the top eight with the fire cat. Fast-forward to the finals between Yuta Ishigaki and Luca Ceribelli; no Incineroar to be found. This may not seem like a big deal at first glance, but this is actually the first time Incineroar has ever failed to win Worlds in formats where it was legal and had access to Intimidate, as pointed out by VGC player and content creator Moxie Boosted.
Previously, Incineroar won the global event in 2018, 2019, and 2022, and was looking to snag another Worlds title in Honolulu. For a while, the cat look in a good spot to win—especially as a key member of Wolfe Glick’s team. The 2016 champ went undefeated on the first day and everything was looking good—until Glick and other players with Incineroar were eliminated from the competition throughout a brutal day two.
This could be a sign the meta is finally shifting away from the menacing cat, and who knows how it will fare after the format switches over to Reg H. With all the strong Paradox Pokémon and Legendary Pokémon like Urshifu banned from the metagame, that could open the door for Incineroar to rise to the top again.
