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Pokemon Ranked Battles Season 2 (Series 1) officially started a few days ago and we are here to let you know who the best support Pokemon in VGC is for the current meta this 2023.
6. Indeedee-F
Ability: Psychic Surge
Moveset: Follow Me, Trick Room, Helping Hand, Dazzling Gleam/Psychic
Held Item: Psychic Seed, Focus Sash
Indeedee-F (the Female Indeedee) is easily a great support Pokemon as it has the ability of Psychic Surge where it summons a psychic terrain upon being brought into the battlefield (this usually lasts for about at least 5 turns if the terrain is not changed). Since this Pokemon is a Normal and a Psychic type, it gets immunity against Ghost type attacks making it a perfect Follow Me user to disregard the incoming attack damage. Indeedee-F can also learn Trick Room where it attacks last and reverses the turn order of the match for 5 turns. To increase your partner Pokemon's attack power, it should be equipped with Helping Hand which can increase move power by 1.5x. Lastly, you'll want either Dazzling Gleam or Psychic for damage. As for the Held Item, you can use Psychic Seed since you already have the buff from the Psychic Surge that brought up the psychic terrain as this item helps increase the holder's Sp. Defense by 1 stage. Another Held Item option is Focus Sash which lets you have that survivability, especially for Trick Room users.
Perfect Pokemon Partner/s: Armarouge and Annihilape
Armarouge has the signature move of Expanding Force which benefits a ton from the Psychic Terrain brought about by the Psychic Surge. It increases the attack damage output by 1.5x if the opponent is grounded before the attack and benefits from a 1.3x multiplier from the terrain. Annihilape on the other hand is good with any Support Pokemon as it needs a little bit of setting up before it becomes a threat.
5. Amoonguss
Ability: Regenerator
Moveset: Spore, Rage Powder, Pollen Puff, Protect/Clear Smog/Leaf Storm
Held Item: Rocky Helmet, Mental Herb
Amoonguss with Regenerator (Amoonguss gets 1/3 of its health back when it is switched out) allows it to have better survivability and is also able to disable your opponents with its moveset. Spore causes your opponents 100% to fall asleep, Rage Powder lets the foes' moves target the user instead which is pretty self-explanatory why you would get this, Pollen Puff which allows you to heal 50% of your partner's max HP or deal damage to your opponents, and either Protect to eliminate incoming damage, Clear Smog to reset target enemy's stat stage increase back to 0, or Leaf Storm for more damage. Good Held Items for Amoonguss would be Rocky Helmet to reduce max HP by 1/6 every time the Pokemon is hit by opposing Pokemon or Mental Herb which can cure its holder of Attract, Disable, Encore, Block, Taunt, or Torment for one use.
Perfect Pokemon Partner/s: Gholdengo, Hydreigon, or Annihilape
Any Pokemon that can take redirection and dish out a lot of damage is a great pair with Amoonguss.
4. Murkrow
Ability: Prankster
Moveset: Tailwind, Foul Play, Haze, Taunt/Quash/Icy Wind
Held Item: Eviolite, Covert Cloak
Murkrow is one of the more famous support Pokemon in the current meta. Although Murkrow is one of the best support Pokemon in VGC, there is already that threat by using Murkrow, people are more likely to know what your ability, moveset, held item, and plays are. For starters, Murkrow has the ability of Prankster which allows it to have Status moves have priority raised by 1. For its moveset, as mentioned, most of your opponents would already know what kind of tricks you have up your sleeve. It has Tailwind which increases the speed of its allies for four turns, it has Foul Play which uses the target's Attack stat in damage calculation for a nice counter-attack, it has Haze which eliminates all stat changes, and it has either Taunt which makes the target not use status moves for the next 3 turns, Quash which forces the target to move last in the current turn, or Icy Wind which has a 100% chance to lower the enemy team's Speed stat by 1. For its held item, Eviolite for sustainability since it ups the Defense and Sp. Defense stat by 1.5x. Another item it can hold is the Covert Cloak since it helps the holder be not affected by the secondary effect of another Pokemon's attack to counter Pokemon that would Fake Out against Murkrow.
Perfect Pokemon Partner: Gholdengo, Hydreigon, Garchomp
Any Pokemon with good spread damage works best with Murkrow since this Pokemon's ability to set the pace for your team is the key to making them act first and hit heavily.
3. Grimmsnarl
Ability: Prankster
Moveset: Reflect, Light Screen, Taunt, Spirit Break/Fake Out
Held Item: Light Clay
Grimmsnarl is in a higher spot as the best support Pokemon in VGC in the current meta against Murkrow (even if both have the Prankster ability) for the reason that it has screens. Its moveset would typically be Reflect which, for 5 turns, would half physical damage against your Pokemon, and Light Screen which, for 5 turns, would half special damage against your Pokemon. Its other moves would be Taunt, which again lets the target Pokemon not able to use status moves for the next 3 turns, Spirit Break which does a 100% chance to lower the target's Special attack by 1, or Fake Out that hits first (for the first turn out only) that does 100% chance to flinch your opponents. Its Held Item is the Light Clay which basically lets the effects of Aurora Veil, Light Screen, or Reflect last for 8 turns instead of 5.
Perfect Pokemon Partner: Annihilape, Gholdengo, Sylveon
Since it sets up perfect screens to help protect your attackers, it gives off that sustainability that Annihilape and Gholdengo need to snowball against your enemies. Sylveon is also a good partner Pokemon for Grimmsnarl especially the one that has a Fire type Tera which can easily turn the heat up against your opponents.
2. Maushold
Ability: Friend Guard/Technician
Moveset: Follow Me, Taunt, Beat Up/Encore/Protect, Population (paired with the Friend Guard ability)/Super Fang (paired with the Technician ability)
Held Item: Wide Lens, Safety Goggles, Focus Sash
Maushold may not be the most popular choice as a support Pokemon but it is one of the best support Pokemon in VGC in the current meta. It has the ability Friend Guard that blocks damage and only lets 3/4 of the incoming damage from opposing Pokemon's attacks. It can also utilize the Technician ability which allows the Pokemon's moves of 60 power or less to have a 1.5x power which includes Struggle. Interesting moves for Maushold would be Follow Me which targets the foes' moves toward the user during the turn, Taunt which doesn't allow the target to use status moves for the next 3 turns, Beat Up which lets all healthy allies aid in damaging the opposing Pokemon, Encore that lets the target repeat its last move for its next 3 turns, Protect which prevents moves from affecting the user during the current turn. For Maushold users with the Technician ability, it would be best to use Population Bomb that hits 10 times paired with the Held Item of Wide Lens to decrease the chances of missing hits but for Maushold users utilizing the Friend Guard ability, Super Fang would be a great pick since it does damage equal to 1/2 of the target's current HP paired with the Focus Sash for sustainability since you would want to return the favor and deal as much damage as you can back to your opponents.
Perfect Pokemon Partner/s: Annihilape, Armarouge
Its Beat Up move would definitely hit big with the likes of Annihilape and Armarouge since these Pokemon are heavy hitters and would add in more than you could imagine.
1. Farigiraf
Ability: Armor Tail
Moveset: Trick Room, Protect, Imprison/Skill Swap/Psychic Fangs, Shadow Ball/Psychic/Hyper Voice
Held Item: Throat Spray (Hyper Voice), Safety Goggles, Mental Herb, Focus Sash
Farigiraf is the best support Pokemon in VGC in the current meta given that its pick rate is less than 10%, opposing teams would not have much of an idea of what your play will be. Farigiraf has the ability of Armor Tail that protects Farigiraf and its allies against opposing priority moves which is very similar to Psychic Surge but only affects your side of the field. Farigiraf can set Trick Room which reverses the order of turns for 5 turns meaning your least speedy Pokemon will get to act first, it has Protect which prevents moves from affecting Farigiraf, it has Imprison which can eliminate other Pokemon from using any known moves by the user, it has Skill Swap that lets the user and the target trade abilities, and it has Psychic Fangs that can destroy screens set up by opposing support Pokemon unless that target is immune. Lastly, Farigiraf can also dish out damage by using Shadow Ball, Psychic, or Hyper Voice to add a little more damage output against the opposing team. Held Items like Throat Spray are perfect for Hyper Voice users and Safety Goggles, Mental Herb, or Focus Sash are also viable options for this surprise support Pokemon entry.
Perfect Pokemon Partner/s: Annihilape
As much as we know, Annihilape is literally best paired with any of these great support Pokemon as it just needs to pick up a little steam and get the ball rolling. Annihilape just really needs to have that inner fire started before it hits hard and your opponents would have to just go home.
And that's all you need to know about the best support Pokemon in VGC in the current meta! If you're up for more competition, make sure to check which are the best team compositions to use in the ranked battles or in the Pokemon VGC scene, and keep checking back in for the latest news, updates, and events only here on ClutchPoints Gaming! Best of luck, Trainers!
