Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Ranked Season 34 ran from September 1-30, 2025, with 2022 Japan National Champion Kentaro Matsumoto taking 1st place in the Double Battle division; they attributed their victory to a team featuring Zamazenta and Calyrex Shadow Rider. Keep reading for details on the most used Pokémon, Restricted Pokémon, and the team that won Kentaro Matsumoto their impressive 1st place finish!
This was the first season to use the brand-new Regulation Set J ruleset, allowing the use of Paradox Pokémon, Legendary Pokémon, along with a choice of two Restricted Special Pokémon per team; for the first time, this term also includes all Mythical Pokémon available in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. Any team or rental code seen below can be used in online Ranked Battles while Regulation J is taking place from September 1, 2025, to January 4, 2026.
Winning Team
The most notable aspect of this team is the appearance of Dragonite, a Pokémon not seen too often in the current format. Most recently, Montana Mott, Michael Kelsch, and Chuppa Cross IV all reached Top Cut at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships with the combination of Chien-Pao and Dragonite.
Top Pokémon
Trick Room teams appear to be seeing a lot of success, with Indeedee and Farigiraf seeing a huge boost in usage while Tailwind users like Tornadus and Whimsicott see a decline. This could be partly due to the introduction of Magearna into Ranked Battles, a powerful Mythical Pokémon with a very low base Speed stat of only 65, making it a great candidate on any Trick Room team.# | Pokémon | | # | Pokémon | ||||
#1 | #7 | |||||||
#2 | ▲1 Rillaboom | #8 | ▼4 Whimsicott | |||||
#3 | #9 | |||||||
#4 | ▲1 Chien-Pao | #10 | ▼2 Raging Bolt | |||||
#5 | #11 | ▲5 Farigiraf | ||||||
#6 | ▲1 Flutter Mane | #12 | ▲1 Chi-Yu | |||||
Top Restricted Pokémon
Not much has changed over the last few months in terms of the most popular Restricted Special Pokémon. Despite the introduction of many powerful Mythical Pokémon, only Arceus manages to sneak its way into the Top 8.# | Restricted Pokémon | | # | Restricted Pokémon | ||
#1 | #5 | |||||
#2 | Calyrex (Shadow Rider) | #6 | ||||
#3 | #7 | Arceus (Normal) | ||||
#4 | ▼1 Zamazenta | #8 | ▼1 Lunala | |||
Top Mythical Pokémon
You may be curious about how the newest additions to Ranked Battles have changed the metagame, but the answer is rather simple: they haven't made that big an impact. You should expect to see Arceus and Magearna fairly often, with Darkrai, Pecharunt, and Deoxys floating around occasionally, but their usage is still nowhere near the common and powerful Restricted Special Pokémon like Miraidon or Calyrex.This isn't to say these Pokémon should be underestimated; Arceus and Magearna can fire off devastatingly powerful attacks after setting up, Darkrai and Pecharunt are great at disrupting their opponent's team, and every other Mythical Pokémon seen below can see success if used well.
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