The Regulation M-B Metagame Ahead of the 2026 World Championships

Introduction

Hello everyone,
This is the Showdown Tier team.

Showdown Tier is a web platform dedicated to statistical analysis of the Pokémon metagame.

This weekend, the 2026 Pokémon World Championships take place, and VGC world champions will be crowned under the Regulation M-B ruleset. With the tournament right around the corner, we'll take stock of the Regulation M-B metagame using Pokémon Showdown ladder data from the past two weeks (August 13 to August 27), covering 158,276 games. For the full dataset, please refer to our Tier List page.

These figures describe the sampled Pokémon Showdown ladder and may differ from official Pokémon Champions tournament play. They should be read as a snapshot of ladder trends rather than a direct forecast of Worlds usage or results.

The Big Picture: No Tier S, but Two Tier A Pokémon

Under Showdown Tier's criteria, the current Regulation M-B sample has no Tier S Pokémon. Two Tier A Pokémon, Kingambit and Basculegion, lead the rankings, followed by a group of seven Tier B Pokémon. As we discussed in our column on balanced and unbalanced metagames, the absence of Tier S suggests that the format is not severely centralized. However, the presence of two Tier A Pokémon means it is not as evenly balanced as formats whose highest-ranked group is Tier B.

Tier A: Kingambit and Basculegion

Kingambit sits at the top of the format with 28.37% usage while maintaining an impressive 52.09% win rate. At this usage level, frequent mirror matches naturally pull the observed win rate toward 50%, so staying above 52% suggests that Kingambit remains highly effective across the sampled ladder. As we'll see below, Kingambit appears in a large share of the format's top archetypes, making it one of the central presences in our Regulation M-B data.

Basculegion combines 20.58% usage with a 52.60% win rate, the highest win rate among the Pokémon included in this report. It is a core member of an aggressive archetype alongside Whimsicott, Charizard, and Garchomp. As discussed later, variants of this archetype post some of the highest archetype-level win rates in the sample.

Tier B: The Seven Pokémon Shaping the Metagame

Tier B consists of seven Pokémon: Garchomp, Sneasler, Farigiraf, Staraptor, Charizard, Sylveon, and Archaludon.

Garchomp and Sneasler have usage rates comparable to those of the Tier A Pokémon at 26.47% and 23.26%, respectively, but their win rates remain in the low 50s. Both are proven performers from previous VGC formats and form the backbone of many teams. Their high visibility may also have encouraged players to prepare extensively for them.

Meanwhile, Staraptor (15.91% usage, 51.85% win rate), Charizard (14.82%, 52.13%), Sylveon (13.51%, 52.02%), and Archaludon (10.08%, 51.95%) form a group that posts strong win rates at somewhat lower usage, all hovering around 52%. Charizard in particular was one of the central Pokémon we highlighted in our early Regulation M-A analysis, and it continues to deliver strong results in Regulation M-B.

High Usage, Sub-50% Win Rates: The Support Group

One of the more interesting patterns in the data is the group of Pokémon with very high usage but win rates just below 50%. Sinistcha (26.61% usage, 49.48% win rate) and Incineroar (25.50%, 49.78%) both rank in the format's top five by usage, while Whimsicott (21.30%, 49.84%) ranks seventh. Each of them sits slightly under the 50% mark.

All three are often used in support-oriented roles, but their slightly sub-50% win rates do not by themselves indicate that they are weak. These figures measure the results of teams that include each Pokémon rather than the Pokémon's isolated contribution. Their high usage shows that many teams continue to value the utility they provide, and serious Regulation M-B teams still need a plan for dealing with them.

Two High-Performing Archetype Families in Our Sample

Looking at the archetype data, two recurring families stand out for their performance in the current Pokémon Showdown sample.

The first is the aggressive archetype built around Basculegion + Charizard + Floette-Eternal + Garchomp + Whimsicott (+ Kingambit). This broadly matches the Mega Charizard Y and Mega Floette structure described as the “Big Six” in official Regulation M-B coverage. Variants from this family are posting outstanding archetype-level win rates of 55–56%, among the highest in the sample. Notably, Floette-Eternal (8.44% usage, 51.85% win rate) appears frequently in these successful variants despite its individual Tier C placement, suggesting that it may occupy an important niche within this structure.

The second is the Farigiraf + Raichu + Sylveon + Staraptor + Arcanine-Hisui (+ Kingambit) core. In addition to win rates in the 54% range, this family has some of the highest average user ratings among the major archetypes in our data, around 1390–1400. Those ratings are well above the sample average of 1316, suggesting that this core sees substantial use higher on the ladder and is worth watching at the 2026 World Championships.

Pokémon to Watch: Low Usage, High Win Rates

Finally, let's highlight some Pokémon that are still seeing little play but are putting up excellent numbers in the data.

• Vivillon (1.87% usage, 52.12% win rate): Its win rate is notable despite its usage remaining under 2%.
• Arcanine-Hisui (4.41%, 52.10%): It is a member of the high-rating archetype above and pairs relatively low usage with a strong win rate.
• Mawile (4.40%, 51.93%) and Kommo-o (3.41%, 51.67%): Both pair relatively low usage with strong win rates. Kommo-o also has the highest average user rating of any Pokémon in this report at 1371, suggesting that much of its observed use occurs higher on the ladder.
• Delphox (7.85%, 51.50%): We flagged Delphox as a Pokémon to watch in our early Regulation M-A column, and it continues to pair a high average user rating (1353) with a strong win rate in Regulation M-B.

These ladder results make the group worth watching, although official tournament usage may differ from the Pokémon Showdown sample.

Closing Thoughts

To summarize what the past two weeks of data tell us about the Regulation M-B metagame:

• Under our criteria, the format has no Tier S Pokémon; Kingambit and Basculegion lead Tier A.
• Two high-performing families stand out in the Pokémon Showdown sample: the aggressive Basculegion + Whimsicott family and the high-rating Sylveon + Raichu family.
• Underexplored options such as Vivillon and Kommo-o pair relatively low usage with promising results.

Above all, the 2026 World Championships take place this weekend. We can't wait to see which of these ladder-based trends carry over to the biggest stage in the world. Because official tournament play differs from the Pokémon Showdown ladder, Worlds will offer an informative comparison rather than a definitive validation of this analysis.

See you in the next column.