The Pokémon Champions meta is getting dominated by Incineroar

Can anyone stop the king of Fake Outs?

If you were hoping that Pokémon Champions would drastically shake up the competitive battling world, your hopes have been dashed by an angry cat. Incineroar is quickly emerging as the game's most-used monster, continuing the wrestling feline's decade of dominance.

Introduced in 2016's Pokémon Sun and Moon, the fire-fighting Incineroar is the final evolution of starter Litten. Since then, Incineroar has played a dominant role in the competitive scene, especially in recent years. It's no surprise that the monster would be similarly powerful in Pokémon Champions, but the game's first two weeks have shown just how much it's used in battle.

Since the game's launch on April 8, several players have studied the emerging meta and walked away with similar analysis. First, Kotaku noted that Incineroar appeared on more than half of the teams that competed in Champions' first tournament. That statistic has held up since launch. TheGamer's own analysis of the current competitive scene showed that Incineroar was "in the top five most-picked in 24 of the 25 tournaments" tracked by Limitless TCG. That data is consistent with what the game's community is finding. Fan website ChampionsMeta shows Incineroar at the top of the usage rankings, appearing on over 50% of teams based on data from 70 tournaments. Other top-tier monsters include Sneasler and Sinistcha, but Incineroar is a clear #1.

So, why is Incineroar so dominant? Part of that is thanks to its very balanced base stats. While attack is its highest trait, Incineroar also boasts respectable HP, defense, and special defense, allowing a lot of flexibility. Its lower speed is a downside, but the dark-fire typing means that it has very few weaknesses. That versatility has long made Incineroar a staple of high-level Pokémon, and it hasn't changed here.

While there's a lot of room to experiment, there are some common Incineroar builds popping up in Champions. If you play online, you're sure to come up against an attack-focused build, likely with an Adamant nature, that has the attack-lowering Intimidate ability. Flare Blitz is a popular move that takes advantage of its fire typing, but the most common builds center around the one-two punch of Fake Out and Parting Shot. The former allows players to make their target flinch, while the latter then lets them safely exit the battle while lowering their opponent's attack stats. Combining those two moves with Intimidate allows Incineroar to neutralize a lot of threats while taking minimal damage.

There are some counters you can try if you run into that build online. Ghosts are a good option since they can't be hit by Fake Out, a normal-type move. Kingambit is emerging as a go-to option thanks to its Defiant ability, which boosts its attack by two stages when one of its stats is lowered. Water Pokémon like Milotic can be helpful too, since Incineroar can't do too much damage to them.

While Incineroar's overuse isn't new for Pokémon players, it's especially noticeable in Champions due to the game's limited roster. The free-to-play game launched with 186 monsters, largely pulling in some of the competitive scene's staples. That has helped make the game less overwhelming for newcomers, but the trade-off is a more stagnant meta for now. You're going to fight a lot of Incineroars and Sneaslers until more monsters come to the game. Until then, the cat reigns supreme.