Pokemon of the Week 11: Dragapult, the Stealth Pokemon
By Corey Rausch
Welcome to Pokemon of the Week, the eleventh installment in a recurring series that looks at the impact of some of our favorite Pokemon on the anime, TCG and VGC. Taking a trip down memory lane to see the impact these Pokemon have had on the series and our lives is what makes Pokemon the magical thing it is.
This week on Pokemon of the Week is a little bit different. There will be times throughout this series were certain Pokemon, not matter how popular, have had a limited impact on one or more of the fronts we discuss. The fact that Dracapult is this high in terms of fan popularity after only being part of the culture since last November is telling.
Known as the Stealth Pokemon, Dragapult is the pseudo-Legendary Pokemon of the eighth generation. It has yet to make an appearance in the core anime series as the world of Galar is still rather new. As the first set of Pokemon since the Legendary Giratina, this Ghost- and Dragon-type line was an immediate his among fans.
What was clear from the start is that Dragapult is an absolute powerhouse. It is the fastest of all Ghost-tppes and all pseudo-Legendary Pokemon. It is the tallest and lightest of the Pokemon in the latter classification. Its only weakness is Special Defense and it ranks last in that regard of all pseudo-Legendary Pokemon.
Since there is nothing to talk about in terms of the animated world we will be jumping straight into TCG and VGC.
TCG
Even if it just debuted in debuted in May of this year in the TCG, Dragapult has already been a titan of the format. Specifically, Dragapult VMAX reshaped the entirety of the Standard format. Dragapult V and Dragapult VMAX came out in Rebel Clash, during a time when the entirety of the game was played online.
At the first sanctioned event that the cards were legal Dragapult VMAX was one of the driving forces of competition and finished in third and eighth place among many other Day 2 finishes. The VMAX boasts a whopping 320 HP and for two Psychic Energy does 130 damage and allows the attacking player to place five additional damage counters on their opponent’s bench. This allowed the Dragapult player to be more efficient with their damage while their opponents would be unable to knock out Dragapult VMAX with a single attack. Two weeks later, at the fourth Limitless Online Series Qualifier, there would be four players piloting the strategy into the top 32 of the tournament.
The Pokemon Company International had an event called the Players Cup Kickoff Invitational two weeks later, featuring some of the most well-known players in the world. This mini event, with eight big name players, featured Tod Reklev, considered one of the best players of all time, and Henry Brand, the reigning world champion, piloting the Stealth Pokemon.
As the Players Cup is nearing its culmination in coming weeks Dragapult VMAX continues to be a driving force of the format. This could be the time for it to take its first major win.
VGC
If the TCG start was impressive the domination of the VGC will come as a shock to the uninitiated. At the first Regional Championship it was legal (Bochum) it carried trainer two trainers to top 8 finishes. Dragapult has the potential to play a supportive role or be the best attacker on your team.
The highest finisher at this first event was a combination attacker that took advantage of Life Orb and Dragon Dance to launch powerful Dragon Claws and Phantom Forces. One week later in Dallas three people would finish in the top 8. At the Oceania International Championships five made the top 16. It has failed to win a major sanctioned event but much of that is due to the stoppage of the season because of the global pandemic.
Wolfe Glicke took down an online tournament in May with a team based around a fast Dragpult using Surf to trigger both Weakness Policy and Steam Engine on Coalossal. This lead to the Gigantamax Coalossal becoming a major sweeper all with the help of the Stealth Pokmeon. In terms of online usage Dragapult has been a fixture in the top five for months, finding a home on nearly 25 percent of logged teams. This led to earlier this week an unprecedented ban of Pokemon in the new VGC rules due to overexposure.
After its run it finished in the ninth for most popular in Singles teams and third in most popular Doubles teams. Four Galarian Pokemon reached this level and of them Dragapult has been dominant the longest.