Garchomp holds at 39% as Salamence, added on September 9, reaches second at 31% in two weeks, with Mimikyu at an all-time low

The 2000+ bracket and the midladder tell notably different stories about which picks matter. Three Pokémon share the top of the high bracket at 36% — Primarina, Salamence and Garchomp — but they get there differently. Primarina shows the sharpest split at 36% above 2000 versus 15% below, more than doubling its presence at the top; Salamence holds 28% in the midladder as well, second there too, so its rise is not confined to strong players. Mimikyu follows Primarina's pattern at 25% versus 12%, and Charizard appears on 21% of top-band teams against just 9% in the midrange. Those three define the high-level approach: Primarina's Water-Fairy profile for Dragon checking and pressure into Steel matchups, Mimikyu's Disguise enabling safe setup turns, and Charizard's raw offensive presence rounding out Fire coverage.

The midladder favors a different set of tools entirely. Aegislash sits at 12% in the 1000-1999 bracket with zero usage above 2000, the most extreme skill split in the format. Rillaboom at 16% versus 7% and Gyarados at 15% versus 7% show a similar pattern: strong on paper but evidently exploitable at the highest level, where players know how to play around Grassy Terrain pivots and Dragon Dance setup windows.

Garchomp accelerated through the second half of the week, climbing from 37% to 44% and peaking at 2196 on the ladder. With 38% of sets carrying Dragon Tail, it directly threatens the #2 pick Salamence with super-effective Dragon STAB, hitting it for heavy damage and forcing it out before a Dragon Dance can go up. Metagross jumped from 4% to 10% in the same window after eight consecutive reports of declining usage, surfacing on two notable teams above 2100, and Cinderace ticked up from 9% to 13%, its Fire STAB providing a natural answer to the format's 70% Steel-type saturation.

On the losing side, Hippowdon dropped from 25% to 15% in the second half and Baxcalibur fell from 20% to 13%, two core pieces fading as the meta leans more heavily into the Garchomp-Salamence-Primarina triangle. Greninja halved from 13% to 6%, likely displaced by Primarina's ability to cover both the Water and Fairy slots in a single pick, and Gholdengo fell from 14% to 8%. Primarina's full-week 24% sits at an 11-report high, but the second half of the week saw it cool from 26% to 19%, front-loading its impact into the first few days.

Despite Garchomp's glaring x4 Ice weakness, no Ice-type answer has risen to punish its dominance. Baxcalibur, the only Ice STAB carrier in the top twelve, is actively falling rather than capitalizing, and Rotom (Frost), whose Ice and Electric STAB threatens seven of the top twelve including Garchomp, sits below 3% usage.

Dragon at 82% and Water at 81% run virtually neck and neck atop the type chart, each present on more than four out of five teams. Dragon spreads its weight across Garchomp, Salamence, and Baxcalibur, giving builders three distinct speed tiers and profiles to choose from, while Water splits among the specially defensive Primarina, the priority-based Golisopod, and the setup-oriented Gyarados. Steel at 70% anchors the defensive side through Lucario, Archaludon, and Gholdengo, and Fairy at 61%, carried almost entirely by Primarina and Mimikyu, exists as the mandatory Dragon check. The rotation between those two Fairy carriers determines whether a team gains Water or Ghost as its secondary coverage alongside the Fairy slot, a choice that ripples through every remaining pick. Fire rounds out the list at exactly 50%, driven by Cinderace, Charizard, and Rotom (Heat), all punishing the format's Steel density.