It’s finally March, which means that the third Ranked Battle Series in Pokémon Sword and Shield is live. New Pokémon, Gigantamax forms, and regional variants will be legal both in-game and at VGC events.
New Pokémon in the format
The release of Pokémon Home allowed players to transfer several creatures into Sword and Shield that were not previously in the game. This includes the Kanto Starters, the Alola Starters, and any regional variant of Pokémon that appear in the Galar Pokédex. All Legendary and Mythical Pokémon are still illegal.
In addition to these new Pokémon, new Gigantamax forms are also legal. The only Gigantamax forms that are not legal are Machamp, Gengar, Copperajah, Duraludon, and Garbodor. All other forms are now legal, and Gigantamax Charizard can now have Solar Power (it could previously only have Blaze as its ability).
Other information
Since the second Ranked Battle Series is over, players can now claim their rewards for how they did. To get these rewards, go to the VS Menu and enter the Battle Stadium, then select “Ranked Battles”. Each player will receive a new rank and rewards based on how high on the ladder they finished. To claim the rewards, go to the Mystery Gift menu, select “Get a Mystery Gift”, and then “Get Battle Stadium Rewards”.
Ranked Battle Series Three will last from now until Apr. 30 at 23:59 UTC. Players will be able to earn more rewards once this series is over. It is likely that more Pokémon and Gigantamax forms will be made legal during the next Ranked Battle Series.
To play Ranked Battles, navigate to the Ranked Battles Menu again and select the desired format. The ladder starts at Beginner tier and goes up through the Master Ball tier. Players in Master Ball tier all have an individual rank and cannot drop back into lower tiers.
If you are a Pokémon fan, be sure to check it out and see what you think!
