Ogerpon, the main legendary introduced by Pokémon Scarlet and Violet's Teal Mask DLC, has multiple different forms - but which one is the best?
Summary
- Ogerpon is a new legendary Pokémon introduced in the Teal Mask DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, with four different forms.
- The default Teal Mask form of Ogerpon is underwhelming due to its pure Grass typing and lack of strong attacking options.
- One form is clearly the best, while the other forms can be used in more niche scenarios.
With the release of The Teal Mask DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the franchise has also gained a new legendary Pokémon in the form of Ogerpon, which fulfills a similar role as previous legendaries like Urshifu and Calyrex from the DLC of Pokémon Sword and Shield. Taking place in the land of Kitakami, The Teal Mask brings several new and returning Pokémon to Scarlet and Violet, expanding the game's roster and introducing new mechanics, abilities, and moves. Among the new additions to the game, however, Ogerpon has several unique features to set it apart.
Catching Ogerpon in Scarlet and Violet occurs early, with the legendary Pokémon befriending the player character partway through the DLC, but it takes until the end of the main story for Ogerpon to be obtainable. Somewhat uniquely for a legendary, Ogerpon is a pure Grass-type, with stats weighted towards being a fast physical attacker, allowing it to hit hard and out-speed most of its competition. Its signature move, Ivy Cudgel, is a powerful Grass-type attack with 100 base power and 100 accuracy. However, Ogerpon also has a unique gimmick — a form-changing mechanic that gives it three additional forms, each with its own typing.
The Teal Mask DLC's Main Legendary Has Four Different Forms
Far from being a simple Grass-type legendary, Ogerpon has a total of four forms, each of which depends on the item that the Pokémon is holding. By default, Ogerpon is a pure Grass type. However, Ogerpon's form, type, and ability also change when it holds one of three unique masks — the Wellspring Mask, the Hearthflame Mask, and the Cornerstone Mask, which give it Water, Fire, and Rock secondary typings, respectively. These masks also boost Ogerpon's attacking moves by 20% and change the typing of Ivy Cudgel to match Ogerpon's secondary type. Terastalizing Ogerpon changes its ability to Embody Aspect, boosting a stat depending on its form.
Ogerpon's Default Form Is Potentially Underwhelming
Despite its impressive stats and potentially powerful ability, Ogerpon's default Teal Mask form is somewhat let down by its pure Grass typing. As Grass is somewhat poor offensively, it can be hard for Teal Mask Ogerpon to leverage its powerful attacking moves and good stats, a problem that's exacerbated by the Teal Mask form's shallow attacking options relative to the other forms. Leaving Ivy Cudgel as Grass-type causes significant overlap with other useful Grass-type attacks that Ogerpon learns, such as Horn Leech or Wood Hammer. Terastalizing Teal Mask Ogerpon boosts its Speed with Embody Aspect, which is useful but doesn't quite make up for its flaws.
Wellspring Mask Ogerpon Has Good Defensive Options
Having Ogerpon hold the Wellspring Mask turns it into a Grass-/Water-type and changes its ability to Water Absorb, which restores Ogerpon's HP when hit with Water-type attacks. Terastalizing Ogerpon changes into a pure Water-type in this form, and its Embody Aspect ability boosts its Special Defense. Overall, this form is an improvement on the base form, with the secondary Water typing offering some useful resistances and neutralizing some Grass-type weaknesses.
Water Absorb is also a useful ability, but is somewhat wasted on Wellspring Mask Ogerpon, as its typing would naturally doubly resist Water attacks anyway, and the Special Defense boost from Embody Aspect doesn't quite fit Ogerpon's stats.
Hearthflame Mask Makes Ogerpon A Fearsome Offensive Threat
The Hearthflame mask grants Ogerpon a secondary Fire typing and the ability Mold Breaker, which allows its moves to ignore the abilities of other Pokémon. Terastalizing Ogerpon in this form changes its type to Fire, and has its Embody Aspect ability boosting its Attack stat. Among Ogerpon's four forms, Hearthflame is the best for straightforwardly attacking, as Fire is one of the best offensive types in the game, and Mold Breaker is useful for nullifying defensive abilities.
In addition, gaining an attack boost from Embody Aspect allows Ogerpon's attacks to hit extremely hard. Defensively, the Hearthflame form has a serviceable amount of resistance, most notably to Electric- and Fairy-type attacks.
Cornerstone Mask Ogerpon's Defenses Are At Odds With Its Type
Finally, the Cornerstone Mask gives Ogerpon a Grass-/Rock-typing and the ability Sturdy, which allows it to survive almost any single attack when at full health. Terastalizing a Conerstone Mask form Ogerpon turns it into a pure Rock-type and boosts its Defense with Embody Aspect. Unfortunately, the defensive nature of this form's abilities is somewhat at odds with its poor defensive typing, which has few resistances and glaring weaknesses to common offensive types like Fighting and Ice. To somewhat make up for this flaw, the form's STAB combination of Grass- and Rock-type moves has the best neutral coverage of any form, being resisted only by Steel or specific dual-type Pokémon.
Which Ogerpon Form Is The Best Overall?
Out of Ogerpon's four forms, Hearthflame Mask is overall the best, with its typing and abilities being the best suited for Ogerpon's stats. Grass- and Fire-type STAB options cover each other's weaknesses well, and Ivy Cudgel turning into a Fire-type move makes it a powerful and spammable option, especially if sunny weather has been set up beforehand. Mold Breaker allows Ogerpon to cut through Pokémon that might otherwise stonewall it, such as a Heatran with the Flash Fire ability, and the attack boost of Embody Aspect and power boost from holding one of the masks skyrockets Ogerpon's overall attacking power.
While Ogerpon's other forms are far from useless, their abilities and typing are somewhat more at odds with Ogerpon's offense-oriented stat spread. The boosts to defensive stats from the Wellspring Mask and Cornerstone Mask forms, for example, aren't quite enough to make Ogerpon truly bulky, and the Grass-/Water- and Grass-/Rock-type combinations of each form have exploitable weaknesses that undercut the defense boosts as well. While these forms still have applicable uses in niche cases, none of them reach the same overwhelming power or general usability as the Hearthflame Mask form.
While Ogerpon is likely one of the most powerful new Pokémon added in The Teal Mask, its four different forms don't all match up equally. For pure power and ease of use, Hearthflame Mask outperforms by a large margin, giving the best synergy with Ogerpon's stats. As more Pokémon are introduced in the next DLC for Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, the relative power of each of Ogerpon's forms may shift drastically.
