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The team grew out of an old Hydreigon plus Metagross idea, with Mega Metagross, Hydreigon, Basculegion and Mega Raichu Y as a four-mon skeleton; most people would run Primarina in the Basculegion slot, but the author chose raw power and Flip Turn pressure over resistances and accepted that Dark and Ghost got heavy. Life Orb Garchomp and Choice Scarf Alolan Ninetales filled the last two slots, the Ninetales specifically to stop a Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados. When he noticed Mega Metagross was only ever clicking Bullet Punch he swapped it for Mega Scizor, which handles Greninja, Meowscarada and Mimikyu, and that finally locked the team in. Hydreigon runs Leftovers with Substitute and Nasty Plot instead of a Scarf, so the Umbreon, Bellibolt and Fissure Snorlax opponents bring to check a Scarf set all become setup fodder, while Mega Raichu Y is the real ace with enough bulk to survive a DracoBuild article →

The team builds a Hippowdon + Mega Gyarados defensive-offensive core alongside a Mega Staraptor + Aegislash pressure axis. Hippowdon runs standard Impish HD with Sitrus, spreading sand plus Stealth Rock, Whirlwind and Yawn to grind the opponent down; the author notes Charizard Y feels heavy and full SpDef could have been better. Aegislash with Leftovers and Swords Dance covers Ice/Psychic/Fairy threats Staraptor dislikes. Mega Staraptor's Contrary combined with Substitute snowballs once Toxic Spikes are set. Mega Gyarados uses Mold Breaker with Ice Fang, Power Whip and Crunch to handle stuff like Archaludon. Meowscarada is the Focus Sash lead laying Toxic Spikes, though the author says brute-forcing with Overgrow Trick Flower actually won more games than committing to hazard setup. Scarf Floette acts as a hidden speed piece, using Trick as a setup tool and sweeping. The author admits many matchups feel rough centered on Meowscarada and is puzzled by the ladder result, blaming several misplays.Build article →

He first saw the Overqwil plus Mega Staraptor pairing while helping a friend review games, and was struck by how good Overqwil is as a lead and by the elegance of blanking Ground moves with Staraptor while fortifying it. Running the pair exposed two flaws: breaking depended entirely on Toxic Spikes, so floating physical walls like Corviknight were untouchable, and once a Ghost-type blanked Close Combat, anything faster with a super-effective move, like Meowscarada, ran him over. His answer was a special Aegislash, which brings special damage, complements Staraptor's typing and resists most of what hurts it. Laddering then showed that Gholdengo and Aegislash — immune to Toxic Spikes and resistant to Brave Bird — were unbreakable, so Kingambit came in as a switch-in to both that also pairs Sudden Strike with hazard chip. Mega Delphox is the fifth slot with Nasty Plot, letting even hazard rBuild article →

Short on time and, by his own admission, weaker at in-game decisions than most, the author chose a support-the-ace setup team. Mega Gyarados got the ace slot for being strong into the popular Metagross and Delphox builds, with Alolan Ninetales as the enabler because it puts up Aurora Veil in one turn, has Encore, hits Garchomp and Hippowdon with Ice moves and answers rain, and Sitrus Berry Garchomp third to set Stealth Rock, cushion hits and check the Raichu and Charizard the team finds heavy. Mega Blaziken is the backup ace, Gholdengo with a Ground-resist Berry breaks the Hippowdon, Corviknight and Umbreon walls that block a sweep, and Focus Sash Araquanid sets Sticky Web. Eight turns of doubled bulk from Aurora Veil plus Intimidate makes two or more Dragon Dances easy. He calls it a flawed build full of shaky accuracy and too many concessions: Choice Scarf Archaludon and Ice Fang GarchBuild article →

The Espathra / Greninja / Mimikyu core felt good last season so the author kept it, but Espathra struggled badly against Meowscarada, Kingambit and Aegislash, which shrug off its signature Psychic move, and against Mega Starmie and hard-hitting priority. Scrolling the dex he landed on a bulky Snorlax that is immune to Ghost moves and can take almost anything down with Selfdestruct, and it worked better than expected; Mega Charizard Y was added because Greninja without a Water move struggles with Steel-types, and Substitute plus Nasty Plot Hydreigon came last to turn Umbreon into setup fodder and handle stall. Encore on Snorlax is a set nobody runs, but locking Stealth Rock, Spikes or Yawn and then exploding on whatever comes in next was very strong, and even the team's worst matchup Mega Lopunny gets tanked with a Berry then blown up. Espathra's usage fell from 80 percent to 10-20 percenBuild article →

A longtime rain player, the author committed to rain from day one. Testing Pelipper and Mega Swampert with various partners, he found Swift Swim Overqwil surprisingly easy to use and its Ground weakness neatly covered by Pelipper, so those three became the core. When the meta shifted and he stopped winning, he re-examined Overqwil and realised its real value wasn't offense but its ability to poison things — Toxic Spikes control — so he swapped in Meowscarada, which also handles the Primarina, Wash Rotom and Gyarados that rain hates, and finished with Garchomp for Mega Raichu, Mega Meganium and Charizard. The team now baits opponents into rain-proofing their picks and wins with hazards: Meowscarada leads and lays Toxic Spikes, Aegislash grinds turns behind Substitute and King's Shield, and max-Attack, max-Speed Mega Staraptor cleans up while the opponent shuffles, taking out most Mimikyu Build article →

Stuck at low rating with a Heracross build in the first half of the season, the author refocused on the Dragonite that had been sitting in their backup selection and rebuilt around a non-Mega Dragon Dance Dragonite holding an Expert Belt, which widens its coverage at no risk; an improvised Iron Head even lets it fight Fairies, and the physical set beats the special walls people bring specifically for Mega Dragonite. To stop Stealth Rock ruining that plan the Mega slot went to Froslass, which pressures hazard setters like Garchomp and Hippowdon enormously, fires Blizzard for free, and blocks setup with Taunt and Destiny Bond. Choice Scarf Sneasler pivots and Tricks its item away, and is fast enough to remove Mega Raichu Y. Mimikyu, Dragonite's worst problem, is handled by Mega Pyroar, which resists or is immune to its main moves, while Focus Sash Meowscarada answers Gyarados and PrimarinaBuild article →

The author has been running Mega Venusaur since Gen 7 and wanted to keep building around it for Champions M-B4. Choice Scarf Hydreigon and Corviknight cover Mega Metagross and Starmie, which Venusaur struggles with; Alolan Ninetales checks Dragonite (a team-wide threat) and rain teams; Lum Berry Garchomp handles Charizard + Hippowdon cores; and Skeledirge deals with Lucario and Volcarona while acting as a cushion. Venusaur runs an HC spread with Leech Seed over Giga Drain to grind out cycles, and its Speed is tuned to outrun slower Archaludon. Garchomp is max Speed with Thunder Fang to bluff Archaludon and Gyarados, but it can't break Iron Defense variants. The go-to lead trio is Hydreigon + Venusaur + Corviknight. The author calls out Charizard + Metagross and Dragonite + Metagross cores as their worst matchups, winning only around 60% through careful play.Build article →

Having barely laddered last season, the author read build articles and borrowed someone's stable Venusaur plus Umbreon team, liked it enough to commit to it for the season, and touched Champion rank with light edits. He then stalled out against Lum Berry Swords Dance Garchomp, Nasty Plot Gholdengo and Focus Energy Archaludon, and only reached a three-digit finish after a Champion-rank player shared an updated version and advice with him. The concept, as he relays it, is to apply pressure with chip damage from poison and Stealth Rock, then push a Fire-type Mega through the Steel-types that ignore both. Glimmora was rebuilt from an attacker into a set that can place poison on either the active or the switch-in, and Mega Venusaur unusually invests in Speed to win the mirror and outpace uninvested Archaludon. The real revolution was Calm Mind Baton Pass Umbreon: the exact situations where SwBuild article →

The original concept was specially defensive Archaludon setting Stealth Rock and chipping with Dragon Tail, Hippowdon grinding with Yawn, and Mega Blaziken breaking everything at the end. As his rating climbed Hippowdon got teched against and became hard to bring, and after a lot of trial and error he arrived at Vileplume: it pairs well with Archaludon, matches up strongly into the Primarina the team found heavy, and Leech Seed reliably chips anything that isn't Grass. The key change was giving it a Lum Berry — Big Root over-healed and Focus Sash was ruined by Stealth Rock and sand — which lets it exploit the gap while Hippowdon sets up and Leech Seed both Hippowdon and whatever comes in behind it, helped by Vileplume being exactly three base Speed points faster. Stone Edge is Mega Blaziken's surprise factor, blowing away Delphox and Dragonite with rocks up, while Mega Gyarados covers thBuild article →

The skeleton the author found at the end of last season carried over intact: Mega Pyroar, Glaceon, Slowking and Garchomp all stayed. Slowking is the heart of the team with a near-100 percent selection rate, using Regenerator and a slow Chilly Reception to keep generating favourable matchups and force the opponent to move second, and neither Hippowdon nor Garchomp can do anything to it. Mega Pyroar is the ace, taking the position Slowking builds and dismantling teams with high-powered Fire moves; it beats Charizard Y, Mimikyu, Aegislash and Archaludon and single-handedly answered the very common Metagross plus Primarina pairing. Glaceon leans on Snow Cloak and the snow Defense boost, surviving Close Combat from Mega Lopunny and Staraptor, though it saw less play once the team leaned Steel. Focus Sash Garchomp is tuned specifically to survive Hisuian Samurott and outspeed Archaludon, whileBuild article →

He couldn't find an axis all season until he tried specially defensive Taunt Bulk Up Corviknight and found it strong into Hippowdon plus Primarina, into stall, and into ordinary physical attackers, so he built outward from there. Fire-type Megas like Delphox and Charizard burned it down, so he added Mega Starmie, which beats them and can pivot; Archaludon was absurd, so Mega Lopunny came in as the Fighting-type; he wanted pressure on Fire Megas even in games where Starmie can't be brought, hence Choice Scarf Garchomp; Archaludon was still a problem, so he threw in a Spell Tag special Aegislash; and Stealth Rock came from his usual White Herb Archaludon. The concept is to let the physical Megas rampage and turn whatever stops them into setup fodder for Corviknight. Corviknight carries the team and did the work in roughly 80 percent of his games, switching into Primarina and Hippowdon, TauBuild article →

After spending last season sampling new Megas and never building enough practice to close out the final day, the author committed to running one team all month and picked Mega Scizor as the best fit for their style, adapting an existing article that used a Roost set. The Hippowdon plus Scizor plus Mimikyu pivot cycle is described as endless and is the default selection; since the format's Fire types are almost all special, Hippowdon goes specially defensive and uses Whirlwind so it never becomes setup fodder in a direct matchup. Scizor survives one hit from basically anything but Fire, doubling as a cycle piece and a Swords Dance win condition, though its power and bulk both sit at awkward numbers and it becomes useless if misplayed. Life Orb Mimikyu is far stronger now that the Orb exists, Lum Berry Garchomp lets the author select confidently into Scovillain and Yawn teams, and a delibeBuild article →

The team runs on two axes: Hippowdon to build position and Mega Gyarados to Dragon Dance through everything, which he calls both the simplest and the strongest plan. Hippowdon leads nearly every game, setting Stealth Rock then Yawn in neutral or favourable spots and pivoting straight to Hisuian Goodra or Scizor in bad ones, grinding chip with sand until the opponent is in his ace's range. Most setup teams run Whirlwind on Hippowdon, but since he also brings it alongside Mega Meganium in pivot picks he chose Slack Off, and he moved its investment from special to fully physical bulk or it couldn't do its job at all. Mega Gyarados is Jolly rather than Adamant specifically so he can bring it without hesitation against Mega Delphox, Mega Gengar and Mega Lopunny, and it runs only its two STAB moves plus Earthquake — his principle is that the ace you bring most often should never carry a shaky-Build article →

Unable to win anything through the middle of the season, the author tried a strong player's rain team, liked it immediately, and ran the same six with only move and item tweaks. The concept is to lead Garchomp, set Stealth Rock and disrupt, then push through one of three win conditions: rain, Metagross or Meowscarada. Pelipper skips the usual Damp Rock bulk build for a Choice Scarf, which makes it both the rain setter and a fast attacker, and its unexpected Scarf repeatedly removed Charizard and Staraptor from above. Mega Swampert and Archaludon split the rain duties: Swampert swings rain-boosted Wave Crash and Earthquake, with Protect letting it be selected into Charizard Y, while Archaludon takes over when Gyarados or Meowscarada wall Swampert, sitting in the middle Speed tier and spamming Electro Shot under rain. Mega Metagross is the alternate line and can sweep alone once Iron DefenBuild article →

A dedicated Pinsir fan, the author starts by honestly listing Mega Pinsir's problems: middling bulk and Speed, weakness to Choice Scarf users, no way past Corviknight, and not quite enough power without Swords Dance — so Stealth Rock and Yawn support is mandatory. Sticky Web setters were judged too flimsy, so Hippowdon became the partner, invested to survive Mega Charizard Y's Solar Beam with just enough Defense to take a boosted Mega Gyarados hit. Pinsir turns Body Slam into a Flying move via Aerilate, uses Quick Attack to finish weakened targets, adds Earthquake for Aegislash and Gholdengo, and runs Moxie to reduce the risk of clicking Swords Dance. Focus Sash Espathra leads with enormous Lumina Crash pressure and, even when it dies, leaves a Special Defense drop for Archaludon and Greninja to exploit. Archaludon's Substitute plus Electro Shot set functions as its own boosting move andBuild article →

The new rule set added a pile of Megas, none of which clicked, so the author circled back to the Kangaskhan they had used well at the start of M-1, valuing how it goes even with almost anything and beats the popular Gyarados and Dragonite. They took a streamer's Kangaskhan six wholesale and only adjusted Kangaskhan's Speed line and Hippowdon's moves. Mega Kangaskhan opens by trading broadly, and Body Slam felt excellent — it survives a Dragon Danced Gyarados hit and kills back, while a 51 percent paralysis chance means it does not need Ice Punch to handle Garchomp and Dragonite. Life Orb Aegislash exists for Stamina Archaludon and Corviknight and can force through physically defensive Hippowdon with Steel Beam. Chesto Berry Primarina covers Hippowdon and Dragonite and can use a Dragonite without Thunderbolt as setup fodder; Hippowdon blocks Mega Lopunny and Blaziken, Mega Charizard X breBuild article →

He started building this after reading someone's article on Adamant Mega Lucario and thinking a maximum-power Close Combat looked fun. The concept is to pivot with Whimsicott, Wash Rotom and Kleavor and open a lane for the Mega slot. Whimsicott moved off Leftovers to a Sitrus Berry but keeps bulk investment so it can still switch into Garchomp, and max Special Attack Moonblast one-shots Mega Lopunny about 62 percent of the time, with Tailwind covering for his slightly slow Megas. Mega Pyroar was added for the Aegislash and Gholdengo that Lucario can't handle and ended up with the higher usage of the two. Mega Lucario is built purely for power: Stealth Rock plus Close Combat usually kills max-Speed Garchomp, and it is far stronger under Tailwind, with Adamant Extreme Speed proving vital against Starmie and Delphox — though he concedes Jolly may have been better. Choice Scarf Kleavor handlBuild article →

Last season he never settled on an axis and lost a lot of games to sheer lack of practice, so this time he locked one in early and drilled it: Mega Charizard Y, a Pokemon he loves and one that essentially never lets opponents switch in for free. Following a top-60 article from last season he tried Charizard Y with Defog Scizor and Garchomp, liked it, and kept it. Scizor is both Charizard's caretaker and his Garchomp wall, and Defog lets him pivot with zero Stealth Rock stress: against a lead Hippowdon he chips with Charizard, goes to Scizor on the Yawn, Defogs if they set rocks and U-turns back to Charizard if they Yawn, controlling the tempo entirely. Lum Berry Garchomp runs max Speed to win the mirror (most uninvested-item Garchomp are Adamant) and the Berry answers burn-reliant play and Yawn setups; Choice Scarf Meowscarada exists to stop Gyarados and Basculegion; and Leftovers PrimarBuild article →