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The author wanted an electric-water high-power cycling team, starting from Life Orb Mega Raichu Y and Basculegion. Since Basculegion struggles against Mimikyu and Garchomp, they added a fully bulky Leftovers Hippowdon to lock down Garchomp, then Primarina to avoid getting blown up by a single Hydreigon Dark Pulse. Mega Charizard X handles bulky Garchomp, stall, and gimmick teams, while the last slot went from Corviknight to Orthworm on a friend's suggestion after Corviknight couldn't deal with heavy threats. The plan is Volt Switch off Metagross or Greninja to chip and reposition Raichu into Electro Cannon range, while lead Basculegion wrecks Mega Delphox or Mega Starmie cycle openers before they get read. The author admits the team leans heavily on prediction and matchup luck, and struggles hard against grass types plus Whirlwind Hippowdon, Garchomp, and Meowscarada.Build article →

The author is a veteran sand team player. This season he swapped last season's Tyranitar starter for Hippowdon, keeping Excadrill as the sand sweeper. Looking for a Mega that fits the Hippo+Excadrill setup, Gyarados and Meganium underperformed, and since Mega Charizard Y was a pain, he landed on Mega Garchomp—it turned out absurdly strong. Because Mega Garchomp is slow, Araquanid provides Sticky Web speed control, with Gholdengo as a special sweeper that abuses the web. For the last Mega slot, Mega Floette worked best: it baits opposing Steels that Mega Garchomp then cleans up, a very repeatable pattern. Hippowdon runs specially defensive to survive hits, Excadrill outspeeds base 80s, and Mega Garchomp packs Thunder Fang for Gyarados. His self-noted weaknesses: Primarina and Mega Charizard Y leads pressure him hard with no clean answer, and weather changers like Alolan Ninetales, Vanilluxe and Mega Froslass are tough.Build article →

The core is Leftovers Aegislash: last season the author's Hippowdon kept getting its plan wrecked by Doom Desire Aegislash, and they judged that easy-win potential without losing versatility was strong enough to build around. Hippowdon serves as the switch-in and even baits opposing Hippowdon swaps in the mirror via Yawn. Mega Dragonite was added for its 700 BST bulk, power, and mid-speed control, then Choice Scarf Meowscarada for speed and to check Garchomp and water types. To handle heavy Mega Lopunny and break Umbreon, Mega Blaziken with Earthquake came in, also punching through Skeledirge. As a last-day gamble, Iron Defense Mega Skarmory was added to cover ice-hitting Metagross and Gyarados. The author calls Aegislash the MVP, with Doom Desire hitting like a Blood Moon in this meta. Weaknesses are stall (especially Slowbro) and skilled Sylveon, and three Megas with no real fairy answBuild article →

The team runs Mega Dragonite and Mega Gengar as its two Mega slots. Dragonite handles the bulk of matchups through Multiscale durability and Extreme Speed cleanup, while Gengar is reserved for Florges-based teams, trading one-for-one with Shadow Trapping Destiny Bond. Mimikyu with Lum Berry and Swords Dance finds setup opportunities off opponents' locked moves or Hippowdon's Yawn. Hippowdon with Leftovers and Slack Off stalls opponents out and creates favorable positioning for Dragonite and Mimikyu. Choice Scarf Meowscarada locks out Gyarados and Florges with enough physical bulk to take at least one Basculegion hit. HD Iron Defense Corviknight was added last to manage Ceruledge and limit Archaludon's action economy. The main unresolved weakness is Dragon Dance Gyarados, against which the team has limited offensive coverage.Build article →

The team centers on Mega Kangaskhan with Scrappy, whose Double-Edge paralysis and freeze fishing is the primary win condition, backed by Sucker Punch for finishing. Mega Gengar is the secondary Mega, reserved for matchups like Primarina and Delphox that bother Kangaskhan, using Destiny Bond for forced one-for-one trades. Primarina covers physical threats and provides Encore disruption at lower speed. Choice Scarf Garchomp handles speed control, Corviknight with Iron Defense and Body Press anchors physical cycling, and Mega Charizard Y was added purely for the select screen pressure against Archaludon — the author acknowledges it was rarely brought and often lost when it was. The persistent weak points all season were Mirror Coat Archaludon, Kingambit, and Meowscarada.Build article →

The author built around Mega Dragalge, liked for its looks and stats, paired with Corviknight running Defog to keep the cycle going without getting hazard-stacked by the Ground-types Dragalge draws in. Focus Sash Garchomp was added to handle setup sweepers and physical Fire-types that pair couldn't beat, while Choice Scarf Hisuian Samurott covers tough attackers like Delphox and Basculegion and can lock opponents into forced switches with Encore loops. Special Volcarona was brought in to break bulky Steel-types like Iron Defense Metagross and Scizor that the other attackers couldn't crack, and Mega Starmie fills the last slot as a priority-move Mega pick for when Dragalge can't safely come in against Ground-types or setup teams. The author calls Corviknight the backbone of the team and Garchomp reliably useful in almost any matchup, but flags Archaludon, Gyarados, and Annihilape as very Build article →

The author built around Mega Sceptile, a long-loved favorite newly unlocked this season. Sceptile is frail and loses trades to Scarfers, so a switch-in was essential: Leftovers Protect Hippowdon tanks random threats, chips with Earthquake and sand, and opens paths via Yawn. Sitrus Berry bulky Archaludon was added to set Stealth Rock and check Meowscarada. Since Sceptile can't be brought against Corviknight, Scizor, or Meganium, the main Mega slot went to Will-O-Wisp/Encore Mega Delphox, which fits into almost any matchup. Rounding out: Chesto Berry Calm Mind Primarina to break Hippowdon, Umbreon, and Delphox, plus Black Glasses Swords Dance/Sucker Punch Kingambit as a sweeper. The author praises the support Delphox for its wide coverage and high usage, and calls Archaludon absurdly tanky, setting rocks while breaking foes head-on. Weak spots are Mega Raichu Y (Sceptile often can't be senBuild article →

The team is built around Mega Lopunny as the high-pressure lead, valued for its Fake Out plus Mega Kick burst and type resistances. Hippowdon handles physical threats and sets Stealth Rock; Aegislash was retooled from a defensive Leftovers set to a Swords Dance attacker, since passive play proved ineffective. Basculegion provides hitting coverage complementary to Lopunny, with its Mystic Water Wave Crash hitting surprisingly hard, and Avalugg uses Snow-boosted bulk to handle Gyarados. The last slot went to Mega Charizard Y, which the author admits was mostly dead weight and should be replaced. The main weaknesses were Dragonite and a lack of reliable options against Charizard-Y's checks.Build article →