📈 Ladder Top Builds

The author's previous ladder team stopped working late in the season, so he borrowed Tamingyas's skeleton and filled in the spreads himself. The concept is a setup-relay built around two high-power cores: Garchomp and Mega Gyarados, using Meowscarada (the matchup the cores hate most) as fuel for the back line. Garchomp runs Adamant Focus Sash and goes first almost every game—Adamant lets two Earthquakes punch through Sitrus Stamina Archaludon, and Thunder Fang replaces Fire Fang specifically to handle Gyarados, the team's biggest weakness. Mega Gyarados then Dragon Dances over whatever Garchomp traded with; its Water/Dark typing lets it eat a priority hit after setting up. Mimikyu carries Fairy Feather with Swords Dance + Curse to muscle through walls and RNG abusers, while Scizor and Volcarona patch coverage holes and Mega Floette is pure selection pressure (0% pick rate). Hardest matchups: Meowscarada, Power Whip Gyarados, lead Hippowdon and Thunder Punch Lopunny.Build article →

Wanting a setup-cycle team, the author started from Blastoise, which newly learned Shell Smash, then paired Sneasler that can set up on Primarina and Meowscarada, the two things Blastoise struggles with. To make those setups, the front is Toucannon (burns physical attackers, has Encore) and Hisuian Samurott (breaks Focus Sash, also has Encore), rounded out with Metagross to check Fairies and Hydreigon to beat stall. The plan is to boost, hit from above to steal luck wins, and avoid getting worn down by playing reactively. Blastoise runs Water Pulse, Aura Sphere and Ice Beam to cover Steel and Garchomp; Sneasler doubles its attack and speed for a turn off Sitrus, setting up on Mimikyu and Primarina that wall Blastoise. Toucannon's Beak Blast is absurd, OHKOing Mega Gengar and burning on contact. Hydreigon was the hidden MVP, mistaken for Scarf, cleaning up Umbreon, Bellibolt and Toxapex wBuild article →

The author built around something that heavily limits the opponent's switches, landing on Mega Raichu Y: No Guard lets it fire Zap Cannon and Focus Blast reliably, so it's strong one-on-one, but the real edge is restricting the enemy's pivots. Grass Knot pressures every ground type except Garchomp, and Zap Cannon's paralysis makes them afraid to bring a Scarf mon in on the switch, so it acts like a pseudo Shadow Tag, paired with real Shadow Tag Mega Gengar for a double-trap concept. The Garchomp that Mega Raichu Y baits is handled by Orthworm, Hippowdon and Primarina: Orthworm's Earth Eater ignores Earthquake and slow Shed Tail brings Primarina in safely. Primarina sweeps with Calm Mind plus Rest and a Chesto Berry, while Hippowdon grinds with Yawn and Protect. Against pure walls, Mega Gengar uses Substitute plus Perish Song, and Scarf Hydreigon revenges fast, hard hitters like Mega StarBuild article →

The author built around Mega Delphox and finished rank 217 in Singles Season M-1 under the name KILLERMOON. The concept is a status-damage control team: Delphox's Fire/Psychic coverage cleanly handles the widespread Umbreon + Florges defensive cores, and its typing pairs naturally with Toxic Spikes—Poison and Steel types that resist Poison are exactly those hit by Delphox's STAB moves. Glimmora leads to set Stealth Rock and Toxic Spikes; Umbreon's Wish + Yawn loop sustains the team and keeps Delphox cycling indefinitely. Aegislash handles Primarina, the team's biggest threat, with Wish support enabling repeated switchins. Toxapex covers Mimikyu, Primarina, and Lopunny that Umbreon cannot handle; Scizor without a held item is a late-game safety net. Identified weaknesses include sleep-cure or Calm Mind Primarina builds, Rain teams, and opposing Scizor with Swords Dance.Build article →

After cycling through many teams, the author returned to his best face-to-face build and rode a 12-win streak on the last day into Champion rank (218th). The core is the ultimate one-on-one pair, Kangaskhan and Garchomp: Mega Kangaskhan trades with Mega and regular mons alike using Body Slam, Earthquake and Ice Punch, and swapped in Facade to punish Delphox, Rotom and Scovillain that try to burn it. Garchomp runs Choice Scarf with an Adamant nature, locking in Outrage and Earthquake plus Rock Slide for Charizard and Stealth Rock to stop re-setup. He usually leads a Mega to grab tempo, with Mega Blastoise handling the Hippowdon and Skeledirge walls that Kangaskhan baits; its Water/Dark/Fighting/priority coverage is wide, but the team has no water answer so Primarina is rough. Volcarona beats physical Steels, sweeps after Quiver Dance and spreads Will-O-Wisp. Aegislash pivots into Mega StaBuild article →

Following the 5th-place finisher's ideas from last season, the author started from a Sitrus Hippowdon plus Leftovers Gyarados core and reached his first-ever Champion rank (219th). Hippowdon is the best support mon, with Earthquake, Yawn and Slack Off shutting down all kinds of one-way teams; wrecking the board with it, then closing with Gyarados and Archaludon, was the main win path, and Gyarados swapped to Dragon Dance because opponents kept playing its Leftovers like a Taunt. Archaludon was meant as a backup for when Dragonite couldn't come out, but as Dragonite's matchups worsened it became the main lead, and the author calls it a co-MVP alongside the Hippo core for landing near-lethal opening hits off the opponent's misreads. Dragonite has high stats and wide coverage, and its switch-reading Roost is oppressive; it leads to open lanes for Gyarados and Archaludon. Mega Floette is theBuild article →

The author copied a HB Palafin team he saw on YouTube and just slotted in his beloved Hisuian Goodra. The core trio of Palafin + Goodra + Mega Clefable carried almost every game. Palafin (Leftovers) leads, forces a switch, then comes back to stack Bulk Up; against Hippowdon it Substitutes through Yawn and pressures concessions. Choice Scarf Hisuian Goodra (max Speed) outpaces things like Mega Gengar and Mega Alakazam, fires off Draco Meteor as a general STAB, Thunderbolt for Primarina and Archaludon, and Fire Blast for Lucario and Scizor. Mega Clefable sponges physical attackers Goodra can't, runs enough Speed to outpace Mega Lopunny, and uses Thunder Wave plus Encore to enable Palafin's setup. Gengar's role is to suicide-trade against Palafin's hard counters like Primarina, Venusaur and Meganium, and its mere presence warps the opponent's lead. Garchomp and Kingambit were mostly bait to lure Hippowdon; the author admits the back two slots were under-tuned and Fairies remain a weak point.Build article →

The author started from Mawile simply because it is cute and built the Mega around it. To beat Mawile's nemeses Charizard and Archaludon, they added Focus Sash Garchomp; fearing Hydreigon-Metagross and Gyarados, Choice Scarf Meowscarada outspeeds them, and Primarina handles Blaziken and Greninja. Mega Mawile runs max Attack/Speed for brawling and using the opponent's Meowscarada as setup fodder, with Ice Punch even muscling through defense-lowered Hippowdon. Armarouge with Shuca Berry counters the surging grass-Mega squad and Meganium, and crucially fits on the field alongside Mawile. Mimikyu is the flex pick with Swords Dance. The author admits Meowscarada constantly baits Archaludon, clashing with the single-Mega core and dragging down win rate, while Corviknight and set-up Gholdengo stay tough.Build article →