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This was the team used for the Global Challenge and PJCS qualifiers, built around Sash Glimmora as the entry point. Glimmora reliably pressures the meta's key Megas in Charizard Y and Florges, uses Killer Spin to shut down redirection strategies, and covers wide offensive angles with Power Gem plus Earth Power. Kingambit exploits poison chip damage with Sucker Punch to clean up. Mega Froslass deals unavoidable damage with its never-miss Blizzard while lowering opponent speed for cleaner priority follow-up. Sneasler and Basculegion add multiple layers of priority attack to seal games. Dragonite with Dragon Fang closes out with Dragon Claw plus Extreme Speed. The author notes the flexible team has no fixed lead formula, which requires adaptable decision-making.Build article →

The team is built around Mega Blastoise as the sole win condition, using Shell Smash followed by Hydro Cannon. The core lead is Meowstic plus Orthworm: Orthworm's Tail Whip brings in Blastoise behind a Substitute, while Meowstic's Yawn buys the turn needed to safely use Shell Smash. Sneasler acts as sub-attacker and support, with Feint to destroy Wide Guard and break Focus Sash users. Sinistcha recovers Blastoise's health with Rage Powder to redirect attacks. Scizor was added last to handle Farigiraf and Sylveon. The author considers the team's overall quality solid but acknowledges that high execution difficulty led to key misplays that cost a Preliminary qualification.Build article →

The team funnels Calm Mind plus two Speed Boosts from Espathra into Archaludon via Baton Pass, then has Politoed copy those stat boosts with Heart Swap to double the payoff. The author used rain during the qualifying grind but found it underwhelming in Championship-tier play; Shandhi's streamed version of this Baton Pass concept convinced them to switch. To shore up weaknesses against Trick Room and Flying types—especially Talonflame—the final two slots went to Sylveon (Calm Mind anti-Trick Room) and Mega Aerodactyl (Whirlwind to break Shadow Tag). Even when the combo fails, the team can still fight on raw stats. The author's regret was sleep deprivation hurting execution during the main event.Build article →

Yamasho used Maushold plus Mega Gardevoir in Doubles, reaching the Global Challenge finals at 144th and ranking 103rd in the M-1 season. The gameplan is straightforward: Maushold supports with Follow Me while Mega Gardevoir chips with Hyper Voice spread damage, then back-row sweepers clean up. The team naturally fits Trick Room, which was uncommon early in the format and caught opponents off guard. For the Global Challenge, Talonflame and Kingambit filled the back row; for the season proper, Kingambit was replaced by Hisui Samurott, whose Sharp Quill ability boosts Slash and Sacred Sword to 1.5x, giving reliable damage into Archaludon and both common back-row sweepers. Incineroar was added to handle Fairy leads via Fake Out plus Throat Chop. Garchomp leads alongside Maushold against Charizard Y and Glimmora, using Rock Slide to lower opponent speeds and help Gardevoir's follow-up. The author identifies Vivillon plus Sylveon as the most problematic lead combination.Build article →

Finishing 109th in Doubles, the author adapted their SV Regulation H core of Tyranitar, Excadrill, and Kommo-o for Champions. Without Terastallize, they added Mega Froslass to pair with Kommo-o, using Assist Power and Blizzard in the lead to build a damage advantage. Kommo-o is the front-row anchor, tanking almost everything and looping Scale Noise; Mega Froslass deals spread Blizzard damage and uses Protect to buy time and boost Kommo-o's attack with Assist Power. Choice Scarf Tyranitar is a fixed back-row sweeper, and its Sand Stream enables Excadrill's Sand Rush speed doubling. Sneasler subs for Kommo-o against Fairy types, using Fake Out, Fatal Claw, and Feint. Hisuian Zoroark is a niche lead disguised as a slow Trick Room or Scizor counter, used in about 10% of games. Near season's end, Mega Lopunny was added to handle the rising Charizard plus Aerodactyl combination. Key strengths are Blizzard plus Rock Slide flinch turning losing games around; main weaknesses are Delphox and Mega Clefable.Build article →

This is a doubles team built around Mega Blastoise and Whimsicott, inspired by the author's 2018 World Championship team pairing Blastoise with Swellow. Whimsicott sets Tailwind for Blastoise to fire Water Spout at full power; Sneasler covers unfavorable matchups against Mega Talonflame, Mega Florges, and Archaludon; Tsareena provides priority move blocking and offensive power; Pelipper with a Choice Scarf both attacks under Tailwind and lowers Speed with Icy Wind; Weavile with a King's Rock uses Fake Out and Fling to lock opponents down for two turns while also handling Trick Room leads. Standard lead is Whimsicott plus Blastoise with Sneasler or Tsareena in back; versus Sneasler or Aerodactyl teams, Tsareena leads alongside Sneasler. The author notes the team handled most formats well and believes it was competitive enough to have cleared PJCS qualifiers with better play.Build article →

The author finished 143rd in Champions M-1 doubles at rating 2502, centering the team on Galarian Slowking — a Pokémon essentially no one else was using. The build stemmed from a partner's Blastoise-Talonflame team: swapping Talonflame for Slowking, who can both support and fight, produced surprising results. The standard opener is Slowking and Mega Blastoise; turn one Slowking uses Fake Out toward the Sneasler side while Blastoise sets Trick Room, then turn three rain plus Surf sweeps the board. Slowking runs Trick Room, Rain Dance, Healing Wave, and Acid Spray, making every turn productive even after Trick Room expires — opponents who stall with Protect find themselves burned by Acid Spray or healed into a Surf wall. Sylveon and Kingambit serve as secondary attackers; Pelipper and Archaludon handle specific matchups. The main weakness is Aegislash, and Gengar's Perish Song requires a different lead featuring Pelipper.Build article →

CHORI finished 535th in the Global Challenge (20 wins, 1 loss) and 144th in Champions M-1 at rating 2502, using a tailwind-based Mega Blastoise team. The plan is simply to set tailwind, then blast everything with rain-boosted Surf. Talonflame sets tailwind first turn; Mega Blastoise's Fake Out — uncommon for this combination — catches opponents off-guard and stops Garchomp and Aerodactyl from using Rock Slide. Mega Florges handles rain teams and Meganium, both threats to Dragonite. Sneasler with White Herb and the Unburden ability maintains sustained offensive pressure and is particularly effective disrupting Trick Room with Taunt. Kingambit sweeps with its Commander ability snowballing late in games. Basculegion holds Focus Sash, using Requiem and Aqua Jet to clean up after tailwind expires. The team struggles against Baton Berry Whimsicott with a Garchomp partner, and Feint users that bypass protect.Build article →

The author finished 148th in Champions M-1 doubles at rating 2501, running a Baton Pass Espathra strategy almost unheard of in doubles. Espathra's Speed Boost raises its speed every turn up to six stages; stacked with Calm Mind, it then passes all of Speed, Special Attack, and Special Defense to a back sweeper, creating a nearly unstoppable late-game threat. Double battles rarely have room for Roar, Dragon Tail, or Encore — the counters to Baton Pass in singles — giving this strategy natural protection. Sneasler holds Focus Sash to Fake Out-protect turn one and Coach the Espathra, activating Unburden for faster Baton Pass sequences. Mega Charizard Y is the primary receiver, with HP and Defense investment plus Roost for durability; post-pass it hits everything with high-powered Heat Wave. Archaludon holds Leftovers and runs Thunderbolt and Protect, becoming an unkillable wall after the Baton Pass. Sylveon with Choice Specs handles Kingambit and dragon-types. Incineroar provides Intimidate and Fake Out support for non-pass lineups. Weaknesses are Mega Gengar Perish Song and inconsistency against direct attacking teams.Build article →

The author finished 149th in M-A Season 1 doubles at 2501 rating with an offbeat Mega Pinsir and Anger Point Tauros (Paldea Water) combination. The key mechanism: Mega Pinsir uses Rototiller — a guaranteed critical hit move — on teammate Tauros to activate the Anger Point ability, maxing Tauros's Attack, followed by an Earthquake that sweeps the whole field. Mega Pinsir's evolution adds a Flying type, making it immune to partner's Earthquake, and Feint on Pinsir breaks opponent Protect or Wide Guard to ensure the Earthquake lands cleanly. Talonflame sets tailwind first and then intentionally gets knocked out — weakened by Brave Bird's recoil lowering its own Defense so Vanilluxe's Self-Destruct finishes it, clearing the field. Vanilluxe holds Silk Scarf and uses Self-Destruct to blast away leads, plus Icicle Spear to pierce Focus Sashes across three hits. Farigiraf and Mega Blastoise are brought against tailwind and trick room teams, with Farigiraf using Imprison to seal the opponent's Trick Room. Main weaknesses are the opening rock-paper-scissors against tailwind teams, and Mega Gengar Perish Song requiring the Blastoise line.Build article →

Built around the simple but devastating Shell Smash + Hydro Pump combo of Mega Blastoise, the team pairs it with Choice Scarf Vivillon: Sleep Powder plus Fake Out puts both opponents to sleep before Shell Smash is used, and a +2 full-HP Hydro Pump from Mega Blastoise typically wins the game from there. Vanilluxe covers the Grass/Water/Dragon weaknesses and neutralizes the sun weather that would weaken Hydro Pump; Tsareena provides priority protection and uses Fling with the King's Rock to guarantee two Hydro Pump hits against Trick Room setters and Grass-types. The last two slots go to Mega Garchomp for power and Orthworm for Fairy matchups and tail support. The author acknowledges that the Sleep Powder strategy is predictable and high-bulk special Fairy-types remain a structural weakness.Build article →

The author originally planned a Sylveon plus Mega Venusaur plus Basculegion team but was repeatedly crushed by Avalanche users and Mega Charizard's Weather Ball, mistakenly treated May 11 as the final day, and withdrew early. After recognizing the core strength of Mystic Water Basculegion, the author borrowed Naaku's qualifier-winning team for practice. Archaludon is identified as a bug-level threat and the team's primary backbone; Basculegion provides the sharpest offensive edge. Skarmory beats Talonflame-class threats faster than Dragonite can while still one-shotting them. Sylveon tanks nearly any hit through the Oran Berry and uses Hyper Voice plus Yawn to force switches. Sableye is versatile in both lead and revenge roles. Mega Venusaur handles rain and Trick Room. A proposed improvement is giving Basculegion Adaptability with a rain-calling move for dual Charizard matchups. The author rates Archaludon and Basculegion as tier-S and tier-A respectively.Build article →