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The author built around a Mega Charizard Y weather-control core designed to counter Alolan Ninetales, basing the team on a top-ranked M-2 build that handles Stealth Rock well via Toxapex support. Mamoswine leads alongside the Mega, with Life Orb Scizor as the late-game sweeper specifically chosen to beat Life Orb Lopunny. Mega Greninja was added as a direct answer to the popular Delphox, and the Mamoswine + Greninja + Scizor trio overwhelms both the Hydreigon/Metagross archetype and the Alolan Ninetales/Garchomp combination. The author's main regret is not preparing a second save file — a maintenance reset invalidated the final battle, and the short season left no room to recover.Build article →

The team was assembled around the strong field presence of Mega Delphox, finishing 342nd at 2565 in Champions Season M-1. Mega Delphox intentionally sits below max Speed investment, channeling EVs into power and bulk to hard-check Gengar, Florges, and Corviknight while resisting being checked back by Choice Scarf or priority. Encore plus Will-O-Wisp disrupt physical attackers, setting up Kingambit's Swords Dance. Kingambit is similarly low-Speed and HP-heavy, dominating Basculegion and Will-O-Wisp-burned opponents. Vaporeon passes Wish to restore Delphox's longevity and provides a pivot out of Encore traps. Choice Scarf Garchomp handles Mimikyu and speed control. Mega Meganium is the second Mega choice against Meowscarada, Hisuian Samurott, and Choice Specs Dark-types, also covering Scizor and Aegislash. The final slot went to Torterra against Gyarados and Corviknight, but Earthquake-carrying Gyarados was too much for Torterra alone — the author identifies this as the biggest flaw.Build article →

The author spent the full five-week season refining the Di-Anthus team — named for its dual flower-themed Megas, Glimmora and Meganium — reaching 343rd at 2564 in Champions Season M-1. The main strategy is a 2-attacker-plus-1-receiver formation: Corviknight pivots between the two Mega attackers with U-turn and keeps the pressure rotation smooth, while male Basculegion leads with Choice Scarf to probe the opponent's Speed tiers and item reads, also serving as the late-game cleaner. Mega Glimmora's key innovation is setting Toxic Spikes before evolving, then Mega evolving once a Ground-type switches in and using Spiky Shield to punish contact moves, which dramatically stabilizes the cycle. Mega Meganium enters against Dark-types, Water-types, and HP-invested Garchomp, using Synthesis in sun and weather-boosted coverage to clear the threats that stop Glimmora. The backup selection runs 2-receivers-plus-1-attacker: Mega Lopunny with Corviknight and Galarian Slowking to handle Mega Kangaskhan and tanky stall. The author credits Spiky Shield on Glimmora as the single biggest rating contributor, and notes that Mega Charizard and Mega Gyarados require careful selection to manage.Build article →

The team was built around physical bulk Mega Delphox, which the author found surprisingly effective against the current meta, paired with Vaporeon for Wish cycling and Scarf Meowscarada for speed control. Mega Glimmora fills the coverage gaps — everything Mega Delphox struggles against (Skeledirge, Clefable, Scovillain) gets handled by Glimmora, which can also delay its Mega Evolution to lay Toxic Spikes first for extra flexibility. The real MVP is Orthworm: its Ground immunity lets it safely switch in and set up a Substitute, bailing out Mega Glimmora whenever Hippowdon, Garchomp, or Mega Metagross appear — and the two together happen to counter the Hydreigon + Mega Metagross core extremely well. Diggersby with Focus Sash leads well, 2HKOs Archaludon, and blocks Ghost-type moves from running through the team. The author calls this their best-ever team build, though a misjudged ladder boBuild article →

The team uses Mega Victreebel to draw Steel types and lay Toxic Spikes, then lets Volcarona set up with Quiver Dance against the Steel opponents that come in. When Victreebel is knocked out early, Mimikyu steps in as a secondary setup relay and late-game sweeper. Basculegion spreads Stealth Rock to tighten Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak kill ranges. Scarf Garchomp provides speed control and direct coverage. Mega Froslass enables Aurora Veil setups for Volcarona and handles Charizard matchups. The author notes Volcarona's Quiver Dance sweep was frequently unstoppable when the strategy worked, including several 3-0 wins. The major regret is personal: after being in top 100 at 6 AM on the final day, the author went out with friends after work and ran out of time to push further.Build article →

The team is anchored by Mafoxyier and Kingambit, supported by Archaludon, Basculegion, Mega Blastoise, and Garchomp, finishing season M-1 at 349th place. The author started with Kingambit's consistently high win rate and added Delphox to directly patch the Fighting-type weakness. Delphox's Encore locks opponents for Kingambit setup, while Encore into Nasty Plot applies enormous pressure — particularly useful on Florges-heavy final days. Archaludon runs Mirror Coat with Sitrus Berry to handle special attackers and uses Rock Tomb to lower Mimikyu's speed into Kingambit's Diamond Storm kill range. Basculegion provides raw power, Scarf Garchomp gives speed control, and Mega Blastoise patches Gyarados and Umbreon weaknesses. The acknowledged weakness is Garchomp being too frail on the lead — it frequently fainted before contributing, which the author identifies as a clear structural problem.Build article →

The team centers on Mega Meganium paired with Garchomp, Basculegion, Archaludon, Mimikyu, and Delphox, reaching 357th in M-1. The author built the team specifically to use Mega Meganium, which they acknowledge is weak to every top Mega — Gengar, Charizard, Lucario, Florges — but favors many common non-Mega picks like Garchomp, Primarina, Hippowdon, and Aegislash. The strategy is multi-route: Basculegion's three layers of Stealth Rock plus weather ball bring Mega Gengar into Solar Beam range; Charizard is handled by getting a favorable pivot through Hippowdon before attaching Substitute and firing Atomic Force; Mimikyu's Trick Room enables Meganium to sweep from below. Archaludon uses Mirror Coat to punish special attackers and Basculegion lays entry hazards. Delphox replaced Charizard X two days before the end to answer Scizor. The author's biggest regret is not logging in on the final day.Build article →

The author settled on Scarf Basculegion as the team's core after finding its matchup and cycling performance strong early in the season. The team runs Mega Dragonite and Archaludon as the main duo — Dragonite for wide offensive coverage, Archaludon as a pivot that also lays Stealth Rock. Mimikyu disrupts setup teams via Curse, Hippowdon Garchomp denies Electric-type attacks from cycling through, and Mega Lucario cleans up stall builds with entry hazard support. Strengths include versatile face-to-face pressure; weaknesses are Fairy types (Floette, Sylveon, Gardevoir) and defensive cycling teams. The author also admits the EVs were barely optimized and sees room for improvement.Build article →

This article reads more as a season retrospective than a fixed team write-up. The author started building around Vanilluxe after getting wrecked by one — it threatens both Garchomp and Corviknight, hits Water types with Freeze-Dry, and gets accurate Blizzard under Snow. Later additions included Garchomp, Basculegion, Mega Lopunny, and Corviknight for sweeping. The final version swapped Vanilluxe for Archaludon and adjusted items. The author's biggest self-criticism is that once Vanilluxe started underperforming, they patched around it instead of rebuilding, leading to inconsistent team selection every game. They finished 366th at Rating 2550 and consider that a step up from SV Season 1, but are frustrated at missing the top-100s.Build article →

The author, primarily an FPS player, built this team around his three favorites — Volcarona, Mega Starmie, and Mega Floette — all sharing a high-pressure, raw-firepower style. Mega Starmie serves as a physical powerhouse that also clears entry hazards with Rapid Spin, punishing passive teams and discouraging the opponent from leading with Hippowdon. Sash Garchomp checks Blaziken and uses Swords Dance plus Scale Shot to break through opponents, while Scarf Meowscarada provides wide coverage and specifically handles Basculegion. Volcarona (with a berry) sets up Quiver Dance and threatens sweeps, running a defensive cycle with specially-defensive Leftovers Archaludon to handle Water-, Rock-, and Flying-type threats. Mega Floette fires off near-spammable Moonblast to dismantle Mawile-based teams, also luring in Steel-types as Volcarona setup bait. Main weaknesses the author acknowledges: MegBuild article →

This team is an M-2 build updated for M-3, keeping Garchomp, Dragonite, and Aegislash as the core trio while adding targeted answers to the new meta threats: fast Mimikyu from Life Orb being unbanned, increased wall builds and Ice-types from Light Clay being unbanned, and widespread Fairy-types running no Steel moves. The result is a bizarrely skewed composition with three Steel-types and three to four Dragon-types. Dragonite runs Substitute and Roost to grind down Hippowdon matchups and force draws against unbreakable teams; Archaludon with Choice Scarf disrupts lead wall-setters and lands surprise Hyper Beam damage, then holds its own against Mega Staraptor after firing; Gyarados walls Mimikyu physically and uses Roar against baton chains; Mawile targets Pixilate Clefable and provides Intimidate support against Mimikyu. The author notes Mawile's presence baited Hippowdon nearly every gBuild article →

The author, a dedicated Umbreon user, spent the entire season tormented by Mega Florges. This article documents that struggle rather than presenting a polished team build. Umbreon's standard counter (Gengar) stopped being reliable once special-attacking Florges — particularly Psyshock variants — became widespread mid-season. Empoleon using the Steel Wing + Leftovers combination became the final answer: it can safely switch into Florges without becoming a Calm Mind setup target, resists Moonblast, and doesn't fear Substitute. With Empoleon added, the author's win rate against Florges teams recovered to around 60%. Final result was 372nd place; the author doesn't plan to return for Season 2.Build article →

The team is built around a Mega Gyarados and Archaludon cycle core, with Sylveon added for Wish support to offset Stealth Rock chip damage and Dragon-type vulnerabilities. The trio struggled with low Speed, Fairy-type coverage gaps, losing to Grass-type Megas, and limited wallbreaking, so Mega Delphox was brought in to cover all those holes — it pairs offensively with Gyarados and fits cleanly into the team's type matrix. The last two slots go to Focus Sash Garchomp, which removes Electric-type weaknesses and sets Stealth Rock versus threats Archaludon cannot handle, and physically defensive Toxapex with a Shuca Berry to absorb Fighting- and Fairy-type pressure from the likes of Staraptor, Mega Lopunny, Mimikyu, and Floette. The author notes that the non-Mega slots lack raw wallbreaking power and recommends defaulting to Mega Delphox in any tough matchup.Build article →

The core is Mega Glimmora alongside Hippowdon. The author valued Adaptability Mega Glimmora for breaking value-walls and collapsing enemy cycles without needing to set up, then paired Hippowdon to switch into Garchomp and feed sand plus Stealth Rock chip for the Megas. Glimmora and Hippowdon share a Water weakness, so the build adds Leftovers Aegislash to absorb special Primarina and Scarf Hydreigon to outspeed and remove physical Mega Starmie. The back Mega is Mega Meganium, strong into hard-to-stop setup sweepers like Mega Gyarados and Mega Blastoise, applying pressure with two high-power moves. A Haban Berry Garchomp rounds it out as a second answer to Charizard's Dragon Pulse. The upside is Glimmora punching through bulk with no boosts; the downside is its poor switch-in profile and middling Speed, making it a bit demanding to pilot.Build article →

The team is built around Mega Froslass as a do-everything starter: high offensive pressure plus Aurora Veil support for the sweepers behind it. Mega Gyarados was added late to handle matchups where Froslass struggles — Mega Aerodactyl, Mega Starmie, etc. — using Intimidate and type change after Mega Evolution. Garchomp pairs Lum Berry with Swords Dance and Scale Shot to snowball speed and attack simultaneously; Volcarona started as a Will-O-Wisp setter and became a wider coverage attacker to threaten Corviknight. Mimikyu covers Fairy angles, though the author admits it's the weakest slot. Hisuian Goodra with Shell Armor, Rest, and Iron Defense stacks under Veil and regularly sweeps three opponents in a row without fearing crits. Final result was 395th place at Rating 2538 (peak 2549).Build article →

A cycle team built around Mega Charizard Y, documented through five iterations of refinement. The initial build used Delphox and Dragonite but kept struggling against Mega Lopunny. The pivotal discovery was Rock Balloon Archaludon, which single-handedly solved five requirements simultaneously: face Garchomp, beat Baton Pass teams, check Mega Gyarados, lay Stealth Rock, and handle Mega Kangaskhan. The final lineup pairs Charizard Y with Archaludon, Scarf Hisuian Samurott, Corviknight (Defog), Sylveon, and Garchomp. Charizard Y smashes through with overwhelming fire power; Samurott's signature move applies entry hazards even when switching; Corviknight clears hazards; Sylveon walls physical attackers with Wish support; Garchomp destroys Corviknight under sun with Swords Dance + Fire Fang. Weaknesses identified: Mega Lucario, Mega Clefable, and Mega Charizard X. Final result: 397th place, peak Rating 2603.Build article →