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After long staring at Gengar theory, the author realized a Will-O-Wisp plus Pain Split Mega Gengar adds raw one-on-one matchup power on top of its usual breaking and pivoting, even flipping bad matchups, so he built around it. The base lineup pairs it with Stealth Rock sweeper Garchomp, the resists-and-pivot Corviknight, and Primarina, whose typing plus the burns lets it trap huge swaths of the field. He admits the threat list is endless and the team is flawed, but the feel was good, so he leaned on play and added broadly throwable Mega Kangaskhan and Mimikyu to close games. Mega Gengar is the MVP, since Pain Split's hidden one-on-one power wins games opponents can't see coming. Primarina with Will-O-Wisp, Substitute, Calm Mind, and Draining Kiss reversed countless lost positions; the author warns to treat it like Starmie, not Floette. Mega Kangaskhan is the king of fudging, baiting out Build article →

作者从剑盾起就一直玩钢系统一队，这赛季M-2最终411位、瞬间最高2260。核心思路是用Mega盔甲鸟当主力扫荡手：调整成A-4、S+4的阳气配置，特性留「碎裂铠甲」放弃羽栖，靠剑舞硬吃，出场率最高。铝钢桥龙是这赛季新加的首发万金油，岩石封制能压初手喷火龙、火神蛾、烈咬陆鲨，对快龙能踩多重鳞片抢先手，对坚盾剑怪还能故意吃陨石群消白色香草、再后撤换坚盾。坚盾配气势披带剑舞负责扫场，仆刀将军带木果实当对火神蛾和黑暗系的保险。新加的Mega波士可多拉用铁壁+电肚蛙吸收等离子+假身代+健壮，专门对付月亮伊布与耿鬼。钥圈儿带铁壁冥想是Mega长耳兔与电肚蛙的应对。基本出场就是铝钢桥龙+盔甲鸟+坚盾剑怪。作者自评弱点：Mega长耳兔配苍炎刃鬼或骨纹巨声鳄的组合很难处理，最速气势披带苍炎刃鬼会同速、皮可西因为这队完全没钢系攻击技几乎必败，Mega勾魂眼直接没救。Build article →

The author wanted to build around Leech Seed after losing to it in a tournament, and found Scovillain — with its Moody ability threatening every physical attacker — was the best vehicle for it. Scovillain hard-counters most physical attackers and deals heavy damage to Hippowdon and Primarina with its Grass typing, but loses badly to high-powered special attackers and Fire-type physical attackers. The core strategy splits into two: make opponents feel forced to bring Scovillain counters, then punish those counters with other members. Scarf Basculegion is the team's selection pressure tool, forcing out Dark or Normal types that Scovillain loves to face; Sneasler with White Herb + Close Combat cleans up those forced-out threats; Archaludon leads most games and uses Roar to generate Scovillain opportunities. Mega Clefable with Natural Cure blocks status moves and Dark types. Peak Rating 2730, final 2534, missed Champion rank.Build article →

The team is built around Mega Delphox using Magical Flame + Wish + Protect to run a defensive cycle, paired with Archaludon (Iron Defense + Rest + Lum Berry) as the physical wall that single-handedly shuts down life orb Mimikyu teams and Mega Gyarados setup builds. Meowscarada (Focus Sash) lays Toxic Spikes and Leech Seed to set up win conditions against special Water-types; when Toxic Spikes have poor coverage, Sitrus Berry Garchomp takes over with Stealth Rock, Spikes, and Dragon Tail. Primarina (Leftovers) handles Hydreigon-centric cores and provides Perish Song as a reliable closer, while Choice Scarf Staraptor fills the last slot for speed control and Ghost-immunity pivoting — though the author concedes post-season that Mega Lopunny would likely have been the correct call. The team's core weakness is being too reactive: without enough offensive pressure, it struggled to close games Build article →

The author started from Mega Gengar, the piece he found strongest when facing it last season, then added the well-meshing Umbreon and the format's best Garchomp to form the common power trio. Since that core is popular and heavily teched against, he added three answers: Mega Scizor that's stable into Mimikyu and Meowscarada, Primarina that shuts down Yawn setups and setup Garchomp, and Basculegion that walls Fire-type Megas while applying heavy selection pressure. Mega Gengar runs Will-O-Wisp plus Clear Smog and no Protect, so leading is shaky, but in exchange it can switch into Calm Mind Floette and Clefable. Umbreon uses Wish to heal the back line, with move priority Wish over Yawn over Protect over Foul Play. Primarina runs the rare Misty Terrain plus Encore to stop Yawn chains and turn-one Swords Dance. The author notes Basculegion's pressure makes opponents predictable, but he isn'tBuild article →

The team is built around Mega Victreebel with Toxic Spikes, pairing it with Umbreon for a cycle-based defensive core with good type synergy. Skeledirge handles dragon-types like Garchomp and covers the Encore-into-switch play to shut down setup; its Coba Berry lets it beat Gholdengo and Mimikyu. Excadrill is immune to both Dragon moves and poison, often winning games with Earthquake against teams lacking Ground-type immunities, though the author warns it is fragile and cannot be used as aggressively as Garchomp. Primarina covers Mega Victreebel's weaknesses, while Mega Delphox was added last to handle Excadrill-led pressure and the Steel/Poison types that Mega Victreebel tends to invite. The author notes that Archaludon's declining usage made Mega Victreebel easier to bring out, but overall did not reach Champion rank this season and aims to improve next time.Build article →

The team uses Mega Charizard Y with heavy bulk investment alongside Sylveon, Samurott (Hisui), Garchomp, Mimikyu, and Mega Skarmory, finishing M-1 at 422nd. The central idea is that Charizard Y reliably draws Garchomp, so Sylveon is positioned at lead to meet it. Sylveon runs Lum Berry with Magical Flame to handle Archaludon's Counteract fully, using Hyper Voice and Quick Attack as supplementary damage. Hisuian Samurott hits mid-speed Megas like Starmie and Mafoxier with Choice Scarf, while Shadow Sneak picks off Meganium and Espathra. Charizard Y uses Weather Ball plus Dragon Pulse for reliable coverage and Nitro Charge to step up its speed tier. Mega Skarmory's Shedder ability catches Mimikyu Fake Out, fires back at higher speed, and uses Spikes plus Drill Peck to pressure Archaludon. Mimikyu runs Scope Lens Shadow Claw for crit fishing against Clefable and Coil Skarmory. The author acknowledges not reaching the target 300 ranking and cites both insufficient effort and strategic ceiling as areas needing improvement.Build article →

The team revolves around Mega Victreebel and partner Hisuian Goodra, finishing M-1 at 423rd. The approach was to pick Mega Victreebel, then address each of its weaknesses outward. Hisuian Goodra counters Dragonite and Skarmory with Ice Beam and Faint, and carries Rocky Helmet to punish Scizor's Close Combat. Mega Victreebel's Suction Cups core pressures through Encore and Acid Bomb debuff stacking alongside Toxic Spikes. Basculegion handles Delphox and Mega Gengar with Sash and Shadow Sneak. Charizard Y handles Archaludon and Skarmory through Overheat even without Stealth Rock support. Scarf Garchomp leads against Charizard and lays Stealth Rock. Sylveon provides Yawn-based flow control and patches Kangaskhan/Lopunny weaknesses. The author names Archaludon as the hardest structural problem, with Garchomp plus Skarmory appearing simultaneously as the team's worst matchup.Build article →

This started as a Mega Lopunny team but turned into a dual-Mega plan: Galarian Slowking acts as a pivot whose typing complements both Mega Lopunny and Mega Sableye, while Ditto copies the opponent's Mega so two of the author's own can Mega normally. He realized Mega Sableye's Magic Bounce walls Floette and breaks Hippowdon's Yawn loops, which tied the build together. After agonizing over the last two slots, Milotic solved his water and Hippowdon problems — bulkier than Primarina, with recovery, burns, Mirror Coat and phazing — and a no-setup Dragon Dance Garchomp holding a Haban Berry handled both Charizard X and Y with effectively no weakness and the bulk to survive two hits. Lopunny makes plays with Fake Out plus High Jump Kick or sets up with Dragon Dance. The author admits the team came together only in the final days, gained 250 rating on the last day, and regrets not locking it in Build article →

The author built this team entirely around personal favorites rather than pure competitive meta, headlined by Mega Scizor running the classic dual-move plus Swords Dance + Roost set, which was more comfortable here than in ORAS or SV without Hidden Power Fire or Tera threats. Garchomp leads most games using a specially-defensive Sitrus Berry set to guarantee two moves against Primarina and handle surprise coverage like Espathra. Sylveon (Leftovers) acts as a physical cushion and special Dragon answer, setting up yawn loops around hazards and using Mystical Fire for value against Dragon-Steel cores. Mega Greninja plays speed-mind-game lines via Protean, while Mimikyu (Lum Berry) handles Lopunny and Delphox matchups. Corviknight fills the final slot purely as a team slot to deter opponents from freely leading Meowscarada. The author calls this the most genuinely fun season in a decade of competitive play.Build article →

The plan is to use strong Pokemon to deny the opponent's Stealth Rock while setting up your own, then make a back-line Sash piece and a rock-weak threat shine. The core is Mega Clefable, which bounces Stealth Rock with Magic Bounce while laying its own, leads almost every game, and guarantees actions versus Mega Gengar. Skeledirge runs Unaware plus Yawn plus Protect, tanks most hits to lock opponents into a Yawn loop, and is solid into Steel Megas and Corviknight. Focus Sash Garchomp acts as a setup sweeper and revenge finisher, and thanks to Clefable it avoids rocks and keeps its Sash. Corviknight uses Thunder Wave and Bulk Up to make threats easier to handle. Mega Greninja is the second Mega, specifically for Mega Glimmora teams. The author's main takeaway is recognizing the build style he's good at, but he regrets stacking too many unstable factors like paralysis, sleep turns, and criBuild article →

The author adapted a cycle-based team built around Tsareena, Bellibolt and Umbreon that another player had used competitively, swapping Glimmora for Blastoise. The intended core play was to use Tsareena's U-turn to bring in a Mega Evolution and apply raw offensive pressure. Blastoise was included because the author could not find a clean solution to simultaneously handle Gengar plus Garchomp plus bulky Pokemon and the opponent's Mega slot. The author only figured out the correct lead-Tsareena-into-Mega-attacker approach on an all-nighter on the final day, too late to capitalise, finishing at rank 429. The author's honest takeaway is that this team was incomplete, and the broader reflection is that cycle-based strategies are systemically weak in this format: Garchomp and Archaludon can dismantle low-firepower teams with Stealth Rock and Dragon Tail, and the draw rule punishes stall-oriented play more than ever.Build article →

The author was in a slump at rating 1790 when they spotted a Milotic running Cute Charm online, tried it and immediately felt it was strong, so they built around Milotic. Milotic was the undisputed lead for most games: few Electric-types threatened it, and Mirror Coat was largely unknown early in the season so Mega Dragonite and Archaludon would walk into Thunderbolt and get punished. Against Charizard-Y the author would gamble on Mirror Coat for the win; even if it turned out to be Charizard-X, surviving a hit and using Black Mist bought enough time for the Choice Scarf Garchomp in the back to clean up. Mega Gengar was included per the reference team but was barely used at roughly ten percent select rate. Mega Scizor's bulk let it set up Swords Dance and sweep with Bullet Punch; it had the third-highest select rate. Choice Scarf Garchomp was the fastest cleaner, covering Basculegion and Hydreigon, and had the second-highest select rate. Ceruledge replaced the original Mimikyu to check Corviknight and pressure opponents away from using Mega Florges. The hardest match-ups were Substitute Mega Dragonite, which spiked in usage late in the season, Substitute-plus-Nasty Plot Hydreigon, and Araquanid which hard-counters Milotic.Build article →

The team was built on impulse after the author got swept 3-on-1 by a friend's Conkeldurr, so he scrapped his old squad and rebuilt around it. Conkeldurr runs Life Orb with Sheer Force and Ice Punch/Fire Punch/Thunder Punch/Mach Punch to one-shot common threats like Primarina and Meowscarada; Mega Blastoise is paired specifically to force opponents into sending out exactly those two targets. Mega Delphox handles the heavy Hydreigon and Metagross matchups that were popular that season, while Choice Scarf Diggersby covers the Mimikyu weakness and out-tricks Mega Delphox mirrors. Archaludon sets up Stealth Rock and phazes away boosts to avoid being used as a setup target. The author openly admits the team is underdeveloped — it wins mainly by reading the opponent's team selection almost perfectly, and that prediction requirement is the core weakness.Build article →

The team is built around a Hippowdon-core Starmie squad adapted from another player's article, reworked to handle new threats like Mawile and Mega Metagross. Archaludon runs a specially defensive Sitrus Berry set, acting as a switch-in pivot for Greninja and Primarina matchups while also setting up Stealth Rock to enable Hippowdon's Yawn sweeping. Mega Lucario uses a Nasty Plot special set to punish Scarf Dark-types, Kingambit, and Slowbro cycles that Starmie struggles against. The default lead is Archaludon plus Hippowdon with a flexible third slot, ideally Starmie. The author considers Hippowdon the strongest member of the squad, generating endless advantage through Stealth Rock and Yawn; the main weakness is Lucario's win rate stubbornly hovering around 70% before dropping off, and Mamoswine barely saw play across the season.Build article →

The author built around their long-time partner Azumarill as the absolute centrepiece, supporting it with Mega Froslass. Azumarill holds Oran Berry and uses the Belly Drum route: after doubling its Attack, it cleans with Aqua Tail, Play Rough and Aqua Jet. The author raised its Speed from 83 to 91 to outspeed Speed-invested Corviknight and some other base-60 Pokemon. Mega Froslass sets Aurora Veil under Hail to boost the whole team's bulk, then stacks Nasty Plot to become a late-game attacker; its blizzard-freeze flips several games. The default lead trio is Garchomp plus Froslass plus Azumarill: Froslass raises the veil, then Azumarill Belly Drums to sweep, with Garchomp cleaning the early turns and controlling the Speed tier. Kingambit with Black Glasses and Supreme Overlord is one of the hardest-hitting cleaners in the field. Mega Dragonite provides wide coverage, flinch rate from Air Slash and burn from Flamethrower for reliable trading. Archaludon on Leftovers handles physically-oriented Mega teams, while Mega Dragonite covers Grass and Fighting threats. The biggest weakness is that Poison-types like Gengar and Glimmora hard-counter Azumarill; if the lead guess goes wrong, the game is very hard to recover, which is why the author named the team around luck.Build article →

This is a port of the author's favorite attack-cycle build from SV Regulation H, framed around three pillars: a high-power pivot attacker, a physical cushion and a special cushion. In the Champions pool those become Huge Power Mega Starmie (Aqua Break, Quick Turn, Aqua Jet, Psycho Cut), Corviknight as the physical cushion (Body Press, U-turn, Iron Defense, Roost) and Bellibolt as the special cushion (Parabolic Charge, Slack Off, Toxic, Soak). Scarf Meowscarada is the revenge killer, Sash Swords Dance Garchomp is there to fight Archaludon, and Mega Glimmora covers the Meganium, Charizard and Floette the core can't, with Needle Guard cracking Mega Lopunny's knee. The glaring weakness is Archaludon itself: its Mirror Coat punishes nearly all of the team's special attackers, leaving the author boxed in all game.Build article →

The team started from a friend's build featuring Mega Staraptor, Gholdengo, Garchomp, Alolan Ninetales, Kingambit, and Choice Scarf Basculegion, then went through several revisions. Gholdengo was swapped for Choice Scarf Hydreigon due to being too frail, and Mega Delphox was added late to counter Mega Staraptor's counters while pairing well with Kingambit. The core gameplan is to lead with Focus Sash Glimmora to set Stealth Rock and clear the path for Mega Staraptor to sweep through type matchups; Kingambit cleans up after a Swords Dance and was selected in nearly every game; Mimikyu fills a flexible revenge-killing slot and Mega Delphox covers when Staraptor cannot be brought. The author identifies Greninja, Mega Raichu-Y, and Primarina as the hardest matchups, noting the team has no Ground-type to handle Mega Raichu-Y, and Hippowdon with Whirlwind can disrupt both Mega Staraptor and MeBuild article →

With many new Pokemon flooding the meta this season, the author kept the core simple: Archaludon sets Stealth Rock and Roars to deny setup, then Mega Blaziken and Choice Scarf Basculegion clean up — a trio that very few teams can fully handle. Mega Blaziken runs Stone Edge over Rock Slide to secure KOs on Mega Delphox and Mega Dragonite even without Stealth Rock support, and to threaten Skeledirge and Charizard in spots where switching to Basculegion is not an option; the trade-off is that Feint introduces some luck-based moments. Basculegion uses Flip Turn to cycle into favorable matchups and combos with Archaludon's Roar to deny Substitute before sweeping with Shadow Sneak. Mega Meganium with Leaf Storm handles Hippowdon and Mimikyu matchups; sash Garchomp keeps Charizard and Mawile in check; Taunt Corviknight dismantles stall cores. The main weakness is when Archaludon is forced out aBuild article →

Building on a well-known player's framework, the author reached a personal-best 450th place and 2520 rating in Champions S1. The team revolves around two Mega slots: Mega Scizor to handle Florges-based compositions, and Gyarados running Outrage as a surprise partner. The author originally used Mega Delphox to check Scizor, but noticed that whenever the opponent ran both Scizor and Gyarados, lead selection became a coin flip; switching to Gyarados (which Scizor checks but Gyarados ignores) erased that problem entirely. After a Dragon Dance, Gyarados's Outrage OHKOs physically-invested Mimikyu and Florges, and it can push through Corviknight depending on setup. Basculegion was reworked into a Cursed Body plus Agility set for surprise power even after a single teammate faint. The author's key takeaway: pairing two Mega with complementary coverage creates selection dilemmas; instead, find one that attacks from a blind spot the opponent never anticipates.Build article →