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The author's team-building rules are: no half-baked walls, win with raw power, end games early, and avoid shaky-accuracy moves for consistency. The first lock was Choice Specs Hisui Samurott, whose Ceaseless Edge spike-stacking plus Sacred Sword punches through most things, backed by Sucker Punch and Swords Dance for ongoing pressure. Mega Glimmora leads to apply pressure with Needle Guard reserved specifically for breaking Mega Lopunny, while Sash Whimsicott uses Prankster Tailwind to give the slow team speed and Encore to shut down setup. Mega Starmie is the Huge Power physical attacker, Corviknight tanks physical hits and does pivot control, and Bellibolt brings high special bulk plus Volt Switch and a Ground immunity to patch the team's Ground weakness. The whole premise is power plus reproducibility, dragging games into a favorable spot through play rather than luck.Build article →

This is a pure one-way setup team with zero switching, built to sweep with boosts. The concept is safe setup via Encore plus a relay of setup sweepers: Whimsicott uses priority Taunt to block Stealth Rock, then Encore or Memento to open a window. The main sweeper is Dragon Dance Mega Gyarados, which pressures Hydreigon, rain, and Greninja teams after a single boost, with Dragon Dance Mega Charizard X added for grass matchups; running both makes opponents misread it as Charizard Y. Backup sweepers are Leftovers Vivillon to close and Belly Drum Azumarill to eat priority, plus Electric Ball Annihilape for Gholdengo and Stealth Rock. He says the main aces are so strong Vivillon often survives as the last mon to snowball endlessly; weak points are fast Mega Raichu Y and Focus Sash Meowscarada, and Azumarill overlapping typing with Gyarados.Build article →

The author hit Champion rank for the first time with a team built around two physical Megas, Mega Metagross and Mega Blaziken. Hippowdon runs a physical-wall spread, tanking physical hits and cycling with Substitute and Yawn, with extra Speed and Substitute tuned against Bellibolt. Choice Scarf Hydreigon sets Stealth Rock, huge against teams with Delphox or Charizard. Sitrus Berry Primarina is praised as bulky and hard-hitting, speed-crept to win the mirror. Vanilluxe is the surprise pick, using Snow plus a monster Blizzard and Taunt to beat Toxapex and Umbreon. Mega Metagross carries Grass Knot to punish Hippowdon, and Mega Blaziken copies a known bulky spread to survive enemy Blaziken's Close Combat. He notes the team struggles with Mega Charizard, Mega Delphox, Mega Staraptor, Basculegion, and Bellibolt, and loses outright to Quaquaval baton teams.Build article →

The author started from a standard stall skeleton of Tyranitar, Corviknight, and Toxapex, then kept Mega Meganium after discovering its surprisingly high power level—it can handle Lucario directly, threaten Starmie with a weather-boosted attack, and still restore large amounts of HP via Synthesis even under sand. Excadrill (Sleep Berry) was added to deal with Florges and Archaludon, using sand speed combined with Rapid Spin and Dig to bypass Toxic Spikes. Toxapex (no item) runs Black Mist to neutralize setup sweepers like Swords Dance Aegislash and Calm Mind Florges or Clefable. The team's strengths are Tyranitar's dominance over Dragonite and Meganium's ability to recover freely under sand; the main weaknesses are sand teams built around Hippowdon and Pelipper, plus Mega Gengar as the persistent stall nemesis.Build article →

This is a Dragon monotype, based on someone's M-2 build using a lead Mega Dragonite plus Iron Defense Hisuian Goodra. The plan is to cycle with ground/fighting-blocking Mega Dragonite and physically bulky Archaludon, then break through with Choice Scarf Garchomp or the fortress Hisuian Goodra. The control core is Careful Hisuian Goodra, whose Shell Armor blocks crits so it can safely stall PP and flip games with Iron Defense plus Rest; the author says whether it can close out directly decides the match, especially against the late-meta surge of Hippowdon. Archaludon is invested heavily into physical defense to wall Meowscarada and Mimikyu, and carries Dark Pulse for Aegislash and Gholdengo. Life Orb Dragapult is the fast attacker, and Hydreigon breaks stall teams. He admits the biggest weakness is Hippowdon's Stealth Rock and Yawn setup, plus trouble handling Mega Floette, Aegislash, GhoBuild article →

The author built around his favorite pairing, Lucario and Mega Charizard X, after seeing a Lucario-Charizard-Hippowdon-Mimikyu themed tournament. The core is a Choice Scarf Greninja that leads with U-turn to scout the opposing Garchomp, Hydreigon or Archaludon and open a favorable path. The real sweeper is a special Nasty Plot Lucario with Focus Blast and Vacuum Wave, using Hippowdon's Stealth Rock and Yawn as setup fodder. Hippowdon runs a mixed bulk spread as the team's cushion, and when Lucario can't break Aegislash, Gholdengo or Skeledirge, he brings Swords Dance Tough Claws Mega Charizard X instead. Mimikyu and Water Rotom round it out as a filler and a Mega Starmie cushion. He says Greninja is the MVP but is forced onto Sludge Bomb to KO the Primarina that keeps showing up, and warns to be careful of a lead Scarf Meowscarada.Build article →

The author finished 577th (2225), hitting their three-digit goal with a defensive cycle team built on Toxapex plus Meganium using priority and poison. It started purely from loving Toxapex, which is fully special-defensive and runs no item to dodge Poltergeist. Meganium is the physical wall, complementing Toxapex, beating Stealth Rock and Spikes setters, and packing a hit on Steel types. A Choice Scarf Garchomp picks off fast threats like Mega Gengar, while a Black Glasses Hisuian Samurott uses Ceaseless Edge to lay Spikes and covers Mega Starmie and Mega Delphox. A Shuca Berry Aegislash tanks Mega Lucario's post-Swords-Dance Earthquake and handles Floette and Umbreon; a Leftovers Galarian Slowking closes things out and stat-walls Psychic-carrying Floette and Volcarona. The author lays out matchup verdicts and felt-pick rates in detail, crediting the Aegislash's Shuca Berry and Speed invBuild article →

The team is built around Toxapex as the author's personal favorite, paired with a Scarf Hydreigon that handles Toxapex's natural counters—Starmie, Delphox, and Gengar—from above. Mega Delphox runs a physically-bulky set that survives Garchomp's Outrage and outspeeds near-max-speed Mega Gengar, with Will-O-Wisp and Encore providing cycle disruption. Mega Lopunny uses Fake Out plus Mega Kick to beat matchups that Delphox struggles with, like Umbreon/Mega Gengar cores or Starmie/Florges combinations. Sash Primarina provides a frontline answer to aggressive builds and can Encore setup moves. The team's strength is finding an offensive angle against most team archetypes; its weakness is the surplus of inaccurate moves throughout the team and difficulty dealing with lead Gyarados or Kingambit late in the season.Build article →

The team centers on Mega Gyarados as the primary win condition, which the author felt had the strongest sweeping potential in the format; the Adamant Dragon Dance set is chosen over Jolly because the extra power lets it muscle through more matchups. Hippowdon sets Stealth Rock and uses Yawn as the team's dedicated lead support. Mega Glimmora acts as a second answer to Florges while spreading Toxic Spikes to counter Umbreon-based stall. Sash Armarouge closes out games using Shattering capabilities after forcing defense drops. Scarf Dragonite's Extreme Speed keeps fast Megas and opposing Scarfers in check, with a backup non-Mega Scarf Gyarados for matchups where the Mega can't be sent out. The team's strength is Mega Gyarados's sweep potential and Glimmora's unexpected matchup advantage over Umbreon stall; the weakness is being heavily matchup-dependent with no reliable answer to mirror Gyarados or Encore+Primarina.Build article →

The author is a longtime pure stall player and started this build from how to wall the new Mega Mawile, landing on Mega Meganium: it outspeeds, heals fully with Chlorophyll Synthesis, and OHKOs a bulky Mega Mawile with an uninvested Weather Ball. Mega Slowbro is the physical wall for Mega Metagross, Mega Blaziken and Mega Staraptor, while Snorlax with Fissure serves as the special wall against Archaludon and Mega Charizard Y while cutting down draws. What those two can't catch, Life Orb Mimikyu, Ceruledge and physical Aegislash, goes to a Haze Toxapex whose Infestation plus Toxic grinds down anything that can't beat it. The last flex slot started as Tyranitar for Mega Delphox and Mega Gengar, then became a Choice Scarf Hisuian Samurott whose Ceaseless Edge spikes pressure the back line and outspeeds Delphox, Gengar and Gholdengo. A Mega Clefable covers Hippowdon, Kingambit and Garchomp. Build article →

The author built from the idea that with Hydreigon-Metagross cores exploding in the new format, Mega Scovillain might be a great answer. Since it can take a role against most physical attackers outside Fire types, he paired it with bulky, fast-recovering Milotic as complement. Milotic is the team MVP at 100% selection: fully special-invested, it pivots in on any special attacker and, with burns, drives the stall rotation while still hitting hard, and its physical bulk is tuned to survive a max Aqua Break from Mega Starmie. A Focus Sash mon guards against Scovillain getting set up on, favoring coverage over Scarf; a Curse Mimikyu and a Spell Tag physical attacker widen the breaking angles. He also runs an answer to the bulky rotation mons like Bellibolt and Skeledirge that Scovillain struggles with, tuned to survive an uninvested Draco Meteor from Mega Dragalge, plus a Mega Fire-type as aBuild article →

Finishing 595th at 2222, the author admits this team is an almost exact copy of a YouTuber's build, with his own contribution being the strategic write-up. His core point: the M-A meta is balanced and deflated with no broken units, so builds barely differ in power and weaker players can only win by 'shifting' their sets to make opponents misread the pace, then maximizing the one turn that buys. Here Archaludon, Blastoise, Basculegion and Mimikyu each run off the most-feared standard set. Mega Blastoise is the centerpiece, usually brought from the back, tanking a hit and trading while the threat of Shell Smash freezes opponents; the usual answers, Scarf Meowscarada and Primarina, aren't actually that hard to handle since Basculegion cleans up behind. His honest weakness: Basculegion barely saw play and the spreads weren't refined, and he recommends watching the original creator's videos fBuild article →

The author began by identifying Corviknight as the most troublesome non-Mega threat in the environment, and chose a bulky Mega Dragonite with Roost as the starting point—something that pressures Corviknight while maintaining broad coverage. Sash Sneasler handles the Fairy threats that Dragonite struggles against, like Florges and Kangaskhan. Scarf Meowscarada deals with Dragonite mirrors and fast Garchomp. A Berry Corviknight handles the physical layer via Iron Defense plus Body Press. A Stealth Rock/Spikes Garchomp deals with cycle-oriented teams. Mega Glimmora fills the last slot specifically for Volcarona and stall builds. The author notes Glimmora ended up being used more often than Dragonite, as its Corrosion plus Mega power simultaneously solved two chronic problems: the team stalling to a draw against stall teams, and lacking ways to break through bulky late-game Pokémon. The main weakness is that draws against stall still happen, and the team struggles after Dragonite's Multiscale is broken.Build article →

The team is built around the author's favorite Pokémon Bellibolt with Leftovers, which cushions special attackers like Mega Dragonite and Mega Delphox and uses Volt Switch to bring in attackers safely with Slow-Speed Priority. Mega Starmie runs Adamant with its Huge Power ability doubling its Attack, creating a cycle of Quick Turn, re-entry via Volt Switch, and finishes with Aqua Jet. Mega Scovillain uses its Capsaicin Burst ability to inflict burns on physical attackers upon entry—switching in as Mega first and then using Protect on turn one enables this safely. Itemless Toxapex with Black Mist stops setup from Aegislash, Ceruledge, Florges, and Clefable. Lum Berry Swords Dance Garchomp serves as a specialist against Umbreon+Mega Gengar+Corviknight cores, capable of KOing Iron Defense Corviknight after two boosts with Fire Fang. The team's weakness is Mega Gengar, corrosive Glimmora, Iron Defense Gyarados, and Dragapult, which remain consistently problematic.Build article →

Runfon built a non-Mega sand team around Excadrill, using Hippowdon as the sand setter over Tyranitar due to the latter's weakness to Gliscor and Garchomp in the current meta. Mega Gyarados (Dragon Dance + wide coverage) and Mega Meganium (fire coverage to burn Steel-types, resists Water and Ground) serve as Mega aces for matchups where Excadrill cannot run. Aegislash fills in against Fairy-types and stall cycles; Sneasler provides speed control against fast Mega evolutions and Scarf Pokémon. Basic selection is Hippowdon + Excadrill + one Mega ace. Against matchups unfavorable for Excadrill, the team shifts to Mega ace + Hippowdon/Aegislash/Sneasler. Weaknesses: Fire-types overall (especially Charizard), Gyarados getting set up on, and Encore Primarina disrupting Aegislash's King's Shield and Gyarados's Dragon Dance. The author regrets never finding a good Scarf slot against Charizard.Build article →

Banatarou discovered a publicly shared team featuring Archaludon, Basculegion, and Lopunny three days before the season ended, found it climbed ratings fast, and decided to run it for the final stretch. The three core Pokémon essentially win on their own; the supporting slots mainly address Iron Defense Corviknight. Mega Garchomp with Flamethrower handles Corviknight and stall cycles, while Talonflame provides Stealth Rock setup for Dragon Dance sweeps. Archaludon leads most games at max Speed/SpAtk investment; the author regards it as the strongest individual Pokémon of the season. Glimmora's hazard combination pairs naturally with Talonflame. Basculegion was selected nearly every game and bluffed Scarf to force opponent misplays; Lopunny with Fake Out and Giga Impact was the late-game cleaner. Core selection: Archaludon or Glimmora lead + Basculegion + one Mega ace. Strengths: no team-building decisions needed mid-game, matches end quickly, zero time-out draws.Build article →