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The author loves Trick Room and built around Malamar as the setter. Its Contrary plus Superpower punishes Kingambit, Prankster tricks miss it, and with no Bug users around its only real weakness is Fairy. The core has Maushold using its multi-hit signature move and Follow Me to sneak surprise KOs, then Mega Mawile and Malamar sweep under Trick Room with a Focus Sash Basculegion as closer. To patch weaknesses to rain, Staraptor, and Pyroar-Torkoal, the author added Mr. Rime: Freeze-Dry OHKOs Pelipper and Mega Swampert, Ice Spinner ignores screens to drop Staraptor, and it can Charm to pump Malamar. Life Orb Kommo-o rounds it out against Pyroar and rain. The author admits stray Bug moves from Annihilape or Vivillon can catch them off guard.Build article →

The author built this doubles team around Overqwil as an evasion sweeper, since it is the only mon that learns Minimize, does not fear Kingambit, and can pile on evasion with Toxic Spikes. Audino sets Trick Room and uses Simple Beam so Overqwil only needs three Stockpiles to max its defenses, while Whimsicott (Memento/Taunt/Will-O-Wisp) and Zoroark cover leads like Vivillon and Follow Me users. Once Overqwil stacks Minimize and Swords Dance under Trick Room, Malamar copies it with Psycho Shift-style Topsy-Turvy to spread crit risk and shut down Intimidate. The author says the worst matchup is Shell Smash Blastoise plus Sneasler, so Chandelure runs a Life Orb Grass Knot set as insurance; Sacred Sword users like Basculegion and Aegislash are nearly unwinnable, but the team beats top builds like BIG6 and Aerodactyl-Kingambit at a high rate.Build article →

The author openly admits this team is a copy of a niche overseas build: originally Chinese player Dawei Si's NAIC 2026 squad, updated to Reg M-B by Germany's Michael (who Top-8'd a Smogon VGC Major with it), then further tweaked by Korean top player Jiseok Lee, swapping the Mega Florges/Mega Mawile slot for Alolan Ninetales. The core is Mega Raichu-Y plus Milotic: Raichu spams Zap Cannon for paralysis while Milotic uses Coil then Hypnosis, grinding opponents down with status. Ninetales sets Aurora Veil and OHKOs Mega Swampert with Never-Melt Ice Freeze-Dry, Staraptor is the Mega Contrary Close Combat sweeper, Incineroar handles standard Fake Out/Intimidate/Parting Shot, and Ceruledge cleans up after Bulk Up with Flash Fire boosts. Strength is pure surprise value against opponents who've never seen it; weakness is rematches where the setup gets read.Build article →

Mikankan built this VGC team for beginners around an offensive Mega Staraptor, aiming to swap as little as possible and grab easy wins into certain archetypes. Whimsicott partners it with Charm to boost its Attack, Tailwind for speed, and Encore to disrupt, while Staraptor uses Contrary Close Combat to gain bulk as it attacks. The general slots are Life Orb Garchomp for Earthquake coverage and Scarf Basculegion as the closer, the four making up the standard team. The last two cover weaknesses: a Weak Armor Mega Skarmory with Rock Tomb crushes Whimsicott-plus-Charizard cores, and a Prankster Charm Meowstic (swapped in over the Roar Sylveon) shuts down Trick Room and status gimmicks. The author cites Trick Room, Follow Me, incoming Will-O-Wisp or Spore, and faster special attackers as the team's headaches. Basculegion's Grave Rush closes games, Normal and Ghost typing covering each other nBuild article →

The author is a dedicated Absol fan who brings it to every doubles match, finishing season M-B M-3 at rank 312 (rating 2353) with a 70% win rate and a 16-game win streak on the final day. The core gameplan is to set Trick Room via Farigiraf or Mimikyu, then use Sack Punch to boost Absol to Attack+4, sweeping with Rock Slide, Sucker Punch, and Close Combat. Mega Camerupt serves as a powerful secondary attacker under Trick Room, while Basculegion (Focus Sash, 100% usage) cleans up with Aqua Jet. The lead order of Absol, Mega Camerupt, and Mega Kangaskhan is designed to make opponents misread which Pokemon hold the Mega Stones. Main weaknesses are Grimmsnarl's screens stalling out Absol, and Yache Berry Kingambit being difficult to reliably remove.Build article →

The team was built around Mega Kangaskhan in doubles, aiming to win through raw damage-race strength rather than passive play. Annihilape with Choice Scarf covers the widest range of matchups and shuts down Incineroar's Intimidate via Defiant; Ceruledge uses Flash Fire to absorb fire moves from Mega Charizard Y and similar threats, then explodes with Poltergeist and Shadow Sneak behind a Focus Sash — the author calls it the team's first MVP. Aegislash was added late to replace Maushold, intentionally overlapping roles with multiple teammates to reduce losses from focused KOs, and became the second MVP. The author's self-assessed weaknesses are that Choice Scarf Annihilape was harder to pilot than expected due to lock-in, Froslass felt lacking in both firepower and bulk, and the peak rating of 2340 slipped before the final finish at 351st.Build article →

The team is built around pushing Mega Floette through Tailwind with only one Mega slot, relying on non-Mega fillers to patch up bad matchups. This season's main goal was finding a non-Mega Fire-type to replace Mega Charizard Y, landing on Chandelure: Shadow Ball lets it shave Mega Venusaur into Mega Floette's KO range in rain, Heat Wave handles everything else, and the Focus Sash lets it survive a hit to threaten Will-O-Wisp or another attack — and unlike a Mega, missing Heat Wave doesn't hurt as badly. The standard lead is Garchomp or Chandelure alongside Whimsicott, with Mega Floette and Maushold or Kingambit in the back; Whimsicott runs Mental Herb to outmaneuver opposing Tailwind leads. Wide Lens Maushold was added specifically to blitz the Grimmsnarl rain + Mega Venusaur core on turn one. The author's takeaway: Chandelure proved a valid Mega Charizard Y replacement, but after this sBuild article →

After a disappointing Season M-2 with Mega Delphox, the author identified the core problem as insufficient overall team power and over-reliance on a single ace, then rebuilt around Mega Delphox + Kingambit as a dual-ace standard team for Season M-3. The primary gameplan is to lead Mega Delphox alongside Scarfed Garchomp, winning games by spamming Heat Wave + Earthquake; Kingambit with Black Glasses serves as the hidden second ace, capable of ending games solo after a Swords Dance. Mega Delphox's Encore is highlighted as a key disruption tool that punishes opponents who use Protect or setup moves like Calm Mind. The team's acknowledged weaknesses are Fairy- and Fighting-type coverage running through the squad, and the Mega Aerodactyl + Kingambit + Sylveon + Farigiraf core gave the author significant trouble late in the season.Build article →

The team started from a desire to use Charizard as the centerpiece of something fresh. Incineroar was added for its strong special bulk, Intimidate support to give Charizard room to move, and natural synergy under sun with boosted Flare Blitz. To add surprise, Pelipper and Archaludon were brought in as a sun-and-rain duo: Charizard fires high-powered Weather Ball under sun, while Archaludon uses Stamina to tank incoming Rock Slides under Intimidate and rain, then closes out games; Archaludon also splits coverage with Charizard along physical vs. special lines, handling Floette, Sylveon, and opposing Charizard while Charizard handles the rest. Venusaur with Life Orb adds Poison-type pressure and checks Swampert, and Choice Scarf Hydreigon speed-controls Blastoise and Delphox matchups while Snarl deters opposing special attackers from coming in freely. The author notes the team has wide coBuild article →

The author usually plays Triples but built this Doubles team around Belly Drum plus Imprison. Azumarill sets up Belly Drum while Mimikyu carries Imprison; the plan is to wreck the field with Azumarill's boosted Aqua Jet or spread moves, then sweep with the action-guaranteed Mimikyu's Shadow Sneak and Basculegion's Aqua Jet. When Imprison-only teams stalled out, Mega Gardevoir came in to nearly OHKO with Hyper Voice, and the Focus Sash Basculegion got jammed in as a reliable all-purpose piece. The last slot is self-destructing Snorlax, led alongside Gardevoir: protect Gardevoir, explode, and the game is usually over. The author notes five of six carry priority, which makes early tempo strong, but the team is type-skewed with almost no speed control and struggles against dual-screen Archaludon, Farigiraf, Kingambit, and Sinistcha users, plus rain teams.Build article →

This is a doubles team whose core idea is using Grimmsnarl's Fake Tears to buff both Mega Staraptor and a special attacker at once. Mega Staraptor's Contrary turns stat drops into boosts, so hitting it with Fake Tears actually powers it up, ideal for doubles. Grimmsnarl runs Fake Out, Fake Tears, Parting Shot, and Foul Play: since moves are hidden in ladder, opponents fear screens and hesitate to Protect, letting Fake Out plus Close Combat gain free tempo. Sinistcha heals Staraptor via Parting Shot and carries Trick Room as a counter to Tailwind. Choice Scarf Gholdengo pairs with Fake Tears for fast big hits and covers the Fairy and Basculegion that Staraptor fears. The second Mega is Mega Pyroar, handling Mega Floette, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Froslass, with Torkoal setting sun for power. He says Fake Out plus Trick Room farmed easy early wins; the biggest weakness is defensive Mega DBuild article →

The author wanted the huge payoff of setup moves without it becoming a coin-flip against the opponent, so he settled on a survival Overqwil running Minimize plus Stockpile, and packed three-plus Prankster mons around it. Lead Meowstic uses Skill Swap to hand Prankster to Overqwil so it sets up first, and the Intimidate that comes back drops the foe's Attack two stages. Backup Prankster Klefki and Sableye then copy the built-up boosts with Me First-style replication to spread out crit-death risk; Sableye Mega-evolves and copies via Foul Play. Klefki closes with Calm Mind plus Stored Power. Life Orb Grimmsnarl answers single threats like Kingambit and Basculegion, and Mega Blastoise is a self-contained Shell Smash backup. He admits the four core mons are too specialized, so matchups that counter them just lose, and he never found a satisfying answer for the last two slots.Build article →