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Starting from Kingambit's strong win rate, the author built around it with Mega Delphox for type coverage and Archaludon as an entry hazard setter and speed reader, ending at 337th and 2568 in Champions Season M-1. Mega Delphox is deliberately slow — Speed EVs are traded for bulk and power to avoid being checked by Choice Scarf users and priority moves, at the cost of not naturally beating Gengar in Speed; teammates need to cover that. Will-O-Wisp and Encore lock opponents in place, creating Kingambit's Swords Dance windows. Kingambit's post-Swords-Dance Sucker Punch punishes nearly everything, including Corviknight and Hippowdon walls. Archaludon holds Leftovers and uses Dragon Tail, Stealth Rock, and Thunder Wave, luring Florges in so it can be punished. Vaporeon runs Wish-passing to restore Delphox's health. Basculegion handles Choice Scarf Garchomp. Mega Meganium (with a weather-specific coverage move) fills the gaps against Gyarados and Umbreon. The author is self-critical, listing Gyarados, Umbreon, Hisuian Samurott, Volcarona, Clefable, and Mega Charizard X as serious weaknesses.Build article →

The author, with only one to two hours of play time after work and childcare, built a straightforward offense-first team to win games quickly. Drawing from a Mimikyu + Basculegion (Life Orb) team that performed well the previous month, he added Mega Mawile once it became legal alongside the Life Orb, forming the core: Mimikyu sets Trick Room, then Basculegion and Mega Mawile clean up as co-aces. Archaludon and Mega Blastoise handle the lead position, while Garchomp (Lum Berry + Swords Dance) was added late to pressure Hippowdon and create room for Mega Mawile to sweep. The team's strength is its simple game plan and consistent Mimikyu usage; weaknesses include near-zero answers to Mega Dragonite, ongoing trouble with Bellibolt, low overall Speed leading to bad secondary effects, and shaky accuracy on key moves — the author rates the team's overall quality as low and credits the result laBuild article →

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 author wanted a systematic setup team, and the ace had to beat the most common ordinary Pokemon in the meta — Garchomp, Hippowdon, Primarina — which pointed straight at Leftovers, physically defensive Serperior. Contrary turns Leaf Storm into a snowballing move, its Speed line sits just above Archaludon, and Leech Seed plus Substitute and Protect grinds opponents out. Focus Sash Meowscarada was the first partner for Toxic Spikes and Leech Seed, and Overqwil was added for games where spikes cannot go up, since Intimidate and heavy special bulk let it beat Gengar, Greninja and Hydreigon head-on. The two Megas split roles: a Wish and Protect Delphox covers the Charizard Y, Dragonite, Corviknight and Scizor that Serperior cannot touch, while Mega Lopunny uses Fake Out and High Jump Kick to steal the opening; Archaludon adds Stealth Rock with Rest and a Chesto Berry and is mandatory againBuild 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 author's read on the metagame was that Scovillain's rise pushed up Fire Megas, Poison types and Lum Berry, which made passive cushions unreliable, so the team drops cushions entirely for an aggressive cycle built on strong one-on-one Pokemon that also carry wallbreaking tools. Mega Kangaskhan anchors it: few weaknesses plus Fake Out means it rarely loses the opening, and the repeatable win path is to bait a wall with Kangaskhan, break it with the back two, then come back and clean. Choice Scarf Garchomp with Rough Skin forms the second half of that finishing chain, Substitute plus Sitrus Berry Primarina handles the Umbreon and Hippowdon that Kangaskhan hates, and Life Orb max Speed Aegislash answers Archaludon. Scovillain is the second Mega, used purely for team preview pressure to pull in Lum Garchomp and Fire Megas, and Leftovers Hydreigon was the final piece, cutting Ground and ToBuild article →

This is a Speed Boost Baton Pass team, and the selection rule is dead simple: pick one lead, one passer and one ace that each match up well. Focus Sash Hisuian Zoroark opens with Will-O-Wisp, Taunt, Bitter Malice and Memento, backed by a lot of immunities and Illusion mind games, while Light Clay Dragapult sets both screens at near top Speed. The passers are Scolipede and Espathra: Scolipede stacks Iron Defense before passing and its Throat Chop shuts off Roar, Perish Song and similar moves, while Espathra boosts Calm Mind alongside its own Speed and sometimes just wins outright with Lumina Crash. Ace one is Mega Clefable, whose Magic Bounce makes it near-unbeatable against Hippowdon, setup and status moves, with enough power that Flamethrower OHKOs Mega Scizor and two Calm Minds usually remove Kingambit; ace two is Leftovers Archaludon for when Clefable cannot get through. The author saBuild article →

He barely had time to ladder this season and his team wasn't settled until 4am on the final day. He was convinced Floette under screens was one of the format's strongest things, so screens Dragapult and Floette were locked, with Life Orb Meowscarada third because it beats the Aegislash that Floette hates and that was everywhere. While grinding out the last three slots his main account slid from 2200 to 1900, and the Mega Blaziken plus Basculegion pair that beat him up turned out to have great offensive synergy with each other and with his Floette core, so he took it. The logic is elegant: seeing Basculegion forces opponents to bring Meowscarada or Kingambit, and those Pokemon generally have no way to hurt Blaziken. Dragapult got the screens job because a Floette team invites lead Glimmora and he didn't want a physical screener letting the opponent set poison hazards freely, plus it hits 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 →