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A dedicated Pinsir fan, the author starts by honestly listing Mega Pinsir's problems: middling bulk and Speed, weakness to Choice Scarf users, no way past Corviknight, and not quite enough power without Swords Dance — so Stealth Rock and Yawn support is mandatory. Sticky Web setters were judged too flimsy, so Hippowdon became the partner, invested to survive Mega Charizard Y's Solar Beam with just enough Defense to take a boosted Mega Gyarados hit. Pinsir turns Body Slam into a Flying move via Aerilate, uses Quick Attack to finish weakened targets, adds Earthquake for Aegislash and Gholdengo, and runs Moxie to reduce the risk of clicking Swords Dance. Focus Sash Espathra leads with enormous Lumina Crash pressure and, even when it dies, leaves a Special Defense drop for Archaludon and Greninja to exploit. Archaludon's Substitute plus Electro Shot set functions as its own boosting move andBuild article →

The new rule set added a pile of Megas, none of which clicked, so the author circled back to the Kangaskhan they had used well at the start of M-1, valuing how it goes even with almost anything and beats the popular Gyarados and Dragonite. They took a streamer's Kangaskhan six wholesale and only adjusted Kangaskhan's Speed line and Hippowdon's moves. Mega Kangaskhan opens by trading broadly, and Body Slam felt excellent — it survives a Dragon Danced Gyarados hit and kills back, while a 51 percent paralysis chance means it does not need Ice Punch to handle Garchomp and Dragonite. Life Orb Aegislash exists for Stamina Archaludon and Corviknight and can force through physically defensive Hippowdon with Steel Beam. Chesto Berry Primarina covers Hippowdon and Dragonite and can use a Dragonite without Thunderbolt as setup fodder; Hippowdon blocks Mega Lopunny and Blaziken, Mega Charizard X breBuild article →

The team was built around Palafin as the main ace, using a three-piece core of a high-pressure Mega lead, Palafin, and a defensive pivot. Mega Delphox leads, supporting Palafin with Magical Flame and Will-O-Wisp to weaken its checks, while Palafin runs Taunt plus Bulk Up with Leftovers to snowball on bulky setters like Hippowdon. Archaludon runs a trap set with Mirror Coat, Stealth Rock, and Roar, baiting physical moves then punishing special attackers. Mega Dragonite is tuned to outspeed pseudo-speed 102s for mirror-match dominance. The author's biggest self-critique is not noticing until three days before the season ended that Primarina was a team-wide structural weakness.Build article →

He started building this after reading someone's article on Adamant Mega Lucario and thinking a maximum-power Close Combat looked fun. The concept is to pivot with Whimsicott, Wash Rotom and Kleavor and open a lane for the Mega slot. Whimsicott moved off Leftovers to a Sitrus Berry but keeps bulk investment so it can still switch into Garchomp, and max Special Attack Moonblast one-shots Mega Lopunny about 62 percent of the time, with Tailwind covering for his slightly slow Megas. Mega Pyroar was added for the Aegislash and Gholdengo that Lucario can't handle and ended up with the higher usage of the two. Mega Lucario is built purely for power: Stealth Rock plus Close Combat usually kills max-Speed Garchomp, and it is far stronger under Tailwind, with Adamant Extreme Speed proving vital against Starmie and Delphox — though he concedes Jolly may have been better. Choice Scarf Kleavor handlBuild article →

The author had been running Lopunny since last season, so they built around Mega Lopunny, aiming to hold leads through favorable matchups and bait the opponent's lead with intimidating faces. Lead Archaludon (Draco Meteor, Steel Beam, Thunderbolt, Rock Tomb) clears Stealth Rock Garchomp, denies Gyarados and Charizard their setup, and OHKOs Mega Gengar with its fang; dying fast also boosts Basculegion. Basculegion is the real ace, with Mystic Water Aqua Jet plus Fake Out and priority support hitting hard. Sash Swords Dance Aegislash was a later add to handle Mega Venusaur. The author admits Mimikyu barely got brought and that slot needs work, and the team struggles with Hydreigon-Aegislash, Mega Starmie, and Mega Dragonite.Build article →

The team is built around Mega Florges, with Garchomp (Stealth Rock + Spikes) and Scarf Basculegion as its core partners. Garchomp's job is durable HB-invested pivoting via Dragon Tail and hazard stacking, funneling opponents into Basculegion's Spirit Shackle kill range. Once Grave-clinging range is established, the team's matchups become very one-sided. Umbreon buffers Basculegion and handles threats like Mega Gyarados and Mega Dragonite through Yawn disruption. Mega Gengar is the second Mega for Florges mirrors and Primarina matchups. Corviknight uses Rage Powder to answer Mimikyu and Round Body to ignore Earthquake. The author's main self-critique is that first-move selection heavily influences match outcomes and the team lacks reliable recovery from losing the initial matchup.Build article →

Built around Mega Mawile with a Trick Room core to sidestep the speed arms race, the team runs Reuniclus with a Spell Tag as the primary Trick Room attacker, leveraging its unexpected Focus Blast coverage to blow through Hydreigon and Archaludon. Mawile handles offensive pressure outside of Trick Room, while Primarina rounds out the core. Staraptor serves as a late-game cleaner, almost exclusively using Brave Bird. Mega Charizard Y replaced X due to Archaludon's dominance. The author self-critiques drifting toward defensive thinking mid-season and wishes they had tried a Sinistcha-based Reuniclus variant.Build article →

Last season he never settled on an axis and lost a lot of games to sheer lack of practice, so this time he locked one in early and drilled it: Mega Charizard Y, a Pokemon he loves and one that essentially never lets opponents switch in for free. Following a top-60 article from last season he tried Charizard Y with Defog Scizor and Garchomp, liked it, and kept it. Scizor is both Charizard's caretaker and his Garchomp wall, and Defog lets him pivot with zero Stealth Rock stress: against a lead Hippowdon he chips with Charizard, goes to Scizor on the Yawn, Defogs if they set rocks and U-turns back to Charizard if they Yawn, controlling the tempo entirely. Lum Berry Garchomp runs max Speed to win the mirror (most uninvested-item Garchomp are Adamant) and the Berry answers burn-reliant play and Yawn setups; Choice Scarf Meowscarada exists to stop Gyarados and Basculegion; and Leftovers PrimarBuild article →

The team is built around Palafin with a core misdirection strategy: the Banette/Pelipper/Archaludon trio looks like a rain team but actually functions as a head-on offensive lineup, pulling Palafin counters into Banette's Destiny Bond. When the opponent fields stall or cycle teams, the author switches to the Palafin + Mimikyu + Mega Scizor setup trio. Palafin holds Leftovers and runs Taunt plus Work Up; once it starts accumulating boosts it becomes nearly unstoppable and is described as the team's strongest win condition. Mimikyu sets up Curse then passes momentum to Palafin, while Mega Scizor is the cleanup sweeper after setup. Strengths: clean selection path against stall. Weakness: Scarf Basculegion is the hardest matchup, but Archaludon's Electric Beam reliably handles it.Build article →

The author plays on the commute and during lunch breaks, so they wanted a pure matchup team with short games and no pivoting, and adapted a high-placing matchup build. Archaludon has been the core since season one, now on a Dragon Fang with max Speed and Special Attack both to fake a Choice Scarf and to hit harder in one shot, and it dismantles Baton Pass teams by itself. Mimikyu is invested in Defense so it survives a Dragon Danced Mega Gyarados Waterfall and beats Garchomp even without its disguise, and games where Trick Room and Curse are used well are near-automatic wins. Basculegion carries a Spell Tag, and its Last Respects damage after one teammate faints is enormous, so it often comes in second; Kingambit moved from Focus Sash to Black Glasses for power, and Low Kick is the key move that lets it solve Hydreigon plus Metagross alone. Of the two Megas, Raichu Y's team-preview pull Build article →

The team is built on Mega Beedrill as the lead, chosen for its S145 speed (third-fastest in singles) combined with Adaptability U-turn to pivot freely into the correct defensive Pokémon on almost any matchup. Umbreon handles physical threats and provides Wish recovery; Corviknight holds Bright Powder and runs Iron Defense + Roost to stall physical attackers; Primarina counters Hippowdon-based setups; Bellibolt with Oran Berry uses Soak plus Parabolic Charge to gradually recover HP against Archaludon; Scarf Garchomp fills the speed control role. Strengths: stable cycle with low early-game risk. Weaknesses: Mega Infernape and Mega Charizard are too powerful for the current defensive cores, and once Bright Powder luck runs out, Corviknight can be overwhelmed.Build article →