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The team is built around the newly added Mega Staraptor from patch M-B, originally paired with Glimmora for a Toxic Spikes-grinding strategy, but the prevalence of high-power threats like Mega Blaziken, Mega Barbaracle, and Mega Swampert forced a shift toward a more offensive face-to-face style. Glimmora runs a full four-move attacking set with a Focus Sash (Sludge Wave, Power Gem, Earth Power, Energy Ball) to threaten rain teams, while Mega Staraptor maximizes Attack and Speed to apply constant pressure with Intimidate and Brave Bird. Empoleon and Hippowdon handle special and physical hits respectively, both running Stealth Rock and Yawn to control the pace; Mimikyu with Life Orb fills the cleanup role and covers Ghost-types; Mega Delphox is the dedicated answer to Raichu and stall teams, using Nasty Plot and Overheat to break through Umbreon. The author flags Gyarados, Corviknight, andBuild article →

The team is built around Mega Gyarados, with Whimsicott using Encore to lock down opponents and Glimmora leading to carve out setup opportunities, letting Gyarados sweep after one or two Dragon Dances. Mimikyu is the MVP at a 97% lead rate — running Life Orb and leveraging Disguise to land High Jump Kick for clean KOs on Garchomp and Glimmora after Mud Shot chip; Curse replaces Close Combat to phaze unkillable targets and shut down Baton Pass teams. Zoroark is a niche lead pick (~5% usage) that punishes players who expect Glimmora leads, but gets exploited at high ladder. The team excels against rain — the author went 10-0 versus rain teams, previously running Alolan Ninetales in that slot before rain disappeared from ladder. Weaknesses include Talonflame-Mega, Delphox, and Greninja leads, and Zoroark becomes a liability at high ranks.Build article →

The team was built around newly available Mega Mawile, starting with a Mega Mawile + Mega Gardevoir core that fell apart against the popular Hydreigon + Metagross archetype. The author reverse-engineered a 2400-rated player's team from Twitter and identified Mega Greninja as the key piece: in team preview it reads as a Focus Sash Greninja, then surprises opponents by Mega Evolving, which is the core selling point. The standard gameplan is special-set Blaziken up front as a surprise to chip threats, Mega Greninja sweeping, Garchomp as a near-auto-select answer to Hippowdon yawn loops, Gyarados for frontline chip damage, and Mimikyu using Curse against Baton Pass and Screen teams. Mega Mawile excels against 1-attacker-2-defender cycle teams but struggles against hard stall featuring Mega Venusaur or Mega Slowbro, and Mega Kangaskhan is a genuine problem the team has no clean answer to.Build article →

The team started from copying a Hydreigon+Mega Metagross core used by streamer Sigma when he briefly hit rank 1 — after testing, the author kept all four (Hydreigon, Mega Metagross, Primarina, Ceruledge) and tuned the last two slots. Mega Delphox with Substitute and Nasty Plot was added to handle defensive pivots like Hippowdon and Bellibolt, using them as setup fodder for a full sweep, while also threatening Mega Blaziken and Mega Charizard. Whimsicott with Cotton Guard and Encore rounds out the team to deal with speed-control threats like Meowscarada and Lopunny, Gyarados cleanup sweepers switching in after Hydreigon, and Mimikyu. The author admits Mega Delphox gets outsped by all priority users and Choice Scarf holders, making full sweeps unreliable against defensive cores, and that Mega Metagross was too broadly typed to consistently bring — in hindsight a more role-focused or unpredBuild article →

This team was thrown together impulsively in two days after the author lost their previous build, yet climbed to a final rank of 298 in Season 3. The core idea came from spotting a synergy post pairing Mega Staraptor and Mega Delphox, with Empoleon added as a pivot target; both Mega slots run Substitute to scout and dodge support moves. Overqwil handles physical threats, lays Toxic Spikes, and packs Haze for setup and Baton Pass teams, while Empoleon sets Stealth Rock and fakes a Torrent attacker — a bluff that earned two surrenders in practice. Scarf Garchomp is the real win condition: soften the opponent with the walls first, then sweep clean. The author admits losing several winnable games simply due to only two days of practice with an unfamiliar team.Build article →

The author built this team around reducing the number of mind-games and switch-ins by choosing a direct-matchup style, then reasoned that if this style is weak to stall/cycle teams, solving that matchup would be enough to beat the whole meta. The core is Focus Energy Archaludon as the near-permanent lead (99% lead rate), boosting up and firing Draco Meteor to dismantle cycle cores, with Flash Cannon for Fairy-types and Thunderbolt for Primarina and Corviknight. When Archaludon can't finish the job, Sash Basculegion cleans up with priority Aqua Jet and can use Agility to outspeed other Sash users. Mega Staraptor (80% usage) handles matchups Archaludon struggles with, like Garchomp and Glimmora, by simply clicking Close Combat. The author names Gyarados and Mimikyu as the biggest threats, with Sash Garchomp, Gengar, and Mamoswine also being major headaches; Mega Blastoise is close to an auBuild article →

The author returned to a familiar core of Glimmora, Mega Lopunny, and Basculegion after finding the ladder full of Hippowdon, as this combination reliably breaks through it. Glimmora leads with a Focus Sash and full Speed/SpAtk investment, using Toxic Spikes or direct chip to funnel opponents into range for the sweepers; Mega Lopunny runs max Attack with Triple Axel to cover Hippowdon, Garchomp, Dragonite, Staraptor, and more, dramatically widening selection options. Mimikyu snowballs early wins with Curse and Leftovers, bulky enough to take a +1 Gyarados Waterfall, while Basculegion cleans up Hippowdon and pivots out against threats like Blaziken and Delphox that pressure Lopunny. Archaludon with Oran Berry and Stamina ability wins straight-up exchanges against Mega Metagross and Mawile; Charizard handles stall teams, going 5-1 against them. The team's biggest strength is that every memBuild article →

The team is built around one goal: get Kingambit on the field and let it clean up. The key axis is pairing a fast, levitating Mega with Kingambit — for example, opponents forced to run a scarf Garchomp to handle Mega Delphox end up handing Kingambit a free Swords Dance. The standard lead trio is Glimmora (Stealth Rock, Spikes, Toxic Spikes setup) plus Mega Staraptor (snowballing via Counter-Feint ability) plus Kingambit (Sucker Punch and Iron Head for the finish). Mega Delphox runs Magical Flame and Encore to lock mirror matchups and create setup opportunities for Kingambit or Mimikyu. Mimikyu with Life Orb handles fighting-types and acts as a check for threats Kingambit struggles against; Mega Starmie's main role is deterrence — its presence discourages opponents from bringing fighting and ground types. Acknowledged weaknesses include Iron Defense Corviknight, Light Clay Sableye, and MeBuild article →

After two rough seasons struggling against switch-based play and setup teams, the author rebuilt around a no-switching, head-to-head approach: lead Sash Primarina to win the first matchup with Torrent-boosted Sparkling Aria, then bring in Mega Dragonite to clean up with Quick Attack. Primarina also Encores opposing Glimmora, letting Kingambit follow up with Swords Dance sweeps. Mega Blaziken covered rain teams by stalling with Protect and accelerating, while Sturdy Archaludon with a White Herb handled fairy leads, and Scarf Garchomp provided a surprise answer to Mega Lopunny. Main weaknesses were Venusaur plus Umbreon plus Skeledirge combinations, Hippowdon sand into Mega Gyarados, and Scolipede Baton Pass chains into Espathra, all of which the team struggled to deal with.Build article →

The team is built around Mega Floette, which the author has used since last season; this time, the set was reworked to a physically bulky Flower Trick variant specifically to counter the rampant Mimikyu: Flower Trick strips Mimikyu's disguise, then Calm Mind plus Draining Kiss let Floette snowball while also boosting Speed for teammates. The core trio of Umbreon, Aegislash, and Floette handles most matchups — Umbreon cycles toxic pressure with Wish and Protect, Aegislash stacks Sword Dance under Umbreon's poison and cleans up with Shadow Sneak, and Basculegion checks Mega Blaziken while Retaliate sweeps late-game. Mega Delphox rounds out the team as a utility pick that beats Baton Pass and accumulative-boost strategies via Encore and Psychic Noise. The author acknowledges real weaknesses: Mimikyu still needs careful play outside Floette, a Body Press Mega Metagross causes team preview trBuild article →

While testing various new Mega evolutions, the author discovered that Archaludon paired with Pelipper and Swampert was exceptionally powerful, leading to a rain team built around Archaludon. Mega Raichu ended up being the primary attacker, seeing ten times more usage than Mega Swampert; Pelipper sets rain while covering Raichu's weaknesses and serving as a Trick Room setter. Archaludon is the MVP under rain and strong enough even without it, handling Reuniclus and Meowscarada matchups, while Mimikyu with Life Orb and Trick Room counters rain-counters like Blaziken and Gyarados that rely on speed boosts. The team's main weaknesses are Metagross, which no single member can beat cleanly, and Garchomp, which can run wild; the author finished at rank 324 — just one win short of Champion tier — and feels the core of Raichu, Pelipper, Archaludon, and Mimikyu still has untapped potential.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 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 author, primarily an FPS player, built this team around his three favorites — Volcarona, Mega Starmie, and Mega Floette — all sharing a high-pressure, raw-firepower style. Mega Starmie serves as a physical powerhouse that also clears entry hazards with Rapid Spin, punishing passive teams and discouraging the opponent from leading with Hippowdon. Sash Garchomp checks Blaziken and uses Swords Dance plus Scale Shot to break through opponents, while Scarf Meowscarada provides wide coverage and specifically handles Basculegion. Volcarona (with a berry) sets up Quiver Dance and threatens sweeps, running a defensive cycle with specially-defensive Leftovers Archaludon to handle Water-, Rock-, and Flying-type threats. Mega Floette fires off near-spammable Moonblast to dismantle Mawile-based teams, also luring in Steel-types as Volcarona setup bait. Main weaknesses the author acknowledges: MegBuild article →