Greninja

Mega Greninja holds a 4.62% usage rate among high-ladder players (rank 37), cementing its place in the A- tier. Its Protean ability changes its typing on every move used, making coverage prediction extremely difficult for opponents. In practice it fills a special attacker role, pressuring Hippowdon-based stall cores and Primarina-heavy teams alike.

Playstyle：The standard set runs a Modest nature with Greninjite (100% share), and the expert note highlights a key tech: staying in base form to trigger Protean before Mega Evolving mid-battle to confuse opponents on typing. The moveset focuses on Ice Beam (24.6%), Sludge Wave (23.3%), Dark Pulse (19.6%), and Grass Knot (13.3%) for broad four-type coverage. High-level commentary specifically targets Hippowdon stall loops and Primarina-heavy compositions, while pairing with Corviknight and Mega Scovillain for flexible teambuilding.

✅ Favorable matchups5

HippowdonPrimarinaGarchompHydreigonRotom-Wash

⚠️ Unfavorable matchups5

Lucario-MegaScizor-MegaLopunny-MegaMimikyuAegislash

Mega Greninja sees only 0.38% usage among high-ladder doubles players (rank 107), making it a fringe pick. Doubles rewards burst damage and field control over flexible single-target coverage; Greninja-Mega's wide but spread-thin Protean toolkit does not mesh as naturally with doubles tempo, limiting it to niche team compositions.

Playstyle：Doubles sets lean Naive nature to run a mixed attacker role, with Ice Beam (17.2%), Gunk Shot (12.3%), Extrasensory (11.6%), and Protect (11.3%) as the core slots. Teammates include Kingambit (9.6%), Whimsicott (9%), and Charizard-Mega-Y (7.8%), suggesting a fast offensive team archetype that leverages Greninja-Mega's broad coverage.

Greninja lands at rank 64 with 1.55% high-rating usage in singles, solidly in the B tier. Its base 122 Speed places it among the fastest threats in the format, enabling it to outpace most opponents before acting. Smogon anchors assign it three roles: Water Shuriken priority (Protean), toxic spikes lead, and U-turn pivot. Its 12 appearances in top-300 ladder teams indicate meaningful presence, though only 6 tournament appearances suggest matchup dependency limits tournament viability.

Playstyle：The dominant set runs Focus Sash (83.3%) with Modest nature and max Special Attack/Speed investment. Torrent (64.1%) is the more common ability — the +50% Water boost at low HP synergizes precisely with Focus Sash's one-hit-survive role, turning Water Shuriken into a reliable revenge finisher. Protean (35.9%) gives Greninja same-type bonus on every move, enabling Dark Pulse, Surf, and Ice Beam to each hit as STAB. Top commentary specifically highlights its role countering the Mega Dragonite + specially bulky Aegislash pairing, and another build uses it with Torrent as a frontline check that can beat Garchomp head-on.

✅ Favorable matchups1

Garchomp

⚠️ Unfavorable matchups1

Primarina

Greninja sits at rank 173 with 0.08% high-rating doubles usage — effectively absent from competitive doubles. In doubles, high-speed special attackers face intense competition from Dragapult, Meowscarada, and others with better doubles toolkits. Greninja critically lacks spread moves, Fake Out, or the wide utility (Tailwind, follow-up tools) that doubles demands. Protean's type-switching value, while excellent in singles, is diluted in doubles where both opponents can immediately punish any turn spent on setup. Pelipper (6.2%) pairing suggests rain-team experiments, but these remain fringe.