Falinks

Mega Falinks sits at 0.07% usage in singles, ranked 183rd—a fringe pick. Defiant is locked in at 100%, banking on opponents' stat drops to swing games; it is hit 4x by Flying, Psychic, and Fairy, which exposes it badly. The set revolves around Close Combat and No Retreat after a Defiant trigger, but the raw count is too small to confirm payoff.

Playstyle：In singles Close Combat (25%) and No Retreat (24.7%) split the spotlight almost evenly; High Horsepower (12.9%) and Trailblaze (11.9%) patch type coverage, and Knock Off (11.1%) strips items. Adamant 32 HP / 32 Atk takes 42%, banking on surviving one neutral hit before firing back; Jolly 32 Atk / 32 Spe takes 21.7%, aiming to move first into No Retreat on the speed tie. The item is Falinksite at 100% with no alternatives.

Doubles usage is 0.24% at rank 130—still niche but a notch above singles. The Mega stone is locked at 100%, Defiant at 100%, and the common partners (Incineroar 15%, Metagross 13.6%, Audino 13.5%) specialize in drops and disruption, which is what Defiant wants to feed on.

Playstyle：Doubles evens out the move spread: No Retreat 24.7%, Close Combat 24.4%, Protect 23%, Rock Slide 20.9% each take roughly a fourth, with Knock Off trailing at 3.9%. The high Protect share shows doubles' reliance on staying power; Rock Slide adds AoE control and benefits from Defiant procs when foes flinch or get dropped. Adamant 32 HP / 5 Atk / 15 SpD / 14 Spe at 67% leans bulkier to absorb its 4x weaknesses before retaliating.

Single-format usage sits at 0.02% with no ladder ranking. Falinks is built around No Retreat's all-stat boosts and its five-hit combo damage ceiling, but it lacks consistent speed control in singles, leans fragile on the physical side, and has no safe switch-ins against flying, psychic, and fairy-type attackers. Its own author commentary flags the same issues: low physical bulk, Whimsicott's tailwind shutting it down, and Scizor applying too much pressure to stay in.

Doubles usage is 0.04%, again unranked. The core idea still works: No Retreat stacks boosts with Defiant's attack rebound after Intimidate, and Iron Head plus Rock Slide give it some spread coverage. At 0.04%, though, the shell is not finding room in the current metagame. 75 speed loses the mirror against Whimsicott and most tailwind leads, and the 65/100/100 bulk cannot eat a clean neutral hit from top-tier special attackers. Its own author commentary has it barely holding tempo with Butterfree sleep turns.