Mix and Mega
Overview
Terrakion is a great offensive Stealth Rock user that has the ability to force out common Magic Bounce and Defog users, such as Blissey and Mandibuzz. Its Stealth Rock resistance aids longevity and allows it to come in throughout the match to break walls and set the entry hazard multiple times. It can also become fast enough to outspeed common threats such as Shaymin-S and Weavile. Terrakion is one of the few Pokemon able to reliably take on all variants of Blissey; however, it struggles with Ghost-, Fairy-, and Psychic-types due to its heavy reliance on Close Combat, particularly Metagrossite variants. In general, Terrakion relies a lot upon its STAB attacks, as it lacks powerful coverage and usually forgoes Earthquake for Stealth Rock. Its STAB attacks do have decent neutral coverage, though. It also struggles to take on physical walls such as Cresselia and Hippowdon and can struggle to set up due to many weaknesses.
Physical Attacker
- Terrakion @ Lucarionite / Metagrossite
- Ability: Justified
- EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Jolly Nature
- - Close Combat
- - Stone Edge
- - Swords Dance
- - Stealth Rock / Earthquake
Set Comments
Moves
Close Combat is the most powerful STAB move Terrakion has access to and is the most common move it should be using. Stone Edge is another strong STAB move, but it is not boosted by Tough Claws, which is gained from Metagrossite. Swords Dance allows Terrakion to serve as an effective wallbreaker throughout the match and potentially clean up weakened teams late-game. Stealth Rock is a nice entry hazard that Terrakion can set up throughout the game through forced switches. Alternatively, Earthquake is usable coverage for Pokemon like Aegislash and Gengar.
Set Details
Maximum Speed and a Jolly nature is used to be as fast as possible, as Terrakion has a very good base Speed stat further boosted by its Mega Stone of choice, and maximum Attack is used to hit as hard as possible. 4 Defense EVs mean that Genesect receives the Special Attack boost from Download instead of Attack. Lucarionite grants a lot more power than Metagrossite, particularly on Stone Edge, and allows Terrakion to threaten Pokemon like Cresselia and support Arceus formes much more efficiently, acting as a better wallbreaker. However, Metagrossite grants a higher Speed boost, allowing Terrakion to outspeed notable threats such as Gengar, Pidgeotite Shaymin-S, Manaphy, Mimikyu, and Weavile, getting either a KO or chip damage on all of them, and avoiding Speed ties with a lot of Pokemon in the metagame.
Usage Tips
Terrakion is best used throughout the game as a wallbreaker and can set up Swords Dance on Pokemon it scares out, such as Blissey and Zapdos. It can also set up Stealth Rock on said Pokemon. Against teams with Shuckle, Terrakion can make an effective lead due to its Rock-type STAB moves hitting it for super effective damage, as well as being able to set its own Stealth Rock. Terrakion can be switched in on predicted resisted attacks, such as Extreme Speed from Arceus. In particular, switching in on Dark-type attacks is handy to nab a Justified boost before Mega Evolving, although they are rare, and the users generally have other moves that threaten Terrakion, so this requires a lot of prediction. Bring Metagrossite Terrakion in at any time to revenge kill threats such as Shaymin-S and Weavile, which it can do often thanks to its resistance to Stealth Rock.
Team Options
Kartana appreciates Terrakion's ability to force out Zapdos and set up Stealth Rock. Terrakion likes the support of offensive Dark-types, such as Hoopa-U, and defensive ones such as Mandibuzz, as they can take on threatening Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Cresselia, Lunala, and Aegislash. Checks to Fairy-types, such as Primal Groudon and Magearna, aid Terrakion in spamming its powerful Close Combat freely. Special attackers such as Shaymin-S, Manaphy, and Tapu Koko appreciate Terrakion's ability to remove Blissey. Pivots such as Zapdos, Tapu Koko, and Genesect can get Terrakion in safely. Terrakion also appreciates Pokemon like Red Orb Raikou, Deoxys-S, and Mandibuzz that can take on revenge killers such as Tapu Koko and Kartana.
Strategy Comments
Other Options
Iron Head is usable on Metagrossite variants so Terrakion can revenge kill Absolite or Lucarionite Tapu Lele; however, it doesn't hit much else. Pinsirite with Return / Stone Edge / Close Combat / Swords Dance or Quick Attack can be used to grant Terrakion a new immunity to Ground and surprise the opponent with a new Flying-type STAB move. Substitute can be used to prevent status and aid setup against bulkier teams, but stall is rare in Mix and Mega, and there are other moves Terrakion would prefer to run, especially as Substitute can wear down Terrakion due to a lack of any recovery whatsoever.
Checks and Counters
- Fighting-resistant Pokemon: Ghost-, Psychic-, and Fairy-types such as Aegislash, Lunala, Arceus-Ghost, Cresselia, and Xerneas are immune or resistant to Terrakion's main STAB attack and can take any other move before retaliating with a KO or using Terrakion as setup bait.
- Physical Walls: Bulky physically defensive Pokemon such as Hippowdon, Zygarde-C, and Buzzwole can wall Terrakion and use it as bait to set up entry hazards or recover health. Many support Arceus formes, including Arceus-Ghost, -Fairy, -Ground, and -Water, have the ability to take on Terrakion, by either crippling it with Will-O-Wisp or KOing it with Judgment. They can also Defog away Terrakion's Stealth Rock.
- Revenge Killers: Faster Pokemon, such as Metagrossite Kartana, Tapu Koko, and many Choice Scarf users, including Xerneas and Tapu Lele, can outspeed and KO Terrakion. Aerilate Extreme Speed users can also revenge kill a weakened Terrakion.