Vengeance417 Wouldn’t Mawile’s animations detract it from being usable?
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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Combat/PVP Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Count Bleck
- Start date
Speaking as someone who uses her a lot, not necessarily.
Play rough is a bit slow to come out, but its sheer power and coverage more than makes up for it in my experience, and Earthquake's only about a seventh faster to come out even off of Garchomp's much higher base speed. Iron Head comes out considerably quicker, and Mawile has a lot of options like elemental punches/fangs that come out almost instantly. I've been running Thunder Punch to hit Skarm and waters, but I might try Fire Fang instead to counter Metagross and Excadrill. (I'd run Dynamic Punch, but it's got a looooot of startup lag so idk.)
What I've been doing is use Swords Dance from the sidelines (before Mega Evolving if possible), then going Mega and jumping other pokemon while they're distracted by brawling with each other. After a SD boost, she OHKO's almost anything and leaves serious dents in the rest, often before they can really do much about her. In the right situation, she just jumps right in and gets a triple KO on unsuspecting opponents, and Play Rough's hitbox size when she's in Mega form makes double kills surprisingly easy to pull off with it.
OR, you could go up to an opponent after SD (still in non-Mega form), wait for them to pull out an attack like Earthquake and THEN Mega Evolve to take advantage of the I-frames when Mega Evolving. Great way to bait and counterattack, and it's plain funny too lol.
I was lucky enough to pick up an XS Mawile before I was aware of how handy stealth could be in this format, so that helped too.
Granted, Mega Mawile's gonna need team support for some things (especially her weaker base form), but I suppose that can be said of just about any mega in the game, and Mawile makes up for her weaknesses many times over. Bottom line is: PLEASE get a Mega Mawile! It's absolutely worth it.
(Ik that was a lot, I just didn't want to leave out anything that might help lol)
I've should've posted this earlier, but here goes! This team brought me to A Rank this season, and it is veyr fun, and I hope someone uses it.
(Click the three Pokemon for the Pokepaste!)
My bad for not formatting how to properly send sets instead of a pokepaste.
This set is essentially the Season 1 Mega Camerupt team, also known as "Hoenn Bash Season 1: Camerupt!" in my eyes.
When it comes to building a team for Mega Camerupt, I just want a simple and straightforward goal: have mons that will help it survive long enough for it to do damage, and to help it with other mons that are threatening it.
The first member chose to add was mainly a Special Attack Salamence, which you might find odd, but you'll soon see why. Our love Dragon/Flying pokemon here is a unique case, as it gives Camerupt that sweet ground immunity upon switch in, as well as walling water moves that threaten to OHKO our lovely lava camel. Aside from just type coverage, it is build to nuke opposing dragons with a life orb DPulse which in most cases, leaves dragons just a slither of health, and I can simply force a switchout, of threaten a KO with another move. If it is a DPulse+, then it essentially secure a knockout from opposing dragons like unexpecting garchomps, dragonites, charizard x, and others like Dragalage.
Our last member is perhaps the most important one when it comes to the other two mons survival, as it sets them up Metagross here is our primary lead, and as for the reason I chose metagross was due to the amount of fairy types & ice types running among the meta game (Gardevoir & Glaceon, I see you). It also gains reflect, which is a huge factor for Camerupt & Salamence's survival, now onto the sets.
Camerupt-Mega @ Cameruptite
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpA
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Overheat
- Stone edge/Protect
Camerupt already had a high special attack of over 145, so I figured "Why not invest the rest of its stats into Hp, Defense and some Hp?". The outcome was surprising, as I was capable of taking hits of earthquakes against mons such as Garchomp, Mega Gyarados, Mega Metagross, and even Drill Run from Mega Skarmory after a swords dance. Now, this doesn't me it is invulnerable to dying, as it cannot take a single water move, especially surfs from Mega Slowbro, Greninja, Starmie, Waterfalls from Mega Sharpedo & Mega Gyarados. However, with all these weakness, shows all its pros. It is capable of OHKOing a Mega Skarmory with a Heat Wave, alongside Mega Metagross. Earth Power is there as another stab mvoe that is great into opposing fires like Mega Emboar, Charizard X, and even non fires like Ampharos, Glaceon and more. Overheat is a nuke option, as well as another great AOE option to secure final hits. The last move can vary, but I chose stone edge as a way to deal with Charizards (Y and X) and Talonflame, as both are pretty seen fairly alongside dragonites, so it is a nice coverage. Protect is there as a safety tool to escape high damage water attacks.
Salamence @ Life Orb
252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor
- Fly/Hurricane
- Fire Blast/Flamethrower
- Brick Break/Dragon Claw
Not a lot of people suspect a special salamence as often, due to how seen regular atk salamence is. The EVs are fully decked in Hp just to tank hits, and SpA jus to do as much damage as possible, while the SpD is for tanking suboptimal moves that AREN'T Fairy/Dragon of course. The moves are pretty straightforward: DPulse is your main offensive move, as it helps in destroying dragons such as Garchomp, Dragonite, Dragalge, Charizard X, and some other mons like Mega Starmie, Hippowdown, Greninja, etc, while Draco Meteor isn't bad in terms of damage, the startup takes YEARS to finish, but it is your choice.. Fly is chosen over Hurricane, as I want to dodge those Ice Beams from those pesky mons that may carry them, as well as Ice Fangs or Dragon Rush if I manage to get lucky, while Hurricane is another stab move that when enhanced to its + variation, can be an extremely threatening AOE move that can snipe kills in team fights. Fire Blast or Flamethrower is very much a preference choice: Either secure a huge kill via a form of a nuke, or try and have access to a shorter frame window? I chose the former, as I am fond of the + variation being a secure move however, so its your call. Lastly, Brick Break is mainly for breaking screens from the pesky electric setters like Ampharos, who sit back and spam charge afterwards, boring, while Dragon combos well with DPulse after the former is used.
Metagross @ Shuca Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Heavy Slam
- Thunder Punch
- Reflect
Obviously, Metagross is one of the most common pokemon in the metagame, as it is very bulky, and has tons of coverage moves that make it essential to almost any team in the format. The EV spread is a straightforward bulkiness, with the SpD just to tank some extra hits fro special moves. Ice Punch clears almost every dragon that isn't holding a Yache berry (Garchomps and Dnite, I see you everygame), Hevay Slam clears Gardevoir and other fairy that isn't Mawile, thunder punch clears a Greninja or other waters that isn't built to survive one thunder punch, and Reflect is the most important move here: as it helps the team survive against their common physical weaknesses.
To sum up everything that has been stated so far: Metagross is the lead, as it helps the other two safely switch in against the opposing physical mons that are common, while dealing with the annoying fairies and some dragons. Camerupt deals with the common Steels, and some everformentioned grass mons like Chesnaught who is slowly appearing into the meta. Lastly, Salamence is the big Wallbreaker, getting rid of any mon that threatens to setup screens, and nuke any opposing dragon that it can get its breath onto first before they do. They cover each of their weaknesses pretty well like Salamence predicting an Ice Beam from a Mega Greninja, it can either Fly, or swap into Metagross to land a thunder punch, or Metagross see a Charizard, switch it Camerupt to tank the move, then unless a stone edge if they don't expect it, while if camerupt expects a water move, salamence can do well when it comes to taking the hit
Conclusion: This team was really fun building, helped me get to A, while also being one of the teams that brought some of the best nostalgia of my younger years. I wouldn't say this team is consider "Broken", but it is certainly an off meta choice that if you're interesting in Camerupt, you can certainly build! I'd like to hear other choices for this team however, as experimentation is always fun to do. Any advice is also appreciate, just so you know! Also, thank you Camerupt for bring me to A Rank before the season ended, you were fun, now it is onto the next Mega for the Hoenn Bash: Mega Aggron in Season 2 coming this Wednesday.
This is my first ever teambuilding post, so I know it is awful to look at. Not really used to smogon as of lately but hey, I'll improve eventually, hopefully soon and with help. Any questions is greatly appreciated!
The first member chose to add was mainly a Special Attack Salamence, which you might find odd, but you'll soon see why. Our love Dragon/Flying pokemon here is a unique case, as it gives Camerupt that sweet ground immunity upon switch in, as well as walling water moves that threaten to OHKO our lovely lava camel. Aside from just type coverage, it is build to nuke opposing dragons with a life orb DPulse which in most cases, leaves dragons just a slither of health, and I can simply force a switchout, of threaten a KO with another move. If it is a DPulse+, then it essentially secure a knockout from opposing dragons like unexpecting garchomps, dragonites, charizard x, and others like Dragalage.
Our last member is perhaps the most important one when it comes to the other two mons survival, as it sets them up Metagross here is our primary lead, and as for the reason I chose metagross was due to the amount of fairy types & ice types running among the meta game (Gardevoir & Glaceon, I see you). It also gains reflect, which is a huge factor for Camerupt & Salamence's survival, now onto the sets.
Camerupt-Mega @ Cameruptite
EVs: 252 HP / 244 Def / 12 SpA
Modest Nature
- Heat Wave
- Earth Power
- Overheat
- Stone edge/Protect
Camerupt already had a high special attack of over 145, so I figured "Why not invest the rest of its stats into Hp, Defense and some Hp?". The outcome was surprising, as I was capable of taking hits of earthquakes against mons such as Garchomp, Mega Gyarados, Mega Metagross, and even Drill Run from Mega Skarmory after a swords dance. Now, this doesn't me it is invulnerable to dying, as it cannot take a single water move, especially surfs from Mega Slowbro, Greninja, Starmie, Waterfalls from Mega Sharpedo & Mega Gyarados. However, with all these weakness, shows all its pros. It is capable of OHKOing a Mega Skarmory with a Heat Wave, alongside Mega Metagross. Earth Power is there as another stab mvoe that is great into opposing fires like Mega Emboar, Charizard X, and even non fires like Ampharos, Glaceon and more. Overheat is a nuke option, as well as another great AOE option to secure final hits. The last move can vary, but I chose stone edge as a way to deal with Charizards (Y and X) and Talonflame, as both are pretty seen fairly alongside dragonites, so it is a nice coverage. Protect is there as a safety tool to escape high damage water attacks.
Salamence @ Life Orb
252 Hp / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Dragon Pulse/Draco Meteor
- Fly/Hurricane
- Fire Blast/Flamethrower
- Brick Break/Dragon Claw
Not a lot of people suspect a special salamence as often, due to how seen regular atk salamence is. The EVs are fully decked in Hp just to tank hits, and SpA jus to do as much damage as possible, while the SpD is for tanking suboptimal moves that AREN'T Fairy/Dragon of course. The moves are pretty straightforward: DPulse is your main offensive move, as it helps in destroying dragons such as Garchomp, Dragonite, Dragalge, Charizard X, and some other mons like Mega Starmie, Hippowdown, Greninja, etc, while Draco Meteor isn't bad in terms of damage, the startup takes YEARS to finish, but it is your choice.. Fly is chosen over Hurricane, as I want to dodge those Ice Beams from those pesky mons that may carry them, as well as Ice Fangs or Dragon Rush if I manage to get lucky, while Hurricane is another stab move that when enhanced to its + variation, can be an extremely threatening AOE move that can snipe kills in team fights. Fire Blast or Flamethrower is very much a preference choice: Either secure a huge kill via a form of a nuke, or try and have access to a shorter frame window? I chose the former, as I am fond of the + variation being a secure move however, so its your call. Lastly, Brick Break is mainly for breaking screens from the pesky electric setters like Ampharos, who sit back and spam charge afterwards, boring, while Dragon combos well with DPulse after the former is used.
Metagross @ Shuca Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Ice Punch
- Heavy Slam
- Thunder Punch
- Reflect
Obviously, Metagross is one of the most common pokemon in the metagame, as it is very bulky, and has tons of coverage moves that make it essential to almost any team in the format. The EV spread is a straightforward bulkiness, with the SpD just to tank some extra hits fro special moves. Ice Punch clears almost every dragon that isn't holding a Yache berry (Garchomps and Dnite, I see you everygame), Hevay Slam clears Gardevoir and other fairy that isn't Mawile, thunder punch clears a Greninja or other waters that isn't built to survive one thunder punch, and Reflect is the most important move here: as it helps the team survive against their common physical weaknesses.
To sum up everything that has been stated so far: Metagross is the lead, as it helps the other two safely switch in against the opposing physical mons that are common, while dealing with the annoying fairies and some dragons. Camerupt deals with the common Steels, and some everformentioned grass mons like Chesnaught who is slowly appearing into the meta. Lastly, Salamence is the big Wallbreaker, getting rid of any mon that threatens to setup screens, and nuke any opposing dragon that it can get its breath onto first before they do. They cover each of their weaknesses pretty well like Salamence predicting an Ice Beam from a Mega Greninja, it can either Fly, or swap into Metagross to land a thunder punch, or Metagross see a Charizard, switch it Camerupt to tank the move, then unless a stone edge if they don't expect it, while if camerupt expects a water move, salamence can do well when it comes to taking the hit
Conclusion: This team was really fun building, helped me get to A, while also being one of the teams that brought some of the best nostalgia of my younger years. I wouldn't say this team is consider "Broken", but it is certainly an off meta choice that if you're interesting in Camerupt, you can certainly build! I'd like to hear other choices for this team however, as experimentation is always fun to do. Any advice is also appreciate, just so you know! Also, thank you Camerupt for bring me to A Rank before the season ended, you were fun, now it is onto the next Mega for the Hoenn Bash: Mega Aggron in Season 2 coming this Wednesday.
This is my first ever teambuilding post, so I know it is awful to look at. Not really used to smogon as of lately but hey, I'll improve eventually, hopefully soon and with help. Any questions is greatly appreciated!
just placed top 8 in THATSAplusONE’s tournament today, placed top 1 in the first 2 rounds but got destroyed in the third round, mostly due to the game just not liking me it feels like LMAO
good to know that excadrill DOES NOT AT ALL counter xerneas due to focus blast
did not face a yveltal during it, however
good to know that excadrill DOES NOT AT ALL counter xerneas due to focus blast
did not face a yveltal during it, however
Played a handful of private matches to practice for Season 2.
I need to get used to
. My biggest issue with it is how bad it is in base form, limiting its versatility. I may need to pair it with a dual screener. I know it can be good with the right support. It's just a skill issue for me rn lol
Geomancy sucks. It takes way too long to set up. Calm Mind is the better setup move for
imo.
I'm liking Heat Wave on Life Orb
. It deals disgusting damage to Steel-types.
I tried
as a Steel-type not weak to Dark. It not having Curse is a big detriment, and the base form is balls. Might replace it with 
since it has Curse and the secondary Ground STAB, or just go back to 
(and just not care about the Dark weakness, haven't seen a lot of Yveltal anyway) or Mega 
.
I need to get used to
. My biggest issue with it is how bad it is in base form, limiting its versatility. I may need to pair it with a dual screener. I know it can be good with the right support. It's just a skill issue for me rn lolGeomancy sucks. It takes way too long to set up. Calm Mind is the better setup move for
imo. I'm liking Heat Wave on Life Orb
. It deals disgusting damage to Steel-types.I tried
as a Steel-type not weak to Dark. It not having Curse is a big detriment, and the base form is balls. Might replace it with since it has Curse and the secondary Ground STAB, or just go back to (and just not care about the Dark weakness, haven't seen a lot of Yveltal anyway) or Mega .Got another interesting/off-meta set I've been using to surprising success, so I thought I'd share it considering Mega Chesnaught's right around the corner:
Chesnaught @ Assault Vest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Spiky Shield/Bullet Seed/Wood Hammer
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Brick Break/Close Combat
(Bold = what I prefer overall/am using atm)
Grass STAB gives Chesnaught solid options in Bullet Seed for range, or Wood Hammer for sheer damage. WH is a bit inconsistent though; it's been surprisingly hard to land one, and the recoil doesn't help when not getting KO'd is the #1 thing. I think Spiky Shield is preferable since Grass coverage is seldom needed; her Fighting moves are better for TTar and Greninja anyway, and Chesnaught appreciates being able to block the various attacks she's weak to so she can counterattack during their cooldowns.
Rock Slide can also be used from a distance/behind obstacles, and hits the Fire and Flying-types hard. Paired with the AV, she's actually on pretty even footing with Charizard! I've seen her take base Zard's Air Slash and live, although it's close.
Earthquake's a given, I think. Solid area damage, and lots of things are weak to it.
The Fighting type doesn't do Chesnaught many favors as a defensive typing, but its offensive utility is a different story considering all the Steels and Glaceons (among others) out there. Close Combat's good for getting KO's (and like Play Rough, it teleports her right on top of enemies so it's hard to miss), but Brick Break has a much shorter cooldown and is less risky due to no defense drop. Plus, BB synergizes well with her Electric resistance and Earthquake to make her a great anti-Ampharos/Umbreon lead, since screens are all over the place atm.
She has other good moves like Dig, Thunder Punch, Bulk Up, and Dragon Claw, which I might experiment with more, but this set has gotten me pretty far.
The EV's are about as simple as they look: Maximizing both offense and defense, with HP investment to help patch up her lower special bulk while also improving on her very solid physical bulk.
Assault Vest has been my go-to item to help her with special attackers (I can say from experience this has made a huge difference), but I've noticed something about Weakness Policy: It seems to activate even if a supereffective attack is blocked by Spiky Shield. So that's a thing ig.
After seeing Mega Chesnaught and already considering Chesnaught an underrated starter that I wanted to pick up sometime, I thought Z-A would be the perfect chance. She was getting her butt kicked for a while when I was experimenting, but her current set is pulling off a lot of surprising wins! I'd try it out sometime.
Xerneas and Yveltal will probably make a dent in her viability, but counters will rise up to face them, and Chesnaught seems to do well against a lot of them (most Steels and Electrics, many Fire and Ice types as well despite her weaknesses), but we'll see how things go.
Chesnaught @ Assault Vest
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Spiky Shield/Bullet Seed/Wood Hammer
- Rock Slide
- Earthquake
- Brick Break/Close Combat
(Bold = what I prefer overall/am using atm)
Grass STAB gives Chesnaught solid options in Bullet Seed for range, or Wood Hammer for sheer damage. WH is a bit inconsistent though; it's been surprisingly hard to land one, and the recoil doesn't help when not getting KO'd is the #1 thing. I think Spiky Shield is preferable since Grass coverage is seldom needed; her Fighting moves are better for TTar and Greninja anyway, and Chesnaught appreciates being able to block the various attacks she's weak to so she can counterattack during their cooldowns.
Rock Slide can also be used from a distance/behind obstacles, and hits the Fire and Flying-types hard. Paired with the AV, she's actually on pretty even footing with Charizard! I've seen her take base Zard's Air Slash and live, although it's close.
Earthquake's a given, I think. Solid area damage, and lots of things are weak to it.
The Fighting type doesn't do Chesnaught many favors as a defensive typing, but its offensive utility is a different story considering all the Steels and Glaceons (among others) out there. Close Combat's good for getting KO's (and like Play Rough, it teleports her right on top of enemies so it's hard to miss), but Brick Break has a much shorter cooldown and is less risky due to no defense drop. Plus, BB synergizes well with her Electric resistance and Earthquake to make her a great anti-Ampharos/Umbreon lead, since screens are all over the place atm.
She has other good moves like Dig, Thunder Punch, Bulk Up, and Dragon Claw, which I might experiment with more, but this set has gotten me pretty far.
The EV's are about as simple as they look: Maximizing both offense and defense, with HP investment to help patch up her lower special bulk while also improving on her very solid physical bulk.
Assault Vest has been my go-to item to help her with special attackers (I can say from experience this has made a huge difference), but I've noticed something about Weakness Policy: It seems to activate even if a supereffective attack is blocked by Spiky Shield. So that's a thing ig.
After seeing Mega Chesnaught and already considering Chesnaught an underrated starter that I wanted to pick up sometime, I thought Z-A would be the perfect chance. She was getting her butt kicked for a while when I was experimenting, but her current set is pulling off a lot of surprising wins! I'd try it out sometime.
Xerneas and Yveltal will probably make a dent in her viability, but counters will rise up to face them, and Chesnaught seems to do well against a lot of them (most Steels and Electrics, many Fire and Ice types as well despite her weaknesses), but we'll see how things go.
I am so impressed that 
managed to get the top 10 usage and tier lists, but with now available, I wonder how Glaceon fares now with Xerneas having way better stats (barely higher SpA though) and a better defensive typing.
Being able to one-shot a variety of Dragon-types and Gyarados wouldn’t be such a worthy investment for Glaceon now, would it? Or is this Pokémon still a formidable meta threat to take account off?
managed to get the top 10 usage and tier lists, but with now available, I wonder how Glaceon fares now with Xerneas having way better stats (barely higher SpA though) and a better defensive typing.Being able to one-shot a variety of Dragon-types and Gyarados wouldn’t be such a worthy investment for Glaceon now, would it? Or is this Pokémon still a formidable meta threat to take account off?
xerneas doesn't get stab freeze dry, so I assume glaceon is likely still very usefulI am so impressed that
That, and Ice is 4x supereffective against a lot of dragons while Fairy is only 2x. It'll make the difference between OHKO'ing and not in a lot of cases, and Ice Beam is a lot harder to dodge.
Love the dedication to Chesnaught as a whole. Very impressive of you to try and experiment with different sets before the mega releases to try and find different solutions.
Reached rank A, just went pretty basic.
Garchomp from last season, Skarm from last season, and a CM/Moonblast/Tbolt/Focus Blast Xerneas.
Definitely could use improvement. Xerneas is pretty rampant atm, ran into very few Yveltal by comparison. Surprised quite a few people with Focus Blast, and Skarm isn’t as effective due to Xerneas’ Tbolt going everywhere. Garchomp, Metagross and Skarm did seem to be the main returning characters, Excadrill. Very few Glaceon.
They changed the minus points for 3rd and 4th now, just to make things even easier.
Also, True Blue Canatic is the only title worth having imo. People have also got some new and creative pictures… ran into one bloke repeatedly with uh.. an interesting shot of Dedenne and Pichu.. not for the faint of heart.
Garchomp from last season, Skarm from last season, and a CM/Moonblast/Tbolt/Focus Blast Xerneas.
Definitely could use improvement. Xerneas is pretty rampant atm, ran into very few Yveltal by comparison. Surprised quite a few people with Focus Blast, and Skarm isn’t as effective due to Xerneas’ Tbolt going everywhere. Garchomp, Metagross and Skarm did seem to be the main returning characters, Excadrill. Very few Glaceon.
They changed the minus points for 3rd and 4th now, just to make things even easier.
Also, True Blue Canatic is the only title worth having imo. People have also got some new and creative pictures… ran into one bloke repeatedly with uh.. an interesting shot of Dedenne and Pichu.. not for the faint of heart.
I haven't seen a single Yveltal. Everyone playing Xerneas is too hostile for the bird.
I'm playing it myself, a greedy version of Geomancy + double fairy moves, Fairy Feather, and Thunderbolt. The speed boost is really good to avoid hits and to hunt any weakened foe. Double fairy is expected to defeat the other Xerneas, or at least maximize my odds.
Second is Dragalge. I want to snipe Xerneas. Given how centralising the deer is, having several options is great. Double Poison (Bomb and Wave) to bully Xerneas, Thunderbolt and Focus Blast for steels. Can mega.
Last is Skarmory. I need to punish Excadrill, so I bring the Excadrill punisher. It can also easily switch in Heavy Slams. Swords Dances, Steel Wing, Brave Bird and Drill Run.
Metagross is a bit annoying with Thunder Punch, but Skarmory still wins, and some don't even run Thunder Punch anymore. The road to rank A went smoothly.
I'm playing it myself, a greedy version of Geomancy + double fairy moves, Fairy Feather, and Thunderbolt. The speed boost is really good to avoid hits and to hunt any weakened foe. Double fairy is expected to defeat the other Xerneas, or at least maximize my odds.
Second is Dragalge. I want to snipe Xerneas. Given how centralising the deer is, having several options is great. Double Poison (Bomb and Wave) to bully Xerneas, Thunderbolt and Focus Blast for steels. Can mega.
Last is Skarmory. I need to punish Excadrill, so I bring the Excadrill punisher. It can also easily switch in Heavy Slams. Swords Dances, Steel Wing, Brave Bird and Drill Run.
Metagross is a bit annoying with Thunder Punch, but Skarmory still wins, and some don't even run Thunder Punch anymore. The road to rank A went smoothly.
Hmm, did not find that to be such a simple case personally, with Metagross still easily tanking non-Mega’d Drill Runs and being easily able to smash me post-Mega.
Yeah but that's a mega vs non-mega comparison which is a bit unfair by nature. Oh, I didn't specify I run two megas, that might be the reason.
Also in most cases, Metagross comes before Skarmory (trying to defeat Xerneas). So Metagross is weakened, Skarmory is not.
I was only referring to Skarm to be clear, this would be true of Metagross whether Mega evolved or not.