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Pokemon Legends: Z-A Combat/PVP Discussion Thread
- Thread starter Count Bleck
- Start date
I haven't had a lot of time to play S3 "DLC-edition", but I have tried Drain Punch Mega Mewtwo X for a couple of games and it's just phenomenal.
Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab
- Stone Edge
The newly-added Drain Punch has been a boon for many Pokemon that gained access to it, and MM2X is no exception. Take what you know about this mega and imagine it constantly getting second chances after taking damage. Drain Punch MM2X with screens is even harder to remove unless you have a Xerneas, which a chipped Xern still fears +1 Poison Jab. That being said, I don't think Brick Break is entirely obsolete. Screens will forever be a common sight, and if you're not concerned about sustaining MM2X's health, Brick Break is still a solid option to remove them.
Mewtwo @ Mewtwonite X
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Drain Punch
- Poison Jab
- Stone Edge
The newly-added Drain Punch has been a boon for many Pokemon that gained access to it, and MM2X is no exception. Take what you know about this mega and imagine it constantly getting second chances after taking damage. Drain Punch MM2X with screens is even harder to remove unless you have a Xerneas, which a chipped Xern still fears +1 Poison Jab. That being said, I don't think Brick Break is entirely obsolete. Screens will forever be a common sight, and if you're not concerned about sustaining MM2X's health, Brick Break is still a solid option to remove them.
the art is so cute!!!
Hit A rank in S4! Let me share my team.
Sirfetch’d @ Leek
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Assault
- Sky Attack
- Leaf Blade/Night Slash
- Swords Dance
Don't sleep on this guy! After an SD Meteor Assault obliterates anything in it's path, as does Sky Attack, especially because it is guaranteed to crit while you're holding the Leek. Leaf Blade or Night Slash comes down to if your team has answers to pert/dozo and ghold respectively. Recommended to get this as an Alpha if you want to try it.
Gholdengo @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Steel Beam
- Make It Rain
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
Fairies and Psychics are kinda scary for Sirfetch'd, so Gholdengo is there to help. This guys is an uber nasty sniper, as Steel Beam is a nuclear warhead of a move, and it doesn't even kill you since it works differently in ZA, being that it does recoil based on damage rather than just shaving off 50% of your HP! Tbolt to cover flyers that threaten Sirfetch'd and Gyarados in particular. Make it Rain is still very good as a "fuck off me" sorta move.
Swampert @ Focus Sash
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Bulk Up
Swampert is a generally good glue mon, so good in fact, that everyone is now starting to run +Solar Beam... Thankfully, sash helps you secure those KOs on fire types that want Ghold to go away, Garchomps aren't safe either, as your Ice Punch really stings after a Bulk Up. Highly recommend getting an Alpha for this one too.
Sirfetch’d @ Leek
EVs: 248 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Assault
- Sky Attack
- Leaf Blade/Night Slash
- Swords Dance
Don't sleep on this guy! After an SD Meteor Assault obliterates anything in it's path, as does Sky Attack, especially because it is guaranteed to crit while you're holding the Leek. Leaf Blade or Night Slash comes down to if your team has answers to pert/dozo and ghold respectively. Recommended to get this as an Alpha if you want to try it.
Gholdengo @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
- Steel Beam
- Make It Rain
- Thunderbolt
- Nasty Plot
Fairies and Psychics are kinda scary for Sirfetch'd, so Gholdengo is there to help. This guys is an uber nasty sniper, as Steel Beam is a nuclear warhead of a move, and it doesn't even kill you since it works differently in ZA, being that it does recoil based on damage rather than just shaving off 50% of your HP! Tbolt to cover flyers that threaten Sirfetch'd and Gyarados in particular. Make it Rain is still very good as a "fuck off me" sorta move.
Swampert @ Focus Sash
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
- Bulk Up
Swampert is a generally good glue mon, so good in fact, that everyone is now starting to run +Solar Beam... Thankfully, sash helps you secure those KOs on fire types that want Ghold to go away, Garchomps aren't safe either, as your Ice Punch really stings after a Bulk Up. Highly recommend getting an Alpha for this one too.
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Golisopod @ Golisopite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leech Life
- Waterfall
- Drill Run / Close Combat
Mega Golisopod is really cool. It's a lot like Gyarados where both forms have use-cases in a match, but Golisopod actually gets much more done thanks to Swords Dance. Mega Golisopod is 4x Fire-weak. but base form is Water-type and has STAB Waterfall. Bug/Water is also a surprisingly-good defensive-typing given you resist non-Freeze Dry Ice-type moves as well as Earthquake. On the flip side, the base form hates Thunderbolt, Stone Edge, and Flying-type moves, and the Mega form removes those weaknesses and Freeze Dry is a resisted hit. Even if the Mega is staring down the barrel of a Fire-type, you have +1 Waterfall and Drill Run to deal with them.
Sadly, its Steel-type options are lacking. Iron Head has a bad hitbox, and Metal Claw is too weak. Close Combat is an option over Drill Run to have a strong hit vs Baxcalibur. However, your Mega form deals with it quite well already, especially with Leech Life, so I prefer Drill Run to have a second attack for Fires. Also, in lobbies w/out Bax, you'll miss Drill Run. First Impression can also work to kill-steal, but it'll leave you with a dead moveslot after using it, and it can't benefit from SD.
I've been really enjoying this mega. I'm running it with my own
and a shuca berry 
to great success. Having 2 fire resists for Mega G to fall back on has been helpful.Great meta so far. No
means I don't have veins popping out of my forehead anymore. Other mons I wanna try are 
and 
.
Hit rank A, this season starts fun, I love most new Pokémon!
I climbed with a team named "Let's pretend people don't have access to Baxcalibur yet".
Rotom-Cut@Magnet
Modest HP/SpA sized XS
Nasty Plot, Charge, Thunderbolt, Leaf Storm
The new Charge guy, Thunderbolt double-boosted deletes anything that doesn't resist it, and is still surprisingly powerful on single resists. Grass allows me to not be weak to Earthquake, while punishing people using Swampert as their Electric switch-in
Porygon-Z@Life Orb
Modest HP/SpA sized XS
Nasty Plot, Hyper Beam, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball
Another Nasty Plot user. Boosted Hyper Beam deletes anything that doesn't resist it, and is still surprisingly powerful on single resists. Ice Beams because I don't like Garchomp, while Shadow Ball is preferred to defeat Gholdengo (they resist +1 Ominous Wind) as well as most ghost types.
Golisopod@Golisopodite
Adamant HP/Atk sized Alpha
Swords Dance, Leech Life, Waterfall, Drill Run
Vengeance417 already introduced it, but I can only confirm how great Golidopod is. I fully second his analysis, you should definitely try it.
So the goal of the team is to click big number moves (Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam) to snipe the opponents, and when they target me, switch to Golisopod who will refuse to be knocked out. And go back to big numbers when they forget about me. Sounds great and work surprisingly often.
I climbed with a team named "Let's pretend people don't have access to Baxcalibur yet".
Rotom-Cut@Magnet
Modest HP/SpA sized XS
Nasty Plot, Charge, Thunderbolt, Leaf Storm
The new Charge guy, Thunderbolt double-boosted deletes anything that doesn't resist it, and is still surprisingly powerful on single resists. Grass allows me to not be weak to Earthquake, while punishing people using Swampert as their Electric switch-in
Porygon-Z@Life Orb
Modest HP/SpA sized XS
Nasty Plot, Hyper Beam, Ice Beam, Shadow Ball
Another Nasty Plot user. Boosted Hyper Beam deletes anything that doesn't resist it, and is still surprisingly powerful on single resists. Ice Beams because I don't like Garchomp, while Shadow Ball is preferred to defeat Gholdengo (they resist +1 Ominous Wind) as well as most ghost types.
Golisopod@Golisopodite
Adamant HP/Atk sized Alpha
Swords Dance, Leech Life, Waterfall, Drill Run
Vengeance417 already introduced it, but I can only confirm how great Golidopod is. I fully second his analysis, you should definitely try it.
So the goal of the team is to click big number moves (Thunderbolt and Hyper Beam) to snipe the opponents, and when they target me, switch to Golisopod who will refuse to be knocked out. And go back to big numbers when they forget about me. Sounds great and work surprisingly often.
Not quite at rank A yet, but I wanna talk a bit about some guys that I've been using in the new season. Also I'm just now realizing that I forgot to update like any of their natures so you should probably do that if you want to use any of them:
Garganacl @ i forgot to give it an item
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Stone Edge
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Earthquake
Since I managed to snag a shiny Nacli, I wanted to see if Salt Cure had any applications to the ZA format. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Garg just felt like it didn't really do much whenever it was out either, although that might be because of my suboptimal set. Don't recommend.
Glimmora @ Glimmoranite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Earth Power
- Meteor Beam
- Mortal Spin
- Sludge Wave
The actually good Paldean rock type. I *also* got a shiny Glimmet, so I of course had to test out its fancy new Mega. Base Glimmora is already pretty solid, from what I've found: good enough power and bulk (provided you keep it out of EQ range), Meteor Beam is incredibly fun, and even the poisoning is nice -- I actually scored a kill from poison damage in a recent match. And once you Mega it, M-Glimmora feels so good to use. It has quite good movement speed even before a Mortal Spin, which combines with the innate Plus Move charge time reductions to make Glimm more speedy and reactive than you might initially think. Meteor Beam becomes as powerful as it looks and makes your Sludge Waves and Earth Powers hit even harder. Mortal Spin is there for the mentioned speed boost, but also because it can quickly finish off stragglers and annoy opponents with poison. Overall, great mon.
Meowstic-F @ Meowsticite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
I also also got a shiny Espurr before the DLC even dropped (her name is creampuff) so I was looking forward to trying Meowga Meowstic as well. I went into this expecting a total glass cannon based on the stats -- OHKOs everything, but gets OHKOd in return. What I got, surprisingly, was the opposite: Somehow, despite not changing its HP or Def, Mega Meowstic can take powerful hits that you'd think would do it in, but you *need* to be Mega'd in order to have any semblance of a damage output. Unfortunately, this thing kinda has 4MSS. Whenever I used it, I almost always felt like I was missing a crucial coverage move, but I needed NP in order to get good results. I'm also not sure how Meowstic-M's alternate learnset changes its playstyle, either.
There are others I tried out too, but they weren't shinies and I don't really feel like writing about them now, so yeah.
Garganacl @ i forgot to give it an item
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Stone Edge
- Salt Cure
- Recover
- Earthquake
Since I managed to snag a shiny Nacli, I wanted to see if Salt Cure had any applications to the ZA format. Unfortunately, it doesn't. Garg just felt like it didn't really do much whenever it was out either, although that might be because of my suboptimal set. Don't recommend.
Glimmora @ Glimmoranite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Earth Power
- Meteor Beam
- Mortal Spin
- Sludge Wave
The actually good Paldean rock type. I *also* got a shiny Glimmet, so I of course had to test out its fancy new Mega. Base Glimmora is already pretty solid, from what I've found: good enough power and bulk (provided you keep it out of EQ range), Meteor Beam is incredibly fun, and even the poisoning is nice -- I actually scored a kill from poison damage in a recent match. And once you Mega it, M-Glimmora feels so good to use. It has quite good movement speed even before a Mortal Spin, which combines with the innate Plus Move charge time reductions to make Glimm more speedy and reactive than you might initially think. Meteor Beam becomes as powerful as it looks and makes your Sludge Waves and Earth Powers hit even harder. Mortal Spin is there for the mentioned speed boost, but also because it can quickly finish off stragglers and annoy opponents with poison. Overall, great mon.
Meowstic-F @ Meowsticite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Nasty Plot
- Psychic
I also also got a shiny Espurr before the DLC even dropped (her name is creampuff) so I was looking forward to trying Meowga Meowstic as well. I went into this expecting a total glass cannon based on the stats -- OHKOs everything, but gets OHKOd in return. What I got, surprisingly, was the opposite: Somehow, despite not changing its HP or Def, Mega Meowstic can take powerful hits that you'd think would do it in, but you *need* to be Mega'd in order to have any semblance of a damage output. Unfortunately, this thing kinda has 4MSS. Whenever I used it, I almost always felt like I was missing a crucial coverage move, but I needed NP in order to get good results. I'm also not sure how Meowstic-M's alternate learnset changes its playstyle, either.
There are others I tried out too, but they weren't shinies and I don't really feel like writing about them now, so yeah.
I did my matches, 3 of them in this case, to get Baxcaliburite but I ran into mega baxcalibur in 2 out of 3 of them. I think there might've been 2 of them in one of them even.
All of them were Alphas and boy, did it hit like a truck. Glaive Rush seems like something you need to keep an eye out for.
All of them were Alphas and boy, did it hit like a truck. Glaive Rush seems like something you need to keep an eye out for.
Alpha.
Dealing KOs is more important than survival in this game mode. I can't think of any physical attacker that wouldn't want to be alpha, as most physical moves scale on your size.
And Baxcalibur, from my brief time against it, doesn't seem like it'll have a whiffing problem.
Straightforward:
Sirfetch’d @ Leek
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Meteor Assault
- Sky Attack
- Night Slash
- Swords Dance
Sirfetch’d has been talked about above, but I want to highlight just how good this mon truly is. It hits incredibly hard, and going through screens and Def boosts is an incredible attribute to have in a game where screens reign supreme. Meteor Assault having a 50% to crit allows for some genuine insane KOs too! Sky Attack is your other diving move, and also claims a lot of lives with its power and potential move negation through the flinch. Night Slash is quick, hits stuff like Ghold and Chandy, and serves a pick-off tool for things that barely survive.
Leaf Blade is a pretty cool option I toyed with that deletes Pert and dents Dozo even harder, but I consider Night Slash more consistent.
Porygon2 @ Eviolite
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Hyper Beam
- Thunderbolt
- Ice Beam
- Metal Sound
Porygon2 is a really interesting option that I think has a lot of potential. It survives some truly heinous attacks, and I saw it get OHKOed by very few things - e.g. aforementioned Sirfetch’d Meteor Assault, or Mega Golurk’s Fissure. Now, the interesting option in this set is Metal Sound. See, unlike Porygon-Z, P2’s boosting options are absolutely lacking, being limited to stuff like Charge Beam (unreliable), Charge itself (just Tbolt), or even Conversion (one STAB only). Metal Sound, however, is a ranged debuff that has a low cooldown, and the amount of times you can click it to then follow-up with something like +Hyper Beam is absolutely hilarious and effective. The thing forces more switches than you think, and using that to your advantage is smth P2 can leverage with its beautiful bulk.
This duck also gets stuff like Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Solar Beam for harder hits on certain things. And while I think P-Z is overall better, P2’s “I check everything” is a super cool attribute to it that I think people need to consider!
Palossand @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Earth Power
- Shadow Ball
- Energy Ball
- Nasty Plot
Palossand is this team’s token mememon, something that I tend to bring on all my teams… if you’re familiar with my whacky nonsense. And this sand castle is actually legit! It’s a pretty powerful Earth Power sniper since it can boost its damage to proper levels, and the one I used was a Small Shiny one, which means this thing blends in so well in places like the lake or quasartico/hall in order to get even more snipes, not unlike Stunfisk or the newer Tatsu. Shadow Ball is here, and while I am Shadow Ball’s #1 hater, it’s competent STAB and comes out quick when things try to get in front of Palossand, and due to its beefy phys bulk, it can actually just point-blank launch it against anything that’s not like Mega Bax Ice Hammer or some shit lol. Last move is Energy Ball, which I slotted for all the Pert and numerous Waters, though I think it’s more of a niche option. Really wish it had Solar Beam!
Other options here include Psychic (more snipes), and even Infestation to trap random nonsense. It’s a pretty one-note Pokémon (click NP -> hide and start sniping with Earth Power), but is deceptively good at it due to its camouflage. Bonus: its movement speed is not bad at all, so you can run from stuff if you can’t secure something like an Earth Power -> Shadow Ball kill.
____
Fun season so far - love the lack of deer and the genetic abominations. Lots of very powerful new threats to account for, like the lithany of snipers (Armarouge, Glimmora, Gholdengo, Porygon-Z), or physical breakers (Baxcalibur, Golisopod, Sirfetch’d, Absol Z). Even the old guard w/ their new moves like Sky Attack Skarmory, which is EVERYWHERE, is something you have to respect heavily.
To those who want more consistent wins, I’m also seeing that your i-frames are becoming even more important to leverage as teamslots get more constrained, and being able to consistently and completely dodge stuff like Thunderbolt or Sky Attack can swing games in the sweatier lobbies. Keep practicing that shit!
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I'm spending so much time trying to make my favourite work and getting let down by the movement speed, and you're telling me that some pile of sand can trot to safety?
Got to A rank, here's the team
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Good ol' Garchomp is still fine even if Bax is a demon running around everywhere. I chose to run Fire Fang as coverage because I wasnt sure what to replace Poison Jab with and figured itd be nice to hit Skarm. You dont really click it much though so it can probably be anything. Yache Berry is there to not explode to Ice Moves while also having some health left after. Not much else to say, Chomp is Chomp.
Golisopod-Mega @ Golisopite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Leech Life
- Waterfall
- Drill Run
- Swords Dance
This thing is an absolute menace. Anything that isnt a special fire move bounces off of it and it heals it off with Leech Life, not to mention its hard for fires to want to engage as base pod takes fire moves fine and bops them with Waterfall and Drill Run. Base pod being good means that even though its a mega, it can be paired with other mons that want to use plus moves which is a nice bonus. Its also a great check to Bax as its one of the few options that resists Bax's stabs while not being EQ weak, and its ridiculous base 175 defense means that anything bax does just doinks off. Combined with the IFrames from mega evolving and the fact most teams just naturally have a decent fire check, this thing ends up a demon that can very easily live through the whole mega meter, then just pick off something in base because base pod is still quite nice.
Armarouge @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Armor Cannon
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Meteor Beam
The team's resident clicker. Armarouge has nice coverage and its access to meteor beam gives it an option to nuke Flyings and Bax while boosts its other moves to blast apart anything. I regularly had games where Arma was just running around blasting people and getting 4 KOs before going down. Ofc this was the climb to A so i dont expect that to continue, but the coverage is still really good. Double Fire STAB is also nice, Heat Wave is good for firing into skirmishes while Armor Cannon can blast someone whos running at you.
Overall, season is looking fun. Not needing to dedicate teamslots or coverage options for Mewtwo or Xern is a nice breath of fresh air. The DLC has added a lot of fun options. Looking forward to using Sirfetchd, both Marowaks, P2 and PZ, and whatever else looks interesting. Here's to a fun season before Mega Ray kills everyone :)
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Earthquake
- Fire Fang
- Swords Dance
Good ol' Garchomp is still fine even if Bax is a demon running around everywhere. I chose to run Fire Fang as coverage because I wasnt sure what to replace Poison Jab with and figured itd be nice to hit Skarm. You dont really click it much though so it can probably be anything. Yache Berry is there to not explode to Ice Moves while also having some health left after. Not much else to say, Chomp is Chomp.
Golisopod-Mega @ Golisopite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Leech Life
- Waterfall
- Drill Run
- Swords Dance
This thing is an absolute menace. Anything that isnt a special fire move bounces off of it and it heals it off with Leech Life, not to mention its hard for fires to want to engage as base pod takes fire moves fine and bops them with Waterfall and Drill Run. Base pod being good means that even though its a mega, it can be paired with other mons that want to use plus moves which is a nice bonus. Its also a great check to Bax as its one of the few options that resists Bax's stabs while not being EQ weak, and its ridiculous base 175 defense means that anything bax does just doinks off. Combined with the IFrames from mega evolving and the fact most teams just naturally have a decent fire check, this thing ends up a demon that can very easily live through the whole mega meter, then just pick off something in base because base pod is still quite nice.
Armarouge @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Armor Cannon
- Heat Wave
- Solar Beam
- Meteor Beam
The team's resident clicker. Armarouge has nice coverage and its access to meteor beam gives it an option to nuke Flyings and Bax while boosts its other moves to blast apart anything. I regularly had games where Arma was just running around blasting people and getting 4 KOs before going down. Ofc this was the climb to A so i dont expect that to continue, but the coverage is still really good. Double Fire STAB is also nice, Heat Wave is good for firing into skirmishes while Armor Cannon can blast someone whos running at you.
Overall, season is looking fun. Not needing to dedicate teamslots or coverage options for Mewtwo or Xern is a nice breath of fresh air. The DLC has added a lot of fun options. Looking forward to using Sirfetchd, both Marowaks, P2 and PZ, and whatever else looks interesting. Here's to a fun season before Mega Ray kills everyone :)
I hit rank A the night ladder went up and noticed out the gate, a lot of people were using brand new toys and set ideas, but barely anybody was using Dondozo and Tatsugiri, despite Commander having a function in ranked for this, so I decided to give it a shot!
Tatsugiri @ Focus Sash
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Muddy Water
- Nasty Plot
You'll see that this team actually wants two Focus Sash users, but for Tatsugiri, it's non negotiable. This is one half of the duo that makes this core workable, after all, and having it get downed right away is a big problem. On the surface, Tatsugiri's bulk probably seems like an easy target with a kill, but this thing actually has the same base Special Attack as Clawitzer, but it also has set up to boot. A lot of times when leading this, you'll have somebody try to gun you down as you seem like a free kill, but Nasty Plot into Hydro Pump+ often gets kills Clawitzer basically wishes it had, just with less bulk. This is a severely underrated sniper in the format, so don't sleep on it just yet, and mentally prepare yourself for the raid boss in the back.
Dondozo @ Assault Vest
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Order Up
- Fissure
Oh my god, where do I begin. For starters, when you send out Dondozo with a Tatsugiri on the team, Dondozo and Tatsugiri will begin an animation on sendout where Tatsugiri hops into Dondozo's mouth. During this animation, Dondozo has i-frames for the entirety of the animation, and when it finishes, it grants an omniboost for a whopping 45 seconds. It is worth noting that once you send Dondozo out, you are trapped in, so make sure you make the most of your switches before actually sending out Dondozo. For reference, Nasty Plot+ grants a boost for 23 seconds. Given Dondozo is a massive HP sponge, fully investing into Special Defense and leaning into AV allows it to literally win 1v1s against the many Charge + Meteor Beam Ampharos's being experimented with, as well as the many Rotom sets being experimented with. It's worth noting that after the boosts expire, you remain trapped in, so Order Up is selected with Curly Tatsugiri to maintain offensive pressure after boosts expire, and it's a solid ranged cast. With Fissure being changed to 250 Base Power in this game, you're allowed to face tank incoming moves without a care in the world and just sit and watch as Fissure+ nukes a target, or even a couple of targets, without being punished. The only shortcoming Dondozo has is that even with the omniboost, Dondozo actually does struggle a bit against many popular matchups such as Mega Skarmory or Golisopod, and can't exactly get the kills on Baxcalibur or Garchomp right away with Order Up, and needs to play the waiting game as they inevitably get chipped and then get sniped with Order Up.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
It's Garchomp. This normally would be your premier Focus Sash user, but it's currently occupied by Tatsugiri, and an electric immunity is extremely important for when Dondozo cannot safely enter the field. Poison Jab was dropped in favor for Stone Edge to pressure non-mega'd Golisopods and because Fairy isn't exactly a prominent type in the format anymore with Xerneas no longer being legal.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a fun composition to play, DozoGiri is EXTREMELY fun! You are effectively a restricted in a non-restricted format, which is really funny. Of course, with two dedicated slots already being taken up, this means your third slot needs to do a lot of patchwork that Dondozo and Tatsugiri can't exactly handle on their own, so there will be many matchups where unfortunately you just can't thrive as much. It takes some getting used to but this is a really fun composition that I feel like hasn't been explored much yet.
Tatsugiri @ Focus Sash
EVs: 252 HP / 252 SpA / 4 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Hydro Pump
- Ice Beam
- Muddy Water
- Nasty Plot
You'll see that this team actually wants two Focus Sash users, but for Tatsugiri, it's non negotiable. This is one half of the duo that makes this core workable, after all, and having it get downed right away is a big problem. On the surface, Tatsugiri's bulk probably seems like an easy target with a kill, but this thing actually has the same base Special Attack as Clawitzer, but it also has set up to boot. A lot of times when leading this, you'll have somebody try to gun you down as you seem like a free kill, but Nasty Plot into Hydro Pump+ often gets kills Clawitzer basically wishes it had, just with less bulk. This is a severely underrated sniper in the format, so don't sleep on it just yet, and mentally prepare yourself for the raid boss in the back.
Dondozo @ Assault Vest
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Order Up
- Fissure
Oh my god, where do I begin. For starters, when you send out Dondozo with a Tatsugiri on the team, Dondozo and Tatsugiri will begin an animation on sendout where Tatsugiri hops into Dondozo's mouth. During this animation, Dondozo has i-frames for the entirety of the animation, and when it finishes, it grants an omniboost for a whopping 45 seconds. It is worth noting that once you send Dondozo out, you are trapped in, so make sure you make the most of your switches before actually sending out Dondozo. For reference, Nasty Plot+ grants a boost for 23 seconds. Given Dondozo is a massive HP sponge, fully investing into Special Defense and leaning into AV allows it to literally win 1v1s against the many Charge + Meteor Beam Ampharos's being experimented with, as well as the many Rotom sets being experimented with. It's worth noting that after the boosts expire, you remain trapped in, so Order Up is selected with Curly Tatsugiri to maintain offensive pressure after boosts expire, and it's a solid ranged cast. With Fissure being changed to 250 Base Power in this game, you're allowed to face tank incoming moves without a care in the world and just sit and watch as Fissure+ nukes a target, or even a couple of targets, without being punished. The only shortcoming Dondozo has is that even with the omniboost, Dondozo actually does struggle a bit against many popular matchups such as Mega Skarmory or Golisopod, and can't exactly get the kills on Baxcalibur or Garchomp right away with Order Up, and needs to play the waiting game as they inevitably get chipped and then get sniped with Order Up.
Garchomp @ Yache Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 Def
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Earthquake
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
It's Garchomp. This normally would be your premier Focus Sash user, but it's currently occupied by Tatsugiri, and an electric immunity is extremely important for when Dondozo cannot safely enter the field. Poison Jab was dropped in favor for Stone Edge to pressure non-mega'd Golisopods and because Fairy isn't exactly a prominent type in the format anymore with Xerneas no longer being legal.
Ultimately, if you are looking for a fun composition to play, DozoGiri is EXTREMELY fun! You are effectively a restricted in a non-restricted format, which is really funny. Of course, with two dedicated slots already being taken up, this means your third slot needs to do a lot of patchwork that Dondozo and Tatsugiri can't exactly handle on their own, so there will be many matchups where unfortunately you just can't thrive as much. It takes some getting used to but this is a really fun composition that I feel like hasn't been explored much yet.
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I have been playing DozoGiri as well, it's indeed really good though not without flaws (range, dodgeable attacks, windup times)
I've been running Heavy Slam instead but ig I could try out Fissure.
Why not Life Orb Draco Meteor+ which will do a lot more damage (and reach important kill thresholds)? AFAIK DM has shorter cast time and has allowed me to sometimes get multikill snipes. The SpA drop doesn't matter much as you are going to switch to Dozo anyway
Unless a Sirfetch'd is nearby, guaranteed crit Sword-Dance boosted Leaf Blade+ will obliterate you (ignoring your Def boost). I've been seeing quite a few of them, too.
I've been running Heavy Slam instead but ig I could try out Fissure.
Been playing online a lot, here is my take on the meta so far:
- Lots of variety this time, not sure if it’s people trying out the hyperspace mons or if there are just that many that are top meta, but we can all agree that the legendaries stifled team comp a lot.
- While the tried and true mons from season 1 (chomp, gyara, metagross, gardevoir, amphy, exca etc) are all still solid picks, don’t sleep on the newly added mons! Golisopod with mega, sirfetch’d, bax, ceruledge and especially annihilape are dangerous in their own right. If annihilape is allowed to stay on the battlefield for more than 10 seconds, it is basically guaranteed a kill or two, rage fist is that busted.
- Spice picks do really well in this type of meta as there’s guaranteed a few mons you’ll match up well against. I’ve seen the likes of Gogoat, A-wak and Dedenne put in serious work; understand what your mon can and can’t do, and you can probably make it succeed.
- Highly recommended to bring one special attacker (preferably with fire coverage for Skarm and Mega-golisopod), as there are a lot of physically bulky mons like Hippo, Ape after a bulk up, etc.
- Tyrantrum still has plenty of things to head smash, so I’m happy :)
- Lots of variety this time, not sure if it’s people trying out the hyperspace mons or if there are just that many that are top meta, but we can all agree that the legendaries stifled team comp a lot.
- While the tried and true mons from season 1 (chomp, gyara, metagross, gardevoir, amphy, exca etc) are all still solid picks, don’t sleep on the newly added mons! Golisopod with mega, sirfetch’d, bax, ceruledge and especially annihilape are dangerous in their own right. If annihilape is allowed to stay on the battlefield for more than 10 seconds, it is basically guaranteed a kill or two, rage fist is that busted.
- Spice picks do really well in this type of meta as there’s guaranteed a few mons you’ll match up well against. I’ve seen the likes of Gogoat, A-wak and Dedenne put in serious work; understand what your mon can and can’t do, and you can probably make it succeed.
- Highly recommended to bring one special attacker (preferably with fire coverage for Skarm and Mega-golisopod), as there are a lot of physically bulky mons like Hippo, Ape after a bulk up, etc.
- Tyrantrum still has plenty of things to head smash, so I’m happy :)
Oddly enough, I've found that Rage Fist is extremely disappointing (probably for the best).
It's charging time increase with the damage it deals, so when it becomes powerful, it also becomes really slow. Wether I play with it or against it, most of the time, the target would simply walk away.
It can land deadly shots when it accepts to be hit (and charge his move during the opposing's hit) but it means that you need to tank said hit, which was purposely directed at you. That's why Annihilape rarely gets two kills during its lifespan.
What’re the swampert and chandelure sets you are pairing with it? I really want to use a mega golisopod and need to find a good core
Golisopod @ Golisopite
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Leech Life
- Waterfall
- Drill Run / Close Combat
Mega Golisopod is really cool. It's a lot like Gyarados where both forms have use-cases in a match, but Golisopod actually gets much more done thanks to Swords Dance. Mega Golisopod is 4x Fire-weak. but base form is Water-type and has STAB Waterfall. Bug/Water is also a surprisingly-good defensive-typing given you resist non-Freeze Dry Ice-type moves as well as Earthquake. On the flip side, the base form hates Thunderbolt, Stone Edge, and Flying-type moves, and the Mega form removes those weaknesses and Freeze Dry is a resisted hit. Even if the Mega is staring down the barrel of a Fire-type, you have +1 Waterfall and Drill Run to deal with them.
Sadly, its Steel-type options are lacking. Iron Head has a bad hitbox, and Metal Claw is too weak. Close Combat is an option over Drill Run to have a strong hit vs Baxcalibur. However, your Mega form deals with it quite well already, especially with Leech Life, so I prefer Drill Run to have a second attack for Fires. Also, in lobbies w/out Bax, you'll miss Drill Run. First Impression can also work to kill-steal, but it'll leave you with a dead moveslot after using it, and it can't benefit from SD.
I've been really enjoying this mega. I'm running it with my own
Great meta so far. No
Tried out two other new Pokemon last night.
Lucario @ Lucarionite Z
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Steel Beam
- Shadow Ball
I snagged an XS Shiny Riolu last night, and wanted to give Mega Lucario Z a shot. This thing is nuts. It's really fast on its feet, and combined with 164 SpA, NP, and all of its attacks being plus moves, it will get kills left and right. Its short casting-time attacks also benefit it greatly. I'm normally not a huge fan of ball moves in this game like Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball, but Mega Luc Z makes them work, making them really hard to dodge at close-mid range. With how prominent Baxcalibur and the Porygon line are, having a fast-attacking Fighting-type has been really nice.
Despite Steel being a lame attacking type, its +1 Steel Beam is a death laser.
Some bad matchups include the Charge + Light Screen electrics like Ampharos (although many are dropping LS for Meteor Beam) and the Rotoms, boosted AV Dondozo is unbothered initially, Sash Lucario got me once, and the Ground- and Fire-type moves threaten to one shot you, with Earth Power and Heat Wave being especially threatening since not even your extreme speed (heh) will save you.
Marowak @ Thick Club
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bonemerang
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
I paired Mega Lucario Z with a Wacan Berry
followed by this fella. Kantonian Marowak is sick, and I never thought I'd prefer it over its Alolan form, but here we are. Turns out, a pure Ground-typing benefits it way more offensively and defensively than Ghost/Fire does. Bonemerang got slightly buffed to 55 BP per hit, effectively turning it into a 110 BP STAB move that can bypass Focus Sash. Having Thick Club is great for teambuilding as that frees up a Life Orb or Expert Belt slot for something else.
Bonemerang can be tricky to use at first, though. It's thrown to Marowak's right, and that can break the bones against scenery like benches and trees, so be mindful about your surroundings.
Thunder Punch is a great complimentary coverage move to hit Water- and Flying-types. Earthquake is a good follow-up secondary STAB that is way easier to hit things with, but I like Stone Edge as a second-attack for Flying-types that also hits Fire-types, Baxcalibur, and base form Golisopod super effectively. I've even seen mentions of Fissure in that slot lmao. Haven't tried it, but idk if it'd be as good. Thick Club Wak is plenty strong already, and you're not that bulky especially on the special side.
Swampert (Alpha) @ Focus Sash
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
Chandelure @ Shuca Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
Lucario @ Lucarionite Z
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Steel Beam
- Shadow Ball
I snagged an XS Shiny Riolu last night, and wanted to give Mega Lucario Z a shot. This thing is nuts. It's really fast on its feet, and combined with 164 SpA, NP, and all of its attacks being plus moves, it will get kills left and right. Its short casting-time attacks also benefit it greatly. I'm normally not a huge fan of ball moves in this game like Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball, but Mega Luc Z makes them work, making them really hard to dodge at close-mid range. With how prominent Baxcalibur and the Porygon line are, having a fast-attacking Fighting-type has been really nice.
Despite Steel being a lame attacking type, its +1 Steel Beam is a death laser.
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 221-261 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp-Mega: 202-239 (93.9 - 111.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sirfetch’d: 229-271 (135.5 - 160.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 134-159 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Marowak: 232-274 (138.9 - 164%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even resists don't want to tank this attack, as they'll die to a followup Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball:
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory-Mega: 117-138 (68 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 84-100 (50.2 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Delphox: 77-91 (42.3 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golisopod-Mega: 100-118 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 126-148 (64.9 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp-Mega: 202-239 (93.9 - 111.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sirfetch’d: 229-271 (135.5 - 160.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 134-159 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Marowak: 232-274 (138.9 - 164%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even resists don't want to tank this attack, as they'll die to a followup Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball:
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory-Mega: 117-138 (68 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 84-100 (50.2 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Delphox: 77-91 (42.3 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golisopod-Mega: 100-118 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 126-148 (64.9 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Some bad matchups include the Charge + Light Screen electrics like Ampharos (although many are dropping LS for Meteor Beam) and the Rotoms, boosted AV Dondozo is unbothered initially, Sash Lucario got me once, and the Ground- and Fire-type moves threaten to one shot you, with Earth Power and Heat Wave being especially threatening since not even your extreme speed (heh) will save you.
Marowak @ Thick Club
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bonemerang
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
I paired Mega Lucario Z with a Wacan Berry
followed by this fella. Kantonian Marowak is sick, and I never thought I'd prefer it over its Alolan form, but here we are. Turns out, a pure Ground-typing benefits it way more offensively and defensively than Ghost/Fire does. Bonemerang got slightly buffed to 55 BP per hit, effectively turning it into a 110 BP STAB move that can bypass Focus Sash. Having Thick Club is great for teambuilding as that frees up a Life Orb or Expert Belt slot for something else.Bonemerang can be tricky to use at first, though. It's thrown to Marowak's right, and that can break the bones against scenery like benches and trees, so be mindful about your surroundings.
Thunder Punch is a great complimentary coverage move to hit Water- and Flying-types. Earthquake is a good follow-up secondary STAB that is way easier to hit things with, but I like Stone Edge as a second-attack for Flying-types that also hits Fire-types, Baxcalibur, and base form Golisopod super effectively. I've even seen mentions of Fissure in that slot lmao. Haven't tried it, but idk if it'd be as good. Thick Club Wak is plenty strong already, and you're not that bulky especially on the special side.
Swampert (Alpha) @ Focus Sash
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
Chandelure @ Shuca Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
How’d that team feel? I may try it in ranked the golisopod oneTried out two other new Pokemon last night.
Lucario @ Lucarionite Z
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Nasty Plot
- Aura Sphere
- Steel Beam
- Shadow Ball
I snagged an XS Shiny Riolu last night, and wanted to give Mega Lucario Z a shot. This thing is nuts. It's really fast on its feet, and combined with 164 SpA, NP, and all of its attacks being plus moves, it will get kills left and right. Its short casting-time attacks also benefit it greatly. I'm normally not a huge fan of ball moves in this game like Aura Sphere and Shadow Ball, but Mega Luc Z makes them work, making them really hard to dodge at close-mid range. With how prominent Baxcalibur and the Porygon line are, having a fast-attacking Fighting-type has been really nice.
Despite Steel being a lame attacking type, its +1 Steel Beam is a death laser.
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp: 221-261 (102.7 - 121.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Garchomp-Mega: 202-239 (93.9 - 111.1%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Sirfetch’d: 229-271 (135.5 - 160.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Eviolite Porygon2: 134-159 (69.7 - 82.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Marowak: 232-274 (138.9 - 164%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even resists don't want to tank this attack, as they'll die to a followup Aura Sphere or Shadow Ball:
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Skarmory-Mega: 117-138 (68 - 80.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Chandelure: 84-100 (50.2 - 59.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. +1 252 HP / 4 SpD Delphox: 77-91 (42.3 - 50%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Golisopod-Mega: 100-118 (54.9 - 64.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ SpA Lucario-Mega-Z Steel Beam+ vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Gholdengo: 126-148 (64.9 - 76.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
Some bad matchups include the Charge + Light Screen electrics like Ampharos (although many are dropping LS for Meteor Beam) and the Rotoms, boosted AV Dondozo is unbothered initially, Sash Lucario got me once, and the Ground- and Fire-type moves threaten to one shot you, with Earth Power and Heat Wave being especially threatening since not even your extreme speed (heh) will save you.
Marowak @ Thick Club
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Bonemerang
- Stone Edge / Earthquake
- Thunder Punch
I paired Mega Lucario Z with a Wacan Berry
Bonemerang can be tricky to use at first, though. It's thrown to Marowak's right, and that can break the bones against scenery like benches and trees, so be mindful about your surroundings.
Thunder Punch is a great complimentary coverage move to hit Water- and Flying-types. Earthquake is a good follow-up secondary STAB that is way easier to hit things with, but I like Stone Edge as a second-attack for Flying-types that also hits Fire-types, Baxcalibur, and base form Golisopod super effectively. I've even seen mentions of Fissure in that slot lmao. Haven't tried it, but idk if it'd be as good. Thick Club Wak is plenty strong already, and you're not that bulky especially on the special side.
Swampert (Alpha) @ Focus Sash
Level: 50
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Bulk Up
- Waterfall
- Earthquake
- Ice Punch
Chandelure @ Shuca Berry
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Calm Mind
- Heat Wave
- Overheat
- Solar Beam
Glimmora @ Focus Sash
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Meteor Beam
- Solar Beam
- Earth Power
- Power Gem / Dazzling Gleam
Glimmora is perhaps the most dangerous Pokemon I've tried this season. Meteor Beam is a truly ridiculous move - like in the games prior to ZA, it boosts SpA before the beam is fired, resulting in an effectively 180 BP move when cast. The charge time isn't too shabby and can be reduced to a small extent by Plus-ing it. With Glimmora's STAB and high SpA to begin with, it is amongst the strongest "unboosted" sniping moves in the game. And unlike PZ's equally ridiculous Hyper Beam, Meteor Beam has no immunities and there's plenty of super effective targets it can vaporize. Any Pokemon left standing in its wake will have to contend with Glimmora's other boosted moves, which all pack amazing coverage.
I believe Focus Sash is necessary on this Pokemon, as Glimm dies to just about anything. I wonder if Speed investment is better than HP, simply just to reduce cooldowns. Dazzling Gleam can be used to pick off weakened Garchomps (who, say, maybe took a Meteor Beam chip), but I've had better success with Power Gem to eliminate Baxcaliburs who i-frame the Meteor Beam by Mega Evolving. Note that Glimmora is very dependent on Plus moves, especially to reduce the windup time of Meteor Beam and Solar Beam, so if you have a Mega Pokemon on your team, that said Mega may have a difficult time shining.
So this is what I ended up using to get to Rank A. It's not the greatest team and I did struggle as I got to higher ranks, but I still managed.
Talonflame (M) @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sky Attack
- Brave Bird
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
This thing was absolutely stupid fun in low ranks and even in high ranks it pulled its weight. Immunity to Ground coupled with high powered moves allowed this thing to come in and wreck the comp. Sky Attack in particular is a nice boon that the DLC provided, but still having access to fast moves like Flare Blitz and Brave Bird helped out too. The fire coverage also helped with the Steels that were populating the area, like Gholdengo. Of course, I had to be very wary of Meteor Beam and Charge users.
Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
Not much to say really. Chomp did what Chomp does and it complimented Talonflame well by taking care of pesky Electric types (like Ampharos) with STAB Earthquakes while also dealing with opposing Chomps and the new Baxcalibur. Looking back, I could have probably gone for Focus Sash as opposed to Yache Berry as it would help my Baxcalibur matchups, so something to take note of.
---> 
Gardevoir-Mega (F) @ Gardevoirite
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 HP / 100 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Energy Ball
- Vacuum Wave
My copium knows no bounds, but this season is a bit better to use the Mega Fairy since the Deer is not around to basically be the better option. Regardless, I know the limitations Mega Gardevoir has. Still, she managed to pull her weight and score some ranged KOs. Vacuum Wave is a nice tech to have to break Sash as well as chip or even finish off weakened mons. Even with 40 BP and no STAB, this thing still hurts coming off a boosted 165 SpAtk. Moonblast is mandatory STAB that I think works better than Psychic or Psyshock, while Calm Mind provides more power. Energy Ball is a coverage move I opted to deal with Swampert and Dondozo, which this team otherwise struggle against. The 156/100 spread in HP and Defense was actually from last season that I figured I keep using due to Chomp still being dominant; it allowed Gardevoir to survive a Poison Jab from a boosted (either Plus or after Swords Dance, but not both) Chomp as well as have a low roll from a boosted Plus Earthquake.
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Poison Jab vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 128-152 (78.5 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 120-142 (73.6 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake+ vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 144-170 (88.3 - 104.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Overall, I was happy with how the team performed with me getting up to Rank A. I'm still going to experiment and try new things as I want to use Gardevoir as much as I can before the return of the Deer as well as other Restricted mons start dominating the meta.
Talonflame (M) @ Life Orb
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Sky Attack
- Brave Bird
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
This thing was absolutely stupid fun in low ranks and even in high ranks it pulled its weight. Immunity to Ground coupled with high powered moves allowed this thing to come in and wreck the comp. Sky Attack in particular is a nice boon that the DLC provided, but still having access to fast moves like Flare Blitz and Brave Bird helped out too. The fire coverage also helped with the Steels that were populating the area, like Gholdengo. Of course, I had to be very wary of Meteor Beam and Charge users.
Garchomp (M) @ Yache Berry
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 4 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Dragon Rush
- Stone Edge
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake
Not much to say really. Chomp did what Chomp does and it complimented Talonflame well by taking care of pesky Electric types (like Ampharos) with STAB Earthquakes while also dealing with opposing Chomps and the new Baxcalibur. Looking back, I could have probably gone for Focus Sash as opposed to Yache Berry as it would help my Baxcalibur matchups, so something to take note of.
---> Gardevoir-Mega (F) @ Gardevoirite
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 HP / 100 Def / 252 SpA
Modest Nature
- Moonblast
- Calm Mind
- Energy Ball
- Vacuum Wave
My copium knows no bounds, but this season is a bit better to use the Mega Fairy since the Deer is not around to basically be the better option. Regardless, I know the limitations Mega Gardevoir has. Still, she managed to pull her weight and score some ranged KOs. Vacuum Wave is a nice tech to have to break Sash as well as chip or even finish off weakened mons. Even with 40 BP and no STAB, this thing still hurts coming off a boosted 165 SpAtk. Moonblast is mandatory STAB that I think works better than Psychic or Psyshock, while Calm Mind provides more power. Energy Ball is a coverage move I opted to deal with Swampert and Dondozo, which this team otherwise struggle against. The 156/100 spread in HP and Defense was actually from last season that I figured I keep using due to Chomp still being dominant; it allowed Gardevoir to survive a Poison Jab from a boosted (either Plus or after Swords Dance, but not both) Chomp as well as have a low roll from a boosted Plus Earthquake.
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Poison Jab vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 128-152 (78.5 - 93.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 120-142 (73.6 - 87.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+1 252+ Atk Garchomp Earthquake+ vs. 156 HP / 100 Def Gardevoir-Mega: 144-170 (88.3 - 104.2%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO
Overall, I was happy with how the team performed with me getting up to Rank A. I'm still going to experiment and try new things as I want to use Gardevoir as much as I can before the return of the Deer as well as other Restricted mons start dominating the meta.