Pokémon Champions - releasing April 8, 2026

[Worldie]

Also Re on RNG: While I would agree that playing around the pokemon RNG on its own is a skill since in the end this game has plenty of it, Sleep specifically makes it unfun to play *with* as well, because you're also having to deal with if the opponent will take 1, 2 or 3 turns to wake up. Having one player playing with chance is already annoying, when both players have the output of the turn out of their direct control it gets pretty dumb. I'd love if they changed sleep to just be guaranteed 2 turns like Rest is, would honestly remove a lot of the annoyance it causes.

 

[Eeveeto]

Also Re on RNG: While I would agree that playing around the pokemon RNG on its own is a skill since in the end this game has plenty of it, Sleep specifically makes it unfun to play *with* as well, because you're also having to deal with if the opponent will take 1, 2 or 3 turns to wake up. Having one player playing with chance is already annoying, when both players have the output of the turn out of their direct control it gets pretty dumb. I'd love if they changed sleep to just be guaranteed 2 turns like Rest is, would honestly remove a lot of the annoyance it causes.

This is something I can agree with. Same for Freeze but 5 turns (since there is no move that freezes 100% of the time, and there also moves that thaw the user, it should be the broken version of Sleep). And no, I don,t want Freeze to have the Legends Arceus effect, Freeze status is too iconic to change.

 

[ant4456]

Also Re on RNG: While I would agree that playing around the pokemon RNG on its own is a skill since in the end this game has plenty of it, Sleep specifically makes it unfun to play *with* as well, because you're also having to deal with if the opponent will take 1, 2 or 3 turns to wake up. Having one player playing with chance is already annoying, when both players have the output of the turn out of their direct control it gets pretty dumb. I'd love if they changed sleep to just be guaranteed 2 turns like Rest is, would honestly remove a lot of the annoyance it causes.

i still think temtem solved these problems

in temtem if a move puts you to sleep its like a set amount of known turns -> you still cant act but you heal like leftovers-ish HP while asleep

 

[Azeri8k]

as a commentator… I yearn for the new mega stone abilities

 

[DreamPrince]

One thing that catches my eye is that they still haven’t announced the format yet- considering the new trend of starting with base Pokemon then eventually adding new Pokemon with regulations, I’d like to think that it would start off with Lumiose and Hyperspace Lumiose Dexes first, before then adding Legendary Pokemon into the mix for the next season. Then again, they have been promoting Pokemon from SV DLC so I could see a ZA + SV DLC meta, but I feel like that would be opening the flood gates to early.

I kinda like how the city is called the “ Frontier City “, a clear reference to the Battle Frontier. Since this is a Live Service game, I wonder if there is a possibility of Frontier like Challenges appearing in Champions? The ease of getting battle ready Pokémon can make the skill gap much easier to learn.

 

[R_N]

One thing that catches my eye is that they still haven’t announced the format yet- considering the new trend of starting with base Pokemon then eventually adding new Pokemon with regulations, I’d like to think that it would start off with Lumiose and Hyperspace Lumiose Dexes first, before then adding Legendary Pokemon into the mix for the next season. Then again, they have been promoting Pokemon from SV DLC so I could see a ZA + SV DLC meta, but I feel like that would be opening the flood gates to early.

I kinda like how the city is called the “ Frontier City “, a clear reference to the Battle Frontier. Since this is a Live Service game, I wonder if there is a possibility of Frontier like Challenges appearing in Champions? The ease of getting battle ready Pokémon can make the skill gap much easier to learn.

They're probably not going to announce formats in terms of dexes of other games, since it is its own thing and we don't know the full scope of Pokemon even starting out in Champions.

The format will probably be just be "Megas Allowed [i mean we know it is here, obviously], any Pokemon currently in Champions supported"

 

[Worldie]

One thing that catches my eye is that they still haven’t announced the format yet

I suspect the main reasoning is that they want to keep what's in the game hidden a tiny bit more. If they announced what the ruleset is, it'd pretty much give out what pokemon are in.

 

[CynicalGiant]

i'm begging for them to give mega audino an ability in champions its one of my favorite megas

would be nice if they could replace Healer with Triage

I think that was just them guessing because they got a buff from intimidate. So there could be all kinds of abilities that aren't just Contrary, including possible extra re-works on existing abilities to counter Intimidate.

yeah I'm honestly hoping that they buff Mold Breaker to invert Intimidate like Guard Dog does only because I really want Emboar's ability to make sense lol

mega crab probably balanced with contrary because its incredibly slow, mega raptor probably not balanced

Thats the definition of Sleepy Body ability, lol. 30% of sleeping a contact Mon would be incredibly good and make some RNG magic (which I always like).

I thought you wanted Mega Audino to get usage, not for it to be banned from smogon

probably the only way it could be balanced and not knee jerk yeeted into the sun by smogon is if it were yawn on contact rather than sleep.

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eshop page updated, starter pack is 6.99 usd (before taxes)

"The Pokémon™ Champions + Starter Pack bundle* includes storage space for 50 additional Pokémon, 30 Teammate Tickets, and 50 Training Tickets. You’ll also get the “Battle! (Trainer Battle)” song featured in the Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! games!"

 

[Cuddly]

would be nice if they could replace Healer with Triage


yeah I'm honestly hoping that they buff Mold Breaker to invert Intimidate like Guard Dog does only because I really want Emboar's ability to make sense lol

mega crab probably balanced with contrary because its incredibly slow, mega raptor probably not balanced



probably the only way it could be balanced and not knee jerk yeeted into the sun by smogon is if it were yawn on contact rather than sleep.

--------------------------------------

eshop page updated, starter pack is 6.99 usd (before taxes)

"The Pokémon™ Champions + Starter Pack bundle* includes storage space for 50 additional Pokémon, 30 Teammate Tickets, and 50 Training Tickets. You’ll also get the “Battle! (Trainer Battle)” song featured in the Pokémon: Let’s Go, Pikachu! and Pokémon: Let’s Go, Eevee! games!"

View attachment 820813

Now that you mentioned, Mega Emboar would at least be good in VGC if they gave it Guard Hog. It makes more thematic sense and also serves Bulk Up sets more since you can’t force it out of nullify its +1 Atk boost.

 

[CynicalGiant]

4-5 days before the end of the world

 

[grovylestand!]

speaking of is mskarm gonna be great in singles assuming gag? i meaj sturdy and gag

 

[CynicalGiant]

speaking of is mskarm gonna be great in singles assuming gag? i meaj sturdy and gag

I assume mega skarmory is going to get overshadowed by mega metagross if it has any kind of damage boosting ability because of how similar their stat spreads are, but also mega metagross is probably getting banned anyway so who knows

good as gold is a broken ass ability and any pokemon with it is probably broken, mostly a joke they'll give it to mega skarm lol

 

[Magcargo]

speaking of is mskarm gonna be great in singles assuming gag? i meaj sturdy and gag

Yeah. Good as gold would make it immune to Taunt (which fucks up a lot of defensive Pokemon) and unlike Gholdengo it actually sets up its own spikes while being able to beat every spinner.... with the right set of course. Corv can technically beat it with ID + BP or setup sets but Skarm can pack Taunt and Corv is cooked.

 

[Eclairius]

I assume mega skarmory is going to get overshadowed by mega metagross if it has any kind of damage boosting ability because of how similar their stat spreads are, but also mega metagross is probably getting banned anyway so who knows

M-Skarm, by virtue of regular Skarm, can do something M-Metragross can't. It can use SD and Weak Armor before mega evolving to put a physical mon in a lose-lose situation. Either they try to take a chunk of your HP but give you speed go with your SD, setting you up for a sweep, or they have to let you setup for free.
Even without considering Weak Armor, Metagross' deficiencies in setup (no SD/DD/Bulk up/Shift gear) means Skarm can have a niche through SD allowing it to blow past walls Metagross wouldn't be able to deal with.
Edit: However M-Skarm reliance on Brave Bird has significant drawbacks.
Edit 2: They could give M-Skarm Dazzling, fitting it's new appearance, and preventing priority from stopping your sweep. It would give it usefulness in doubles too.

Edit (funny edition):

Speaking of Mega-Metagross

252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Psychic Fangs vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 157-186 (47 - 55.6%) -- 75% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 110-130 (32.9 - 38.9%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 83-98 (24.8 - 29.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Metagross-Mega Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 144-170 (43.1 - 50.8%) -- 3.9% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Metagross-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 95-112 (28.4 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 81-96 (24.2 - 28.7%) -- 98.9% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 93-110 (27.8 - 32.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 46-55 (13.7 - 16.4%) -- possible 7HKO
Lol. Lmao, even.
4 SpA Scovillain-Mega Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 342-404 (113.6 - 134.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
4 SpA Scovillain-Mega Overheat vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 342-404 (93.9 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO (guaranteed OHKO after burn damage)
btw.

 

[RoyalDispenser]

If glimmora actually gets levitate what would even be the point of the mega lol.

It hits harder but not really life orb harder, and its speed is... ok but not great? it outspeeds charizard so ig thats something lol.. it loses its toxic debris gimmick almost entirely.

Only setup it got is rock polish.

 

[Elkos]

It's decently bulky and only weak to three types at least? Assuming Levitate.

Movewise it's very "Special Rock Attacker" though.

(Surprised it gets Spiky Shield over Baneful Bunker tbh)

(On the Special Rock front they really should buff Meteor Beam in some way. Sure Electro Shot is a signature and all that but it still feels unfair to have a chargeup move without any way to skip turns. And can freaking miss cause HAHA ROCK TYPES AM I RIGHT. )

 

[Ironmage]

If glimmora actually gets levitate what would even be the point of the mega lol.

It hits harder but not really life orb harder, and its speed is... ok but not great? it outspeeds charizard so ig thats something lol.. it loses its toxic debris gimmick almost entirely.

Only setup it got is rock polish.

I feel like it losing Toxic Debris is necessary to stand out. The bulk increase is marginal as well (1/3 of the Mega being physical attack will do that) and you'd arguably want it to get hit on switch-in before it Megas. That said, I agree Levitate probably isn't the best choice. I'd personally go with Merciless to capitalize on the pre-Mega Toxic Spikes.

 

[CynicalGiant]

I do think people overhype life orb pretty massively whenever they talk about megas. There are good megas that are technically less strong than their base form with life orb. If Game Freak was forced to stat a pokemon the way a lot of the community insists they should every mega would get like +50 attack or more lol.

(On the Special Rock front they really should buff Meteor Beam in some way. Sure Electro Shot is a signature and all that but it still feels unfair to have a chargeup move without any way to skip turns. And can freaking miss cause HAHA ROCK TYPES AM I RIGHT. )

yeah... meteor beam should fire off in 1 turn in sand and also like let it bypass accuracy checks in sand too why not

 

[ant4456]

I do think people overhype life orb pretty massively whenever they talk about megas. There are good megas that are technically less strong than their base form with life orb. If Game Freak was forced to stat a pokemon the way a lot of the community insists they should every mega would get like +50 attack or more lol.


yeah... meteor beam should fire off in 1 turn in sand and also like let it bypass accuracy checks in sand too why not

Also at least in singles lol good luck with Life Orb recoil with Gholdengo + the 5,000 hazard setters still in the tier because it's never gonna be banned because we live in Hell

 

[MC Squared]

as long as they aren't full damage so the Dunsparce line signature move isn't overshadowed
also honestly they should let Fearow have it too, why not


very curious what all is getting changed move wise too, like dragon claw being made sharpness boosted but it also has less PP in champions than other previously 15 PP moves do, so they felt the need to nerf it

All 15/24 PP moves like Dragon Claw are 16 PP in Champions

 

[Cuddly]

M-Skarm, by virtue of regular Skarm, can do something M-Metragross can't. It can use SD and Weak Armor before mega evolving to put a physical mon in a lose-lose situation. Either they try to take a chunk of your HP but give you speed go with your SD, setting you up for a sweep, or they have to let you setup for free.
Even without considering Weak Armor, Metagross' deficiencies in setup (no SD/DD/Bulk up/Shift gear) means Skarm can have a niche through SD allowing it to blow past walls Metagross wouldn't be able to deal with.
Edit: However M-Skarm reliance on Brave Bird has significant drawbacks.
Edit 2: They could give M-Skarm Dazzling, fitting it's new appearance, and preventing priority from stopping your sweep. It would give it usefulness in doubles too.

Edit (funny edition):

Speaking of Mega-Metagross

252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Psychic Fangs vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 157-186 (47 - 55.6%) -- 75% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Heavy Slam (120 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 110-130 (32.9 - 38.9%) -- 99.7% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Meteor Mash vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 83-98 (24.8 - 29.3%) -- 99.9% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Metagross-Mega Rock Slide vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 144-170 (43.1 - 50.8%) -- 3.9% chance to 2HKO
252 Atk Metagross-Mega Earthquake vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 95-112 (28.4 - 33.5%) -- 0.1% chance to 3HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 81-96 (24.2 - 28.7%) -- 98.9% chance to 4HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Ice Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 93-110 (27.8 - 32.9%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
252 Atk Tough Claws Metagross-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Scovillain-Mega: 46-55 (13.7 - 16.4%) -- possible 7HKO
Lol. Lmao, even.
4 SpA Scovillain-Mega Overheat vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 342-404 (113.6 - 134.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO
4 SpA Scovillain-Mega Overheat vs. 252 HP / 0 SpD Metagross-Mega: 342-404 (93.9 - 110.9%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO (guaranteed OHKO after burn damage)
btw.

This is why I think people are really underestimating Mega Scovillain. Mega Metagross would need another teammate to deal with Scovillain before it could even think about clicking a move in fear that Mega Scovillain would switch in at any time or use Rage Powder in Doubles.
It has a similar meta effect as Annihilape where you never want to attack it because Rage Fist eventually would spiral out of control. Not to say Mega Scovillain is remotely as broken though.

 

[Eclairius]

I've been running calcs and, I cannot emphasize this enough, 252HP/252+Def Mega-Scovillain is an extremely messed up mon in 6v6 singles.
Most physical mon don't fare much better than M-Metagross. On the physical side there's barely anything that can OHKO it without being +2, and those that come close are far and few between. You can therefore easily guarantee 2 burns, which is almost 2 KOs.
Even if a mon KO it, it's still getting burnt. So even the one that can OHKO it are getting a negative trade if it as already done some work.
If you don't have a physical fire, guts user, or something else that deal with the burn you can say goodbye to hitting on the physical side.
Anything that is grass weak is extremely exploitable by Giga drain, Overheat gives it some extra oomf while synergizing with its playstyle, Super Fang punish switches and helps Overheat in providing some decent killing power, and Rest gives it extra longevity and is easy to click in many situations.
It doesn't need Protect to "mega safely". That isn't an issue because it get positive trades on direct 1v1 scenario against the vast majority physical mon by using the moves above.
It want only one thing, to get a few burns, and it's extremely good at doing it reliably. But if it's given the space to do more, it will do more.

 

[zenmodeman]

I’ve quite liked Mega Scovillain from the around 50 VGC games I’ve played on the pre-Champions Showdown server. The Spicy Spray value is consistently quite high though Incins and Zards are a little annoying. With 252 HP/252+Def, it’s been doing really well into sand and some rain teams (burns against Basc and Swampert are huge, and even burning Arch has helped so often to win the Arch Body Press mirror). Every base Dragonite I’ve run into has been a Scale Shot variant, which fares really poorly intp Rage Powder Scov. Both Pop Bomb and Beat Up Mausholds have also gotten fucked up for similar reasons. Mega Metagross has also usually been a pretty comfy matchup.

But it’s likely going to be more of a mega you can do decently well with if you specifically want to use it, rather than a Mega that people would actually run to succeed at events.

It needs to be built with very specific team support (I’ve been doing with a Screens Pult Hex team that has Arch and Ursaluna modes), and the team needs backup plans because about 1/3 of the matchups, the play is to not bring Scov. Still, it’s been worth bringing to more matchups than I’d initially think.

 

[zenmodeman]

I've been running calcs and, I cannot emphasize this enough, 252HP/252+Def Mega-Scovillain is an extremely messed up mon in 6v6 singles.
Most physical mon don't fare much better than M-Metagross. On the physical side there's barely anything that can OHKO it without being +2, and those that come close are far and few between. You can therefore easily guarantee 2 burns, which is almost 2 KOs.
Even if a mon KO it, it's still getting burnt. So even the one that can OHKO it are getting a negative trade if it as already done some work.
If you don't have a physical fire, guts user, or something else that deal with the burn you can say goodbye to hitting on the physical side.
Anything that is grass weak is extremely exploitable by Giga drain, Overheat gives it some extra oomf while synergizing with its playstyle, Super Fang punish switches and helps Overheat in providing some decent killing power, and Rest gives it extra longevity and is easy to click in many situations.
It doesn't need Protect to "mega safely". That isn't an issue because it get positive trades on direct 1v1 scenario against the vast majority physical mon by using the moves above.
It want only one thing, to get a few burns, and it's extremely good at doing it reliably. But if it's given the space to do more, it will do more.

The one hesitarion I have with Mega Scov in singles is you have to really worry about Rocks especially with it being a very pivot value mon. With Rocks out of the picture, I think it could go really hard in Singles, but with them being ubiquitous it might require very dedicated anti-hazard building.

But yeah the defensive calcs themselves are solid enough for what Mega Scov needs to do.

 

[Eclairius]

The one hesitarion I have with Mega Scov in singles is you have to really worry about Rocks especially with it being a very pivot value mon. With Rocks out of the picture, I think it could go really hard in Singles, but with them being ubiquitous it might require very dedicated anti-hazard building.

But yeah the defensive calcs themselves are solid enough for what Mega Scov needs to do.

When I said that there's few physical mon who can come close OHKOing it without setup, what I meant by "coming close to OHKO" is the 75% threshold; And even those mon get totally screwed if M-Scovillain comes on the wrong move. It is easy to get 2 burns even with rocks in the equation.