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Pokémon Champions - releasing April 8, 2026

I only see that happening if they legalize the Primals + Mega Ray alongside the other restricteds.

Say they delay legalizing the giga Hoenn ubers. While Zard Y will have to contend with Groudon + Koraidon as sun setters, I can see Zard Y still having a place, primarily in rulesets with only one restricted allowed. It doesn't take a restricted slot, it's not slowed down by Intimidate unlike the restricted sun setters, it opens the door for Zard Y + restricted comps, and it can override Kyogre's Drizzle with Mega Evolution like it can vs Pelipper and Politoed. Zard Y + Venu, I can see still being great vs Kyogre rain structures. Could even run both Koraidon AND Zard Y to effortlessly keep the sun up for Venu in the face of opposing weather lmao

All that said, Zard Y becomes a harder sell once two restricteds are allowed, since you can run Groudon or Koraidon as your sun setter + another restricted, even potentially a mega restricted, and then Zard Y really falls off once the Primals and Mega Ray arrive, since it can't change their weathers, and Primal Groudon is in contention for best mon ever made.

Ultimately, it depends on what they legalize when they start adding the restricteds, but in a non-Primal world, I wouldn't count Zard Y out just yet. In a Primal world, however, that's when we really stop seeing it.
Rayquaza negates Sun/Rain even in base form, which might be very relevant when Restricteds are allowed.

(I wish there was SOMETHING not terrible which got Cloud 9, but they've been very paranoid with that ability for some unknowable reason)
 
Rayquaza negates Sun/Rain even in base form, which might be very relevant when Restricteds are allowed.

(I wish there was SOMETHING not terrible which got Cloud 9, but they've been very paranoid with that ability for some unknowable reason)
Altaria has actually seen some decent success recently in at least one regional. Helps that it has Tailwind. I think Golduck has also been used a few times in past formats.
 
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I know. Like 70% of the internet? That's Y2K levels of bad there. It's amazing they were able to find it and rush out to get this fixed.
From what I was seeing earlier from people tearing their faces off these types of exploits worries were found by experts for over a decade and then openAI decided to bumrush an exploit and then someone broke embargo before proper patches could happen. So everyone say thank you to your IT Departments for handling things in a rush before they should have needed
 
Got Rising Star again this Monthly Challenge!
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Attendance continues to slide…to the point that my peak placement was well within 1000th place instead despite my final ELO being around 1600 (yes, I stopped laddering at 11 games). Should I have shot for 1700 ELO instead and the 1000th place title? I recall crashing out at sub-1500 in one Monthly Challenge…
 
First time playing in the Challenge in a while. Probably could have done a lot better if I wasn't just using an old MA team and didn't only do a third of the battles.
 

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I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, and I’ve know this is definitely an unpopular opinion, but I’ve kind of disappointed that Mega Absol Z completely eclipses regular Mega Absol. As someone who was on the winning team of ORAS BSS PL, one of the teams I used to help win that tourney featured Mega Absol. In that meta, the likes of Prankster Thundurus and Rocky Helmet Cresselia rose to counter threats like Mega Blaziken, Mega Salamence, and Mega Kangaskhan. What a Physical Sweeper that beats both of those? Mega Absol. Granted, it’s terrible bulk mandates Dual Screens, but it was very valuable in a lot of matches, and I found the team was a lot more successful with it.

Now with Mega Absol Z, there is very little reason to use Mega Absol. At least Mega Lucario and Mega Garchomp have some ways to differentiate from their Z Megas, like Adaptability and Ground typing. Mega Absol only has Magic Bounce and Sp. Atk, which isn’t that high .
 
I’ve been meaning to write this for a while, and I’ve know this is definitely an unpopular opinion, but I’ve kind of disappointed that Mega Absol Z completely eclipses regular Mega Absol. As someone who was on the winning team of ORAS BSS PL, one of the teams I used to help win that tourney featured Mega Absol. In that meta, the likes of Prankster Thundurus and Rocky Helmet Cresselia rose to counter threats like Mega Blaziken, Mega Salamence, and Mega Kangaskhan. What a Physical Sweeper that beats both of those? Mega Absol. Granted, it’s terrible bulk mandates Dual Screens, but it was very valuable in a lot of matches, and I found the team was a lot more successful with it.

Now with Mega Absol Z, there is very little reason to use Mega Absol. At least Mega Lucario and Mega Garchomp have some ways to differentiate from their Z Megas, like Adaptability and Ground typing. Mega Absol only has Magic Bounce and Sp. Atk, which isn’t that high .
Yeah unfortunately Mega Absol Z really does invalidate Mega Absol. Can't think of many reasons to use it over the Z version.
 
Oh neat, a Mega Evolution Battle Doubles competition this mid-November, where only Pokemon that can Mega Evolve are allowed! Don't worry, they don't all need to hold Mega stones.

https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/onlinecompetitions/megaevolutionbattle.shtml

Any big viability shifts from regular Doubles (besides no Sneasler, no Rillaboom, no Incineroar, no Basculegion, no Rain setters, worse redirectors, fewer Tailwind users, only auto-Terrain setter is Mega Raichu X)? It seems like the main weather strats are Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur, (Mega) Tyranitar + Excadrill, and Mega Froslass Veil. Will Mega Zard Y continue to be king, or might Mega Salamence finally rise up, or is Mega Raichu Y really living up to the hype, or will some other Mega become S-tier?

...Just how good is my initial gut core idea of Mega Zard Y + Venu + Garchomp?
 
Oh neat, a Mega Evolution Battle Doubles competition this mid-November, where only Pokemon that can Mega Evolve are allowed! Don't worry, they don't all need to hold Mega stones.

https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/onlinecompetitions/megaevolutionbattle.shtml

Any big viability shifts from regular Doubles (besides no Sneasler, no Rillaboom, no Incineroar, no Basculegion, no Rain setters, worse redirectors, fewer Tailwind users, only auto-Terrain setter is Mega Raichu X)? It seems like the main weather strats are Mega Charizard Y + Venusaur, (Mega) Tyranitar + Excadrill, and Mega Froslass Veil. Will Mega Zard Y continue to be king, or might Mega Salamence finally rise up, or is Mega Raichu Y really living up to the hype, or will some other Mega become S-tier?

...Just how good is my initial gut core idea of Mega Zard Y + Venu + Garchomp?
I'd expect a lot of Mega Aerodactyl and Mega Chomp Z. Maybe Mence and DNite too. As for normal mons, I expect Greninja, Gyarados and Venusaur to have niches. Raichu too
 
Something that may go under the radar is Clefable. It's the only redirector, conveniently walls Garchomp (both forms if you have the mega stone!), and it is one of those Pokemon that doesn't "really" need a item so can just run the megastone and not megaevolve (kinda like Aerodactyl). And there's no Sneasler to bully it!
 
Another Mega I could see doing well is Absol Z. Delphox is probably gonna be popular to play into stuff like Gengar, Floette and Zard Y. Absol Z is probably the best counter of the current mega roster
 
Another Mega I could see doing well is Absol Z. Delphox is probably gonna be popular to play into stuff like Gengar, Floette and Zard Y. Absol Z is probably the best counter of the current mega roster
Something you have to consider is that you have to run 6 megas but can still only mega 1 pokemon.

Realistically, the most successful pokemon should be pokemon that have already functional base form. Absol is not one of them. If your problem is Delphox there are other answers into it that aren't deadweight.
 
Something you have to consider is that you have to run 6 megas but can still only mega 1 pokemon.

Realistically, the most successful pokemon should be pokemon that have already functional base form. Absol is not one of them. If your problem is Delphox there are other answers into it that aren't deadweight.
Zard Y is a mega-hog, as well, and it's still going to be a top contender in this meta. Venusaur is legal alongside it, and no Drizzle means one less opposing auto-weather, just having to deal with T-Tar and Lass (ig Abomasnow too LOL), with Venu dealing with T-Tar and Lass not wanting to take Heat Waves even outside of sun. Floette is similarly relaint on its Mega to deal high damage and take hits better.

AbZol's not just bad because its base form's no good, it's bad because its Mega is only good against a handful of mons, and wishes it dealt more damage overall. It's glass without the cannon.
 
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