[OVERVIEW]
In a metagame focused on neutering physical attackers, a special attacking Mega Evolution with a great Special Attack stat and access to one of the most powerful and reliable spread attacks in Water Spout has a great deal of value. Mega Blastoise's excellent natural bulk is also a boon, allowing it to survive the majority of strong attacks even without investment. However, its mediocre matchup against Mega Kangaskhan, poor single-target damage output in comparison to other Mega Evolutions, and dependence on staying healthy to retain Water Spout's high Base Power make it very reliant on support from its teammates to perform well.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Water Spout
move 2: Aura Sphere
move 3: Ice Beam / Dark Pulse
move 4: Protect
item: Blastoisinite
ability: Rain Dish
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Water Spout is Mega Blastoise's primary offensive option, as it has the potential to deal massive damage to both opposing Pokemon. Aura Sphere threatens an OHKO against common targets such as Mega Kangaskhan, Hydreigon, and Tyranitar. Ice Beam synergizes well with Water Spout by dealing super effective damage to the Dragon- and Grass-types that resist it. Dark Pulse is an alternative option that is mostly used to better handle Aegislash, which is a particularly problematic Pokemon due to its access to Wide Guard. Protect is an important tool in shielding Mega Blastoise from unnecessary damage, giving its partner a turn to react to the foe.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature are preferred to outspeed as many foes as possible before they can retaliate, ensuring that Water Spout strikes with its maximum Base Power as often as possible. A Modest nature is an alternative that trades reliability outside of Tailwind for extra power. Maximum Special Attack investment is used to deal as much damage as possible. Rain Dish, while only providing recovery in the rare instance that rain is active before Mega Evolution, is still the preferred option over the comparatively useless Torrent.
Usage Tips
========
Managing Mega Blastoise's HP effectively is key. Bring Blastoise onto the field safely when there's an opportunity to deal a lot of damage with Water Spout, by leading with it, or by switching it in after one of your Pokemon faints. Either keep Mega Blastoise well defended behind a redirecting partner, or ensure that it's faster than everything on the field by utilizing speed control. Aim to use Water Spout early in battle to prevent excessive chip damage from neutering its Base Power.
Team Options
========
Redirection is crucial to prevent Mega Blastoise from taking unnecessary damage. Rage Powder Amoonguss has excellent type synergy with Mega Blastoise, as it resists both of Mega Blastoise's weaknesses and hits opposing Water-types super effectively. Clefairy is a notable user of Follow Me thanks to, in part, Friend Guard, which reduces the damage that Mega Blastoise takes from spread attacks. Clefairy also has access to both Helping Hand, which can boost Mega Blastoise's damage output, and Heal Pulse, which can recover Mega Blastoise's lost HP and therefore restore Water Spout's power.
Speed control is also important as as a way to remedy Mega Blastoise's middling Speed stat. Talonflame has access to priority Tailwind and has great type synergy with Mega Blastoise, threatening Grass-types that Mega Blastoise struggles against with its STAB moves. Talonflame also has access to Quick Guard, which can protect Mega Blastoise from priority moves. Thundurus can slow down foes with priority Thunder Wave, can Taunt opposing Wide Guard users, and, as an Electric-type, can help deal with opposing Water-types. Zapdos is another Electric-type and can also provide Tailwind support.
Togekiss can provide both redirection and speed control with Follow Me and Tailwind, respectively. Raichu can help Mega Blastoise's teammate set up Tailwind with Fake Out, and Raichu's Lightningrod can also protect Mega Blastoise from Electric-type moves. Both, like Clefairy, also have access to Helping Hand to boost Mega Blastoise's damage output.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Fake Out can be used in place of Protect to help Mega Blastoise's partner set up Tailwind, eliminate a faster threat, or break a Focus Sash. Nevertheless, Protect is generally more important for maintaining Mega Blastoise's health. Water Pulse is a single-target alternative to Water Spout that decreases Mega Blastoise's dependence on staying healthy, but Water Spout's excellent spread damage is what plays a key role in Mega Blastoise's viability. Dragon Pulse deals more damage than Ice Beam to Dragon-types that aren't 4x weak to Ice and still threatens a KO on Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, but the loss in overall coverage makes it a generally poor option. Using Mega Blastoise under Trick Room with an EV spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA, a Quiet nature, and 0 Speed IVs can be a great answer to its desire for speed control. However, this set faces fierce competition from Mega Camerupt, which is generally the better special spread attacker under Trick Room.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Many common Electric-types can deal significant damage to Mega Blastoise and have options to control the field. Rotom-W's Water typing makes it a particularly great check, as it resists Water Spout. Thundurus can Taunt users of redirection and Tailwind setters, which Mega Blastoise is commonly paired with, as well as slow down Mega Blastoise with Thunder Wave. Zapdos can cancel out opposing Tailwind with a Tailwind of its own.
**Grass-types**: Grass-types, such as Amoonguss, ignore Rage Powder's redirection, deal super effective damage to Mega Blastoise with their STAB attacks, and completely wall variants without Ice Beam. However, even variants with Ice Beam should still be wary of Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, which takes little damage from the move thanks to Thick Fat, and Ludicolo, which takes neutral damage from Ice-type attacks thanks to its Water typing. Ludicolo also has a 4x resistance to Water, making it a great switch-in to Water Spout.
**Mega Charizard Y**: Mega Charizard Y sets up sun with Drought, halving the damage of Water-type attacks and allowing the immediate use of Solar Beam, which OHKOes Mega Blastoise without defensive investment.
**Wide Guard Users**: Wide Guard prevents the use of Water Spout, neutering Mega Blastoise's offense significantly. Aegislash is an excellent user, although it should be wary of Dark Pulse, which 2HKOes even bulky variants.
**Priority Moves**: Priority moves chip away at Mega Blastoise's health before it can attack, even under Tailwind. Mega Blastoise's matchup against Mega Kangaskhan is notably difficult for this reason, as it has access to both Fake Out and Sucker Punch.
**Spread Moves**: Spread moves circumvent the redirection support that Blastoise often relies on. Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon are particularly threatening, as they both take Mega Blastoise's attacks easily thanks to their high Special Defense stats and hit back hard with a Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice.
In a metagame focused on neutering physical attackers, a special attacking Mega Evolution with a great Special Attack stat and access to one of the most powerful and reliable spread attacks in Water Spout has a great deal of value. Mega Blastoise's excellent natural bulk is also a boon, allowing it to survive the majority of strong attacks even without investment. However, its mediocre matchup against Mega Kangaskhan, poor single-target damage output in comparison to other Mega Evolutions, and dependence on staying healthy to retain Water Spout's high Base Power make it very reliant on support from its teammates to perform well.
[SET]
name: Special Attacker
move 1: Water Spout
move 2: Aura Sphere
move 3: Ice Beam / Dark Pulse
move 4: Protect
item: Blastoisinite
ability: Rain Dish
nature: Timid / Modest
evs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Water Spout is Mega Blastoise's primary offensive option, as it has the potential to deal massive damage to both opposing Pokemon. Aura Sphere threatens an OHKO against common targets such as Mega Kangaskhan, Hydreigon, and Tyranitar. Ice Beam synergizes well with Water Spout by dealing super effective damage to the Dragon- and Grass-types that resist it. Dark Pulse is an alternative option that is mostly used to better handle Aegislash, which is a particularly problematic Pokemon due to its access to Wide Guard. Protect is an important tool in shielding Mega Blastoise from unnecessary damage, giving its partner a turn to react to the foe.
Set Details
========
Maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature are preferred to outspeed as many foes as possible before they can retaliate, ensuring that Water Spout strikes with its maximum Base Power as often as possible. A Modest nature is an alternative that trades reliability outside of Tailwind for extra power. Maximum Special Attack investment is used to deal as much damage as possible. Rain Dish, while only providing recovery in the rare instance that rain is active before Mega Evolution, is still the preferred option over the comparatively useless Torrent.
Usage Tips
========
Managing Mega Blastoise's HP effectively is key. Bring Blastoise onto the field safely when there's an opportunity to deal a lot of damage with Water Spout, by leading with it, or by switching it in after one of your Pokemon faints. Either keep Mega Blastoise well defended behind a redirecting partner, or ensure that it's faster than everything on the field by utilizing speed control. Aim to use Water Spout early in battle to prevent excessive chip damage from neutering its Base Power.
Team Options
========
Redirection is crucial to prevent Mega Blastoise from taking unnecessary damage. Rage Powder Amoonguss has excellent type synergy with Mega Blastoise, as it resists both of Mega Blastoise's weaknesses and hits opposing Water-types super effectively. Clefairy is a notable user of Follow Me thanks to, in part, Friend Guard, which reduces the damage that Mega Blastoise takes from spread attacks. Clefairy also has access to both Helping Hand, which can boost Mega Blastoise's damage output, and Heal Pulse, which can recover Mega Blastoise's lost HP and therefore restore Water Spout's power.
Speed control is also important as as a way to remedy Mega Blastoise's middling Speed stat. Talonflame has access to priority Tailwind and has great type synergy with Mega Blastoise, threatening Grass-types that Mega Blastoise struggles against with its STAB moves. Talonflame also has access to Quick Guard, which can protect Mega Blastoise from priority moves. Thundurus can slow down foes with priority Thunder Wave, can Taunt opposing Wide Guard users, and, as an Electric-type, can help deal with opposing Water-types. Zapdos is another Electric-type and can also provide Tailwind support.
Togekiss can provide both redirection and speed control with Follow Me and Tailwind, respectively. Raichu can help Mega Blastoise's teammate set up Tailwind with Fake Out, and Raichu's Lightningrod can also protect Mega Blastoise from Electric-type moves. Both, like Clefairy, also have access to Helping Hand to boost Mega Blastoise's damage output.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Fake Out can be used in place of Protect to help Mega Blastoise's partner set up Tailwind, eliminate a faster threat, or break a Focus Sash. Nevertheless, Protect is generally more important for maintaining Mega Blastoise's health. Water Pulse is a single-target alternative to Water Spout that decreases Mega Blastoise's dependence on staying healthy, but Water Spout's excellent spread damage is what plays a key role in Mega Blastoise's viability. Dragon Pulse deals more damage than Ice Beam to Dragon-types that aren't 4x weak to Ice and still threatens a KO on Dragon-types such as Mega Salamence, but the loss in overall coverage makes it a generally poor option. Using Mega Blastoise under Trick Room with an EV spread of 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpA, a Quiet nature, and 0 Speed IVs can be a great answer to its desire for speed control. However, this set faces fierce competition from Mega Camerupt, which is generally the better special spread attacker under Trick Room.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Electric-types**: Many common Electric-types can deal significant damage to Mega Blastoise and have options to control the field. Rotom-W's Water typing makes it a particularly great check, as it resists Water Spout. Thundurus can Taunt users of redirection and Tailwind setters, which Mega Blastoise is commonly paired with, as well as slow down Mega Blastoise with Thunder Wave. Zapdos can cancel out opposing Tailwind with a Tailwind of its own.
**Grass-types**: Grass-types, such as Amoonguss, ignore Rage Powder's redirection, deal super effective damage to Mega Blastoise with their STAB attacks, and completely wall variants without Ice Beam. However, even variants with Ice Beam should still be wary of Pokemon such as Mega Venusaur, which takes little damage from the move thanks to Thick Fat, and Ludicolo, which takes neutral damage from Ice-type attacks thanks to its Water typing. Ludicolo also has a 4x resistance to Water, making it a great switch-in to Water Spout.
**Mega Charizard Y**: Mega Charizard Y sets up sun with Drought, halving the damage of Water-type attacks and allowing the immediate use of Solar Beam, which OHKOes Mega Blastoise without defensive investment.
**Wide Guard Users**: Wide Guard prevents the use of Water Spout, neutering Mega Blastoise's offense significantly. Aegislash is an excellent user, although it should be wary of Dark Pulse, which 2HKOes even bulky variants.
**Priority Moves**: Priority moves chip away at Mega Blastoise's health before it can attack, even under Tailwind. Mega Blastoise's matchup against Mega Kangaskhan is notably difficult for this reason, as it has access to both Fake Out and Sucker Punch.
**Spread Moves**: Spread moves circumvent the redirection support that Blastoise often relies on. Mega Gardevoir and Sylveon are particularly threatening, as they both take Mega Blastoise's attacks easily thanks to their high Special Defense stats and hit back hard with a Pixilate-boosted Hyper Voice.
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