[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 2 points
**Overview**: Meganium finds itself as one of the most frequently drafted budget options and low-tier Grass-types due to its uniquely solid toolkit for its price. Meganium possesses great mixed bulk, which allows it to withstand many common foes such as some popular Ground-types and the various Ogerpon formes, although generally speaking, it is greatly held back by its typing. Meganium also has some great utility options such as Encore, reliable recovery, phazing, and Knock Off that make it a viable defensive Pokemon. While Meganium is a more than viable end-of-draft pick, it is hampered greatly by its low damage output, common weaknesses, lack of any exceptional stat, and the pace of the metagame.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: A one-trick vegetable, Meganium will almost always serve as a dedicated defensive check to opposing top-tier offensive threats should they give the rest of your team problems. Meganium will run reliable recovery and whatever utility set best checks the foe it aims to; this may include Encore, phazing, Leech Seed, status, Rocky Helmet, or its limited but decent attacking options. If Meganium can fully invest in one defensive stat in the matchup, it can become a nuisance to break thanks to defensive items such as Leftovers and its great utility movepool.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Grass Knot, Petal Blizzard,
**Setup Moves**: The best offence is good defence
**Utility Moves**: Synthesis, Encore, Knock Off, Leech Seed, Dragon Tail, Reflect, Light Screen
**Coverage**: Earthquake, Body Press, Zen Headbutt
Niche Moves
========
**Charm**: Meganium can use Charm to weaken physical foes and prevent setup or successfully force them out.
**Endeavor**: When Meganium has low HP, Endeavor can be useful to weaken a threatening foe for a teammate to revenge kill.
**Curse / Swords Dance / Trailblaze**: Although it may have the options to do so in terms of setup moves and coverage, Meganium is very rarely able to play an offensive role due to its low Speed and Attack. In some niche matchups, it can try to pull off a bulky sweeper role on the physical side; however, it would almost certainly need to Terastallize to do so.
**Poison Powder**: Poison Powder can be used to mitigate a foe with residual damage throughout the game.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: The passive recovery of Leftovers helps Meganium stay healthy and spend more turns shutting down foes than recovering its HP.
**Rocky Helmet**: Physically defensive sets will often run Rocky Helmet to punish the common contact moves Meganium will absorb.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Preventing severe entry hazard chip from accumulating can be paramount in order for Meganium to successfully win its interactions and preserve Synthesis PP. Heavy-Duty Boots are particularly useful if there is not a great way to remove Toxic Spikes as well, as status can be debilitating on Meganium.
Niche Items
========
**Eject Pack**: Paired with Leaf Storm, Eject Pack can help Meganium not concede too much momentum.
**Mental Herb**: Taunt and Encore are very effective in shutting down Meganium, thus making Mental Herb a good precaution.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay can extend the duration of Meganium's dual screens to better support its teammates.
**Red Card**: With the bulk to almost always take one hit, Meganium can force out a threatening or setup foe with Red Card.
Tera
========
Although not nearly a requirement, Meganium will sometimes serve as a secondary or tertiary Tera Captain due to its low price point. It can effectively employ defensive Terastallization when there is a foe that is very difficult to check in the matchup. Water, Poison, Fairy, and Steel are all common Tera typings Meganium would use if it must Terastallize. Terastallization can also greatly aid setup sets; however, the associated opportunity cost is almost always too high.
Draft Strategy
========
Meganium will be one of your final picks and is drafted to provide defensive insurance into matchups like Ogerpon-W, Ogerpon, and Great Tusk, which may not have been accounted for with the rest of your roster. It is important that Meganium be purely additive on an already competent team.
**Quality Teammates**: Since Meganium is only attending matchups where there is not adequate counterplay, one should simply draft a good team around it. Offensive teammates are required due to its defensive nature as well as other key supportive components such as entry hazard control.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong Wallbreakers**: While very bulky, Meganium most often commits to checking foes either physically or specially, and thus wallbreakers can break through on the other side. Foes like Gouging Fire, Tornadus-T, and Iron Moth can all break through it.
**Grass-Resistant Foes**: While Meganium can often win its turns against what it aims to defeat, it struggles mightily against Pokemon it cannot damage reliably or force much progress into. Popular Flying-types such as Zapdos and Moltres, strong Dragon-types such as Dragonite and Raging Bolt, and many more common Pokemon can render Meganium into fodder.
**Disruption**: As Meganium heavily relies on utility moves to avoid passivity and remain healthy, Taunt and Encore can shut it down.
**Chip Damage**: Stray damage from entry hazards, status, and pivot moves can all put Meganium closer to the range where it can no longer serve as a defensive check.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf.608304/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
[/COPYEDIT]
**Draft Order**: Round 7 onwards
**Price Range**: 2 points
**Overview**: Meganium finds itself as one of the most frequently drafted budget options and low-tier Grass-types due to its uniquely solid toolkit for its price. Meganium possesses great mixed bulk, which allows it to withstand many common foes such as some popular Ground-types and the various Ogerpon formes, although generally speaking, it is greatly held back by its typing. Meganium also has some great utility options such as Encore, reliable recovery, phazing, and Knock Off that make it a viable defensive Pokemon. While Meganium is a more than viable end-of-draft pick, it is hampered greatly by its low damage output, common weaknesses, lack of any exceptional stat, and the pace of the metagame.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Defensive Utility**: A one-trick vegetable, Meganium will almost always serve as a dedicated defensive check to opposing top-tier offensive threats should they give the rest of your team problems. Meganium will run reliable recovery and whatever utility set best checks the foe it aims to; this may include Encore, phazing, Leech Seed, status, Rocky Helmet, or its limited but decent attacking options. If Meganium can fully invest in one defensive stat in the matchup, it can become a nuisance to break thanks to defensive items such as Leftovers and its great utility movepool.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Leaf Storm, Giga Drain, Energy Ball, Grass Knot, Petal Blizzard,
**Setup Moves**: The best offence is good defence
**Utility Moves**: Synthesis, Encore, Knock Off, Leech Seed, Dragon Tail, Reflect, Light Screen
**Coverage**: Earthquake, Body Press, Zen Headbutt
Niche Moves
========
**Charm**: Meganium can use Charm to weaken physical foes and prevent setup or successfully force them out.
**Endeavor**: When Meganium has low HP, Endeavor can be useful to weaken a threatening foe for a teammate to revenge kill.
**Curse / Swords Dance / Trailblaze**: Although it may have the options to do so in terms of setup moves and coverage, Meganium is very rarely able to play an offensive role due to its low Speed and Attack. In some niche matchups, it can try to pull off a bulky sweeper role on the physical side; however, it would almost certainly need to Terastallize to do so.
**Poison Powder**: Poison Powder can be used to mitigate a foe with residual damage throughout the game.
Common Items
========
**Leftovers**: The passive recovery of Leftovers helps Meganium stay healthy and spend more turns shutting down foes than recovering its HP.
**Rocky Helmet**: Physically defensive sets will often run Rocky Helmet to punish the common contact moves Meganium will absorb.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Preventing severe entry hazard chip from accumulating can be paramount in order for Meganium to successfully win its interactions and preserve Synthesis PP. Heavy-Duty Boots are particularly useful if there is not a great way to remove Toxic Spikes as well, as status can be debilitating on Meganium.
Niche Items
========
**Eject Pack**: Paired with Leaf Storm, Eject Pack can help Meganium not concede too much momentum.
**Mental Herb**: Taunt and Encore are very effective in shutting down Meganium, thus making Mental Herb a good precaution.
**Light Clay**: Light Clay can extend the duration of Meganium's dual screens to better support its teammates.
**Red Card**: With the bulk to almost always take one hit, Meganium can force out a threatening or setup foe with Red Card.
Tera
========
Although not nearly a requirement, Meganium will sometimes serve as a secondary or tertiary Tera Captain due to its low price point. It can effectively employ defensive Terastallization when there is a foe that is very difficult to check in the matchup. Water, Poison, Fairy, and Steel are all common Tera typings Meganium would use if it must Terastallize. Terastallization can also greatly aid setup sets; however, the associated opportunity cost is almost always too high.
Draft Strategy
========
Meganium will be one of your final picks and is drafted to provide defensive insurance into matchups like Ogerpon-W, Ogerpon, and Great Tusk, which may not have been accounted for with the rest of your roster. It is important that Meganium be purely additive on an already competent team.
**Quality Teammates**: Since Meganium is only attending matchups where there is not adequate counterplay, one should simply draft a good team around it. Offensive teammates are required due to its defensive nature as well as other key supportive components such as entry hazard control.
Checks and Counters
========
**Strong Wallbreakers**: While very bulky, Meganium most often commits to checking foes either physically or specially, and thus wallbreakers can break through on the other side. Foes like Gouging Fire, Tornadus-T, and Iron Moth can all break through it.
**Grass-Resistant Foes**: While Meganium can often win its turns against what it aims to defeat, it struggles mightily against Pokemon it cannot damage reliably or force much progress into. Popular Flying-types such as Zapdos and Moltres, strong Dragon-types such as Dragonite and Raging Bolt, and many more common Pokemon can render Meganium into fodder.
**Disruption**: As Meganium heavily relies on utility moves to avoid passivity and remain healthy, Taunt and Encore can shut it down.
**Chip Damage**: Stray damage from entry hazards, status, and pivot moves can all put Meganium closer to the range where it can no longer serve as a defensive check.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/jscurf.608304/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/theuncultured.629845/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
[/COPYEDIT]
Last edited:
