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Format Discussion Metronome Battle

How the idea began.
I started building this team with an idea I liked: Ting Lu + Alola Muk. There were no particular strategies, just bulky Pokémon with good defensive types. https://pokepast.es/0e940e8f7f5b2cb3

Studying the meta.
The first few matches went well, then I started finding Comps with abilities and items that were much better than mine, so I started studying the meta more.

Specifically, I noticed that my team wasn't stalling well enough against imposter leads. Also, Ting Lu's set wasn't perfect for stalling, so I changed his ability to Good as Gold and his Tera to Ghost. The solution to imposters was to have them copy a "weak" Pokémon, and here I first came up with the idea of playing a Comp with Sableye, using Sablenite with the starting ability Dauntless Shield (which also eat generic Mirror Herbs). This way, even against imposters, I could take as little damage as possible. In general, having a double Ghost seemed like a great idea given all the immunities and resistances. https://pokepast.es/9565d7f432d113a6

First problems.
The idea worked very well against imposters, and against other stalls with GaG and Magic Bounce, the Mu seemed favorable, but the team still had problems dealing with HOs, especially against scrappy Mega Heracross. So I swapped Sableye for Clefable, with a similar idea but with a "better" type against Heracross stabs. Having two immunities was still good...right? https://pokepast.es/b9b3c1bad6744e13

A different approach.
Unfortunately, Clefable wasn't the solution; its weaknesses were too impactful, and although it did more damage than Sableye, it couldn't close out kills or even tank as well as Sableye. So, all that remained was to try the latest Pokémon that gains Magic Bounce Mega Evolving, let's introduce: Mega Absol Z.

Mega Absol Z still had the same concept as Sableye, but with a different ability, this time with Download. The goal was to try to do more damage while also often being faster than the entire format. Having three immunities often compensated for its lack of bulk, and for a while this idea worked well; I even managed to reach my peak of 1440, but things were about to change quickly... https://pokepast.es/437f465479de0dcb

"Is Stall really the right choice?"
After a very unlucky streak, I went back to 1200, but was it really all bad luck? (Yes, it's a luck-based format.) Overall, the games I lost the most became stall mirrors, so in my head I was faced with the dilemma of "Is Stall really the right choice?"

For the first time since my first team, I tried building a comp that made use of WP. I dropped Ting Lu for Mega Clef Tera Stellar and Simple to fully exploit all its weaknesses, and as a mate, the usual Sableye, which this time becomes essential for eating Mirror Herbs with Dauntless Shield. While in theory this was a "solid" strategy that could win against stalls, let's introduce the big elephant in the room we've barely talked about so far... https://pokepast.es/c2d1bdb6f31ab093

The real problem
Let's talk about HO, specifically Chandelure spam. After a laddering session, having found 8 HO in 10 games, I decided enough was enough, and that it was time to build the definitive team that checked for HO. After a whole day of flowcharting, I had an idea.

The idea was to play Ting Lu and Sableye with the mega stone (I know, again), but this time we had to stall an HO, not exactly the easiest thing to do. The only way to reduce Chandelure's damage was to drop GaG on Ting Lu for something incredible like... Ice Scales! At this point, Sableye's ability could probably be traded for something better that he can work better for his partner, like Intimidate, which give a physical moves disadvantage from the start of the game. Also In case of Defiant/Competitive, could instantly activate Ting Lu's Mirror Herb.
https://pokepast.es/e03c49e675969674

The final stretch.
So, with all the preparation and a good dose of luck, I jumped on the ladder and the magic happened... The team was finally working! I surpassed 1500, hitting my new best at 1526. After all this work, I'm happy that my research has reached the goal.

Final Conclusions
After all the changes I've made, I think the team can still lose to some very specific versions of HO (scrappy, etc.) or to stall (poison point/touch version), but this is the best I've been able to do with the Chandelure meta. This team has quite a bit of an autowin MU against lead imposters, but hey, this is a super luck-based format, so no MU is really impossible if your opponent's Pokémon decide to explode ; )

Possible Changes:
Ting Lu:
If Chandelure gets banned, I'd suggest changing Ting Lu's ability to GaG/Purifying Salt to have an advantage in stall mirrors or some other damage-reducing ability. The item can be changed to something else, but with Sableye, I particularly like the mirror herb.

Sableye: This little guy is very strange. Sometimes he seems perfect alongside Ting Lu thanks to his typing and mega ability, but other times he doesn't seem to be able to do enough to stall. I think having 2 abilities is much more valuable than having a specific ability + a generic item. One possible change would be to lower his Speed (potentially even min Speed) to win for perish song. This isn't an uncommon scenario in stall comps. Another thing is being able to struggle afterward to take less recoil. So in the mirror, whoever has the slower Sableye wins the game in theory. However, it's also true that attacking later in the mirror can make a difference (I'll leave that up to you to decide).

Other slots: It depends on how you want to play the Comp. You can swap out Ting Lu for another bulky Pokémon with a decent attack (e.g., Regirock, Mega Slowbro, etc.) while still keeping the Tera Ghost. For Sableye, there are few options that can fulfill its role. Being able to Mega Evolve to gain Magic Bounce + Triple Immunity is something very few can do. Sure, you could use Absol Z, but it's not quite the same defensively. Other Pokémon with a similar role are bulky Ghosts with defensive abilities, your choice.

End.
Thanks for reading this far. Playing Metronome Battle was a fun experience. Last but not least,
Double Ghost is broken.
 
Quick news updates and impressions:

CAP 37 Obliteryx (Dark/Flying, 102 HP / 128 Atk / 126 Def / 45 SpA / 90 SpD / 64 Spe) released late last month (May 24), with 35 raw uses in May 2026.

Tonight (June 17, 2026), Pokemon Champions has gotten its mobile release and just updated out of maintenance for a new regulation (lasting for the next 3 months), most notably adding Metronome (the item) to the game, and some other stuff like a little more of the Z-A megas being added but not all of them yet.

New megas and abilities (https://www.serebii.net/pokemonchampions/megaabilities.shtml):

Mega Eelektross debuts the ability Eelevate. In a vacuum, Eelevate is like Levitate but with the Beast Boost effect on top, which can only work once per battle in a 2v2 and not even guaranteed, but is pretty much an upgrade to something already running Levitate on something other than Mega Chimecho, though also may be slightly worse off into an Imposter matchup than regular Levitate if you don't run precautions against being more likely to die first.

Mega Pyroar has Fire Mane, which boosts its Fire power by 50%. I think most mons would prefer Desolate Land especially to potentially counter Primordial Sea.

That's it for brand new abilities, but there's still some other stuff mostly relevant for the manual mega evolution enthusiasts like Kyogrus24 above.

Mega Raichu X: Electric Surge - not really much reason to use this over just Terrain Extender + Hadron Engine for Galvanize purposes, but now you can set it midgame
Mega Raichu Y: No Guard - eh
(Technically these two were officially announced ahead of release earlier this month.)

Mega Staraptor: Contrary - a double-edged ability, which can't even be applied to counter Intimidate on T0 unless you run it in base form. probably worse off than potential double Intimidate
Mega Scolipede: Shell Armor - eh but arguably better than Contrary sometimes
Mega Scrafty: Intimidate - another double Intimidate user to replace Staraptor
Mega Malamar: Contrary - lol Malamar. did not change
Mega Barbaracle: Tough Claws - it's fine, better than the default Sniper so far
Mega Dragalge: Regenerator - sorry nothing
Mega Falinks: Defiant - also a fine ability in a vacuum and better than Battle Armor

Lastly, I have been kind of blocked lately with other priorities (and the state of Spicy Spray being present for the majority of April/May anyway), but I do appreciate all the lively discussion in the thread this month keeping the community active in the meantime. Thanks for your posting.
 
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This team got me to a 1449 with 10 wins in a row, it counters mega chandelure and heracross. I have beaten many double chandelure's with this set up
Screenshot 2026-06-22 201505.png


Regirock @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature

- Metronome
Crabominable-Mega @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome

The idea is that crab has 6 weaknesses but really good def & spdef (ice scales) so it can try and fish out a weakness

Regirock has less offence and only 5 weaknesses but more tanky so it can fish out the weakness policys. This thing is a Unit with ice scales.

I tera ghost the first one to get the weakness policy, and if i get it by turn 1 or 2 I usually win every time.

Have fun ;)
 

gonna run double chandelure​


Looks inside: zero chandelure
View attachment 842395

Regirock @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature

- Metronome
Crabominable-Mega @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome
 
LMAO IM 31% OF CHANDY! ok but seriously wanted to share my team that started 15-0 and got me to 79 gxe (i influenced stats!)
Chandelure-Mega @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

Chandelure-Mega @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome
 
I believe the rise of Blissey indicates an increase in the playerbase's belief of how unbalanced the metagame has become. Ever since the new Megas became legal in Metronome Battles, Blissey usage is higher than ever before, with it having over 20% usage in 3 separate months. I don't think this occurred ever before in this generation. If the best strategy that players have for teambuilding is to not have any consistent strategy at all (since Blissey Imposter just copies the opponent's strategy), then I think that players no longer believe that they can reliably beat the plethora of other strategies in the tier.
1782952094404.png

(1630 weighted stats for Blissey, April 2025 to June 2026)

Storm Drain has completely taken over Chandelure-Mega as its most common ability, as expected. Tera Stellar usage has also increased from 58.8% to 66.6%. However, the most common partner of Chandelure-Mega has decreased from 33.8% to 28%.
1782952480280.png


I feel dismal about this tier. I am tired of facing the same old, stupid, and horribly uninteractive Tera Ghost and the various special nukes + physical nukes. I don't even care that much about winning anymore.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2640019356?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2640017681
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2634126327
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2634125556?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2630088440?p2
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2630082743?p2

Ivy mentioned retesting Steels more than a month ago, and now she has become radio silent once again.

Genuinely, what is the point of talking in this forum if no tiering action is going to be taken at all.
 
As long as all Pokemon follow the base stat limit, I don't get how mega evolutions are any more stupid than the other Pokemon. But 625 is also a very arbitrary number and it probably could be raised to 659 or something. (this specific number would exclude "restricted" legendaries like Kyurem and Zacian)
 
The double Mew sample team should either be removed or entirely replaced with some combination of Manaphy, Tyranitar, or Dragonite. The only thing it currently serves to do is mislead players into thinking that Mew is the best all-rounder Pokemon, when Tera Stellar Manaphy, Tera Ghost Tyranitar, and Tera Ghost Dragonite are arguably better.

(Note that a single Dragonite and a single Tyranitar are both better than a single Mew if they all use Tera Ghost, but double Dragonite and double Tyranitar are likely not better than double Mew)

Why is double Manaphy better than double Mew? Well first off, Mew and Manaphy both have a similar number of weak moves. (Mew technically has only 48 since Hyperspace Hole, First Impression, and Sucker Punch almost never work).
1783147429526.png


However, when we look at resisted moves, Manaphy has a clear advantage over Mew, with 64 + 30 = 94 resisted moves, compared to Mew's 52 resisted moves.
1783148100091.png

1783148159574.png


There are also multiple miscellaneous factors:
- Tera Ghost is extremely popular and thus Mew gets severely damaged by Ghost moves since they are STAB boosted, while Tera Grass and Tera Electric are much more uncommon so Manaphy usually doesn't get severely damaged by Grass or Electric moves.
- Chandelure-Mega, Golurk-Mega, and Heracross-Mega all have a STAB that can hit Mew supereffectively, and they are all more common than Venusaur-Mega, Eelektross-Mega, and Ampharos-Mega, which have a STAB to hit Manaphy supereffectively.
- On double Manaphy teams using Tera Stellar, one Manaphy can easily use Lightning Rod and eliminate the Electric weakness for both Manaphys. Double Mew teams using Tera Stellar cannot do this.
- Manaphy can use Sap Sipper to get rid of its Grass weakness. Mew cannot do this as effectively.
- Manaphy has 28 STAB moves, which is about the same as Mew's 24 STAB moves (23 excluding Dream Eater).
1783154467380.png


This misinformation of Mew being the best all-rounder can be seen in the most recent usage stats, with Mew being the 28th most used Pokemon while Manaphy is 161st. Mew's most common partner is also Mew at 25.4%, with Manaphy only at 2.6%.
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2026-06/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2026-06/moveset/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
 
Manaphy is a solid 6x100, but I think Pokestar UFO is probably the best one in terms of typing. There’s also Pokestar Giant/Humanoid for pure Normal, or White Door for a pure Fire typing which are each about as good as pure Water. We also need to shout out Silvally-Ghost for having almost the same stats and a natural Ghost typing. Tyranitar and Dragonite have good stats, but I like there being a simple sample team that works without needing to Terastallize.
 
PROOF OF PEAK
1783274479326.png

Hello! This was my first time getting no 1 on metronome ladder, and I did it with the team I’ve posted earlier on this page. For reference, here it is.

MiChaeng (Chandelure-Mega) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Level: 99
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

2Yeon (Chandelure-Mega) @ Weakness Policy
Ability: Ice Scales
Level: 99
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

(Yes I am a huge Twice fan) but anyway! So, this team started with :gengar-mega: Gengar-Mega. As the best remaining Ghost-Poison type, I wanted to test out the old Pecharunt strategy. Ice Scales Weakness Policy! So after that being a bust, I had fallen to around 1150 elo. And thats when I created an alt.
1783274479357.png

Yup! That alt is now somewhere on low ladder. I figured after I went on a 15 game winstreak and ended with a 78 gxe I would share the team at some point and do what any good team sharer does. Counterteam! But then, I noticed that noone was playing the team on ladder. So I went through a bunch of teams (Sorry to whoever got beaten by a Heracross Imposter Pikachu with Light ball in struggle!) and came back to this team. :chandelure-mega: Ice Scales Weakness Policy Quiet all EVs Stellar Tera x2. And I climbed to 1300, ladder entry, 1400, top 25, top 3, top 2 (heres this crazy monster https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2644431748-10xtlhnmm1q3yedg3n3py8e7kwkfj6mpw) and I got to top of the ladder! SO chandelure mega should be banned! So should Ice Scales! So Should Tera Ghost! MAYBE even Tera! The meta is so easily beaten with this simple team. Anyway I just wrote and my hand is cramping up so bye! Enjoy laddering, peace, Grovy.
 
Yes we need a council and Proper Bans overtime. There is no changes from a long time. If That is how u wanna do this format,Make abilities like wonder guard,huge power and legal and let it be pure chaos. If not do bans that community Needs. I also Vote for InkyDarkBird to be on council.
 
sorry for inflicting a curse upon the meta by saying chandy's usage would go down after spicy spray got sniped lmao. we definitely need a council of some sort cause things are getting out of hand
 
I also agree for a chand ban, it deserves to go after being almost everywhere all the time now. Not so sure about tera or gorlurk ban, I think after a chand ban if usage moves towards more physical mons, there will be possible counterplays. Chand is the biggest problem (and I personally like tera as an additional button to press apart from the metronome button).
 
I also agree for a chand ban, it deserves to go after being almost everywhere all the time now. Not so sure about tera or gorlurk ban, I think after a chand ban if usage moves towards more physical mons, there will be possible counterplays. Chand is the biggest problem (and I personally like tera as an additional button to press apart from the metronome button).
I see no reason to keep tera. It destroys balance on it's on,since u already have a mega and having it get a tera just seems stupid. Also Ghost is a broken typing and is the only way i see heracross with intrepid sword be Good. else it got a terrible typing.
 
I see no reason to keep tera. It destroys balance on it's on,since u already have a mega and having it get a tera just seems stupid. Also Ghost is a broken typing and is the only way i see heracross with intrepid sword be Good. else it got a terrible typing.
I see your point, a lot of mons in the meta now get no usage without ghost tera, but then it is also adding a (albeit small) level of play detail, choosing the tera, delaying it for WP etc. I don't know how feasible it is to code but the best would be to restrict tera on mega pokemon.

If not, I'd rather tera stays and ghost tera in particular gets banned. But then I'm afraid it would be steel next that pops up everywhere.
 
I see your point, a lot of mons in the meta now get no usage without ghost tera, but then it is also adding a (albeit small) level of play detail, choosing the tera, delaying it for WP etc. I don't know how feasible it is to code but the best would be to restrict tera on mega pokemon.

If not, I'd rather tera stays and ghost tera in particular gets banned. But then I'm afraid it would be steel next that pops up everywhere.
This also work. Megas should not be able to tera.
 
Ivy can we get like a council or smth? this format needs help. I volunteer to be on the council if you let me but also InkyDarkBird should be as well. Please take this format seriously hahaha.
Yes we need a council and Proper Bans overtime. There is no changes from a long time.
we definitely need a council of some sort cause things are getting out of hand

I would love to see a Metronome council. I'd also support banning Mega Chandy and Golurk, modernizing samples, and even retesting Steels, if we have enough leadership activity to swat out any that are too much for the meta. However, I strongly disagree with the more serious, banlist-heavy sentiment from other posters as to why we'd want a council here. If a council is created, it HAS to approach Metronome through a casual lens. If you don't understand how that's any different, because of trickle down balance, you're not entirely wrong, but you're only thinking about the tiering action side of things. That's the problem.

In smaller metas like this one, tier leadership is vital for community growth and management, something Metronome would benefit far more from than just the occasional necessary balance changes. And on that end, pushing a more serious angle would do more harm than good. Many larger formats try to strike a balance between facilitating both casual and competitive spaces, to... highly variable effect. But we don't have the scale for that. Obviously leadership actions are very impactful. But equally important, and less acknowledged, attitudes taken by leadership will shape the community, whether they're trying to or not. For example, currently, because Ivy is fairly absent and there's no other body in place to upkeep community matters, the community's reflected that absence, remaining static and, at times, resigned. A handful of old faces, but mostly just people popping in as a novelty, then getting bored and moving on after a few weeks or months. The community isn't growing, but it isn't shrinking either, just kind of floating in place. (Edit to be clear - this isn't necessarily a bad thing for the funny Metronome format. I consider it pretty neutral, and it could be far far worse, as below.)

But if you were to form a council that takes the format too seriously? That very much creates its own issue. You'd get more retention of existing users, sure. But with time, even in very goofy metagames like this one, a more serious approach to tier management without careful community management often snowballs into a sort of competitive-minded insularity that makes it very difficult for new users to integrate into the community. I won't give any specific names, but if you've been around enough smaller PS formats (or multiplayer games generally) in their early, casual, experimental era, and seen them transition out of that into a more established meta? You've definitely seen this exact failing in community building before, many times over. And if you look back at a community that's gone through that, they're likely still suffering the fallout now, years and years later, slowly deteriorating as oldheads move on with their lives faster than new blood can fill the gaps. The fact is, most people on PS aren't interested in the more serious side of playing Pokemon at all, let alone for the silly random move tier. A council would almost certainly be beneficial to the meta itself, but it has to remember that it's also the de-facto community leadership, that needs to cater to new users effectively, not just the existing playerbase. Fuck that up, and you're out of the frying pan, and into the same fire as so many other communities before you.


TLDR a council would be incredible, but ONLY IF focused primarily on community building and new user retention, rather than just tier balance.
 
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In any case, we need new tiering action and something. I would be very willing to try to keep a casual council while also trying to check community input. So pretty much, I think a council in SOME form is very much necessary. Ivy I realize that you have read some of these posts, but you haven’t actually done anything. Can we please get a response at least with just your thoughts?
 
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