Format Discussion Metronome Battle

[doipy hooves]

It's finally October 2025, marking the point when Legends Z-A will release mid-month on the 16th and ideally introduce its new megas to PS ready to use. Like the past few new launches, though I won't know exactly when datamined stats will start to properly drop, once they do I plan to cover and collect first impressions to the new (usable) mons' stats and any other relevant additions to the best of my ability at the time. I'll probably be using spoiler tags for the rest of October, with November probably being a fair point to stop spoilering, at least for anything relevant for the meta in monthly stats. So if you still don't want to be spoiled on any unrevealed mons, then I would avoid the Metronome Battle ladder or even teambuilder. Honestly I'm not sure how much real overlap there is between people reading this thread that would also want to avoid Z-A spoilers, but I suppose it doesn't hurt. Also, I feel like I've been on this page (58) before already... maybe that's just the deja vu of returning to Kalos soon.

In the meantime, it's about time to look over the last full month's stats of the pre-Z-A era.

https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-09/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-09/moveset/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt

The battle count has slightly heightened again to 27368.

September 2025: 1630-weighted top 10 + last month positions
#1: Mega Heracross (no change)
#2: Mega Ampharos (no change)
#3: Mega Venusaur (no change)
#4: Ting-Lu (no change)
#5: Mega Gengar (#6)
#6: Silvally-Ghost (#12)
#7: Blissey (#5)
#8: Iron Hands (#10)
#9: Mega Abomasnow (#14)
#10: Glastrier (#7)

Once more, the top four have no changes in sight, though Venusaur's raw use count has increased the most of them for what it's worth. However, the movements of recent lower meta shifts certainly feel appropriate heading into spooky season, with Mega Gengar continuing to rise and reach a new peak at #5 (EDIT: tied twice before, Jun 2021 and Jan 2022), while Silvally-Ghost (Ice Scales, Mirror Herb, main Iron Hands/Glastrier teammates) finally makes its debut into the top 10 proper with a major leap after 3 months in the making. It's a fair showing of how old tricks can still have potential even before an incoming status quo shakeup.

Other dark (type) horses include Tyranitar (#13/821 raw uses) and Guzzlord (#14/846 raw uses) hanging back to back with triple digit uses just under a streak of mons with 2000s above, and also I noticed Mega Banette (#18) and Ceruledge (#19) also doing relatively well for themselves as physical Ghosts.

I'll keep this brief and start going over the moveset file and their viability ceilings (highest GXE of a user of a mon).
The highest peak this month is at 85 with the thematic paradox duo of Iron Hands still at the top (Ice Scales/Choice Band/Brave minspeed) along with Iron Moth of all things (Quark Drive/Weakness Policy/Hardy). Neither are their prime teammate (Iron Hands much prefers Silvally-Ghost and has way more usage), so I would just call this the result of a particularly notable demon streak.

Following that in 83 are the more expected meta picks of Mega Venusaur (Flower Veil/Weakness Policy/Quiet, Ting-Lu main teammate) and Imposter Blissey doing its usual thing in the midst around us. Actually, Ghost Tera has surged up above Stellar for once on it, so I guess you could say that Imposter Blissey has chosen to be a disciple of shadow over the path of light, leading its wicked covenant as its HP stat inflates under the full egg moon phase, or something like that. The same trend also applies to Chansey, going from mainly Stellar to Ghost and Ice above Normal with no Stellar in sight.

Next up at 82 is another fitting plus-minus duo of Mega Ampharos (Plus/Mind's Eye/Minus, Choice Specs) and Mega Gengar (Minus/Competitive/Good as Gold, Choice Specs). And then at 81 is a 59-use Rhydon (Ice Scales, Eviolite) which I suppose is fairly bulky especially with a Ghost tera type to remove its main weaknesses. If anything it might have been a Blissey teammate carried somehow.

Skipping one down, viability ceiling 79 features a 4-way tie between Mega Heracross, Ting-Lu (Ice Scales, Weakness Policy), Raging Bolt (Competitive/Dancer/Unaware, Mirror Herb) and Ursaluna-Bloodmoon (Mind's Eye/Storm Drain/Magic Bounce, Choice Specs/Weakness Policy). I think 11 would be a good place to end it, but I will highlight the mons at 78 just to show what kind of variety of parity there is before the end (Silvally-Ghost, Mega Abomasnow, Glastrier, Chansey, Landorus-Therian, Cresselia, Wishiwashi-School, Baxcalibur). Thanks for your reading.

 

[doipy hooves]

So bits and pieces of Z-A have been floating around, but now at least the base game's datamined stats (and icons) have supposedly just dropped, so here we go with some generally impulsive first impressions. Apparently there's some oddities though and only one source but I'm writing this ahead of time anyway.

(mid-post EDIT: These have been pretty much confirmed for the most part by now, so let us away.)

LEGENDS Z-A DATAMINED NEW CONTENT SPOILERS

As an initial note, it seems like ability slots are copied from the base mons as placeholders, and there are no new abilities in the game with no abilities. I assume that manual megas will just take the first slot ability 1 as a default but I don't actually know how this would work in practice so I won't go over that too much.

According to the legal movelist from a few days ago the base game only introduces one new move that is probably not callable via Metronome. On the bright side, Metronome is surprisingly a move you can use in this game and looks to be a TM.

No word on any other held items yet though I doubt they will affect PS until being added to Champions if any.

(UNUSABLE) POKEMON​

I just want to account for these somewhere in the post, whether unusable by being Steel type or above the BST cap.

Mega Starmie*
Mega Dragonite
Mega Feraligatr
Mega Skarmory
Mega Emboar
Mega Excadrill
Mega Chesnaught
Mega Delphox
Mega Greninja
Mega Zygarde-Complete
Mega Floette-Eternal

I think it's just a little unfortunate 5/6 of the starters barely miss out under the BST cap. Mainly because Mega Chesnaught sounds absurd. Also Mega Starmie has some weird >+100 BST stuff going on with its Attack stat that might be making up for an ability like Huge/Pure Power in mainline.

EDIT: More specifically on Starmie: So Starmie got +140 BST, but 40 of that going into Attack seems to align with Mawile and Medicham also being rebalanced to gain +40% Attack in ZA with the lack of abilities, so the expected Mega Starmie in Champions may look more like 60/100/105/130/105/120 (620 BST) and be legal. But until then it has 660 BST in Legends.

POKEMON​

Mega Clefable (Fairy/Flying): - 95/80/93/135/110/70 (583 BST)
Competing with Enamorus-Therian having close to the same BST, Clefable has more HP/SpD/Speed but mostly lacks in Attack/Defense, which may be more noticeable with the physical lean of Metronome. I do respect its existence as the original Metronome user in the games.

Mega Victreebel (Grass/Poison) - 80/125/85/135/95/70 (590 BST)
As expected, it has more Attack than Venusaur, but also surprisingly even more SpA and less bulk/speed otherwise though not minmaxing its speed for even greater power. Overall I feel Venusaur's bulk is still noticeably better on both ends, but I'm glad Victreebel technically has its own niche as another alternative Grass/Poison option to represent the typing.

Mega Meganium (Grass/Fairy) - 80/92/115/143/115/80 (625 BST)
The other close Venusaur comparison with its base stats shuffled at base, Mega Nium heavily leans more into +60 SpA now instead of leveraging its bulk advantage like I had expected, with that stat being its only one above Venusaur's now. The Grass/Fairy typing is a bit more questionable even compared to pure Grass or Grass/Poison, gaining a notable 4x Poison weakness and Steel weakness but resisting Dark and being immune to Dragon in exchange with a generally uncommon STAB offense outside of Pixilate. Compared to Jumbao and Tapu Bulu, Megamega Nium does kind of hit a nice balance between them though excelling both on the Special sides.

Here's hoping it gets Flower Veil in Champions for some proper ingame representation.

Mega Froslass (Ice/Ghost) - 70/80/70/140/100/120 (580 BST)
I don't know, it's a slightly more balanced stat spread than Mega Gengar which more so means it doesn't pop off as a special nuke as well. Ice/Ghost is still not a very synergistic typing defensively and anyone can go Ghost otherwise. It does look very big though.

Mega Scolipede (Bug/Poison) - 60/140/149/75/99/62 (585 BST)
Oh hey, it's a minmaxed Speed mega, and now the biggest Bug/Poison mon by far. Still not a fantastic typing but the heavy physical spread is pretty respectable on both sides, though it's still shackled to a low HP stat like many other Defense heavy mons. But having a fair and strong balance between Atk/Def/SpA/SpD does stand out to me when most high Defense mons feel pretty lopsided on some ends to compensate.

Mega Scrafty (Dark/Fighting) - 65/130/135/55/135/68 (588 BST)
I think this mon is bulkier than Urshifu-Dark on both sides, barely for Defense but much more notably for SpD. Other than that they're pretty similar offensively with Scrafty having less SpA and Speed but the same Attack.

Mega Eelektross (Electric) - 85/145/80/135/90/80 (615 BST)
Admittedly pretty rare combination of having the highest Attack of base Electric types while also having a very noticeable SpA to go with it. Like just among high Attack mons disregarding type, I would say this looks kind of Landorus-T-esque but with even more SpA. It's no Mega Ampharos but the Attack alone may just be worth it.

Mega Chandelure (Ghost/Fire) - 60/75/110/175/110/90 (620 BST)
So after seeing a more balanced Ghost keeping cool, here the heat turns up with a new Special Nuke that ties Mega Alakazam for the 2nd highest SpA stat around, while also being both Bulkier and Physically Stronger than Mega Alakazam and Gengar, though still with about middling HP. Sacrificing Speed for other stats while also having a very high BST and a fair share of resistances makes Chandelure seem like a very viable alternative to Mega Gengar right after its rise in spooky season along with other Ghost/Fire attention. Overall a surprise sleeper option I didn't have on my radar but definitely stands out more than the rest of these megas so far especially in a hard-to-breach niche.

Mega Pyroar (Fire/Normal) - 86/88/92/129/86/126 (607 BST)
Ehh. I guess it's the highest BST Normal type we've seen so far? I would say it's the highest BST Fire type but Chandelure just dropped. I don't know what to say, compared to a standard 100x6 mythical stat spread, it's a hard ask to move stats all into SpA and Speed while not hitting very high SpA peaks. Like, I think every other Special attacking Mega above this mon has had more SpA in its stat spread. It also still has a unique typing I guess, but does not have the physicality to take advantage of Normal moves as well as other more bulkier Normals.

Mega Malamar (Dark/Psychic) - 86/102/88/98/120/88 (582 BST)
Ehhhhhhhhhh. Firstly, Pokestar Brycen-Man exists with a perfectly fine 100x6 stat spread, only costing some minor special bulk and 2 Attack. But also Dark/Psychic has almost nothing going for it defensively anyways.

It says a lot that I had more to say about Pyroar than this thing, and now I think Pyroar is the better mon. At least Pyroar gets Normal STAB at base which is more than I can say for Malamar, and Fire/Normal actually has resistances while also being able to pull off Weakness Policy procs more often. I admit I may be biased against Malamar and it admittedly has a cool weird design but what else is there to even say.

Mega Barbaracle (Rock/Fighting) - 72/140/130/64/106/88 (600 BST)
The last of the notable new mega typing changes, I recall Rock/Fighting or rather Terrakion being mentioned notably in the past for having a large spread of weaknesses and resistances alike, and this new Barbaracle seems to outdo Terrakion in all aspects but HP, SpA, and having less Speed. Disregarding typing, this mon immediately feels like a less healthier but faster Glastrier-like to me.

Mega Dragalge (Poison/Dragon) - 65/85/105/132/163/44 (594 BST):
Well it's still slow, and a notable SpD tank while still being balanced elsewhere which is kind of novel but not in high demand. It's not too bad resistance-wise either. Shame about the HP though.

Mega Hawlucha (Fighting/Flying) - 78/137/100/74/93/118 (600 BST):
Well its Attack and Defense both certainly did go up, while its SpA and Speed did not. Again I think compared to Pinsir its claim to fame is being slightly bulkier, and even compared to Barbaracle above it's pretty similar trading some Speed for Defense, but otherwise yeah I don't think they could have made Mega Hawlucha that much better for Metronome without severe minmaxing.

Mega Drampa (Normal/Dragon) - 78/85/110/160/116/36 (585 BST)
Here we have another slow mega with a big SpA stat which is respectable enough on its own. It's kind of like Mega Ampharos but has Normal STAB, so that's cool.

Mega Falinks (Fighting) - 65/135/135/70/65/100 (570 BST)
Another new high Atk/Def fighting type. Don't think this is making too many strides just compared to Barbaracle but it looks cool, though Barbaracle also looks pretty cool so tough call.

Overall: I feel like there's a fair share of interesting options. Just based on prerelease leaks I had a feeling the Grasses would be the main highlights here for me, maybe not quite new meta with their offensive lean, but more megas are nice in general and there may still be more to come in the DLC and any Champions adjustments proper, including learning what their manual mega abilities will be.

Just based off pure instinct I feel like Mega Chandelure is the standout new addition here based on the current meta in terms of adding on top of an existing niche of scary special Ghost while lowering Speed, but quite a few of these have a big stat in some areas to appeal to. Of course I could be off the mark with a lot of these expectations, but we'll just have to see later this week in practice when ZA releases for implementation to happen probably. Thanks for your reading and sticking around as we enter yet another new game release.

EDIT: In hindsight a closer comparison for Chandelure is really Mega Ampharos in terms of being a (less bulky but faster) special nuker, which is already pretty flattering, but being a base Ghost is pretty solid in its own right.

 

[doipy hooves]

The new Legends Z-A additions are officially available to use on Pokemon Showdown and Metronome Battles!

Spoiler

I just played a game with max SpA Mega Chandelures and they did deliver. Even if they're invisible.
https://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/gen9metronomebattle-2462579882

A look at the teambuilder sorted by BST on this day:

 

[sunlightbear]

figured i'd start messing around with the new megas, these two seem promising for the format

new eel feel (Eelektross-Mega) @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Magic Bounce
Tera Type: Grass
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Metronome

big leafgus (Victreebel-Mega) @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Flower Veil
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Metronome

 

[Pskaller]

Managed to top the ladder with this team. Friend Guard probably isn't the most optimal ability to use on Iron Hands -- but it does help boost Chandelure's defense. Fire/Ghost is a really good typing.

Iron Hands @ Choice Band
Ability: Friend Guard
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Sassy Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome

Chandelure-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Magic Guard
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome

 

[someone random]

Halloween is almost over but here's a spooky team that peaked ladder for the occasion!

Chandelure-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Plus
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

Chandelure-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Plus
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome
Mega Chandelure is a very promising addition to the format, with 175 special attack and its ghost typing. Its other stats are also very decent across the board, with its 60/110/110 bulk being noticeably higher than that of Mega Gengar, which makes up for it not being immune to poison. Because Chandelure already has some solid defensive utility, I went with a very simple build trying to maximise damage output with choice specs, plus/minus, and stellar tera. With this set up, most special moves can easily 2hko anything in the format.

On another note, I've also tried experimenting with tera Flying Aerilate Mega Pinsir for a strong physical attacker that could hit Ghost mons with Normal moves, but never got past low 1400s, I wonder if there's anything there with this set. Here's the team I had the most success with using the idea, though I'm not sure about the second slot at all.

 

[euph181215]

On another note, I've also tried experimenting with tera Flying Aerilate Mega Pinsir for a strong physical attacker that could hit Ghost mons with Normal moves, but never got past low 1400s, I wonder if there's anything there with this set. Here's the team I had the most success with using the idea, though I'm not sure about the second slot at all.

I've been toying around with Delta Stream/Mirror Herb/Quiet Pokestar UFO in the second slot and it works okay, but I feel like there's a better option out there

 

[doipy hooves]

Sorry I'm late (or at least delayed more than I'd wanted for myself); to put it simply I was feeling under the weather to start the month and readjusting to the end of daylight savings time, but now while being here I'll just keep this post moving wherever it goes and keeping it direct as best I can to at least finish what I start instead of letting it fester for much longer.
(In any case, I suppose it's timely enough to fall on today's notable occasion of Bonfire Night Eve, as a reminder to stay safe around any local gunpowder plots or so.)

October's usage stats will be covering just about less than half a month's worth of new Legends Z-A content additions as detailed below. I hope people can find something new to appreciate about this long awaited roster update with more yet to come in DLC and Champions next year.

(Also Metronome is kind of odd in Z-A, because it doesn't actually seem to have a cooldown time despite its move description, but it does effectively have double the startup time of both its calling animation and having to reposition and then take time to cast the called move itself.)

https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-10/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-10/moveset/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt

The battle count continues increasing again to 29984.

October 2025: 1630-weighted top 10 + last month positions
#1: Mega Heracross (no change)
#2: Mega Venusaur (#3)
#3: Mega Ampharos (#2)
#4: Ting-Lu (no change)
#5: Mega Chandelure (NEW) *
#6: Blissey (#7)
#7: Mega Abomasnow (#9)
#8: Mega Gengar (#5)
#9: Mega Eelektross (NEW) *
#10: Iron Hands (#8)

From the new Z-A additions, the higher BST megas have already made some standout first impressions with two new entrances. As expected and proven, Chandelure with 3236 uses (counted from the moveset file) slots right around Gengar's niche of max SpA stacking, while Eelektross (5378 uses/#4 in raw uses) boasts strong mixed offense potential with Galvanize/Download/Sheer Force/Magic Bounce and Clear Amulet/Mirror Herb/Life Orb/Magnet all getting notable representation. Overall it's a far cry to say where these might properly peak, but I could imagine Chandelure getting above Ting-Lu with a whole month's worth of usage with their weighted %s being close enough as is.

Outside of the top 10, Mega Meganium debuts at #16/1288 uses, showing Fluffy and Well-Baked Body above Flower Veil and Choice Specs prominently, a far cry from what Venusaur's main options look like. Speaking of which in the midst of all this, Venusaur has crept back up above Ampharos, with the latter's niche being more encroached on, though Heracross's 38% weighted usage and >15k raw uses may have still profited the most of all.

And just for the sake of it, I'll go over all of the rest of the new megas to see how they rank relative to each other in their collective debut.

going over the rest of the ZA mega debuts

Mega Drampa at #36 (860 uses)
Mega Dragalge at #43 (673 uses) (somehow under regular Dragalge with Intimidate @ Dragalgite at #40...)
Mega Scrafty at #57 (256 uses)
Mega Clefable at #60 (357 uses)
Mega Froslass at #68 (298 uses)
Mega Barbaracle at #75 (346 uses)
Mega Victreebel at #76 (455 uses)
Mega Falinks at #84 (233 uses)
Mega Hawlucha at #90 (202 uses)
Mega Scolipede at #102 (244 uses)
Mega Pyroar at #135 (153 uses)

And Mega Malamar sits at the very bottom of all megas at #299 (66 uses). Usually I would let the dead horse sleep, but at this point I more feel pity for it, even as a round-trip passenger on the hate train before knowing its stats and poor availability in ZA. Maybe it'll get some weird new ability in Champions or something to make up for it, or so they say.

In some ways, this month is quite the anomaly in terms of raw uses, with old mons rising up being somewhat explainable by the newfound attention. Even outside of Heracross spam, Mega Alakazam has shot up to 5913 uses putting it at #3 in raw counts, and also Iron Valiant and Shuckle are at #9 and #10 by raw uses (but all weighed down by their performance). I have to wonder if it's because Mega Alakazam is the very first mon shown in the teambuilder by default sorting and/or just Alakazam being a casual staple along with Iron Valiant/Shuckle as the result of some other incited trend I'm just not aware of.

Going over the moveset file and into the viability ceilings (highest GXE of anyone using that mon), Iron Hands leads with 84, with abilities of Ice Scales/Friend Guard (as mentioned above)/Purifying Salt leaning towards bulk/SpD, and Sassy and Choice Band reigning in other areas and a large variety of mega partners & Silvally-Ghost.

Following that at 83 are Mega Venusaur (with its main partner being Heracross in a Heracross month) and Mega Gallade (mostly max Atk Intrepid Sword/Band paired with Gardevoir), and 82 has more grasses with Mega Meganium and Necturna (still representing the Thick Fat sample team set). Viability ceiling 81 features a three-way tie between Mega Heracross, Blissey, (back to minimum offenses/speed representation) and 72 Rhydons (Sap Sipper/Eviolite/Relaxed minspeed/Ampharos partner).

Lastly to round out to ten mons, 80 has the duality of high BST ghosts between the new Mega Chandelure and the less new Dragapult still with its wide set variety (Ice Scales/Magic Bounce, Mirror Herb leading over Normalium Z/Weakness Policy). Thanks for your reading.

 

[someone random]

#9: Mega Eelektross (NEW) *

Mega Alakazam has shot up to 5913 uses putting it at #3 in raw counts, and also Iron Valiant and Shuckle are at #9 and #10 by raw uses (but all weighed down by their performance). I have to wonder if it's because Mega Alakazam is the very first mon shown in the teambuilder by default sorting and/or just Alakazam being a casual staple along with Iron Valiant/Shuckle as the result of some other incited trend I'm just not aware of.

There's a bot on metronome ladder that rotates between double Eelektross, Alakazam+Heracross, and Iron Valiant+Shuckle that's very likely the cause of the strange trends here. It has also taken at least 50 elo from me near the top of the ladder

 

[euph181215]

I've been toying around with Delta Stream/Mirror Herb/Quiet Pokestar UFO in the second slot and it works okay, but I feel like there's a better option out there

Actually the best thing about Pokestar UFO might be people on latter seeing it for the first time and getting confused

 

[doipy hooves]

With another December coming and going, the end of the year approaches once more. In terms of real life, despite the approaching holiday season and the opportunity to put off work that comes with it, I also usually find myself associating this point of time more about how this is when the days get their shortest (at least in the northern hemisphere) approaching the winter solstice. Maybe because it's around when I feel more self-conscious about looking both ways in the dark while crossing intersections for what difference it might make, and how it brings to mind how there are some gambles that just aren't worth it. At least in Metronome battles, you can only ever press one button per mon per turn, or two for a gimmick, and I suppose there's also the option to forfeit or log out.. but usually, it's only one choice that matters in the deciding moments.

As for official mons news, the upcoming Legends Z-A DLC update drops in just a few days on December 10th (or so, depending on timezones, but it's a simultaneous release, probably around 1 AM UTC). It seems like November will be the first and last full month of a meta with only basegame Z-A additions here, but I'm predicting not as much impact from the DLC to come either way. Just based on officially announced content, we have 2 Raichus that are still both pure Electric, and a bunch of banned Steel types/700 BST mega announcements, and the rest of the datamined list isn't looking too meta defining either. Of course, it really all comes down to the types and stats to come, and "Z Mega Evolution" having its own unique mechanics could translate to something completely different in the turn-based/Champions format, but that's a whole other bridge to cross.

And in a few subforums up above, there is a thread with some fuss about Ladder Bots and Usage-Based Tiering. Now Metronome Battle is not a usage-based tier, but it's no stranger to ladder bots with the ease of play, having a particularly noticeable impact this month (more on that later), and it doesn't seem like there's a path to definite action being taken about bots to come, but if anything does hypothetically change in the future regarding bots/stats then it might have its roots in this thread. I'm partly just noting this for myself, but I feel like things have been contained well enough here.

But for now, it's about time to go over the usage stats for November and see a full month's worth of stats with base Z-A's new additions.

https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-11/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt
https://www.smogon.com/stats/2025-11/moveset/gen9metronomebattle-1630.txt

The battle count dips a bit to 29412, though technically with one less day in the month the average battle count is actually a bit higher than October's.

November 2025: 1630-weighted top 10 + last month positions
#1: Mega Chandelure (#5) *
#2: Mega Heracross (#1)
#3: Blissey (#6)
#4: Mega Venusaur (#2)
#5: Mega Ampharos (#3)
#6: Ting-Lu (#4)
#7: Iron Hands (#10)
#8: Glastrier (#14)
#9: Mega Meganium (#16) *
#10: Mega Abomasnow (#7)

*These megas don't have minisprites yet. I don't know when they will, but if you're reading this in the future this text might show up as a sprite by then.
:chandelure-mega: :meganium-mega:

Well, Mega Chandelure certainly made it above Ting-Lu and then some, taking the top spot out from Heracross like a chandelier hanging from the ceiling but instead of a chain it's on fire instead. I suppose it does have the natural dual type advantage. Heracross still beats out Chandelure in raw usage (10340, counted from the moveset file), but Chandelure (8839) is just behind Heracross and in front of the rest in that regard as well, placing a respectable 3rd. The prime set still seems to be stacking SpA with Plus and Specs, with Magic Guard in a distant second. Chandelure seems to have a fair variety of partners beyond itself, with Iron Hands being second (based on the Friend Guard set earlier in the page) and also a fair bit of other mons having Chandelure as a high teammate and trying to SpA stack with it, like Mega Meganium and Drampa (more on that later).

By now one may be wondering who's in first, and it turns out it's none of the above in the weighted top 10 at least. It turns out that Mega Eelektross has clocked in with a raw count of 22200 appearances, of which I can only suspect the Canatics of the world are responsible for (and a certain bot). While Eelektross may have a solid handle on #1 in terms of raw usage, in the weighted stats it doesn't even place close to Chandelure, only managing #12 right below Pokestar UFO at #11 with 801 raw uses, which goes to show botted followers can't always carry a mon to glory, at least in the fey lands of Metronome. As an aside, the bot named "I Forgot I'm A Bot" seems to be responsible for the double Eelektross devotion, running Sword of Ruin/Bead of Ruin (lowering both defenses). According to the raw moveset stats, these abilities on Eelektross account for about 90% of Eelektross usage (and are Hasty/Clear Amulet/tera Ghost), but the weighted moveset stats do show that the Ruin abilities only end up counting for about ~17% after weighting. Even so, it's still worth noting as a common mon you can expect to face anywhere around mid-ladder with the bot still running in this month.

Just below Eelektross is also Dragonite at #13 (1026 uses), which is kind of a dark horse in terms of not being mentioned as a high usage representative in a while, but I do respect its Aerilate offenses even if it doesn't get to mega here. Of course, mons like Silvally-Ghost (#18) and Dhelmise (#23) are still punching about their raw usage class in the low hundreds, with Dhelmise even one place above its shared-type rival Necturna.

Back to the top 10, Blissey has shifted back into popularity as well, pushing Mega Venusaur and Ampharos down from what used to be their top three contender slots for several months going now. I do want to shout out Mega Meganium this month for making a modest movement from just outside the top ranks as well, an outcome I wasn't expecting as much but can appreciate it finding its own direction from Venusaur, having the expected Flower Veil usage but also Plus and Pixilate representation, as well as Mirror Herb and Choice Specs placing above Weakness Policy, and being Venusaur's most common teammate (and vice versa for Venusaur as Meganium's teammate) with Chandelure in a closer second.

Just beyond that, I also want to shout out Mega Drampa as the next highest new Z-A mega at #26/951 uses, and actually running Minus (with no Plus in sight) as its favoured stacking ability, along with a Chandelure partner. Even Mega Dragalge isn't too far behind at #31/662 uses, which seems to be rocking Filter/Mirror Herb/Brave these days now and is paired up more so with Mega Ampharos or Type: Null. Noticing it is more than I expected at any rate, but I suppose having low speed and a high BST is always worth trying.

Shifting gears to the moveset file and straight towards the viability ceilings (the maximum GXE any player of that mon achieved), this month caps out at 83 with classic Imposter Blissey, though Mystery Berry, or as it's called in Gen 2 MYSTERYBERRY is making a resurgence with 27% of item share over Leppa. Technically it does only restore 5 PP which is optimal against Bug Bites or Pluck or so, but I don't know if that ever really matters when you're already using a Blissey that'll run out of PP first anyway, or even in a mirror match one side will cap out at 5 PP still. Feel free to let me know if or how there's some other way MysteryBerry has ever made a practical difference compared to having Leppa Berry in a match.

(Also Rhydon is tied for ceiling 83 even with 55 uses. It has a lot of Sap Sipper/Eviolite/Relaxed minspeed use with a Mega Ampharos partner but I assume this placement is probably more because of a Blissey player.)

Viability ceiling 82 has some of the more classic but humble performers of Iron Hands (Friend Guard as mentioned), Glastrier (fairly split between Refrigerate/Defiant/Aerilate/Intimidate), and Silvally-Ghost (very much Ice Scales, notable Relaxed/Brave split, and 92% Mirror Herb with a 4.20% of holding Nothing, probably with Magician.) In terms of pairings, Silvally's teammates show the other two (but not itself), while Glastrier is primarily with itself, and Iron Hands is with Chandelure but both do recognize Silvally in 2nd (but not the other).

Following that in ceiling 81 are the mega grass starters of Meganium and Venusaur, a formidable duo of their own. Compared to Meganium's offensive adventures, Mega Venusaur seems to be favouring Flower Veil by far, and Meganium has risen to become its main partner for the month over even Necturna, Ting-Lu, Heracross, and Venusaur itself.

Lastly to make an unbaked dozen in ceiling 80, we have Mega Heracross (mainly Intrepid Sword, but Mind's Eye's barely under Defiant around 12%), Mega Ampharos (Good as Gold leading, but Plus and Minus combine to about double it), Ting-Lu (Ice Scales overtaking Magic Bounce), Dusclops (Friend Guard/Power Spot/Magic Bounce rep, bonkstall Type: Null main teammate but followed by Mega Gallade), and Necturna (Magic Bounce/Simple/Flower Veil over sample Thick Fat). Thanks for your reading.

 

[doipy hooves]

So the Legends Z-A Mega Dimension DLC has released today, and instead of actually getting around to finishing the main campaign, I'll be going over all the new legal additions to Metronome Battles below. As this is an official release, I will be forgoing spoiler tags but putting a bunch of line breaks below this paragraph, so stop reading this thread or PS if you don't want to know what most of the new megas are yet. But if you do want to know, then check out https://gist.github.com/SciresM/29577c5a59a3be14377484e13cbd9557 for all the updated personal stats.










NEW MONS
Mega Meowstics (Psychic) - 74/48/76/143/101/124 (566 BST)
It's a fast Psychic with attitude, and also technically this is still two forms but with the same stats. I think Mega Froslass is mostly this but with notably more attack and single digits less in the other stats.

Mega Tatsugiris (Dragon/Water) - 68/65/90/135/125/92 (575 BST)
Tatsugiri mostly got bulk, has the highest SpD of the Water/Dragons but still kind of a sidegrade to Walking Wake in terms of having less HP/Attack. Hopefully this doesn't have some new crazy Commander-type ability again. Also I had to remind myself what these formes are called just to type in those minisprites.

Mega Raichu X (Electric) - 60/135/95/90/95/110 (585 BST)
Mega Raichu Y (Electric) - 60/100/55/160/80/130 (585 BST)
The fast physical Electric Raichu and the fast special Electric Raichu. Well, they're actually both kind of mixed, neither to the degree of Eelektross individually, but I guess Raichu Y at least has one of the more notably higher SpAs even though it competes with more minmaxed mons in that regard.

Mega Absol Z (Dark/Ghost) - 65/154/60/75/60/151 (565 BST) (hey, there's already a Mega Absol minisprite, I guess)
Another Dark/Ghost has entered the metagame, and this one is a very fast offensive attacker on top of whatever being a Z-mega does. Dark/Ghost is a pretty legendary typing, carrying the likes of Sableye and Spiritomb and their mid-400 BSTs and enough to get Pokestar Spirit banned, so it'll be interesting to see if it can synergize with a full-on glass cannon style for a first time. It probably pulls it off better than Hisuian Zoroark, I imagine.

Otherwise compared to base Mega Absol, it's mostly traded SpA for Speed and a little bit of Attack to hit 151 Speed, which most people would say is better, but is arguably a downgrade in a Metronome context.

(EDIT: I do want to specifically mention why Dark/Ghost is so good because of its defensive matchups of common immunities/resistance* and only 1 weakness to Fairy, the rarest move type outside of Pixilate strats. And also this Absol has both one of the higher Attack and Speed stats in the game which isn't nothing, though it could be pointed out that Sableye/Spiritomb make up for their BSTs by being that slow.)

Mega Staraptor (Fighting/Flying) - 85/140/100/60/90/110 (585 BST)
Bird up. Honestly this new typing and statline looks very similar to Mega Hawlucha, mostly with less SpA.

Mega Golurk (Ground/Ghost) - 89/159/105/70/105/55 (583 BST)
It's not mentioned much these days, but the idea of Golurk has always stuck around to me because it was the subject of a post 6 years ago by lighthouse64 about stacking the most type immunities on one mon thanks to its natural immunities from Ghost and Ground, and this was before Desolate Land was around too.

Max Type immunity for one mon:
Golurk @ Air Balloon Ability: Flash Fire Hidden Power: Ground EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe Relaxed Nature - Metronome Sableye-Mega @ Bright Powder Ability: Storm Drain Hidden Power: Dark EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD Relaxed Nature - Metronome
I chose Golurk because ghost obviously has the most type immunities, and I found out that ground has the second most. Then, I chose flash fire instead of sap sipper because there are more offensive fire type moves than grass type moves. Storm drain is to cover water, and the air balloon is to have an extra immunity for as long as possible.

I think this is actually a pretty respectable upgrade to Golurk to make its BST competitive, still being slow and relatively bulky but with quite the Attack stat now putting it in top 10 Attack territory just above the 150s, and it can potentially cover its weaknesses fairly well with some combinations of Sap Sipper/Storm Drain/Desolate Land.

Mega Scovillain (Grass/Fire) - 65/138/85/138/85/75 (586 BST)
Apparently I never went over Scovillain back when SV dropped. Out of the Grass/Fires it's certainly the most mixed and best special attacker of them all, arguably surpassing Pyroak by now (though it still does have big HP) but maybe not Ogerpon-Hearthflame entirely, and this also just reminds me of when Eviolite Flarelm was a thing if anyone else remembers that.

Mega Crabominable (Fighting/Ice) - 97/157/122/62/107/33 (578 BST)
Well, it's a slow physical attacker that's fairly bulky. I imagine if you tera out you could get more mileage out of it, but also you could be Golurk who's pretty similar but with a better base typing. I guess this mon can also run some Refrigerate STAB stuff if it wants.

Mega Golisopod (Bug/Steel) - 75/150/175/70/120/40 (630 BST)
Okay this mon is actually doubly illegal because it's barely over 625 BST and gaining a new Steel type, but just look at that stat spread...! Another defensive behemoth rejected.

Mega Glimmora (Rock/Poison) - 83/90/105/150/96/101 (625 BST)
Last but not least, Mega Glimmora hits the exact sweet spot of 625 BST, and gets a pretty major upgrade all around but especially in its offenses and +35 Attack for a fairly balanced statspread along with a decently big SpA stat. Rock/Poison does have a fair share of resists including Normal and poison immunity, and you can mitigate a Ground weakness for the cost of running Levitate. Or just tera out. I called the base mon Nihilego 2 in SV, but by now I would say it fares much better than Nihilego on the physical ends.

I don't actually know if there are any new held items yet, but we'll have to wait for Champions to see if and how they truly impact the turn-based meta. So I think I'll leave it on that note for now, but if anything else comes up I'll just make another post, and feel free to comment what you're thinking about these mons. I know there's some stuff I wasn't expecting much from this list but I can still appreciate, mostly the new ghosts that go pretty hard, but it's still a nice surprise all in all to see more additions and so soon. Thanks for your reading.

 

[Lectrys]

Mega Golurk actually might give Mega Chandelure some competition, with nice bulk, serviceable Special Attack to go with that meaty Attack, a Weakness Policy-friendly typing, and more intuitive ability and item choices due to its physical lean (Intrepid Sword, Choice Band, the works). Mega Chandelure still pulls off Fluffy better, but it seems that offensive abilities are more common on it.

Part of me fears that Mega Absol Z will go the way of Mega Gengar, due to its frailty and similarly lopsided offences. Part of me wants to try Mega Absol Z anyway.

 

[Methridium]

Mega Golurk (Ground/Ghost) - 89/159/105/70/105/55 (583 BST)
It's not mentioned much these days, but the idea of Golurk has always stuck around to me because it was the subject of a post 6 years ago by lighthouse64 about stacking the most type immunities on one mon thanks to its natural immunities from Ghost and Ground, and this was before Desolate Land was around too.

I think this is actually a pretty respectable upgrade to Golurk to make its BST competitive, still being slow and relatively bulky but with quite the Attack stat now putting it in top 10 Attack territory just above the 150s, and it can potentially cover its weaknesses fairly well with some combinations of Sap Sipper/Storm Drain/Desolate Land.

I think you're underselling it, this is the best mon to hit Metronome since Pecharunt. Between the stats and typing, this is THE non-Tera slot on everything from non-special stack HO to all manner of balance builds, while also being a more devastating Stellar abuser than the peach ever was. I don't know if it's quickban worthy, but I don't expect it to be a healthy presence, it's gone sooner or later.

Golurk HO

Golurk-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Sword of Ruin
Shiny: Yes
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Brave Nature
- Metronome

Golurk-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Intrepid Sword
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Brave Nature
- Metronome

Golurk Scales

Eelektross-Mega @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Relaxed Nature
- Metronome

Golurk-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome

Mega Crabominable (Fighting/Ice) - 97/157/122/62/107/33 (578 BST)
Well, it's a slow physical attacker that's fairly bulky. I imagine if you tera out you could get more mileage out of it, but also you could be Golurk who's pretty similar but with a better base typing. I guess this mon can also run some Refrigerate STAB stuff if it wants.

Crabominable is the other notable addition here to me, fitting cleanly into Iron Hands and Glastrier's niche as a Tera Ghost bulky attacker, with the highest damage output of the bunch in exchange for the lowest bulk. Unfortunately, Golurk is stiff competition, Intim Herb is the only style I can think of where Crab has the edge right now.

Crab Chimera

Crabominable-Mega @ Choice Band
Ability: Intimidate
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Brave Nature
IVs: 0 Spe
- Metronome

Silvally-Ghost @ Mirror Herb
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Brave Nature
- Metronome

Also, while I don't think it's a good mon generally, Staraptor's temporary mega abil until they're confirmed should be Intimidate, which could let it pull some manual mega shenanigans, starting in base form with Intrepid Sword or Dauntless Shield. Similarly, Absol could also be really funny with Dauntless Shield + Pressure if they forget to ban it.

Also take a bonus team I've 1500'd with twice since I don't think I've posted it anywhere yet.

Fat Chandy BO

Ampharos-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Beads of Ruin
Tera Type: Ghost
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

Chandelure-Mega @ Choice Specs
Ability: Ice Scales
Tera Type: Stellar
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Quiet Nature
- Metronome

 

[doipy hooves]

Also, while I don't think it's a good mon generally, Staraptor's temporary mega abil until they're confirmed should be Intimidate, which could let it pull some manual mega shenanigans, starting in base form with Intrepid Sword or Dauntless Shield. Similarly, Absol could also be really funny with Dauntless Shield + Pressure if they forget to ban it.

Technically Absol-2's ability is already set as Magic Bounce x3 in the Z-A personal data, probably because they built it over Mega Absol*.
I don't actually know if PS is going to use that instead of continuing with their established precedent though, but that's a good catch that'll probably need to be manually added if so.

*(And/or just because it's the last form in order, because the Raichus both have Surge Surfer following Alolan Raichu and the Meowstics both copy Meowstic-F/-1's Competitive HA.)

Also I see your points about Golurk and I do have to admit that my bias for potential mon gimmicks is showing there and it's probably another very standout presence for the Ghost types this year that flies close to Heracross's star and all.
And also after seeing what Mega Golurk's ingame model looks like, I could reasonably picture that kind of beast wreaking havoc upon ladder.

 

[sunlightbear]

oh yeah mega golurk looks nuts, very excited to start using it