[OVERVIEW]
Miraidon serves as a useful utility Pokemon in the tier through its great Speed tier and typing. These traits allow Miraidon to effectively force out slower threats like Eternatus, Ultra Necrozma, and Ash-Greninja. Depending on its ability, it can act as a strong, durable offensive presence or a solid physical wall capable of checking threats like Mega Blaziken and Ash-Greninja. Thunder Cage helps Miraidon to distinguish itself from other Dragon-types by letting it run useful utility moves over coverage moves. However, due to this, Miraidon tends to rely heavily on Thunder Cage to make progress, resulting in it being thwarted by defensive pivots like Ting-Lu and Magic Guard Blissey and Chansey, the latter two also greatly limiting its recovery from Strength Sap. Miraidon is also susceptible to letting threats like Mega Gardevoir in, and Fur Coat sets are undermined by their inability to check one of the tier's most prominent physical attackers in Mega Garchomp.
[SET]
Utility (Miraidon) @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots / Covert Cloak
Ability: Magic Guard / Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Thunder Cage
- Dragon Energy
- Encore
[SET COMMENTS]
Strength Sap is necessary to keep Miraidon healthy and maintain Dragon Energy's base power. Thunder Cage is excellent at forcing progress onto walls like Ice Scales Mega Audino. Dragon Energy allows Miraidon to force out Dragon-types like Eternatus and Mega Garchomp, as well as dissuading Imposter users from switching in. Encore is a fantastic utility move, allowing Miraidon to force out Arceus formes locked into Take Heart, as well as locking walls like Mega Audino and Chansey into recovery moves. It also synergizes extremely well with Thunder Cage, forcing RegenVest users like Dialga-O and Registeel to pivot out immediately if they switch in on Thunder Cage, as otherwise they would be trapped and KOed. Magic Guard negates damage from entry hazards, Salt Cure, status conditions like poison from Mortal Spin, and Life Orb recoil damage, allowing Miraidon to hit benchmarks like 2HKOing Dialga-O without Assault Vest. Alternatively, Fur Coat lets Miraidon act as a switch-in for physical attackers like Mega Blaziken and Sniper Ash-Greninja. For Fur Coat sets, Heavy-Duty Boots is usually the item of choice, though Covert Cloak lets Miraidon switch into Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and RegenVest users without fear of Mortal Spin and Salt Cure.
Miraidon can fit on a variety of balance structures due to its role compression. It provides solid offensive pressure to supplement other wallbreakers or to act as a long-term wincon on hazard stack teams; the Magic Guard set naturally fits on the latter thanks to its immunity to entry hazards. For the former, special attackers like Mega Gardevoir appreciate Miraidon pressuring shared special walls like Ice Scales Mega Audino and RegenVest Registeel, while for the latter, Spikes setters like Arceus-Ghost and Flutter Mane pair well with it. Both can also help pressure Chansey and Blissey. Imposter users and RegenVest Pokemon like Ting-Lu can often trade Knock Offs against opposing RegenVest Pokemon like Dialga-O and Ting-Lu, allowing Miraidon to break past them. RegenVest users also can provide Stone Axe support to capitalize on the switches Miraidon's Thunder Cage can force, as well as safely pivoting in Encore sets against setup Pokemon like Take Heart Arceus formes. Fur Coat Miraidon cannot check Mega Garchomp, requiring either a second Fur Coat user or alternative switch-ins to Mega Garchomp's STAB moves, such as Levitate Steel-types and physically defensive Regenerator Pokemon like Mega Slowbro or Ting-Lu. Encore can make Miraidon tricky to Imposter-proof without somewhat niche sets like Regenerator Blissey or Magic Bounce Clodsire; utility Flutter Mane sets cannot be trapped and have good special bulk to take Thunder Cage while retaliating with utility moves or Fairy-type STAB moves. Pivots such as Chansey, Blissey, and RegenVest users can safely bring in offensive checks like Mega Gardevoir and Flutter Mane, with Chansey and Blissey also denying Imposter recovery, while Ground-types like Ting-Lu and Mega Swampert are immune to trapping from Thunder Cage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Scales is a viable ability for Miraidon, allowing it to better check threats like Arceus-Steel and Sheer Force Ash-Greninja, though it cannot be the main special wall on a team due to its weakness to most prominent special wallbreakers. Miraidon's last moveslot is flexible. Torch Song compresses coverage against Steel-types and boosts Miraidon's Special Attack to potentially muscle past switch-ins like RegenVest Ting-Lu, as well as clean teams late-game. Mortal Spin pressures certain checks like Ting-Lu, but Miraidon does not pressure most Steel-types outside of Celesteela effectively enough to serve as a viable removal option. Knock Off is useful primarily to remove Assault Vests, but can also remove other items like Eviolite from Chansey and Heavy-Duty Boots, and allows Miraidon to be more potent as a support for specially offensive teammates or as a long-term wincon, especially when supported by entry hazards. Shore Up over Strength Sap can let Miraidon recover against walls like Chansey and Magic Bounce users, but it means Imposter is significantly more annoying without resorting to speed ties.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Chansey and Blissey**: Chansey and Blissey have astronomical special bulk, almost always running Magic Guard to negate Thunder Cage's trapping damage, preventing Miraidon from recovering by limiting Strength Sap recovery, and greatly reducing Miraidon's Dragon Energy power with Ruination. However, non-Regenerator sets must be wary of recovering while being trapped, as Miraidon can use Encore to quickly drain recovery PP.
**Clodsire**: Clodsire is immune to Thunder Cage and always runs Magic Bounce, blocking Strength Sap and Encore. It cannot switch into Life Orb-boosted full-power Dragon Energy, but if Miraidon is chipped, it can fully shut Miraidon down.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types are immune to Dragon Energy and can hit Miraidon back super effectively. Ice Scales Mega Audino doesn't like taking repeated Thunder Cage chip damage long-term, but it has no issues switching in. Arceus-Fairy and Flutter Mane both have natural special bulk and recovery to take repeated Thunder Cages while retaliating with Fairy-type STAB moves. Mega Gardevoir does not want to switch in directly, but it can use Miraidon as an entry point to wallbreak.
**Faster Pokemon**: Miraidon is susceptible to faster Pokemon that can greatly threaten it, including Mega Alakazam, Mega Sceptile, and both Zacian formes.
**RegenVest Pokemon**: While they cannot stay in to use utility moves like Stone Axe in fear of Encore, select RegenVest users like Registeel and Dialga-O generally can switch into Miraidon and pivot a teammate in safely, such as one of the aforementioned offensive threats. Ting-Lu deserves a special mention for being immune to Thunder Cage and is thus able to threaten Miraidon with moves like Knock Off. However, other than Registeel, the other RegenVest users cannot switch in if their Assault Vest has been removed.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/chessking345.355040/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rightclicker.589755/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sammyce123.563422/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
Miraidon serves as a useful utility Pokemon in the tier through its great Speed tier and typing. These traits allow Miraidon to effectively force out slower threats like Eternatus, Ultra Necrozma, and Ash-Greninja. Depending on its ability, it can act as a strong, durable offensive presence or a solid physical wall capable of checking threats like Mega Blaziken and Ash-Greninja. Thunder Cage helps Miraidon to distinguish itself from other Dragon-types by letting it run useful utility moves over coverage moves. However, due to this, Miraidon tends to rely heavily on Thunder Cage to make progress, resulting in it being thwarted by defensive pivots like Ting-Lu and Magic Guard Blissey and Chansey, the latter two also greatly limiting its recovery from Strength Sap. Miraidon is also susceptible to letting threats like Mega Gardevoir in, and Fur Coat sets are undermined by their inability to check one of the tier's most prominent physical attackers in Mega Garchomp.
[SET]
Utility (Miraidon) @ Life Orb / Heavy-Duty Boots / Covert Cloak
Ability: Magic Guard / Fur Coat
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpA / 252 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Strength Sap
- Thunder Cage
- Dragon Energy
- Encore
[SET COMMENTS]
Strength Sap is necessary to keep Miraidon healthy and maintain Dragon Energy's base power. Thunder Cage is excellent at forcing progress onto walls like Ice Scales Mega Audino. Dragon Energy allows Miraidon to force out Dragon-types like Eternatus and Mega Garchomp, as well as dissuading Imposter users from switching in. Encore is a fantastic utility move, allowing Miraidon to force out Arceus formes locked into Take Heart, as well as locking walls like Mega Audino and Chansey into recovery moves. It also synergizes extremely well with Thunder Cage, forcing RegenVest users like Dialga-O and Registeel to pivot out immediately if they switch in on Thunder Cage, as otherwise they would be trapped and KOed. Magic Guard negates damage from entry hazards, Salt Cure, status conditions like poison from Mortal Spin, and Life Orb recoil damage, allowing Miraidon to hit benchmarks like 2HKOing Dialga-O without Assault Vest. Alternatively, Fur Coat lets Miraidon act as a switch-in for physical attackers like Mega Blaziken and Sniper Ash-Greninja. For Fur Coat sets, Heavy-Duty Boots is usually the item of choice, though Covert Cloak lets Miraidon switch into Pokemon such as Ho-Oh and RegenVest users without fear of Mortal Spin and Salt Cure.
Miraidon can fit on a variety of balance structures due to its role compression. It provides solid offensive pressure to supplement other wallbreakers or to act as a long-term wincon on hazard stack teams; the Magic Guard set naturally fits on the latter thanks to its immunity to entry hazards. For the former, special attackers like Mega Gardevoir appreciate Miraidon pressuring shared special walls like Ice Scales Mega Audino and RegenVest Registeel, while for the latter, Spikes setters like Arceus-Ghost and Flutter Mane pair well with it. Both can also help pressure Chansey and Blissey. Imposter users and RegenVest Pokemon like Ting-Lu can often trade Knock Offs against opposing RegenVest Pokemon like Dialga-O and Ting-Lu, allowing Miraidon to break past them. RegenVest users also can provide Stone Axe support to capitalize on the switches Miraidon's Thunder Cage can force, as well as safely pivoting in Encore sets against setup Pokemon like Take Heart Arceus formes. Fur Coat Miraidon cannot check Mega Garchomp, requiring either a second Fur Coat user or alternative switch-ins to Mega Garchomp's STAB moves, such as Levitate Steel-types and physically defensive Regenerator Pokemon like Mega Slowbro or Ting-Lu. Encore can make Miraidon tricky to Imposter-proof without somewhat niche sets like Regenerator Blissey or Magic Bounce Clodsire; utility Flutter Mane sets cannot be trapped and have good special bulk to take Thunder Cage while retaliating with utility moves or Fairy-type STAB moves. Pivots such as Chansey, Blissey, and RegenVest users can safely bring in offensive checks like Mega Gardevoir and Flutter Mane, with Chansey and Blissey also denying Imposter recovery, while Ground-types like Ting-Lu and Mega Swampert are immune to trapping from Thunder Cage.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Ice Scales is a viable ability for Miraidon, allowing it to better check threats like Arceus-Steel and Sheer Force Ash-Greninja, though it cannot be the main special wall on a team due to its weakness to most prominent special wallbreakers. Miraidon's last moveslot is flexible. Torch Song compresses coverage against Steel-types and boosts Miraidon's Special Attack to potentially muscle past switch-ins like RegenVest Ting-Lu, as well as clean teams late-game. Mortal Spin pressures certain checks like Ting-Lu, but Miraidon does not pressure most Steel-types outside of Celesteela effectively enough to serve as a viable removal option. Knock Off is useful primarily to remove Assault Vests, but can also remove other items like Eviolite from Chansey and Heavy-Duty Boots, and allows Miraidon to be more potent as a support for specially offensive teammates or as a long-term wincon, especially when supported by entry hazards. Shore Up over Strength Sap can let Miraidon recover against walls like Chansey and Magic Bounce users, but it means Imposter is significantly more annoying without resorting to speed ties.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Chansey and Blissey**: Chansey and Blissey have astronomical special bulk, almost always running Magic Guard to negate Thunder Cage's trapping damage, preventing Miraidon from recovering by limiting Strength Sap recovery, and greatly reducing Miraidon's Dragon Energy power with Ruination. However, non-Regenerator sets must be wary of recovering while being trapped, as Miraidon can use Encore to quickly drain recovery PP.
**Clodsire**: Clodsire is immune to Thunder Cage and always runs Magic Bounce, blocking Strength Sap and Encore. It cannot switch into Life Orb-boosted full-power Dragon Energy, but if Miraidon is chipped, it can fully shut Miraidon down.
**Fairy-types**: Fairy-types are immune to Dragon Energy and can hit Miraidon back super effectively. Ice Scales Mega Audino doesn't like taking repeated Thunder Cage chip damage long-term, but it has no issues switching in. Arceus-Fairy and Flutter Mane both have natural special bulk and recovery to take repeated Thunder Cages while retaliating with Fairy-type STAB moves. Mega Gardevoir does not want to switch in directly, but it can use Miraidon as an entry point to wallbreak.
**Faster Pokemon**: Miraidon is susceptible to faster Pokemon that can greatly threaten it, including Mega Alakazam, Mega Sceptile, and both Zacian formes.
**RegenVest Pokemon**: While they cannot stay in to use utility moves like Stone Axe in fear of Encore, select RegenVest users like Registeel and Dialga-O generally can switch into Miraidon and pivot a teammate in safely, such as one of the aforementioned offensive threats. Ting-Lu deserves a special mention for being immune to Thunder Cage and is thus able to threaten Miraidon with moves like Knock Off. However, other than Registeel, the other RegenVest users cannot switch in if their Assault Vest has been removed.
[CREDITS]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/chessking345.355040/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/rightclicker.589755/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sammyce123.563422/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/sunny004.197240/
Last edited:
