[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-8 points
**Overview**: Yanmega is a deceptively strong offensive threat. Despite its mediocre base stats and undesirable typing, it can make use of its abilities to reach blistering speeds or gain effectively unresisted STAB attacks. Although it's outclassed by many other Tera Captains, Terastallization makes it significantly more viable, allowing it to shed its weaknesses and gain much-needed coverage. Unfortunately, it still needs to watch out for Stealth Rock if it hasn't Terastallized yet, making it difficult to run valuable items that aren't Heavy-Duty Boots.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: Tinted Lens, especially when paired with items like Choice Specs, allows Yanmega to easily punch holes in opposing drafts. It can also use Speed Boost and a damage-boosting item like Throat Spray to force KOs on bulky foes.
**Setup Sweeper**: Yanmega can become difficult to revenge kill after a few turns of Speed Boost. Throat Spray can give it extra power to close out games.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Bug Buzz, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: See Niche Moves
**Utility Moves**: Protect, U-turn
**Coverage**: Tera Blast, Psychic, Psychic Noise, Shadow Ball, Giga Drain, Ancient Power
Niche Moves
========
**Swords Dance**: Despite Yanmega's somewhat-low Attack, it can use Terastallization and Speed Boost to quickly become a physical threat with Swords Dance. It doesn't have a large physical movepool either, but Leech Life, Dual Wingbeat, and Tera Blast are all solid options.
**Hypnosis**: Hypnosis is used to put a bulky foe out of commission for a few turns, giving Yanmega or a teammate time to set up.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Yanmega's massive weakness to Stealth Rock makes Heavy-Duty Boots a safe choice, especially if its teammates lack reliable entry hazard removal.
**Choice Specs**: Choice Specs and Tinted Lens make Yanmega's STAB attacks incredibly difficult to handle. In some matchups, Speed Boost can be run with Choice Specs instead to make it more difficult to revenge kill.
**Throat Spray**: Throat Spray is Yanmega's best way to boost its Special Attack without locking into one move, considering it often wants to use Bug Buzz anyways. It is typically ran on Speed Boost sets to stack boosts.
Niche Items
========
**Leftovers / Sitrus Berry**: Healing items can help Yanmega set up with Swords Dance. Leftovers has synergy with Protect, giving it some extra HP as it stalls turns to take advantage of Speed Boost. Sitrus Berry provides more HP on sets that don't expect to stick around as long.
**Choice Scarf**: Yanmega can opt to gain Speed from a Choice Scarf, allowing it to revenge kill more relevant attackers while using Tinted Lens to deal consistent damage.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb can be used over Throat Spray if a Speed Boost set can't fit Bug Buzz.
Tera
========
Yanmega is an excellent secondary Tera Captain. Many Tera types like Tera Fairy, Electric, Water, and Ground help it defensively while making Tera Blast a strong coverage option, while Tera Bug and Flying can be used to further boost the power of Tinted Lens sets. However, Yanmega is often reliant on Tera, making it difficult to run with a higher-tier Captain that wants to Terastallize much more frequently.
Draft Strategy
========
Drafts seeking extra offense and a secondary Tera Captain should consider Yanmega, though it provides effectively no utility or defense.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: Strong entry hazard removal from teammates like Great Tusk, Quaquaval, and Terapagos make Yanmega far less reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots, allowing it to run offensive items and be more dangerous.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: Yanmega has somewhat-limited setup potential while needing to land KOs to avoid counterattacks. Entry hazards can help wear down teams and allow it to sweep.
Checks and Counters
========
**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock being on the field means that Yanmega either starts at 50% HP or is forced to use Heavy-Duty Boots, making it much easier to deal with.
**Priority**: Yanmega's bulk is quite lacking, so it still has to fear priority attacks after boosting its Speed.
**Steel-type Pokemon**: Yanmega lacks coverage to hit Steel-types super effectively, so it often needs to pick a Tera type for them on Speed Boost sets.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Even with Choice Specs or Throat Spray, Yanmega can be stopped by special tanks like Galarian Slowking, Tentacruel, and Tinkaton.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 6-8 points
**Overview**: Yanmega is a deceptively strong offensive threat. Despite its mediocre base stats and undesirable typing, it can make use of its abilities to reach blistering speeds or gain effectively unresisted STAB attacks. Although it's outclassed by many other Tera Captains, Terastallization makes it significantly more viable, allowing it to shed its weaknesses and gain much-needed coverage. Unfortunately, it still needs to watch out for Stealth Rock if it hasn't Terastallized yet, making it difficult to run valuable items that aren't Heavy-Duty Boots.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Wallbreaker**: Tinted Lens, especially when paired with items like Choice Specs, allows Yanmega to easily punch holes in opposing drafts. It can also use Speed Boost and a damage-boosting item like Throat Spray to force KOs on bulky foes.
**Setup Sweeper**: Yanmega can become difficult to revenge kill after a few turns of Speed Boost. Throat Spray can give it extra power to close out games.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Bug Buzz, Air Slash
**Setup Moves**: See Niche Moves
**Utility Moves**: Protect, U-turn
**Coverage**: Tera Blast, Psychic, Psychic Noise, Shadow Ball, Giga Drain, Ancient Power
Niche Moves
========
**Swords Dance**: Despite Yanmega's somewhat-low Attack, it can use Terastallization and Speed Boost to quickly become a physical threat with Swords Dance. It doesn't have a large physical movepool either, but Leech Life, Dual Wingbeat, and Tera Blast are all solid options.
**Hypnosis**: Hypnosis is used to put a bulky foe out of commission for a few turns, giving Yanmega or a teammate time to set up.
Common Items
========
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Yanmega's massive weakness to Stealth Rock makes Heavy-Duty Boots a safe choice, especially if its teammates lack reliable entry hazard removal.
**Choice Specs**: Choice Specs and Tinted Lens make Yanmega's STAB attacks incredibly difficult to handle. In some matchups, Speed Boost can be run with Choice Specs instead to make it more difficult to revenge kill.
**Throat Spray**: Throat Spray is Yanmega's best way to boost its Special Attack without locking into one move, considering it often wants to use Bug Buzz anyways. It is typically ran on Speed Boost sets to stack boosts.
Niche Items
========
**Leftovers / Sitrus Berry**: Healing items can help Yanmega set up with Swords Dance. Leftovers has synergy with Protect, giving it some extra HP as it stalls turns to take advantage of Speed Boost. Sitrus Berry provides more HP on sets that don't expect to stick around as long.
**Choice Scarf**: Yanmega can opt to gain Speed from a Choice Scarf, allowing it to revenge kill more relevant attackers while using Tinted Lens to deal consistent damage.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Items like Life Orb can be used over Throat Spray if a Speed Boost set can't fit Bug Buzz.
Tera
========
Yanmega is an excellent secondary Tera Captain. Many Tera types like Tera Fairy, Electric, Water, and Ground help it defensively while making Tera Blast a strong coverage option, while Tera Bug and Flying can be used to further boost the power of Tinted Lens sets. However, Yanmega is often reliant on Tera, making it difficult to run with a higher-tier Captain that wants to Terastallize much more frequently.
Draft Strategy
========
Drafts seeking extra offense and a secondary Tera Captain should consider Yanmega, though it provides effectively no utility or defense.
**Entry Hazard Removal**: Strong entry hazard removal from teammates like Great Tusk, Quaquaval, and Terapagos make Yanmega far less reliant on Heavy-Duty Boots, allowing it to run offensive items and be more dangerous.
**Entry Hazard Setters**: Yanmega has somewhat-limited setup potential while needing to land KOs to avoid counterattacks. Entry hazards can help wear down teams and allow it to sweep.
Checks and Counters
========
**Stealth Rock**: Stealth Rock being on the field means that Yanmega either starts at 50% HP or is forced to use Heavy-Duty Boots, making it much easier to deal with.
**Priority**: Yanmega's bulk is quite lacking, so it still has to fear priority attacks after boosting its Speed.
**Steel-type Pokemon**: Yanmega lacks coverage to hit Steel-types super effectively, so it often needs to pick a Tera type for them on Speed Boost sets.
**Specially Defensive Pokemon**: Even with Choice Specs or Throat Spray, Yanmega can be stopped by special tanks like Galarian Slowking, Tentacruel, and Tinkaton.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/nyx.564960/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Last edited:
