Nuked
a moon full of stars and astral cars
[OVERVIEW]
Mega Metagross has a good Steel / Psychic defensive typing which gives it key resistances to Dragon, Fairy, and Flying, allowing it to check common threats such as Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Arceus-Fairy, and its solid bulk aids it in checking these threats. Its good Attack and Speed stats, combined with Tough Claws, which gives Mega Metagross a 1.3x boost to all of its contact moves, makes it offensively threatening as well, especially in conjunction with its wide movepool consisting of coverage options such as Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, and Earthquake. Bullet Punch is a great priority move that is able to pick off boosted Xerneas and Deoxys-A as well. However, Steel is a bad offensive typing in Ubers because of the prevalence of Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Primal Kyogre, which resist its main STAB attack. While its typing does give Mega Metagross a few good resistances, said typing leaves Mega Metagross open to common Ghost- and Ground-types such as Mega Gengar and Arceus-Ground. Lastly, Mega Metagross faces competition from other Steel-type Mega Evolutions such as Mega Scizor and Mega Lucario, as they either have more defensive utility or more offensive power, respectively, although Mega Metagross contains a good mixture of the two that can make it a good choice on certain teams.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Meteor Mash
move 2: Bullet Punch
move 3: Ice Punch / Earthquake
move 4: Toxic / Thunder Punch
item: Metagrossite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Jolly
evs: 184 HP / 148 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Meteor Mash is Mega Metagross's primary attack, hitting Pokemon such as Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, and Tyranitar super effectively. Bullet Punch is a decently strong priority move that can be used to revenge kill Geomancy Xerneas and finish off weakened offensive threats. Ice Punch is the preferred option in the third slot because it allows Mega Metagross to OHKO Mega Salamence, which it is supposed to check, and also hits Zygarde-C and Rayquaza for heavy damage, OHKOing Rayquaza and doing around half to Zygarde in its Complete forme. Earthquake can be used instead to hit Primal Groudon, Dialga, Excadrill, Toxapex, and Aegislash super effectively. Toxic cripples defensive Pokemon such as Arceus-Water, Primal Groudon, and Lugia on the switch, which otherwise, with the exception of Lugia, check Mega Metagross quite well. Thunder Punch can be used instead to OHKO defensive Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock, 3HKO Celesteea, 2HKO 192 Speed Arceus-Water after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO Primal Kyogre after Stealth Rock.
Set Details
========
184 HP EVs allows Mega Metagross to always survive a +1 Adamant Earthquake from Mega Salamence. 148 Attack EVs allows Mega Metagross to OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Arceus-Fairy with the combination of Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch. 176 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature allows Mega Metagross to outspeed positive-natured Base 100 speed Pokemon. Clear Body is Mega Metagross's most useful Pre-Mega ability, as it ignores Intimidate and Sticky Web from Landorus-T and Smeargle respectively.
Usage Tips
========
You should aim to use Mega Metagross's resistances to the most, so switch it in on Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Arceus-Fairy to get free turns. In the long run Meteor Mash is not going to be doing much to Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground, so poisoning them with Toxic to put them on a timer makes them much easier to deal with in the long run. Not attacking Pokemon such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water with Thunder Punch initially can bluff the lack of the move, which means you can catch the opponent off-guard in the late game. However, getting an Attack raise from Meteor Mash can allow it to deal more damage to Pokemon such as Mega Gyarados and Toxapex that normally check it decently well. Since Mega Metagross is relied on to check a wide variety of threats, try not to let it take too much chip damage from Spikes and Stealth Rock. Mega Metagross's Bullet Punch can be used to revenge kill weakened threats like Mega Gengar, Arceus-Fairy, and Xerneas.
Team Options
========
Arceus-Ground is a really good teammate for Mega Metagross because it checks threats to Mega Metagross like Primal Groudon, Toxapex, and Dialga. Xerneas and Mega Metagross share similar checks, namely Primal Groudon and Ferrothorn, so Xerneas appreciates Mega Metagross's ability to wear it down for Xerneas to successfully sweep. Primal Groudon can set up Stealth Rock for Mega Metagross, which can help with wearing down opposing Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, and forces out Pokemon such as Toxapex and Primal Kyogre. If you pair Primal Groudon with Mega Metagross, it should be running Fire-type coverage to eliminate Pokemon such as Celesteela and Skarmory, which are big threats to Mega Metagross. Ground-type immunities such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal make for great teammates, as they are able to check Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground, which Mega Metagross struggles with. Yveltal appreciates Mega Metagross's ability to check Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy as well. Spikes and Toxic Spikes users such as Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Skarmory do stack Fire and Ground weaknesses with Mega Metagross, but they can lay down hazards to wear down typical Mega Metagross checks such as Primal Groudon, which can also help in allowing a teammate like Xerneas to sweep.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Stealth Rock on Sticky Web is a considerable option on Mega Metagross to free up other slots on other Stealth Rock users like Primal Groudon and Dialga, but it's walled by support Arceus formes and Defoggers / Rapid Spin users such as Giratina-O and Excadrill. On these teams, Explosion has some use in preventing Defog from support Arceus formes, (if only temporarily) which Mega Metagross outspeeds with Sticky Web, while dealing nice damage at the same time. Rock Slide can hit Ho-Oh for huge damage, OHKOing even defensive variants part of the time. Pursuit can trap certain Pokemon such as Deoxys-A, but that's about it. Hammer Arm hits Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Dialga for super effective damage, but faces a lot of competition from other moveslots.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types like Primal Groudon, Landorus-T, Zygarde-C, Excadrill, and Arceus-Ground are some of Mega Metagross's most consistent checks; they can easily take Mega Metagross's STAB moves, and most of its coverage moves (with the exception of Excadrill and Landorus-T) and retaliate with an OHKO, heavy damage, or just set up Stealth Rock. Zygarde-C can also turn Mega Metagross into setup fodder with Dragon Dance and hard walls Earthquake variants, but it must be very wary of Ice Punch.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory completely wall Mega Metagross. Mega Scizor uses Mega Metagross as Swords Dance setup fodder or gains momentum on it with U-turn, Celesteela wears it down with Leech Seed, and Skarmory and Ferrothorn use it as Spikes fodder. However, Celesteela must be wary of Thunder Punch.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water wall Mega Metagross, not fearing anything except the occasional Thunder Punch, and can retaliate with heavy damage from Scald or Judgement or, in the case of Primal Kyogre, use it as setup fodder.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Yveltal, Arceus-Dark, and Mega Gyarados can take Mega Metagross's STAB and coverage moves and retaliate with heavy damage or an OHKO or, in the case of Arceus-Dark and Mega Gyarados, use it as setup fodder.
**Fire-types and Coverage**: Fire-types such as Ho-Oh and Blaziken OHKO Mega Metagross with super effective STAB moves; Ho-Oh checks most Mega Metagross variants defensively, while Blaziken or its Mega forme can outspeed it after a Protect and OHKO with Flare Blitz. Random Arceus formes that run Fire Blast can also deal heavy damage, as does Mewtwo and Mega Mewtwo Y with Fire Blast.
**Ghost-types**: Faster Ghost-types such as Mega Gengar, Marshadow, and Arceus-Ghost can't switch into Mega Metagross, but they can outspeed and, in the case of Mega Gengar, OHKO it, while Marshadow deals heavy damage with Spectral Thief and, if running a Z-Move, decimates Mega Metagross with Soul-Stealing Seven Star Strike. Arceus-Ghost, however, can actually switch into Mega Metagross and deal heavy damage back with Shadow Force. Giratina-O also doesn't take too much from Mega Metagross and can deal heavy damage back with Shadow Ball or burn and heavily damage it with the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Hex. Mega Sableye deals heavy damage with Foul Play and avoids the 2HKO from Meteor Mash, but it should be careful of Attack raises.
Mega Metagross has a good Steel / Psychic defensive typing which gives it key resistances to Dragon, Fairy, and Flying, allowing it to check common threats such as Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Arceus-Fairy, and its solid bulk aids it in checking these threats. Its good Attack and Speed stats, combined with Tough Claws, which gives Mega Metagross a 1.3x boost to all of its contact moves, makes it offensively threatening as well, especially in conjunction with its wide movepool consisting of coverage options such as Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, and Earthquake. Bullet Punch is a great priority move that is able to pick off boosted Xerneas and Deoxys-A as well. However, Steel is a bad offensive typing in Ubers because of the prevalence of Pokemon such as Primal Groudon, Ho-Oh, and Primal Kyogre, which resist its main STAB attack. While its typing does give Mega Metagross a few good resistances, said typing leaves Mega Metagross open to common Ghost- and Ground-types such as Mega Gengar and Arceus-Ground. Lastly, Mega Metagross faces competition from other Steel-type Mega Evolutions such as Mega Scizor and Mega Lucario, as they either have more defensive utility or more offensive power, respectively, although Mega Metagross contains a good mixture of the two that can make it a good choice on certain teams.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Meteor Mash
move 2: Bullet Punch
move 3: Ice Punch / Earthquake
move 4: Toxic / Thunder Punch
item: Metagrossite
ability: Clear Body
nature: Jolly
evs: 184 HP / 148 Atk / 176 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Meteor Mash is Mega Metagross's primary attack, hitting Pokemon such as Xerneas, Arceus-Fairy, and Tyranitar super effectively. Bullet Punch is a decently strong priority move that can be used to revenge kill Geomancy Xerneas and finish off weakened offensive threats. Ice Punch is the preferred option in the third slot because it allows Mega Metagross to OHKO Mega Salamence, which it is supposed to check, and also hits Zygarde-C and Rayquaza for heavy damage, OHKOing Rayquaza and doing around half to Zygarde in its Complete forme. Earthquake can be used instead to hit Primal Groudon, Dialga, Excadrill, Toxapex, and Aegislash super effectively. Toxic cripples defensive Pokemon such as Arceus-Water, Primal Groudon, and Lugia on the switch, which otherwise, with the exception of Lugia, check Mega Metagross quite well. Thunder Punch can be used instead to OHKO defensive Ho-Oh after Stealth Rock, 3HKO Celesteea, 2HKO 192 Speed Arceus-Water after Stealth Rock, and 2HKO Primal Kyogre after Stealth Rock.
Set Details
========
184 HP EVs allows Mega Metagross to always survive a +1 Adamant Earthquake from Mega Salamence. 148 Attack EVs allows Mega Metagross to OHKO Geomancy Xerneas after Stealth Rock and 2HKO Arceus-Fairy with the combination of Meteor Mash and Bullet Punch. 176 Speed EVs with a Jolly nature allows Mega Metagross to outspeed positive-natured Base 100 speed Pokemon. Clear Body is Mega Metagross's most useful Pre-Mega ability, as it ignores Intimidate and Sticky Web from Landorus-T and Smeargle respectively.
Usage Tips
========
You should aim to use Mega Metagross's resistances to the most, so switch it in on Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Xerneas, and Arceus-Fairy to get free turns. In the long run Meteor Mash is not going to be doing much to Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground, so poisoning them with Toxic to put them on a timer makes them much easier to deal with in the long run. Not attacking Pokemon such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water with Thunder Punch initially can bluff the lack of the move, which means you can catch the opponent off-guard in the late game. However, getting an Attack raise from Meteor Mash can allow it to deal more damage to Pokemon such as Mega Gyarados and Toxapex that normally check it decently well. Since Mega Metagross is relied on to check a wide variety of threats, try not to let it take too much chip damage from Spikes and Stealth Rock. Mega Metagross's Bullet Punch can be used to revenge kill weakened threats like Mega Gengar, Arceus-Fairy, and Xerneas.
Team Options
========
Arceus-Ground is a really good teammate for Mega Metagross because it checks threats to Mega Metagross like Primal Groudon, Toxapex, and Dialga. Xerneas and Mega Metagross share similar checks, namely Primal Groudon and Ferrothorn, so Xerneas appreciates Mega Metagross's ability to wear it down for Xerneas to successfully sweep. Primal Groudon can set up Stealth Rock for Mega Metagross, which can help with wearing down opposing Primal Groudon and Ho-Oh, and forces out Pokemon such as Toxapex and Primal Kyogre. If you pair Primal Groudon with Mega Metagross, it should be running Fire-type coverage to eliminate Pokemon such as Celesteela and Skarmory, which are big threats to Mega Metagross. Ground-type immunities such as Ho-Oh and Yveltal make for great teammates, as they are able to check Pokemon such as Primal Groudon and Arceus-Ground, which Mega Metagross struggles with. Yveltal appreciates Mega Metagross's ability to check Fairy-types such as Xerneas and Arceus-Fairy as well. Spikes and Toxic Spikes users such as Ferrothorn, Toxapex, and Skarmory do stack Fire and Ground weaknesses with Mega Metagross, but they can lay down hazards to wear down typical Mega Metagross checks such as Primal Groudon, which can also help in allowing a teammate like Xerneas to sweep.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Stealth Rock on Sticky Web is a considerable option on Mega Metagross to free up other slots on other Stealth Rock users like Primal Groudon and Dialga, but it's walled by support Arceus formes and Defoggers / Rapid Spin users such as Giratina-O and Excadrill. On these teams, Explosion has some use in preventing Defog from support Arceus formes, (if only temporarily) which Mega Metagross outspeeds with Sticky Web, while dealing nice damage at the same time. Rock Slide can hit Ho-Oh for huge damage, OHKOing even defensive variants part of the time. Pursuit can trap certain Pokemon such as Deoxys-A, but that's about it. Hammer Arm hits Steel-types such as Ferrothorn, Excadrill, and Dialga for super effective damage, but faces a lot of competition from other moveslots.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Ground-types**: Ground-types like Primal Groudon, Landorus-T, Zygarde-C, Excadrill, and Arceus-Ground are some of Mega Metagross's most consistent checks; they can easily take Mega Metagross's STAB moves, and most of its coverage moves (with the exception of Excadrill and Landorus-T) and retaliate with an OHKO, heavy damage, or just set up Stealth Rock. Zygarde-C can also turn Mega Metagross into setup fodder with Dragon Dance and hard walls Earthquake variants, but it must be very wary of Ice Punch.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types such as Mega Scizor, Celesteela, Ferrothorn, and Skarmory completely wall Mega Metagross. Mega Scizor uses Mega Metagross as Swords Dance setup fodder or gains momentum on it with U-turn, Celesteela wears it down with Leech Seed, and Skarmory and Ferrothorn use it as Spikes fodder. However, Celesteela must be wary of Thunder Punch.
**Water-types**: Water-types such as Primal Kyogre and Arceus-Water wall Mega Metagross, not fearing anything except the occasional Thunder Punch, and can retaliate with heavy damage from Scald or Judgement or, in the case of Primal Kyogre, use it as setup fodder.
**Dark-types**: Dark-types such as Yveltal, Arceus-Dark, and Mega Gyarados can take Mega Metagross's STAB and coverage moves and retaliate with heavy damage or an OHKO or, in the case of Arceus-Dark and Mega Gyarados, use it as setup fodder.
**Fire-types and Coverage**: Fire-types such as Ho-Oh and Blaziken OHKO Mega Metagross with super effective STAB moves; Ho-Oh checks most Mega Metagross variants defensively, while Blaziken or its Mega forme can outspeed it after a Protect and OHKO with Flare Blitz. Random Arceus formes that run Fire Blast can also deal heavy damage, as does Mewtwo and Mega Mewtwo Y with Fire Blast.
**Ghost-types**: Faster Ghost-types such as Mega Gengar, Marshadow, and Arceus-Ghost can't switch into Mega Metagross, but they can outspeed and, in the case of Mega Gengar, OHKO it, while Marshadow deals heavy damage with Spectral Thief and, if running a Z-Move, decimates Mega Metagross with Soul-Stealing Seven Star Strike. Arceus-Ghost, however, can actually switch into Mega Metagross and deal heavy damage back with Shadow Force. Giratina-O also doesn't take too much from Mega Metagross and can deal heavy damage back with Shadow Ball or burn and heavily damage it with the combination of Will-O-Wisp and Hex. Mega Sableye deals heavy damage with Foul Play and avoids the 2HKO from Meteor Mash, but it should be careful of Attack raises.
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