Meloetta (QC: 1/3)

Punchshroom

FISHIOUS REND MEGA SHARPEDO
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributor
[OVERVIEW]
  • Meloetta is blessed with great stats, boasting one of the highest Special Attack and Special Defense stats in the tier, as well as a respectable Speed stat which allows it to outrun threats such as Hitmonlee, Rotom-C, and Toxicroak.
  • Meloetta also has an expansive movepool that gives it great neutral coverage, allowing it to run a multitude of powerful sets that increase its unpredictability.
  • Meloetta's typing allows it to respond to offensive Ghost- and Psychic-types such as Mismagius and Sigilyph, while also giving it few weaknesses in general
  • However, Meloetta's weaknesses come in the form of common moves, such as Knock Off, U-turn, Pursuit, and Sucker Punch, and Meloetta is a Psychic-type that does not resist Fighting, which may weaken a team's defensive matchup.
  • Meloetta's Speed tier is also rather middling, as it is outrun by plenty of offensive Pokemon and is at more risk from the tier's faster physical attackers, such as Sneasel, Scyther, Tauros, and Drapion.
  • Despite these flaws, Meloetta is still a top tier offensive threat that every team must prepare for.
[SET]
name: Choice Specs
move 1: Psychic
move 2: Hyper Voice
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: U-turn / Trick
item: Choice Specs
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Psychic is Meloetta's primary attack, having a 20% chance to reduce the foe's Special Defense by virtue of Serene Grace, making it a great move to throw out against neutral targets. It also wipes out all Fighting- and Poison-types that aren't part Dark.
- Hyper Voice acts as a good backup STAB move to hit Psychic-types and offensive Dark-types, as it is strong enough to 2HKO even max HP Uxie after Stealth Rock damage and OHKO Drapion. It also has the benefit of hitting a foe behind Substitute.
- Focus Blast is a powerful coverage move that works well with Meloetta's STABs, dealing major damage if not outright KOing bulky Dark- and Steel-types, such as Steelix, Incineroar, and Scrafty. It is also useful to OHKO Cryogonal and offensive Rhydon which otherwise survive Meloetta's attacks.
- U-turn is a great move for gaining momentum, allowing Meloetta to pivot out of a check or counter.
- Dazzling Gleam is an option to hit Spiritomb and Sableye, as well as to OHKO Scrafty without risk of missing.
- Trick is a great move that can cripple the likes of Spiritomb, Sableye, and Incineorar, as well as allowing Meloetta to switch up moves.
- Grass-type coverage is something Meloetta can consider as a 4th coverage move, mainly being used as a catch-all tool against the likes of Steelix, Slowking, and Spiritomb, should the opponent have at least two of each, as well as OHKOing Seismitoad and bulky Rhydon as a bonus.
- Grass Knot 2HKOes Steelix, has high odds of 2HKOing Spiritomb, and puts pressure on Slowking, whereas Energy Ball secures the 2HKO on Assault Vest Slowking after Stealth Rock damage and substantially outdamages Vaporeon and Jellicent's recovery.

Set Details
========
- Maximum investment is put into Speed and Special Attack for maximum damage output.
- A Timid nature is used as Meloetta's Speed tier allows her to outspeed major threats like Hitmonlee, Rotom-C, Toxicroak, Vivillon, Sawk, and Medicham.
- 4 EVs are put into Defense to slightly reduce the damage taken from priority attacks.
- Choice Specs allows Meloetta to hit like a truck off her sky-high Special Attack, allowing her to become a highly threatening wallbreaker.
- Serene Grace is the only ability Meloetta can have, but it is still noteworthy as many of Meloetta's moves have a slight chance of lowering Special Defense, which can occasionally prove crucial when softening up foes.

Usage Tips
========
- Choice Specs Meloetta's power, speed, and bulk allow it to pose a respectable threat in nearly any matchup.
- Meloetta's best opportunity for wallbreaking is by threatening slower Fighting- and Poison- types, such as Machamp, Hitmontop, Garbodor, Golbat, Qwilfish, Hitmonlee, and Toxicroak, though it should be wary of Sucker Punch from the latter two. Any slower frailer Pokemon that can be KOed by Meloetta's STAB moves, such as Medicham, Samurott, and Vivillon, also suffice as good attacking opportunities.
- From there, the Meloetta user needs to identify the opponent's switch-ins to Psychic, and try to nail them on the switch with the appropriate coverage move, with Hyper Voice being the next best move to use should the opponent lack any sturdy responses, and Focus Blast only really being used if Meloetta can finish off a bulky switch-in with it, such as Steelix and Incineroar.
- U-turn can be used liberally early game, being a good way to gain momentum off Spiritomb and Assault Vest Slowking switch-ins and scout the opponent's general response to Meloetta; should the opponent has more than one answer to Meloetta, such as having both an Incineroar and a Jellicent, that can make it difficult for Meloetta to lock itself into an attack, U-turn can be used to punish their switch-in regardless, and is best used if Meloetta is immediately threatening a OHKO on their current Pokemon with its Choice Specs-boosted attacks. Trick can be used to cripple defensive switch-ins, though Slowking isn't too badly affected, as well as allow Meloetta to switch up moves should that be more valuable than immediate power.
- Meloetta's relatively few resistances can make it tricky to switch it in directly; VoltTurn support is thus appreciated to help to ease prediction and bring Meloetta in safely.
- Meloetta's naturally high special bulk means it can still find favorable attacking opportunities against offensive teams by trading blows against their special attackers. It can even be used to check specific Pokemon such as Mismagius and Sigilyph.

Team Options
========
- Meloetta appreciates VoltTurn users as teammates, especially if Meloetta has U-turn itself. Faster, offensive users such as Rotom-C, Braviary, Scyther, and Whimsicott can bait in an opponent's defensive answers to allow Meloetta to start punching holes, while slower, bulkier users such as Incineroar and Vikavolt can sponge a hit for Meloetta while giving it safe entry into battle.
- Fighting-types such as Emboar, Virizion, Toxicroak, and Hitmonlee can threaten the Dark- and Steel-types that attempt to switch in on Meloetta and aid in further breaking holes in the opponent's team. Fighting-types can also resist the Dark- and Bug-type attacks aimed at Meloetta, while Meloetta can switch into Psychic-type moves, handle faster Ghost-types that threaten its teammates, and provide possible switch-in opportunities with U-turn or Trick.
- Houndoom deserves a special mention for being able to take advantage of and set up Nasty Plot on two of Meloetta's biggest threats: Sableye and Spiritomb.
- Meloetta also appreciates entry hazard support, as entry hazards improve its KO potential and punish the many switches that it forces. Stealth Rock support is especially notable for Meloetta as it can start OHKOing Pokemon such as Sceptile, Rotom-C, Granbull, Mismagius, and Incineroar with the appropriate attack, but Spikes also helps in wearing down Steelix and Scrafty. Thus, teammates like Steelix, Seismtoad, Druddigon, Garbodor, and Qwilfish make for excellent partners, as they can also take the physical attacks aimed at Meloetta, while the latter two have the additional utility of absorbing opposing Toxic Spikes.
- Meloetta also greatly benefits from speed control, giving it a chance to blitz through offensive teams with little opposition. Examples include Shuckle using Sticky Web, Vileplume and Qwilfish offering paralysis support, and Whimsicott having Prankster Tailwind.

[SET]
name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Psychic
move 3: Hyper Voice / Shadow Ball
move 4: Focus Blast
item: Colbur Berry / Leftovers
ability: Serene Grace
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 Def / 252 Spe

[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
- Calm Mind boosts Meloetta's Special Attack and Special Defense to even higher levels, significantly increasing its damage output significantly while buffering it against special blows.
- Psychic is Meloetta's main attack, and has a 20% chance of lowering the target's Special Defense due to Serene Grace, which may make it even harder to wall Meloetta.
- Hyper Voice is a secondary STAB option that allows Meloetta to achieve good neutral coverage; +1 Hyper Voice coupled with Colbur Berry is a particularly efficient way for Meloetta to lure out and beat offensive Dark-types such as Sneasel, Drapion, and Houndoom.
- Shadow Ball is also a viable option for hitting Ghost-types and common opposing Psychic-types super effectively. In particular, Shadow Ball is capable of 2HKOing Slowbro, 2HKOing Uxie after +1, 2HKOing Delphox assuming it does not Calm Mind against Meloetta's first Shadow Ball, and having a high chance to OHKO Mismagius after +1. It also has a substantial 40% chance of lowering the foe's Special Defense, courtesy of Serene Grace, which can give Meloetta an edge in Calm Mind wars.
- Focus Blast is a good coverage move, allowing it to hit bulky Dark- and Steel- types that can withstand Meloetta's STAB moves, such as Steelix, Assault Vest Incineroar, and Scrafty.

Set Details
========
- Maximum investment is placed into Special Attack to maximize Meloetta's damage output, while maximum Speed investment and a Timid nature allows Meloetta to capitalize on its respectable Speed tier while outrunning many offensive Fighting-types, such as Hitmonlee, Toxicroak, and Medicham.
- Colbur Berry is used to lure and surprise opposing offensive Dark-type attackers, allowing Meloetta to take them down with Calm Mind-boosted Hyper Voice, giving it more room to sweep. It also allows it to shrug off Sucker Punches that may otherwise cut it sweep short. Colbur Berry works better on Hyper Voice Meloetta, as it lures Dark-types more effectively than having to rely on Focus Blast.
- Leftovers is also a great option to increase Meloetta's longevity, and works great in conjunction with Calm Mind's defense boosts. This is preferred on Shadow Ball Meloetta to improve its odds of winning Calm Mind wars.

Usage Tips
========
- Meloetta's threatening offensive presence, as well as her great special bulk, gives her many ample opportunities to set up Calm Mind.
- Meloetta's best Calm Mind opportunities come in the form of slower Poison- and Fighting-types that it threatens out, such as Garbodor, Vileplume, Golbat, Machamp, Hitmonlee, and Toxicroak. This variant of Meloetta also has less to fear from Fighting-types with Sucker Punch, as it has Calm Mind and possibly Colbur Berry to circumvent it.
- Bluffing the Choice Specs set to scare out foes can also be a good chance to set up Calm Mind, which is also a great way to punish most defensive switch-ins that rely on Meloetta being Choice-locked to handle it.
- Opponents will attempt to neutralize Meloetta using a faster physical revenge killer, so make sure that those threats are eliminated before attempting to set up with Meloetta, although Colbur Berry does help to alleviate the threat of faster Dark-types.
- Leftovers Meloetta acts as a safer win condition that is more impervious to special attackers, especially if the opponent no longer has faster physical threats to stop Calm Mind Meloetta.

Team Options
========
- As a setup sweeper that is reliant on its bulk, Meloetta enjoys having its field free from Toxic Spikes, so grounded Poison-types, such as Garbodor, Vileplume, Toxicroak, and Drapion are helpful teammates; Garbodor and Vileplume can also sponge physical hits for Meloetta while providing Spikes or status support, while Toxicroak and Drapion can soften up bulkier teams alongside Meloetta as well as take Dark-type moves for it.
- Stealth Rock support is important for all offensive Pokemon, but particularly so in Meloetta's case as it can cripple bulkier U-turn users, such as Scyther and Incineroar, which can repeatedly switch in to stop Meloetta. Stealth Rock setters such as Rhydon, Seismitoad, or Steelix can take them on and set up Stealth Rock to hinder their switch-ins.
- Spiritomb and Sableye are huge thorns in Meloetta's side, so Fairy-types such as Whimsicott and Aromatisse work well with this set. In addition to STAB Moonblast to KO problematic Dark-types, Whimsicott has access to Prankster Memento or Tailwind, while Aromatisse has Wish and Heal Bell support, either of which can be very helpful for Meloetta.
- Pokemon that appreciate Colbur Berry Meloetta luring and eliminating specific Dark-types, such as Sneasel, Houndoom, and Drapion, make for excellent teammates. Sceptile is one example of a Pokemon that can benefit from having any of them gone, as it appreciates not having to deal with Sneasel's Ice Shard it, nor against Houndoom or Drapion to either withstand its Giga Drains or take advantage of it at -2 Special Attack. Other examples of Pokemon that appreciate some of these Dark-type threats gone include Delphox, Mismagius, Lilligant, and Sigilyph, which can further complement Meloetta's specially offensive bombardment.

[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
- Meloetta can consider Life Orb to boost its moves without locking itself into them, but Meloetta dislikes wearing itself down, as part of its strength comes from how difficult it can be to KO at times.
- Meloetta can effectively run a Substitute + Calm Mind set, which cushion Meloetta against status effects and faster revenge killers at the expensive of additional coverage. Hyper Voice + Shadow Ball, Psyshock + Focus Blast, and Hyper Voice + Grass Knot are all viable combinations of attacks that Substitute + Calm Mind Meloetta can use.
- A Grassium Z + Energy Ball set on Calm Mind Meloetta is also an interesting option to surprise Steelix, Slowking, and Assault Vest Slowking, being able to OHKO them after a Calm Mind boost + Spikes damage.
- Calm Mind Meloetta can also consider Fightinium Z, giving Meloetta access to All-Out Pummeling to accurately strike down Steelix and Scrafty as well as OHKO Incineroar after a Calm Mind boost. However, this only mildly improves upon Focus Blast Meloetta's matchup against these Pokemon, and thus is less worthwhile as the team's Z-Move.
- An Assault Vest set allows Meloetta to tank multiple special hits and making it a formidable special tank. However, Meloetta's lack of resistances and unboosted power hinder Assault Vest's effectiveness, and an Assault Vest set doesn't fare that much better against most special attackers as compared to Choice Specs or Calm Mind Meloetta.
- Meloetta can use Choice Scarf or certain Speed-boosting Z-Moves such as Z-Sing or Z-Trick to make up for its Speed, but Meloetta doesn't really make much use of its increased Speed as it doesn't have the right STAB moves nor the power to effectively pick off most faster threats.
- A Relic Song set with Relic Song, Close Combat, Knock Off, and Psychic can be used to unleash Meloetta's Pirouette form, which can catch opponents' common Dark- and Steel-type switch ins to Meloetta by surprise, and KO them. However, being reliant on Relic Song each time it switches in is an obvious detriment to the set's effectiveness.
- Meloetta has access to useful utility moves such as Encore, Heal Bell, Perish Song, Reflect, and Light Screen, but these moves make a waste of Meloetta's amazing offensive potential. Meloetta's lack of resistances and recovery also hinders its ability to make good use of those support moves, as well as the fact that it is largely overshadowed by the bulkier and faster Uxie in this category.
- Normalium Z allows Heal Bell to fully restore Meloetta's health which can be interesting for Calm Mind variants, as well as provide a Normal-type nuke in Breakneck Blitz using Hyper Voice. However, Z-Heal Bell rarely matches up to Substitute's utility in terms of setup sweeping, which increases the opportunity cost of using this as your Z-Move.
- Gimmicks such as Charge Beam and Calm Mind + Rest + Snore aim to make use of Serene Grace, but seldom compete with the consistency of its traditional boosting sets.

Checks and Counters
==============
**Dark-types**: Dark-types hinder Meloetta from mindlessly spamming Psychic, making them extremely troublesome. Spiritomb and Sableye deserve the biggest mentions as they are immune to a majority of Meloetta's attacks, with Spiritomb threatening with Pursuit and Sucker Punch, while Sableye heals off damage, stops Calm Minds with Taunt, and retaliates with Knock Off. Faster Dark-types such as Sneasel, Drapion, and Houndoom can revenge kill Meloetta, but none can switch into Choice Specs Hyper Voice and must still be wary of a potential Colbur Berry against Calm Mind Meloetta variants. Incineroar can take 2 Choice Specs Hyper Voices and even a boosted Focus Blast, and attack with Darkest Lariat or even U-turn. Scrafty can Dragon Dance on any move that isn't Dazzling Gleam or a boosted Focus Blast and threaten with Knock Off. Powerful Sucker Punch users such as Absol and Shiftry can keep Meloetta in check, but run the risk of losing to a Colbur Berry or even a Substitite variant.

**Faster Physical Attackers**: Faster Pokemon that hit hard physically, such as Tauros, Dodrio, and Cinccino, as well as Choice Scarf users, such as Emboar, Braviary, and Hitmonlee, can outspeed Meloetta and heavily damage it. Faster U-turn users such as Scyther, Cinccino, and Choice Scarf Braviary are particularly problematic, as they can further gain momentum while wearing Meloetta down. However, most of these Pokemon cannot switch into Meloetta very safely at all, and the majority of them cannot OHKO a healthy Meloetta so it needs to be worn down beforehand.
 
Last edited:

Punchshroom

FISHIOUS REND MEGA SHARPEDO
is a Community Contributoris a Tiering Contributoris a Top Contributor
shouldn't scarf be its own set?
it's arguably on if the best scarfers right now
Scarf doesn't actually have the means to kill the large majority of offensive mons very effectively; Scarf Mesprit is a better choice due to its access to Healing Wish alongside U-turn. Even Mr. Mime (which also has Healing Wsh) can be a more effective Scarfer than Meloetta since Fairy STAB can actually KO stuff, unlike Meloetta's superfluous Normal STAB.
 
Scarf doesn't actually have the means to kill the large majority of offensive mons very effectively; Scarf Mesprit is a better choice due to its access to Healing Wish alongside U-turn. Even Mr. Mime (which also has Healing Wsh) can be a more effective Scarfer than Meloetta since Fairy STAB can actually KO stuff, unlike Meloetta's superfluous Normal STAB.
while i do agree that mesprit does have more niches over melo for scarf, i still think it deserves a set, but hey you're the qc member not me lol
 

Users Who Are Viewing This Thread (Users: 1, Guests: 0)

Top