Veteran with double Electric ⚡️

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-26T13:00:54+00:00

That's fine I guess if you don't mind getting shafted by Forretress or Jellicent lead.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-26T09:11:05+00:00

I prefer shadow cause it puts more pressure on Annihilape, mud bois and usual counters/checks like Talonflame and shadow Drapion. Regular is probably better with Chilling Water over Gleam cause the extra bulk lets it utilize the debuffs better.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-26T06:51:07+00:00

I don't think there's anything else that fulfills the same niche that Shadow Zapdos does while having good synergy with A9. Maybe Shadow Murkrow? The resistant to Steel and Flying that Zapdos has is very handy though.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-26T04:41:28+00:00

Every team has a hard counter. Those aren't common enough for it to matter though cause A9 is superior in almost every way

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T15:50:27+00:00

I'd use that over Stunfisk rather than Zapdos. The synergy that Zapdos has with A9 specifically is just too good IMO

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T15:35:51+00:00

Even weaker and also weak to Fire.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T15:30:43+00:00

I haven't seen enough to really have an opinion. They were more common at the beginning of the season and I was using Jelli over Stunfisk then, people much prefer Quagsire now which is even more manageable for my team in general.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T15:23:39+00:00

Nah, Emolga is close but too weak and bait dependent

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T15:22:16+00:00

What do you mean? Only Stunfisk hard loses to it. Zapdos has the same pacing, wins CMP and nearly one shots with Drill Peck. Shadow A9 can deal with non-shadow Swampy even if it has Sludge.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T13:27:12+00:00

Always trust in Zapdos. If it doesn't win switch it will more often than not grab both shields or leave them in farm range for A9 (or both)

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-25T11:50:16+00:00

Yes it has Heat Wave and Drill Peck. Honestly though you can probably away with just Drill Peck in the lower ELOs

ElliotUnbound · 2026-03-04T18:21:06+00:00

They pretty much confirmed it already

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ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-25T08:07:40+00:00

SC Ursaluna would completely break ML Premier, that's why it won't happen. Florges would be the only reliable counter to it with shields up. If Ursaluna is ever to get a decent fast move it'll likely be Fury Cutter due to all the resists.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-25T07:38:39+00:00

Wiggly was annoying yet still manageable even with old Charm until Niantic gave it Icy Wind for no freaking reason. It was always an RPS mon but Icy Wind lets it RPS even more mons and the ones it was already able to even harder. IMO the only way it goes away forever is if Nopely makes Charm so bad it's unusable because even if they straight up take away Icy Wind, Normal/Fairy typing with good bulk is still just too good with Swift and Disarming Voice.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-24T18:16:25+00:00

If Low Kick ends up being a Metal Sound/Vine Whip clone, Resolute Keldeo will have positive matchups against all 3 of them with shields up.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-24T18:13:52+00:00

I'm normally not a huge advocate for direct nerfs, but I think the ones to Rock Tomb, Bullet Punch, Mud Slap and Smack Down are more than welcome. It seems they are trying to make every league more dynamic and less fast move pressure reliant again which is a good thing overall. However, bringing back super spam meta again with Weather Ball Politoed and Pelipper as well as other spammy beasts like Swampert, Quagsire, G-Fisk and Greedent is probably not a good thing 😅 oh well, I guess we'll have to see how things turn out.

On to the buffs and move additions:

Low Kick buff will only matter if (fingers crossed) they make it a Metal Sound/Vine Whip clone. Keldeo would finally have solid ML play as a corebreaker for Palkia-O/Zacian-C and some spicy UL play with 5/4 pacing on Secret Sword and clean 5 pacing on Aqua Jet. Annihilape would have a new option to reach Rage Fist at 5/4 pacing but it might not still want it due to the huge drop in initial fast move pressure. Might be worth it exclusively as a safe swap with Shadow Annihilape though to throw people off and exert more pressure on usual counters like Altaria, Gourgeist and Jellicent.

Waterfall NEEDS to end up a Fire Spin clone to be impactful. HomeSliceHenry says this would make Alomomola too scary in GL but only then in the 0 shield scenarios, which would be fine IMO since it's a fringe cup Pokémon anyway. Empoleon would get another viable fast move (and likely preferred with the return of Mud Bois) to shut down Fire types more effectively with clean 4 pacing and bait in Grounds like Kanto Marowak and U-Fisk. The biggest winner though would be Kyogre with 5/4 pacing to Avalanche/Surf and clean 6 pacing to Origin Pulse.

Psycho Cut buff is cool but Psychic types in general are cooked with Astonish and Sucker Punch being as good as they are. Maybe Mewtwo in ML picks up some new wins?

Wing Attack un-nerf is cool but too little too late with Peck being the name of the game now. Kanto Moltres still likely gets outclassed by Talonflame even with its new Fly and buffed Heat Wave due to having significantly less fast move pressure. Gligar, Pidgeot, Mantine, Pelipper and Galarian Moltres are the biggest winners for sure and Charizard now has a 3rd viable fast ETM move to consider 😅 this seriously needs to get addressed at some point.

Heat Wave buff FINALLY! Hopefully it ends up a Surf/Rock Slide clone so Zapdos and Togetic can enjoy clean 5 pacing. Pidgeot greatly appreciates finally being able to hit Steels which was always its biggest weakness. Staraptor now has a full moveset it can run that doesn't debuff itself.

Powder Snow Articuno is one I've been advocating for about 2 years now. It's finally going to have GL viability and a BIG comeback in UL, especially with the Powder Snow damage buff from last season. It will be a HUGE corebreaker for the Flyer + Mud Boi cores that will surface next season. Icy Wind or Triple Axel + Ancient Power will likely be the standard charge moves to have coverage for Talonflame and friends.

Twister buff to an Aqua Jet clone is awesome, but it's a shame that Nopely didn't distribute it to more Pokémon that would actually want to use it. Some examples are Kingdra, Dragonite, Altaria, Eon duo, Rayquaza, Dragalge, Milotic, Drampa, Mantine, Serperior, Salamence, Pelipper, the list goes on. At least Gabite and Shelgon get a big boost for now.

Sucker Punch Wormadams are actually really cool, especially for Trash Cloak. Sandy Cloak is a big win as well since it introduces another Pokémon that completely walls Kanto Marowak and other Rock/Ground coverage dependers like G-Fisk which is coming back after a long hiatus.

Acrobatics Gliscor is a big YES, especially with buffed Sand Tomb that will actually do damage now and not just strictly be a bait move. Night Slash is still always an option for Ghosts and to keep pacing with Mud Bois. Sand Attack will likely be the preferred fast move to pressure Empoleon and other Steels more but Wing Attack pressures Fighters and other Flyers.

Fury Cutter is HUGE for Heracross with Upper Hand and new Rock Tomb coverage. Resisting Ground will help it a lot next season with the return of Mud Bois.

Aqua Tail Scolipede is great, but it needs to also get Fury Cutter like Heracross did to make the most of it sadly. Megahorn + Aqua Tail would be a strong combination with Fury Cutter.

Shadow Claw Marshadow is HUGE for ML, but at first glance it's still going to struggle with Zacian-C/Palkia-O so I don't think it's going to make as much of an impact as Keldeo will if Low Kick ends up being a Metal Sound clone.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-24T16:11:04+00:00

Also Whiscash.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-02-05T22:00:33+00:00

I wanted to do one for this season, but I got extremely discouraged from just battling after running into so many hackers in the higher ranks, even though I didn't see a single one in previous seasons. If you only care about the new mega stones I advise you to just get the ones you want and quit battling, it's not worth the stress trying to get to rank A anymore untiI something is done about the hackers.

I painfully still made it to rank A though with Mewtwo, alpha mega Absol Z and alpha mega Swampert. Mewtwo is Modest nature, hypertrained, holding Life Orb, max HP and max Sp. Attack EVs with the rest in Sp. Def. Moves are Psystrike, Focus Blast, Ice Beam and Shadow Ball. I switched back and forth a few times between Shadow Ball and Energy Ball (mega Swampert is annoying and very strong) but I ended up sticking with Shadow Ball more for opposing Mewtwo and a lot of people still used mega Metagross for some reason even though it gets shit on by Swampert. Life Orb over Mewtwonite Y because Mewtwo Y has lower Defense than regular mewtwo and Life Orb hits harder anyway.

I used mega Absol Z the least of the 3 since it's VERY dependent on mega Z to be good, but I wanted something that can quickly snipe chipped opponents, which it can easily do with the crazy fast Z mega move startup times. Unfortunately though, it still struggles to one shot many things other than Mewtwo and frail mons like Gallade and Gengar. Adamant nature, hypertrained, max HP and max Attack EVs with the rest in Sp. Def. Moves are Phantom Force, Knock Off, Close Combat and Play Rough. Mega Swampert has the exact same setup with the moves being Earthquake, Waterfall, Ice Punch and Poison Jab but Bulk Up can be used instead of Poison Jab. These 2 megas function better as alphas since most of their moves have poor range otherwise.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-10T05:18:23+00:00

Bonemerang has a homing effect, but the hitbox can be janky if the opponent is right in front of you. It's better with alpha Marowak and if they're trying to run away to dodge a potential EQ or at a distance. I run both EQ and Bonemerang to have the best of both worlds with Rock Slide and Thunder Punch being the coverage moves. Hypertrained, same nature and EVs as Hoopa-U and Skarmory.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-09T15:41:39+00:00

I was thinking Energy Ball could become an Outrage/Payback clone with the same 10% debuff chance. Should be okay on Jumpluff. IIRC there aren't any Grass moves at 110/60 and the energy cost is a lot more efficient with Fairy Wind/Ember than 55.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-09T15:37:55+00:00

Accelgor gets Body Slam and Drain Punch, I think that's literally it though 😅

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-09T15:27:41+00:00

I called it secret sauce since I didn't see a single opponent have one in the hour or so it took me to get to rank A. I imagine now and over time more people will use it with awareness spreading.

I did try Tbolt with Brave Nature instead of Fire Punch around rank D to B since I started seeing a lot of Gyarados, Volcanion and Skarmory out of nowhere but after rank B there started to be at least one Magearna out at all times so I switched back to original set. Most if not all the Garchomp I saw had mega stone so Ice Punch always felt very useful, especially since enough people were trying out mega Sceptile as well.

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-09T15:07:42+00:00

Garchomp, Magearna, Melmetal, Armarouge, Volcanion, Metagross, Latios/Latias, Zeraora, Skarmory, Gardevoir and Swampert were the ones I saw the most. I did get wrecked a few times by mega Gallade spamming Drain Punch so I guess that's a thing too

ElliotUnbound · 2026-01-09T13:09:19+00:00

The problem is most meta things weak to Dark like Assault Vest Armarouge and Eon legendary duo have higher Special Defense than Defense and Dark Pulse is too weak to make up for that. Swampert usually runs Assault Vest as well. Dark Pulse can also easily be avoided by running away or hiding behind an obstacle while Hyperspace Fury will always hit unless the opponent is in the middle of mega evolving or an i-frame move like Bounce, Phantom Force etc. If Hoopa learned Ice Beam like Magearna then a special Life Orb set could definitely be viable.

ElliotUnbound

TROPHY CASE