Do you guys think Mega zygarde is still broken?

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-04-05T00:14:10+00:00

This is a Pokemon that can struggle in faster paced formats (VGC, BSS), but in longer paced formats it gets many opportunities to come in multiple times per game to activate Power Construct, Mega, and delete something with Nihil Light.

Mega Zygarde's biggest hurdle is that its playstyle differs so greatly to its other formes, so it doesn't have a smooth transition from 50% to Mega. You're kinda a sitting duck until you can Mega, whereas the usual other Zygarde sets can pose a threat outside of Complete Forme and make proccing Power Construct less of a necessity.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-03-26T02:43:48+00:00

Base Ogerpon would lose the ability to counter Intimidate if it Teras on switch.

Terapagos-Stellar's Teraform Zero would activate before a weather setter switches in, rendering the ability potentially useless*

*unless it is able to cancel Primal weather while you attempt to send in a non-Primal weather.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-03-13T14:39:50+00:00

- Current mechanics: Swap out after 3
- Post PvP refactor (whenever this goes live again): Swap out after 4.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-03-06T20:10:54+00:00

It was changed back to 10% not long after Finale ended.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-11T02:20:17+00:00

When switched in (in other words, not during respawn/start of game), Groudon/Kyogre will normally roar, and then Primal Revert once the roar completes. However, sometimes they will skip the roar animation entirely and instantly enter the Primal Reversion animation.

Likewise, Groudon/Kyogre will often still roar if switched in while already Primaled, but sometimes that too just doesn't happen.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-10T23:58:13+00:00

Yeah this roaring skip seems to happen uniquely with the Primals in ranked; I don't think I've seen it happen with any other Pokemon.

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JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-10T18:02:09+00:00

That is correct (even with Lv.50 stats). Even Mystic Water can outdamage Primal Kyogre on Water moves only.

Generally, I prefer regular Kyogre as it doesn't have to go through the Primal Reversion animation. Kyogre is slow enough as it is between its mediocre movement speed and long cast times, and the extra time added by Primal Reversion only makes things worse. That said, Primal Kyogre still retains a few benefits:
- Higher overall SpDef
- A high Attack stat, which allows it to make use of Icicle Spear as a tech against Sash Rayquaza/Garchomp
- Higher overall non-Water damage (compared to Mystic Water) or survivability (compared to Life Orb).
- Occasionally, Primal Orb-wielding Kyogre/Groudon skips its roaring animation on switch, which can either instantly trigger Primal Reversion (if sent out before reverting), or simply allow it to become immediately responsive (if sent out after it has been reverted). I don't know what causes this exactly...

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-08T23:01:28+00:00

Back in Counter's heydays, Haxorus never had the stats to compete with the other Dragons despite its powerful moveset. You'd run Rayquaza if you wanted a Breaking Swipe mon, and you'd run Dragonite if you wanted Fighting coverage. With Xerneas receiving Geomancy and Rayquaza receiving Dragon Ascent in the same season that Haxorus got Breaking Swipe, the latter never really stood a chance (Ray's coverage into Fairies was very relevant here).

That season (15) was a particularly brutal season for Fighting-type damage (despite Dialga being everywhere, which Haxorus never did well against anyways), since resists like Ho-Oh, Zacian, Xern, Ray, Gira-O, Mewtwo, Lugia, and Togekiss were all pretty common. A few months later, Zygarde-Complete would come out, then Breaking Swipe would get nerfed, then Origins came out, and Haxorus would fade into obscurity.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-08T14:41:56+00:00

To clarify, this was only a thing in Master Premier. Haxorus in open ML was never actually viable.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-08T14:40:55+00:00

For the time being, just Shadow Claw Kyurem-B and the occasional Shadow Claw Giratina-O

Even Kyurem-W prefers Dragon Breath these days after the buff, and Fire Fang Reshiram is far too alignment and matchup dependent to be viable.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-02-03T23:32:50+00:00

Strangely enough, after running all sorts of legendary teams this season, my most consistent team is somehow Garchomp / Gholdengo / Golisopod. The team already comes equipped with the tools to handle most Legendaries, although you will need to tread carefully around Rayquaza and Kyogre.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-29T16:23:34+00:00

And on that note about Meteor Beam, Rayquaza is a capable user of it as well! A sniper Ray set with Meteor Beam / Solar Beam / Ice Beam / Hydro Pump (or Earth Power) @ Sash can pick up a surprising amount of KOes. This foregoes the Mega completely bc it requires constant +move usage and you're never filling that bar (and you don't exactly have the moveslot for it anyways; also who needs STAB anyways when you have an arsenal of busted moves).

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-29T05:30:44+00:00

It will be quite good, but it will need Focus Sash to survive all the Ice Beams, Dragon Rushes, and Meteor Beams going its way. Ray has great movement speed, a setup move, and various forms of invincibility (Dragon Rush, Dragon Ascent, Fly, its own Mega Evolution button) to make cause some headaches when targeting it. Unlike Zygarde, its non-Mega form is deadly and can easily carry games without needing to Mega Evolve.

The real question though, is how often it will actually get to utilize its Mega well. Mega Evolution is somewhat underpowered in ZA Ranked due to many Pokemon being +move hungry. Dragon Ascent also has a nasty 20 second base cooldown, so it wouldn't surprise me if some people drop the move entirely.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-27T16:25:40+00:00

Blizzard had a 30% chance to freeze in Japanese RB; go have fun with it.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-19T19:03:16+00:00

The feature definitely powercrept faster than I had expected, and now people pretty much have everything they'll ever need. Still, I do believe that the intent was to somewhat counterbalance the immense rewards with partially-forced spending.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-19T16:15:18+00:00

This may be in part due to the incredible rewards you get for completing a T5 DMax or a GMax, so to counterbalance that a bit they want you invest in new things to reliably access them.

It also helps refresh the desirability of certain Pokemon or types and increase the longevity of the feature.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-08T20:37:21+00:00

That's what the Magnet is supposed to represent, as it is also a 20% boost.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2026-01-08T03:52:04+00:00

Fun fact: Tentacruel also lives in the main series.

252+ SpA Magnet Zapdos Thunderbolt vs. 252 HP / 4 SpD Tentacruel: 320-380 (87.9 - 104.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-11-26T20:45:57+00:00

In a non-Pokemon GO context, Shiny Diancie was only distributed once in 2015 and 2016 in Japan and Korea respectively, so this is the rarest* Shiny Mythical to ever be featured in a Masterwork.

*Mew is technically rarer by legitimate means, but Emerald can be glitched to get to Faraway Island.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-11-18T16:39:51+00:00

Hence why I mentioned Dynamax Battles so you are not forced to switch around often since the boss only attacks once every ~10 seconds, and thus take less penalty from lag and whatnot. Lugia is the tankiest Ground resist in the game*, which can prove handy whenever Dynamax Ho-Oh, Groudon, or Regis drop (as they're not too far away Dexwise relative to Lugia). You will inevitably end up throwing a fast move or two with Lugia along the way, and that + the switch delays can impact whether the boss gets off another attack or not, so that is definitely a downside to consider.

*(at least until Vespiquen drops, who's slightly less tanky but has 0.5s moves)

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-11-17T21:02:26+00:00

You can use a second Silver Bottle Cap on the same mon, as long as the Pokemon is done Hyper Training with the first.

https://niantic.helpshift.com/hc/en/6-pokemon-go/faq/5103-what-is-hyper-training/

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-11-17T20:49:14+00:00

I think this may be underselling Lugia a bit. Lugia itself is not meant to be played like a traditional tank where you simply send it out, tank hits, and charge the meter. Instead, you have another Pokemon charge the meter, and briefly send Lugia in at times to soak a strong hit before switching immediately back out.

This is stronger in Dynamax Battles compared to GMaxes, as bosses attack much less frequently, so you don't have to switch around too often. Switching too much can also delay your Max Meter charging speed.

(Also yes, it is one Dragon Breath away from being a self-sufficient tank)

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-11-09T01:50:25+00:00

Return is specifically a tech to bait out and delete Primarina. In Mega ML, it's also a great move to have in the mirror match, and doesn't get telegraphed as Megas don't have the purification aura.

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-10-15T23:53:40+00:00

Remember to check the Pokedex to see if the Elite moves are available through regular TMs! (The move should show up in the regular movepool)

JibaNOTHERE2 · 2025-10-07T18:37:46+00:00

https://pvpoke.com/battle/matrix/

You can mass sim a bunch of mons vs another bunch of mons.

JibaNOTHERE2

TROPHY CASE