Pokemon VGC 2016 Metagame Megathread

[Black117]

Mega Rayquaza

Typing: Dragon / Flying
Ability: Delta Stream - Removes all Flying-type weaknesses of all Pokemon on the field; Can override both Desolate Land or Primordial Sea, though both can do the same to each other.
Base Stat Total: 105 HP / 180 Atk / 100 Def / 180 Sp. Atk /  100 Sp. Def / 115 Spe (95 Speed before Mega)
Weaknesses (With Delta Stream): Ice (2x) , Dragon (2x) , Fairy (2x)
Resistances (With Delta Stream): Electric (0.5x), Fighting (0.5x), Bug (0.5x), Fire (0.5x), Water (0.5x), Grass (0.25x)
Weaknesses (Without Delta Stream): Ice (4x), Dragon (2x), Fairy (2x), Rock (2x)
Resistances (Without Delta Stream): Fighting (0.5x), Bug (0.5x), Fire (0.5x), Water (0.5x), Grass (0.25x)
Immunity: Ground

Here is the all mighty Dragon Trio Master of the Hoenn region almost everyone thought of when the VGC 2016 rules where released. Is this Mega/Legend/Uber/Dragon/Sword as mighty as we all claim? Well... its not as simple as that...

For sure we cannot take away the fact Mega Rayquaza is arguably among the best Dragon-/Flying-type Pokemon, maybe Mega Evolutions the game without dispute given its high base 180 offensive stats, powerful STAB options like Dragon Ascent/Draco Meteor, an ability that partially removes some of Mega Raquaza weaknesses, and the only Mega Evo to hold any item. Regarding that last statement, the only requirement for Mega Rayquaza to Mega Evolve is by having the move Dragon Ascent, a base 120 STAB attack which is the Flying-type equivalent of "Close Combat". Already Mega Rayquaza has one of the most powerful Flying-type moves to spam against any of its targets, which will hurt factoring in a potential item choices Life Orb, Sharp Beak, or even Choice Band. Another selling point for Mega Rayquaza is the ability to override "any" weathers with both Air Lock (as regular Rayquaza) and Delta Stream (though not as "permanent") since this allows any Pokemon to hit Primal Groudon with a Water-type attack (hopefully Special given P-Groudon has an above average SpD) for a quadruple damage. Considering Primal Groudon is the most common Restricted Pokemon in the format as for right now, Mega Rayquaza pairs extremely well with its other Super-Ancient Pokemon in Primal Kyogre as both can override Desolate Land with the combination of Primordial Sea, Delta Stream, or even Air Lock. Lastly, Mega Rayquaza has a vast movepool not limited to either Draco Meteor/Dragon Ascent/Protect in coverage like Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Overheat, Energy Ball, Ice Beam, Extreme Speed, Earthquake/Earth Power, Waterfall and even the potential to setup further with Sword Dance, Dragon Dance, Bulk Up, etc.

With all these favorable traits, Mega Rayquaza is certainly a great Restricted Pokemon to chose from, however here are some notable weaknesses. For starters, Delta Stream isn't "permanent" as an opposing Primal can easily switch in while its partner can go for a rogue Ice-type attack to hit Rayquaza for 4x damage. As we all know at this point, Xerneas is common in this format as it can easily go for a KO against Mega Rayquaza with Moonblast (unless Ray has a Sash), or predict the protect and go for its Geomancy boost which will outspeed the following turn. While Mega Rayquaza has amazing offensive stats, it has rather the same above average defenses as Mega Kangaskhan, though Dragon Ascent will reduce both stats by one stage per use. In a format filled with some of the the most powerful Pokemon in the game, these defense drops means Mega Rayquaza needs to take out its opposing threats before they render the mighty Dragon-Flying type useless. Lastly Mega Rayquaza reaches only a base 115 speed, which is sub-par at best since it can outspeed most Pokemon, it cannot outspeed things like Mega Salamence, Weavile, Mewtwo, Xerneas (after Geo-Herb boost), and other non-boosted/Scarf Pokemon.

In the end, Mega Rayquaza is a mon you need to know when to initiate the offense and take out certain targets as quick as possible before the opponent can setup, or knockout Rayquaza as well. Fortunately for this Restricted Pokemon has the offensive capabilities to do so, though a Dragon Ascent from max attack is enough to 2HKO most of the format that's not resisted or bulky like Cresselia, Giratina, Aegislash, etc. Based on speed tier, Mega Rayquaza is initially faster than the Primals, Johto Duo Birds, Dialga, Giratina forms, etc though its not faster than Mega Kangaskhan, Palkia, Xerneas, Yveltal, Mega Salamence, Mewtwo. Even with its full speed, Mega Rayquaza is still outsped by Mega Salamence, Mewtwo, Weavile, Mega Gengar, Greninja, and even Geo-Herb boosted Xerneas so it must avoid fighting these Pokemon unless it can knock them out with an Extreme Speed. With that, here are a couple of sample sets for Mega Rayquaza:

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- Physically Mixed -

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive/Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed / Overheat
- Draco Meteor / Waterfall
- Protect

Probably the most standard Mega Rayquaza set atm, though likely to change in due time. As with any Mega Rayquaza set, Dragon Ascent is the main move of choice as it can take out many Pokemon with either average defenses or severely weaken targets. As stated before, the only downside from using Dragon Ascent is the double defense drops, however this can be mitigated by switching Mega Rayquaza out and back in later in the match. Extreme Speed is Mega Rayquaza's best form of priority to both outspeed faster threats and out-prioritize opposing Sucker Punches, Brave Birds, Prankster status, etc though from a base 180 attack its certainly going to hurt any non-resistant Pokemon. STAB Draco Meteor from a non-invest Mega Rayqauza (if Life Orb) will leave a huge mark against anything that's not specially defensive, or are either Steel- or Fairy-types. Of course Dragon Meteor will drop the Special Attack from Mega Rayquaza, however it can still apply immediate offensive pressure with its STAB Dragon Ascent attacks. Similarly, Overheat can be used to nuke opposing Steel-type Pokemon like Aegislash, Ferrothorn, Mega Mawile, Mega Metagross, etc though at the cost of its own SpA being dropped. Lastly Waterfall can be used as a mode to OHKO any Primal Groudon with a quad effective attack, though personally I'd prefer something like Draco Meteor or Extreme Speed as options. For item choice, Life Orb is necessary to ensure Mega Rayquaza can maintain a high damage output against the opposition at a cost of 10% of its HP. The EVs aren't modified, though one can run a Mega Ray with an IV of 29 HP to ensure LO recoil would do less damage.

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- Dance Setup -

Rayquaza-Mega @ Lum Berry / Focus Sash / Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Extreme Speed / Earthquake
- Sword Dance / Dragon Dance
- Protect

-This set is originally showcased from Kyle Cole's YT Channel. Check out his YT channel for VGC 2016 sets and PS Battles -

The idea with this Mega Rayquaza is to pair it with a redirection user like Togekiss, Amoonguss, Clefable, Clefairy, etc and setup as many Sword Dances, or Dragon Dances (for speed) as possible. Once setup, Mega Rayquaza becomes difficult to kill given the high damage output from either Dragon Ascent, Extreme Speed, or EQ. There are a multiple ways to go about this set starting with either Sword Dance or Dragon Dance. Most of the time after it was gone through the the turn it Mega evolves, Mega Rayquaza has an exceptionally high speed stat compared with most Restricted / Regular Pokemon in the format and priority in the form or E-Speed. After one Sword Dance boost, Mega Raywill essentially double its attack stat while being able to kill almost anything in the game that's not resisted, or bulky. Dragon Dance is an option in case Mega Rayquaza should outspeed some other threats like Mega Gengar, Mega Salamence, Weavile, Crobat, etc without using Extreme-Speed to outpace. Earthquake is slashed as an option in case opposing Steel-/Rock-type Pokemon are an issue, though rather uncommon due to the prevalence of the Primals. Lastly the choice of item can be the following: Lum Berry to prevent status, Focus Sash so Mega Rayquaza to take one fatal attack, or Life Orb to further supplement the attack boosts. Either three is up to the general preference.

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- I'm Specially Mixed -

Rayquaza-Mega @ Life Orb
Ability: Delta Stream
Level: 50
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive / Rash Nature
- Dragon Ascent
- Draco Meteor
- Earth Power / Overheat / Extreme Speed
- Protect

This is the exact set notable VGC Player Jon Hu used to win a NY/NJ PC early in this January 2016. Here's a link to his team via a video done by Cyberton himself.

This is somewhat of a mirror to the standard physically-mixed Mega Rayquaza set that's currently standard which only differ in some key aspects. For starters, Draco Meteor will OHKO up to 36 HP investment Mega Kangakhan (well standard fast 252/252 variants) provided that it connects. Even 252 HP Primal Groudon has a a 87.5% chance to be OHKOed by Draco Meteor so any Pokemon that generally doesn't have a high Special Defense or resisted/ immune will likely be OKHOed. Dragon Ascent is still incredibly strong, however it cannot OHKO targets like non-invested Primal Kyogre, Kangaskhan (on a favorable damage roll), Ho-oh, etc without some prior damage. Regardless, Life Orb Dragon Ascent is still going to 2HKO most intended targets anyways, however just not leave the foe at a lower amount of HP compared from a 252 Atk investment. Earth Power is what Jon Hu used on his team given the lack of response for opposing Steel-types like Mega Mawile who will likely use Primal Kyogre's Primordial Sea to block out the Fire-type weakness. Given that Earth Power is a special Ground-type attack, this allows Mega Rayquaza to even OHKO up to 252 HP / 128 SpD Mega Mawile, 4 HP Mega Metagross, and even OHKO 92 HP Primal Groudon while avoiding using a Fire-type move. Overheat is an option here as special Mega Rayquaza becomes one of the few Pokemon in the game who can OHKO 252 HP / 44 SpD Aegislash with the Life Orb. One thing to mention is having Dragon Ascent, Overheat, and Draco Meteor in the same set can leave it deprived of its Special Attack and both defense stats so switch out, or even sack it when necessary.

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What about regular Rayquaza?

Well to be honest, everything that Rayquaza does...Mega Rayquaza does better in terms of most attacking movesets, however there is one other thing the basic form has over the Mega Evolution: Air Lock. With this ability in play, all weather conditions (even abilities/moves) lose out in their effect for as long as the Pokemon with Air Lock remains on the field. This means Primal Groudon's 4x weakness to Water-type attacks can easily be exploited by even a simple switch to Rayquaza as its partner goes uses a Water-type attack. Using regular Rayquaza can allow the use of another Mega Evolution, however be careful if Rayquaza has Dragon Ascent as you don't to Mega and have a regular Kangaskhan/Mawile on the field. The speed tier for Rayquaza is somewhat awkward compared since it can outspeed the primals and other restricted Pokemon, however cannot outspeed base speed 100 Pokemon like Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Gardevoir, and the base 99 Speed Xerneas/Yveltal.  The damage output is another thing to consider given Mega Rayquaza has an extra 30+ points in its offensive stats as well as a 20+ points in speed to outspeed. Honestly, any of the above sets can do for a regular Rayquaza set, though consider having something like a Life Orb to increase the damage output.

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Partners

Primal Kyogre: Consider the fact with Primal Kyogre's Primordial Sea, and Rayquaza's Air Lock/Delta Stream, this can allow Primal Groudon to be OHKOed with powerful Water-type attacks. Both of these Restricted Pokemon don't counterbalance each other other than using both Primals so the least Primal Kyogre can use its powerful STAB Water attacks.

Xerneas: This Fairy-type Pokemon can easily beat out against opposing Dragon-type Pokemon that Mega Ray fears and setup Geomancy for a clean sweep. Be advised that both Mega Ray + Xerneas needs a response to Steel-type Pokemon when considering this pair.

Togekiss: With Delta Steam in play, Togekiss's main Ice-, Rock-, and Electric-type weaknesses are removed to become a Fairy-type with a pseudo "levitate". This allows Togekiss to easily redirect attacks away from Mega Rayquaza so the Restricted Mega Evolution can either setup or go on the offense.

Ho-oh: Popularized by Jon Hu, Ho-oh's part Fire-typing paired with its 106 HP / 154 SpD special bulk can let it wall Xerneas even when setup. In return, Mega Rayquaza's Delta Stream can remove Ho-oh's Electric weakness, make Ice resistant, and Rock-type hits are only 2x super effective.

Thundurus/Zapdos One thing to note about using either Thundurus/Zapdos with Mega Rayquaza as with Delta Stream in effect, the weakness of these Electric-/Flying-type Pokemon are removed. This means both Thundurus and Zapdos has no "weakness" while in Delta Stream and is harder to take out. Generally speaking, Thundurus is preferred in case the team lacks a response for setup or Dark Void Smeargle with Prankster Taunt/Thunder Wave. Zapdos is slower, though much more bulkier as it benefits from the Delta Stream better than Thundurus given it has access to recovery in Roost and better coverage.


Fears: Xerneas can outspeed it before Mega Rayquaza Mega Evolves, or if bold enough can setup Geomancy, and easily OHKO with either a +2 Dazzling Gleam or Moonblast. Opposing Fairy-type Pokemon like Togekiss, Mega Mawile, Klefki, Clefable, Mega Gardevoir, Sylveon, etc can all check Mega Rayquaza with their powerful Fairy-type attacks though they need to be careful as a Dragon Ascent or coverage option can knock these Pokemon out. Dragon-type Pokemon like Mega Salamence, Dialga, Palkia, Kyurem-W/B, etc can threaten Rayquaza with a STAB Dragon-type attack, though they too must be weary of being knocked out unless they have speed control like Tailwind, Trick Room, etc. Both Primal Kyogre and Primal Groudon are relative checks as they can remove Delta Stream from Mega Rayquaza so it can be easily to hit harder with an Rock-type or quad-effective Ice-type move. Finally if all else fails, Mega Rayquaza can be easily revenge killed once its defenses are dropped from repeated Dragon Ascents, though it can go for one last Extreme Speed for a knock out.

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So that's basically a good idea of how Mega Rayquaza is used, so feel free to post your ideas about the Restricted Mega Evolution in the thread. I'll work on some other Restricted Pokemon in the coming days/weeks though I'm likely shooting for one per few days. Again thanks to reading this rather short write up and again post any thoughts about Mega Rayquaza down below.