An Underrated Duo for Regulation MC: Mega Glimmora and Klefki

The Mega Glimmora and Klefki core deserves more attention than it gets, and this article explains why. It is also a concrete example of what the Cheat Sheet tab of PokéSpread is for. The eight pages above are the sheet exported for this team: a team preview, one page per Pokémon with its key calcs, and a speed page.

The core: Mega Glimmora and Klefki

Mega Glimmora

Mega Glimmora deals enormous spread damage with Sludge Wave. The move is possible because Klefki and Gholdengo are Steel types and take nothing from it, and because Rotom and Rillaboom carry Protect. Hydreigon is the only partner that has to be careful, although it can sometimes be useful to let Sludge Wave finish it off after a Draco Meteor or a Tailwind.

Sludge Wave is also what turns the Mega Gardevoir and Indeedee-F match-up around. Follow Me does not redirect a spread move, Mega Glimmora is faster than Mega Gardevoir, which is almost never played Timid, and Mega Gardevoir is almost never bulky enough to survive the hit. Against a Mega Gardevoir set that is bad news for this team, Sandstorm from Klefki is often the answer, either for the Special Defense boost or for the residual damage.

Klefki

Thanks to Prankster, Klefki's Sandstorm has priority, so it goes before every regular move. It still comes after a weather set up by a switch-in or a Mega Evolution, and then replaces it. This breaks the weathers that are very present in the format and raises the Special Defense of Mega Glimmora, a Rock type, at the same time. Reflect and Light Screen complete the defensive side of a team that is already fairly bulky.

Klefki's Dazzling Gleam gives it respectable spread damage on some interesting targets, in particular Garchomp and Mega Staraptor.

Hydreigon, the type and speed partner

Hydreigon complements Mega Glimmora perfectly through its typing. It is very good against some of the most common threats of the meta, starting with Basculegion and mono Dark Kingambit.

Its spread looks naive at first glance, but 32 Speed SP with the Choice Scarf is enough to outspeed Timid Mega Garchomp Z by a single point, and to KO it in return. Timid is rarer than Modest on that Pokémon, but when it shows up it is otherwise a very good match-up against this team.

Tailwind may look strange on a Choice Scarf set, but it is useful in quite varied situations. If Hydreigon has already lost HP, Tailwind combined with Mega Glimmora's Sludge Wave can KO Hydreigon itself, which lets a Pokémon come in the next turn under Tailwind. More generally, the Scarf and Hydreigon's Speed give a team that is otherwise slow some speed to rely on.

Gholdengo, a setup threat with plenty of support

Gholdengo is a key asset against Mega Staraptor, Mega Golisopod, Milotic with Hypnosis and Venusaur with Sleep Powder. It sets up Nasty Plot with a lot of help: the screens of Klefki, the Fake Out of Rillaboom and the Will-O-Wisp of Rotom all buy it the turn it needs.

Rotom-Wash, the bulky support against physical attackers

Rotom-Wash also helps against Mega Staraptor and Mega Golisopod, as well as Swampert and the Excadrill and Tyranitar duo, which is the hardest one for this team to face.

Helping Hand replaces the usual Hydro Pump. It lets an ally secure some KOs, notably with the Earth Power of Mega Glimmora, and it removes any accuracy problem. The set is otherwise bulky, built to resist mostly physical attacks, and Will-O-Wisp neutralizes the attacker in return.

Rillaboom, the versatile piece

Rillaboom further improves the Excadrill and Tyranitar match-up. Grassy Terrain raises the survivability of the whole team, especially in combination with the screens. Fake Out and Grassy Glide make up for the lack of global Speed, and Wood Hammer reaches the Water types, in particular Milotic, which the team otherwise touches quite poorly. Do not expect Grassy Terrain to save Mega Glimmora from the Earthquake of a powerful Ground type Pokémon, though.

The Cheat Sheet, your best ally to remember how your team works

The preview page is a reminder of every spread. Each Pokémon then has its own page, with two kinds of lines. The Defense lines show how many hits it takes for a given attacker to KO the Pokémon, and the Attack lines show how many hits it takes for the Pokémon to KO a given target. Each line ends with a color-coded verdict, such as always 1HKO or can survive 1 hit, so a glance is enough to know where a match-up stands.

The last page is the speed tier list. It ranks the six Pokémon of the team against targets chosen in advance, such as Timid Mega Garchomp Z, Archaludon, Mega Charizard Y in sun, and Mega Tyranitar after a Dragon Dance in sand. It is also where the Hydreigon speed point from earlier can be checked at a glance.

Erwan
Author of PokéSpread