[overview]
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 7-9 points
**Overview**: Meloetta is a budget wallbreaker with solid Special Attack and Special Defense, versatile means of setting up and pivoting, strong coverage options, few weaknesses, and a unique transformation mechanic into a fast physical attacker that can catch opponents off guard. Although it can reliably deal damage, its Speed is relatively low, it lacks reliable recovery, and its physical bulk is shaky, especially when combined with its weakness to common moves like Knock Off and U-turn. It also has very few resistances and lacks some traditional Psychic-type utility options like Future Sight, Reflect, and Healing Wish. Pirouette forme is also difficult to pilot, requiring both a moveslot and a full turn to set up, and it resets if Meloetta has to switch out.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Special Wallbreaker**: Meloetta works best breaking through teams that can’t handle its high Special Attack, especially with some combination of damage-boosting items, Calm Mind boosts, and Psyshock to bypass foes with high Special Defense. Serene Grace can also bolster secondary effects on moves like Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Thunderbolt, making it even more difficult to wall.
**Pivot / Utility**: Against teams with multiple strong answers to Meloetta's offense, it can utilize moves like U-turn, Thunder Wave, and Trick to pivot out of bad matchups and give detrimental items and statuses to its counters to support both itself and its teammates. Choice Scarf can still allow it a form of speed control to outrun faster foes and cripple bulky foes with Trick as needed.
**Physical Wallbreaker**: In Pirouette forme, Meloetta can still utilize 3 three move slots moveslots alongside solid Attack and Speed stats and strong Fighting-type STAB moves to surprise opponents that were anticipating its base forme. It has access to reasonable coverage like Knock Off for otherwise problematic Ghost-types and can run damage-boosting items like Life Orb to help facilitate late-game sweeps.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Psychic, Psyshock, Hyper Voice, Tera Blast
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind
**Utility Moves**: Trick, Knock Off, Brick Break, U-turn, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Substitute
**Coverage**: Alluring Voice, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Energy Ball, Grass Knot
Niche Moves
========
**Relic Song**: Relic Song allows Meloetta to transform into Pirouette forme, which can be used not just to run the physically offensive sets but also to flip its weaknesses into resistances, grant it much more Speed, and allow it to switch out with U-turn or use Relic Song again on an incoming check, both of which revert it back to base forme all while potentially putting foes to sleep.
**Physical Attacks / Swords Dance**: Meloetta’s Pirouette forme can make use of physical coverage and setup options that are mostly useless to its default forme, with STAB options like Close Combat, Drain Punch, and Facade, decent coverage in Triple Axel, Fire Punch, Knock Off, and Play Rough, and setup with Swords Dance.
**Perish Song**: Against bulky foes that try to set up on Meloetta, Perish Song can force switches and allow Meloetta to potentially gain momentum with U-turn.
**Trick Room**: Meloetta can use Trick Room to outspeed typically faster foes or pivot to slower teammates to allow them a safe switch in and a few turns to wreak havoc on the opponent's team.
**Rest**: Meloetta’s only form of healing is Rest, which can be combined with a Chesto Berry to allow it one free full heal or Sleep Talk to allow it to continue to set up or attack while asleep.
Common Items
========
**Assault Vest**: Meloetta can bolster its already strong Special Defense with Assault Vest to take minimal damage while maintaining most of its tools, having plentiful coverage options and the ability to freely pivot with U-turn.
**Choice Scarf**: Meloetta can patch its relatively low Speed with Choice Scarf to outrun and surprise faster, frail attackers while having options to pivot or hinder opposing walls with Trick to make them much less effective.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Choice Specs, Life Orb, Silk Scarf, Twisted Spoon, and Expert Belt can all strengthen Meloetta’s attacks to make it a more effective wallbreaker against slow, bulky teams.
Niche Items
========
**Throat Spray**: Meloetta has access to both Hyper Voice and Alluring Voice to activate Throat Spray and give itself a free Special Attack boost without being locked in to a move while reducing the amount of damage it takes from Knock Off.
**Leftovers**: For Substitute sets or against very passive foes, Meloetta can utilize Leftovers to help it gain passive health over time.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Against entry hazard-heavy teams, Meloetta can be a more functional pivot by utilizing Heavy-Duty Boots to remove any hazard damage it would otherwise take on repeated switches.
**Resistance Berries**: Colbur Berry and Tanga Berry both allow Meloetta to take less damage from a single Dark- or Bug-type attack and fire back with a strong attack.
**Chesto Berry**: Combined with Rest, Meloetta can heal to full HP once for free on Calm Mind sets or sets that expect to switch in repeatedly.
Tera
========
It’s challenging to justify Meloetta as a Tera Captain, as it is often too expensive when paired with a top-tier option. That being said, it becomes a much more potent threat with the ability to change typings. Tera Blast is a usable STAB option even before it Terastallizes, giving it more flexibility to run other moves. Tera Normal and Tera Psychic deal significant damage to anything that isn’t immune, while Tera Fire, Fighting, and Ground provide more reliable coverage against Steel-type foes. Other types can also be used to allow Meloetta to wall and set up on specific foes with limited movepools by taking advantage of its naturally high Special Defense.
Draft Strategy
========
Meloetta fits best on teams that need extra special offense, Ghost-type resistances, and pivoting that are already self-sufficient with entry hazards and able to deal with Meloetta’s problematic matchups.
**Sweepers**: Meloetta is great at denting opposing defenses, allowing it to open the door for strong sweepers like Zarude, Darkrai, and Sneasler to clean up ate-game.
**Physical Pivots**: Meloetta can bait in special walls and switch out with U-turn, enabling other strong pivots like Cinderace, Landorus-T, and Palafin to come in and trap the opponent's team in a pivoting vortex. Teammates that can break through Steel-types are especially useful, as Meloetta lacks reliable coverage to hit them in its base forme.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Meloetta often forces opponents to choose between switching or sacrificing their active Pokemon, making hazards from teammates like Hisuian Samurott, Garchomp, and Ting-Lu particularly useful for chipping down bulky checks. Meloetta also suffers against hazards and prefers most other items to Heavy-Duty Boots, so Rapid Spin and Defog users like Great Tusk and Corviknight make for valuable teammates.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Meloetta does not have access to healing moves outside of Rest, so damage from entry hazards, statuses, and repeated attacks will wear it down over time and limit its usefulness as a defensive switch-in.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types typically resist Meloetta’s dual STAB combination, leaving it only with non-STAB Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt, the inaccurate Focus Blast, and the physical Fire Punch to hit foes like Iron Treads and Heatran.
**Fast Physical Attackers**: Meloetta’s Defense and Speed stats leave it vulnerable to strong physical attackers like Urshifu-S and Landorus-T.
**U-Turn / Knock Off**: Meloetta gets outrun and threatened with super effective coverage by foes like Roaring Moon, Tornadus-T, and Meowscarada, which can all easily gain momentum from Meloetta switching out with U-turn or removing the team’s items with Knock Off.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/xand.614716/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
**Draft Order**: Round 6 onwards
**Price Range**: 7-9 points
**Overview**: Meloetta is a budget wallbreaker with solid Special Attack and Special Defense, versatile means of setting up and pivoting, strong coverage options, few weaknesses, and a unique transformation mechanic into a fast physical attacker that can catch opponents off guard. Although it can reliably deal damage, its Speed is relatively low, it lacks reliable recovery, and its physical bulk is shaky, especially when combined with its weakness to common moves like Knock Off and U-turn. It also has very few resistances and lacks some traditional Psychic-type utility options like Future Sight, Reflect, and Healing Wish. Pirouette forme is also difficult to pilot, requiring both a moveslot and a full turn to set up, and it resets if Meloetta has to switch out.
[strategy comments]
Common Roles
========
**Special Wallbreaker**: Meloetta works best breaking through teams that can’t handle its high Special Attack, especially with some combination of damage-boosting items, Calm Mind boosts, and Psyshock to bypass foes with high Special Defense. Serene Grace can also bolster secondary effects on moves like Psychic, Shadow Ball, and Thunderbolt, making it even more difficult to wall.
**Pivot / Utility**: Against teams with multiple strong answers to Meloetta's offense, it can utilize moves like U-turn, Thunder Wave, and Trick to pivot out of bad matchups and give detrimental items and statuses to its counters to support both itself and its teammates. Choice Scarf can still allow it a form of speed control to outrun faster foes and cripple bulky foes with Trick as needed.
**Physical Wallbreaker**: In Pirouette forme, Meloetta can still utilize 3 three move slots moveslots alongside solid Attack and Speed stats and strong Fighting-type STAB moves to surprise opponents that were anticipating its base forme. It has access to reasonable coverage like Knock Off for otherwise problematic Ghost-types and can run damage-boosting items like Life Orb to help facilitate late-game sweeps.
Common Moves
========
**Primary STAB Moves**: Psychic, Psyshock, Hyper Voice, Tera Blast
**Setup Moves**: Calm Mind
**Utility Moves**: Trick, Knock Off, Brick Break, U-turn, Thunder Wave, Light Screen, Substitute
**Coverage**: Alluring Voice, Focus Blast, Shadow Ball, Thunderbolt, Thunder, Energy Ball, Grass Knot
Niche Moves
========
**Relic Song**: Relic Song allows Meloetta to transform into Pirouette forme, which can be used not just to run the physically offensive sets but also to flip its weaknesses into resistances, grant it much more Speed, and allow it to switch out with U-turn or use Relic Song again on an incoming check, both of which revert it back to base forme all while potentially putting foes to sleep.
**Physical Attacks / Swords Dance**: Meloetta’s Pirouette forme can make use of physical coverage and setup options that are mostly useless to its default forme, with STAB options like Close Combat, Drain Punch, and Facade, decent coverage in Triple Axel, Fire Punch, Knock Off, and Play Rough, and setup with Swords Dance.
**Perish Song**: Against bulky foes that try to set up on Meloetta, Perish Song can force switches and allow Meloetta to potentially gain momentum with U-turn.
**Trick Room**: Meloetta can use Trick Room to outspeed typically faster foes or pivot to slower teammates to allow them a safe switch in and a few turns to wreak havoc on the opponent's team.
**Rest**: Meloetta’s only form of healing is Rest, which can be combined with a Chesto Berry to allow it one free full heal or Sleep Talk to allow it to continue to set up or attack while asleep.
Common Items
========
**Assault Vest**: Meloetta can bolster its already strong Special Defense with Assault Vest to take minimal damage while maintaining most of its tools, having plentiful coverage options and the ability to freely pivot with U-turn.
**Choice Scarf**: Meloetta can patch its relatively low Speed with Choice Scarf to outrun and surprise faster, frail attackers while having options to pivot or hinder opposing walls with Trick to make them much less effective.
**Damage-boosting Items**: Choice Specs, Life Orb, Silk Scarf, Twisted Spoon, and Expert Belt can all strengthen Meloetta’s attacks to make it a more effective wallbreaker against slow, bulky teams.
Niche Items
========
**Throat Spray**: Meloetta has access to both Hyper Voice and Alluring Voice to activate Throat Spray and give itself a free Special Attack boost without being locked in to a move while reducing the amount of damage it takes from Knock Off.
**Leftovers**: For Substitute sets or against very passive foes, Meloetta can utilize Leftovers to help it gain passive health over time.
**Heavy-Duty Boots**: Against entry hazard-heavy teams, Meloetta can be a more functional pivot by utilizing Heavy-Duty Boots to remove any hazard damage it would otherwise take on repeated switches.
**Resistance Berries**: Colbur Berry and Tanga Berry both allow Meloetta to take less damage from a single Dark- or Bug-type attack and fire back with a strong attack.
**Chesto Berry**: Combined with Rest, Meloetta can heal to full HP once for free on Calm Mind sets or sets that expect to switch in repeatedly.
Tera
========
It’s challenging to justify Meloetta as a Tera Captain, as it is often too expensive when paired with a top-tier option. That being said, it becomes a much more potent threat with the ability to change typings. Tera Blast is a usable STAB option even before it Terastallizes, giving it more flexibility to run other moves. Tera Normal and Tera Psychic deal significant damage to anything that isn’t immune, while Tera Fire, Fighting, and Ground provide more reliable coverage against Steel-type foes. Other types can also be used to allow Meloetta to wall and set up on specific foes with limited movepools by taking advantage of its naturally high Special Defense.
Draft Strategy
========
Meloetta fits best on teams that need extra special offense, Ghost-type resistances, and pivoting that are already self-sufficient with entry hazards and able to deal with Meloetta’s problematic matchups.
**Sweepers**: Meloetta is great at denting opposing defenses, allowing it to open the door for strong sweepers like Zarude, Darkrai, and Sneasler to clean up ate-game.
**Physical Pivots**: Meloetta can bait in special walls and switch out with U-turn, enabling other strong pivots like Cinderace, Landorus-T, and Palafin to come in and trap the opponent's team in a pivoting vortex. Teammates that can break through Steel-types are especially useful, as Meloetta lacks reliable coverage to hit them in its base forme.
**Entry Hazard Control**: Meloetta often forces opponents to choose between switching or sacrificing their active Pokemon, making hazards from teammates like Hisuian Samurott, Garchomp, and Ting-Lu particularly useful for chipping down bulky checks. Meloetta also suffers against hazards and prefers most other items to Heavy-Duty Boots, so Rapid Spin and Defog users like Great Tusk and Corviknight make for valuable teammates.
Checks and Counters
========
**Chip Damage**: Meloetta does not have access to healing moves outside of Rest, so damage from entry hazards, statuses, and repeated attacks will wear it down over time and limit its usefulness as a defensive switch-in.
**Steel-types**: Steel-types typically resist Meloetta’s dual STAB combination, leaving it only with non-STAB Shadow Ball and Thunderbolt, the inaccurate Focus Blast, and the physical Fire Punch to hit foes like Iron Treads and Heatran.
**Fast Physical Attackers**: Meloetta’s Defense and Speed stats leave it vulnerable to strong physical attackers like Urshifu-S and Landorus-T.
**U-Turn / Knock Off**: Meloetta gets outrun and threatened with super effective coverage by foes like Roaring Moon, Tornadus-T, and Meowscarada, which can all easily gain momentum from Meloetta switching out with U-turn or removing the team’s items with Knock Off.
[credits]
Written by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/xand.614716/
Quality checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/scionicle.599989/
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/techno.527276/
Grammar checked by:
https://www.smogon.com/forums/members/a-blue-banana.649096/
Last edited:
