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Pokémon Legends: Z-A Season 03

Season four is officially in the books. This was the first format to include the new Z-A DLC Pokémon minus any of the Legends, Sub-Legends, or Mythicals (including the ones we already had, for better or worse). This game's lifespan is shooting by fast but I am still enjoying it in a competitive sense for the most part (see every mention of Baxcalibur in this article). I had some ups and downs this season (some I'll admit were poor play on my end and some that were not), but I think I can still be proud overall of how well I did.

Armarouge
Armarouge		 Annihilape
Annihilape		 Baxcalibur
Baxcalibur

Table of Contents:

27 November
Rank Game Me P2 P3 P4
Rank Z #1 8 5 1 3
Rank U #2 8 2 0 9
Rank R #3 5 7 5 5
Rank P #4 7 4 5 2
Rank N #5 7 3 4 4
Rank M #6 5 1 4 4
Rank L #7 8 5 1 2
Rank J #8 3 1 4 6
#9 14 2 2 2
Rank H #10 6 3 1 0
#11 6 4 1 2
Rank G #12 8 2 3 7
Rank F #13 4 4 8 DC
#14 7 4 3 6
Rank E #15 2 2 5 0
#16 5 7 2 3
#17 3 2 5 2
Rank D #18 4 1 9 0
#19 10 3 2 3
#20 4 7 2 3
Rank C #21 8 4 4 1
#22 8 2 4 4
Rank B #23 6 1 5 6
#24 7 0 4 4
#25 3 6 5 DC
#26 3 1 6 4
#27 2 3 7 1
#28 3 1 7 3
#29 1 5 8 2

Rank
A
First Place
 15
Second Place
 9
Third Place
 4
Fourth Place
 1

I have never seen so many hacked games, especially in a row. I'll be the first to admit when a team comp does not synergize as well as I think it does when planning — in this case Baxcalibur did so little for the team I think I ran two-Pokémon teams for about a third of my matches (and only winning matches) — but so many Pokémon were blatantly hacked in my matches at the end. Especially those last five games. The last one in particular had two hackers; I only managed to get a knock out because they were attacking each other in the beginning and I managed to snipe them.

It's not like I'm running basic 252/252/4 EV spreads either; both my Armarouge and Annihilape were running specialized EV spreads designed to help them survive long enough to get the combo going even without screens or moves boosting stats directly. Yet somehow in the last few matches I was continuously one-shot through the shields, through stat buffing moves, without crits and (judging by later Mega evolutions) without held items to boot.

Ignoring that, I did at least enjoy how varied the meta was. I saw a total of two players out of eighty-seven also running Armarouge + Annihilape together (though I only noticed one running Screen Armarouge). I saw a handful of Pokémon I was already familiar with and a single Glaceon, but most of the format was at the very least new cores from the DLC.

I did also have my best match yet this season, one that ironically I'm pretty sure an opponent called hacked. It might have been a Rank J match, but a 14/2/2/2 is definitely nothing to scoff at. That's when I finally started to get a groove for the timing (and mindset) for the Armarouge + Annihilape core. Those two are probably the core I've had the most fun with so far in Legends: Z-A. Should probably come up with a name for it at some point.

Let's get into what I would do differently if we had another season four to grind through soon.

Armarouge

Armarouge
  • Armarouge @ Shuca Berry
  • EVs: 252 HP / 252 Sp. Def / 4 SpA
  • Modest Nature
  • - Lava Plume
  • - Psychic
  • - Reflect
  • - Light Screen

For context before I explain how I made this build, I need to explain one thing: I am very bad when it comes to decision anxiety. I started with the third Pokémon in this list (a Mega that I wanted to build a charge for), settled on Armarouge because I had an Alpha that had access to Ominous Winds and could use an Assault Vest while still getting stat boosts in every stat, and took I think a solid week to settle on Annihilape. Then during the time it took to actually get a Baxcalibur (that's getting a blog post in its own right), I ended up remaking the planned build for Armarouge about four times(?) because I couldn't settle on how I wanted to run it.

I finally settled on Shields Armarouge the morning I built the team on my Switch because that was when I had a moment of clarity and realized Armarouge had access to Light Screen & Reflect.

Even during the ladder, I ended up tweaking Armarouge's build slightly every few matches. The biggest change was that I could not figure out what item I wanted her to hold and felt like they were all a waste that didn't help the team. It wasn't until I was tired of Skarmory being a great counter despite not even having a STAB Type Advantage that I remembered Shuca Berries were a thing. Oh, well, at least that was early in the ladder (Rank M, I think? I didn't write that note down).

How well did Armarouge pair with the team? I really like how it pairs with both Annihilape and the rest of the meta. I expected to see more Ice-types (most notably Baxcalibur), but there were still a good number of Steel-type Pokémon in the mix that Armarouge could scare off.

(And Garchomps for some reason. You'd think they'd love to rush in towards a Ground-weak Armarouge, but every time I saw a Garchomp lead it ran in the opposite direction. Maybe my Armarouge running towards them scared them into thinking I was doing something weird.)

Would I play Shields Armarouge again? Probably. I think I ironically need to debate Armarouge's other two moves more; Armarouge has a better Fire-type move, but its exclusive move has a wider range that I thought would be better (it was, for the most part, but some Pokémon just barely survived the maybe twelve times I intentionally took Armarouge on the offensive instead of only having the Armarouge with health left). Its Psychic move rarely saw play, maybe two or three matches out of twenty-nine, and at least one of them was in that last hacked match where I got fourth place.

Pros

  • Interesting movepool. Access to a Shields build or a Buff Everything build.
  • A less common threat that opponents weren't as well prepared for.

Cons

  • Skarmory in particular OHKOs with a crit-based Ground Move that has a heightened chance to crit, even with no stat buffs or 252 HP. STAB Ground-Types didn't have the same issue. The Shuca Berry I ran is anti-Skarmory propaganda. Did I mention Drill Run is a fast move that can hit you before you have time to hit a button sometimes?

Annihilape

Annihilape
  • Annihilape @ Shell Bell
  • EVs: 252 HP / 68 P. Atk Def / 188 Ph. Def
  • Impish Nature
  • - Bulk Up
  • - Rage Fist
  • - Drain Punch
  • - Ice Blast

Annihilape was initially a Pokémon I only added to cover Baxcalibur's weaknesses. Don't get me wrong, I loved Annihilape, but I was burned out using it so long as a Raid Grinder in Scarlet & Violet and a Rogue Mega grinder in this game. In the end, though, I'm glad I used it. Annihilape can very easily turn into a nuke that can heal itself on the field, especially if your opponents let you build up its stats. Annihilape's biggest weakness is that, based on how Rage Fist works, you want Annihilape to be hit. It's fairly bulky, but not bulky enough to voluntarily take hits.

That's why the EVs and nature are the way they are. For anyone curious, I specifically EV calc'ed against Metagross, Farfetch'd (which I thought would be a lot more prevalent), and Mega Skarmory. I originally had those 68 Atk EVs in Special Defense too, but that meant Annihilape only had a slim chance of surviving Gardevoir without shields or stat boosts, so I figured I may as well invest in hitting stronger at that point instead of wasting the EVs.

Honestly, I'm not sure if there's any thing in particular that was Annihilape's biggest threat. By nature of how Annihilape is built, you're going to be taking hits left and right. There were only two Pokémon that directly caused a headache with Annihilape:

  1. Golisopod — That thing's base defense is TANKY AS HECK
  2. Porygon2 — They were immune to Rage Fist and the ones I faced seemed to be build with Ph. Def EVs

Pros

  • Pretty wide movepool. If you don't want to run Ice Punch, it has a ton of other moves to choose from too.
  • Good alternative Fighting-type moves too, such as Brick Break if you expect to see shields often during your matches.
  • Access to Screens as well if that's your style.

Cons

  • As great of a move as Rage Fist is, its timer gets slower and slower the higher its damage output gets.
  • Rage Fist also resets its boosts whenever it's taken out, unlike when grinding raids in Scarlet & Violet or Rouge Megas in Z-A.
  • Unless I'm just being weird and other Annihilape players didn't care enough about it, you almost have to build a bulk Annihilape.

Baxcalibur

Baxcalibur
  • Baxcalibur @ Baxcalibrite
  • EVs: 252 HP / 4 Spd / 252 SpA
  • Modest Nature
  • - Geomancy
  • - Moonblast
  • - Thunderbolt
  • - Focus Blast

I rarely used Baxcalibur. When Baxcalibur was on the field, it made a splash. But there was rarely a moment where it could make a splash.

Baxcalibur being an Ice-type isn't enough to better counter Dragons on the field than Glaceon (or other Dragons, for that matter). Baxcalibur worked best when it was sneaking into someone else's fight and taking them both out. Which is good if that's your playstyle, but that's also exactly how Shield Annihilape worked; you hide in the corner, build your defenses, then sneak in and destroy everything. What this team needed (ignoring that Baxcalibur was there first) was a Pokémon I could reliably throw out onto the field when things go wrong that could take care of threats Armarouge and Annihilape couldn't. Ironically, despite my immense hatred for Skarmory thanks to this season, I think Skarmory would have been a good choice for this role. Or Gyarados, another Pokémon that was immune to Ground-types and was better suited for Dragon match-ups or Charizard.

Pros

  • Great for swooping into other Pokémon's battles and punishing them for tunnel visioning.

Cons

  • Its niche is almost non-existent. No one even prepared for the Baxcalibur match-up in particular; it's just another Dragon in a meta of Dragons that also happens to be part Ice so Ice moves weren't nukes anymore.

Team Recap & Moving Forward

I think I had more good memories than bad memories overall this season. Do I wish I had better luck, especially in those last few matches? Absolutely. Did I end this run with absolutely nothing I'd improve on? Absolutely not. I'm already coming up with alternative Pokémon to replace Baxcalibur with for next season if I decide to run Armarouge + Annihilape again.

I'm not 100% settled on running that core again, either. Like I said in my section on Annihilape, I've used Annihilape a lot already. I don't want to burn myself out on Annihilape so soon. On the bright side, the core is a different playstyle than I'm used to, so it's a fun change of pace.

Maybe I'll stick with it longer, or maybe I'll return to more offensive set-ups. We'll see soon enough.