This is How You Beat The Anti-Fun Police in Pokemon Legends…

Pokemon Legends: Z-A's ranked Season 6 came out just yesterday, on January 29, bringing several changes to which Pokemon can be used, what kind of rewards you can get, and finally releasing Swampertite for you to use Mega Swampert. However, Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Season 6 adds OP Pokemon that make the season fundamentally unfun, repetitive, and with a forced meta that includes multiple Legendary Pokemon. It's one of those things where you either adapt or succumb, in this case, to the crushing weight of this Legendary-ridden meta. Not all is lost, though, and I bear good news: you can win and have a good time with a team that uses 0 Legendary or Mythical Pokemon.

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After 27 Years of Playing Pokemon Games, I'm Convinced None Will Ever Cut This Feature I Have to Hate in Secret

In my 27 years of playing Pokemon games, I have kept quiet about a feature I hate that is always there and ends up taking the fun away.

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By Andrea Trama

Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Problematic Season 6 Meta Explained

The problem with this meta is that there are 7 restricted Legendaries that players can use, and while they are limited to one per team in PLZA's Season 6, some are so incredibly broken that they can carry the win alone. These are:

Xerneas: Usually sporting Geomancy, Moonblast, and two coverage moves, but physical sets are becoming more and more common, as they can use Play Rough as a STAB Fairy-type move and moves like Horn Leech for coverage, which incidentally can one-shot Swampert. Xerneas is one of the best Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Season 6.
Yveltal: Not really used much in the meta for now, and while it may be a sleeper pick, there are other better restricted Legendaries to use, or at least ones that are not weak to Electric (which is used to counter Kyogre) or Fairy (which is used to counter Dragon-types like Garchomp).
Zygarde: Much like Yveltal, Zygarde is still very strong, but as a Pokemon that's 4x weak to Ice-type moves, there are better options. For example, Garchomp doesn't take the restricted Legendary spot, but it very much could, considering how strong it is, and Rayquaza is also better than Zygarde because it can Mega Evolve and still hold an item.
Mewtwo: Mewtwo is seeing quite a lot of usage, though less so than Xerneas and other top Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Since both Mewtwo and Armarouge are Psychic types and extremely strong, many teams use Ghost or Dark moves to counter them, but they can still do a lot of damage before they're KOed.
Groudon: Perhaps taking fourth place overall in terms of usage and strength is Groudon, which can be used as Primal Groudon, and gains access to one of the best moves in the game — Precipice Blades. This Pokemon has incredible coverage, and it can deal massive damage to a lot of meta threats.
Kyogre: Possibly the single strongest restricted Legendary in the game, with Xerneas as a close second and Rayquaza coming third, Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Kyogre is just a menace. It's weak only to Electric and Grass, meaning it's harder to KO than most mons, and it packs an otherworldly kit of moves, including Origin Pulse, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and others.
Rayquaza: While Rayquaza is not the strongest Pokemon in the meta right now, it can easily sweep any opponents thanks to its movepool and incredible stats. More importantly, you can Mega Evolve Rayquaza in Pokemon Legends: Z-A just by giving it Dragon Ascent as a move. This frees up the item slot, so one of the best choices you can make is giving it a Focus Sash, a nature that increases either Attack or Special Attack but decreases one defensive stat, and max its EVs in both attacking stats to make it a hybrid attacker with extensive coverage.

After 599 Hours in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Here's How I Win Most Ranked Battles With No Legendaries in Season 6

Pokemon is, simply put, one of the single best things in my life, and it always has been. It's no wonder that I played PLZA a lot, but I'm quite scared of just how many hours I have clocked in. Still, I've been playing ranked battles in Pokemon Legends: Z-A for a long time now, and I have a very good grasp of the meta, what's good, what isn't, and how to beat everything. It helps that I used PokeCalcs (link here) for my calculations to build the "ultimate" meta-countering team. This includes:

Overqwil — Effective Lead, Xerneas Counter

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PLA's Overqwil is a fantastic Pokemon on which I use Shuca Berry because it's only weak to Ground-type moves, and the first one that hits it is partly denied by the Shuca Berry.

Type: Dark/Poison
Item: Shuca Berry
Moveset:
- Mortal Spin — to poison any Pokemon in its small radius and deal some damage, while also increasing movement speed. This is particularly useful to chase down Xerneas and KO it.
- Swords Dance — to increase its Attack stat and deal more damage.
- Barb Barrage — to deal massive AoE Poison-type damage that can also poison opposing Pokemon, often KOing Xerneas in one hit or taking it out if it's already damaged.
- Crunch — to deal with those pesky Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokemon, like Mewtwo, Armarouge, and Gholdengo.

Rotom (Mow Form) — The MVP

To be completely honest, Rotom is the star of the show. I use Mow Rotom, which is Electric/Grass, and which you can get with the Rotom Catalog in Pokemon Legends: Z-A and from 5-star special scan areas featuring Rotom as the only critter in them. Fan Rotom is also fantastic, but with poorer coverage. I use Rotom with Magnet as a held item, as it dramatically boosts Electric damage.

Type: Electric/Grass
Item: Magnet
Moveset:
- Nasty Plot — to increase Rotom's Special Attack.
- Charge — to increase the damage Rotom deals with its next Electric move, and it also increases its Special Defense.
- Thunderbolt — to deal outstanding Electric damage when boosted by Magnet, Nasty Plot, and Charge. This oneshots Kyogre, most times even through Light Screen. It also one-shots a lot of meta Pokemon, like PLZA's Mewtwo, Volcanion, and Golisopod, even those that are not weak to Electric.
- Leaf Storm — to one-shot opposing Swamperts and have a coverage move against many other Pokemon.

Swampert — Bulky Attacker, Dragon Counter

Another Pokemon that does wonders for me is Swampert, which has an amazing type combination of Water and Ground, giving it only a 4x Grass weakness. It has great moves, and it's also a bit naturally bulky. On Swampert, I use Assault Vest to resist the many special attacks in the format and give it more time to KO opposing Pokemon. Rindo Berry and Swampertite are also good options, but I prefer Assault Vest.

Type: Water/Ground
Item: Assault Vest
Moveset:
- Earthquake — to deal massive AoE damage and deal with Fire-type Pokemon in Legends: Z-A, as well as Steel-types, which are also common now due to Xerneas.
- Waterfall — to have a mobile attack with a small area surrounding it, which serves the purpose of dealing with Armarouge, Chandelure, and Groudon.
- Ice Punch — to deal with Dragon-types, mainly against Garchomp and Rayquaza, but I've used it multiple times to KO Salamence, Dragonite, and more.
- Rock Slide or Outrage — for coverage, with the former one-shotting Charizard and helping with Rayquaza, and the latter helping with Garchomp if it survives Ice Punch.

Does This Pokemon Legends: Z-A Team Actually Work?

With this team, I've only landed last place once since the season started, and I'm talking well over 40 matches in Season 6 alone. That one time, I was against two Xerneas and three Garchomps, so my best bet was to use Overqwil, but it was quickly taken down. The other times, I typically win or land second place, with just a few third-place games. This is because Rotom is an incredible sniper, and mine is size XS, which helps make it less visible. I got my shiny XS Rotom in a Sparkling Power Lv 3 (Electric), Teensy Power Lv 2 Donut, and it has been my go-to in ranked since, especially with so many Kyogre players around.

I can't promise you that using this team will always make you win, but so far, I've had fun winning with no Legendaries in a meta that otherwise promotes their constant and aggressive usage. Another option to use instead of Overqwil is Gholdengo, giving it either an offensive item like Expert Belt and Life Orb, or a defensive one like Focus Sash, while also equipping it with Nasty Plot, Steel Beam, and Shadow Ball, with the fourth move being any between Power Gem, Thunderbolt, Make it Rain, and Flash Cannon. It's definitely more frail than Overqwil, but it can do very well against some of the best teams in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Legendary Meta or Not, You Can Still Have Fun

Ultimately, this is my best team and the one I have the most fun with, but it doesn't mean that you can't enjoy Legendaries. Pokemon Legends: Z-A's Mega Magearna is a new Mythical Mega Evolution, and it makes perfect sense to want to use it. Likewise, if you enjoy Xerneas, Mewtwo, Kyogre, or the other restricted mons, it's fine to use them. In that case, at least you now know what beats them, which I guess means I may have a harder time winning multiple matches in a row, but it's a price I'm willing to pay if it makes the meta a bit more diverse for everyone.

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