Mega Garchomp Movesets & Competitive Sets

Moves Shift Gear boosts Mega Garchomp's Attack and Speed to tremendous levels and allows it to sweep. Mega Garchomp outspeeds the entire unboosted metagame bar anything above base 150 Speed and can 2HKO a good portion of the tier after a single Shift Gear. Thousand Arrows has excellent neutral coverage, also hitting Flying-types and Levitate users, and is mostly unresisted, since Grass- and Bug-types are incredibly rare, and Mega Venusaur takes neutral damage due to its Grass / Poison typing. Knock Off is used to remove crucial items such as Eviolite and to hit Ghost- and Psychic-types super effectively; use this move along with Will-O-Wisp to cripple physical attackers, most notably Imposter users. Will-O-Wisp also does chip damage to walls, which can help Mega Garchomp eventually defeat them. An alternative set would include Leech Seed, to KO Shedinja and to beat Imposter users, along with Sacred Fire to hit Grass-types super effectively and to potentially burn physical attackers and Imposter users. Sacred Fire can also burn Magic Bounce users, whereas Will-O-Wisp cannot. Set Details Toxic Orb allows Mega Garchomp to activate Poison Heal, which prevents status conditions and also provides it with very good passive recovery. The spread of 248 HP / 200 Def gives Mega Garchomp great bulk and longevity and enables it to survive the combination of Fake Out + Extreme Speed from Aerilate users such as Mega Rayquaza and even a +1 V-create from Primal Groudon. It also guarantees that Mega Garchomp will be at most 3HKOed from any move that an opposing Imposter user would use at +1 Attack. The remaining EVs are dumped into Attack along with an Adamant nature to maximize damage output. Usage Tips Bring Mega Garchomp in with a slow pivot to safely activate Poison Heal; this is absolutely crucial, as Mega Garchomp cannot afford to lose its Toxic Orb or getting statused, and it does not have a protecting move such as Spiky Shield to activate Poison Heal by itself. After Poison Heal has been activated, almost any wall is a free switch in due to Mega Garchomp being immune to status. Use these to set up with Shift Gear and sweep. This Mega Garchomp is completely Imposter proof, as it can burn the Imposter user and will not even be 2HKOed in the event it loses the Speed tie. For this reason, also make sure not to set up more than two times if there is a non-burned Imposter user on the opponent's team. Shedinja can also be defeated with this set by using either Leech Seed or Will-O-Wisp (if Shedinja is not using Lum Berry) or Knock Off + Will-O-Wisp if the Shedinja has Lum Berry + Recycle. Thousand Arrows is the move that should be used most of the time, but Knock Off should be used to remove crucial items such as an Eviolite from a Fur Coat Chansey and to hit walls such as Giratina super effectively. Mega Garchomp can also be used as a Primal Groudon check and can even take a +1 V-create from it under harsh sunlight and OHKO in return with Thousand Arrows after the drop in Defense from V-create. Mega Garchomp can also check Mega Tyranitar after Poison Heal has been activated and can easily set up on it, as it resists Rock-type moves, and Knock Off will not do significant damage due to the investment in bulk, especially after Toxic Orb has already been removed. Use Will-O-Wisp on walls that can phaze Mega Garchomp or prevent it from setting up through moves such as Topsy-Turvy to deal chip damage to them. Using Will-O-Wisp on physical attackers also makes it easy for Mega Garchomp to set up on them. Team Options Mega Garchomp fears getting revenge killed by Pixilate and Refrigerate priority users such as Mega Diancie and Kyurem-B and therefore pairs well with Steel-type or Poison-type walls such as Registeel, Mega Venusaur, and Aegislash to compensate for this weakness. Mega Garchomp also has a very hard time overcoming Fur Coat users and appreciates special wallbreakers such as Mega Mewtwo Y and Mega Latios to help it deal with them. Slow pivoting support is also a necessity to be able to safely activate the Toxic Orb and this can be provided by slow walls such as Mega Audino, Mega Slowbro, Registeel, and Aegislash.

Moves Thousand Arrows is Mega Garchomp's main STAB move that hits everything including Flying-types and Levitate users and is mostly unresisted. Dual Chop is another STAB move that hits Dragon-types super effectively, breaks potential Focus Sashes, and is able to get past Sturdy and Substitutes. This move can be replaced with Dragon Claw if accuracy is a concern. Precipice Blades can be used once there is no fear of Flying-type or switch-ins with Levitate for additional power, though its great power comes with shaky accuracy. Use this move also to OHKO foes that would otherwise be 2HKOed by Thousand Arrows such as Mega Mewtwo X and Kyogre. U-turn lets Mega Garchomp provide the team with a fast pivot and can be used to gain momentum; this move can be replaced with Trick to cripple walls such as Mega Audino or Mega Slowbro that would most likely be switching in, although keep in mind that some of these walls use their Mega Stones as their items to block Trick. Set Details A Choice Scarf alongside 236 Speed EVs allows Mega Garchomp to outspeed the majority of the unboosted Pokemon in the metagame up to positive-natured base 140s and neutral-natured base 90s that are holding a Choice Scarf or have +1 in Speed and allows it to outspeed Imposter users if they are not holding a Choice Scarf. Investing 252 EVs in Attack along with an Adamant nature enables Mega Garchomp to hit as hard as possible. A Jolly nature can alternatively be used along with 188 Speed EVs to also outspeed up to positive-natured base 150 Speed Pokemon such as Mega Aerodactyl and Deoxys-A with the help of a Choice Scarf. The rest of the EVs are dumped into Defense to maximize Mega Garchomp's bulk (20 or 68 Defense EVs for Adamant and Jolly natures, respectively). Adaptability allows Mega Garchomp to hit even harder with its STAB moves and allows it to 2HKO most of the metagame's walls such as defensive Mega Audino, defensive Giratina, and defensive Arceus. It also can OHKO almost all of the offensive threats in the tier such as Mega Rayquaza, Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Mewtwo X, Mega Gengar, Mega Diancie, and Kyogre and even some of the tier's walls such as Registeel and Aegislash. Usage Tips Mega Garchomp can be used as a revenge killer or wallbreaker and can 2HKO a good portion of the metagame. Use Mega Garchomp in the early-game to deal as much damage as possible to make way for the sweepers later on. Thousand Arrows will be used the majority of the time, since it hits everything pretty hard and has good neutral coverage. Use Precipice Blades after getting rid of all Flying-types and Levitate users, although if accuracy is a concern or if hitting the next move is crucial, Thousand Arrows should be used. Precipice Blades can also be used to net some OHKOs that would otherwise be 2HKOs with Thousand Arrows such as on Mega Mewtwo X and Kyogre. U-turn should be used to get out of a bad matchup or to gain momentum for your team. Use Dual Chop on Dragon-types and also on foes that you think might have Focus Sash or the ability Sturdy. Dual Chop can also be used on foes that are behind Substitutes to break the Substitute and deal additional damage to them. Use Trick to cripple enemy tanks such as Mega Audino and Mega Slowbro, which are common switch-ins to Mega Garchomp. Team Options Mega Garchomp can get OHKOed by Pixilate and Refrigerate users such as Mega Diancie and Kyurem-B and thus appreciates support from Steel-type or Poison-type walls such as Registeel, Mega Venusaur, and Aegislash to compensate for this weakness. Furthermore, should Steel-types be transformed into by Imposter users, Mega Garchomp can immediately switch into them and threaten the opponent's team. For this reason, Steel-type walls should be constructed in a way that would allow Mega Garchomp to safely switch into them. Sweepers and wallbreakers such as Mega Mewtwo Y, Mega Latios, and even Aerilate Mega Rayquaza can also help Mega Garchomp deal with Fur Coat users such as Mega Slowbro and Mega Audino and at the same time benefit from Mega Garchomp's dual threat to the Dragon- and Steel-type walls in the metagame. Mega Garchomp also requires Imposter-proofing support by Fur Coat users such as Xerneas, Mega Slowbro, Mega Audino, and Groudon. Mega Garchomp also cannot defeat Shedinja by itself and greatly appreciates Mold Breaker or entry hazard support to be able to take it out.