Melmetal Movesets & Competitive Sets

Set Details Melmetal leverages its massive bulk and Attack to tank strong hits and strike back harder. Protect allows Melmetal to maximize its Leftovers recovery while also scouting Choice item users like Dragapult and Blacephalon. Earthquake hits Toxapex and Heatran super effectively while catching Zapdos and Corviknight attempting to recover with Roost; however, Superpower is a valid option that still hits Heatran hard while seriously pressuring Ferrothorn and Equilibra. Toxic cripples Zapdos, Slowbro, and Astrolotl; Toxic also synergizes well with Protect, racking up extra chip damage. Alternatively, Thunder Punch pressures Urshifu-R, Slowbro, and Corviknight; it also hits Toxapex super effectively, which is important if not running Earthquake. 12 Speed EVs allow Melmetal to outspeed Toxapex. Melmetal appreciates pivoting support from offensive and defensive pivots alike. Urshifu-R appreciates Melmetal switching into and heavily damaging Tapu Fini, while Dragapult can pivot it into Blissey and Clefable. Slow pivots like Landorus-T, Slowbro, and Rotom-W also provide pivoting support for Melmetal. Landorus-T handily switches into defensive Zapdos and Blacephalon, Slowbro can take care of Urshifu-R, and Rotom-W checks Astrolotl and Heatran. Offensive Pokemon like Weavile, Kartana, and Nidoking take great advantage of the holes Melmetal creates in opposing teams. Venomicon-E pairs well with Melmetal, as together they can overwhelm their shared checks, most notably Zapdos.

Set Details When equipped with an Assault Vest, Melmetal is capable of tanking a multitude of super effective special hits that would otherwise force it out like Heatran's Magma Storm and Blacephalon's Flamethrower; it also lets Melmetal better check Tapu Lele. Earthquake hits Heatran, Toxapex, and Astrolotl super effectively; be careful, however, as Astrolotl commonly runs Will-O-Wisp. Ice Punch nails Landorus-T and Zapdos for super effective damage. Thunder Punch is a decent midground option that hits Slowbro and Corviknight hard. The given investment in special bulk, in conjunction with Assault Vest, allows Melmetal to avoid an OHKO from Modest Heatran's Eruption while avoiding a 2HKO from Choice Specs Dragapult's Flamethrower. 12 Speed EVs allow Melmetal to outpace Toxapex. Assault Vest Melmetal can be easily chipped, so it greatly appreciates pivoting support from Landorus-T, Rotom-W, Slowbro, and Colossoil. Offensive pivots like Urshifu-R and Dragapult also pair well with Melmetal, as they can safely get it onto the field while wallbreaking for it. Kartana appreciates Melmetal potentially KOing foes like Heatran and takes care of Saharaja and Hippowdon for it. Weavile and Zeraora appreciate Melmetal's ability to switch into Tapu Koko effectively, and both appreciate the holes Melmetal punches in the opposition.

Set Details With the combination of Thunder Wave and Thunder Punch, Melmetal is capable of breaking through Pokemon that would normally check it, most notably Toxapex and Corviknight. Superpower hits Ferrothorn and Heatran in one slot. Protective Pads is used to avoid any chip damage Melmetal would take from Rocky Helmet users like Corviknight and Toxapex while also avoiding contact effect abilities like Ferrothorn's Iron Barbs and Zapdos's Static. The given EV spread has enough Speed to outpace Hippowdon while giving Melmetal the ability to avoid the 2HKO from Hippowdon's Earthquake and the OHKO from Heatran's Magma Storm after Stealth Rock. Melmetal pairs particularly well with Pokemon that appreciate Toxapex and Corviknight eliminated or at the very least heavily weakened. Weavile is a notable partner, as it takes great advantage of Toxapex being paralyzed and Corviknight being chipped. Other offensive teammates, like Dragapult, Volcanion, and Garchomp, also gain a lot from these foes being crippled. Buzzwole is a nice defensive option that takes some of the onus off of Melmetal for checking Weavile while also switching into Earthquake from Landorus-T and Saharaja. Pivoting support from defensive stalwarts like Landorus-T and Slowbro help Melmetal get onto the field; Slowbro also offers Future Sight support, augmenting Melmetal's already threatening offensive presence. Venomicon-E appreciates Corviknight not being able to effectively pivot on it and can use paralysis turns to set up with Coil.

Substitute Melmetal takes advantage of its great wallbreaking power, which lets it exploit switches it forces against teams such as Poison, Psychic, and Steel. Furthermore, Substitute also lets it avoid Leech Seed and status from walls such as Ferrothorn, Slowbro, and Galarian Corsola. Thunder Punch threatens Water- and Flying-types such as Slowbro and Corviknight reasonably well. Alternatively, Thunder Wave alongside Double Iron Bash lets Melmetal paraflinch physical walls such as Celesteela and Toxapex. Earthquake deals with Steel- and Poison-types such as Jirachi and Toxapex, which tend to come in and scout its moves. Toxic is an alternative that wears down Ground- and Electric-types such as Swampert, Gastrodon, and Rotom-W, which don't take much damage from its STAB or coverage moves. 12 Speed EVs let Melmetal outspeed and utilize Substitute against walls such as Toxapex and Galarian Corsola, while the given bulk investment ensures its Substitute survives Amoonguss's Foul Play or Slowbro's Scald. Due to Melmetal's ability to force switches, teammates that can stack entry hazards such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Skarmory are ideal. Ferrothorn also checks Ground- and Water-types such as Swampert and Barraskewda and can utilize Knock Off to remove Rocky Helmet from Slowbro and Toxapex, letting Melmetal freely use Double Iron Bash. Heatran takes on Fire-type moves from Victini, Clefable, and opposing Heatran and can phaze threats such as Nasty Plot Hydreigon and Galarian Moltres. Alternatively, Heatran can utilize a Choice Scarf set to surprise threats such as Tapu Bulu and Nidoking. Corviknight is a Ground-immune partner that pivots Melmetal in against Pokemon it can take advantage of, such as Toxapex, Ferrothorn, and Klefki. It also checks Fighting-types such as Choice Scarf Terrakion and Galarian Zapdos and can utilize Bulk Up or and Iron Defense sets to take on Iron Defense Kommo-o, all while allowing Corviknight to sweep teams such as Ground and Dark late-game. Skarmory sets entry hazards and can phaze setup sweepers like Bulk Up Landorus-T and Swords Dance Tapu Bulu, while Celesteela provides passive recovery with Leech Seed and can pressure Iron Defense Kommo-o with Air Slash. Aegislash provides a Fighting immunity, which lets it check threats like Choice Scarf Urshifu-R and Tapu Lele and wear down opposing walls such as Celesteela and Galarian Slowking with a Choice Specs or SubToxic set. Choice Scarf Excadrill deals with Choice Scarf Heatran, Rotom-W, and Nidoking and appreciates Melmetal's ability to wear down its checks in Slowbro and Celesteela. Alternatively, Swords Dance Excadrill benefits from Melmetal's ability to wear down roadblocks such as Ferrothorn, Corviknight, and Amoonguss, allowing it to sweep Steel and Poison teams late-game. Choice Specs Jirachi deals with Poison-, Dragon-, and Water-types such as Nidoking, Hydreigon, and Gastrodon and appreciates Melmetal's ability to pressure defensive cores.

Double Iron Bash is very powerful and can be used to fish for a flinch. Since Double Iron Bash strikes twice, it can take on many Pokemon with defensive abilities such as Mimikyu and Dragonite, as well as effectively hit Substitute users such as Kyurem. Ice Punch allows Melmetal to hit Flying- and Dragon-type Pokemon such as Landorus-T, Dragonite, and Garchomp. Earthquake allows it to hit Electric-, Poison-, and Steel-type Pokemon for super effective damage such as Alolan Raichu, Toxapex, and Aegislash. Superpower hits Steel-type Pokemon such as Ferrothorn and other Pokemon such as Rotom-W that can switch into its other attacks. Thunder Punch nails Water- and Flying-type Pokemon such as Slowbro, Mantine, and Celesteela. 12 EVs in Speed allow Melmetal to outpace uninvested Toxapex. Melmetal is a powerful wallbreaker; therefore, it is best to bring it in safely to wallbreak. When Melmetal is in battle, most of the time it should attack with Double Iron Bash, unless one of its coverage moves will hit the foe or a predicted switch-in harder. Magnezone can trap Steel-type Pokemon for Melmetal such as Celesteela in Flying teams, allowing Melmetal to fairly easily click Double Iron Bash. The two also form a great wallbreaking core, as Magnezone can break physical walls for Melmetal such as Skarmory, and Melmetal can break past special walls for Magnezone such as Blissey. Aegislash, Celesteela, and Heatran form an immunity core that covers all of Melmetal's weaknesses, which gives it a solid backbone to fall back on. The immunity core can also wear down the opposing team, allowing Melmetal to break through its foes more easily late-game. Ferrothorn helps Melmetal by providing it with a Water resistance, entry hazard support in Spikes or Stealth Rock, and Leech Seed support. Ferrothorn can also break past Pokemon that wall Melmetal such as Swampert and Gastrodon. Excadrill provides an Electric immunity, entry hazard removal with Rapid Spin, and a way to take on Pokemon such as Rotom-W, which would otherwise wall Melmetal, thanks to Mold Breaker Earthquake. Excadrill can also help Melmetal break down shared checks such as Mandibuzz and Swampert with a Swords Dance-boosted attack. Bisharp can take care of Psychic- and Ghost-type Pokemon for Melmetal such as Victini and Blacephalon with Sucker Punch. It can also remove items such as Toxapex's Black Sludge, allowing Melmetal to break through foes with more ease.

Assault Vest Melmetal functions as an emergency check against special setup sweepers such as Hydreigon, Galarian Moltres, and Clefable, which heavily threaten Steel teams. Double Iron Bash obliterates Fairy- and Ice-type threats such as Tapu Bulu, Clefable, and Kyurem and also lets Melmetal deal with Substitute users such as Hydreigon, Galarian Moltres, and Spectrier. Earthquake hits with Steel- and Poison-types such as Heatran, Magnezone, and Toxapex that resist Double Iron Bash. Thunder Punch punishes Water- and Flying-types such as Slowbro, Celesteela, and Corviknight, while Ice Punch handles Ground- and Flying-types such as Landorus-T and Thundurus-T. 12 Speed EVs allow Melmetal to outspeed and flinch down Toxapex with Double Iron Bash, while the remaining EVs are dumped into Attack and Special Defense to maximize its offensive prowess and special bulk. In addition to checking the aforementioned threats, Assault Vest lets Melmetal survive super effective attacks from threats such as Heatran, Nidoking, and Kyurem in a pinch and OHKO back. Melmetal is also able to check Dragonite, Dragapult, and Barraskewda due to its decent physical bulk. Heatran is an excellent teammate, as it checks Fire-types such as Choice Scarf Blacephalon and Volcarona and wears down the opposing team with Toxic and Stealth Rock. Although Melmetal can survive hits from threats such as Choice Scarf Urshifu-R and Galarian Zapdos, it prefers to preserve its health to check more threatening special attackers such as Volcanion, Galarian Moltres, and Hydreigon. As such, checks to these physical threats such as Ferrothorn, Aegislash, and Corviknight are greatly appreciated. Ferrothorn checks Water- and Ground-types such as Barraskewda and Hippowdon while also setting entry hazards to wear down the opposing team. Leech Seed also gives Melmetal a form of passive recovery. Aegislash provides a Fighting immunity, which makes Choice-locked Pokemon such as Galarian Zapdos, Zeraora, and Urshifu-R think twice before using Fighting-type moves. It also wears down walls such as Slowbro, Mantine, and Ferrothorn. In return, Melmetal deals with Dark-types such as Galarian Moltres and Hydreigon which take advantage of Aegislash. Ground-immune partners such as Celesteela, Corviknight, and Skarmory deal with Excadrill, Garchomp, and Landorus-T. Celesteela also handles Steel-types such as Ferrothorn and pressures Dragon teams, while Skarmory sets entry hazards and phazes threats like Bulk Up Landorus-T. Corviknight can take advantage of Melmetal's ability to remove special attackers such as Nidoking and Galarian Moltres, as this allows it to sweep with Iron Defense, Bulk Up, and Power Trip sets. Excadrill is an Electric-immune partner that checks Tapu Koko and Regieleki and provides entry hazard removal with Rapid Spin, allowing Melmetal to preserve its health to properly check Hydreigon and Galarian Moltres. Bisharp can use Knock Off to remove Rocky Helmet and Leftovers from Melmetal's checks, such as Toxapex and Celesteela, and deals with fast threats such as Victini, Blacephalon, and Alolan Raichu. Jirachi utilizes special sets to deal with Fighting- and Water-types such as Urshifu-R, Kommo-o, Bewear, and Gastrodon.

Melmetal's Steel typing and solid natural bulk in tandem with Assault Vest make it an excellent sponge for offensive teams, letting them check Pokemon like Kyurem and Tapu Lele. Its huge Attack stat and wide coverage also let it sponge hits without losing momentum against foes such as Mega Latias and Mega Mawile. Earthquake slams Heatran, Toxapex, and Victini should they decide to switch in. Thunder Punch allows Melmetal to hit Slowbro, Pelipper, and Rotom-W, which can put them in a difficult situation if they have accumulated chip damage. Ice Punch rounds out the set by deterring Ground-types like Landorus-T, Garchomp, and Gliscor from switching in. An Assault Vest and heavy Special Defense investment maximizes Melmetal's defensive use, letting it more easily take attacks from Kyurem, Clefable, Mega Diancie and Tapu Lele. 12 Speed EVs are used to outrun Toxapex. Melmetal fits on offensive teams as both a crucial defensive pivot into Pokemon like Tapu Lele, Mega Tyranitar, Mega Mawile, and Kyurem and a strong offensive presence able to punch holes in opposing teams. Melmetal's low Speed can often leave it prey to fast Fighting-type Pokemon and coverage users like Mega Lopunny, Mega Medicham, and Kartana, so other defensive Pokemon like Rocky Helmet Garchomp, Landorus-T, and Clefable make great partners. In return, they appreciate Melmetal's ability to check Kyurem and punish Weavile for clicking Triple Axel. Clefable can also enhance Melmetal's longevity with Wish, allowing it to be more reckless with its health. While Melmetal has vast coverage, it can struggle to break through certain Pokemon, such as Mega Scizor, Volcarona, and Zapdos. Checks to these Pokemon such as Toxapex, Rotom-W, and the aforementioned Rocky Helmet Garchomp thus make great partners. Alternatively, one can use more offensive teammates like Mega Medicham, Protean Greninja, and Volcarona to greatly overwhelm these defensive Pokemon. Defog support from the likes of Rotom-W, Tapu Fini, and Landorus-T is crucial for this Melmetal set, as it is very susceptible to Spikes due to its lack of recovery.

With a strong STAB move in Double Iron Bash, an ability that further boosts its power, and amazing coverage options, Melmetal is a potent tank that can be difficult to switch into. These perks alongside its massive physical bulk allow it to stay in on threats and potentially trade KOs, check common Pokemon such as Calm Mind Clefable, Weavile, and Tapu Lele, and cripple potential switch-ins with Thunder Wave. However, Melmetal has a terrible Speed tier, requiring a lot of investment to even outspeed slow threats, which can cut into its bulk. Its special bulk is also quite mediocre, and in conjunction with its lack of recovery, this leaves Melmetal easily worn down. Melmetal’s STAB typing is also lackluster, meaning it is relatively easy to pivot into by a majority of the tier. Thunder Punch allows Melmetal to nail Water- and Flying-types that can switch into Double Iron Bash, such as Corviknight, Toxapex, and Slowbro. Earthquake is a strong coverage option that always 2HKOes Toxapex while also hitting Heatran. However, Superpower can be used to maintain the ability to hit Heatran while nailing Ferrothorn, which doesn't mind Melmetal's other coverage options. Thunder Wave gives Melmetal the ability to paraflinch checks like Corviknight, Toxapex, Skarmory, and Mega Scizor or wear them down to assist teammates in overwhelming them. Leftovers is used to increase Melmetal's longevity, letting it check Pokemon such as Clefable and Tapu Fini better, while Protective Pads is an option to ignore adverse contact effects like Skarmory’s, Landorus’s, and Tangrowth’s Rocky Helmet, as well as Volcarona’s Flame Body and Zapdos's Static. The given EV spread allows Melmetal to outspeed a paralyzed Heatran, with the rest in Special Defense to maximize its special bulk. Melmetal fits best on bulky offense teams that appreciate its solid defensive utility, being able to check Fairy- and Ice-types such as Clefable and Weavile, and its strong wallbreaking capabilities. Dragon-types such as Garchomp, Mega Latios, and Mega Latias make solid partners, as they appreciate Melmetal's ability to spread paralysis and check Fairy- and Ice-types. In return, they cover Melmetal's weaknesses to Fire- and Ground-types: Garchomp checks Fire-types like Heatran, and Mega Latios and Latias check Ground-types like opposing Garchomp. Due to Melmetal’s lack of reliable recovery, Grassy Terrain support from the likes of Rillaboom and Tapu Bulu is greatly appreciated, and in return, they both pressure Flying-types such as Corviknight and Zapdos to aid Melmetal in wallbreaking. Grassy Terrain also weakens opposing Earthquakes, allowing Melmetal to stay in and pressure Ground-types better. Strong entry hazard support from the likes of Greninja, Clefable, and Landorus-T augments Melmetal's ability to pressure opposing teams, as the constant chip damage quickly wears down its checks that try to pivot around it. Tapu Fini is a stellar partner, as its Misty Terrain prevents Melmetal from being statused by the likes of Mega Sableye’s Will-O-Wisp and adverse contact effects like Zapdos’s Static. However, it does prevent Melmetal from paralyzing grounded Pokemon such as Heatran and Mega Scizor, which can prove costly in games. Lastly, fast revenge killers fast revenge killers such as Mega Lopunny, Ash Greninja, Glare Serperior, and Tapu Koko all work well with Melmetal, as they can take on the faster threats that Melmetal can't due to its low Speed.

Items Choice Band: Choice Band is best suited for late game Trick Room sweeping with Double Iron Bash. Assault Vest: This patches up Melmetal's poor Special Defense, making it an extremely bulky Dynamax user. Life Orb: This item is best suited when your win condition involves Melmetal usually Dynamaxing.