Resource National Dex Metagame Discussion v2

Oculars

JUST WAIT TILL I DROP THESE FLAMES
is a Tiering Contributor
The recent discussion about Magnezone is kind of interesting, considering how it has done the exact same thing since Gen 4 and not many have complained about it before (correct me if I'm wrong).
The magnezone discussion does come down to whether or not trapping as a whole is uncompetitive: arena trap catches everything but flying types, ghost types, levitate and air balloon mons and that is considered too much trapping but magnet pull trapping just steels is considered not enough trapping to be broken. Suppose in gen 9 we get a mon that can trap two types, or maybe even three, where would we draw the line? How much trapping is enough to be considered uncompetitive?

Another question this poses is should we ban absolutely everything even mildly uncompetitive just for tiering philosophy's sake or would that be detrimental to the tier? To answer this question I think we should look to our previous tiering decisions, NDOU has a history of taking action on stuff thats been considered totally fine for many many years and even saw less than 1% usage in the tier. Arguements like " Whether these items are "problematic" shouldn't necessarily be the question here, rather whether they are "uncompetitive" or not" were brought up to justify banning stuff from the meta game that didnt even make the VR. Just cause weve had magnet pull as a ubiquitous element of the tier for so long without it being "problematic" doesnt mean it deserves to stay if its randomly deemed uncompetitive, the same standard weve used before should be applied fairly here to Magnezone despite it being more popular then Cloyster, if its uncompetitive it has to go.
 

TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
Also, does the problem lie with Magnezone or Magnet Pull in general? For example, Probopass or Alolan-Golem would in no way be as effective as Magnezone at its job. I guess it comes down to whether or not you believe trapping is inherently uncompetitive, even if it exists in such a limited form.
I'd say Magnet Pull here, given that if Magnezone was banned, Magneton could be used. It can't trap Mega Mawile, but it beats all the other Steel-types in this tier (and I'm pretty sure that most of the time trapping Mawile is a bonus compared to getting rid of the defensive Steels and opening up a win condition.) This would be consistent with the Arena Trap ban, where Arena Trap was banned rather than Dugtrio due to players successfully using Diglett and Trapinch as a substitute for Dugtrio on the Dugtrio suspect ladder.
 
I'd say Magnet Pull here, given that if Magnezone was banned, Magneton could be used. It can't trap Mega Mawile, but it beats all the other Steel-types in this tier (and I'm pretty sure that most of the time trapping Mawile is a bonus compared to getting rid of the defensive Steels and opening up a win condition.) This would be consistent with the Arena Trap ban, where Arena Trap was banned rather than Dugtrio due to players successfully using Diglett and Trapinch as a substitute for Dugtrio on the Dugtrio suspect ladder.
I strongly disagree with this argument, since not all mons with magnet pull are as consistent or good at trapping steels as magnezone or even magneton are, unlike arena trap or shadow tag where all the mons with the ability are considered broken. Unless you could come up with an argument for why meltan is so broken that it breaks the metagame thanks to magnet pull, banning the ability as a whole should only happen if all mons with it (or at the very least the majority) are broken, which IMO is clearly not the case right now.
 

TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
Unless you could come up with an argument for why meltan is so broken that it breaks the metagame thanks to magnet pull
This might not break the metagame, but Meltan can actually trap Ferrothorn by PP stalling it:
:ss/meltan:
Meltan @ Leftovers
Ability: Magnet Pull
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Def / 4 SpD
Impish Nature
- Tail Whip
- Acid Armor
- Toxic
- Rest

24 Def Ferrothorn Body Press vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Meltan: 140-166 (47.2 - 56%) -- 25.4% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery - and you have Acid Armor

OK, that probably won't be viable, but I hope you get the point: if even Meltan can do this, then Probopass or Alolan Golem should be able to trap quite a lot of stuff depending on set. I wouldn't speculate too much about whether Magnezone is the only Magnet Pull user broken with it.
 

R8

Leads Natdex Other Tiers, not rly doing ndou stuff
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National Dex Leader
:leppa berry:

IMPORTANT EDIT: this (the second post) was announced in the meantime

I wanted to quickly cover in this post what is happening around leppa berry, and give my opinion about it. I'm also making this post to keep track of this debate, and hopefully give an accurate idea of the situation to the reader.

The context is pretty simple: during the past week, a bot was spamming this team in the low ladder (playing something around 300 games a day). This is a problem because it would not be a dangerous bet to think that this bot was ran only to disrupt the ladder. In my opinion, something had to be done it especially since lot of complains were made about this, both in the PS! room and the discord, although i'm unsure if banning the leppa berry was the best solution. But if it is not a good solution, do we really have any other choices? I'll let the reader have their own opinion about this.

Since this ban was made because a community outcry, i believe that the question about Leppa Berry (and maybe about this specific situation overall) should be in the next community survey. Nothing was done until now to proprely assess what the community as a whole thinks about it: we just got complains, and it is currently impossible to prove that was actually not a negligible minority.

Second, i wanted to mention that the strategy used by the team posted at the beginning of this post in fact technically does not induce an endless battle : it either loses or eventually pp stalls the opposing team: so in practice it will should never trigger the Endless Battle Clause, which is designed to not detect pp stalling.
HOWEVER one should mention that the 1000 turns limit is a part of the endless battle clause. So any strategies that force a 1000 turns game could be considered unhealthy, since they are made to break the endless battle clause. But does those strategies actually make the game reach 1000 turns in practice? So far i didn't see any games involving this team where the 1000 turns limit was reached despite one of the players actively trying to win, or at least to not lose. If you have any replays of it, i suggest that you either include them in a post in this thread or send them to me so i can add them here.
I should mention that Leppa Berry can be used for strategies not meant to break the 1000 turns limit: for example Leppa Berry on Serperior and Recycle Pyukumuku are not unusable in this metagame. You can argue those are really bad, but u cannot ignore their existence ; in my opinion, they are more viable than the problematic strategies that lead to the ban of the Leppa Berry.
Battle Rules
Endless Battle Clause
  • Any Pokémon healed by a foe’s Heal Pulse or Floral Healing becomes stale.
  • Any Pokémon affected by a foe’s Entrainment or Skill Swap becomes stale.
  • Any Pokémon using (consuming) an acquired restorative berry (defined as a PP-restoring berry like Leppa Berry or an HP-restoring berry such as Sitrus Berry that the Pokemon did not start the battle with; for example, one obtained via Fling, Trick, Harvest, Recycle, Bug Bite, Pluck, Pickup, etc.) becomes stale.
  • If at any point after the first 100 turns of battle all Pokémon on the field are stale, at least one team does not have the option of switching to a non-stale Pokémon, and at least one side's Pokémon's staleness has been inflicted by a Pokémon of the opposing side, the game ends. If only one side started the battle with the rudimentary means to perform restorative berry-cycling (defined to be a team containing a Pokémon holding a restorative berry as defined above and a Pokémon with Recycle, Harvest, or Pickup), it loses. Otherwise, the battle ends in a tie.
  • The maximum length of any battle is 1000 turns, after which the game ends in a tie.

Last point i wanted to cover is the compatibility of this decision with the tiering policy framework. In my opinion, the strategies used by the aformentionned bot(s) aren't uncompetitive (as it doesn't prevent the better player to win - in fact a good player with a team prepared to face bulkier builds should be able to win consistently against this team) nor broken (this team is honestly pretty bad). However, we can argue that it might be unhealthy. Here is the definition of an unhealthy element according to the tiering policy framework:
V.) Unhealthy - elements that are neither uncompetitive nor broken yet are deemed undesirable for the metagame such that they inhibit "skillful play" to a large extent.

  • These are elements that may not limit either team building or battling skill enough individually but combine to cause an effect that is undesirable for the metagame.
  • This can also be a state of the metagame. If the metagame has too much diversity wherein team building ability is greatly hampered and battling skill is drastically reduced, we may seek to reduce the number of good-to-great threats. This can also work in reverse; if the metagame is too centralized around a particular set of Pokemon, none of which are broken on their own, we may seek to add Pokemon to increase diversity.
  • This is the most controversial and subjective one and will therefore be used the most sparingly. The Tiering Councils will only use this amidst drastic community outcry and a conviction that the move will noticeably result in the better player winning over the lesser player.
  • When trying to argue a particular element's suspect status, please avoid this category unless absolutely necessary. This is a last-ditch, subjective catch-all, and tiering arguments should focus on uncompetitive or broken first. We are coming to a point in the generations where the number of threats is close to overwhelming, so we may touch upon this more often, but please try to focus on uncompetitive and broken first.
Even if leppa berry doesn't really inhibit "skillful play", an argument can be clearly made that the aformentionned strategy is an undesirable aspect of our metagame. I believe that bot was probably created with the sole purpose of disrupting the ladder (unless they were teaching a bot to play stall through machine learning - but that wouldn't make its presence in the metagame much more desirable), and even if it doesn't win consistently at all (it always was stuck around 1300-1400 elo) i personally think something had to be done about it. More generally, this situation higlight a very interesting question:

What makes an aspect of the metagame "undesirable"? Despite the second assumption of the tiering policy framework, should metagame councils take what is happening in the low-to-mid ladder into account?

I tried to cover the topic as accurately as possible, but if anyone want to add something relevant feel free. For people that want to read more about the endless battle clause, here are some threads from the Policy Review sub forum:

Banning Leppa Berry (Jul 18, 2015)
Endless Battle Clause in GSC (and RBY/RSE) (Jan 20, 2020)
'Endless' battle clause for PS! Ladder (Dec 27, 2017)
Endless Battle Issues (Feb 17, 2017)
Endless Stall Clause (Jul 27, 2017)

Endless Battle Clause (Dec 19, 2013) <- One of the "old" versions of the endless battle clause.
 
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:xy/blaziken-mega:
I acknowledge that Tornadus-T and Dragapult have been the main Pokemon on the council's radar, but would nevertheless like to draw your attention to a Pokemon that I believe is long overdue a suspect test. Mega Blaziken deserves the opportunity to be suspected down into OU and I would like to spark some discussion regarding this matter.

I'd argue that what appears to be overpowered on paper is not necessarily overpowered in practice. Regular Blaziken is a perfect example of this. Before being unbanned, many were arguing that it had little to no defensive counterplay when using Z-moves and its wide coverage. They also argued that Blaziken would be near impossible to offensively check after accumulating multiple boosts. Eventually, people realised that its horrendous initial speed tier, non-existent longevity, and lackluster offensive typing made it not only balanced, but also impractical and mediocre in the OU tier.

It would be disingenuous to say that Mega Blaziken suffers from all of the same problems that plague Blaziken. Mega Blaziken’s initial speed tier is superior, with the 20 extra speed letting it outspeed many dangerous pokemon in Hydreigon, Urshifu-R, Kyurem, Tapu Lele, Landorus-T etc. Notably, this also invalidates Offensive Scarf Lando-T and Tapu Lele as revenge killers. Furthermore, while it’s weaker than LO Blaziken, its longevity is slightly improved due to not having its health constantly siphoned.

:xy/blaziken-mega:
Blaziken-Mega @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Flare Blitz
- Swords Dance
- Close Combat
- Thunder Punch

While I recognize that Mega Blaziken could run an All-Out Attacking set with U-turn, I still think that using Mega Blaziken in such a way would be a waste of its offensive potential and leave it far more easily walled by its checks. Keep in mind that people discussed non-SD regular Blaziken sets too, and those never really gained any traction.

Now, the big question is whether or not 20 extra speed is enough to propel Blaziken from UU to Ubers. The marginally increased bulk is nice and so are the improved offenses, but remember that you are still trading the ability to hold an item. So, does the improved speed tier make Mega Blaziken too much for OU? I’d argue that it doesn’t.

There’s another important question; What exactly is Mega Blaziken setting up on? Look at every Pokemon in the OU tier and you’ll find that most if not all of them have a way to severely punish it. Even Weavile takes a huge chunk out of it.

252 Atk Choice Band Weavile Triple Axel (40 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 165-198 (54.8 - 65.7%) -- approx. 2HKO

However, it deserves credit where credit is due. Thanks to its improved speed tier, it can capitalize on forced switches made against Pokemon that regular Blaziken wouldn’t be able to force out. Is this really a sign of brokenness though? Consider how awful regular Blaziken is and you’ll realise that simply improving on its shortcomings may very well not be enough to push Mega Blaziken over the edge.

I’ve also noticed some people point out its 80/80/80 bulk and argue that this makes revenge killing it more difficult. While they’re not exactly wrong, we should all know by now how prone Mega Blaziken is to weakening itself. Even when not weakened, look at the calcs below and you’ll notice that the difference in bulk is minimal and that it is unlikely any of these moves would finish off a healthy regular Blaziken anyway. Furthermore, if Mega Blaziken is at -1, the bulk increase becomes inconsequential compared to its non-mega counterpart.

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Blaziken: 252-306 (83.7 - 101.6%) -- approx. 6.3% chance to OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- approx. 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 236-278 (78.4 - 92.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO

252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 82-97 (27.2 - 32.2%) -- guaranteed 4HKO

252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 91-108 (30.2 - 35.8%) -- 34.9% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken in Grassy Terrain: 158-186 (52.4 - 61.7%) -- 98.8% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 142-168 (47.1 - 55.8%) -- 21.5% chance to 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 97-115 (32.2 - 38.2%) -- 96.9% chance to 3HKO

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 87-103 (28.9 - 34.2%) -- 1.9% chance to 3HKO




252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 392-464 (130.2 - 154.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 354-416 (117.6 - 138.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. -1 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 348-414 (115.6 - 137.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. -1 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 384-456 (127.5 - 151.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 123-145 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 135-160 (44.8 - 53.1%) -- 31.3% chance to 2HKO

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken in Grassy Terrain: 237-279 (78.7 - 92.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 213-252 (70.7 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Grassy Terrain recovery

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 146-172 (48.5 - 57.1%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO

252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 131-155 (43.5 - 51.4%) -- 8.2% chance to 2HKO


Offensive And Defensive Counterplay

We already know that there is a plethora of offensive and defensive counterplay to regular Blaziken, and that said counterplay is also very easy to fit on teams. Defensively, Mega Blaziken is the same way, arguably easier to handle due to being weaker or not having access to Z-moves. Offensively, it’s harder to revenge kill but still highly doable. Every team archetype ranging from Hyper Offense to Stall has ample counterplay available. Keep in mind that Mega Blaziken is also forced to run Jolly to outspeed Lele, Lando, Timid Kyurem, Hydreigon, Kommo-o, Urshifu-R and more, as well as Scarf Lando and Lele at +1.


:Victini: Victini is a fantastic offensive check to Mega Blaziken. It easily takes on Mega Blaziken, even at +2, and is only threatened by the rare Earthquake and Knock Off (both of which only kill at +2). It can return fire with Psychic STAB.

:Slowbro: Slowbro is one of the best counters to Mega Blaziken. It takes maximum 77% from +2 Thunder Punch and isn’t affected by hazards thanks to Boots.

:Latias-Mega: Mega Latias is arguably the best Mega Blaziken counter and completely walls it. Mega Latias outspeeds and threatens back with Psyshock, while taking nothing from Flare Blitz/CC/Tpunch even at +2. +2 Knock Off does maximum 91.7%.

:Latios-Mega: Similarly, Mega Latios is one of the sturdiest checks to Mega Blaziken. Despite having less bulk than his sister, it only falls to rare +2 Knock Offs.

:Landorus-Therian: One of the most splashable and common Mega Blaziken checks. +1 Flare Blitz deals max 82% to 252/240+ Landorus-T.

:Toxapex: Toxapex resists both STABs and takes nothing from unboosted Thunder Punch. 252/104 Mixed Toxapex still lives +2 Thunder Punch. The rare fully Phys Def Toxapex has a very easy time.

:Tapu-Fini: Tapu Fini is a good check to Mega Blaziken. It resists both STABs and can threaten it back with a STAB water move. However, Fini will fall to +2 Thunder Punch if its Physical Defense is uninvested (keep in mind regular Blaziken can boast to do the same). If Mega Blaziken does end up having a substantial metagame presence, I trust that most would be able to adapt their EV spreads.

:Swampert-Mega: Can switch into Mega Blaziken at least once. Outspeeds in Rain and threatens an OHKO.

:Gliscor: Gliscor is a very shaky check to Mega Blaziken, as it falls to +2 Flare Blitz. However, Gliscor always wins the 1v1 if given a free switch into unboosted Mega Blaziken, and Phys Def Gliscor will live +2 Flare Blitz. Though of course, no one is running Phys Def Gliscor.


:Dragonite: Dragonite completely walls Mega Blaziken, especially if it is Defensive. Even without Multiscale, offensive Dragonite still comfortably lives +2 Flare Blitz.

:Alomomola: Lives +2 Close Combat.

:Hippowdon: Phys Def Hippowdon takes max 82% from +2 Flare Blitz. Mixed Hippowdon also takes on Mega Blaziken, though less reliably.

:Azumarill: Azumarill is a good check. It can safely switch into any move Mega Blaziken goes for and threaten with Aqua Jet.

:Mew: A shaky check. Fully Physically Defensive Mew barely lives Mega Blaziken’s +2 Flare Blitz.

:Venusaur-Mega: Standard Mega Venusaur lives +2 Flare Blitz and threatens back with Earth Power.

:Pelipper: Pelipper completely walls any Mega Blaziken not running Thunder Punch. Thunder Punch also only has a 12.5% chance of OHKOing.

:Gyarados: Gyarados can take a few hits but will fall to Thunder Punch variants.

:Altaria-Mega: Lives everything Mega Blaziken goes for at +2, though this Pokemon doesn’t really have a place in the current metagame.

:Slowbro-Mega: Eats everything. Enough said.

:Mandibuzz: Phys Def Mandibuzz lives every move at +2 and threatens back with Foul Play.

:Moltres: Moltres walls variants without Thunder Punch.

:Quagsire: Quag doesn’t care about any SD boosts, but has a very slim chance at 14% to be 2HKOed by CC after Leftovers.


:Greninja: Protean Greninja outspeeds and threatens Mega Blaziken. Scarf can revenge kill Mega Blaziken at +1.

:Greninja-Ash: Outspeeds and threatens when unboosted. Easily revenge kills with Water Shuriken.

:Garchomp: Lives any unboosted hit while outspeeding and threatening an OHKO with Earthquake.

:Lopunny-Mega: Picks it off with Fake Out and the occasional Quick Attack.

:Medicham-Mega: Picks it off with a much stronger Fake Out.

:Rillaboom: Revenge kills with Grassy Glide if chipped.

:Kartana: Z-sets win the 1v1. Scarf revenge kills if Mega Blaziken is at +1 and weakened.

:Hawlucha: Unburden Lucha outspeeds even if Mega Blaziken is at +2 and lives unboosted attacks with a Defense boost. OHKOs with Acrobatics.

There’s a lot more than just this but I think you get the point. Faster mons and priority are good at threatening it and revenge killing.

You’ll notice that some of the revenge killing relies on prior chip or defense drops. Regular Blaziken is the same way. Thing is, we already know how easy it is to chip it. Yes, Mega Blaziken doesn’t take Life Orb recoil, but people need to consider Flare Blitz and CC both cutting into its bulk, it being highly susceptible to contact punishment, its vulnerability to every entry hazard and weakness to status. With all that in mind, it’s very optimistic to assume that Mega Blaziken would consistently be in healthy condition, especially after knocking out a Pokemon. Also, how many times have you seen regular Blaziken actually sweep a team? I highly doubt Mega Blaziken would be straight up sweeping teams. At most, it would probably claim a kill, maybe 2 if the opponent hasn’t prepared for it, and die. Just take a look at the samples, and you’ll notice that most of them already have 1 or 2 natural checks to Mega Blaziken despite not having specifically prepared for it.

In my opinion, it’s very telling how so many thought Blaziken was overpowered prior to its unban. Now that we know it’s nearly unviable in the tier, I urge you all to have an open mind about Mega Blaziken. At the very least, it deserves to be suspect tested after Tornadus-T and Dragapult. I honestly think it’s less banworthy than even those 2.
 
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While it might be interesting to discuss how Mega Blaziken might perform in Nat Dex, I think there is a few important differences that have to be kept in mind. Firstly, that extra 20 Speed is HUGE. It allows Mega Blaziken to get away with running a +Atk nature rather than +Spe and still outspeed the unboosted metagame at +1, as well as all relevant scarfers at +2. This allows it to hit a bunch of extra power benchmarks normal Blaziken can only dream of. For instance, max Def Toxapex?

+2 252 Atk Blaziken Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 99-117 (32.5 - 38.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 129-152 (42.4 - 50%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 134-158 (44 - 51.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Regular Blaziken has to either burn its Z or kill itself with Life Orb recoil trying to get past max Def Toxapex. Mega Blaziken, even assuming it's not Tpunch, pressures Toxapex with the threat of being 2HKOed by +2 moves or even OHKOed by neutral coverage at +4, and hence just laughs at the occasional non-Haze version, as well as actually pressuring Haze Pex. Other "answers" fare less well...
Blaziken-Mega @ Blazikenite
Adamant Nature
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat/High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
IMO this set is the set to consider. Knock Off allows Blaziken to cripple many would-be answers and bypass most Psychics as checks. Since Blaziken isn't taking Life Orb recoil, it can switch in and out a couple of times to Knock its answers.
So let's go through some of the other "answers" listed above with an Adamant nature...
:Victini: Knock Off. Also has to be in perfect health orrrr
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 250-295 (73.3 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:Slowbro: If reasonably healthy and with HDB intact... Dies to Knock Off.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 366-432 (92.8 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 169-199 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 183-216 (46.4 - 54.8%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO (HJK, while less reliable, is still worth keeping in mind!)
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 206-246 (68.4 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Latias-Mega: Knock Off lol. Also, worth noting Stored Power versions are just setup bait.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 310-366 (85.1 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 213-252 (58.5 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Landorus-Therian: Scarf sets cannot switch in, lest they get Knocked Off, and defensive sets are infamous for getting worn down. Depending on your spread, results may vary...
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-391 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (Standard Nat Dex spread, Speed for Modest Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Landorus-Therian: 315-372 (82.4 - 97.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (SS OU spread, Speed for defensive Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 294-346 (76.9 - 90.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (The most bulky Lando-T there is. Hmmmm.)
:Toxapex: mentioned above, decent answer overall, though worth noting mixed spreads DO NOT live +2 Thunder Punch unless your hazard removal is on-point...
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 262-309 (86.1 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 162-191 (53.2 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- 87.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 272-320 (89.4 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock)
:Tapu Fini: Another Pokemon that suffers from being worn down, and dies to +4 STABs while not OHKOing a healthy Blaziken. Hates Knock Off because then it has no further recovery unless it's a Draining Kiss set.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 191-225 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 285-336 (82.8 - 97.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 219-258 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (the non-Calm Mind sets really don't enjoy this)
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 329-387 (95.6 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
12 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 204-240 (67.7 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Swampert-Mega: Sure, so long as it's above 80% and Rain is up, it can switch in once.
:Gliscor: Yes, Mega Blaziken cannot setup on Gliscor, a Ground type. No, that does not make it an "answer".
So Adamant+Knock Off turns the list of actual answers into "Pex and healthy Fini". Let's go through the niche list then.
:Dragonite: Hates Knock Off, but a decent, if pretty bad, answer.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 56 Def Dragonite: 246-291 (63.8 - 75.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (OU Defensive Dragon Dance spread)
252 Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 107-127 (35.5 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock (Offensive Dragonite cannot prevent setup)
:Alomomola: Standard mixed bulk set gets destroyed. Max bulk can't avoid a roll for OHKO. Also totally reliant on Toxic to not just be setup bait since its Scalds are pathetic.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 432-508 (89.8 - 105.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 417-492 (78 - 92.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Hippowdon: Just barely. Any special bulk investment/prior chip/spikes up and byeee
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 322-381 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
:Azumarill: Sure, switches in once and forces it out. Just a shame it's garbage against the entire metagame right now due to having a billion checks.
:Mew: Knock Off, anyway, moving on
:Venusaur-Mega: Who the hell is seriously using this. Also "Standard Mega Venusaur" doesn't run Earth Power, it runs HP Fire.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 332-392 (91.2 - 107.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Most bulk it can have while living 2 Specs Gren Dark Pulses and outspeeding Mega Mawile)
:Pelipper: Checks barely, but at the cost of its Damp Rock. Stealth Rock and having to set Rain can rapidly wear down its potential as an answer.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 195-230 (60.3 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Gyarados: Gyarados runs Moxie. Unless you mean Mega Gyarados that deliberately doesn't Mega Evolve. Which still isn't a reliable answer with Rocks up.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 306-360 (92.4 - 108.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 229-270 (69.1 - 81.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Altaria-Mega: I have no idea what set you're running on this trash. Since 0 bulk just gets OHKOed after Rocks at +2, I'm just going to assume there exists some defensive set of this that works and say "sure".
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Altaria-Mega: 231-273 (79.3 - 93.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, guaranteed OHKO after pre-Mega Stealth Rock
:Slowbro-Mega: Sure. If you really want to use this that badly. However, Mega Blaziken aside, why aren't you just running normal Slowbro?
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 190-224 (48.2 - 56.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 260-308 (86.3 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Mandibuzz: Dragapult is gone now. It can't hurt you. Just use Hydreigon or something that actually checks Ash-Gren.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 92+ Def Mandibuzz: 402-474 (95 - 112%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO. (Spread that happened to be in the calc and I can't be bothered to find another one.)
:Moltres: Knock Off. Rocks. Next.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 148 Def Moltres: 234-276 (61 - 72%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Quagsire: Stall successfully broken.
252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
So, add to the list like, Dragonite, Pelipper, Mega Slowbro, and Hippo at a push. That is a grand total of 6 mons that can take a Knock Off, heal up, then switch into Mega Blaziken later.

Offensively answering it is fine and dandy in theory, but you have to play really risky in order to successfully check it without priority. If you try and answer it defensively and fail, Speed Boost means you cannot revenge it conventionally. Trying to switch in a scarfer on a predicted SD backfires if it clicks Knock instead. Not to mention the lack of Life Orb recoil means it can afford to switch out and still be healthy enough to return to the field and potentially setup again, or at least put a hole in something on the way out. But of course, that assumes you're dealing with a Swords Dance set.
MEGA LOP'S ON CRACK (Blaziken-Mega) @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Protect/Flare Blitz/whatever
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Close Combat/High Jump Kick
The next best thing to Scrappy Fake Out. This set has obviously much more defensive counterplay than the previous one, but its offensive counterplay is shockingly lacking. What's more, it can simply Knock Off then U-turn on every defensive Pokemon in the tier that tries to check it. Main downsides are being a touch predictable with Protect and being checked in the short term by Lando-T (which it of course just U-turns on). No idea if this set would actually work or not though.

So basically, IMHO, there is a reason Mega Zam is Uber while regular Zam is unviable. Mega Blaziken is much a similar story. While I was typing this up, what I learnt is the real reason Blaziken isn't that viable has nothing to do with its longevity or 4MSS or lack of setup opportunities. It just simply does not hit hard enough, and all its other issues stem from trying to address this with SE coverage, Life Orb, Z-moves, and trying to set up multiple times. 40 extra points of Atk and an Adamant nature go a loooooong way towards fixing this. Swords Dance Mega Blaziken simply hits way too hard for all but a few dedicated answers, which happen to also be tasked with checking other extremely dangerous mons, like Ash-Greninja, Melmetal, Manaphy and Volcarona. But that's just my take on it.

EDIT: Slashed Protect on pivot set, see below. Potentially worth keeping on the set just to style on Mega Lop though.
 
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Kyo

In Limbo
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National Dex Leader
More importantly, jolly Mega Blaziken is now faster than all of these scarfers after 1 speed boost which eliminates significant counterplay and removes the need for protect on its set.

:tapu lele: :tapu fini: :landorus-therian: :rotom-wash: :kyurem: :urshifu-rapid-strike: :hydreigon:

Jolly Mega Blaziken will also speed tie with the following scarfers

:zapdos-galar: :jirachi: :victini:

Relevant scarfers above the base 100 speed tier which can still potentially revenge KO jolly Mega Blaziken include the following

:kartana: :greninja: :serperior: :tapu koko: :gengar: :latios: :latias: :blacephalon: :garchomp:

This is a very generous list considering that many of these are uncommon or downright questionable picks for a choice scarfer. Also many of the mons on this list fail to actually KO Mega Blaziken without prior damage. I do not think bringing Mega Blaziken into the tier is a great idea.
 

Oculars

JUST WAIT TILL I DROP THESE FLAMES
is a Tiering Contributor
Mega Blaziken seems definitely worthy of atleast a suspect test down given how regular blaziken turned out. Blaziken in general has been lackluster compared to how it was described before being suspect tested down, meaning sometimes things need to play out in practice rather than on paper (Paper Blaziken's probably up there with Paper Torn in terms of most broken mons but in practice its UU). People on here fail to realize blaziken can easily run adamant right now, just cause some guy on a forum thinks jolly is better doesnt stop you from going to the teambuilder and clicking adamant: in fact all my blazikens are adamant! this actually gives it the power boost to break past a lot of the things you think are checks to even mega blaziken since adamant Lorb hits harder than Mega Blaziken. Its literally right here in front of you.

:blaziken: 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 199-234 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- 70.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
:blaziken-mega: 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 187-222 (46.8 - 55.6%) -- 19.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


any mon that defensively checks regular Lorb Blaziken should be able to check Mega Blaziken too especially when you consider the absolute nukes that are Firium-Z and Fightinium-Z, along with Electrium Z or Life Orb + Koko terrain support Blaziken can break past a lot of things even easier than its Mega.

:Victini: +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 316-372 (92.6 - 109%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 321-378 (94.1 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Even dies to sets without knock
:Slowbro: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 385-455 (97.7 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Electric Terrain: 387-458 (98.2 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
a chipped slowbro can even die to z fire in sun
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Sun: 325-383 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:Latias-Mega: While mega blaziken cant break this Lorb Can
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 325-385 (89.2 - 105.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

:Latios-Mega: Dies to Z fire or non lorb knock even out of sun
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios-Mega: 321-378 (106.6 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios-Mega: 294-348 (97.6 - 115.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

:Landorus-Therian: +1 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 375-442 (98.1 - 115.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Lorb can OHKO less defensive landos
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-391 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock - Legit any chip and Lando cant check blaziken

:Toxapex: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 309-364 (101.6 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 338-398 (111.1 - 130.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even Z Fire in Sun cooks pex +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 258-303 (84.8 - 99.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Tapu-Fini: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 302-356 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini in Sun: 330-389 (95.9 - 113%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Swampert-Mega: Lorb CC smashes a fully phys def MPert(Which doesnt even exist none of them are this thicc)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert-Mega: 356-421 (88.1 - 104.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Swampert-Mega: 373-439 (109.3 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Gliscor: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Gliscor: 415-489 (117.8 - 138.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Gliscor: 319-376 (90.6 - 106.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Alomomola: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola in Electric Terrain: 494-582 (102.7 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 452-534 (93.9 - 111%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola in Sun: 413-486 (85.8 - 101%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 544-640 (113 - 133%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:Hippowdon: Z Fire Drops Hippo from full while Lorb CC/Blitz is a roll with 1 layer of hazards
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hippowdon: 558-657 (132.8 - 156.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 339-399 (80.7 - 95%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
:Azumarill: 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Azumarill in Electric Terrain: 348-411 (101.7 - 120.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
if it switches in to something else u can force out blaziken tho
:Mew: +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 463-546 (114.8 - 135.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 411-484 (101.9 - 120%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 380-448 (94.2 - 111.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
:Venusaur-Mega: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 351-416 (96.4 - 114.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even non Lorb can roll this thing without spending its Z Fire
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 270-320 (74.1 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Pelipper: Dont ever use this thing as a blaziken check
252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 322-380 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Gyarados: +1 252+ Atk Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega in Electric Terrain: 308-364 (93 - 109.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even at -1 it handles any gyara form.
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 359-426 (108.4 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 330-390 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Altaria-Mega: Malt Stall can actually handle Mega Blaziken with ease with the only thing able to break it being +2 Firium in Sun from regular blaziken.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Altaria-Mega in Sun: 339-399 (95.7 - 112.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Altaria-Mega: 186-218 (52.5 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Slowbro-Mega: Pretty Good check to Non Eterrain/Electrium Variants of blaziken.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 328-386 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 229-270 (58.1 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:Mandibuzz: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz in Electric Terrain: 406-478 (95.9 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 451-532 (106.6 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 444-524 (104.9 - 123.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even +2 Lorb and Blitz can roll max pdef mandibuzz(which is more than it runs since it runs some spdef)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 372-438 (87.7 - 103.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
:Moltres: Disregarding the fact this gets knocked and dies to rocks it also dies to Z Sets and Lorb TPunch
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres in Sun: 375-441 (97.6 - 114.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres in Electric Terrain: 450-530 (117.1 - 138%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres: 492-580 (128.1 - 151%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(No Eterrain) +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres: 343-406 (89.3 - 105.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
:Quagsire: Lorb CC 2hkos
252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 212-251 (53.8 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
non Lorb breaks it with one layer of hazards if u knock lefties first
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Quagsire: 163-193 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes

Now Finally enter the best and only sure thing blaziken counter on this whole list
:dp/dragonite:
Even Uninvested dragonite shrugs off every single thing blaziken can throw at it
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite in Sun: 251-296 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 138-162 (42.7 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite in Electric Terrain: 214-252 (66.2 - 78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
and guarantee OHKOs back with dual wing beat or EQ

Regular Blaziken with its variety of sets has objectively Less defensive counterplay then its Mega (Due to Lorb hitting shit harder) and ability to run Z moves to break past mons its Mega cant. Mega Blaziken does better vs offensive checks than its regular form however that cant immediately disqualify it from a suspect test considering the regular form breaks more shit and is still UU.

If mega blaziken were suspected and even unbanned unbanned I feel not only would it be ranked A- or lower but plenty of people would still opt to use regular blaziken over it given the opportunity cost of the mega stone(much the same as garchomp rn) and the breaking power Z move provides.
 
While it might be interesting to discuss how Mega Blaziken might perform in Nat Dex, I think there is a few important differences that have to be kept in mind. Firstly, that extra 20 Speed is HUGE. It allows Mega Blaziken to get away with running a +Atk nature rather than +Spe and still outspeed the unboosted metagame at +1, as well as all relevant scarfers at +2. This allows it to hit a bunch of extra power benchmarks normal Blaziken can only dream of. For instance, max Def Toxapex?

+2 252 Atk Blaziken Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 99-117 (32.5 - 38.4%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 129-152 (42.4 - 50%) -- 90.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 134-158 (44 - 51.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

Regular Blaziken has to either burn its Z or kill itself with Life Orb recoil trying to get past max Def Toxapex. Mega Blaziken, even assuming it's not Tpunch, pressures Toxapex with the threat of being 2HKOed by +2 moves or even OHKOed by neutral coverage at +4, and hence just laughs at the occasional non-Haze version, as well as actually pressuring Haze Pex. Other "answers" fare less well...
Blaziken-Mega @ Blazikenite
Adamant Nature
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Swords Dance
- Flare Blitz
- Close Combat/High Jump Kick
- Knock Off
IMO this set is the set to consider. Knock Off allows Blaziken to cripple many would-be answers and bypass most Psychics as checks. Since Blaziken isn't taking Life Orb recoil, it can switch in and out a couple of times to Knock its answers.
So let's go through some of the other "answers" listed above with an Adamant nature...
:Victini: Knock Off. Also has to be in perfect health orrrr
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 250-295 (73.3 - 86.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:Slowbro: If reasonably healthy and with HDB intact... Dies to Knock Off.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 366-432 (92.8 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 169-199 (42.8 - 50.5%) -- 2.3% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 183-216 (46.4 - 54.8%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO (HJK, while less reliable, is still worth keeping in mind!)
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 206-246 (68.4 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Latias-Mega: Knock Off lol. Also, worth noting Stored Power versions are just setup bait.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 310-366 (85.1 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 213-252 (58.5 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Landorus-Therian: Scarf sets cannot switch in, lest they get Knocked Off, and defensive sets are infamous for getting worn down. Depending on your spread, results may vary...
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-391 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (Standard Nat Dex spread, Speed for Modest Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Landorus-Therian: 315-372 (82.4 - 97.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (SS OU spread, Speed for defensive Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 294-346 (76.9 - 90.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (The most bulky Lando-T there is. Hmmmm.)
:Toxapex: mentioned above, decent answer overall, though worth noting mixed spreads DO NOT live +2 Thunder Punch unless your hazard removal is on-point...
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 262-309 (86.1 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 162-191 (53.2 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- 87.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 272-320 (89.4 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock)
:Tapu Fini: Another Pokemon that suffers from being worn down, and dies to +4 STABs while not OHKOing a healthy Blaziken. Hates Knock Off because then it has no further recovery unless it's a Draining Kiss set.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 191-225 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 285-336 (82.8 - 97.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 219-258 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (the non-Calm Mind sets really don't enjoy this)
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 329-387 (95.6 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
12 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 204-240 (67.7 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Swampert-Mega: Sure, so long as it's above 80% and Rain is up, it can switch in once.
:Gliscor: Yes, Mega Blaziken cannot setup on Gliscor, a Ground type. No, that does not make it an "answer".
So Adamant+Knock Off turns the list of actual answers into "Pex and healthy Fini". Let's go through the niche list then.
:Dragonite: Hates Knock Off, but a decent, if pretty bad, answer.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 56 Def Dragonite: 246-291 (63.8 - 75.5%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (OU Defensive Dragon Dance spread)
252 Atk Dragonite Extreme Speed vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 107-127 (35.5 - 42.1%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Stealth Rock (Offensive Dragonite cannot prevent setup)
:Alomomola: Standard mixed bulk set gets destroyed. Max bulk can't avoid a roll for OHKO. Also totally reliant on Toxic to not just be setup bait since its Scalds are pathetic.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 432-508 (89.8 - 105.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Alomomola: 417-492 (78 - 92.1%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Hippowdon: Just barely. Any special bulk investment/prior chip/spikes up and byeee
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 322-381 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
:Azumarill: Sure, switches in once and forces it out. Just a shame it's garbage against the entire metagame right now due to having a billion checks.
:Mew: Knock Off, anyway, moving on
:Venusaur-Mega: Who the hell is seriously using this. Also "Standard Mega Venusaur" doesn't run Earth Power, it runs HP Fire.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 332-392 (91.2 - 107.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Most bulk it can have while living 2 Specs Gren Dark Pulses and outspeeding Mega Mawile)
:Pelipper: Checks barely, but at the cost of its Damp Rock. Stealth Rock and having to set Rain can rapidly wear down its potential as an answer.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 195-230 (60.3 - 71.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Gyarados: Gyarados runs Moxie. Unless you mean Mega Gyarados that deliberately doesn't Mega Evolve. Which still isn't a reliable answer with Rocks up.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 306-360 (92.4 - 108.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 229-270 (69.1 - 81.5%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Altaria-Mega: I have no idea what set you're running on this trash. Since 0 bulk just gets OHKOed after Rocks at +2, I'm just going to assume there exists some defensive set of this that works and say "sure".
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Altaria-Mega: 231-273 (79.3 - 93.8%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock, guaranteed OHKO after pre-Mega Stealth Rock
:Slowbro-Mega: Sure. If you really want to use this that badly. However, Mega Blaziken aside, why aren't you just running normal Slowbro?
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 190-224 (48.2 - 56.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 260-308 (86.3 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Mandibuzz: Dragapult is gone now. It can't hurt you. Just use Hydreigon or something that actually checks Ash-Gren.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 92+ Def Mandibuzz: 402-474 (95 - 112%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO. (Spread that happened to be in the calc and I can't be bothered to find another one.)
:Moltres: Knock Off. Rocks. Next.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 148 Def Moltres: 234-276 (61 - 72%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Quagsire: Stall successfully broken.
252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
So, add to the list like, Dragonite, Pelipper, Mega Slowbro, and Hippo at a push. That is a grand total of 6 mons that can take a Knock Off, heal up, then switch into Mega Blaziken later.

Offensively answering it is fine and dandy in theory, but you have to play really risky in order to successfully check it without priority. If you try and answer it defensively and fail, Speed Boost means you cannot revenge it conventionally. Trying to switch in a scarfer on a predicted SD backfires if it clicks Knock instead. Not to mention the lack of Life Orb recoil means it can afford to switch out and still be healthy enough to return to the field and potentially setup again, or at least put a hole in something on the way out. But of course, that assumes you're dealing with a Swords Dance set.
MEGA LOP'S ON CRACK (Blaziken-Mega) @ Blazikenite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Adamant/Jolly Nature
- Protect/Flare Blitz/whatever
- U-turn
- Knock Off
- Close Combat/High Jump Kick
The next best thing to Scrappy Fake Out. This set has obviously much more defensive counterplay than the previous one, but its offensive counterplay is shockingly lacking. What's more, it can simply Knock Off then U-turn on every defensive Pokemon in the tier that tries to check it. Main downsides are being a touch predictable with Protect and being checked in the short term by Lando-T (which it of course just U-turns on). No idea if this set would actually work or not though.

So basically, IMHO, there is a reason Mega Zam is Uber while regular Zam is unviable. Mega Blaziken is much a similar story. While I was typing this up, what I learnt is the real reason Blaziken isn't that viable has nothing to do with its longevity or 4MSS or lack of setup opportunities. It just simply does not hit hard enough, and all its other issues stem from trying to address this with SE coverage, Life Orb, Z-moves, and trying to set up multiple times. 40 extra points of Atk and an Adamant nature go a loooooong way towards fixing this. Swords Dance Mega Blaziken simply hits way too hard for all but a few dedicated answers, which happen to also be tasked with checking other extremely dangerous mons, like Ash-Greninja, Melmetal, Manaphy and Volcarona. But that's just my take on it.

EDIT: Slashed Protect on pivot set, see below. Potentially worth keeping on the set just to style on Mega Lop though.
Even though our views may differ, I appreciate your contributions to the discussion.

Much of your argument on Mega Blaziken’s supposed lack of defensive counterplay rests upon the assumption that it would be running an Adamant nature, and that it would also be running Knock Off.

I disagree with that assertion. Mega Blaziken is always going to run a Jolly nature because not only is that one of the main reasons to use it over Blaziken, but going Adamant also gives up the speed tier advantage, meaning that it’s more easily revenge killed and can’t set up on as much. It’s also unrealistic to assume that you’ll be at +2 when in a position to be revenge killed. Remember that regular Blaziken also outspeeds all Scarfers when at +2. Blaziken would be just as difficult to revenge kill at +2 as Mega Blaziken.

Moreover, there’s a reason why you don’t see regular Blaziken run Knock Off. Hitting Toxapex and Tapu Fini, both very relevant mons in the current metagame, is too important. You should calc with Jolly too, that way the common statement that Mega Blaziken outspeeds most relevant Scarfers at +1 would actually be valid. With Jolly, Knock Off does not have any chance of OHKOing Mega Latias.

I understand that Mega Blaziken can run Adamant to make some of its checks less reliable. I also understand that Mega Blaziken can run Jolly to outspeed Pokemon that Blaziken wouldn’t. But it can’t do both at once. Either you opt for more power than LO Blaziken and make yourself much easier to offensively check, or you opt for more speed and you make yourself much easier to defensively check. The latter of these 2 options is what I believe most Mega Blazikens would opt for. Of course, neither of us can claim we know for sure, which is why a suspect test would be necessary to actually show us how Mega Blaziken would be run in practice.

You also provided an extensive refutation of my list of defensive answers. While some of your points aren’t exactly wrong, you did take liberties in making Mega Blaziken seem stronger than it would likely be. As I have asserted many times before, Mega Blaziken would be running Jolly and likely Thunder Punch too.

To be honest, it would probably be easier for me to advocate for Mega Blaziken if Adamant Knock Off were standard. That way, Mega Blaziken can be threatened by base 90-99s, revenge killed by Scarf Lele and Lando, as well as letting Spdef Tapu Fini and Toxapex be far more reliable answers. I myself am trying to give Mega Blaziken as much credit as I can realistically give.

I also feel like some of your points are flawed, which I will be addressing below.
:Toxapex: mentioned above, decent answer overall, though worth noting mixed spreads DO NOT live +2 Thunder Punch unless your hazard removal is on-point...
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 262-309 (86.1 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 162-191 (53.2 - 62.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- 87.1% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock
(+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 272-320 (89.4 - 105.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock)
:Tapu Fini: Another Pokemon that suffers from being worn down, and dies to +4 STABs while not OHKOing a healthy Blaziken. Hates Knock Off because then it has no further recovery unless it's a Draining Kiss set.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 191-225 (55.5 - 65.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 68+ Def Tapu Fini: 285-336 (82.8 - 97.6%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 219-258 (63.6 - 75%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery (the non-Calm Mind sets really don't enjoy this)
+4 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 16 Def Tapu Fini: 329-387 (95.6 - 112.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
12 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 204-240 (67.7 - 79.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
An example is your calcs with Fini and Pex being done with Adamant Mega Blaziken at +4. You realise that anything that you let set up 2 SDs is most likely going to break through their checks too, right? It's also a bit of a double standard to assume Fini is being worn down while Mega Blaziken is in healthy enough condition to not die to Scald. And uh, all of this is nothing regular Blaziken can’t do.

:Latias-Mega: Knock Off lol. Also, worth noting Stored Power versions are just setup bait.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 310-366 (85.1 - 100.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat/Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 213-252 (58.5 - 69.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
Your point on Mega Latias is also kinda strange. Even disregarding the fact that Stored Power Mega Latias isn’t as popular as Psyshock/Aura Sphere or Boltbeam, regular Blaziken would be using that set as set-up fodder too. Actually, pretty much everything uses it as set up fodder lol.

:Landorus-Therian: Scarf sets cannot switch in, lest they get Knocked Off, and defensive sets are infamous for getting worn down. Depending on your spread, results may vary...
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 112+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-391 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (Standard Nat Dex spread, Speed for Modest Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Landorus-Therian: 315-372 (82.4 - 97.3%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (SS OU spread, Speed for defensive Heatran)
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 294-346 (76.9 - 90.5%) -- 25% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock (The most bulky Lando-T there is. Hmmmm.)
My Lando spread isn’t even the bulkiest out there. The 252/112+ and 252/164+ spreads are outdated and I wouldn’t call them standard anymore. Also again, regular Blaziken is capable of replicating what Mega Blaziken can do here. Notice a pattern?

:Venusaur-Mega: Who the hell is seriously using this. Also "Standard Mega Venusaur" doesn't run Earth Power, it runs HP Fire.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 332-392 (91.2 - 107.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock (Most bulk it can have while living 2 Specs Gren Dark Pulses and outspeeding Mega Mawile)
Standard Mega Venusaur do (or at least should) be running Earth Power. Even the National Dex Compendium lists Earth Power as the move to use over Leech Seed or HP Fire. The problem is that Mega Venusaur itself does not have defined presence in this tier, which is why I listed it as a niche answer.

:Quagsire: Stall successfully broken.
252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 202-238 (51.2 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery
To reliably 2HKO Quagsire, you’re going to need to get up rocks. To say the least, it’s optimistic to assume you’ll be getting up hazards against Stall.

There’s more than this, but it’s just more of the same. Any argument you make about Mega Blaziken’s defensive answers can be applied to regular Blaziken too. And regular Blaziken isn’t broken.

I also completely disagree with your assertion that Blaziken “doesn’t hit hard enough”. Blaziken has plenty of issues, but power is not one of them.
252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 52 Def Gliscor: 191-226 (54.2 - 64.2%) -- 89.5% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal

+1 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 281-331 (73.5 - 86.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 52 Def Gliscor: 181-214 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- 48.4% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal

+1 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 267-315 (69.8 - 82.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 388-458 (98.4 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 260-307 (85.5 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Blaziken Breakneck Blitz (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 333-392 (91.4 - 107.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

+1 252 Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 342-403 (89.5 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO


Mega Blaziken seems definitely worthy of atleast a suspect test down given how regular blaziken turned out. Blaziken in general has been lackluster compared to how it was described before being suspect tested down, meaning sometimes things need to play out in practice rather than on paper (Paper Blaziken's probably up there with Paper Torn in terms of most broken mons but in practice its UU). People on here fail to realize blaziken can easily run adamant right now, just cause some guy on a forum thinks jolly is better doesnt stop you from going to the teambuilder and clicking adamant: in fact all my blazikens are adamant! this actually gives it the power boost to break past a lot of the things you think are checks to even mega blaziken since adamant Lorb hits harder than Mega Blaziken. Its literally right here in front of you.

:blaziken: 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 199-234 (49.8 - 58.6%) -- 70.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
:blaziken-mega: 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 168+ Def Corviknight: 187-222 (46.8 - 55.6%) -- 19.9% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery


any mon that defensively checks regular Lorb Blaziken should be able to check Mega Blaziken too especially when you consider the absolute nukes that are Firium-Z and Fightinium-Z, along with Electrium Z or Life Orb + Koko terrain support Blaziken can break past a lot of things even easier than its Mega.

:Victini: +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 316-372 (92.6 - 109%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Victini: 321-378 (94.1 - 110.8%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO
Even dies to sets without knock
:Slowbro: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 385-455 (97.7 - 115.4%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Electric Terrain: 387-458 (98.2 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
a chipped slowbro can even die to z fire in sun
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro in Sun: 325-383 (82.4 - 97.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:Latias-Mega: While mega blaziken cant break this Lorb Can
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 325-385 (89.2 - 105.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

:Latios-Mega: Dies to Z fire or non lorb knock even out of sun
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios-Mega: 321-378 (106.6 - 125.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Knock Off vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios-Mega: 294-348 (97.6 - 115.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

:Landorus-Therian: +1 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 375-442 (98.1 - 115.7%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
Lorb can OHKO less defensive landos
+1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 164+ Def Landorus-Therian: 331-391 (86.6 - 102.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock - Legit any chip and Lando cant check blaziken

:Toxapex: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Electric Terrain: 309-364 (101.6 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex: 338-398 (111.1 - 130.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even Z Fire in Sun cooks pex +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Toxapex in Sun: 258-303 (84.8 - 99.6%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Tapu-Fini: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini: 302-356 (87.7 - 103.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 192+ Def Tapu Fini in Sun: 330-389 (95.9 - 113%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Swampert-Mega: Lorb CC smashes a fully phys def MPert(Which doesnt even exist none of them are this thicc)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Swampert-Mega: 356-421 (88.1 - 104.2%) -- 62.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Swampert-Mega: 373-439 (109.3 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Gliscor: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Gliscor: 415-489 (117.8 - 138.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 56 Def Gliscor: 319-376 (90.6 - 106.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Alomomola: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola in Electric Terrain: 494-582 (102.7 - 120.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 452-534 (93.9 - 111%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola in Sun: 413-486 (85.8 - 101%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 40 HP / 216+ Def Alomomola: 544-640 (113 - 133%) -- guaranteed OHKO
:Hippowdon: Z Fire Drops Hippo from full while Lorb CC/Blitz is a roll with 1 layer of hazards
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Hippowdon: 558-657 (132.8 - 156.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 339-399 (80.7 - 95%) -- 50% chance to OHKO after 1 layer of Spikes
:Azumarill: 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Azumarill in Electric Terrain: 348-411 (101.7 - 120.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO
if it switches in to something else u can force out blaziken tho
:Mew: +2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 463-546 (114.8 - 135.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 411-484 (101.9 - 120%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Mew: 380-448 (94.2 - 111.1%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO
:Venusaur-Mega: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 351-416 (96.4 - 114.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even non Lorb can roll this thing without spending its Z Fire
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 172+ Def Thick Fat Venusaur-Mega: 270-320 (74.1 - 87.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Pelipper: Dont ever use this thing as a blaziken check
252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Pelipper: 322-380 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Gyarados: +1 252+ Atk Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega in Electric Terrain: 308-364 (93 - 109.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Even at -1 it handles any gyara form.
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados: 359-426 (108.4 - 128.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
-1 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 330-390 (99.6 - 117.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
:Altaria-Mega: Malt Stall can actually handle Mega Blaziken with ease with the only thing able to break it being +2 Firium in Sun from regular blaziken.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Altaria-Mega in Sun: 339-399 (95.7 - 112.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 200+ Def Altaria-Mega: 186-218 (52.5 - 61.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock
:Slowbro-Mega: Pretty Good check to Non Eterrain/Electrium Variants of blaziken.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 328-386 (83.2 - 97.9%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 76+ Def Slowbro-Mega: 229-270 (58.1 - 68.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:Mandibuzz: +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz in Electric Terrain: 406-478 (95.9 - 113%) -- 75% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 451-532 (106.6 - 125.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 444-524 (104.9 - 123.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO
Even +2 Lorb and Blitz can roll max pdef mandibuzz(which is more than it runs since it runs some spdef)
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Mandibuzz: 372-438 (87.7 - 103.3%) -- 25% chance to OHKO
:Moltres: Disregarding the fact this gets knocked and dies to rocks it also dies to Z Sets and Lorb TPunch
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres in Sun: 375-441 (97.6 - 114.8%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres in Electric Terrain: 450-530 (117.1 - 138%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres: 492-580 (128.1 - 151%) -- guaranteed OHKO
(No Eterrain) +2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Moltres: 343-406 (89.3 - 105.7%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
:Quagsire: Lorb CC 2hkos
252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 212-251 (53.8 - 63.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
non Lorb breaks it with one layer of hazards if u knock lefties first
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Unaware Quagsire: 163-193 (41.3 - 48.9%) -- 80.1% chance to 2HKO after 1 layer of Spikes

Now Finally enter the best and only sure thing blaziken counter on this whole list
:dp/dragonite:
Even Uninvested dragonite shrugs off every single thing blaziken can throw at it
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite in Sun: 251-296 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Life Orb Blaziken Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite: 138-162 (42.7 - 50.1%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Multiscale Dragonite in Electric Terrain: 214-252 (66.2 - 78%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
and guarantee OHKOs back with dual wing beat or EQ

Regular Blaziken with its variety of sets has objectively Less defensive counterplay then its Mega (Due to Lorb hitting shit harder) and ability to run Z moves to break past mons its Mega cant. Mega Blaziken does better vs offensive checks than its regular form however that cant immediately disqualify it from a suspect test considering the regular form breaks more shit and is still UU.

If mega blaziken were suspected and even unbanned unbanned I feel not only would it be ranked A- or lower but plenty of people would still opt to use regular blaziken over it given the opportunity cost of the mega stone(much the same as garchomp rn) and the breaking power Z move provides.
Oculars makes a compelling argument here. People need to realise that every argument made about Mega Blaziken’s supposed lack of defensive counterplay can and should be applied to Blaziken as well. Blaziken is, on paper, impossible to defensively check with the exception of Dragonite. Blaziken in practice is UU. At least with Mega Blaziken you know what you’re expecting. Blaziken (on paper) is capable of running different Z-moves to bypass its various checks.

So, what’s the difference maker between Blaziken and Mega Blaziken? In my opinion, the crux of the discussion should be Mega Blaziken’s Speed tier. We’ve already suspected and unbanned Blaziken. We already know, and have discussed at length, regular Blaziken’s checks/counters. The thing is, Blaziken and Mega Blaziken share the same defensive answers. This is underselling regular Blaziken too, since it has the luxury of running Life Orb to be stronger than Mega Blaziken, or using Z-moves to blow past Pokemon that Mega Blaziken could never realistically hope to break.

The question is if the base 100 speed makes it overpowered, which I believe isn’t the case here.

More importantly, jolly Mega Blaziken is now faster than all of these scarfers after 1 speed boost which eliminates significant counterplay and removes the need for protect on its set.

:tapu lele: :tapu fini: :landorus-therian: :rotom-wash: :kyurem: :urshifu-rapid-strike: :hydreigon:

Jolly Mega Blaziken will also speed tie with the following scarfers

:zapdos-galar: :jirachi: :victini:

Relevant scarfers above the base 100 speed tier which can still potentially revenge KO jolly Mega Blaziken include the following

:kartana: :greninja: :serperior: :tapu koko: :gengar: :latios: :latias: :blacephalon: :garchomp:

This is a very generous list considering that many of these are uncommon or downright questionable picks for a choice scarfer. Also many of the mons on this list fail to actually KO Mega Blaziken without prior damage. I do not think bringing Mega Blaziken into the tier is a great idea.
Kyo isn’t wrong when they say that revenge killing Jolly Mega Blaziken is undoubtedly harder than regular Blaziken. Your opinion that this may push it over the edge is understandable, but I disagree. With how terrible regular Blaziken is, it’s not ridiculous to assume that a speed buff like this wouldn’t push it from unviable to broken.
 
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Adamant Blaziken misses out on outspeeding base 130 and above at +1 (notably including Tapu Koko and Mega Lopunny), as well as all scarfers at base 108+ at +2. Mega Blaziken does not have this issue.

Honestly IMO the discussion as to what scarfers outspeed you at +1 is only relevant if you're giving up Knock for Protect (not worth) or running non-SD sets (which is why Jolly is slashed on the pivot set). Let me re-emphasise: You CANNOT switch a scarfer into Mega Blaziken to check it offensively without a slow pivot. It will get Knocked, and then you will be dead. The only scenarios where what scarfers Mega Blaziken outruns at +1 matters is when it claims a kill without an SD or it gets slow pivoted on as it sets up. The question is, it you haven't got an SD why not just switch out? And are you really going to click U-turn on Corviknight in front of Mega Blaziken, when you need that Corv to check Kartana/Garchomp/(insert lethal breaker here) later?

Knock Off is by far the superior option. Thunder Punch gives up the option of crippling checks, deterring Scarfers and bypassing a long list of checks for the sake of hitting two Pokemon, one of which has no recovery without Knock Off and is very easy to overload. If the only team support Mega Blaziken needs is a teammate who beats a Knocked Toxapex, I really don't think that's an issue. Heck, your own Block Toxapex can do that hilariously effectively if that's what you really want. My calcs with those two were demonstrating the damage ranges they need to be chipped to, and how Mega Blaziken can brute-force Fini and non-Haze Pex by SDing twice if healthy and a teammate requires it. Being walled by Pex really isn't the end of the world when half the entire metagame is based around luring it and brute-forcing it lol. Notably, Ash-Greninja puts huge pressure on both these two from the special side of the spectrum, and the Grasses and Darks that are often used as secondary checks to Ash-Gren are Mega Blaziken food.

You ask "When does Mega Blaziken actually get to set up?" Let's start from 'every time an opposing Heatran gets a kill', 'every time your Lando-T gets a U-turn on a steel bird or a Grass', 'every time Ferrothorn sets a hazard' and work our way down the VR. If you want to argue that these setup turns are risky 50/50s along the lines of "what if they leave Ferrothorn in on Mega Blaziken" then you're effectively arguing to bring Darkrai back from Ubers on the ground it isn't going to get to Nasty Plot because someone is seriously going to leave Mega Latias in on it and click Aura Sphere, and Bisharp isn't viable because that Corviknight is totally going to stay in and click Body Press. Frail setup sweepers have been part of the game for ages now. And Mega Blaziken isn't even that frail compared to some of the other setup sweepers that have rolled up to Ubers.

I think you also greatly overcredit regular Blaziken's power level when comparing it to Mega Blaziken. LO Blaziken is stronger than Mega Blaziken? So why don't we see LO Latios being used instead of Mega Latios?
252 SpA Life Orb Latios Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Regigigas: 177-211 (49 - 58.4%) -- 96.9% chance to 2HKO
252 SpA Latios-Mega Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Regigigas: 159-187 (44 - 51.8%) -- 12.5% chance to 2HKO
0- Atk Latios-Mega Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Regigigas: 75-89 (20.7 - 24.6%) -- guaranteed 5HKO
0- Atk Life Orb Latios Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Regigigas: 71-84 (19.6 - 23.2%) -- possible 5HKO
You can see quite clearly Mega Latios is overall way less powerful than LO Latios specially, and they're evenly matched physically. Latios even gets Recover to heal off Life Orb damage, and Mega Latios uses Recover anyway. So why don't we see LO Latios? Could it be that LO Latios gets crippled by stray Knock Offs and Tricks? Could it be that LO Latios has seriously compromised bulk and hence fails to answer things Mega Latios does?
252 SpA Life Orb Alakazam Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Regigigas: 181-214 (50.1 - 59.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Regigigas: 169-201 (46.8 - 55.6%) -- 74.2% chance to 2HKO
Alakazam doesn't even take Life Orb recoil. But let's ask the question again, why is Zam UUBL, while the "weaker" Mega Alakazam is Uber? Could it be that Alakazam has a relatively poor Speed tier that prevents it sweeping? Or is it that its bulk is so pathetic it can't take priority? Or is it again stray Knock Offs that end up crippling Zam in practice?
+2 252 Atk Blaziken Gigavolt Havoc (140 BP) vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 388-458 (98.4 - 116.2%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Life Orb Blaziken Thunder Punch vs. 252 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 260-307 (85.5 - 100.9%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

+2 252 Atk Blaziken Breakneck Blitz (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 4 Def Latias-Mega: 333-392 (91.4 - 107.6%) -- 50% chance to OHKO

+1 252 Atk Blaziken Inferno Overdrive (190 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-Therian: 342-403 (89.5 - 105.4%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
Now here's the thing. Regular Blaziken picks its set to bypass ONE of its counters. You are not going to see a set running 3 different Z moves, Life Orb, Thunder Punch and Double-Edge. Z-Blaziken can pick and choose its counters it's true. But the difference between Mega Blaziken and Z-Blaziken is one of them picks and chooses which one of its long list of counters it beats, the other has two counters period. Both Life Orb and Z-Blaziken suffer from a sweep-or-bust situation where if they are forced out, they don't get to contribute much futher, owing to either having expended their Z or most of their health. Mega Blaziken can happily come in, force something out, Knock the Fini, and switch out again. Indeed, the pivot set I posted makes a career out of it.
An example is your calcs with Fini and Pex being done with Adamant Mega Blaziken at +4. You realise that anything that you let set up 2 SDs is most likely going to break through their checks too, right? It's also a bit of a double standard to assume Fini is being worn down while Mega Blaziken is in healthy enough condition to not die to Scald. And uh, all of this is nothing regular Blaziken can’t do.
Just demonstrating that it can break through them at th expense of its longevity if its teammates require it. And yes, it is normal for Tapu Fini, a defensive Pokemon with no recovery that has to check some of the most dangerous threats in the metagame, to be chipped. It is also normal for Mega Blaziken to not be chipped, because as a frail offensive threat it is not typically tasked with checking things. The only double standard here is holding Mega Blaziken to one set while calcing against different answers with 3 different Z moves and Life Orb on regular Blaziken.
Standard Mega Venusaur do (or at least should) be running Earth Power. Even the National Dex Compendium lists Earth Power as the move to use over Leech Seed or HP Fire. The problem is that Mega Venusaur itself does not have defined presence in this tier, which is why I listed it as a niche answer.
HP Fire was standard in SM and is standard in Nat Dex Mono. Earth Power>HP Fire lets steel birds, Mega Scizor, Ferrothorn and Kartana sit on you. Earth Power>Leech Seed means you will be running out of Synthesis PP soon.
0 SpA Venusaur-Mega Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 4 SpD Kartana: 182-215 (70.2 - 83%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
To reliably 2HKO Quagsire, you’re going to need to get up rocks. To say the least, it’s optimistic to assume you’ll be getting up hazards against Stall.
Assuming you can't just get 6% chip another way and assuming Mold Breaker Excadrill hasn't done its thing and assuming you don't just get the rolls anyway, Knock Off is on the set for a reason.

So Tl;dr:
  • Yes run Adamant on SD Mega Blaziken, your speed against Scarfers is only relevant after you've claimed, and in that case you are probably at +2 and you outspeed them. You really don't need to be Jolly to outspeed a Ferrothorn or Clefable.
  • Knock cripples or kills every one of Mega Blaziken's would-be counters aside from Haze Toxapex. There are more than a few potential teammates who can handle Toxapex.
  • Mega Blaziken has no issues finding setup opportunities because it forces switches with great ease. 80/80/80 bulk is better bulk than more than a few Ubers who had no issues finding setup opportunities.
  • The argument LO Blaziken does the same things as Mega Blaziken really doesn't hold much water when you consider a +2 Adamant Blaziken is easily revenged after hazard and LO chip by popular scarfers like Kartana, Gengar and Greninja, as well as taking priority less well due to the extra chip and reduced bulk. Jolly LO Blaziken suffers from familiar issues.
  • Z-Blaziken is essentially a matchup fish. It can only carry one Z-move, and is reliant on getting the correct matchup for that Z-move. Load Electrium Z into Mega Latias BO or Quagsire stall and it will not be sweeping today. Mega Blaziken does not have this issue as one set performs in basically all matchups provided you have a teammate to switch into Toxapex. (I guess you could argue Rain is a bad matchup for Mega Blaziken, but it's hardly total deadweight).
I feel the need to emphasise this further, so to conclude, a reminder that LO Blaziken cannot hit all those lovely damage benchmarks if it switches into a Ferrothorn's Knock Off. Mega Blaziken just turns that into a setup opportunity.
 

TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
I'd like to add that the bulk increase from regular to Mega Blaziken looks minimal at first, but it actually achieves a number of very important calcs:
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 206-246 (68.4 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 222-264 (73.7 - 87.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 200-236 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 140-168 (46.5 - 55.8%) -- 70.7% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 272-320 (90.3 - 106.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 244-288 (81 - 95.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

220 SpA Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 250-296 (83 - 98.3%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
220 SpA Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 226-266 (75 - 88.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 276-326 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 248-294 (82.3 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 252-306 (83.7 - 101.6%) -- approx. 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 236-278 (78.4 - 92.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

The list goes on...
 

R8

Leads Natdex Other Tiers, not rly doing ndou stuff
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I'd like to add that the bulk increase from regular to Mega Blaziken looks minimal at first, but it actually achieves a number of very important calcs:
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Slowbro Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 206-246 (68.4 - 81.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 222-264 (73.7 - 87.7%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
0 SpA Tapu Fini Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 200-236 (66.4 - 78.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock

0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 140-168 (46.5 - 55.8%) -- 70.7% chance to 2HKO
0 SpA Toxapex Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 126-150 (41.8 - 49.8%) -- guaranteed 3HKO

252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 272-320 (90.3 - 106.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 SpA Volcarona Psychic vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 244-288 (81 - 95.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

220 SpA Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 250-296 (83 - 98.3%) -- 68.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
220 SpA Hydreigon Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 226-266 (75 - 88.3%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 276-326 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- 50% chance to OHKO
0 Atk Gliscor Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 248-294 (82.3 - 97.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken: 252-306 (83.7 - 101.6%) -- approx. 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken: 264-312 (87.7 - 103.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
252 Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 236-278 (78.4 - 92.3%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

The list goes on...
I still don't have any precise opinion over MBlaziken yet ; however i believe some of the calcs here aren't relevant in practice, considering that Mega-Blaziken pushes itself in range / KOes itself thanks to Flare Blitz/Close Combat drawbacks, which are its main stabs - and thus not clicking them is usually not an option. But even if we don't take this into account, most of the calcs mentionned here were not guaranteed against regular Blaziken, so the interaction still has good odds to remain the same.

On an other note, I didn't read everything that was said so far, but in my opinion we also should take a look at the most common structures (Teams used in NDPL, Championships, or the samples could be good examples) to figure out how good Mega-Blaziken could possibly be in this metagame. Thinking about how Mega-Blaziken perform in matchups taken as a whole would be way more accurate than just looking at how Mega-Blaziken fare against its individual checks. This was the mistake we made with regular Blaziken before, and probably why it looked way more scary on paper than what it was on practice. I lack the time to make a complete post about this atm unfortunately, but i invite anyone contributing to this discussion to take this into account!
 
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Oculars

JUST WAIT TILL I DROP THESE FLAMES
is a Tiering Contributor
Since the main distinction between Blaziken and its Mega has been the slightly increased bulk on the mega giving it more space vs offensive teams while limiting it vs defensive teams. I thought id share a few ways I found to deal with Mega Blaziken on offence.

:ribombee: MBlaze hates fighting webs since its starting on the back foot and webs seriously help you deal with MBlaze before it outspeeds all your guys, MBlaze will struggle to find setup opportunities vs anything offensive in this meta if you have webs up and will typically at most get 1 kill then die to recoil or be revenged. If they try and setup 1v1 on Ribombee you have options to stop MBlaze such as skill swap and stun spore.

:grimmsnarl::light-clay: Apart from the fact MBlaze is easily handled with screens up by any competently built team, if it chooses to SD thinking youll click reflect you can
+2 252+ Atk Grimmsnarl Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 237-280 (78.7 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You can also cripple MBlaze with status such as prankster Twave

:pelipper: :swampert-mega: :Barraskewda: :Kingdra: Rain should have a plethora of ways to deal with MBlaze even without considering all the water priority you can use to handle it.

Thats three of the most common offensive archetypes that all easily handle Mega Blaziken.

:ferrothorn: I hate validating the people who think ferrothorn fits on an offence, but if ur some chunky BO council mans sample team buildin type this might be for you. Iron barbs + Helmet + recoil/def drop should mean even resisted priority can force blaziken out, and given its a mon that cant setup twice easily this is basically a 1 for 1 trade ensuring you wont get swept.

:Dragonite:+ :heavy-duty-boots: The best Mega Blaziken counter, Dragonite wit the timbs easily slots into several offensive builds and MBlaze really cant touch you

:slowbro:+:colbur-berry: (or itemless or Z) You can EV a slowbro set to take on MBlaze, just run counter, invest enough spa for scald to ohko or use hydro pump or future sight which ohko uninvested.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 246-290 (62.4 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:garchomp: Tankchomp isnt a check but a way to get some chip using helmet + endure u can guarantee MBlaze gets chipped atleast 50% and is at -1 or -2 to make it removable by even weak priority. +2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Garchomp: 378-445 (90 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

:slowbro-galar: +:slowbronite: Calm mind gbro with a mega stone is a brutal wincon vs a lot of teams, you live +2 knock due to the mega stone and OHKO back with psychic, you can also just mega and ohko it wth scald since +2 blitz will kill gbro. Nobody ever expects the mega gbro.
40 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 270-318 (89.7 - 105.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Hawlucha: great cleaner and speed control for offence can outspeed a +2 jolly MBlaze and OHKO

:greninja: :crawdaunt::Urshifu-rapid-strike: Strong water priority can easily be fit on offensive teams and remove a boosted blaziken with minimal chip
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 258-306 (85.7 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 328-388 (108.9 - 128.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Pinsir-Mega: Another option to remove a -1 or slighly chipped blaziken (youll find a pattern here just get a bit of chip while its setting up and MBlaze is a non-issue)
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 216-254 (71.7 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (But if they click blitz to kill you they guarantee die to recoil so its a trade)
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 320-380 (106.3 - 126.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:torkoal: + :venusaur: Torkoal can eat a +2 Close Combat from full and yawn or toxic or earth power it into range of dying to priority
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Torkoal: 285-336 (83 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If sun is up venusaur can switch in to any non fire move and outspeed a +1 MBlaze
252+ SpA Life Orb Venusaur Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 281-333 (93.3 - 110.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:lopunny-mega: Mega Lop one of the most ubiquitous HO Mons is great at handling blaziken especially double priority lop which can immediately remove a -1 blaziken if rocks are up or its slightly chipped, also ensures it doesnt sweep you.
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 123-145 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- 67.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

:latias-mega: While this is usually a shaky check due to +2 knock being an ohkoafter rocks, slower pdef reflect type variants can easily adapt to it
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Latias-Mega: 260-306 (71.4 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO you can also run a mixed bulk max speed set that is a slim roll for ohko with rocks
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 128 HP / 128+ Def Latias-Mega: 254-300 (76.2 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Hippowdon: + :excadrill: Unlike regular Z Blaziken, Hippo can actually check Mega Blaziken and ohko with an earthquake
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 322-381 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
8 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 288-338 (95.6 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Jolly Excadrill in sand outspeeds +2 ada MBlaze and +1 jolly and ohkos.


:cresselia: , :hatterene: + :focus-sash: Cress sets trick room on MBlaze and a lot of TR offences on ladder use sash hat nowadays.
+2 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Cresselia: 320-378 (72 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


:regieleki: Outspeeds +1 Jolly MBlaze even when modest and OHKOs
252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Volt Switch vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 283-334 (94 - 110.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Band sets can also revenge a weakenned MBlaze. 252+ Atk Choice Band Regieleki Extreme Speed vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 215-254 (71.4 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:rillaboom: MBlaze cant even guarantee setup on this considering you can predict the SD and 2hko with glide
252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 142-168 (47.1 - 55.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
MBlaze is also removed by glide when at -1 and chipped 252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 213-252 (70.7 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery

:alakazam: + :focus-sash: While not the most common mon, sash magic guard alakazam can function as an emmergency stop to certain setup sweepers including MBlaziken.

:Salamence: Intimidate salamence switches into MBlaze
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence: 226-267 (68.2 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Salamence Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 324-384 (107.6 - 127.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Gyarados-mega: While its a horrible check to tpunch variants and forces a 70/30 (kinda a 50/50 but a bit in their favor since Tpunch can still roll a mgyara at +1. +1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 294-346 (88.8 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO ) you can check knock variants by staying unmega'd

:clefable:(Unaware only) if you switch in to any attack other than blitz you can spam soft boiled a few times to collect recoil chip then kill with moonblast, wish protect variants (Like that goddamn zobris clef, I despite that clef) may be able to wall it shakily if they dont switch in to blitz.
252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 220-261 (55.8 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

:deoxys-defense: + :heavy-duty-boots: You can use deo-d as a bulky hazard setter on some offences it eats any MBlaze attack and ohkos back with psychoboost
+2 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Deoxys-Defense: 256-302 (84.2 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
12 SpA Deoxys-Defense Psycho Boost vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 276-326 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:choice-scarf: :focus-sash: :talonflame: :ditto: Other cheese shit like random scarfers and sashers and talonflame can check MBlaze, if you build for it you will find you have so many options.

TL:DR Mega Blaziken has plenty of offensive counterplay available and chip is incredibly easy to get vs a MBlaze (this thing runs flare blitz with low hp ffs) Because of its frail nature u only need to find a way to shutdown a setup MBlaze once in a game which gives you plenty of leeway to use unconventional checks and chip to handle it.
 
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TailGlowVM

Now 100% more demonic
Since the main distinction between Blaziken and its Mega has been the slightly increased bulk on the mega giving it more space vs offensive teams while limiting it vs defensive teams. I thought id share a few ways I found to deal with Mega Blaziken on offence.

:ribombee: MBlaze hates fighting webs since its starting on the back foot and webs seriously help you deal with MBlaze before it outspeeds all your guys, MBlaze will struggle to find setup opportunities vs anything offensive in this meta if you have webs up and will typically at most get 1 kill then die to recoil or be revenged. If they try and setup 1v1 on Ribombee you have options to stop MBlaze such as skill swap and stun spore.

:grimmsnarl::light-clay: Apart from the fact MBlaze is easily handled with screens up by any competently built team, if it chooses to SD thinking youll click reflect you can
+2 252+ Atk Grimmsnarl Foul Play vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 237-280 (78.7 - 93%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
You can also cripple MBlaze with status such as prankster Twave

:pelipper: :swampert-mega: :Barraskewda: :Kingdra: Rain should have a plethora of ways to deal with MBlaze even without considering all the water priority you can use to handle it.

Thats three of the most common offensive archetypes that all easily handle Mega Blaziken.

:ferrothorn: I hate validating the people who think ferrothorn fits on an offence, but if ur some chunky BO council mans sample team buildin type this might be for you. Iron barbs + Helmet + recoil/def drop should mean even resisted priority can force blaziken out, and given its a mon that cant setup twice easily this is basically a 1 for 1 trade ensuring you wont get swept.

:Dragonite:+ :heavy-duty-boots: The best Mega Blaziken counter, Dragonite wit the timbs easily slots into several offensive builds and MBlaze really cant touch you

:slowbro:+:colbur-berry: (or itemless or Z) You can EV a slowbro set to take on MBlaze, just run counter, invest enough spa for scald to ohko or use hydro pump or future sight which ohko uninvested.
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Slowbro: 246-290 (62.4 - 73.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:garchomp: Tankchomp isnt a check but a way to get some chip using helmet + endure u can guarantee MBlaze gets chipped atleast 50% and is at -1 or -2 to make it removable by even weak priority. +2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Garchomp: 378-445 (90 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO

:slowbro-galar: +:slowbronite: Calm mind gbro with a mega stone is a brutal wincon vs a lot of teams, you live +2 knock due to the mega stone and OHKO back with psychic, you can also just mega and ohko it wth scald since +2 blitz will kill gbro. Nobody ever expects the mega gbro.
40 SpA Slowbro-Mega Scald vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 270-318 (89.7 - 105.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Hawlucha: great cleaner and speed control for offence can outspeed a +2 jolly MBlaze and OHKO

:greninja: :crawdaunt::Urshifu-rapid-strike: Strong water priority can easily be fit on offensive teams and remove a boosted blaziken with minimal chip
252 SpA Choice Specs Greninja Water Shuriken (15 BP) (3 hits) vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 234-276 (77.7 - 91.6%) -- approx. 12.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Urshifu-Rapid-Strike Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 258-306 (85.7 - 101.6%) -- 87.5% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
252+ Atk Choice Band Adaptability Crawdaunt Aqua Jet vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 328-388 (108.9 - 128.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Pinsir-Mega: Another option to remove a -1 or slighly chipped blaziken (youll find a pattern here just get a bit of chip while its setting up and MBlaze is a non-issue)
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 216-254 (71.7 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock (But if they click blitz to kill you they guarantee die to recoil so its a trade)
252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Quick Attack vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 320-380 (106.3 - 126.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:torkoal: + :venusaur: Torkoal can eat a +2 Close Combat from full and yawn or toxic or earth power it into range of dying to priority
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Torkoal: 285-336 (83 - 97.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
If sun is up venusaur can switch in to any non fire move and outspeed a +1 MBlaze
252+ SpA Life Orb Venusaur Earth Power vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 281-333 (93.3 - 110.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:lopunny-mega: Mega Lop one of the most ubiquitous HO Mons is great at handling blaziken especially double priority lop which can immediately remove a -1 blaziken if rocks are up or its slightly chipped, also ensures it doesnt sweep you.
252 Atk Lopunny-Mega Fake Out vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 123-145 (40.8 - 48.1%) -- 67.2% chance to 2HKO after Stealth Rock

:latias-mega: While this is usually a shaky check due to +2 knock being an ohkoafter rocks, slower pdef reflect type variants can easily adapt to it
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 252 HP / 100+ Def Latias-Mega: 260-306 (71.4 - 84%) -- guaranteed 2HKO you can also run a mixed bulk max speed set that is a slim roll for ohko with rocks
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off vs. 128 HP / 128+ Def Latias-Mega: 254-300 (76.2 - 90%) -- 18.8% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock

:Hippowdon: + :excadrill: Unlike regular Z Blaziken, Hippo can actually check Mega Blaziken and ohko with an earthquake
+2 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Hippowdon: 322-381 (76.6 - 90.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
8 Atk Hippowdon Earthquake vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 288-338 (95.6 - 112.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Jolly Excadrill in sand outspeeds +2 ada MBlaze and +1 jolly and ohkos.


:cresselia: , :hatterene: + :focus-sash: Cress sets trick room on MBlaze and a lot of TR offences on ladder use sash hat nowadays.
+2 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 220+ Def Cresselia: 320-378 (72 - 85.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock


:regieleki: Outspeeds +1 Jolly MBlaze even when modest and OHKOs
252+ SpA Choice Specs Transistor Regieleki Volt Switch vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 283-334 (94 - 110.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock
Band sets can also revenge a weakenned MBlaze. 252+ Atk Choice Band Regieleki Extreme Speed vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 215-254 (71.4 - 84.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
:rillaboom: MBlaze cant even guarantee setup on this considering you can predict the SD and 2hko with glide
252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 142-168 (47.1 - 55.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery
MBlaze is also removed by glide when at -1 and chipped 252+ Atk Choice Band Rillaboom Grassy Glide vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega in Grassy Terrain: 213-252 (70.7 - 83.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Grassy Terrain recovery

:alakazam: + :focus-sash: While not the most common mon, sash magic guard alakazam can function as an emmergency stop to certain setup sweepers including MBlaziken.

:Salamence: Intimidate salamence switches into MBlaze
+1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Close Combat vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Salamence: 226-267 (68.2 - 80.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Salamence Dual Wingbeat (2 hits) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Blaziken-Mega: 324-384 (107.6 - 127.5%) -- guaranteed OHKO

:Gyarados-mega: While its a horrible check to tpunch variants and forces a 70/30 (kinda a 50/50 but a bit in their favor since Tpunch can still roll a mgyara at +1. +1 252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Gyarados-Mega: 294-346 (88.8 - 104.5%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO ) you can check knock variants by staying unmega'd

:clefable:(Unaware only) if you switch in to any attack other than blitz you can spam soft boiled a few times to collect recoil chip then kill with moonblast, wish protect variants may be able to wall it shakily if they dont switch in to blitz.
252+ Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 220-261 (55.8 - 66.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

:deoxys-defense: + :heavy-duty-boots: You can use deo-d as a bulky hazard setter on some offences it eats any MBlaze attack and ohkos back with psychoboost
+2 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Knock Off (97.5 BP) vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Deoxys-Defense: 256-302 (84.2 - 99.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
12 SpA Deoxys-Defense Psycho Boost vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Blaziken-Mega: 276-326 (91.6 - 108.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO after Stealth Rock

:choice-scarf: :focus-sash: :talonflame: :ditto: Other cheese shit like random scarfers and sashers and talonflame can check MBlaze, if you build for it you will find you have so many options.

TL:DR Mega Blaziken has plenty of offensive counterplay available and chip is incredibly easy to get vs a MBlaze (this thing runs flare blitz with low hp ffs) Because of its frail nature u only need to find a way to shutdown a setup MBlaze once in a game which gives you plenty of leeway to use unconventional checks and chip to handle it.
How many of these Pokemon are viable?
Ribombee isn't ranked, nor are Dragonite, Crawdaunt, Barraskewda, Kingdra, Mega Slowbro, Mega Pinsir, Cresselia, Hatterene, Regieleki, Alakazam, Salamence, or Talonflame. No one's running Counter Slowbro or Psycho Boost Deoxys-D, and neither of the two current samples with Ferrothorn use Rocky Helmet on it. So you're basically saying Mega Blaziken is counterable, but with a bunch of unviable garbage mons that will make structures suboptimal against everything else?

:bloblul:
 

Oculars

JUST WAIT TILL I DROP THESE FLAMES
is a Tiering Contributor
How many of these Pokemon are viable?
Ribombee isn't ranked, nor are Dragonite, Crawdaunt, Barraskewda, Kingdra, Mega Slowbro, Mega Pinsir, Cresselia, Hatterene, Regieleki, Alakazam, Salamence, or Talonflame. No one's running Counter Slowbro or Psycho Boost Deoxys-D, and neither of the two current samples with Ferrothorn use Rocky Helmet on it. So you're basically saying Mega Blaziken is counterable, but with a bunch of unviable garbage mons that will make structures suboptimal against everything else?

:bloblul:
Teambuilding especially offence where you want to focus on an archetype is a lot more than pick 6 from the VR. A lot of these pokemon might not make the VR but are absolute essentials to their offensive archetypes. Limiting yourself to only consider the few mons on the VR when building an offensive archetype like webs or screens would make your structure suboptimal given you have less tools available to you. Sometimes a mon is not the best fit for most teams and not very splashable but is a perfect fit for your team, see: Mega Venusaur used in Wishkiller on the surface its a subpar low tier mega but with the team synergy by far the best option and the mon that holds the team together and makes it so infuriating to play against..

If youre building a webs team :ribombee: is a top tier pick being the best and fastest webs setter in the game, more than viable.
same goes for :Pinsir-Mega:, absolutely lethal on webs despite being subpar in other builds.

:Dragonite: and :Salamence: are both excelent HO Sweepers that find usage on screens builds and free up other slots in your team by checking :rillaboom: + :heatran: in one slot while also not being trapped by mag pull (Both huge threats to HO)

:Hatterene: and :Cresselia: are TR Staples of course thats not enough to have them ranked on the limited VR but when building a TR Offence they are among the first mons any competent player would consider (had to play vs Hat TR twice in late round fall ssnl its more than viable)

:Crawdaunt: while an odd and niche pick is a mon that can absolutely destroy natdex stalls and fat balances and shouldnt be scoffed at

:regieleki: This can trash teams that lose their ground type while providing incredibly fast hazard control or screens support, and im sure everyone here has lost to an eleki offence before, il be the first to admit it. Theres a reason "every team needs a ground/volt blocker" and Eleki is a big part of it. You can quickly find yourself on the back foot if a competent Eleki player starts making doubles on your obvious hard switches into ground types/volt blockers.

:Barraskewda: and :Kingdra: I see on more offensive rains all the time you dont have to build this rain:ferrothorn: :swampert-mega: :pelipper: :zapdos: :manaphy: :greninja: every time.

:deoxys-defense: When building a Hazard Stack and you want a dual hazards lead you typically are choosing between :mew:, :skarmory: and :deoxys-defense: some just opt to go for the bulkier Deo-D spread, im just saying in a potential meta where :Blaziken-mega: threatens offences this can function as a check without needing any spa investment

:slowbro-mega: yeah this isnt ranked in our current toxic heavy meta but if :blaziken-mega: is as big a threat as ppl make it out to be im sure it would be ranked again if the chicken were unbanned.

:Talonflame: :ditto: and :alakazam: Yeah youre right these are pretty cheese but are still options. Im saying not only is Mega Blaziken counterable by OU stuff you can find plenty of checks in lower tiers too.
 

R8

Leads Natdex Other Tiers, not rly doing ndou stuff
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Offensive And Defensive Counterplay
Not wanting to directly suggest that Mega-Blaziken will be broken, but that list of checks convinced me a bit more that pivots sets might definitively have a potential as a breaker ; it is both able to threaten a significant portion of the metagame thanks to its decent initial speed tier, and has a firepower very similar to LO Blaziken without the drawbacks of this item. One can argue that regular Blaziken could run the same set, but it is going to be in practice way less effective due to its inferior speed tier and firepower without Life Orb.

I personally don't think this set would make Mega-Blaziken broken, since it is still very susceptible to chip, thanks to Flare Blitz recoil, its neutrality to rocks and vulnerability to spikes, and the fact that the opponent could dance around its moves with Pokemon like Toxapex and Gliscor - even though those aren't guaranteed checks by any means.
Blaziken-Mega @ Blazikenite
Ability: Blaze
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
- U-turn
- Flare Blitz
- Earthquake
- Toxic

I made it blaze because speed boost will never proc while it's in its base form if you decide to mega evolve immediately (that include if its brought on the field with a pivot move.). Going speed boost-less can help if you don't want Ditto getting speed boost vs non-mega Blaziken, and potentially having a blaze boosted Flare Blitz in some niche scenarios.
Edit: Jordy also suggested HP Ice over Toxic on the discord, which is probably a good alternative in order to immediately dispatch Lando and Gliscor, and thus without relying on Flare Blitz to beat them, at the cost of not being able to cripple some of its other defensive checks, though you can just U-Turn against them anyway.

Toxic may looks like a strange option on an offensive Pokemon, but is in fact a very effective to cripple its checks : Heatran and Mega-Metagross before its ban are examples of offensive Pokemon that can abuse Toxic very well to make them harder to check defensively.

Let's go over the checks you listed, and see how this set fare against them, at least on paper:
:victini: MBlaziken pretty much doesn't care about this mon: it only wants to switch into Flare Blitz, and even then Earthquake kills immediately after. It dislikes switching into Toxic and U-Turn as well.

:slowbro: Slowbro checks this set not too badly, but absolutely hates being toxiced, which can lead to it being eventually overwhelmed by M-Blaziken or its partners (Especially since U-Turn already cancels Regenerator).

:Latias-Mega: :Latios-Mega: Both absolutely hates switching into Toxic, and dislikes U-Turn as well. It is important to mention that even if they switch into a predicted Blitz/EQ, Mega-Blaziken still can U-Turn safely the turn right after thanks to Turbo making it faster.

:Landorus-Therian: Even if it hates taking a Toxic, defensive variants probably aren't too bad as a check since they can punish Mega-Blaziken U-Turn and Flare Blitz with Rocky Helmet, which is important considering how much Mega-Blaziken hates chip. However, one should mention that scarf lando cannot switch in thanks to Turbo:
-1 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Landorus-Therian: 166-196 (52 - 61.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

:Toxapex: This mon can be really annoying since it can take the risk of switching into Earthquake, since it can just regen off the damages taken:
252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Earthquake vs. 248 HP / 104 Def Toxapex: 166-196 (54.7 - 64.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
It's technically not a defensive check, but give its team the possibility to dance around Mega-Blaziken coverage, taking advantage of its susceptibility to chip. Since it takes Flare Blitz + Earthquake, it could even stay in certain scenarios to toxic Mega-Blaziken.

:Tapu Fini: Fine check, though it can be quickly overwhelmed, especially if hazards are up or if M-Blaziken is paired with Ash-Greninja.

:swampert-mega: Yea, though i don't expect M-Blaziken being great again rain anyway.

:Gliscor: 252 Atk Blaziken-Mega Flare Blitz vs. 244 HP / 52 Def Gliscor: 181-214 (51.4 - 60.7%) -- 48.4% chance to 2HKO after Poison Heal -> Guaranteed after rocks or if Poison Heal isn't active. Much like Toxapex however, it can potentially be annoying and try to dance around it.
:Dragonite: :Alomomola: :Hippowdon: They all hate toxic ; Dnite and Hippo also dislikes repeated U-Turns, though Alomomola punishes it with Rocky Helmet. Also PhysDef hippo is very bad since you want as much spdef as possible to check stuff like MDiancie and Charizard-Y, and doesn't check much else aside from MBlaziken thanks to the added phyiscal bulk.

:Azumarill: Toxic

:Mew: Toxic, though synchronize will annoy M-Blaziken as well. But eh, M-Blaziken can also do the right play being clicking U-Turn against it, which is something Mew won't like.

:venusaur-mega: This thing is so so so easy to chip and was sent to UR for that reason, and dislikes switching into repeated U-Turns. Of course, it can't switch into Flare Blitz before the mega evolution.

:Pelipper: Fair, even though it dislikes toxic ; but as i said earlier, i don't think M-Blaziken is going to fare well in general vs Rain.

:gyarados: Yea i guess. Still hates rocks and toxic.

:altaria-mega: Dislikes Toxic and repeated U-Turns, especially with spikes up (or rocks up before mega evolving).

:Slowbro-mega: U-turn and Toxic

:Mandibuzz: U-turn and Toxic

:moltres: (U-turn) and Toxic

:quagsire: U-Turn and Toxic

Notice how often U-Turn and Toxic are mentionned. In fact, that's not really a good thing : due to its susceptibility to chip, it could struggle to effectively outlasts its defensive checks. However, that still has to be confirmed in playtesting, but even if it is the case you can't exclude that the work Mega-Blaziken put early on can be exploited by teammates.

I won't do the offensive checks but tl;dr: u can't always assume M-Blaziken is at +0 since it just has to kill something and poof next turn it will be at +1, though everything said about priority is still fair.
:greninja-ash: Together they can put immense pressure on Toxapex and Tapu Fini, eventually breaking them to open the path for Ash-Greninja. Like most breakers, M-Blaziken enjoys Spikes support, limiting Toxapex attempts to dance around it, and in return M-Blaziken can bring Ash-Greninja against Pokemon it threatens like Landorus-Therian, Gliscor and Slowbro to potentially lay a range of spikes.

:tapu-lele: Lele enjoys being brought safely against pokemon like Toxapex and Tapu Fini through U-Turn, and can deny priority for M-Blaziken thanks to Psychic Terrain.
:hoopa-unbound: :gyarados: :gyarados-mega: :tapu-lele: :rillaboom: :kommo-o: :medicham-mega: (<-Adamant) :charizard-mega-y: (<-Modest) :excadrill: :landorus-therian: :hawlucha: (w/o unburden: :garchomp-mega: :Kyurem: :hydreigon:
Also ties with: :volcarona: :mew: :victini: :medicham-mega: :charizard-mega-y:

I unfortunately don't have the time to make a detailled talk about how Mega-Blaziken fares against a wide array of teams, so for now i'll just take a very quick look at how it could potentially perform against the current sample teams.
:pelipper: :swampert-mega: :greninja-ash: :manaphy: :zapdos: :ferrothorn:
The only mon MBlaziken really threaten here is Ferrothorn lol: maybe it will get a toxic on pelipper or something but i don't think this team really cares about MBlaziken.

:greninja-ash: :landorus-therian: :tangrowth: :heatran: :tapu-fini: :mawile-mega:
Agren + Fini + Lando should be enough to at least revenge kill M-Blaziken. However, MBlaziken potentially scares off Tangrowth, Heatran and Mega-Mawile. It def has the potential to make important progress.

:magnezone: :clefable: :hydreigon: :landorus-therian: :scizor-mega: :rotom-wash:
M-Blaziken here has three main opportunities: 1v1ing Scizor-Mega, threatening Hydreigon out with U-Turn (though it takes only 70% max roll from U-Turn, so it could stay and fire off an attack) and abusing Magnezone being locked into Flash Cannon. Those opportunities aren't really free, especially since +2 Scizor does over 50% to Mega-Blaziken, and even if they happen, Blaziken isn't guaranteed to take a kill since there is a Rotom in the team - though it definitively won't enjoy taking a toxic into an U-Turn, and Lando can 1v1 it if needed, or just come in to intimidate it, to make Clef able to wall it.

:moltres: :ferrothorn: :clefable: :gastrodon: :latias-mega: :weavile:
Considering that Blaziken forces out Ferrothorn and Weavile, and (kinda) walls Clefable, Mega-Blaziken can have a couple opportunities to fire off attacks. However, the presence of three fire resists - even though they are all susceptible to Toxic and dislike U-Turn - can give it an hard time, especially since spikes can be potentially up as well, limiting its opportunities to make progress and outlast this team.

:kyurem: :tapu-lele: :tapu-lele: :tapu-fini: :landorus-therian: :lopunny-mega: :heatran:
M-Blaziken p much only has true opportunities against Heatran, Lele locked into Energy Ball (lol) and potentially Kyurem if you bluff Close Combat. There also are Tapu Fini and Landorus-Therian that can check it pretty well defensively, also forcing Blaziken to predict if it wants to do significant progress against them.

:heatran: :clefable: :gliscor: :scizor-mega: :weavile: :toxapex:
Even if that team potentially gives different clear opportunities to M-Blaziken (being revenge killing Scizor, Weavile or Heatran, or even potentially 1v1ing Clefable), Toxapex + Gliscor can be problematic for it, and can dance around it in an attempt to cripple it, forcing it to do multiple consecutive predictions in order to break the team.

As you can see, M-Blaziken will need a fair amount of outplay and team support in order to break those teams. Even without going for Swords Dance, it still clearly lacks the opportunities to do its job since it is too frail to switch directly into stuff, and even if it get said opportunities it still has to face roadblocks, in particular against counterplays teams bring against offensive Heatran (which also use the Fire+Ground+Toxic combination).

Of course, most points about the lack of opportunities mentionned in the previous spoiler can be applied on Swords Dance M-Blaziken as well: if the pivot set doesn't find opportunities to break even without needing to click a boosting move, we can expect SD having a much more difficult time trying to do so, even though it can be much more threatening than the pivot set, but more easily stopped on its tracks by priority.

I believe this post demonstrates pretty well why we should take teams as a whole into account rather than individual checks: here i took the list of potential checks suggested earlier and showed how this pivot set has the potential to overwhelm pretty much any of them taken individually. However, when considering its matchups against teams as a whole, its issues become much more clear. Of course this is still potentially very inaccurate, because the impact of M-Blaziken team support itself was not really taken into account: it is unfair to attempt to evaluate how M-Blaziken performs against structures as a whole without considering its potential team support. However this can be much more difficult currently, especially since, well, we don't have any proven M-Blaziken teams yet, and the mon was not really explored outside of pure theorymonning. We will need to build teams and playtest them to proprely assess how strong M-Blaziken is going to be in this metagame, and a Mega-Blaziken suspect test will give us the opportunity to do that extensively.

TL;DR: Suspect Mega-Blaziken. Ofc Dragapult and Tornadus-Therian might deserve to be suspected first, but Mega-Blaziken definitively deserves a shot as well.
 
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Now that the community has come to a consensus that mega blaziken is worthy of a suspect test (if you disagree no you don't), the likely order for suspect tests should be torn-t, m-blaziken, and dragapult.

Why dragapult last? What metagame changes have suddenly made it more healthy for the metagame? The subdd set is going to be as busted as ever, stab +1 z-phantom force will nuke all of its checks like before.
 
i realise how broken and unfun to play against baton pass can be, but could the ban be modified in such a way that i can be used to pivot? For example any moveset with a setup move and baton pass would be illegal.

The reason im asking is that i really want to use M-absol lol and i believe the ability to pivot would make it a lot better. It doesnt get parting shot for some reason so baton pass could work too. I'm sure a lot of other overlooked mons without any pivot would benifit from it too and may be used more.
 
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