The Royal Pokemon Clan

Have you ever wanted to use arguably one of the coolest Pokemon in existence, but had no idea what you could possibly do for one? Well take a look at this neat little guide to see if Metagross is the one for you.


This metal monster has long been one of the most dangerous Pokemon to enter the competitive field since its debut in Ruby and Sapphire. It's massive Attack, great Defense, wonderful movepool, and a decent typing made it a terrifying Pokemon to face. Unfortunately, with each new generation, Metagross saw new threats that could easily overcome its biggest flaw; its Speed. However, don't let its poor Speed keep you from smashing heads in with it. It's nice 80/130/90 bulk is often more than enough for it to take a few hits, coupled with a high base 135 Attack, and high powered moves like Meteor Mash, Zen Headbutt, Thunder Punch, Ice Punch, Earthquake, and Hammer Arm, it's got plenty of tools to leave its mark on the metagame. Its typing, while not stellar, it does enough to give it useful resistances to Rock-, Flying-, Fairy-, Dragon-, and a nice double resistance to Psychic-types. Immunity to Poison is nice as well. On the downside, it has glaring weaknesses to Ground-, Ghost-, Fire-, and Dark-type moves make it difficult to take advantage of these resistances. Ripping teams to shreds isn't the only thing it can do, Metagross also has a decent support movepool in Trick, Agility, Rock Polish, and Stealth Rock. On the downside, Metagross suffers from a very severe case of 4-moveslot syndrome. It can't run everything it wants one set. You'll want Thunder Punch to deal with bulky Water-types like Suicune and Gyarados, but Ice Punch could be useful against Pokemon like Gliscor, Garchomp, and Salamence, on the other hand, Earthquake and Hammer Arms are nice options, but you'll also need STAB moves like Meteor Mash or Bullet Punch, Zen Headbutt is also a useful option. You might also want to support your team with Trick and Stealth Rock, boost your Speed with Agility or Rock Polish, but unfortunately, you can't run everything on one set, and because of this, there's always gonna be a Pokemon that could potentially stop Metagross. Despite these shortcomings, Metagross is still a dangerous Pokemon that one cannot underestimate, otherwise it'll spell doom for your team.

Here's a few sets that could prove to be useful on your own Metagross.

Megagross

Item: Metagrossite
Ability: Clear Body (will become Tough Claws upon Mega Evolution)
Nature: Jolly (-SpA, +Spe)
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Moves:
- Rock Polish
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch/Meteor Mash
- Earthquake/Hammer Arm/Zen Headbutt

Mega Metagross is one of the main selling points of using the Pokemon in the first place, the huge boosts in Attack, Defense, and most importantly, its Speed, makes it an incredible sweeper, coupled with Tough Claws and high powered moves, this could prove to be enough to help give you the victory in battle. With the exception of Earthquake, most of the recommended moves make contact, allowing Metagross to abuse Tough Claws, moves like Bullet Punch will become among the most powerful priority moves in the game, while Meteor Mash will mash anything that doesn't resist it. Rock Polish is used to help increase Metagross' already good Speed stat and turns into a supremely fast sweeper, though if you'd rather just for an all out attacker, replace it with either Zen Headbutt for STAB or with Ice Punch to take care of Pokemon like Salamence or Garchomp. Thunder Punch is used to deal with bulky Water-types that would otherwise be able to wall Metagross, specifically Gyarados and Suicune. Bullet Punch is a great STAB move, coupled with Metagross' high Attack, STAB, and Tough Claws, it'll deal high amounts of damage, though Meteor Mash could be used over it for the potential of raising Metagross' Attack along with a higher base power. Lastly, Earthquake is generally useful in taking care of bulky Steel- or Fire-types, specifically Magnezone or Heatran which would otherwise be able to stop Metagross. Hammer Arm is used to take on Steel- and Dark-types, Pokemon like Bisharp, Tyranitar, and bulky Normal-types like Chansey, Blissey, and Porygon2 take huge amounts of damage from it, though the drop in Speed is worrying. Zen Headbutt is a tough STAB move, but due to the fact that more Pokemon resist Psychic than not, it usually isn't worth using. Partners that can clear away certain hazards like Spikes and clear away Pokemon that pose a threat to Metagross are greatly appreciated.

Assault Vest

Item: Assault Vest
Ability: Clear Body
Nature: Adamant (+Atk, -SpA)
EVs: 252 Atk / 110 HP / 100 Sp. Def / 48 Def
Moves:
- Thunder Punch
- Bullet Punch
- Meteor Mash
- Earthquake/Zen Headbutt/Ice Punch/Hammer Arm

While Mega Metagross is almost always superior, it has the stats to pull off a non-Mega Evolved set. The Assault Vest gives Metagross a massive increase in its Sp. Defense, making it a tough opponent to kill. The given nature and EV spread gives it the ability to hit as hard as it can while also increasing its bulk to higher levels. Though Metagross will be severely lacking in Speed, Bullet Punch more than makes up for it. Meteor Mash is another strong option that occasionally raises its Attack. Thunder Punch is used to hit bulky Water-types like Suicune and Gyarados. The last slot can be used with Earthquake to hit bulky Steel-types, though a STAB Zen Headbutt could be used over it. Ice Punch is also viable to hit bulky Ground- and Dragon-types. Hammer Arm is useful in hitting Dark-types, but the fact that it lowers its Speed can be worrying.


Bulky Ground-types: Pokemon like Hippowdon, Swampert, and Garchomp can prey upon Metagross with their STAB moves, forcing it rely on Ice Punch, or in the case of the former two, the unreliable Grass Knot.

Burns and Paralysis: Burns severely lower Metagross' damage output while paralysis hampers its already poor speed, effectively ruining a sweep.