The best Pokemon in Legends Z-A’s Season 8 Ranked Battles

It feels like we say this every time a new season comes around, but Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s ranked battle season 8 is probably the worst one yet – but for real this time. Not necessarily because a small group of Pokemon overpowers the rest (that is the case here to an extent), but because your choices are extremely limited. Not only are you restricted to using Pokemon that got Mega Evolutions in Pokemon Legends: Z-A (which means no Mega Evolutions from X, Y, Omega Ruby, or Alpha Sapphire), but they cannot be entered unless they’re holding their Mega Stone. This means you can’t run Focus Sash at all, which means if you’re going for the Consummate Gamer bonus, you have no protection against one-hit KO moves. At any rate, given how small the selection of Pokemon is here, it makes sense that there are a few that tower above the others.

Skarmory

Mega Skarmory is a great Pokemon even in unrestricted formats, and as you might expect, there’s less competition here – so it’s even better. Mega Skarmory runs 252 EVs in HP and Attack, an Adamant nature, and Magnet Bomb, Fly, Drill Run, and Swords Dance. This lets it challenge a large number of opponents, though it does struggle against opponents like Garchomp and Zygarde who it cannot hit super-effectively. As such, if you’re running Skarmory in season 8, we’d recommend running Baxcalibur as a teammate.

Baxcalibur

Indeed, Baxcalibur can challenge Garchomp and Zygarde, though it’s weak to Dragon-type moves itself. If you don’t know this already, Pokemon are completely invincible while Mega Evolving. So if you see a Garchomp heading your way about to use a Dragon-type move, Mega Evolve right as that attack is about to connect and you won’t take any damage. Most Pokemon only run one STAB move at a time (STAB is same type attack bonus, so for Garchomp, it’d be Dragon-type moves), so this means you’ll have a chance to fight back before their own attack recharges and can be used again. Baxcalibur usually runs Swords Dance, Icicle Spear, Glaive Rush, and Earthquake, and that moveset works really well here as well. In Pokemon Legends: Z-A, almost every single Pokemon runs 252 EVs in HP and then 252 EVs in whichever their preferred attack stat is. In Baxcalibur’s case, that’s physical attack.

Magearna

Magearna is as ridiculously powerful as ever, and Season 8 is no exception. Magearna greatly appreciates Primal Groudon being banned this season, and it also appreciates that Garchomp’s only Mega Evolution runs special moves – which means it’s slightly weaker in the base form. Magearna always runs Sp. Attack investment, and it can use Fleur Cannon, Steel Beam, Thunderbolt, and the like to utterly annihilate its competition. Mega Magearna ramps up the power even more, and it’s got great defenses too. That doesn’t mean you won’t be one-hit KO’d by a stray Earthquake somewhere, but Magearna remains an incredibly powerful pick this season.

Garchomp

Garchomp has historically been at the top of the metagame for almost every season except for the ones that allowed Rayquaza. It’s back on top again, but in an odd way. Mega Garchomp Z, the only Mega form Garchomp can use this season, has significantly increased Sp. Attack, but its physical Attack does not increase while Mega Evolved. They actually gave Garchomp Nasty Plot for some reason, so you can run that alongside Dragon Pulse, Flamethrower, and Earth Power to cause some damage. That said, it might be a good idea to run mixed as well because standard Garchomp’s Sp. Attack leaves much to be desired. As a reminder, Mega Garchomp Z loses its Ground type, so it is no longer quadruple weak to Ice.

Absol

Even as Mega Absol Z, this Pokemon is incredibly frail and cannot take a hit. But it’s so strong that it can go on destructive rampages with ease. Swords Dance, Phantom Force, Play Rough, and Close Combat hits almost everything in the metagame, and because Absol has a Z evolution, its moves recharge much faster than usual. If you’re able to grab one of those red attack-boosting chips, it’s pretty much over for your opponents – Mega Absol Z is a force to be reckoned with.

Zygarde

Zygarde is an odd case, because its Mega Evolution is insanely broken – but it’s very difficult to get it Mega Evolved in the first place. Mega Zygarde has sky-high Sp. Attack, but its base forms do not. This means you either have to run all special moves to go all in on Mega Zygarde, or run some physical moves to boost the base forms but then lose some power after Mega Evolving. Zygarde needs to run Core Enforcer either way, though, because it turns into Nihil Light when it Mega Evolves. Land’s Wrath, Earth Power, and Protect are good options on Zygarde in the meantime, though the troublesome method of Mega Evolution probably means you’d rather use a different Pokemon with more immediate power.

Golisopod

Golisopod is a one-note Pokemon thanks to its shallow movepool – it’s not the best Pokemon this season, but I’m writing about it anyway because it seems decently common right now. It pretty much runs First Impression, Leech Life, Swords Dance, Liquidation, and that’s about it. Golisopod is much stronger with a Life Orb rather than a Mega Stone, since that’s guaranteed to boost First Impression every time the Pokemon is sent out. But Mega Golisopod is incredibly bulky, and it appreciates the lack of Groudon this season as well. Just watch out for Garchomp, who now carries Flamethrowers capable of roasting Golisopod in a single hit. It also can’t really do much against opponents it can’t hit super-effectively, which is not many because Bug-type coverage tends to not be very strong.

Other Pokemon

Mega Heatran has absolutely amazing stats across the board as well as Magma Storm, which has a huge reach. Its quadruple weakness to Ground remains a terrible problem, though – pretty much every physically attacking Pokemon runs Earthquake if it can, which means you’ll probably be switching out Heatran more often than you’d like. Mega Darkrai is a strong contender as well, though with Mega Lucario Z already popular outside of Season 8, you’ll need to keep an eye out for its Fighting-type weakness. In terms of Pokemon you probably don’t want to use this season, here are a few: Glimmora is normally excellent, but it needs a Focus Sash or it gets one-hit KO’d several times per match. It can only run its Mega Stone this season. Scovillain, Malamar, and Pyroar’s Mega Evolutions have surprisingly low stats, and even though Mega Raichu Y is the cooler of both of Raichu’s Mega Evolutions, its bulk is so low that it’s often going to be knocked out before it can even Mega Evolve. Mega Raichu X, however, does at least have a small niche of spamming Volt Tackle. Though there aren’t a ton of Electric-weak Pokemon this season – the ones that come to mind are Barbaracle and Starmie. Feraligatr is neutral to Electric after it Mega Evolves. Swinging back around to good Pokemon to use, Mega Lucario Z is up there too – it’s incredibly frail, but its. Sp. Attack is super high and it gets things like Steel Beam and Aura Sphere to lay on damage fast. Absol is still the best Z Mega, but Lucario isn’t bad either!

Which Pokemon have you found success using in Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Season 8 ranked battles? Let us know in the comments down below.