Overview
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Mega Gardevoir is a force to be reckoned with in the OU metagame thanks to a number of quailities. For starters, it has an excellent 165 Special Attack, and when paired with an expansive offensive movepool, including Pixilate Hyper Voice, Mega Gardevoir can do a lot of damage to opposing teams. Its typing, Psychic / Fairy, typing is pretty useful, giving it many important resistances and immunities, especially to Fighting and Dragon. Its relatively good 100 Speed is also a plunother of its positive traits, allowing Mega Gardevoir to outspeed a decent portion of the metagame. Hyper Voice's ability to bypass Substitute is also very useful, allowing Gardevoir to better handle Pokemon such as Substitute Kyurem-B more easily. Gardevoir can also run a Choice Scarf set, becoming a good revenge killer that also provides utility with Healing Wish and Trace. Unfortunately, as great as Gardevoir is, it has a number of limitations. Its lack of any physical bulk leaves it vulnerable to many common physical attackers, such as Talonflame. While Mega Gardevoir's 100 Speed is certainly not bad, it is still outsped by a good number of Pokemon. Lastly, having a mere 80 base Speed prior to Mega Evolving further limits Gardevoir's usefulness in battle.
Offensive
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name: Offensive
move 1: Hyper Voice
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Taunt / Shadow Ball / Will-O-Wisp
item: Gardevoirite
ability: Pixilate (Trace)
nature: Timid
evs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
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Hyper Voice is a strong and reliable Fairy-type STAB to utilize thanks to Pixilate; being able to bypass Substitutes is also a very useful trait. Psyshock is a secondary STAB move that hits Chansey, Venusaur, and Scolipede for great damage. Focus Blast hits Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn that may try to come in on Gardevoir. Taunt is a very useful utility move that allows Gardevoir to go toe to toe with walls such as Chansey. Shadow Ball can hit Aegislash that attempt to comeswitch in for heavy damage, and the Special Defense drop can occasionally be helpful. Will-O-Wisp, on the other hand, cripples Aegislash and Scizor that attempt to switch in, and makes it somewhat less suspeceptible to Pursuit.
Set Details
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Trace is the most useful ability for Gardevoir prior to Mega Evolution, as this allows Gardevoir to attain useful abilities such as Dragonite's Multiscalde, Heatran's Flash Fire, Kabutops's Swift Swim, and Scolipede's Speed Boost. The given EV spread allows Gardevoir to survive two Psyshocks from Latios while achieving good speed and power.
Usage Tips
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This particular set does very well against offensive teams, using its high power and good Speed to make work of opposing Pokemon. Prior to Mega Evolving, Trace can be used to provide switch-in opportunities and in general grab useful abilities such as Flash Fire and Multiscale. As Gardevoir has poor physical bulk, trying to come in on physical attackers, such as Talonflame, is not advised.
Team Options
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Bisharp and Mandibuzz both make viable teammates to dismantle Aegislash; the former also appreciates the removal of Fighting-types that often trouble it. Heatran and Tyranitar are both useful to defeat Talonflame, while setting up Stealth Rock in the process. Since Gardevoir is a little slow, a Sticky Web user such as Shuckle can be useful. Thundurus, with its access to Prankster Thunder Wave, can also be a useful teammate.
Calm Mind
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name: Calm Mind
move 1: Calm Mind
move 2: Hyper Voice
move 3: Psyshock
move 4: Shadow Ball / Taunt
item: Gardevoirite
ability: Trace
nature: Timid
evs: 24 Def / 232 SpA / 252 Spe
Moves
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Calm Mind is a great boosting move that boosts Mega Gardevoir's already high Special Attack and Special Defense to formidable levels. Hyper Voice provides a strong and reliable Fairy-type STAB move to use, and the ability to bypass Substitute, notabespecially from Kyurem-B, is useful as well. Psyshock is a good secondary STAB move that breaks through Venusaur, Scolipede, and Chansey quite well. Shadow Ball is a good coverage move that breaks through Aegislash while providing good neutral coverage. Taunt prevents opposing defensive Pokemon, such as Chansey, from pulling off status moves. Substitute is an alternative over Taunt or Shadow Ball to avoid status while allowing Gardevoir to attain more opportunities to set up Calm Mind, but the utility of the former two is simply too great to pass.
Set Details
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As with the previous set, the EV spread aims to allow Gardevoir to survive at least two Psyshocks from Latios to be able to check it more easily. Trace is the chosen ability to allow Gardevoir to obtain some useful abilities prior to Mega Evolution, such as Multiscale and Speed Boost, and potentially some switch-in opportunities.
Usage Tips
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This Gardevoir set is an excellent stallbreaker, being able to use common stall threats, such as Chansey, as setup fodder while using its great power to overwhelm such teams. Its immediate power also gives it an edge against offense, as the team archetype has very few Pokemon who are capable of safely switching in. However, Gardevoir should avoid switching into physical attackers such as Talonflame due to its poor physical bulk.
Team Options
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Bisharp and Tyranitar can keep Aegislash at bay, and also have Pursuit to be able to effectively trap it. Terrakion, Keldeo, and Conkeldurr can also dismantle Ferrothorn and Heatran. The aforementioned Heatran can also counters Talonflame.
Choice Scarf
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name: Choice Scarf
move 1: Moonblast
move 2: Psyshock
move 3: Focus Blast
move 4: Healing Wish / Trick
item: Choice Scarf
ability: Trace
nature: Timid
evs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Moves
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Moonblast serves as Gardevoir's most reliable STAB move, providing good overall coverage. Psyshock serves as a secondary STAB move, being able to hit Mega Venusaur, Gengar, and Scolipede for stronglarge amounts of damage. Focus Blast hits Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn for good damage. Healing Wish is an excellent utility move should Gardevoir no longer prove useful; it can quickly take itself down and restore a weakened teammate. Trick, on the other hand, can be used to cripple a defensive Pokemon, such as Chansey, if the need arises. Destiny Bond could be used to bring a quick double down against an opponent, but is rarely worth it over Healing Wish. Memento could also be used if providing a free setup opportunity to a setup sweeper is important.
Set Details
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A Timid nature maximizes Gardevoir's Speed for it to effectively utilize a Choice Scarf. Trace serves as an excellent ability to allow Gardevoir to potentially receive good switch-in opportunities into Heatran or Dragonite, or gain a useful ability such as Kabutops's Swift Swim and Scolipede's Speed Boost.
Usage Tips
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Although running Gardevoir without its Mega Evolution may seem quite unorthodox, Choice Scarf Gardevoir serves as an excellent revenge killer thanks to its good typing and movepool. Trace should be utilized whenever possible to obtain useful abilities such as Sheer Force, Speed Boost, and Prankster. A fast Healing Wish should be used to its fullest should the need arise, such as when a heavily weakened teammate could prove important in the match. Gardevoir should also avoid being in on physical attackers with priority, such as Talonflame, Mega Pinsir, Scizor, and Aegislash.
Team Options
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Bisharp, Tyranitar, and Absol all appreciate this set's utility and sport good synergy with Gardevoir, while the former can check Aegislash to some degree. Fighting-types such as Conkeldurr and Keldeo can dismantle Steel-types such as Heatran and Ferrothorn.
Other Options
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Gardevoir has quite the expansive movepool, so there are quite a few things available for use. Memento is a viable option to allowgive a teammate a free setup opportunity; however, Gardevoir will rarely have the time for this, and Healing Wish often has greater utility. Hypnosis could be used if you want to use Gardevoir as a sleep inducer, but its poor accuracy makes it a shaky option. Gardevoir can also support its team with Sunny Day or Rain Dance, but there are more reliable options for such roles, and sun is a mediocre playstyle to begin with. Gardevoir could run a defensive set with access to Will-O-Wisp, Heal Bell, and Wish, but such a set is outclassed by Clefable, Sylveon, and Togekiss. Thunderbolt is an option if hitting Talonflame and Mega Pinsir is important, but it does not provide anything useful beyond that.
Checks and Counters
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**Steel-types** Pokemon such as Scizor, Aegislash, and Ferrothorn can take hits from Mega Gardevoir relatively well and hit it hard with their STAB moves. Scizor and Aegislash also have priority in Bullet Punch and Shadow Sneak, respectively, allowing them to weaken Mega Gardevoir before it retaliates.
**Fast physical attackers** These include Pokemon such as Talonflame, Thundurus, and Scolipede, which can revenge kill Gardevoir and hit it on its weak Defense stat. Most of these Pokemon must be wary of any attack Gardevoir can muster.
**Special Walls** These include Chansey and Heatran, which can both come in on Gardevoir's STAB moves; Heatran should be wary of Focus Blast, however, while Chansey will succumb to multiple Psyshocks, especially if used with Calm Mind or Taunt.