This is How You Beat The Anti-Fun Police in Pokemon Legends: Z-A Now That Season 6 is Live

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The newest season (Season 6) of Pokemon Legends: Z-A launched yesterday, January 29th, and it includes changes to available Pokemon, rewards, and the addition of Swampertite to allow Mega Swampert. However, this season has become problematic due to the presence of overwhelmingly powerful Pokemon, making gameplay repetitive and forcing players to use specific, often Legendary, Pokemon. Players are essentially forced to adapt to this powerful meta or struggle. The good news is that it is possible to build a winning team without using any Legendary or Mythical Pokemon and still enjoy the game.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Problematic Season 6 Meta Explained

Currently, the game’s balance is an issue because seven powerful Legendary cards are restricted, but even limited to one per team in PLZA’s Season 6, a few are overwhelmingly strong and can almost guarantee a victory on their own. These cards are:

  • Xerneas: Usually sporting Geomancy, Moonblast, and two coverage moves, but physical sets are becoming more and more common, as they can use Play Rough as a STAB Fairy-type move and moves like Horn Leech for coverage, which incidentally can one-shot Swampert. Xerneas is one of the best Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Season 6.
  • Yveltal: Not really used much in the meta for now, and while it may be a sleeper pick, there are other better restricted Legendaries to use, or at least ones that are not weak to Electric (which is used to counter Kyogre) or Fairy (which is used to counter Dragon-types like Garchomp).
  • Zygarde: Much like Yveltal, Zygarde is still very strong, but as a Pokemon that’s 4x weak to Ice-type moves, there are better options. For example, Garchomp doesn’t take the restricted Legendary spot, but it very much could, considering how strong it is, and Rayquaza is also better than Zygarde because it can Mega Evolve and still hold an item.
  • Mewtwo: Mewtwo is seeing quite a lot of usage, though less so than Xerneas and other top Legendary Pokemon in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Since both Mewtwo and Armarouge are Psychic types and extremely strong, many teams use Ghost or Dark moves to counter them, but they can still do a lot of damage before they’re KOed.
  • Groudon: Perhaps taking fourth place overall in terms of usage and strength is Groudon, which can be used as Primal Groudon, and gains access to one of the best moves in the game — Precipice Blades. This Pokemon has incredible coverage, and it can deal massive damage to a lot of meta threats.
  • Kyogre: Possibly the single strongest restricted Legendary in the game, with Xerneas as a close second and Rayquaza coming third, Pokemon Legends: Z-A‘s Kyogre is just a menace. It’s weak only to Electric and Grass, meaning it’s harder to KO than most mons, and it packs an otherworldly kit of moves, including Origin Pulse, Ice Beam, Thunderbolt, and others.
  • Rayquaza: While Rayquaza is not the strongest Pokemon in the meta right now, it can easily sweep any opponents thanks to its movepool and incredible stats. More importantly, you can Mega Evolve Rayquaza in Pokemon Legends: Z-A just by giving it Dragon Ascent as a move. This frees up the item slot, so one of the best choices you can make is giving it a Focus Sash, a nature that increases either Attack or Special Attack but decreases one defensive stat, and max its EVs in both attacking stats to make it a hybrid attacker with extensive coverage.

After 599 Hours in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Here’s How I Win Most Ranked Battles With No Legendaries in Season 6

Pokémon has always been a huge part of my life, and I’ve spent countless hours playing, especially Pokémon Legends: Z-A. I’ve become really familiar with the competitive scene – I know which Pokémon are strong, which aren’t, and how to win. I used a tool called PokeCalcs (link here) to carefully build a team designed to counter the most popular strategies.

Overqwil — Effective Lead, Xerneas Counter

Overqwil, a Pokémon from PLA, is really great! I use a Shuca Berry on it because its only weakness is Ground-type attacks, and the Shuca Berry softens the blow from the first one it takes.

  • Type: Dark/Poison
  • Item: Shuca Berry
  • Moveset:
    • Mortal Spin — to poison any Pokemon in its small radius and deal some damage, while also increasing movement speed. This is particularly useful to chase down Xerneas and KO it.
    • Swords Dance — to increase its Attack stat and deal more damage.
    • Barb Barrage — to deal massive AoE Poison-type damage that can also poison opposing Pokemon, often KOing Xerneas in one hit or taking it out if it’s already damaged.
    • Crunch — to deal with those pesky Psychic-type and Ghost-type Pokemon, like Mewtwo, Armarouge, and Gholdengo.

Rotom (Mow Form) — The MVP

Honestly, Rotom is the best Pokémon in the game. I prefer using Mow Rotom, which is an Electric/Grass type, and you can obtain it through the Rotom Catalog in Pokemon Legends: Z-A or by finding it in 5-star special scans where it’s the only Pokémon appearing. Fan Rotom is also good, but it doesn’t have as versatile of moves. I equip my Rotom with a Magnet to significantly increase its Electric-type attacks.

  • Type: Electric/Grass
  • Item: Magnet
  • Moveset:
    • Nasty Plot — to increase Rotom’s Special Attack.
    • Charge — to increase the damage Rotom deals with its next Electric move, and it also increases its Special Defense.
    • Thunderbolt — to deal outstanding Electric damage when boosted by Magnet, Nasty Plot, and Charge. This oneshots Kyogre, most times even through Light Screen. It also one-shots a lot of meta Pokemon, like PLZA‘s Mewtwo, Volcanion, and Golisopod, even those that are not weak to Electric.
    • Leaf Storm — to one-shot opposing Swamperts and have a coverage move against many other Pokemon.

Swampert — Bulky Attacker, Dragon Counter

I absolutely love using Swampert! What makes it so good is its Water/Ground typing – it’s strong against a lot, and its only real weakness is a 4x weakness to Grass. It hits hard and can actually take a few hits too. I usually equip it with an Assault Vest because there are so many special attackers in the battles I play, and it helps Swampert stick around longer and knock out opponents. While Rindo Berry and Swampertite are decent choices, I always find the Assault Vest works best for me.

  • Type: Water/Ground
  • Item: Assault Vest
  • Moveset:
    • Earthquake — to deal massive AoE damage and deal with Fire-type Pokemon in Legends: Z-A, as well as Steel-types, which are also common now due to Xerneas.
    • Waterfall — to have a mobile attack with a small area surrounding it, which serves the purpose of dealing with Armarouge, Chandelure, and Groudon.
    • Ice Punch — to deal with Dragon-types, mainly against Garchomp and Rayquaza, but I’ve used it multiple times to KO Salamence, Dragonite, and more.
    • Rock Slide or Outrage — for coverage, with the former one-shotting Charizard and helping with Rayquaza, and the latter helping with Garchomp if it survives Ice Punch.

Does This Pokemon Legends: Z-A Team Actually Work?

I’ve played over 40 matches in Season 6 with this team and only finished last once – and that was against a really tough lineup of two Xerneas and three Garchomps. Usually, I either win or come in second, with only a handful of third-place finishes. My success is largely thanks to Rotom, which is a fantastic attacker, especially my tiny, size XS Rotom. I got a rare, shiny XS Rotom with some special boosts – Sparkling Power Level 3 (Electric) and Teensy Power Level 2 Donut – and it’s become my main Pokémon in ranked battles, particularly with so many players using Kyogre.

While this team doesn’t guarantee victory every time, I’ve enjoyed winning battles without using any Legendary Pokémon, even though most strategies rely on them. If you’d prefer an alternative to Overqwil, Gholdengo is a good choice. You can build it with offensive items like Expert Belt or Life Orb, or focus on defense with a Focus Sash. A strong moveset includes Nasty Plot, Steel Beam, and Shadow Ball, with a fourth move chosen from Power Gem, Thunderbolt, Make it Rain, or Flash Cannon. Gholdengo is less durable than Overqwil, but it can still perform very well against top-level teams in Pokemon Legends: Z-A.

Legendary Meta or Not, You Can Still Have Fun

I truly believe this is my strongest and most enjoyable team, but that doesn’t diminish the fun of playing with Legendaries. The new Mythical Mega Evolution, Mega Magearna, in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, is exciting, and it’s natural to want to use it. If you like playing with Xerneas, Mewtwo, Kyogre, or other restricted Pokémon, that’s perfectly fine too. Knowing what counters them is helpful, and I’m okay with potentially losing some matches if it leads to a more varied and interesting competitive scene for everyone.

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2026-01-31 04:07