What can you do as a free member?

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and unlock all our premium features and tools to enhance your gaming experience.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save articles to your watchlist and get notified when they're updated with new information.

Member benefits illustration

Create your free account today and save your favorite games for quick access later, synced across all your devices.

Member benefits illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you'll receive instant notifications when someone replies to your posts.

Comment rating feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can make use of convenient features in the comments section, such as rating and sorting comments.

Premium archive feature illustration

By creating a Game8 account and logging in, you can access Premium articles that are exclusively available to members.

Site Interface

Guest
Free Member
Article Watchlist
Game Bookmarks
Cross-device Sync
Light/Dark Theme Toggle
User Profiles
Direct Feedback
Comment Rating

Game Tools

Guest
Free Member
Interactive Map Access
Interactive Map Pins
Interactive Map Comments
Interactive Map Pins Cross-Device
Check List
Event Choice Checker
Deck Builder Cross-Device
Message Board Notification
Message Board Cross-Device
Build Planner
Stat Calculator
Diagnostic Tool
Weapon/Armor Wishlist

Want more information?Learn more

Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Best Moves for Ranked Battles

Add to Watchlist

★ Join the Shiny Pikachu Giveaway on Dec. 10!
☆ Mega Lucario Z revealed!
★ Project M Side Mission: Catch Mewtwo!
☆ Interactive Map: Screws, TMs, Mint Shops
★ Climb Ranked Season 3 to get the Chesnaughtite!
☆ Browse the Trading Board for your desired Pokemon!

This is our list for the best Moves for Ranked Battles in Pokemon Legends: Z-A. Check out the best moves for each type, as well as the best status moves in this guide!

List of Contents

Best Moves for Ranked Battles

Tracking Moves

Moves like Dig and Fly allow your pokemon to lock-on on an opponent, allowing it to deal damage even if the Pokemon attempts to run away from you.

Additionally, Dig, Fly and Bounce are moves that make your Pokemon untargetable for a short while, allowing you to easily dodge attacks before reappearing and dealing damage.

Best Tracking Moves

Tracking Moves
Dig Fly Bounce
Dragon Rush Phantom Force Heavy Slam

Long-Range Attacks

Long-Range attacks are also great in Ranked Battles since they allow you to hit targets from a safe distance.

Moves like Psychic and Thunderbolt also has a wide AoE, allowing you to hit multiple opponents if they are grouped together.

Best Long Range Moves

Long Range Moves
Psychic Thunderbolt Moonblast

Dashing Attacks

Dashing Attacks are great in Ranked Battles because of how hard they are to dodge. Extreme Speed, for example, allows your Pokemon to quickly dash to your target, making it hard to react to, even with moves like Protect.

Flare Blitz and Waterfall are also great, especially if you are using it on a large Pokemon. While the downside with large Pokemon makes it so that they are easier to hit, the hitbox for their attacks like Flare Blitz and Waterfall are also larger, allowing you to potentially hit more targets.

Best Dashing Moves

Long Range Moves
Flare Blitz Waterfall Extreme Speed
Bullet Punch Aqua Jet Drill Run

Best Moves for Each Type

Jump to a Section!
Grass Type Water Type Fire Type
Electric Type Ice Type Fighting Type
Ground Type Poison Type Flying Type
Psychic Type Bug Type Rock Type
Ghost Type, Dragon Type Dark Type
Steel Type Fairy Type Normal Type

Best Normal Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Extreme Speed Physical 65 3
The user attacks by charging into targets with blinding speed.
Hyper Voice Special 90 8
The user attacks by unleashing horribly loud, resounding vibrations.

We recommend using Extreme Speed for Physical Attackers, and Hyper Voice for Special Attackers.

Extreme Speed has a very fast activation time, hard to dodge, and has a very short cooldown. Hyper Voice, on the other hand has a wide AoE, allowing you to damage multiple opponents when positioned correctly.

List of Normal-Type Moves

Best Water Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Aqua Jet Physical 40 3
The user attacks by lunging toward targets with blinding speed.
Flip Turn Physical 60 12
The user attacks by dishing out a quick blow, then rushes back to its Trainer with incredible speed.
Surf Special 90 8
The user attacks by swamping a wide area with a giant wave.
Waterfall Physical 80 8
The user attacks by charging at targets with incredible momentum. This may also make targets flinch.

Surf and Waterfall are excellent Water-type moves in the sense that they have a wide AoE, and makes your Pokemon dash in the direction of your target. This makes these moves hard to dodge, while also allowing your Pokemon to dodge attacks from other players.

Aqua Jet and Flip Turn are also great Water-type moves for their utility. Aqua Jet has a quick activation, and low cooldown, making it great for finishing off targets. Flip Turn on the other hand has great utility, allowing you to damage your target, then retreat to safety.

List of Water-Type Moves

Best Fire Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Fire Punch Physical 75 7
The user attacks with a fiery punch. This may also leave targets with a burn.
Flamethrower Special 90 8
The user attacks with a stream of fierce flames. This may also leave targets with a burn.
Flare Blitz Physical 120 8
The user attacks by charging forward while cloaked in flames. This may leave targets with a burn. The user will also take some damage.
Mystical Fire Special 75 8
The user attacks by breathing a special kind of searing flame. This also lowers targets' Sp. Atk stats for a short time.

Flare Blitz deals the most damage, and is one of the hardest to dodge from the Fire-type moves, with its drawback being its high recoil. Fire Punch is a great alternative, dealing less damage than Flare Blitz, but has a shorter cooldown and has no recoil.

Mystical Fire and Flamethrower are also great Fire-type moves, sharing similar range and cooldowns, Mystical Fire lowers the targets Special Attack, making it great against Special Attackers, while Flamethrower can inflict Burn which reduces Attack, making it great against Physical Attackers.

List of Fire-Type Moves

Best Grass Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Giga Drain Special 75 9
The user attacks by draining targets of their nutrients. The user's HP will be restored by a portion of the damage dealt.
Horn Leech Physical 110 9
The user attacks by using its horns to drain targets of their energy. The user's HP will be restored by a portion of the damage dealt.

Giga Drain and Horn Leech are great Grass-Type moves, since they deal damage and recover HP.

While these moves have short range compared to other moves, the utility provided by being able to deal damage and sustain your HP mitigates the risk of your Pokemon moving up close.

List of Grass-Type Moves

Best Electric Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Parabolic Charge Special 65 9
The user attacks by unleashing a wave of electricity. The user's HP will be restored by a portion of the damage dealt.
Thunderbolt Special 90 8
The user attacks with a strong electric blast. This may also leave targets paralyzed.
Volt Switch Special 70 12
The user attacks by dishing out a quick blow, then rushes back to its Trainer with incredible speed.
Wild Charge Physical 90 8
The user attacks by charging forward while cloaked in electricity. The user will also take some damage.

Thunderbolt is simpler to use compared to other Special Electric moves, since it has a short delay, and faster cooldown compared to other Special electric moves. Wild Charge is similar to Flare Blitz, making it a great Physical attack, with its downside being its recoil.

Volt Switch and Parabolic Charge are great for their utility, allowing you to deal damage to the opposing Pokemon, and then retreat to safety, allowing you to dodge attacks easily.

List of Electric-Type Moves

Best Flying Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Bounce Physical 85 12
The user attacks by bouncing up and disappearing into the sky for a short time, then dropping down onto targets. This may also leave targets paralyzed.
Brave Bird Physical 120 10
The user attacks by tucking its wings and charging at targets from a low altitude. The user will also take some damage.
Fly Physical 90 12
The user attacks by disappearing high into the sky for a short time, then swooping back down.

Bounce and Fly are great Flying-type moves because of its Lock-on property, allowing you to become untargetable for a while, and then deal damage to your target regardless of where they run away.

Brave Bird deals high damage, with the downside of having a long cooldown and receiving recoil damage after. Its very high damage, however allows you to eliminate opponents quickly, just make sure to quickly switch out, or use a defensive move after.

List of Flying-Type Moves

Best Ground Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Dig Physical 80 12
The user attacks by disappearing underground for a short time, then surfacing to strike targets.
Earthquake Physical 100 10
The user attacks by setting off an earthquake that strikes a wide area.

Earthquake has historically been one of the strongest Ground-type moves, with it still proving to be strong in Legends: Z-A due to its large AoE, paired with its high base power.

Dig and Drill Run offers more mobility, with Dig locking on your target, and Drill Rush allowing your Pokemon to Dash forward and deal damage to other Pokemon in your path.

List of Ground-Type Moves

Best Rock Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Rock Slide Physical 75 7
The user attacks by hurling large boulders. This may also make targets flinch.
Rock Tomb Physical 60 10
The user attacks by hurling a boulder. Boulders that hit will also make targets move more slowly. Boulders that miss will remain on the battlefield.

Rock Slide has a decent AoE, but can be used from farther away than Stone Edge, making it a strong move that can potentially damage multiple Pokemon when grouped.

Rock Tomb, on the other hand has a longer cooldown, but can reduce a Pokemon's speed, as well as leave boulders on the field, which can hinder both Player and Pokemon's movement.

List of Rock-Type Moves

Best Poison Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Poison Jab Physical 80 8
The user attacks by stabbing targets with a poison- soaked tentacle, arm, or the like. This may also leave targets poisoned.
Sludge Wave Special 95 8
The user attacks by sending a giant wave of sludge across a wide area. This may also leave those hit poisoned.

Poison Jab is a great Poison Physical move, with 80 base power and only 8 seconds base cooldown.

Sludge Wave is a better Poison Special move, since it has a large AoE, allowing you to hit multiple targets, and possibly leave them poisoned. Its downside is similar to Earthquake, where your Pokemon moves near the target first, leaving it vulnerable to enemy attacks.

List of Poison-Type Moves

Best Bug Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Leech Life Physical 80 9
The user attacks by draining targets of their blood. The user's HP will be restored by a portion of the damage dealt.
Lunge Physical 80 9
The user attacks by lunging toward targets with full force. This also lowers targets' Attack stats for a short time.
U-turn Physical 70 12
The user attacks by dishing out a quick blow, then rushes back to its Trainer with incredible speed.

Leech Life is a great damaging move, since it allows your Pokemon to heal back HP after dealing damage. Lunge is a great alternative if you do not need the heal, with its additional effect of reducing the target's Attack, making it great against Physical attackers.

U-Turn is a great Bug-type move due to its ability to bring your Pokemon back to safety, allowing you to possibly dodge attacks or get out of unfavorable positions when used correctly.

List of Bug-Type Moves

Best Fighting Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Brick Break Physical 75 7
The user attacks with a swift chop. This move can also break barriers such as Light Screen and Reflect.
Close Combat Physical 120 12
The user attacks by abandoning defense and charging in close to targets. This lowers the user's Defense and Sp. Def stats for a short time.
Power-Up Punch Physical 40 10
The user attacks targets with a punch that will make its own fist tougher. This boosts the user's Attack stat for a short time.

Brick Break allows you to counter Screen Setters, negating their use of Light Screen and Reflect. Close Combat deals the highest damage for a Fighting move, but lowers your Defenses after, leaving your Pokemon vulnerable.

Power-Up Punch is a great Fighting-type move since it allows you to deal damage, and then increase your attack, making its secondary effect similar to that of Swords Dance in this game.

List of Fighting-Type Moves

Best Dark Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Crunch Physical 80 8
The user attacks by crunching targets up with sharp fangs. This may also lower targets' Defense stats.
Knock Off Physical 65 10
The user attacks by slapping targets' held items away, making the items unusable for the rest of the battle. This move does more damage to targets holding items.

Knock Off is still one of the the best moves to use in Ranked Battles, due to its ability to disable the target's Held Item. Knock Off also deals more damage to Pokemon holding items, allowing you to hit almost all Pokemon for more damage since most Pokemon bring Mega Stones.

Crunch is a great alternative, allowing you to deal damage up close, with a chance to lower your target's Defense.

List of Dark-Type Moves

Best Ice Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Freeze-Dry Special 70 9
The user attacks by rapidly lowering targets' temperature. This move is super effective on Water-type Pokémon, and it may also leave targets frozen.
Ice Fang Physical 65 6
The user attacks by biting targets with cold-infused fangs. This may also make targets flinch or leave them frozen.
Ice Punch Physical 75 7
The user attacks with an icy punch. This may also leave targets frozen.

Freeze Dry has a unique interaction where it deals super effective damage against Water-types, making it a great counter against Pokemon like Gyarados and Mega Feraligatr.

Ice Fang and Ice Punch are great Ice-type Moves that can be learned by many Pokemon, allowing you to use it as a coverage move against common opponents in Ranked like Dragonite, and Salamence.

List of Ice-Type Moves

Best Psychic Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Psychic Special 90 8
The user attacks by directing a strong telekinetic force toward targets. This may also lower targets' Sp. Def stats.
Psyshock Special 80 8
The user attacks by materializing a mysterious psychic wave. This move deals physical damage.

Psychic is arguably the best Psychic-type move in the game, due to its tracking property, which deals damage to where the opponent is immediately.

Psyshock can be taken as an alternative, allowing you to deal Physical damage using your Special Attack stat, making your attacks more effective against Physically bulky Pokemon.

List of Psychic-Type Moves

Best Ghost Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Phantom Force Physical 15 12
The user attacks by disappearing into the shadows for a short time, then surfacing to strike targets. This attack can hit targets using moves such as Protect or Detect.
Shadow Claw Physical 70 7
The user attacks by slashing with a sharp claw made from shadows. This move has a heightened chance of landing a critical hit.
Shadow Sneak Physical 40 3
The user attacks by stretching out a shadow to strike targets from behind.

Phantom Force and Shadow Sneak are great Ghost-type attacks that allow you to quickly damage your opponent.

Phantom Force allows you to become untargetable, and lock on to your target, making it extremely hard to dodge, while Shadow Sneak has a very short cooldown, allowing you to use it to finish off enemies by stealing kills.

List of Ghost-Type Moves

Best Steel Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Bullet Punch Physical 40 3
The user attacks with a flurry of tough punches as fast as bullets.
Heavy Slam Physical 120 10
The user attacks by slamming its heavy body into targets. The more the user outweighs the target, the greater this move's power.
Iron Head Physical 80 8
The user attacks by slamming its steel-hard head into targets. This may also make targets flinch.

Iron Head and Bullet Punch are great Steel-type moves, with Iron Head's high base power, and Bullet Punch's fast cooldown and dash attack.

Heavy Slam is a tracking move that is hard to dodge, that also deals damage based on the user's weight. This makes it especially great for heavy Pokemon like Aggron, giving it a good damaging move, even when built as a tank.

List of Steel-Type Moves

Best Dragon Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Dragon Rush Physical 100 12
The user attacks by tackling targets while exhibiting overwhelming menace. This may also make targets flinch.
Outrage Physical 120 15
The user attacks in a furious rampage, then becomes confused.

Dragon Rush is the best Dragon-type move due to its effect where your Pokemon leaps into the sky, becoming briefly untargetable and allows it to dodge incoming attacks when timed correctly.

Outrage is also a great move to use for Physical Attackers, with its 120 base power, with the confused status downside being less detrimental since it only makes your Pokemon's movement more erratic.

List of Dragon-Type Moves

Best Fairy Moves for Ranked Battles

Move Category Power Cooldown
Dazzling Gleam Special 80 8
The user attacks with a powerful flash of light.
Moonblast Special 95 8
The user attacks by using the power of the moon. This may also lower targets' Sp. Atk stats.

Dazzling Gleam has 80 Base Power, but has a large AoE, allowing you to hit multiple targets at a time.

Moonblast has a higher base power than Dazzling Gleam, and can be fired from afar, but the slower travel time of the projectile makes it so that your target can react to it by using defensive moves, or by simply switching out.

List of Fairy-Type Moves

Best Status Moves for Ranked Battles

Stat Boosting Moves

Move Category Power Cooldown
Bulk Up Status - 18
The user boosts its Attack and Defense stats for a short time by tensing its muscles to bulk up its body.
Calm Mind Status - 18
The user boosts its Sp. Atk and Sp. Def stats for a short time by quietly focusing its mind and calming its spirit.
Curse Status - 15
The user boosts its Attack and Defense stats in exchange for lowering its movement speed for a short time. When Ghost types use this move, the effect is different.
Swords Dance Status - 15
The user boosts its Attack stat for a while by performing a frenetic dance.
Work Up Status - 15
The user boosts its Attack and Sp. Atk stats for a short time by getting worked up.

Similar to previous Pokemon Games, Stat-Boosting moves are valuable in ranked battles since it allows you to buff your Pokemon to either deal more damage, or take less damage.

In Legends: Z-A, stat boosting moves are extremely valuable, especially when paired with Plus Moves, which allows you to increase your moves' Base Power some more.

Protect Moves

Move Category Power Cooldown
Detect Status - 13
The user takes on a protective stance that prevents incoming attacks from landing.
Protect Status - 15
The user takes on a protective stance that prevents incoming attacks from landing.

Protect moves like Protect and Detect are less impactful than they are in previous Pokemon games, but can still prove to be useful when timed correctly.

Using Protect moves after large AoE moves like Earthquake and Dazzling Gleam has a high value, since you do not get punished as much for being in a bad position.

Teleport and Double Team Can be Used Defensively

Move Category Power Cooldown
Double Team Status - 15
The user moves so quickly that it creates illusory copies of itself, allowing the user to evade incoming attacks.
Teleport Status - 7
The user teleports back to its Trainer.

Alternatively, moves like Teleport and Double Team has an animation where your Pokemon becomes briefly untargetable, allowing you to dodge attacks.

Timing the use of these moves against Moves with long cooldowns like Flare Blitz can put your opponent in an unfavorable position, giving you an easy point if you have the damage to finish them off.

Barrier Moves

Move Category Power Cooldown
Light Screen Status - 12
The user constructs a wondrous wall of light that will reduce damage taken from special moves for a while. This effect continues even if the user is switched out.
Reflect Status - 12
The user constructs a wondrous wall of light that will reduce damage taken from physical moves for a while. This effect continues even if the user is switched out.

Light Screen and Protect are still great in this game, since the barriers are attached to your Pokemon.

The downside is the barriers last only a certain amount of time, which makes it so that you need to decide when to set up screens and then switch to your carry, while also considering the amount of time to set up with either Stat Boosting moves or Mega Evolve to make the most out of your barriers.

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Related Guides

Recommended Guides

Pokemon Legends Z-A - New Recommended Guides

Ranked Battles Best Starter Pokemon: Which Starter To Choose
Best Team for Story Progression Colorful Screw Locations and Where to Turn In
Which Canari Plush Should You Get? List of All Mable's Research Rewards
Choices, Missables, and One-Time Events Type Chart: All Strength and Weakness Matchups
Best Pokemon Tier List for the Story Post-Game Content: What to Do After Beating The Game
Best Pokemon for Ranked Battles Tier List Best Side Missions To Do First
Best Moves for Ranked Battles -

Comment

Post (0 Comments)

Author

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough Team
This article was created by Game8's elite team of writers and gamers.
    Leave feedback(Login required)
    Please participate in our site
    improvement survey
    12/2025
    Would you assist in
    improving Game8's site?
    ×
    This survey will take about 1 minute.
    Your answers will help us to improve our website.
    We are listening to our users' valuable opinions and discussing how to act on them.
    The information collected through this survey will be used for the purpose of improving our services. In addition, the information will only be disclosed a part of a statistic in a format that will not allow identification of personal information.
    Begin Survey
    Not Now
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Advertisements.
    Amount of Ads
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Placement of Ads
    Timing of Ad Display
    Ad Loading Speed
    Safeness of Ads
    Content of Ads
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Quality of Articles.
    Amount of information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Frequency of updates
    Speed of new information
    Accuracy of articles
    Understandibility of articles
    Readability of sentences
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Usability of the Site.
    Ease of finding information
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Loading Speed
    Use of Color
    Font Size
    Visibility of Images
    Easy to Understand Layout
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Message Boards, Comments.
    Ease of Writing
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Readability
    Ease in Finding Information
    Comment Quality
    Comment Quantity
    Admin Response
    ×
    Please rate each item regarding Game8.co's Site's new design.
    Please rate our site's new design
    Very Dissatisfied
    Somewhat Dissatisfied
    Fine
    Somewhat Satisfied
    Highly Satisfied
    Do you think that the website's design change makes the site easier to use?
    Has the new design made it easier for you to find information on the site?
    Has the new design improved the overall visual appeal of the site?
    How would you rate your overall satisfaction with the new design of the site?
    ×
    How likely are you to recommend Game8 to someone you know?
    Very Unlikely
    0
    1
    2
    3
    4
    5
    6
    7
    8
    9
    10
    Very Likely
    If you have other opinions regarding potential improvement to the website, please share them with us. We would appreciate your honest opinion.
    Note: This is a free response section, so you can proceed without entering anything.
    Note: Please be sure not to enter any kind of personal information into your response.
    ×
    Thank You
    ×
    Thank you for participating in our survey! Your answers will help us to improve the quality of our website and services.
    We hope you continue to make use of Game8.
    Close
    For other opinions or comments, go here.

    Rankings

    Popular Articles
    Message Board
    • We could not find the message board you were looking for.

    Gaming News

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Legendaries Returning For Mega Dimensions DLC

    Pokémon Legends Z-A Exclusive Café Donuts Hint At Two Leg...

    Popular Games

    Recommended Games

    All rights reserved

    ©2025 Pokémon. ©1995-2019 Nintendo/Creatures Inc. /GAME FREAK inc.

    The copyrights of videos of games used in our content and other intellectual property rights belong to the provider of the game.
    The contents we provide on this site were created personally by members of the Game8 editorial department.
    We refuse the right to reuse or repost content taken without our permission such as data or images to other sites.

    Pokemon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough & Guides Wiki

    Quick Access
    Guide Index

    Recommended Guides

    DLC

    Pokemon

    Pokemon by Type

    Pokemon by Generation

    Mega Evolutions

    DLC Mega Evolutons

    New Mega Evolutions

    Alpha Pokemon

    Shiny Pokemon

    Maps

    Location Guides

    Wild Zones

    Walkthrough

    Promotion Matches

    Side Missions

    Items

    Moves

    Rogue Battles

    How-To Guides

    Characters

    Character Customization

    Clothing

    Movesets

    Mystery Gifts

    Latest News

    Patch Notes

    Ranked Battle Events

    Message Boards

    Other Pokemon Wikis

    Japanese Wiki (日本語版)