Pokemon Legends: Z-A

Garchomp Movesets and Best Build

Pokemon Legends: Z-A Walkthrough Team

Last updated on: November 21, 2025 12:05 AM

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This is a complete guide on how to build your Garchomp for Competitive and Ranked Matches in Pokemon Legends: Z-A! Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Garchomp, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Garchomp
Pokedex

Mega Garchomp

Alpha
Garchomp

Garchomp
Build

List of Contents

Base Stats, Type and Weaknesses
Best Builds
How to Use Effectively
Best Teams
Counters for Garchomp
Related Guides

Garchomp Base Stats, Type, and Weaknesses

Garchomp Battle Information

Garchomp

Mega Garchomp

Dex #130		Base Stats
Garchomp
		Stat	Value
		HP	108
		Atk	130
		Def	95
		Sp. Atk	80
		Sp. Def	85
		Speed	102
		Total	600
Type Effectiveness
Weak to:	(4x)
Weak to:	(2x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Resists:
Immune to:	(0x)

Dex #130		Base Stats
Mega Garchomp
		Stat	Value
		HP	108
		Atk	170
		Def	115
		Sp. Atk	120
		Sp. Def	95
		Speed	92
		Total	700
Type Effectiveness
Weak to:	(4x)
Weak to:	(2x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Resists:
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Best Nature for Garchomp

Best Natures
Jolly （+Spe, -Sp.Atk）	Adamant （+Atk, -Sp.Atk）

What are Natures?

Best Builds for Garchomp

Build Name	Strengths and Weaknesses
Mega Garchomp Build ★★★★★	Strengths: • One of the strongest Ground-type damage dealers. • Can consistently use Outrage to pick off enemies. • Has two great defensive options with Dig and Protect. Weaknesses: • 4x Weak to Ice. • Struggles against Fairy-types like Xerneas.
Regular Garchomp Build ★★★☆☆	Strengths: • High Speed and Attack stat even without Mega Evolution. • Has access to other Items like Life Orb and Focus Sash. Weaknesses: • Requires manual activation for Plus Moves. • Significantly lower stats compared to Mega Garchomp, except for Speed.

Mega Garchomp Build

Mega Garchomp

Held Item

Nature

Garchompite

EV Spread

252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Moveset

Summary

Strong Offensive STAB options with Earthquake and Outrage.

Being Confused is less impactful since Garchomp is a Physical Attacker and needs to get close to enemies either way.

Protect and Dig provide excellent defensive options when timed correctly.

Mega Garchomp's extremely high Attack stat pairs well with Earthquake and Outrage, since these moves already have very high base power, paired with it becoming Plus Moves thanks to Mega Evolution.

Outrage's downside of applying Confusion to Garchomp is not much of a problem in Legends: Z-A, since Confusion in this game does not have the same effect of your Pokemon possibly hurting itself. Instead, Confusion makes Pokemon move erratically instead, and with Garchomp being a Physical Attacker that moves up close to enemies, it practically does not affect it too much.

Held Item

Item	Effect / Location
Garchompite	Effect: One of a variety of mysterious Mega Stones. A Garchomp holding this stone will be able to Mega Evolve during battle. Location(s): • Stone Emporium for ₽70,000

The item chosen for Garchomp for this build is Garchompite. This is the only Held Item for this build, as it is required to Mega Evolve Garchomp.

Moves Breakdown

Earthquake	Deals damage to a wide area, allowing you to possibly hit multiple targets at once.
Dig	Lock-on move that makes Garchomp untargetable for a short while. Great at picking off low HP targets without having to worry about being punished.
Outrage	Extremely high base power Dragon-Type move, at the cost of being confused after usage.
Protect	Defensive move that allows Garchomp to survive better, especially after using Earthquake and being placed in the middle of a Skirmish.

The moves listed above capitalizes on Mega Garchomp's extremely high Physical Attack stat, while also providing some defensive options.

Due to the lack of coverage moves, it is imperative that you switch Garchomp out whenever faced with a disadvantageous matchup, especially against Ice of Fairy-type Pokemon.

Other Viable Moves

Swords Dance	Offensive alternative to Protect, putting most Pokemon in OHKO range even when dealing neutral damage.
Iron Tail	Good alternative to Dig, and provides Garchomp with coverage against both Fairy and Ice Pokemon.

EV Spread and Nature

A full 252 EVs are put into Garchomp's Attack and Speed to make it hit as hard and fast as possible. The extra 4 EVs are placed into Defense to help round out its bulk.

A Jolly nature is preferred to help further increase Garchomp's Speed stat, further reducing the cooldowns of your moves.

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Garchomp
252 HP｜252 Atk Defensive EV Investment: 4 Def Item: Metagrossite	Earthquake 200-236 (106.9 - 126.2%) Guaranteed OHKO
252 HP｜252 SpA Item: Gardevoirite	Earthquake 177-208 (101.1 - 118.8%) Guaranteed OHKO
252 HP｜252 Atk Defensive EV Investment: 4 Def Item: Charizardite X	Outrage 272-324 (147 - 175.1%) Guaranteed OHKO

Regular Garchomp Build

Garchomp

Held Item

Nature

Focus Sash

EV Spread

252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe

Moveset

Summary

Strong Offensive STAB options with Earthquake and Outrage.

Swords Dance + Iron Tail makes Garchomp a threat to Fairy-types.

Focus Sash provides survivability, allowing you to survive and switch out.

Garchomp's high Attack stat is further boosted by Swords Dance, allowing you to deal even more damage after an initial Setup. Focus Sash helps in ensuring Garchomp can survive attacks, giving you a short window to switch Garchomp out instead of allowing it to faint.

Iron Tail, when boosted by Swords Dance allows Garchomp to become a threat to Fairy-types, and can catch them off-guard, especially if they are anticipating a switch out instead. Make use of Garchomp's high movement speed to move around the arena while waiting for an opportunity to strike!