Meowscarada Movesets and Best Builds

This is a guide to movesets and best builds for using Meowscarada in competitive play for the games Pokemon Scarlet and Violet (SV). Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, Tera Type, and Held Items to use with Meowscarada, as well as its strengths and weaknesses.

Meowscarada - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Moveset for Ranked Battle	Tera Raid Build

Meowscarada Base Stats, Type, Abilities and Weaknesses

Paldea #3		Type
Meowscarada
		Abilities
		Overgrow Protean (Hidden)
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

What is Type Effectiveness?

Ability Name		Description
Overgrow		Increases the damage of Grass-type moves by 50% when the user's HP is below 1/3 its max.
Protean (Hidden)		Changes the user's type to the type of the move it's about to use.

Base Stats

Best Nature for Meowscarada

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

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Meowscarada

Build Name	Recommendation
Focus Sash Lead	★★★★
Choice Scarf Attacker	★★★★
Stellar Tera	★★★★

Focus Sash Lead Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 152 / Atk 162 / Def 90 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 192
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Focus Sash
Moveset	・ Flower Trick ・ Knock Off ・ Sucker Punch ・ Toxic Spikes

Summary

Flexible typing thanks to its ability Protean. Flower Trick ignores screens and Defense boosts. Guaranteed to setup hazards with Focus Sash.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Protean	Focus Sash

The Ability chosen for Meowscarada for this build is Protean. This allows Meowscarada to change its typing from Grass/Dark to the type of the first move that it uses. This can be used both offensively and defensively.

The item chosen for Meowscarada for this build is Focus Sash. This helps Meowscarada survive at least one hit.

Moves Breakdown

Flower Trick	Knock Off
Sucker Punch	Toxic Spikes

Flower Trick is Meowscarada's signature move that is guaranteed to crit and bypass screens or Defense boosts on the opponent's side.

Knock Off is a great utility move that will remove the opponent's held item.

Sucker Punch can help Meowscarada get a quick knockout before the opponent can attack it.

Toxic Spikes will poison any grounded Pokemon on the opponent's side providing good chip damage. This is used over Spikes because Protean will make Meowscarada a Poison-type, which is a better defensive typing compared to Rock.

Best Tera Type: Grass

Grass Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Grass is the best Tera Type for this build because it will make Flower Trick a STAB move again if Meowscarada uses Protean to change its typing away from Grass.

If Meowscarada keeps its Grass-typing with Protean, then a Grass Tera will even further boost Flower Trick's damage output.

Best Grass Type Pokemon

EV Spread and Nature

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

A Jolly nature is preferred to help further increase Meowscarada's Speed stat.

Other Viable Moves

U-turn	A good alternative to Sucker Punch that allows Meowscarada to pivot out of bad matchups.
Play Rough	Another good alternative to Sucker Punch that gives Meowscarada better coverage.

Key Damage Calculations

Damage Dealt by Meowscarada
100 HP｜100 Def Defensive EV Investment: 4 Def Item: Punching Glove	Flower Trick 162-192 (92.5 - 109.7%) 50% Chance to OHKO
55 HP｜55. Def No Defensive EV Investment Item: Booster Energy	Knock Off 118-141 (90.7 - 108.4%) 50% Chance to OHKO
Damage Received by Meowscarada
130 Atk Offensive EV Investment: 252 Atk Item: Punching Glove	Close Combat 272-324 (178.9 - 213.1%) Guaranteed OHKO Meowscarada: Close Combat 68-81 (44.7 - 53.2%) 28.9% Chance to 2HKO

Game8's Competitive Damage Calculator

Choice Scarf Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 152 / Atk 178 / Def 90 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 176
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Scarf
Moveset	・ Flower Trick ・ Knock Off ・ Play Rough ・ U-turn

Summary

Flexible typing thanks to its ability Protean. Flower Trick ignores screens and Defense boosts. Can pivot out of bad matchups with U-Turn

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Protean	Choice Scarf

The Ability chosen for Meowscarada for this build is Protean. This allows Meowscarada to change its typing from Grass/Dark to the type of the first move that it uses. This can be used both offensively and defensively.

The item chosen for Meowscarada for this build is Choice Scarf. This helps Meowscarada outspeed opposing non-Speed boosted Pokemon.

Moves Breakdown

Flower Trick	Knock Off
Play Rough	U-turn

Flower Trick is Meowscarada's signature move that is guaranteed to crit and bypass screens or Defense boosts on the opponent's side.

Knock Off is a great utility move that will remove the opponent's held item.

Play Rough is a good cover option that can also threaten common Fighting-types that Mewoscarada is weak to.

U-Turn allows for Meowscarada to pivot out of any bad matchups.

Best Tera Type: Grass

Grass Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)

Grass is the best Tera Type for this build because it will make Flower Trick a STAB move again if Meowscarada uses Protean to change its typing away from Grass.

If Meowscarada keeps its Grass-typing with Protean, then a Grass Tera will even further boost Flower Trick's damage output.

Best Grass Type Pokemon

EV Spread and Nature

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

An Adamant nature is preferred to maximize Meowscarada's damage output.

Other Viable Moves

Trick	A good alternative to U-Turn. Swap items with the target and lock them into the last move they used.

Stellar Tera Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	HP 4 / Atk 252 / Spe 252
Final Stat Values	HP 152 / Atk 162 / Def 90 / Sp.Def 90 / Spe 192
Ability	Protean
Tera Type
Held Item	Focus Sash
Moveset	・ Flower Trick ・ Knock Off ・ Triple Axel ・ U-turn

Summary

Flower Trick ignores screens and Defense boosts. Strong fast switcher thanks to U-Turn. Can defensively change its typing even if it has a Stellar Tera thanks to Protean.

Ability and Held Item

Ability	Held Item
Protean	Choice Scarf

The Ability chosen for this build is Protean. This allows Meowscarada to change its typing from Grass/Dark to the type of the first move that it uses. This is amazing both offensively and defensively, especially since a Stellar Tera keeps Meowscarada's defensive typing.

The item chosen for this build is a Focus Sash. This guarantees Meowscarada to survive a single hit and get a move off.

Moves Breakdown

Flower Trick	Knock Off
Triple Axel	U-turn

Flower Trick is its signature Grass-type STAB move that is guaranteed to crit and bypass screens or Defense boosts on the opponent's side.

Knock Off is its best Dark-type STAB move that also removes the opponent's held item, potentially crippling their build.

Triple Axel is its main coverage move that hits multiple times, bypassing items and abilities like Focus Sash and Sturdy. This move is also an amazing counter to Dragonite since it counters Multiscale.

U-Turn allows for Meowscarada to pivot out into one of its allies while also doing a decent amount of chip damage in the process.

Best Tera Type: Stellar

Stellar Tera Type Matchup
Weak to:	(4x)
	(2x)
Damaged Normally By:	(1x)
Resists:	(0.5x)
Immune to:	(0x)

Stellar is the best Tera Type for this build because it boosts the damage of Meowscarada's moves the first time it's used after Terastallization.

Note that even if it's a Stellar Type, it will keep the defensive properties of whatever type it changes into with Protean. Consider using moves like Play Rough or Toxic Spikes so that Meowscarada has a good defensive typing while Terastallized into a Stellar Type.

Stellar Tera Type Explained

EV Spread and Nature

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

A Jolly nature is preferred to help Meowscarada outspeed as many Pokemon as possible.

Other Viable Moves

Toxic Spikes	Makes Meowscarada double as a hazards lead, and it also makes it a Poison-type with Protean.
Play Rough	A good coverage move that is mainly used to check Fighting-types and make Meowscarada a Fairy-type with Protean.
Sucker Punch	Lets Meowscarada attack before the opponent as long as they used an attacking move.

Doubles Movesets for Meowscarada

Build Name	Recommendation
Choice Band Attacker	★★★
Focus Sash Meowscarada	★★★★

Choice Band Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Jolly (+Spe, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	Atk 252 / Spe 252 / Sp.Def 4
Final Stat Values	HP 151 / Atk 162 / Def 90 / Sp.Def 91 / Spe 192
Ability	Overgrow
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Band
Moveset	・ Flower Trick ・ Knock Off ・ Sucker Punch ・ U-turn

Choice Band Flower Trick is exceptionally powerful, able to knock out most Pokemon on a neutral hit and deal significant damage even to defensive Pokemon.

Overgrow is the Ability of choice over Protean as this set can punish opponents for not knocking out Meowscarada.

Stacking boosts from Choice Band, Overgrow and Terastallization can boost Flower Trick's damage output to absurd levels.

Other Viable Moves

Trick	A good move for choice locking setup Pokemon into a setup move.

Focus Sash Meowscarada Moveset & Best Build

Nature	Adamant (+Atk, -Sp.Atk)
EV Spread	252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Final Stat Values	151 HP / 178 Atk / 91 Def / 90 Sp. Def / 175 Spe
Ability	Overgrow
Tera Type
Held Item	Choice Band
Moveset	・ Flower Trick ・ Knock Off ・ Sucker Punch ・ Protect

Focus Sash Meowscarada works well with its Overgrow Ability, which allows it to hit extra hard when it's down to 1 HP. Knock Off is a great utility move that can rid opponents of useful items. Sucker Punch is a great Priority option, for when an opponent can outspeed Meowscarada, and you need to get that extra bit of damage.

Protect is a good move in Double Battles, as it lets you protect Meowscarada for a turn, while its teammate deals with a Pokemon that threatens it.

Other Viable Moves

Toxic Spikes	Toxic Spikes is a tech move that has been popular due to it being able to poison tanky Pokemon that appear late into a game, such as Dondozo.

How to Use Meowscarada Effectively

A Powerful and Speedy Physical Attacker

Meowscarada's great dual STAB makes it currently one of the best physical attackers in the game thanks to strong moves such as Flower Trick and Knock Off.

It's also an unpredictable attacker and opponents will have to guess if it's carrying a coverage move or one of its support moves.

How to Build a Team with Meowscarada

Thanks to Meowscarada's great offensive stats, it's easy to fit into both hyper-offensive and balanced teams that need its dual STAB and support moves.

Sample Singles Team

Focus Sash Lead	Special Attacker	Special Attacker
Meowscarada	Flutter Mane	Iron Bundle

This trio has STAB coverage that not a lot of teams can easily resist. These three Pokemon are also incredibly fast and can get quick knockouts before the opponent even has a chance to respond.

Sample Doubles Team

Special Attacker	Support
Gholdengo	Tornadus (Incarnate Forme)
Late Game Sweeper	Support
Meowscarada	Sinistcha

Meowscarada can function as a Late Game Sweeper, effectively picking off Pokemon at the tail-end of a match.

A front-heavy team with powerful leads are great teammates to have, leaving Meowscarada with as little work to do as possible, especially teammates who can get rid of Fairy-types.

Some redirection support is always great so that Meowscarada can effectively knock opposing Pokemon out.

Counters for Meowscarada

Take Advantage of its Poor Bulk

Meowscarada is a glass cannon with very poor bulk and it doesn't take a lot to bring down its HP or knock it out entirely.

It's also weak to Fire, Ice, Fairy, and Fighting, four very common attacking types, further lowering its survivability.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Flutter Mane	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Will always outspeed Meowscarada with a Booster Energy set. ・Moonblast can knock it out before it has a chance to change its typing with Protean. ▶️ Flutter Mane Best Movesets
Chien-Pao	Ranking: ★★★★ ・Covers for both of Meowscarada's STAB typings with Icicle Crash/Ice Spinner and Sacred Sword. ・Has priority Sucker Punch to threaten a low HP Meowscarada. ▶️ Chien-Pao Best Movesets

How to Get Meowscarada's Sucker Punch Egg Move

Meowscarada learns Sucker Punch as an egg move, so to get Sucker Punch on Meowscarada, first, you need a Pokemon that knows the move. You will then need to make sure Meowscarada has an empty move slot and give it a Mirror Herb.

Finally, set up a picnic with both Meowscarada and the Pokemon that knows the egg move in your party and the move will be transferred to Meowscarada (the other Pokemon still retains its moveset). Unlike previous generations, egg moves can now be transferred regardless of egg group, species or gender.
How to Learn and Transfer Egg Moves

Pokemon That Learn Sucker Punch

Learn by Default

Shiftry	Slaking	Honchkrow	Hisuian Samurott
Lycanroc (Dusk Form)	Urshifu Single-Strike Style

Learn by Level Up

Diglett	Alolan Diglett	Dugtrio	Alolan Dugtrio
Gastly	Haunter	Gengar	Hitmonlee
Galarian Moltres	Sentret	Furret	Spinarak
Ariados	Sudowoodo	Murkrow	Hitmontop
Poochyena	Mightyena	Seedot	Nuzleaf
Cacnea	Cacturne	Shuppet	Banette
Stunky	Skuntank	Bonsly	Spiritomb
Croagunk	Toxicroak	Darkrai	Joltik
Galvantula	Meowstic (Male)	Meowstic (Female)	Rowlet
Dartrix	Decidueye	Hisuian Decidueye	Komala
Sobble	Drizzile	Inteleon	Sinistea
Polteageist	Impidimp	Morgrem	Grimmsnarl
Nymble	Lokix	Tadbulb	Bellibolt
Wiglett	Wugtrio	Brute Bonnet	Chien-Pao

Learn by Evolution

Lycanroc (Midday Form)

Learn by TM

No Pokemon currently learn this move via this method.

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