Necrozma - Moveset & Best Build for Ranked Battle

This is a strategy guide for using Necrozma in competitive play for the games Pokemon Sword and Shield. Read on for tips on the best Nature, EV spreads, Movesets, and Held Items to use with Necrozma, as well as its strengths and weak points.

Necrozma - Related Guides
Evolution and Learnset	Build for Ranked Battle

Basic Information for Necrozma

Types and Abilities

Pokemon	Type 1	Type 2
Necrozma
Abilities
Prism Armor	Reduces damage from super-effective attacks.

Necrozma Weaknesses and Resistances

	Type
Takes 4x damage	-
Takes 2x damage
Takes 0.5x damage
Takes 1/4x damage	-
Takes 0x damage	-

What is Type Effectiveness?

Base Stats

Best Nature for Necrozma

What are Natures?

Singles Movesets for Necrozma

Special Attacker Moveset & Best Build

Necrozma, while not the most impressive in terms of stats, has access to a good combination of STAB and coverage moves. Careful move selection will help you find success with this Pokemon.

About Necrozma's Moves

Photon Geyser is Necrozma's signature move. This move inflicts Attack or Sp. Atk damage depending on which stat is higher for the user.
Heat Wave is a solid Fire-type option that may leave a foe burned. However, it has a chance of missing its target.

Meteor Beam works in tandem with Power Herb, letting Necrozma attack with it in one turn instead of waiting for the next turn. This move is great against Rock-weak Pokemon such as Charizard or Thundurus. This move will not be able to OHKO most Incineroar builds.

Earth Power is a solid coverage move because it can attack into Ground-weak Pokemon. When used as Max Quake, Necrozma can boost its Special Defense.

About Necrozma's EV Spread

Maximizing Speed and Special Attack lets Necrozma be as quick as it can be, and hit sa hard as possible with a Timid Nature with more emphasis on its Speed.
The remaining EV's are then put into Special Defense so that Necrozma can better take special moves.

About Necrozma's Ability

Prism Armor reduces damage from super-effective attacks. This Ability reduces the damage of super-effective moves by 25%. It is impossible to override this Ability with Mold Breaker, or moves that have a Mold Breaker-like effect like Sunsteel Strike or Moongeist Beam. This is a good Ability to have, especially with Necrozma's meager defenses.

About Necrozma's Held Item

Power Herb's primary purpose is to work in tandem with Meteor Beam, letting Necrozma attack with it in one turn instead of waiting for the next turn. A huge burst of Rock-type damage is great for catching unsuspecting Rock-weak Pokemon.

Other Viable Moves

Doubles Movesets for Necrozma

Trick Room Setter Moveset & Best Build

Necrozma's middling speed allows it to function in and out of Trick Room. A team that can function in and out of Trick Room will be the best fit for Necrozma, instead of a dedicated hard Trick Room team. It's decent Special Attack stat allows it to contribute offensively in battle.

About Necrozma's Moves

Expanding Force synergizes with a partnered Indeedee (Female) because it becomes a multi-hitting move in Psychic Terrain.

Meteor Beam works in tandem with Power Herb, letting Necrozma attack with it in one turn instead of waiting for the next turn. This move is great against Rock-weak Pokemon such as Charizard or Thundurus. This move will not be able to OHKO most Incineroar builds.

About Necrozma's EV Spread

Maximizing Speed and Special Attack lets Necrozma be as quick as it can be, and hit sa hard as possible with a Modest Nature with more emphasis on its Special Attack. Maxing out Speed does not necessarily contradict a Trick Room strategy because there are still plenty of Pokemon that are faster than Necrozma. Thus, a good grasp of Pokemon's speeds is ideal for using a Pokemon with middling speed.
The remaining EV's are then put into Special Defense so that Necrozma can better take special moves.

About Necrozma's Ability

Prism Armor reduces damage from super-effective attacks. This Ability reduces the damage of super-effective moves by 25%. It is impossible to override this Ability with Mold Breaker, or moves that have a Mold Breaker-like effect like Sunsteel Strike or Moongeist Beam. This is a good Ability to have, especially with Necrozma's meager defenses.

About Necrozma's Held Item

Power Herb's primary purpose is to work in tandem with Meteor Beam, letting Necrozma attack with it in one turn instead of waiting for the next turn. A huge burst of Rock-type damage is great for catching unsuspecting Rock-weak Pokemon.

Other Viable Moves

How to Use Necrozma Effectively

Leading Necrozma with a partner that with redirection can allow it to set up Trick Room or attack freely.
A good understanding of Speed Tiers is very useful for playing Necrozma effectively. Knowing what it outspeeds and doesn't outspeed, when to Trick Room and when not to Trick Room can often spell victory for your team.

What are Speed Tiers?

How to Build a Team with Necrozma

Because Necrozma may not be as strong as other restricted Pokemon, team synergy is even more important when building with it. Putting good Pokemon together and calling it a day won't be the best strategy when building a team with Necrozma because a team may need to be built around it in order for Necrozma to be functional.

Trick Room Setter

Necrozma's Prism Armor Ability will allow it to tank some hits, letting it set up Trick Room. A partner with redirection helps with setting this up. Slow and powerful Pokemon that benefit from being in a Trick Room environment are good teammates for Necrozma to have.

Example Trick Room Team

Support	Trick Room Setter	Trick Room Attacker
Indeedee (Female)	Necrozma	Calyrex (Ice Rider)

Indeedee can redirect attacks away from Necrozma with Follow Me freeing it up to use Trick Room. Alternatively, if Necrozma is already quicker than its opponents, it can opt to not set up Trick Room and just start attacking instead.
A Helping Hand from Indeedee can help Necrozma score a OHKO on Incineroar, which is a good offensive benchmark for a Pokemon.

After Indeedee gets knocked out, Calyrex (Ice Rider) can safely switch in and start pressuring with its offense in a Trick Room environment.

As an attacker, Necrozma can handily knock out Fire-type Pokemon like Charizard with Meteor Beam, eliminating threats to Calyrex.

Check out our article below to learn more about building a Trick Room team:
How to Build a Trick Room Team

Counters for Necrozma

Weakness

Counter Necrozma with Powerful Dark-Type Attacks.

Dark is a powerful offensive type compared to Bug and Ghost, and Necrozma is more likely to be hit with a super-effective Dark-type attack.
Super-effective Dark-type attacks can easily take out Necrozma even with Prism Armor.

Best Pokemon to Use

Pokemon	Description
Yveltal	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Outspeeds Necrozma ・Can easily knock out Necrozma with its powerful STAB Dark-type attacks even through Prism Armor. Moveset & Best Build for Yveltal
Incineroar	Ranking: ★★★★★ ・Can survive a +1 Meteor Beam from Modest Necrozma ・Standard Incineroar moves like Snarl, Parting Shot, and Darkest Lariat are all bad for Necrozma. Moveset & Best Build for Incineroar

Related Links

All Competitive Builds for Ranked Battle

Competitive Guides for Pokemon Sword and Shield

Competitive Pokemon Battle Guides
Tier List		Best Builds		Series 10 List of Contenders
Doubles Tier List		Team Building		Rental Teams

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Tapu Koko	Tapu Lele	Tapu Bulu
Tapu Fini	Regieleki	Regidrago
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Cresselia	Glastrier	Spectrier
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Salamence	Garchomp	Metagross
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Pheromosa	Buzzwole	Celesteela
Kartana	Stakataka	Blaziken
Kyogre	Yveltal	Xerneas
Necrozma (Dusk Mane)	Calyrex (Shadow Rider)	Mewtwo
Calyrex (Ice Rider)	Dialga	Lugia
Black Kyurem	Zekrom	Ho-Oh
Rayquaza	Zygarde	Reshiram
White Kyurem	Groudon	Regirock
Palkia	Regigigas	Registeel
Regice	Giratina	Solgaleo
Lunala	Kyurem	Necrozma
Uxie	Mesprit	Azelf
Calyrex