Meowscarada
Attack
Defense
Stamina
Best Movesets
Analysis
Meowscarada has the second highest Attack stat among the current Grass Type starters, making it a solid choice as a Grass attacker. Access to Frenzy Plant following its Community Day on January 2025 makes it one of the top budget options, though it will fall short when compared to Kartana and some Shadow Grass-type Pokemon.
Offense
- Meowscarada's best moveset is Leafage and Frenzy Plant.
- Energy Ball, Flower Trick, and Grass Knot are inferior options to Frenzy Plant. However, as Frenzy Plant is an Elite Move, it may not be the most accessible option. Flower Trick is the best option out of these three.
- Charm and Play Rough can work for Fairy damage, but not very well.
- Night Slash has no real utility for Meowscarada.
Defense
- Charm is one of the better Defensive Fast Moves, and should definitely be the move of choice for Meowscarada.
- Play Rough is actually the best Charged Move for defense
- Grass Knot seems like it would out-perform Play Rough due to being off-type with Meowscarada's best Fast Move, but Play Rough actually has better defensive stats, and Fairy is only resisted by Steel and Poison, with both of these types also sporting a resistance to Grass.
- Frenzy Plant is the most damaging option and has a decent firing rate due to it being a 2-bar move.
- Night Slash has great speed and coverage, though its base power is lacking. Fortunately, Meowscarada's STAB bonus helps out a bit.
- Flower Trick is a 3-bar Charged Attack with decent base power, which can hopefully fire off multiple times before Meowscarada faints.
- Energy Ball is sub-par.
Leafage benefits from STAB and has above average parameters. Charm can find uses in limited cups, but its lack of STAB greatly reduces its potential.
Night Slash is recommended as it is Meowscarada's cheapest Charged Attack and only Dark STAB option. Frenzy Plant ensures that Meowscarada can deal solid Grass-type damage, as Leafage alone may not be enough. Energy Ball is almost strictly inferior to Grass Knot; its 10% Defense debuff chance is not worth the 5 Energy Cost increase. Play Rough can offer some coverage, but the move's below average parameters makes this an extremely situational choice. Grass Knot is a good move, but is strictly worse than Frenzy Plant. Flower Trick is a decent cheap Attack that grants a consistent Attack boost, but Meowscarada struggles to find a place in its moveset.
Meowscarada has a fairly rare Grass/Dark typing, allowing it to corebreak certain teams around Water- and Ghost-type Pokemon. It is an incredibly fragile Pokemon and requires heavy shield investment to succeed, but it can run away with games thanks to its incredible damage output and potential game-stealing moments with Night Slash's boosts. With that said, Meowscarada does have numerous exploitable weaknesses and also has competition with Shiftry and Cacturne in its role.
