Article:How To Achieve Master Ball Rank in Pokémon Champions
Article
Pokémon Champions is the new competitive-focused title, released this month on April 8th, 2026. The game contains minimal story elements and focuses entirely on competitive battles. Champions released on the Switch 1 and 2, with further releases to mobile planned for the future. This article will focus on the doubles battle ladder; there is also a single battles mode. This article will detail how I piloted a unique team featuring Mega Lopunny and a secret sand mode to the Master Ball tier!
Without further ado, here’s the team
Team Introduction
As you can see by the Mega Stone placement and Choice Scarfer, this team focuses on a turn-one speed control. In this format, speed control is extremely popular. In this closed team sheet format, you do not get to see the items or moves on Pokémon before the game starts. At first glance, the first threats the average player will identify are your Tyrantiar and Excadrill. This is a false flag, as you’ll almost always lead with Lopunny and Volcorona.
Here’s a breakdown of every Pokémon’s role within the team:
Mega Lopunny gets a huge speed boost upon Mega Evolution, raising its base speed to 135. This, alongside max speed and jolly nature, makes it faster than every single relevant Pokémon in the format, like Aerodactyl and Sneasler. It's move, Fake Out, can break focus sashes on key mons like Aerodactyl, Sneasler, and Whimsicott while threatening a knock out with Triple Axel or Close Combat immediately after. Lopunny will almost always stay in for Fake Out on turn one unless it’s intimidated by Incineroar or is threatened by a potential focus sash Sneasler who can one-shot you with Close Combat.
Choice Scarf Volcorona is a huge surprise to many players. Firstly, it can outspeed every single Pokémon that is not also scarfed, and threatens to one-shot common lead Pokémon like Farigiraf with Bug Buzz or Sneasler with Overheat. It’s surprisingly strong against sun teams who don’t respect the potential for it to get out of hand quickly. If Volcorona gets a special attack increase from Fiery Dance against Mega Charizard Y, it can knock that Charizard out in only two attacks because of the sun! Volcorona can be caught off guard with rock-type moves very easily and is generally weak against Garchomp, Mega Charizard in Tailwind, surprise Mega Aerodactyl, and both normal and Mega Tyranitar. Giga Drain is rarely used but can be great for surprise knockouts in the mid and late game against weakened Rotom-Wash, Blastoise, Milotic, and Primarina, who are otherwise threats against it.
Tyranitar is used almost exclusively against weather teams. It’s strong against key weather setters like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Frosslass, and Pelipper. Because my Tyranitar is so slow, it can be brought in the front against Pelipper, and can always set up its own weather second. Against the two mega weather setters, I like to bring TTar in the back so it can come in for Lopunny after a Fake Out. I run the surprise move Thunder in case I lose the weather war against Pelipper and need to one-shot it. It also provides a bit of luck with the large chance of paralysis when it successfully lands.
As stated earlier, players will notice the synergy of Excadrill with the TTar, but we are smarter than them. Excadrill will almost never come with the TTar. Its main role is to counter fairy-type threats like Mega Floette, Mega Gardevoir, and Sylveon. The secondary role is all mental. Excadrill successfully invites Pokémon like Sneasler to lead against this team, giving Volcorona the opportunity to handle the most popular mons in the format on turn one. I give Excadrill the Lum Berry because getting burned essentially takes out Excadrill for the rest of the match by cutting its attack in half. Lastly, against opposing sand teams, Excadrill can outspeed practically every mon on the field besides some choice scarfers. Players know this, and generally will avoid bringing their sand to the match, usually leading with their weaker, secondary mode. While this mon is usually the least likely to be brought, it discourages opposing sand teams and encourages bad matchups in my main mode.
Rotom-Wash is a great support Pokémon who is not taken seriously until it's too late. Max HP and Special Attack make this mon surprisingly bulky and strong. It threatens massive damage in a meta-game where grass types are unpopular while catching hard offense teams off guard with Will-O-Wisp. Rotom is extremely strong against several top-twenty Pokémon like Sneasler, Garchomp, Kingambit, Basculegion, Aerodactyl, Mega Charizard Y, Pelipper, Tyrantiar, Aegislash, and Scizor! I use the move Volt Switch, but honestly, it could be changed out. I have found very few cases where it actually comes in handy.
My last Pokémon is Whimsicott, who acts similarly to Excadrill, baiting in Sneasler and Kingambit to open. Whimsicott often comes in the back to punish trick room players or obvious setup Pokémon with Encore. I've often found myself withstanding the opponent's Tailwind long enough to be able to take advantage of my own late Tailwind, because my leads are so fast anyway and don’t usually need the support. Whimsicott was my most recent addition to the team, replacing Sinistcha. I noticed that my team was not bulky enough to take advantage of the healing from Hospitality, and ended up using it more for its offenses than for its support moves.
Key Matchups
Against Sun Teams
I like to lead Lopunny and Rotom against Mega Charizard Y leads. Depending on what’s next to the Charizard, Fake Out is always a solid option. If it’s Chlorophyll Venusaur, I’d handle that first before it puts your entire team to sleep. In the back, I’d recommend Tyranitar and Whimsicott. TTar can turn off the sun, locking Charizard into a two-turn Solar Beam and slowing down Venusaur or other Chlorophyll Pokémon.
Against Aerodactyl
we have a major surprise factor on our side. As long as Triple Axel hits all three times, you can remove this threat on turn one, and nobody ever expects it. You can even delay until turn two with Fake Out into Aerodactyl if your second Pokémon can make a play against their lead as well. It is very important not to allow Aerodactyl to set up Tailwind, as our team has no other way of setting up speed control unless you have Whimsicott, but Whimsicott never comes to games against Aerodactyl because it can be threatened by Dual Wingbeat or common Aerodactyl pairs like Sneasler and Kingambit.
Against Sneasler
we once again have the surprise factor. When I see Sneasler on the opponent’s team, I immediately select my Choice Scarf Volcorona to handle it. Overheat is almost always a one-hit knockout unless they strangely have special defense investment. If you suspect Focus Sash is Sneasler’s item instead of the more popular White Herb, you can lead Lopunny and Fake Out to break the sash before Overheating that annoying cat-thing.
Against Rain Teams
Rotom and Tyranitar will be your best friends! As I said before, my Tyranitar is minimum speed, so it will usually set up its weather last. The main threat in most rain teams is Basculegion, so use Rotom / Whimsicott to handle that. Mega Lopunny can also threaten massive damage against Basculegion with Close Combat and can Fake Out Pelipper to break its sash.
Against Trick Room
it largely depends on the full team, but let’s start with Farigiraf. Volcorona can one-shot it with Bug Buzz turn one if they aren’t careful. One downside: if you fail to eliminate Farigiraf, and Trick Room is set up, you’ll have a frail, slow, Volcorona just taking up space. Our two slowest Pokémon are Rotom and Tyranitar, so consider bringing these in the back. Against other TR setters, Whimsicott can Encore the Trick Room, making that Pokémon not only reset the field but also move last for several turns.
Against Mega Floette
I am almost always bringing Excadrill. This team does not otherwise feature any steel or poison-type moves that can deal super-effective damage. One thing we have going for us in this match-up is our lack of a Dragon type. Whimsicott can be strong if they choose to Calm Mind or Protect on the wrong turn. Our other two physical attackers are weak to Floette, so it’s very important to get the Excadrill in safely, even if it means sacrificing another Pokémon.
In Conclusion
This team has answers for many of the top threats in this meta game. It uses the surprise factor and bluffs to catch opponents off guard with one-hit knockouts. While Mega Lopunny is not the strongest or most popular right now, people are not prepared for the insane speed and Fake Out pressure it exerts on the meta game. Choice Scarf Volcorona really is the second main Pokémon of this team. It’s either getting out of hand with Fiery Dance, one-shotting with Bug Buzz or Overheat, or surprising water-types with Giga Drain. Every other Pokémon on this team is there for support or is Excadrill (for Floette LOL)!
Additional Info
Written by: KSI New Blue 7
Publish Date: May 2nd, 2026 @ 8:06pm
