Best Competitive Builds for Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Meowscarada and the other Starter evolutions are very powerful competitively in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. Its signature move, Flower Trick, will always result in a critical hit. It also doesn't check accuracy or evasion, making it impossible to miss unless the target protects themselves. The Pokémon is fast, strong, and has many moves that can be used to support its ally Pokémon. These are the best competitive sets for Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet.

Best Competitive Moves for Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Meowscarada is exceptionally fast and outspeeds almost every Pokémon in the VGC format. Its Hidden Ability, Protean, changes Meowscarada's Type to whatever attacking move it uses. This can give Meowscarada STAB, or Same Type Attack Bonus, on its moves, giving them 50% more damage. Of course, its normal Ability is Overgrow and increases the power of Grass Type moves by 50% on top of its normal Grass STAB. These are all of the offensive and supportive moves that can be used in a competitive team:

Offensive Moves

• Flower Trick - Because this move always crits, it will ignore any Attack debuffs that Meowscarada has and any Defense buffs the target has.
• Quick Attack - Any priority move can be useful to take out low HP Pokémon or to avoid getting hit by Sucker Punch. With Protean, this gives Meowscarada immunity to Ghost moves as well.
• U-Turn - Dealing damage and switching out to a Pokémon can be valuable for switching to something that resists the incoming attack or something with Intimidate. This also can deal quadruple damage to other opposing Meowscarada.
• Play Rough - Fairy coverage is valuable and threatens Fighting Type Pokémon that counter Meowscarada.
• Knock Off - Removing items from Pokémon like Choice Scarf or Sitrus Berry can severely remove an opposing Pokémon's threat level.
• Low Kick - Although the damage is dependent on how much the target weighs, this is a great move for dealing with Steel Type Pokémon.
• Acrobatics - Flying Type coverage can be very strong as long as Meowscarada's item is used up.
• Foul Play - This move can be used against Pokémon that have increased their Attack to use it against them.
• Thunder Punch - Being able to hit Flying Type Pokémon that normally threaten Meowscarada can be important. With Protean, their Flying moves also do less damage.
• Tera Blast - Having coverage of any type is good on any Pokémon focused on attacking.
• Sucker Punch - This is arguably the best Dark Type move that Meowscarada can learn next to Knock Off.

Related: Best Pokémon Terastallize Forms in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

Support Moves

• Trick - With Meowscarada's high Speed, they switch items with their allies or opponents easily. Choice items or a Flame Orb are prime trade candidates.
• Grassy Terrain - Setting up Grassy Terrain quickly can reduce the effectiveness of opposing Pokémon with Expanding Force in Psychic Terrain.
• Charm - Lowering a Pokémon's Attack can ensure Meowscarada and its ally Pokémon survive longer.
• Fake Tears - When paired with a Special Attacking ally Pokémon, this can severely boost the amount of damage they deal on a target.
• Protect - Protect is useful on nearly every Pokémon in Double Battles and can waste the opponent's entire turn if they focus on a Pokémon using it.
• Low Sweep - The damage isn't terrible, but this move's speed control is more valuable.
• Brick Break - The damage isn't bad, but the ability to break Reflect and Light Screens makes it useful.
• Taunt - A fast Taunt user can make the opponent unable to set up Swords Dance or even Protect.
• Skill Swap - Taking away an opponent's Pokémon's Ability or an Ally Pokémon's Ability can make for some sneaky strategies.
• Helping Hand - Increasing the power of any ally Pokémon's moves can ensure a KO.
• Pollen Puff - Despite Meowscarada not being a Special Attacker, this move can damage enemies or heal allies, making it much more useful.
• Trick Room - This can be a sneaky counter to Tailwind teams and offers an alternate way of outspeeding opponents.
• Ally Switch - Switching places with ally Pokémon can keep them or Meowscarada alive in sticky situations.
• Leech Seed - This move, paired with Protect usually, can keep Meowscarada or a switched-in ally passive HP.

Best EV Spread and Builds for Meowscarada in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet

While trying to figure out how to EV train Pokémon, it's important to figure out their role on the team. Meowscarada is a very fast Physical Attacker and can do much damage with the right setup. Focus Sash can be used to ensure it survives any one hit and pairs up with Overgrow very well. Alternatively, Life Orb and Protean work together to guarantee extra damage on anything it hits. Here are some example sets:

Protean Attacker

• Item - Life Orb/Choice Band
• Nature - Jolly/Adamant
• EVs - 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Defense
• Tera Type - Steel/Fire
• Ability - Protean
• Moves
  • Flower Trick
  • Protect/U-Turn/Coverage Move
  • Sucker Punch/Knock Off
  • Quick Attack/Play Rough/Tera Blast

There are many benefits to Protean, but the move only changes Meowscarada's Type once each time it's switched into the battle. Dark attacks give it immunity to Psychic moves, while Normal does the same for Ghost. Having so much coverage makes it a threat to multiple Pokémon, and U-Turn can give it a way out of the fight to replace its Typing. Sucker Punch requires some extra work with either breed or the Mirror Herb but is one of the best moves in the game.

Related: What does Hyper Training do for you in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet?

Overgrow Attacker

• Item - Focus Sash
• Nature - Jolly/Adamant
• Evs - 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 Special Defense
• Tera Type - Grass/Fire
• Ability - Overgrow
• Moves
  • Flower Trick
  • Sucker Punch/Knock Off
  • Play Rough/Quick Attack/U-Turn
  • Protect/Tera Blast/Coverage Move

The idea behind this build is to get Meowscarada to go down to 1 HP with its Focus Sash to get Overgrow to activate. This will then make Flower Trick deal 50% more damage and can be boosted even further by Terastalizing with a Grass Tera Type. With a Fire Tera Type, gives Meowscarada the ability to damage Steel Types that it normally couldn't before.

Trick Room/Support

• Item - Focus Sash/Sitrus Berry
• Nature - Sassy/Impish
• EVs - 252 Special Defense, 252 HP, 4 Attack
• Tera Type - Grass/Dark
• Ability - Overgrow/Protean
• Moves
  • Trick Room
  • Ally Switch
  • Helping Hand/Pollen Puff/Protect
  • Flower Trick/Sucker Punch

This set does its best to ensure that Trick Room is set up. While Trick Room is active, having only priority moves will ensure Meowscarada can still help its ally Pokémon. Ally Switch, Helping Hand, and Sucker Punch have increased priority, making them move first regardless of the reversed speed order. Flower Trick can be used in Overgrow, so Meowscarada can also deal damage.

For more Competitive Sets, check out Best Competitive Builds for Armarouge in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet and for more information on useful items, check out All Held Items and What They Do in Pokémon Scarlet & Violet on Pro Game Guides.