What is a good moveset for Meloetta?

Question

If you have a good competitive moveset for Meloetta, post an answer below and upvote the best ones. Movesets for any of its pre-evolutions can also be shared on this thread.

Be sure to include full set details in your post, e.g. items, abilities, natures and EVs. Some explanation, including the intended game mode for your set, is also appreciated. Access the full list of guidelines here.

Meloetta Pokédex and learnset for reference.

Comments

Likely tier: Overused

Answer 1

Look at her! so damn cute (and deadly).

Meloetta @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 132 HP / 252 SpA / 120 SpD
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Focus Blast / Thunderbolt
- Substitute
- Calm Mind

Focus Blast covers Dark types while Thunderbolt is alot more reliable and provides better coverage.
Calm Mind to provide moar powah and Special Defense.
Substitute to somewhat guarantee Calm Mind and for other obvious reasons.
Psyshock STAB and because screw you, special walls.
*The Leftovers support Meloetta's Special Defense.

Answer 2

Meloetta is an extremely underrated Pokémon with amazing competitive potential - Serene Grace with Relic Song is way too good.

Meloetta @ Big Root
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 SpA / 4 Spe
Mild Nature
- Psychic
- Drain Punch
- Relic Song
- Hyper Voice / Dazzling Gleam / U-Turn

Answer 3

Meloetta @ Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 Def / 250 SpA / 4 Spe
Timid Nature
- Relic Song
- Shadow Ball
- Calm Mind
- Psychic

• Relic Song (Allows Meloetta to change formes.)
• Shadow Ball (Counters ghosts.)
• Calm Mind (Powers up Meloetta.)
• Psychic (Very powerful move, STAB for Aria Meloetta.)

Another option might be:

Meloetta @ Focus Sash
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 252 HP / 240 SpD / 6 Spe
Modest Nature
- Relic Song
- Close Combat
- U-Turn
- Dream Eater

• Relic Song (Allows Meloetta to change formes.)
• Close Combat (STAB for Pirouette Meloetta, awesome move.)
• U-Turn (Can finally hit a move on ghosts, counters psychics, escapes if urgent.)
• Dream Eater (Heals if foe is asleep.)

Answer 4

Meloetta @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 SpD
Modest Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Psychic
- Hyper Voice
- Thunderbolt
- Shadow Ball / Dazzling Gleam

• Psychic (Stab)
• Hyper Voice (Stab)
• Thunderbolt (Coverage)
• Shadow Ball / Dazzling Gleam (Shadow Ball could be used for coverage and has a 40% chance to lower the opponents special defense by 1 which is useful if Meloetta isn't doing enough damage. Dazzling gleam is coverage and a counter to Meloetta's Dark type weakness.)

Comments

Shadow Ball only has a 20% chance to lower the opponent's Special Defense.

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Meloetta's Serene Grace ability makes the side effects of moves double, so shadowball's 20% chance to lower the opponents special defense by one turns into a 40% chance.

Answer 5

Cadenza (Meloetta) @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Relic Song
- Focus Blast
- Psychic
- U-turn
You already know what Relic Song is in the moveset for
Focus Blast is to deal with Rock, Steel, Normal, Ice, and Dark Types
Psychic is to handle Fighting and Poison types
U-turn is to deal damage to Grass types, Dark Types, and other Psychic types.
Information taken directly from the Pokemon Showdown desktop application(or whatever it's called) as I finished setting her(I know Meloetta is technically genderless, so please don't come at me for referring to Meloetta as a female!) up for one of my teams consisting of Pokemon all from a certain type. Cadenza happens to be the first Pokemon in a pure Normal team.
One last thing. For those who don't know, the name Cadenza means rhythmic. Since this name has the meaning it does, I thought "well, why not give Meloetta the nickname Cadenza? It is a music related name, and Meloetta is known as the Melody Pokemon, so it makes perfect sense to me." And what do you know, Meloetta received the nickname Cadenza.

Answer 6

Gen 7 / Gen 8 ?

Meloetta @ Ghostium Z
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 4 HP / 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 248 Spe
Naive Nature
- Dream Eater
- Relic Song
- Shadow Ball
- Wake-Up Slap

• Dream Eater: User gains 1/2 HP inflicted. Sleeping target only.
• Relic Song: 10% chance to sleep foe(s). Meloetta transforms.
• Shadow Ball: 20% chance to lower the target's Sp. Def by 1.

• Wake-Up Slap: Power is doubled if target is asleep, and wakes it.

• Overview: Everything sort of "contrasts" everything else. Relic Song's secondary effect is doubled due to Serene Grace, which means Wake-Up Slap can be used more often. That's a solid 140 Power. Dream Eater is also complimentary of Relic Song. & Shadow Ball is just coverage. {Feedback is appreciated.)

Answer 7

Gen 8 Nat Dex

Mixed Lead Sweeper

Meloetta @ Normal Gem / Life Orb
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 80 Atk / 176 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature
- Relic Song
- Focus Blast
- Zen Headbutt
- Ice Punch

This moveset mainly based on Meloetta’s Pirouette Form, so Relic Song is needed to change between forms. Along with having a 20% chance to make its foe fall asleep, it can also do a great chunk of damage with a Normal Gem, doing 30-40% to specially defensive Pokémon like Toxapex. Focus Blast is coverage in Aria Form, and STAB in Pirouette Form. A good thing to note is that when Dynamaxed, Focus Blast turns into Max Knuckle, which raises Attack, further increasing its sweeping potential. Zen Headbutt is for coverage against Poison and other Fighting types. When Dynamaxed, it turns into Max Mindstorm, summoning Psychic Terrain, thus making it more powerful. Finally, Ice Punch is coverage against Flying types and Lance’s underleveled Dragonites (haha funny). Max Hailstorm summons hail, of course, which breaks Sashes and can possibly help teammates (laughs in Snow Cloak Froslass).

One more thing to note: Some players don’t know that Meloetta is a part Normal type, making it immune to Ghost type moves!

Comments

You should be using this in Nat Dex UU

Answer 8

Meloetta @ Shell Bell
Ability: Serene Grace
EVs: 85 HP / 85 Atk / 85 Def / 85 SpA / 85 SpD / 85 Spe
Jolly Nature
- Relic Song
- Psychic
- Brick Break
- Thunderbolt

I looked to pkmn.help to see which sets of moves along with Relic Song work best for Meloetta, and I went with this set as not a single Pokémon can resist all 4 moves and these moves hits half of the types for super effectiveness.
I opt for Shell Bell so that I can make use of healing since every move does damage and 3 can inflict secondary effects, with their chances getting boosted with Serene Grace.
I also tend to want an even EV spread, particularly because Meloetta's forms have 5 stats aside from HP changed around, and not really evenly either.

Answer 9

Gen 9
Role: Mixed Sweeper
Meloetta @ Life Orb / Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Normal
EVs: 128 Atk / 128 SpA / 252 Spe
Naive Nature / Hasty Nature
- Relic Song
- Close Combat / Brick Break / Drain Punch
- Psychic
- Tera Blast

Relic Song: Relic song allows Meloetta to switch between a physical and special sweeper while also havinga a 20% chance to cause sleep thanks to Serene Grace

Close Combat / Brick Break / Drain Punch: Close Combat is Meloetta's most reliable stab move considering its Pirouette form allowing Close Combat to become a stab move while having great coverage . Brick Break and Drain Punch can be used alternatively to cut through screens or to regain hp.

Psychic: Psychic is Meloetta's most reliable stab move when it comes to its Aria form allowing Psychic to become a stab move while having a 20% to lower Sp Defense thanks to Serene Grace.

Tera Blast: Tera Blast is perfect for this setup given that Relic Song gives it the ability to switch between becoming a special and physical attacker. This allows Meloetta to have a strong normal type stab regardless of its form.

Life Orb / Assault Vest: Life Orb allows it to take a more offensive approach dealing more damage at the cost of a slight bit of health per turn. Assault Vest allows it to take a more defensive approach boosting is Sp Def giving both forms a better chance of surviving against Sp Atkers.

Tips: Partners with Stealth Rock, Sticky Web, Toxic, or Will-O-Wisp could help Meloetta to out speed opposing Pokemon and could nullify Focus Sashes to ensure its ability to sweep.

Answer 10

Gen 9 NU Substitute Calm Mind

Meloetta @ Leftovers
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
IVs: 0 Atk
- Substitute
- Calm Mind
- Psyshock
- Tera Blast

Meloetta has dropped to NU, so here is a Sub Calm Mind set it can use. Substitute allows Meloetta to take advantage of Pokemon it forces out and is useful against passive Pokemon. Calm Mind boosts Meloetta's Special Attack and Special Defense, allowing it to become a potent setup sweeper. Psyshock is the chosen Psychic STAB since it allows Meloetta to beat opposing Calm Mind Pokemon and Pokemon who can tank Special hits such as Blissey, Arboliva, and Goodra. Tera Blast is used for the Normal STAB since it also stays as a STAB move if Meloetta doesn't Tera. Leftovers is used for a little HP recovery each turn. Tera Ground allows Meloetta have a Tera Blast than can hit Steel-types such as Copperajah and Magneton super effectively. Tera Fighting can be used to be able to hit Orthworm super effectively with Tera Blast.

252 HP EVs are used to make Meloetta's HP 404, allowing it to create 101 HP Substitutes. This requires Blissey to use 2 Seismic Tosses to break the Sub, meaning Meloetta can use Blissey as setup fodder. I have max Speed EVs with a TImid Nature to outspeed as much Pokemon as possible, though you could use enough Speed EVs to hit a certain benchmark, letting you use the remaining EVs in Defense.

Answer 11

Gen 9 NU Assault Vest

Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Dark
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Hasty Nature
- Relic Song
- Close Combat
- Knock Off
- U-turn

An Assault Vest set for Meloetta (specifically the Pirouette form) that is to be used in Gen 9 NU. Relic Song is used to transform to Meloetta's Pirouette form. (Funny and unfact fact: OU banning sleep inducing moves such as Sleep Powder, Hypnosis, Spore, etc and the Sleep Clause being lifted means Meloetta could put an entire team to sleep if has really good luck.) Close Combat is used for a powerful Fighting STAB that threatens Steel-types such as Copperajah, Registeel, and Lucario. Knock Off allows Meleotta to remove items from opposing Pokemon to cripple checks switching in. Knock Off also allows Meloetta to hit Psychic- and Ghost-types such as Chandelure, Palossand, Golurk, Basculegion, Galarian Slowbro, opposing Meleotta, Espeon, Indeedee, and Delphox super effectively. U-turn allows Meleotta to switch out when it faces a Pokemon it can't beat. Tera Dark is used to turn Meloetta-Pirouette's Psychic weakness into an immunity and have Knock Off as a STAB move.

Answer 12

Gen 9 NU Assault Vest

Meloetta @ Assault Vest
Ability: Serene Grace
Tera Type: Ground
EVs: 252 SpA / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
Timid Nature
- Psyshock
- Tera Blast
- Knock Off
- U-turn

An Assault Vest set for Meleotta's regular form. Assault Vest Meleotta is nice to blanket check the Special wallbreakers in the tier, being able to check Pokemon such as Chandelure, Dragalge, and Inteleon. Psyshock is used for the Psychic STAB since it lets Meleotta beat Dragalge, Calm Mind Pokemon such as Chandelure, and Quiver Dance Pokemon such as Oricorio and Oricorio-Sensu. Tera Blast is used for the Normal STAB since it is a STAB move before and after Tera. Tera Blast Ground gives Meloetta coverage against Pokemon such as Diancie, Delphox, Registeel, Copperajah, Galarian Slowbro, and Duraludon. Knock Off allows Meloetta to remove items from opposing Pokemon, allowing Meleotta to cripple Pokemon switching in. U-turn allows Meloetta to pivot and create or keep up momentum for the team. Do note that Knock Off and U-turn is used for the utility the moves provide, not for dealing as much damage as possible.

Answer 13

Gen V
"Vocaloid" Meloetta

Modest Nature,
252 HP, 6 Def, 252 Sp. Attack
Item: Leftovers

• Calm Mind
• Thunder
• Focus Blast
• Hyper Voice

An old of set of mine meant to be used with Permanent Rain. The calling card to this set is Meloetta's stellar Sp. Attack stat and Serene Grace-boosted Thunder, which is 100% accurate in the rain and has a wicked 60% chance to paralyze the target. Thunder has a natural 120 Base Power, the equivalent to an 80 Base Power STAB move, meaning it stands to leave a mark even on resisted targets. If you get paralyzed by this set, you are probably dead to rights due to Meloetta's excellent power, coverage, and Calm Mind.

Calm Mind may feel awkward on this set at face-value due to Meloetta's relative lack of defense, speed, and reliable recovery, but absolutely makes up for it by boosting its already great special stats to ridiculous levels. With Calm Mind, Meloetta will actively threaten to OHKO Pokemon such as Ferrothorn with Focus Blast, and a lack of common special weakness will mean that it is relatively safe from Special Attacks. Your opponent can try to deal with Meloetta through repeated special hits, but the chances are their team will be destroyed in the process by the time they deal enough damage to take it down. Its stats are simply too high for this to be a viable strategy, and it means removing physical threats or getting them into a manageable position can be pivotal to winning games. Additionally while its base 77 defense stat may feel lackluster, it is by no means poor and can take a hit if absolutely necessary.

Normal STAB+Fighting coverage hits everything except Ghosts neutrally, and Ghosts such as Jellicent and Gengar want nothing to do with Meloetta due to its immunity to Shadow Ball and ruinous Thunder. Hyper Voice is preferred over Psychic STAB due to its superior neutral coverage.