Mega-Evolution

Do you like Mega-Evolution?

  • Yes, I love everything about it!

    Votes: 114 53.5%
  • I like the majority of the designs, I just don't like the concept.

    Votes: 32 15.0%
  • I like the concept, I just don't like the majority of the designs.

    Votes: 46 21.6%
  • No, I don't like Mega-Evolution very much.

    Votes: 21 9.9%

  • Total voters
    213
I've started to see which mega someone has as the "symbol" of a given team, since you can only have one and it would probably be a good idea to build a team around which one you have. You're always waiting for the head ship to show its flags and all that.
 
I do enjoy Mega Evolution, but I'm not sure I like the trade-offs.

Only one per battle? I'd much prefer at least two. Just in case the first one dies.
No items can be held other than Mega Stones? Unfair, but makes sense.
Only Fully Evolved Pokémon can Mega? But wait! What about a possible Mawile evolution? Absol? Audino? I don't like the fact that a 100 BST boost completely denies the Pokémon future eligibility for a regular evolution.

I would've much preferred they started Mega evolving all the three stage families (starters, pseudo legends, etc.) and then give the 1 and 2 stage families some evo's and preevo's before diving into Mega territory. I'm sure cross-gen evolution will still exist in generations to come (Sylveon hints at this), but unfortunately, it will never come for some who got Mega's.
 
Not a fan because I absolutely love seeing evos of things from previous generations, and because competitively it's just a form of power creep in disguise. I'd also rank "Charizard getting 2 forms but not Blastoise and Venusaur" up there with the cliched Gyarados' flying type and Steel's lack of weakness to Electric as the most absurd things in the entire series.

That being said, I admit there are two really cool things about it:
1. Making Venusaur, Charizard, and Blastoise super competitive.
2. Enabling the new games that aren't an entirely new generation (ie, ORAS) to have, functionally, a bunch of new pokes.
 
Codraroll redirected me here, so I'll copy and paste the content of this thread over here:

What Mega Beedrill has taught me...

...is that the reduction of a single offensive stat is an excellent way of making something previously poor very viable or something previously solid extremely menacing. The general rule for Mega mons is that they get 100 BST added in places, and occasionally they get more at the expense of one specific stat - the one that drops the most is the speed stat (Garchomp, Ampharos, Abomasnow...). Since it's not all about the stats, the new ability (one is generally added) and possibly a different typing (which depends largely on the design) further contribute to changing the Pokemon we're so used to into something completely new. What this can do to the metagame was very vividly experienced when Mawile's status changed from unusable to Uber in a fortnight.

Mega Beedrill took the scene by surprise, too, and there was one detail I focused my attention on - the special attack dropping to give Beedrill more BST to work with, which naturally went into the offence. Coupled with Adaptability, who would've thought Beedrill would be worth something several years back?

Now let's take Farfetch'd for example; here's what we have so far:

52 / 65 / 55 / 58 / 62 / 60

352 total - hey, it's only 28 less than Sableye and Mawile!

Now, none of these look too promising yet even before we attempt to distribute 100 BST across the board with the accent put into specific stats of note. So how about we extract those special attack bases? Let's go all the way and, since Shuckle a base speed stat of 5, reduce FFd's special attack from 58 all the way down to 5. That's 53 BST we're saving up, so why not go ahead and dump it into physical attack! 65 + 53 makes 118, which is already quite respectable. We still have a good deal of customisation to do, but what do we do with the other stats?

Why not look at FFd's typing first? Stealth Rock weakness + weaknesses to 3 other common attacking types. Surely the typing would be dictated by the direction of the design, so what could possibly happen to FFd? It's a bird standing on the ground, so this idea could be developed into a fighting/flying bird, but that's a bit too many weaknesses - ground/flying is Gliscor's typing and it's proved to be a useful one by now. If it's mean-looking enough, giving Farfetch'd Earthquake could be justified (though the regular FFd would need to be able to use it as well). One can never go wrong with Skarmory's typing either, of course, but the design would require more imagination, too. After Mega Slowbro though, anything can be done, can it not?

Now, moving on to the ability... Keen Eye/Inner Focus/Defiant won't really do, and we need to settle on something peculiar. A new ability entirely perhaps, or a rare existing one - something that we can find on another bird maybe? How about Talonflame's Gale Wings? It's used by a bird with a better defensive typing now, with access to Brave Bird who already has more attack than Talonflame itself.

Right, those other 100 BST. We could drop some more into attack, making priority Brave Bird heavier, but we're probably not aiming for Mega Heracross-level physical attack, so some 41 BST could be thrown into speed and 30-ish or so into the defences so that it doesn't die to a single neutral hit. That's 29 + 118 = 147 physical attack?

And now let's take a look at it again:

Ground/Flying
Gale Wings
52 / 147 / 70 / 5 / 77 / 101
Brave Bird
Earthquake
Swords Dance / Bulk Up
U-Turn or Roost or something else here

The attack (or even speed?) might really be too much so some of these points could be allocated to fix the defences further, but with 52 the bulk doesn't look very promising still and it won't be a Gliscor defensively anytime soon.

So the point I was trying to make? Get rid of the useless offensive type to make something being converted into Mega more menacing. Mega Mawile got some additional special attack for example, but imagine what it would be like if its second attack stat got sharply reduced akin to Mega Beedrill or this imaginary Farfetch'd I just developed on the spot.
 

Pikachu315111

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Codraroll redirected me here, so I'll copy and paste the content of this thread over here:

What Mega Beedrill has taught me...

...is that the reduction of a single offensive stat is an excellent way of making something previously poor very viable or something previously solid extremely menacing. The general rule for Mega mons is that they get 100 BST added in places, and occasionally they get more at the expense of one specific stat - the one that drops the most is the speed stat (Garchomp, Ampharos, Abomasnow...). Since it's not all about the stats, the new ability (one is generally added) and possibly a different typing (which depends largely on the design) further contribute to changing the Pokemon we're so used to into something completely new. What this can do to the metagame was very vividly experienced when Mawile's status changed from unusable to Uber in a fortnight.

Mega Beedrill took the scene by surprise, too, and there was one detail I focused my attention on - the special attack dropping to give Beedrill more BST to work with, which naturally went into the offence. Coupled with Adaptability, who would've thought Beedrill would be worth something several years back?

Now let's take Farfetch'd for example; here's what we have so far:

52 / 65 / 55 / 58 / 62 / 60

352 total - hey, it's only 28 less than Sableye and Mawile!

Now, none of these look too promising yet even before we attempt to distribute 100 BST across the board with the accent put into specific stats of note. So how about we extract those special attack bases? Let's go all the way and, since Shuckle a base speed stat of 5, reduce FFd's special attack from 58 all the way down to 5. That's 53 BST we're saving up, so why not go ahead and dump it into physical attack! 65 + 53 makes 118, which is already quite respectable. We still have a good deal of customisation to do, but what do we do with the other stats?

Why not look at FFd's typing first? Stealth Rock weakness + weaknesses to 3 other common attacking types. Surely the typing would be dictated by the direction of the design, so what could possibly happen to FFd? It's a bird standing on the ground, so this idea could be developed into a fighting/flying bird, but that's a bit too many weaknesses - ground/flying is Gliscor's typing and it's proved to be a useful one by now. If it's mean-looking enough, giving Farfetch'd Earthquake could be justified (though the regular FFd would need to be able to use it as well). One can never go wrong with Skarmory's typing either, of course, but the design would require more imagination, too. After Mega Slowbro though, anything can be done, can it not?

Now, moving on to the ability... Keen Eye/Inner Focus/Defiant won't really do, and we need to settle on something peculiar. A new ability entirely perhaps, or a rare existing one - something that we can find on another bird maybe? How about Talonflame's Gale Wings? It's used by a bird with a better defensive typing now, with access to Brave Bird who already has more attack than Talonflame itself.

Right, those other 100 BST. We could drop some more into attack, making priority Brave Bird heavier, but we're probably not aiming for Mega Heracross-level physical attack, so some 41 BST could be thrown into speed and 30-ish or so into the defences so that it doesn't die to a single neutral hit. That's 29 + 118 = 147 physical attack?

And now let's take a look at it again:

Ground/Flying
Gale Wings
52 / 147 / 70 / 5 / 77 / 101
Brave Bird
Earthquake
Swords Dance / Bulk Up
U-Turn or Roost or something else here

The attack (or even speed?) might really be too much so some of these points could be allocated to fix the defences further, but with 52 the bulk doesn't look very promising still and it won't be a Gliscor defensively anytime soon.

So the point I was trying to make? Get rid of the useless offensive type to make something being converted into Mega more menacing. Mega Mawile got some additional special attack for example, but imagine what it would be like if its second attack stat got sharply reduced akin to Mega Beedrill or this imaginary Farfetch'd I just developed on the spot.
While I get what you're pointing out, on the side I would like to mention that since Farfetch'd is suppose to suck would it even get a Mega Evolution (and if it did, would it be any good)? :P

But yeah, I agree that for Pokemon who are obviously based around one offensive stat there's really no need to put points in the weaker offensive stat and/or might be a better idea to take away points in that stat and pass them to its defensive stats, Speed, or even the other offense stat. Or this could work for defensive Pokemon such as Blissey. Take away that Special Attack it really isn't using and put those points in its Defense and Speed (as well as increase its already high Special Defense). Blissey's main way of attacking is Seismic Toss and Toxic anyway.
 

Codraroll

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As the title says. I love this franchise so much, that I will continue with nearly any approach they go on with in the future. However, I feel that they seem to be dumping more and more megas to pokemon. Do I like that? Sorta, but it breaks the balance of the storyline & competitive. When mega-beedrill was announced, I was just happy it got a mega, not realizing it would make it go from zero-to-top 10 megas!
I know it deserved one, but if Game Freak keeps doing this to mediocre/obscure pokemon (Audino,Beedrill,Mawile,Bannette,etc.) it turns the game too reliant on making better pokemon/megas. That happened to things such as the TCG of this game...forcing themselves to create a larger and larger power creep. Heck, mega Rayquaza doesn't even count as the 1 mega per pokemon rule!
So, my final words are: Does the community enjoy the idea of more mega pokemon coming out that may/may not outdo the existing ones?
Replying to this post from another (locked) thread because I think it's a sort of interesting question (though I have to agree with whoever locked it that it didn't warrant its own thread).

To start off, I think the purpose of Mega Evolutions, from a design perspective, is twofold.

The most obvious one to us on a competitive forum is of course the competitive aspect. Temporarily boosting the power of a team member makes for some interesting and diverse strategies, it gives the team a sort of "ace up the sleeve" to build its strategy around, or at least add extra oomph to an already well-built strategy. Focusing on the best way to utilise your key Pokémon - and taking down the opponent's - adds a new aspect to strategy. As does the long-winded comparison of options to find the right Mega to use.

However, with many Megas fighting for one team slot, it's inevitable that it's way easier for a Mega to fall out of use and into obscurity than it is for a regular Pokémon. Regular team members are kind of expendable, you have five or six of them, and if one doesn't perform very well, you might still stick it in there to do some niche job or another, if for nothing else then for exploring new options. However, Megas by definition have to be your strongest team member, you only have one shot of adding and using one, and if it doesn't do its job well, you might as well try a different Mega altogether. This means that an overshadowed Mega Evolution isn't just obscure, it's practically useless. If you can't use Mega A for the surprise factor, and/or another Mega could do the same job as Mega A only better, why would you use Mega A at all? As the number of Megas grow, so does the amount of roles/niches filled by multiple Megas. And some Megas will always do that job better than others, resulting in the "subpar" ones falling into obscurity. Indeed, it seems there are only room for so many Mega Evolutions on the competitive scene, and as new ones are added, old ones get pushed out of the limelight - or the new ones don't get into the limelight at all.
This can be detrimental if GameFreak decides to release stronger and stronger Megas so that the new ones will get the most fan exposure (= free marketing), but I have high hopes they'll be pragmatical and count on the novelty factor to give all new Megas some love after they are released. After all, that's what happens to newly-released regular Pokémon. Every generation has its Luvdisc, or Lumineon, or Carbink. Practically useless, doomed to never really excel on the competitive scene, but complaints are few and far between nonetheless. If the same were to happen to new Megas too, I think we'd be just fine. We have a tier for everything except the absolute worst of the worst, and those thrive in a limelight of their own with the sheer lulz factor they attract as Jokémons. The competitive scene can handle many more Megas, I'd say.


The second purpose of Mega Evolution can be summed up quite easily: Make the base form an in-game powerhouse. No matter the initial uselessness of the Pokémon, a properly-made Mega Evolution (read: Not Audino) will allow it to dive into most in-game battles and come out victorious. Gym leaders, evil teams and regular Trainers alike all fall before the bulldozer-like might of most Mega Evolutions, even though the base form is really crap (hi, Beedrill!). There are so many Megas out there that it'd be almost hard for a normal player NOT to have any Mega-capable Pokémon on his/her ingame team, especially considering all the gift 'mons you're handed which come with Mega Stones readily equipped. This practically ensures that:
1) Most teams will have a very handy tool for overcoming difficult battles, should they encounter any.
2) Players will be able to use their favourite Pokémon, even the underperforming ones, all through the game if they so desire. Mega Evolutions have been handed out to mostly player-favourite Pokémon in this early phase, and I daresay that among the most popular "favourite Pokémon" that haven't got a Mega, most are strong enough to pull their weight anyway. Exceptions do exist, of course, the Pikaclones being the most obvious ones, but if you fall for GameFreak's no. 1 marketing cliché and insist on using one, you deserve to have to drag an useless crapmon around the game anyway.

Basically, Mega Evolutions serve an in-game purpose both as an extra "Easy Mode" (as if any more were needed), and as a way to strengthen people's favourites so they don't remain useless. For this purpose, Mega inflation really doesn't have to be a worry, since "overshadowing" and "outclassing" is of no relevance in-game. Add as many Megas as you'd like, it still doesn't hinder the existing ones.


You can also argue for a third purpose, which is marketing. For instance, suddenly it's legit to drag Charizard to the front in merchandising again. Sableye can be put back on posters. People will start buying those leftover Lucario plushies from 2009. This aspect probably scales well too. Heck, you could even pull off the same trick several times, just make new alternate Megas when you want to make an already-Mega-capable Pokémon relevant again. Just slap an Ice type on a new Mega Charizard, and people will buy Charizard plushies even though they've gone tired of him twice already. As long as they don't add too many Megas at the same time, they could probably stretch this concept to infinity too. And even if they did, it'd just make the strategy less effective for certain individual Megas.
 
You can also argue for a third purpose, which is marketing.
I think the simple fact that Charizard has two megas shows that this is in fact the primary purpose.

I'd also add the general desire to add something new in each generation. Gen 2 severely changed the type chart in several different ways and added breeding and night/day. Gen 3 overhauled a bunch of mechanics, adding natures and weathers and abilities and double battles. Gen 4 had the physical/special split. But then Gen 5 really didn't have anything comparable, and I bet they felt a strong desire to add something huge to the games' mechanics for Gen 6, beyond even the addition of a new type (which I think was well executed).
 
Megas are extremely new to me, AS is the only pokemon game I've played since Pearl. I was extremely skeptical of megas at first. They seemed gimmicky, overpowered, and stupid. And to an extent they are. I'm not a large fan of the designs on most of them (mega salamence, lati@s, altaria, etc.) that all being said, it adds a very spicy twist to the pokemon recipe(food metaphors). That "oh shit" moment when your opponent who you thought you had the advantage over uses their mega-bracelet or whatever. Which to be fair, right now at least, can be easily predicted with the limited amount of megas to choose from. But, as the pool of megas to choose from inevitably goes and it becomes less predictable, it will add a level of depth to competitive pokemon, more so than it already has. I may not be a fan of the designs or honestly very cheesy name of "mega-evolving" but I can see it's uses, and wont complain that things are being mixed up a little.
 
I'm actually not worried about the expansion of Megas too much. Because while the next and last game this gen will inevitably give us somewhere between 20 and 30 new ones, I really doubt the next gen will because Mega Evolution was essentially this gen's gimmick. By next gen it won't be a new feature to show off and while exciting, it won't be as splashable and they'll be showing off their new features more instead. We'll probably get like... five or so Megas in the next gen's games or something but I don't see it reaching Gen 6 levels.
 
So, a few posts above I saw people arguing that giving a Pokémon a Mega-Evo cuts off their evolution. BUT what about a pre-evo? Pre-evos, like megas, are win-win, especially if they require incenses. For example, let's give Mawile, a ME'd Pokémon, a baby form. Mawile already has a tone of cuteness (bigass hair-jaw notwithstanding), so a baby one will be cuter. After that, lower it's stats by 75-125 BST, perhaps change its typing, and give it a very useful egg move, such as a Fairy-type move exclusive to the line with 90-95 BP and 100 Accuracy. After that, if people like it, great. If not, Mawile won't fall in the shadows like Sneasel, Magmar... Did.
On an unrelated note, I once used a Magby made from breeding the Pktopia Electivire and Magmortar in Pokemon Pearl and never evolved it, even thought I had two DS systems and the evolution item in my copy of Platinum. So I think new evos work the same: if the original is cool and strong enough, there is no need to evolve. Other things, like Togekiss and Tangela, needed an evo. Badly.
 

Pikachu315111

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So, a few posts above I saw people arguing that giving a Pokémon a Mega-Evo cuts off their evolution. BUT what about a pre-evo? Pre-evos, like megas, are win-win, especially if they require incenses. For example, let's give Mawile, a ME'd Pokémon, a baby form. Mawile already has a tone of cuteness (bigass hair-jaw notwithstanding), so a baby one will be cuter. After that, lower it's stats by 75-125 BST, perhaps change its typing, and give it a very useful egg move, such as a Fairy-type move exclusive to the line with 90-95 BP and 100 Accuracy. After that, if people like it, great. If not, Mawile won't fall in the shadows like Sneasel, Magmar... Did.
On an unrelated note, I once used a Magby made from breeding the Pktopia Electivire and Magmortar in Pokemon Pearl and never evolved it, even thought I had two DS systems and the evolution item in my copy of Platinum. So I think new evos work the same: if the original is cool and strong enough, there is no need to evolve. Other things, like Togekiss and Tangela, needed an evo. Badly.
Baby Pokemon have been discussed on other threads and they don't seem like a popular idea. Personally I like the idea of Baby Pokemon, however I won't disagree that GameFreak hasn't done anything with the idea. You'd think that by training up a Baby Pokemon you'll be able to access Moves that Pokemon would otherwise be unable to get, yet for the most part a Baby Pokemon doesn't learn anything different from its evolution, if anything they learn less. Also their stats could mean they can be placed on early Routes giving players access to stronger Pokemon if they go through the hassle of their Baby forms (and to be fair this has been done). Finally it could provide new Pokemon in Little Cup (not that I think GameFreak cares about Little Cup) with the same feel as their evolution (or maybe changed to fit another role).
 
Baby Pokemon have been discussed on other threads and they don't seem like a popular idea. Personally I like the idea of Baby Pokemon, however I won't disagree that GameFreak hasn't done anything with the idea. You'd think that by training up a Baby Pokemon you'll be able to access Moves that Pokemon would otherwise be unable to get, yet for the most part a Baby Pokemon doesn't learn anything different from its evolution, if anything they learn less. Also their stats could mean they can be placed on early Routes giving players access to stronger Pokemon if they go through the hassle of their Baby forms (and to be fair this has been done). Finally it could provide new Pokemon in Little Cup (not that I think GameFreak cares about Little Cup) with the same feel as their evolution (or maybe changed to fit another role).
Personally, I know a lot of people, both IRL and in the Internet, that like the baby Pokemon, including myself. I guess we surveyed different people then :p
 
I guess I should give my little opinion on Mega Evolution.
It's the only reason I'm really bothering to buy Gen 6 aside from Competitive.
I'm dead serious. Mega Evolution is literally the only breath of fresh air the series has had in about 10 years - Abilities were really the last big mechanic change - and it's a damn good one. The ability to either completely change the role of a Pokémon such as Pidgeot or emphasize the good points of a Pokémon to ridiculous degrees such as Beedrill strikes me as incredibly attractive, not to mention it's a method of bringing back old Pokémon with a new slant on them which isn't just some new move or ability that the casual player will barely notice. This is a surefire power upgrade that casual and competitive players alike can notice and enjoy - if done right, of course. The likes of Banette and Audino don't particularly inspire confidence, but for the most part Mega Evolutions are done at least decently and add a new flavour to the franchise. I'm incredibly sick of seeing people against them and annoyed that it's "Not Pokémon anymore" when again, this is literally the only really new addition since Abilities all the way back in 2002. I'll gladly take this over another 150 new 'mon of which only about half are enjoyable.
And of course, as a mechanic change it does add something interesting and new to the competitive side of the franchise. It can suddenly add a boost of power to your team when you need it most, in VGC you leave your opponents guessing just which Mega you're going to bring, etc. etc. There's so many ways to make this interesting, and the fact that you can only have one per battle and they can't use items just adds another dimension of dilemma when teambuilding. Sure, some are pretty broke - fucking hell, Salamence - but hey, we've had broke Pokémon in the past, and a lot of these Megas are supposed to be broken anyway, so I've no complaints.
I just love how this mechanic brings something completely new to the franchise that is also a sort of tribute to all past gens - sure Gen 5 only has Audino right now, but c'mon, come X2Y2 I'm sure we'll see the likes of Mega Volcarona creeping up - and adds a fun new dimension to competitive play. By far the damn best thing to happen to Pokémon since GSC.
 
I just love how this mechanic brings something completely new to the franchise that is also a sort of tribute to all past gens - sure Gen 5 only has Audino right now, but c'mon, come X2Y2 I'm sure we'll see the likes of Mega Volcarona FLYGON HELL YEAH creeping up - and adds a fun new dimension to competitive play. By far the damn best thing to happen to Pokémon since GSC.
Fixed ;)
In all seriousness though, I agree with you in all points, especially the one when you mention that ~30 megas and 70 Pokemon > 150 mons where only half are enjoyable. Adding more and more Pokemon just makes the game's actual main objective - to catch 'em all - more of a pain in the butt, whereas megas don't. I'm pretty sure GF noticed that.
what about the likes of Fearow and Unfezant (especially the last which has two forms based on gender).
Inb4 Mega-Unfezant Male and Mega-Unfezant Female
 
Last edited:

Pikachu315111

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I just love how this mechanic brings something completely new to the franchise that is also a sort of tribute to all past gens - sure Gen 5 only has Audino right now, but c'mon, come X2Y2 I'm sure we'll see the likes of Mega Volcarona creeping up - and adds a fun new dimension to competitive play. By far the damn best thing to happen to Pokémon since GSC.
Adding onto this, with many of the popular choices done (sure we still have some to do, but for the most part the Megas we want we got) I'm especially interested in seeing what they plan on doing with, shall we say, less competitive Pokemon. Seeing Pidgeot and Beedrill getting a Mega Evolution makes me glad they aren't forgetting the Gen Birds/Bugs/Rodents (even though they haven't done a rodent yet) instead of specifically focusing on Pokemon you catch late game.

But with Pidgeot and Beedrill done that does bring on a new question, what will they do with the other Gen Birds and Bugs? They've did a pretty good job as making the best of those two, but they can't do the same thing with all the others. For example, while making Pidgeot a Special attacker has given them some room, they still have 5 other gens with 4 having Normal/Flying-types. While I can see something they could do for Noctowl, Swellow, Staraptor; what about the likes of Fearow and Unfezant (especially the last which has two forms based on gender).
 
From an artistic standpoint, Mega Evolution sure presents a splash of color in a cartridge battle! Not to mention it helped some Pokemon who weren't highly powerful become a lot stronger, like Mega Mawile.

Its also really eerie though because... wasn't it necessary for billions of Pokemon to lose their lives in a war in order to make Mega Evolution possible?
 
Mega Venusaur has a nice design, even if it wasn't changed that much from standard Venusaur's design. It's a good wall, but it doesn't have many options to use outside of the typical Leech Seed and Giga Drain. It's lucky to have Sleep Powder though, and Thick Fat was a brilliant idea.

Mega Charizard X is a very cool redesign of Charizard. The black complimented with the blue flames is pretty interesting. It turns into the opposite of standard Charizard as a Physical attacker, and a very powerful one too. Mega Charizard Y has the great niche of Drought to increase its fire-power, and instant access for Solar Beam. Its design isn't too changed from standard Zard, and I'm not a huge fan of it, but it's acceptable.

Mega Blastoise is good for multipurpose. It has nice access to Rapid Spin, but my problem is that Mega Launcher makes it one sided. You have a pretty good idea of what it will run, and this why Mega Launcher isn't a favorite ability of mine. Still, I like using it, even if it is a bit generic as a bulky offensive water type. The design is a bit funky, and even in an interview, a Game Freak worker said that they all felt that Blastoise's design was a bit funky looking. You could probably find it buried in the website's archive.

Mega Beedrill has a kickass Beedrill design and is a huge glass cannon. It's big gamble to use one, and it can't afford to be hit. I have used one before, and it's actually pretty satisfying watching it wallbreak. Definitely the improvement Beedrill needed. Now about Butterfree....

Mega Pidgeot also suffers from being one sided. Focus on Special attack hurt. And it wasn't like Blastoise or Lopunny where they changed the movepool to help it out. Mega Pidgeot is just kinda stuck as a Special Attacker. Heat Wave, Hurricane, U-Turn, Roost. No Guard is awesome, but that means you have to deal with 100% accurate Thunders and Stone Edges. Still pretty enjoyable to use, and a nice design.

Mega Alakazam is also a glass cannon, and a special one. Ridiculous firepower, faster than a Ninjask, it can easily sweep so long as it doesn't miss or get hit by a physical attack. Seriously, a half-decent Crunch will do loads of damage to this thing. While I have yet to use it, I do think it looks fun. The design is decent, but what happened too his legs? Did he get mercury poisoning or something?

Mega Slowbro is one I have yet to use. Looks like a pretty annoying wall. I'd love to try it out sometime. The design looks okay, but I kinda wish they went for something else. First off, I don't like how they changed his jolly facial expression to something so depressing. Kinda like Oshawott's ^ mouth. Seriously, I could kick Slowbro over and it couldn't battle anymore. Also, I like how it reflects the movements of other trainers' Slowbro in the anime, which usually spun on the tip of their shell. Still wish they tried a different design choice.

Mega Gengar can be decent in Ubers, but a bit too frail for my taste. It's powerful, and Shadow Tag makes it great, but it also hurts him because he's kinda overwhelmed in the Ubers tier. Nice design though, I especially like the different shades of purple. That Perish Trapping tho.

Mega Kangaskhan can be a pain to face off against. Sucker Punch, Return, Fake Out, Power-Up Punch, and Parental Bond are pains in the ass. Otherwise, it's a pretty ordinary Mega with underwhelming stat boosts. But that ability changes everything. Nice concept too- pretty original.

Mega Pinsir surprised me like everybody else with the Flying typing, but they way they introduced it with Aerilate was genius. Even though you need to be weary of the Rocks, you have goddamn Aerilated Quick Attack. Nobody fucks with Aerilated Mega Pinsir. "DON'T FUCK WITH THIS PINSIR!" Very fun to use.

Mega Aerodactyl is useless due to being outclassed by its regular self with the Life Orb. It's still decent, but not my first choice for a Mega slot. Nice rock goatee though.

Mega Mewtwo X is opposite of standard Mewtwo in that he's designed to be a Physical attacker. Too bad he's basically only got Drain Punch for the Fighting type move, unless you choose to go mixed for STAB Focus Blast. Design looks like he has some weird lumpy suit on him. Mega Mewtwo Y is my favorite of the two. The crotch hat was nice touch, and although its movie appearance was awful, it pimps out with the highest Special Attack in the game. Respect. Practically god like. Mega Evolution with Mewtwo was not necessary, however, and it makes little sense. Mega Stones were developed by AZ's weapon, before Mewtwo was even created. So it makes no sense for him to even have one Mega Stone.

Mega Ampharos has no need for the Dragon typing, and all she has to use for it is Dragon Pulse. Technically, you could use Outrage, but a base Attack of 95 in comparson to a Special Attack of 165 says not. Although the Dragon typing was useless, Mega Ampharos was handy in giving Amphy more bulk. Haven't used her, but I'm looking forward trying it out at some point. Decent design- not great, not horrible.

Mega Steelix is what happens when you don't pay attention to how you design a Mega. It's essentially Mega Aggron, but more offensive. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure Mega Steelix is great, and I really would like to use it, but for now, Mega Aggron is a bit better since it has Filter on its side. As an offensive Mega Aggron, it works out well. Plus, it's Steelix. He deserved a Mega. Cool design too.

Mega Scizor has a weird design. What with the peglegs and the crazy kindergarten scissor blades. Regular Scizor has a cooler appearance, but Mega Scizor does great on capitalizing the Swords Dance set, and providing decent bulk as well. Swords Dance is my favorite set for Scizor, so a Mega that capitalizes on it gets my seal of approval. I've used it, and it's honestly not that much different from standard Scizor.

Mega Heracross is awesome! Skill Link is amazing. I've Baton Passed it some Agilities and Swords Dances. It wrecks shit up. Spamming these multi-hit moves is so fun. I never want to use standard Heracross again! Nice design too. Arm Thrust is underrated. At least Arm Thrust doesn't lower your Defenses.
http://replay.pokemonshowdown.com/almostanyability-213347980 Even in AAA, this thing comes out with sparkling colors.

Mega Houndoom is forgettable. Solar Power requires too much support for me to like it, and if you don't use it- congrats, you have a useless ability. I understand it makes you more powerful, and BL2 (or wherever it is) is a good ranking for it. I almost never see it. It's just "eh." Thank goodness they improved the Speed though. And hey, I still like it. Cool design too.

Mega Tyranitar is neat. Tyranitar didn't need a Mega, but this was a welcome addition. Although he's kinda forgettable in my opinion, he is a must for Sand Teams. Can be very powerful, Stealth Rock and Dragon Dance fucks everything up. Regular Tyranitar on steroids. Cool design too, though I don't know how it moves around with those branchy appendages.

Mega Sceptile is awesome. He's amazing casually. My favorite of the Hoenn starter Megas. The Dragon typing was also a bit more justified, and it had just enough to work with it. I kinda prefer Unburden Sceptile a bit more, but in OR/AS story mode- where I used him the most- he was a blast. I have used him competitively- he's not bad in that department either.

Mega Blaziken is a Mega of my second favorite Pokemon. If you don't have Speed Boost on your regular, don't worry- there's this Blaziken to use. I like regular Blaze's design more, but this one isn't bad. Speed Boost spam and slightly more bulk help Blaziken butt rape the opposition. Not too much different from regular Blaziken.

Mega Swampert is a hard design to get used to, the best comparison I can think of being Emboar. But when you get around the girth of it, and you realize that Mega Swampert is actually buff- not fat- you start to appreciate it. A powerhouse, can work for bulky offense, has Stealth Rock access, can spam Swift Swim- perfect Mega.

Mega Gardevoir invented Pixelated Hyper Voice, and although outshined by Mega Altaria, I still like her. I like her habit of always standing under a running air vent, and is a pleasing upgrade for any Gardevoir fan. Recently, I've grown to like Gardevoir, and I'd like to try her Mega Evolution out sometime. Iron Head sucks though.

Mega Sableye is just surprising. His regular form's version of Prankster gets really annoying, and its access to Recover doesn't make things easier for you. Magic Bounce means you can't cripple it, so you can't interrupt its walling fun. It can plague your team with Will-O-Wisp and I have to say that I love the Ruby / Emerald. Cool design, amazing at being a wall- perfect Mega.

Mega Mawile is unfortunately cursed with a banishment to Ubers. It's outclassed there and at the bottom of viability rankings. But at least I like her. She's a blast to use in Ubers, Sucker Punching Deoxys and all of that stuff. Base 210 Attack could be imagined as unimaginable before Gen six. Way to go Mega Mawile! Cool design too. Named my Mega Mawile "Horn Problem."

Mega Aggron was nice to use. Even though he didn't match my playstyle, he's a good Stealth Rock user. Filter makes it difficult to take him down, and what makes it harder is the loss of the Rock typing. The Sp. Defense is kind of a downer, and the biggest reason why I didn't like using Mega Aggron. Water wrecks you, as do Strong Fire type moves. Cool design though, I really like the emphasis of making Aggron look like a wall.

Mega Medicham is forgettable too. I've only used it once in a ranbat. I think Pure Power buffs its Attack to like... 200. Still not the same as Mega Mawile though, especially since outside of Attack, it's just your regular, mundane Pokemon. The typing might also be a factor. Lack of priority hurts it too. Design is pretty generic too, but I like it nonetheless.

Mega Manectric is just a Manectric with more power. Intimidate is nice to help screw around with your opponents, and it can take advantage of this thanks to STAB Volt Switch and Electric only having one huge weakness. Some think the design is kinda silly looking, but I think it fits Manectric well. Glad to see that they acknowledged its popularity.

Mega Sharpedo is weird, since it requires you to set up with Speed Boost first, and then go into the more powerful Mega Sharpedo. Strong Jaw is about as useless as Mega Launcher, only giving you the options of Crunch and Ice Fang. Otherwise, you have to waste a slot on Protect, and you're pretty predictable. Not to mention frail as well. Reliance on Speed Boost is a bit harsh. When it sets up, MegSha is a powerhouse, but if you get taken out too early, you just wasted your Mega slot. And when they were Mega Evolving this thing, I was kinda expecting them to give it a butt, but instead, they extended the other end of his body instead. And hey, I still like Mega Sharpedo. He's fun to use, especially in Monotype.

Mega Camerupt is a well-designed Mega. They made him a volcano camel. It's beautiful. Not even joking. As far as how it plays, it's pretty powerful offensively, and is guaranteed to fuck your shit in Trick Room. I used it back when it was NU, and it was pretty enjoyable. In the sun, you'd better hope you can take it out quickly. The slow speed is a bit of a downer, but to be fair, I don't know how you could make something like Camerupt a speed racer.

Mega Altaria schooled Sylveon and Mega Gardevoir. She's bulky and incredibly difficult to eliminate, no thanks to Roost, and with Pixilated Hyper Voice, as well as a very good defensive typing- Mega Altaria is a monster. It's powerful, yet tricky to take it out. The design is kinda lacking- just a bunch of clouds. But imagine taking a nap in that fluff.

Mega Banette's game revolves around Prankster. Prankster Will-O-Wisp, Prankster Destiny Bond- both are huge things to be careful of when facing it. After being in Dusknoir's shadow for so long, it was nice to see it score a Mega while he watched Dusknoir rot away in PU (I still like Noir tho). A large Attack stat makes STAB Shadow Sneak pretty strong, and it gets stuff like Sucker Punch. It would have been nice if they could have added the Dark typing, but what are you gonna do? Cool design as well.

Mega Absol fixed everything that made regular Absol lacking. It's designed to be an offensive sweeper, and it has a large movepool to do this. Decent Speed, great Attack, and usable Special Attack work nicely. Too bad it can't take any hits. Beware of Magic Bounce too folks- take it from a guy who always forgets about it. Sucker Punch from Mega Absol will wreck you. Cool design too, really capitalizes on Absol's concept.

Mega Glalie is one of my favorites. It was nice seeing him climb up to RU. Although the nice argument was presented that wasting your Mega Slot on something you're going to just Trash in the end is a bit pointless, I still like Mega Glalie. I have yet to release the Refrigerated Tsar Bomba, but I've got a Glalie named Mo that I use casually in OR/AS. Refrigerated Headbutt does the job nicely, and you don't have to recharge or waste a Revive. Cool design too, but I kinda feel bad that he had to break his jaw to achieve that. 100 Speed isn't enough to work with, but still, I'd gladly take one into battle. As always- set up your hazards and explode yourself.

Mega Salamence is the perfect way to Mega Evolve Salamence. You give it the essential Flying type powerhouse ability, Aerilate, ridiculous stat upgrades, a hang glider for wings, and he's all set. I haven't used one, but I bet it's awesome.

Mega Metagross is so much fun. They tried to ban him from OU, but you can't tell this guy where to go. He eats up hits perfectly and destroys everything with its Attacks. Nice design too. Great Mega Evolution to a Pokemon who was previously the one most robbed of a Mega.

Mega Latios seems to be more popular than Mega Latias, but I like Latias better overall. Probably because of the Defenses. Basically what you'd expect from OU Dragons. Not much to say here.

Primal Groudon is amazing to use, and a staple to any Ubers team. With my Primal Groudon, Do U Even Sun?!, we get rid of as many threats to the team as we can. Spam Precipice Blades! Show no mercy to those Water type bastards! Desolate Land will wreck you! Truly everything the previously outshined Groudon needed. Primal Kyogre isn't as good as Primal Groudon, since the rain can't be used to support the rest of the team. And being able to blot out a type that youw ere resistant to anyway doesn't help. You're still pretty good though, and you still get to spam Thunder, but I'd rather use Primal Groudon. Scarf Kyogre is the way I'll go with Ubers Water types.

Mega Rayquaza's mighty wins can blow away sunlight, rainfall, sleet, and sandstorms. Delta Stream gets rid of his weaknesses and completely eliminated the glue that held the Pokemon Meta together. They had to create the most fucked up tier for him so that he wouldn't terrorize the Ubers tier.
Awesome design though.

Mega Lopunny is a nice improvement to what was previously a sub-par normal type. Scrappy meant it didn't need to worry about Ghosts, High Jump Kick meant it got an essential STAB, Normal/Fighting proved to pair well, and your sweeping abilities and movepool are amazing. Very much fun to use. Design is decent.

Mega Garchomp isn't as fun as standard Garchomp. You have to lose some Speed, and that changes it all. I'll just stick to eating some Leftovers and spamming Swords Dance behind my Substitutes if that's okay. I still like him though. Not as bad as a design as people say, though I can understand why some may not like it. I myself prefer original Garchomp's design to Mega Garchomp's.

Mega Lucario is awesome! I love Lucario so much. Very fun to use, and a rather cute Pokemon to tickle.... Cute little jellybean piggies.... ... In the show, he can pair well with any trainer, even the annoying ones (some guy named Camera or something). Giving Mega Lucario Adaptability meant that he could wreck Fairies and anything else weak to Steel or Fighting. He gets more priority moves than any other Pokemon I have ever come across. Haven't used one competitively, but casually, he's very fun to use.

Mega Abomasnow is a must for Hail teams, but since Hail isn't that viable, Mega Abomasnow isn't so much so either. Still, in the Hail, it's very powerful, and it's typing- while horrible- is nice offensively and pairs together to make a nice movepool. Ice Shard is always nice, as is the recovery Abomasnow is gifted with by his Grass typing. Fun to use, but the typing is a downer. Cool design.

Mega Gallade has... Inner Focus? Why? Ugh, that aside, pretty much regular Gallade with stat boosts. Nothing new (seriously... you couldn't even have used Steadfast?). But hey, it's still decent. I don't know much about Megallade. Not too much to say. Cool design- nice cape.

Mega Audino is NU's prized Mega Evolution. Kinda similar to Cresselia. Great bulk, nice movepool, several sets, fun to use, cool design. No complaints here.

Mega Diancie is a pain. It can set up Rocks, can be an anti lead (because they had to give it Magic Bounce), and gave it ridiculous offenses. Diamond Storm's secondary effect is a total bitch to deal with. I haven't used Mega Diancie yet. Looks like something I would enjoy though.

And that's all of my thoughts on the Megas. I sure hope this doesn't violate any rules, because I worked all night on this post....
 

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^That's an interesting observation, but surely you've got more thoughts to share than that? Come on, don't be shy, the thread was created for discussion after all.
 
The thing I like the most about Evolution is that it gives Gamefreak a bit of a way to "test" how a Pokemon is used, and then consider that for the Mega, either building on their current role or building a role when they realize people haven't used it for anything.
- Venusaur was being used primarily for Sun. With the nerf, it's Mega took on a near completely different role
- Charizard got 2 different Megas for either offense, based on either Solar Power (Y's Drought) or physical DD/BD (Zard-X).
- Gengar was made as a Glass Cannon, but since people used its disruptive movepool, they gave it Shadow Tag, arguably the best support ability in the game
- Metagross fell out of favor because of power and speed creep, so a Speed Buff was the primary focus of the Mega, with Tough Claw circumventing the low attack buff.
- Scizor's a bulky pivot, so they kept Technician and buffed his defenses so he could take more hits.

Just to name a few ideas I've noticed. The problem with Gen 4's additions in some cases was overhauling the designs with something that carried an "incomplete" stigma on the base Pokemon. Since the evolution is also a permanent change/maturation, the design change is arguably more drastic than the Mega Evolution, in that evolution is changing to a new form/body, whereas Mega Evolution is usually just making some additions to the existing design with a few exceptions (Zard-X or Audino springing to mind immediately with the color scheme changes).
 
I really wish I could change my vote now - what I used to dismiss a fan-appeasing gimmick I've since come to appreciate as pretty cool anyway. For comparison, Super Smash Brothers is basically "Fan Service: The Game" - and that's precisely what makes it so awesome. Megas are kind of the same, and even made me appreciate some Pokemon I'd previously overlooked - the design of Mega-Banette is really creepy-awesome.
 
I don't like mega evolutions very much. Sure, the stat boosts are great and all, but almost all of the designs are absol-utely painful for me to look at. I am honestly extremely dumbfounded and baffled by how they have become so praised and popular. Maybe it has to do with it being all about the stat boost. Nobody ever really seems to talk about the design when praising mega evolution, only the stat boosts, which sort of goes against the whole point of pokemon.

The visual designs of mega-Pokemon are so laughably over-the-top and unnecessarily complex, that it almost ruins the actual pokemon for me.

For example: Aggron is hands-down my favorite steel type ever, but his mega evolution is butt-ugly, like really butt-ugly.

Heres a quick comparison:



Epic. His design is simple yet effective. It has this Godzilla-steel-titan look to it, and is intimidating to look at.



It's intimidating for sure, but ridiculously overdone! Where do I even begin? Okay, so his awesome helmet-thing becomes elongated in the most bizarre fashion, with his horns sticking through at this odd angle. His shoulder spikes stand out way more than they should. Previously they had this shoulder armor-plate look to them, but now they stand out way too much with some weird curved shape to boot! He doesn't even stand up properly. Finally, his tail has these stupidly massive metal rings around them, and is straight. Dear god why is his tail perfectly straight? Oh yeah, because of those massive. freaking. metal. rings. Tails aren't even supposed to be straight!

And this isn't just a problem with aggron, it's a problem with nearly every mega-pokemon. Pokemon like mega blaziken are fine though, since those designs are relatively simple and look rather nice.

And then theres the issue that pokemon with mega evolutions cannot gain further evolutions, due to the nature of mega evolution itself. This picture should explain the rest.



Mega Rayquaza's mighty wins can blow away sunlight, rainfall, sleet, and sandstorms. Delta Stream gets rid of his weaknesses and completely eliminated the glue that held the Pokemon Meta together. They had to create the most fucked up tier for him so that he wouldn't terrorize the Ubers tier.
That video was amazing and hilarious! I'm definitely going to use that stat-buff-pass strategy whenever I get around to it. I'm gonna troll the PSS big-time!
 
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I don't like mega evolutions very much. Sure, the stat boosts are great and all, but almost all of the designs are absol-utely painful for me to look at. I am honestly extremely dumbfounded and baffled by how they have become so praised and popular. Maybe it has to do with it being all about the stat boost. Nobody ever really seems to talk about the design when praising mega evolution, only the stat boosts, which sort of goes against the whole point of pokemon.

The visual designs of mega-Pokemon are so laughably over-the-top and unnecessarily complex, that it almost ruins the actual pokemon for me.

For example: Aggron is hands-down my favorite steel type ever, but his mega evolution is butt-ugly, like really butt-ugly.

Heres a quick comparison:



Epic. His design is simple yet effective. It has this Godzilla-steel-titan look to it, and is intimidating to look at.



It's intimidating for sure, but ridiculously overdone! Where do I even begin? Okay, so his awesome helmet-thing becomes elongated in the most bizarre fashion, with his horns sticking through at this odd angle. His shoulder spikes stand out way more than they should. Previously they had this shoulder armor-plate look to them, but now they stand out way too much with some weird curved shape to boot! He doesn't even stand up properly. Finally, his tail has these stupidly massive metal rings around them, and is straight. Dear god why is his tail perfectly straight? Oh yeah, because of those massive. freaking. metal. rings. Tails aren't even supposed to be straight!

And this isn't just a problem with aggron, it's a problem with nearly every mega-pokemon. Pokemon like mega blaziken are fine though, since those designs are relatively simple and look rather nice.

And then theres the issue that pokemon with mega evolutions cannot gain further evolutions, due to the nature of mega evolution itself. This picture should explain the rest.





That video was amazing and hilarious! I'm definitely going to use that stat-buff-pass strategy whenever I get around to it. I'm gonna troll the PSS big-time!
Yeah, totally agree on Aggron. He had a perfect design, and they messed him up by making his Mega look too bulky.

And I agree that they should not give 1st or 2nd stage Pokémon Mega Evolutions unless they are already too powerful to receive a normal evolution that would probably make them broken, such as Lucario.
 
I don't like mega evolutions very much. Sure, the stat boosts are great and all, but almost all of the designs are absol-utely painful for me to look at. I am honestly extremely dumbfounded and baffled by how they have become so praised and popular. Maybe it has to do with it being all about the stat boost. Nobody ever really seems to talk about the design when praising mega evolution, only the stat boosts, which sort of goes against the whole point of pokemon.

The visual designs of mega-Pokemon are so laughably over-the-top and unnecessarily complex, that it almost ruins the actual pokemon for me.

For example: Aggron is hands-down my favorite steel type ever, but his mega evolution is butt-ugly, like really butt-ugly.

Heres a quick comparison:



Epic. His design is simple yet effective. It has this Godzilla-steel-titan look to it, and is intimidating to look at.



It's intimidating for sure, but ridiculously overdone! Where do I even begin? Okay, so his awesome helmet-thing becomes elongated in the most bizarre fashion, with his horns sticking through at this odd angle. His shoulder spikes stand out way more than they should. Previously they had this shoulder armor-plate look to them, but now they stand out way too much with some weird curved shape to boot! He doesn't even stand up properly. Finally, his tail has these stupidly massive metal rings around them, and is straight. Dear god why is his tail perfectly straight? Oh yeah, because of those massive. freaking. metal. rings. Tails aren't even supposed to be straight!

And this isn't just a problem with aggron, it's a problem with nearly every mega-pokemon. Pokemon like mega blaziken are fine though, since those designs are relatively simple and look rather nice.

And then theres the issue that pokemon with mega evolutions cannot gain further evolutions, due to the nature of mega evolution itself. This picture should explain the rest.





That video was amazing and hilarious! I'm definitely going to use that stat-buff-pass strategy whenever I get around to it. I'm gonna troll the PSS big-time!
7.8 / 10 Too many metal rings.
Design shouldn't the reason you use a Pokemon.
 

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