Mixing Things Up: A Beginner's Guide to Mix and Mega

What is Mix and Mega?

In a nutshell, Mix and Mega is a metagame where any fully evolved OU-legal Pokémon can hold any Mega Stone. Upon Mega Evolving, they get the stat, changes, new typing (if applicable), and ability that the stone would give the original holder. For example, the Altarianite gives Altaria base stats of 75/110/110/110/105/85, grants it a secondary Fairy typing, and changes its ability to Pixilate. This translates to a +40 boost to Attack, a +20 boost to Defense, and a +40 boost to Special Attack. So, if you gave Landorus-T the Altarianite, its base stats would become 89/185/110/145/80/91, it would become a Ground / Fairy-type, and it would gain Pixilate. Click here for an easy-to-view list of what Mega Stone does what. You activate the Mega Stone the same way you would ordinarily, by clicking the Mega Evolve button, and you can Mega Evolve as many Pokémon on your team as you wish. The boosts remain until the Pokémon faints. The Red Orb and Blue Orb activate immediately, as they would on Groudon and Kyogre. If a Mega Stone would take any of a Pokémon's Base Stats above 255 or below 0, the Pokémon can't use it. So Shuckle can't use the Sablenite, as it would take its Speed below 0 and its Defense and Special Defense above 255.

There are a few bans, though. The Kangaskhanite is banned on anything other than Kangaskhan. The Beedrillite, Mawilite, and Medichamite can only be used by Beedrill and by Pokémon that already have Huge Power or Pure Power, respectively. Likewise, the Blazikenite can only be held by Pokémon that already have Speed Boost. Since Shadow Tag is banned, nothing can hold the Gengarite. As well as all Ubers Pokémon being barred from holding Mega Stones, Smeargle, Slaking, Regigigas, Kyurem-B, Dragonite, and Cresselia can't use them either. Lucario can only use the Lucarionite.

What's Mix and Mega like to play?

For starters, and this probably won't surprise you, you will very rarely find anything not using a Mega Stone or Primal Orb. Therefore, don't use Knock Off, Trick, or Switcheroo—they're useless here. Offensive teams are the most common here: with such massive offensive stats being common, there's only so much you can reliably wall. That's not to say walls aren't viable: Slowbronite Blissey and Blue Orb Ferrothorn are both great Pokémon. But stacking multiple walls together is not a great strategy in Mix and Mega, as there are several Mega Stones that grant Magic Bounce, which renders a lot of weak walls setup fodder.

When you give a Pokémon a Mega Stone, the main aim is to reduce its flaws, buff its strengths, or give it an entirely new role.

Threatlist

Every tier has Pokémon you must prepare for, and Mix and Mega is no exception. These are those Pokémon.

Terrakion

Mega Stones: Lucarionite, Lopunnite

As I said a bit earlier, some Pokémon hold Mega Stones to buff their strengths, and Terrakion is one of the best examples of that in Mix and Mega. With the Lucarionite, it can boost its already excellent Speed and Attack while gaining Adaptability on those wonderful STABs. This turns an already dangerous Pokémon into an absolute monster that can 2HKO almost anything in its path. If you don't like bulky Ghost-types or you've used the Lucarionite elsewhere, the Lopunnite is a fine option as well, as it gives a greater Speed boost than the Lucarionite and Scrappy lets Terrakion spam Close Combat more freely. However, while Terrakion's typing is brilliant offensively, it gives it a slew of unfortunate weaknesses, and Stone Edge has a nasty habit of missing at the worst times.

Manaphy

Mega Stones: Absolite, Sceptilite

Manaphy's main issue in standard play is its only OK Speed. The Absolite soon patches that up, taking it up to a brilliant 140 while also buffing its Special Attack to an excellent 140. Add Tail Glow on top of that, and you've got one dangerous special sweeper. And let's not forget, mono-Water is a good defensive typing, and Manaphy still has solid 100 / 100 / 100 defenses. The Sceptilite's also a solid option: you don't get as much Speed as with the Absolite, but you get a Dragon typing that allows Manaphy to throw some of its usual checks a curveball by completely changing its weaknesses—Lightning Rod also gives it a useful immunity to Electric-type moves. Manaphy's only real drawback is its four-moveslot syndrome: Tail Glow, Scald, and Ice Beam are too good to pass up, so you have to choose either Energy Ball, which means most Red Orb users stop you cold, or Hidden Power Ground, which means most bulky Water-types stop you cold.

Victini

Red Orb Mega Stones: Red Orb, Aerodactylite, Pidgeotite, Cameruptite

We've covered a threatening physical attacker and a threatening special attacker—Victini has the USP of being able to do both equally well. Physical sets use either the Red Orb or the Aerodactylite. The Red Orb gives Victini a Water immunity and takes its V-create up to a planet-busting effective 405 Base Power, factoring in STAB. The Aerodactylite gives Victini a useful Speed boost and powers up its coverage moves that make contact, although this comes at the cost of a weaker V-create. The special set can also use the Red Orb, as Blue Flare hits incredibly hard off a base 150 Special Attack, and one-turn Solar Beams are always nice. The Pidgeotite, on the other hand, lets Victini fire off perfectly accurate Infernos, Focus Blasts, and Thunders, as well as giving it a nice Speed boost. The Cameruptite trades speed for power and bulk, and with Blue Flare, Psychic, Energy Ball, Focus Blast, Thunderbolt, and Glaciate all getting a Sheer Force boost, Victini will hit very hard indeed. The Speed penalty could even be used as an advantage, as Victini can set up its own Trick Room.

Blissey

Mega Stones: Slowbronite, Sablenite

At the other end of the spectrum, we have Blissey, the premier special wall in Mix and Mega. Its main flaws in standard play are its pitiful physical bulk and lack of offensive presence. The Slowbronite addresses both of these issues, taking its Defense up to a much better base 80, which combined with the highest base HP in existence lets Blissey survive a Close Combat from Lucarionite Terrakion! And with its newly buffed base 105 Special Attack, it can even be a good bulky special sweeper with Calm Mind. If you're worried about status and Taunt, the Sablenite is an option as well—for the price of some Speed, you get Magic Bounce and 185 base Special Defence. However, Blissey's pure Normal typing lacks resistances, and it can still find itself setup fodder.

Mew

Mega Stones: Pidgeotite, Sablenite, Lopunnite, Banettite, Ampharosite

With a movepool surpassed only by Smeargle, it's no surprise Mew's a popular choice in Mix and Mega. It can run just about any set you could ever want, ranging from sweeper to wall and all points in between. While Mew does still face stiff competition for a lot of its sets, it can nearly always find a niche that enables it to stand out. This means it can fit on teams of almost any playstyle, and while in standard play it's a jack of all trades, here, with access to most Mega Stones, it can be a master of any trade you want. Its only real flaw is its underwhelming mono-Psychic typing, but there are Mega Stones that can fix that.

Hoopa-U

Mega Stones: Diancite, Absolite, Lopunnite, Cameruptite

Hoopa-U is one of the hardest Pokémon to switch into in Mix and Mega. Normally, its two biggest problems are its average Speed and low Defense; however, there are Mega Stones that can address both of these issues. The Lopunnite, Absolite, and Diancite fix its Speed issue, turning it into a very fast, very powerful attacker that can 2HKO the entire metagame. The Cameruptite patches up its poor Defense and buffs its already huge attacking stats to insane levels at the cost of Speed. But like Victini, Hoopa-U can set up its own Trick Room, so even that isn't necessarily a problem. However, while there are Stones that can fix its average Speed or its low Defense, there isn't one that Hoopa-U can effectively use that does both simultaneously.

Groudon

Red Orb Mega Stones: Red Orb

The intended user of the Red Orb is still one of the best in Mix and Mega. While Primal Groudon may not be as common here as it is in standard Ubers, it's still an extremely threatening Pokémon. Great bulk, excellent attacking stats, and a solid movepool mean Groudon can perform a variety of roles on your team, from supporting with Stealth Rock to sweeping with Rock Polish. Desolate Land and its Ground / Fire typing leave it with a solitary weakness to Ground moves as well as five resistances and two immunities. However, Groudon is still slow without boosts, and its Special Defense is somewhat lacking. It also has no recovery at all, so passive damage can quickly build up.

Extreme Speed users

Mega Stones: Altarianite, Pinsirite

The -ate Speed strategy is commonplace in many Other Metas, and Entei, Arcanine, and Zygarde are the best users of that strategy here. With the Altarianite or Pinsirite giving STAB-boosted Extreme Speed, these three make excellent revenge killers and late-game cleaners. The Fairy typing granted by Altarianite gives them useful Fighting and Dark resistances and a Dragon immunity. They can also use the Pinsirite, as it lets Entei and Arcanine revenge kill weakened Primal Groudon and get surprise KOs on foes that would normally stop them, like Blue Orb Ferrothorn. However, it makes Entei and Arcanine extremely weak to Stealth Rock. Choose between Entei, Arcanine, and Zygarde depending on whether you prefer Entei's superior bulk and slightly higher Attack, Arcanine's superior movepool and more useful pre-Mega ability, or Zygarde's access to Dragon Dance. However, they all have underwhelming Speed.

Pidgeotite Special Attackers

The Pidgeotite gives the biggest boost to Special Attack of all Mega Stones, as well as a useful +20 Speed boost. However, the best thing about that Mega Stone is the ability it grants. No Guard lets you fling around perfectly accurate Thunders, Blizzards, Hurricanes, Focus Blasts, and even Hypnoses. Gengar hits extremely hard and has perfect neutral coverage with Shadow Ball and Focus Blast; Thundurus gets STAB Thunder, Focus Blast, and a boosting move in Nasty Plot; Tornadus-T has almost perfect neutral coverage with Hurricane and Focus Blast and a brilliant Speed tier; Starmie can employ an offensive Rapid Spin set with perfectly accurate Hydro Pump, Thunder, and Blizzard; and despite facing stiff competition from Victini, Ninetales has Nasty Plot and Hypnosis to set itself apart, and it can also take advantage of a few turns of sun in the beginning.

Get Out There

Mix and Mega is an Other Metagame that everyone should try, as it is one of the most creative ones out there. And it doesn't completely revolve around Extreme Speed, which is always nice.

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