Mega Diancie will be good, dafuq are you talking about? It gets Earth Power and can HP Fire Scizor on the switch.My thoughts. These assume no major Move Tutor surprises etc.
Godly:
Salamence: It was good of Nintendo to only go with +10 Attack. Conventional Dragon counters like Azumarill and Clefable do not have the sheer bulk needed to take it on. Definitely the best candidate for a ban.
Btw, you can beat this defensively. Look back at gen 4. Physically defensive Porygon2 and Cresselia will still take this on nicely like they did back then. Porygon2 Traces Intimidate, then Thunder Waves and Ice Beams. Likewise Cresselia can easily beat it with the combination of Thunder Wave and Ice Beam. Offensively this Pokemon alone will keep Prankster Thundurus relevant as an S rank mon. Other offensive mons that do well in Salamence's metagame are Landorus-T (as usual) and Mamoswine.
Slowbro: The bulk makes Crocune look frail. Shell Armor, protection from Knock Off and a good movepool are even better. Great news for stall but this will fit any team. Status will be one of the best ways to beat this, but a RestTalk set would probably be surprisingly effective for that reason.
Excellent:
Sharpedo: Why is there not more hype for this? Speed Boost is pretty much the best base form ability there is. Protect can be used to grab boosts and ensure a safe transition. After one speed boost and mega evolution, a Sharpedo using Crunch will be effectively +1 Atk and Spe. Faster than nearly all Choice Scarfers with effectively the power of a Choice Banded Crunch. This is effectively a Pokemon that gets a free Dragon Dance just by using Protect. Sharpedo had 2 obvious problems: lack of power, and frailty leading to extreme vulnerability to priority. Now it has way more power and more bulk, with nice resistances to Aqua Jet, Ice Shard (which will become more relevant with Mamoswines everywhere) and Sucker Punch. Poison Fang can get it past Azumarill or Aqua Jet can get it past Talonflame. Right now this is looking like a faster and stronger Greninja(!).
Audino: Easily the most physically bulky Fairy with a great support movepool. 103/126/126 is significantly bulkier than even the likes of Mega Venusaur. Shame about the ability, but stats alone justify its use, and it can still abuse Regenerator if Mega evolution isn't necessary.
Altaria: Combines two of the best types in the game with a solid ability and tons of versatility. Stats and movepool can make it offensive or defensive and it's one of the few that switch into both Charizards.
Swampert: So many fast Megas will encourage lots of Thundurus use, and Swampert is like a better Swift Swim Seismitoad that can take any priority, so it could easily pay off. Probably will become a rain staple.
Decent:
Lopunny: Fast and powerful so it will be good against offence, but like many similar Pokemon it has trouble with switching in, Thundurus, Landorus-T and Talonflame.
Beedrill: Already overrated, this is comparable to some weird hybrid of Mega Manectric and Life Orb Scolipede. In the same way that Scoli hasn't taken the meta by storm, this won't either. It is just too easily walled by already common Pokemon like Scizor, Gliscor and Landorus-T. It is also easily brought down by priority and unlike Mega Manectric, doesn't exploit the presence of Thundurus and Talonflame. Extremely powerful U-turn will be the only reason to choose this above the other options.
Sceptile: Pair this with DD SubBounce Gyarados. This Pokemon is there to exploit overreliance on Thundurus and Rotom-Wash. Unfortunately it will just encourage more use of Talonflame and Mamoswine though. It will generally need the Lightning Rod boost to really stand out so it's a bit situational.
Metagross: Good stats, but 110 Speed is already really overcrowded and it's not as strong as it could have been. Its lack of high BP moves actually makes it weaker than Charizard X on average. At least it's balanced.
Gallade: Same Speed as Metagross but way harder to bring in. Offensively a lot more versatile though. Lack of interesting ability is disappointing.
Unspectacular/Bad:
Diancie: Scizor used Bullet Punch! At least it helps with Talonflame.
Sableye: Still too frail, Magic Bounce bothers stall but it's so easily exploited by Zard, Talonflame etc. just like it was already.
Steelix: It needs Coil and recovery or it's just going to be another Mega Aggron.
Pidgeot: Not really seeing what makes this much better than Noivern or Tornadus. Difficult to bring in, not that powerful, not even that fast by Mega standards. It has to get Focus Blast or common Pokemon like Tyranitar and Heatran will render it useless.
Camerupt: Trick Room appreciates options against Bisharp but that's the best thing to say about it. We already have Specs Heatran for TR Eruptions, and Azumarill ruins this. Would probably just not be worthwhile in higher level play.
Glalie: Refrigerate Explosion is something to fear but mono Ice typing is so bad it will be lucky to even get the chance. Mediocre Speed and defenses will hinder against offensive teams too much. It wishes it could hold a Choice Scarf. Don't know if this gets Rock Polish but if not, it needs it. Salamence being unbanned will actually benefit this as it can use Ice Shard well.
I don't think the metagame will change that much. Thundurus, Landorus-T, Mamoswine, Scizor and Talonflame will still be everywhere. Slowbro and Salamence are the most likely to force a rethink, but Sharpedo and Audino will change things too. Good to see more defensive stall-viable Megas. Screw Trick Gothitelle.
I hate people that think a Pokemon's gonna be bad just because of one weakness.
Eat up everything except Toxic.Slowbro is already OU...and there's no way in the world that mega slowbro is 'a bit iffy' that'll be OU. with fucking 180 defense and being able to cm/not get crit , it's going eat up everything. yummy and nutritious
