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Hibernate: I completely agree with JayHankEdLyon on this. If this ever does get implemented anywhere, then you can try it out and see how strong it is, but for now, just leave it as is. Raider+Tempest: I think the abilities are kinda cool, but it isn't based on any in-game ability, so we can't guarantee its usability. I think they should be redone. Scavenger: 100% boost might make it usable. I recommend increasing it. Soulless: I disliked this ability in the first place.
It has to mega evolve first, so you can't just switch it in on an attacking mon.
Its only use is to kill one pokemon, so what is the point of sacrificing your mega slot for that?
I believe we should redo this pokemon completely. Trickster: I don't have a problem with the ability on a stronger pokemon, but Whimsicott can't do anything to opposing mons. Even if it walls its opponents completely, it doesn't have the speed to abuse it or the bulk. It also would be better if it had a better typing. It is now a better, stat-wise, whimsicott, but with an ability that it can't abuse as well. Change the ability or you could try redoing the stats, but I'm not sure how well that would work.
Adding block to the movepool would make its base form quite a bit stronger tho. No switching out from the leech seed o.-
Besides, its stats aren't bad, they just aren't good enough to abuse that ability properly.
I think Trickster is a super nifty ability, I just don't think Whimsicott is at all a good user of it. A strong Pursuit abuser or really anything sturdier would work wonders.
Welp, we only got a few votes, but it looks like my set won (see above post). I'll add them to the spreadsheet.
We still need to address the following abilities before moving on:
Hibernate+Sweet Dreams: How about Hibernate makes the user take 50% less damage instead of 75%? Raider+Tempest: Still don't like these. I say we simply reslate the two Pokémon. Scavenger: A 100% boost would make it a hell of a lot more viable without making it broken. Keep in mind how underwhelming its attack stat is without an item. Soulless: Probably a little uncompetitive, but I can't think of anything else that would make Shedinja viable. UNLESS it gets an ability called "Hazardous Remains" (or something along those lines) that sets up full layers of every hazard on the opposing team's side when it faints. Trickster: Lol this is not a good ability. Whimsicott still wouldn't make it out of RU with this. I would recommend reslating.
I think something along the lines of reducing the amount of damage Hibernate ignores would be taking a step in the right direction. I agree with reslating Raider+Tempest as I don't believe the idea of this pet mod was to create new unexplored mechanics. In regards to Scavenger, the damage increase might help with viability, but I'm not sold on that even, I feel it might be better to reslate it. For Soulless, I agree that it would be extremely difficult to make it viable without something like this, maybe the "hazardous remains" idea (though even that is kind of iffy I feel considering how prevalent defog is), or some extremely upgraded version of Wonder Guard; I think what may help balance Soulless would be an immunity to hazards as odd as that sounds, as it means that the opponent more or less gets to choose what dies, rather than the shedinja user being able to kill a mon just by switching in. Also agree on the Trickster front and with what JayHankEdLyon said, that it could be a useful ability... on a different pokemon, so I vote to reslate.
Glad to see all the Megas have been completed and there were enough troopers out there to stick out the entire process. =3
I'm glad this is finally at the review stage, because it became pretty clear over the course of the project that Megas were becoming increasingly powerful as time went on, since they needed more and more gimmicks/stats/unique abilities to stand out against the ones already made. I'm also glad there's a remake of the Wormadams--I literally threw those together while on vacation because there were no submissions for it the day they were supposed to be voted on.
Whimsicott was among the first Megas designed, so it didn't really have much of a benchmark as to what would be viable when considered against other Megas. In a sense, Megas for All is like the CAP process in that by making Megas to use in the metagame, we learn about what makes a Mega viable or not as well. Whimsicott is a prime example of this. When I designed it, I thought about how there was a lack of support Megas in the then-current metagame. Here's what I had to say about Mega Whimsicott:
Whimsicott was the original Prankster; he was the one everyone thought would make a big splash in the OU Metagame at the release of Black and White. However, as the metagame progressed, people began realizing that it wasn't as good as theorized; it eventually fell from OU, even losing its spot as favored Prankster to Sableye. X and Y granted it the new Fairy-type, but also introduced yet another Prankster--Klefki--to compete with it. This theoretical Mega Evolution seeks to differentiate Whimsicott from its competitors entirely by giving it a new, yet similarly flavored ability. Trickster (it even sounds like Prankster!) similarly focuses on status moves, Whimsicott's specialty. However, it in particular focuses on a sorely underused aspect of the game, stat lowering--particularly the lowering of your opponent's stats. By doubling only stat drops on foes, Trickster makes it so that boosting Whimsicott's own stats is not a necessarily better option than lowering that of your opponents. Mega Whimsicott seeks to take advantage of this in a variety of ways.
Whimsicott has a multitude of options when it comes to stat-lowering, so there was little need to give it any more. Fake Tears drops the opponent's Special Defense 2 stages, while Captivate and Charm do the same for Special Attack and Attack respectively. Tickle drops the opponent's Attack and Defense one stage each; between these, Whimsicott is capable of lowering all 4 of the opponent's main stats. Trickster turns the first three drops into a whopping 4-stage drop, and the last into 2 2-stage drops. With its newly given Nasty Plot, Whimsicott can then use the turn neutered opponents use to switch out to boost its Special Attack, or alternatively use Cotton Guard to raise its lower defense stats. Its boosted speed helps it move first against most opponents, even without Prankster.
Now, the stat drops Whimsicott can induce seem rather overpowered. However, despite the vast number of possibilities Trickster opens up, Whimsicott cannot take advantage of all of them--actually, it can only take advantage of precisely 4. Four-Moveslot-Syndrome is a major problem for Mega Whimsicott; only having an Attack- or Special Attack- lowering status move leaves it wide open to attack on the opposite side. On the other hand, having one of each severely neuters Whimsicott's own damaging or surviving capabilities, as it would be forced to either give up a healing, boosting, or attacking move to do so. Defiant (Bisharp) and Unaware (Clefable) are everywhere in OU, both of which stop Whimsicott cold. Its loss of Prankster leaves it susceptible to priority, especially things like Scizor's Bullet Punch and Mega Pinsir's Flying-type Quick Attack. Without Nasty Plot, Mega Whimsicott is unable to deliver much damage to opponents, since neither of its offenses even break 100. Finally, without Cotton Guard, Whimsicott's Defense is rather middling, leaving it particularly open to physical attacks unless it packs Charm or Tickle.
Mega Whimsicott may have its shortcomings, but its unique ability enables it to play a role unlike any other current Pokemon. Four-Moveslot Syndrome prevents it from being sufficiently prepared for every threat it faces, but with careful planning, it can be a potent, dangerous, and, most certainly, annoying foe to face in battle.
Back when there were only 10 or so other new Megas to measure up with, the idea of a support Mega sounded fresh and unique, especially one that took advantage of seldom-used stat drops. Over the months, though, I think we all (or at least, I hope we all) learned something about Megas: support Megas, especially frail ones, suck by design. While the idea that a Mega could help bolster other team members rather than outright sweep or wall on its own sounds good in theory, it rarely ever works out on its own, at least not by virtue of movepool alone. The problem is that if you're using a Mega for the effects it can cause, you'd almost always be better off using a regular Pokemon that could do almost the same job without taking up a Mega slot; even if it couldn't do said job as well (for example, Destiny Bonding or hazard-laying), the trade-off was a free Mega slot, which is almost always worth it. It even becomes more painfully apparent when you look at Mega Banette and Mega Glalie, both of which would be great support Pokemon on their own but aren't worth the Mega slot because standard Pokemon fill their support roles well enough without taking up the Mega slot. Therein lies the problem with some of these designs: frail support Pokemon just don't make good Megas, unless they manage to get a great ability or some other workaround to the problem.
With Whimsicott, keeping Prankster would not help it at all, since if you're using Whimsicott for its fast statusing you certainly don't need a Mega to get the job done. I haven't looked at many of the Megas in the fifth generation onwards, but I think one of the only ways to make Mega Whimsicott even remotely viable is to buff either its offenses or its defenses so that it can defend itself. Don't buff it enough so that it can outright sweep or wall on its own (and hopefully not so bulky that it can abuse Nasty Plot without taking advantage of switches), but enough so that it won't die to just anything.
The idea with Whimsicott is to force switches by lowering stats to give it room to boost with Nasty Plot, then taking advantage of its high speed to potentially sweep. Aside from Bisharp, Whimsicott's main limiting factor is its four move slots; it can neuter physical threats, it can stop special ones, it can boost its own special attack, it can raise its own defense and heal, it can status opponents--but it can't do them all at once. Focusing on Captivate to lessen special blows leaves it wide open to physical ones, for example, while taking on both Captivate and Charm robs it of either Synthesis or Nasty Plot. Using Whimsicott means picking and choosing your battles, because Whimsicott can only really shine when up against an opponent it can drop the main stat of. Again, this was the initial idea with Whimsicott, and since the circumstances have most certainly changed, I think some adjustments are more than warranted; one of the most notable changes, for example, is that we now have the freedom to deduct points from non-Speed stats, which we couldn't before. Whimsicott could probably do with some of that so that it is a bit more viable, but I haven't followed the last 60 or so Megas enough to know what is necessary to make that happen.
EDIT: Also this may not be the right time but I am still rallying to get my Florges submission's ability changed from Natural Cure to Gardener (set Grassy Terrain upon switch-in) because Florges lives in gardens and has Grassy Terrain as its signature move and would probably benefit better from the ability anyways with some minor stat changes. I made the ability for Florges, and only stuck it on Celebi because I didn't think I'd get much traction for Florges.
EDIT 2: Apparently I didn't give Whimsicott Synthesis. It really could use it, so assuming I still have the power to do so I approve of adding it to Whimsicott's movepool. It's not like regular Whimsicott has the bulk to really abuse it, at least not before Cotton Guarding.
Ability Comments:
Awareness - Meh. I didn't like it when it first came out, but have become indifferent to it over time; it is a weaker Magic Guard, but fits better flavorwise so I wouldn't mind if it stays or goes.
Dream Fulfillment - Did we figure out how to code this, FireArrow ? It sounds like it would be a pain.
Entrenchment - The wording on the document is unclear. Does it mean each time Speed is lowered, Defense is raised? Or Defense will be raised one stage per Speed drop? Because the latter would mean if Chesnaught went from -3 to -2 Speed, it's defense would drop from +3 to +2, wouldn't it?
Mineral Dissolve - I remember there was a big debate about this. I appreciate the fact that it was simplified to a Rock-type Dry Skin.
Pollinate - Didn't we agree to give spore- and powder- moves +2 priority instead of +1? That way, it had a (small) advantage over Prankster in that it could outspeed and status priority users in exchange for having a limited movepool compared to Prankster.
Raider - I personally don't think this would ever appear in a Pokemon game, it just seems so specific. The name is cool though, so even if we do end up entirely remaking the ability I would be totally OK theming it on the name alone.
Scavenger - Cool idea, and the general theme should be kept, but I think the numbers should be re-worked. Blaze, Swarm, Torrent, and Overgrow all also give a 1.5x boost, but have a type restriction and also only activate at 1/3. Scavenger activates at 1/2 and doesn't have a type restriction, making it outclass all other low-HP based abilities in two ways.
Soulless - Sure, I guess. Basically a guaranteed version of Mega Banette's DB (qq I really wish M-Banette was viable anywhere)
Tempest - See Raider; I get that a lot of abilities use moves upon switch-in (see, weather abilities, Magic Bounce, Intimidate, Propagate) but they all are support moves; attacking moves isn't something that has precedence in-game
Others: Petrified, Purify -- Neither of these have any precedence in-game, but since they fit flavor well I'm inclined to just let them slide
I really hope that this project does end up being supported on a server somewhere, even if I haven't been as active on it lately. Trust me, no one has put more time into submissions than me (at least, before I went AWOL), and I have a 79-page Word document in size 10 font of just Mega submission write-ups to prove it. It's a great enough achievement in itself that we as a community managed to design 300+ new Pokemon, let alone attempt to balance them competitively or even make them usable in real battles. Everyone should just take a moment and give themselves a pat on the back.
Glad to see all the Megas have been completed and there were enough troopers out there to stick out the entire process. =3
I'm glad this is finally at the review stage, because it became pretty clear over the course of the project that Megas were becoming increasingly powerful as time went on, since they needed more and more gimmicks/stats/unique abilities to stand out against the ones already made. I'm also glad there's a remake of the Wormadams--I literally threw those together while on vacation because there were no submissions for it the day they were supposed to be voted on.
Whimsicott was among the first Megas designed, so it didn't really have much of a benchmark as to what would be viable when considered against other Megas. In a sense, Megas for All is like the CAP process in that by making Megas to use in the metagame, we learn about what makes a Mega viable or not as well. Whimsicott is a prime example of this. When I designed it, I thought about how there was a lack of support Megas in the then-current metagame. Here's what I had to say about Mega Whimsicott:
Back when there were only 10 or so other new Megas to measure up with, the idea of a support Mega sounded fresh and unique, especially one that took advantage of seldom-used stat drops. Over the months, though, I think we all (or at least, I hope we all) learned something about Megas: support Megas, especially frail ones, suck by design. While the idea that a Mega could help bolster other team members rather than outright sweep or wall on its own sounds good in theory, it rarely ever works out on its own, at least not by virtue of movepool alone. The problem is that if you're using a Mega for the effects it can cause, you'd almost always be better off using a regular Pokemon that could do almost the same job without taking up a Mega slot; even if it couldn't do said job as well (for example, Destiny Bonding or hazard-laying), the trade-off was a free Mega slot, which is almost always worth it. It even becomes more painfully apparent when you look at Mega Banette and Mega Glalie, both of which would be great support Pokemon on their own but aren't worth the Mega slot because standard Pokemon fill their support roles well enough without taking up the Mega slot. Therein lies the problem with some of these designs: frail support Pokemon just don't make good Megas, unless they manage to get a great ability or some other workaround to the problem.
With Whimsicott, keeping Prankster would not help it at all, since if you're using Whimsicott for its fast statusing you certainly don't need a Mega to get the job done. I haven't looked at many of the Megas in the fifth generation onwards, but I think one of the only ways to make Mega Whimsicott even remotely viable is to buff either its offenses or its defenses so that it can defend itself. Don't buff it enough so that it can outright sweep or wall on its own (and hopefully not so bulky that it can abuse Nasty Plot without taking advantage of switches), but enough so that it won't die to just anything.
The idea with Whimsicott is to force switches by lowering stats to give it room to boost with Nasty Plot, then taking advantage of its high speed to potentially sweep. Aside from Bisharp, Whimsicott's main limiting factor is its four move slots; it can neuter physical threats, it can stop special ones, it can boost its own special attack, it can raise its own defense and heal, it can status opponents--but it can't do them all at once. Focusing on Captivate to lessen special blows leaves it wide open to physical ones, for example, while taking on both Captivate and Charm robs it of either Synthesis or Nasty Plot. Using Whimsicott means picking and choosing your battles, because Whimsicott can only really shine when up against an opponent it can drop the main stat of. Again, this was the initial idea with Whimsicott, and since the circumstances have most certainly changed, I think some adjustments are more than warranted; one of the most notable changes, for example, is that we now have the freedom to deduct points from non-Speed stats, which we couldn't before. Whimsicott could probably do with some of that so that it is a bit more viable, but I haven't followed the last 60 or so Megas enough to know what is necessary to make that happen.
EDIT: Also this may not be the right time but I am still rallying to get my Florges submission's ability changed from Natural Cure to Gardener (set Grassy Terrain upon switch-in) because Florges lives in gardens and has Grassy Terrain as its signature move and would probably benefit better from the ability anyways with some minor stat changes. I made the ability for Florges, and only stuck it on Celebi because I didn't think I'd get much traction for Florges.
EDIT 2: Apparently I didn't give Whimsicott Synthesis. It really could use it, so assuming I still have the power to do so I approve of adding it to Whimsicott's movepool. It's not like regular Whimsicott has the bulk to really abuse it, at least not before Cotton Guarding.
Ability Comments:
Awareness - Meh. I didn't like it when it first came out, but have become indifferent to it over time; it is a weaker Magic Guard, but fits better flavorwise so I wouldn't mind if it stays or goes.
Dream Fulfillment - Did we figure out how to code this, FireArrow ? It sounds like it would be a pain.
Entrenchment - The wording on the document is unclear. Does it mean each time Speed is lowered, Defense is raised? Or Defense will be raised one stage per Speed drop? Because the latter would mean if Chesnaught went from -3 to -2 Speed, it's defense would drop from +3 to +2, wouldn't it?
Mineral Dissolve - I remember there was a big debate about this. I appreciate the fact that it was simplified to a Rock-type Dry Skin.
Pollinate - Didn't we agree to give spore- and powder- moves +2 priority instead of +1? That way, it had a (small) advantage over Prankster in that it could outspeed and status priority users in exchange for having a limited movepool compared to Prankster.
Raider - I personally don't think this would ever appear in a Pokemon game, it just seems so specific. The name is cool though, so even if we do end up entirely remaking the ability I would be totally OK theming it on the name alone.
Scavenger - Cool idea, and the general theme should be kept, but I think the numbers should be re-worked. Blaze, Swarm, Torrent, and Overgrow all also give a 1.5x boost, but have a type restriction and also only activate at 1/3. Scavenger activates at 1/2 and doesn't have a type restriction, making it outclass all other low-HP based abilities in two ways.
Soulless - Sure, I guess. Basically a guaranteed version of Mega Banette's DB (qq I really wish M-Banette was viable anywhere)
Tempest - See Raider; I get that a lot of abilities use moves upon switch-in (see, weather abilities, Magic Bounce, Intimidate, Propagate) but they all are support moves; attacking moves isn't something that has precedence in-game
Others: Petrified, Purify -- Neither of these have any precedence in-game, but since they fit flavor well I'm inclined to just let them slide
I really hope that this project does end up being supported on a server somewhere, even if I haven't been as active on it lately. Trust me, no one has put more time into submissions than me (at least, before I went AWOL), and I have a 79-page Word document in size 10 font of just Mega submission write-ups to prove it. It's a great enough achievement in itself that we as a community managed to design 300+ new Pokemon, let alone attempt to balance them competitively or even make them usable in real battles. Everyone should just take a moment and give themselves a pat on the back.
You bring up some excellent points that I hope all will consider. I've always liked Awareness because it prevents certain users from becoming too OP with essential immunities to Burn and Toxic, among other things. Another broached concept is that of precedence. The goal of this project is to mimic what Game Freak might do were they given the task of creating Megas for All. Hence why we couldn't lower attack stats until recently and we can only drop the primary type of Normal/Flying mons (fuck Steelix lol). Using attack moves on switch-in is completely unprecedented, which is why I encoutage reslating Fearow and Dragalge. I'll address more when I reach a computer at some point today.
If Dream Fulfillment is indeed as difficult to code as you claim, then we can probably just assign it Hibernate to avoid being completely outclassed by Cresselia, who has Sweet Dreams iirc.
If you would like to adjust Whimsicott's stats, go right on ahead. Post them here and, as long as there aren't any major discrepancies, I'll edit the spreadsheet accordingly.
I strongly dislike the way the last few mages were handled, especially Kyurem-B and the genies. I do hope you guys will review them because right now they completely throw flavor out of the window and have a very "half-assed" feel.
In regards to a post on the last page about Luvdisc, it's never going to be viable with the ability it has because it is entirely outclassed by Meganium; I think one of the ideas of this project, though, is to allow each Mega to differentiate itself from other Megas so that even if it is outclassed in most situations, there are certain cases that may warrant its use--even the bad ones, like Luvdisc. I honestly think we should rework the submission and give it a new ability so that it at least does this--the whole point of making new abilities is so that a Mega can fulfill a niche no other one currently does, and with a Pokemon like Luvdisc, a new ability is certainly warranted because giving it any pre-existing ability basically guarantees it will be outclassed by a Pokemon that already has the ability. The general idea with Luvdisc is to function as support with Soothing Pulse, but auto-Aromatherapy is something that Meganium is able to do better than Luvdisc in all regards. The movepool and stats can stay the same, but I think we need to give it a new ability so that it at least has something to make it different, rather than an example of just throwing our hands up and letting it purposely be outclassed by another without even trying. Luvdisc is themed pretty heavily after love, so perhaps something having to do with abusing Attract to give it opportunities to throw out support moves? Or maybe take a page out of Paint Shield and Fur Coat and let it take half damage from Pokemon of the opposite gender; it essentially is the effects of both at once, but only works half the time so that it isn't purely an upgrade. Call it Sweetheart or something similar. In any case, Luvdisc really needs a new ability because as it stands there is nothing that distinguishes it from other choices, which isn't in the spirit of the project.
For Fearow, I searched up and read the initial justification for its ability, and the main purpose of Raider seems to be to encourage Fearow users to switch frequently and/or run U-Turn to take advantage of the free damage. Something that wasn't mentioned in the justification, but certainly is an implication of this, is that Mega-Fearow becomes an excellent revenge-killer that doesn't even need to wait for a turn to take out weakened foes. Tempest functions similarly, using Dragalge's great bulk to its advantage so that it doesn't have to pick and choose its switch-ins as carefully. Keeping in mind that the general idea for both Raider and Tempest is to encourage frequent switching of both Fearow and Dragalge and efficientize revenge-killing, we could probably design new abilities that keep the main concept and flavor ideas of both while staying in line with Game Freak precedents.
maybe we could give luvdisc an ability that immobilizes all pokemon on the field for five turns(or causes all pokemon to become infatuated). call it fated
maybe we could give luvdisc an ability that immobilizes all pokemon on the field for five turns(or causes all pokemon to become infatuated). call it fated
Maybe we could give Luvdisc an ability that doubles all of its stats, doubles them again, knocks out three random opponents, doubles Luvdisc's stats AGAIN, and then replaces all of the opponent's moves with Splash and Struggle.
Maybe we could give Luvdisc an ability that doubles all of its stats, doubles them again, knocks out three random opponents, doubles Luvdisc's stats AGAIN, and then replaces all of the opponent's moves with Splash and Struggle.
Maybe we could give Luvdisc an ability that doubles all of its stats, doubles them again, knocks out three random opponents, doubles Luvdisc's stats AGAIN, and then replaces all of the opponent's moves with Splash and Struggle.
Alright, so here's what I got when it comes to Luvdisc:
- Uses Attract on switch-in like how Parasect uses Leech Seed when it switches in. Unfortunately, this alone wouldn't make Luvdisc that great of an option, since a healthy number of OU Pokemon are genderless, let alone the 50/50 shot it takes with standardly-gendered Pokemon. It's a start, though.
- Can infatuate and be infatuated by Pokemon of any gender. This one is interesting because it works like a combination of Mold Breaker and No Guard, removing the restrictions of an effect but exchanging it for doing the same to itself as well. Nothing really runs Attract so the latter doesn't affect Luvdisc so much. This could potentially be useful assuming Luvdisc has decent speed, in the same way that Confusion gives normally frail or weak Pokemon time to set up or throw out support moves. Therein lies the problem, though; infatuation is nearly the same thing as confusion, except it has a gender restriction and doesn't cause damage to the opponent half of the time. Infatuation without the gender restriction is literally a weaker confusion, so I don't think this would be a good option to run.
- Gets a boost when against an infatuated/opposite-gendered foe. This is likely the most promising way to take Luvdisc, as it isn't strictly inferior to another option. To be truly useful (relative to how useful Luvdisc normally is, at least), the boost would have to happen when Luvdisc is up against an opposite-gender foe, however; if Luvdisc has to use Attract to get the boost, then there is nothing stopping the opponent from switching to a same-gendered Pokemon and nullifying the turn. Here's where things get interesting, though. Depending on how powerful we want to make Mega Luvdisc, there are quite a few options we can take, here:
1. Half damage from opposite-gendered foes. This is nice because it allows Luvdisc to become a legitimately formidable wall. Unfortunately, said walling skills only last until the opponent is able to bring in a same-gendered Pokemon, and it is still weak to status moves. Still, as Luvdisc's current stats stand, having both of its defenses essentially doubled in certain situations would give it time to throw out some support moves, so while it still likely won't be a Mega you'd see often, it at least has something unique about it that would warrant its use in experimental teams.
2. >:) Trapping opposite gendered foes. If we go with this effect, we could call it Throbulator36 's Fated , or maybe after Luvdisc's species name and name it Rendezvous--an arranged meeting--which also alludes to how the opponent and Luvdisc being together on the battlefield is an inescapable twist of fate. I'm not gonna lie, the name is at least 10% of the reason I like this effect. The other 90% though, has to do with how this ability legitimately gives Luvdisc a unique niche that separates it from other Pokemon. Since Shadow Tag Gengar may or may not be allowed in this metagame, Luvdisc could quite possibly be the fastest trapper in existence. Additionally, it doesn't struggle with Flying-types or Levitaters like Arena Trappers do; some stat adjustments may be warranted depending if we want Luvdisc to be a bulky or frail trapper, but I like how this ability would orient Luvdisc. Plus, while not the necessarily the main point of this Mega, if/when Megas for All becomes playable I kinda wanna run a Mega Luvdisc and send it out on a resisted boosted sweeper so that I can use Heart Swap Psych Up and destroy someone with it.
All in all, poor stats will always mean that Luvdisc will struggle to make a name for itself, but with a nice ability it could legitimately warrant a spot on certain teams.
I'm normally not one to indulge in the "subtract points from an unneeded base stat under 40 to get more free points to use" trick, but I'm willing to make an exception for Luvdisc. Mega Luvdisc's ability synergizes with the need to use Protect to get it out of base form. For best results, use its decent 97 speed to revenge kill something weakened as it Mega Evolves and picks up a Special Attack boost. After that (or even if your opponent switches), you can pick up additional boosts with Protect or Substitute. As Azumarill can attest, Water/Fairy is good offensive coverage; Luvdisc can nail specific threats with Ice Beam or HP Fire, but its movepool begins to get crowded.
Mega Luvdisc can force some interesting mindgames its first turn out. Say it first comes in after a Landorus has KOed something. Landorus is faster the first turn, so the "safe" play would be to Protect and Mega Evolve so you can outspeed and hit with +1 Special Attack on turn 2. This strongly incentivizes your opponent to switch out to a Scarfer/strong priority user/special wall, and correctly predicting that and setting up a Sub or nailing the switch-in with the appropriate attack can be game-breaking. Voila! A Luvdisc that doesn't suck.
After reading clapyourhands's post, I had an idea to make auto-infatuation Luvdisc viable.
Make the opposite Pokemon infatuated and confused at the same time, no matter it's gender of lack thereof. Call it Forbidden Love.
After reading clapyourhands's post, I had an idea to make auto-infatuation Luvdisc viable.
Make the opposite Pokemon infatuated and confused at the same time, no matter it's gender of lack thereof. Call it Forbidden Love.
The problem with this is that in addition to being a bit complex (I don't think there are any abilities that inflict two conditions at once), it starts to become really similar to para flinching but at the cost of a Mega slot, which isn't very favorable.
