bloop dash
[OVERVIEW]
Possessing a combination of Flying / Fighting coverage, Pinsir-Mega is a unique threat in the Doubles metagame. Access to Feint and powerful Flying STAB let it take advantage of offensive pressure while also supporting hard-hitting teammates. Pinsir sports a decent speed tier, outspeeding base 100s, but underspeeding critical threats such as Latios, Thundurus, and Mega Diancie. It also faces heavy competition from and loses to Talonflame, which has a powerful priority Flying-STAB and a better Aegislash matchup, outclassing Pinsir-Mega in most situations, but lacking Pinsir's power and relative bulk
Pinsir struggles to do meaningful damage outside of Flying STABs - Close Combat is a roll to KO Mega Kangaskhan even with Adamant. Being frail with no relevant resists, many neutral STABs will OHKO it, in addition to being brought down by its multiple critical typing weaknesses such as Flying- or Rock-type coverage
[SET]
name: Offensive Attacker
move 1: Return
move 2: Feint
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Protect
item: Pinsirite
ability: Hyper Cutter
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Return gets boosted by Aerilate, giving it more damage and making it Flying-Type, letting it kill grasses such as Amoonguss and is a powerful offensive typing in Doubles that is hard to switch into. Feint breaks protect, letting it double as both support for a partner and a high-priority attack. CC hits Heatran/Kang and provides decent neutral coverage for foes that resist Flying, such as Jirachi or Rotom-Wash. Protect lets Pinisir mega evolve safely to a higher speed, and can keep it safe while a partner removes an opposing threat on the field.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and 252 Speed maximizes damage and speed, helping Mega Pinsir function as a hard-hitting physical attacker. While Jolly is used to out-speed max speed base 100s and other notable threats such as Landorus, the damage boost from Adamant can be critical in securing several KOs, such as a roll to KO Mega Kangaskhan and KO'ing Landorus-T if Intimidate is prevented either through coming in after Lando-T is out or taking advantage of Hyper Cutter, which lets you play around Intimidate, particularly from Scrafty/Landorus-Therian. This lets Mega Pinsir either lead into both without losing attack or attack on its Mega Evolve turn without fear of an Intimidate switchin hampering its damage effectiveness.
Usage Tips
========
Apply offensive pressure with Feint: when Mega Pinsir's team has offensive initiative, it can heavily punish opposing Protects. This, combined with preventing opponents from stalling out field conditions, such as Tailwind or Rain, makes it a potent threat when its team has the upper hand. In addition, Feint can hit low-speed megas as they megaevolve to higher speeds such as Mega Diancie or Mega Metagross, exposing them while they're vulnerable. Try to bring Pinsir in where it doesn't have to Protect while it Mega Evolves for a higher speed stat, as this potentially sucks away momentum. Use your partner and proper positioning to get Pinsir into situations where it can hit Return without fear of Electric switchins or getting KOd before it can move by threats such as Keldeo or Talonflame. Be sure to rotate Pinsir out when it's not doing anything such as its bad matchups or when it's weakened by intimidated.
Team Options
========
Mega Pinsir requires heavy support to alleviate its poor matchups. This ncludes Talonflame checks such as Thundurus or Landorus T, Lando-T checks spanning from Azumarill to Deoxys-Attack, checks to Electric types, such as Rhyperior or Amoonguss, pokemon to take out Aegislash such as strong fire attackers (Heatran or Blaziken) or powerful dark-types such as Hydreigon or Hoopa-Unbound. Pinsir also benefits heavily from Tailwind support such as from Zapdos or Suicune is nice because Feint stops people from stalling Tailwind turns.
On the other hand, Pinsir can supplement a team by removing opposing Fighting-types, clearing the way for Fighting-weak pokemon such as Hydreigon or Heatran. Rain teams in general can appreciate a threat that beats Amoonguss, Kyurem-Black, and Ferrothorn in one slot, as these are each common rain checks. Offensive single-target hitters that like breaking Protect such as Deoxys-Attack or Belly Drum Azumarill can avoid Protect counterplay with Pinsir discouraging and opponent from protecting their Pokemon. Spread attackers such as Landorus-Therian or Heatran appreciate how feint breaks wide guard. Pokemon with Fake Out (Weavile, Infernape, Scrafty) can take advantage of fake out and feint having good combined pressure while also giving Mega Pinsir room to take out an opponent.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Earthquake does very little damage as it is both non-STAB and weakened by spread reduction, but can hit opposing Heatran for more than Close Combat, picking up the KO. Knock Off helps matchups against Jirachi and Aegislash, but sacrifices one of the main reasons to use Pinsir over Talonflame: its Fighting Coverage. Double-Edge can't be used with feint, but a set of Double-Edge, Earthquake, and Stone Edge can be used to maximize damage and rely on bluffing feint before revealing Double-Edge
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Fires types threaten Pinsir easily, examples including Charizard Y and Heatran. Electric-Types resist Pinsir's Flying STAB, while either resisting or taking very little damage from Close Combat, such as in the case of Thundurus or Rotom-Wash. Opposing Rock-Type coverage, such as Mega Diancie or Landorus-Therian, heavily threatens to OHKO Pinsir, while Mega Diancie resists Flying STAB while taking CC neutrally. Steels that aren't weak to Fighting such as Jirachi and Aegislash easily wall Pinsir's coverage.
**Speed**: Pinsir is extremely frail and lacks a high enough speed to make up for it, making it susceptible to fast threats such as Keldeo and Latios while also being especially vulnerable to forms of priority such as Talonflame Brave Bird.
**Intimidates and Burns**: Intimidates and Burns--Landorus-Therian or Rotom-Wash, respectively--heavily cripple Mega Pinsir's damage. While it can play around opposing Intimidate, to a degree, thanks to pre-Mega Evolve Hyper Cutter, an opposing Intimidate that comes in after Mega Pinsir evolves will cut its damage severely.
[OVERVIEW]
Possessing a combination of Flying / Fighting coverage, Pinsir-Mega is a unique threat in the Doubles metagame. Access to Feint and powerful Flying STAB let it take advantage of offensive pressure while also supporting hard-hitting teammates. Pinsir sports a decent speed tier, outspeeding base 100s, but underspeeding critical threats such as Latios, Thundurus, and Mega Diancie. It also faces heavy competition from and loses to Talonflame, which has a powerful priority Flying-STAB and a better Aegislash matchup, outclassing Pinsir-Mega in most situations, but lacking Pinsir's power and relative bulk
Pinsir struggles to do meaningful damage outside of Flying STABs - Close Combat is a roll to KO Mega Kangaskhan even with Adamant. Being frail with no relevant resists, many neutral STABs will OHKO it, in addition to being brought down by its multiple critical typing weaknesses such as Flying- or Rock-type coverage
[SET]
name: Offensive Attacker
move 1: Return
move 2: Feint
move 3: Close Combat
move 4: Protect
item: Pinsirite
ability: Hyper Cutter
nature: Jolly / Adamant
evs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Return gets boosted by Aerilate, giving it more damage and making it Flying-Type, letting it kill grasses such as Amoonguss and is a powerful offensive typing in Doubles that is hard to switch into. Feint breaks protect, letting it double as both support for a partner and a high-priority attack. CC hits Heatran/Kang and provides decent neutral coverage for foes that resist Flying, such as Jirachi or Rotom-Wash. Protect lets Pinisir mega evolve safely to a higher speed, and can keep it safe while a partner removes an opposing threat on the field.
Set Details
========
252 Attack and 252 Speed maximizes damage and speed, helping Mega Pinsir function as a hard-hitting physical attacker. While Jolly is used to out-speed max speed base 100s and other notable threats such as Landorus, the damage boost from Adamant can be critical in securing several KOs, such as a roll to KO Mega Kangaskhan and KO'ing Landorus-T if Intimidate is prevented either through coming in after Lando-T is out or taking advantage of Hyper Cutter, which lets you play around Intimidate, particularly from Scrafty/Landorus-Therian. This lets Mega Pinsir either lead into both without losing attack or attack on its Mega Evolve turn without fear of an Intimidate switchin hampering its damage effectiveness.
Usage Tips
========
Apply offensive pressure with Feint: when Mega Pinsir's team has offensive initiative, it can heavily punish opposing Protects. This, combined with preventing opponents from stalling out field conditions, such as Tailwind or Rain, makes it a potent threat when its team has the upper hand. In addition, Feint can hit low-speed megas as they megaevolve to higher speeds such as Mega Diancie or Mega Metagross, exposing them while they're vulnerable. Try to bring Pinsir in where it doesn't have to Protect while it Mega Evolves for a higher speed stat, as this potentially sucks away momentum. Use your partner and proper positioning to get Pinsir into situations where it can hit Return without fear of Electric switchins or getting KOd before it can move by threats such as Keldeo or Talonflame. Be sure to rotate Pinsir out when it's not doing anything such as its bad matchups or when it's weakened by intimidated.
Team Options
========
Mega Pinsir requires heavy support to alleviate its poor matchups. This ncludes Talonflame checks such as Thundurus or Landorus T, Lando-T checks spanning from Azumarill to Deoxys-Attack, checks to Electric types, such as Rhyperior or Amoonguss, pokemon to take out Aegislash such as strong fire attackers (Heatran or Blaziken) or powerful dark-types such as Hydreigon or Hoopa-Unbound. Pinsir also benefits heavily from Tailwind support such as from Zapdos or Suicune is nice because Feint stops people from stalling Tailwind turns.
On the other hand, Pinsir can supplement a team by removing opposing Fighting-types, clearing the way for Fighting-weak pokemon such as Hydreigon or Heatran. Rain teams in general can appreciate a threat that beats Amoonguss, Kyurem-Black, and Ferrothorn in one slot, as these are each common rain checks. Offensive single-target hitters that like breaking Protect such as Deoxys-Attack or Belly Drum Azumarill can avoid Protect counterplay with Pinsir discouraging and opponent from protecting their Pokemon. Spread attackers such as Landorus-Therian or Heatran appreciate how feint breaks wide guard. Pokemon with Fake Out (Weavile, Infernape, Scrafty) can take advantage of fake out and feint having good combined pressure while also giving Mega Pinsir room to take out an opponent.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Earthquake does very little damage as it is both non-STAB and weakened by spread reduction, but can hit opposing Heatran for more than Close Combat, picking up the KO. Knock Off helps matchups against Jirachi and Aegislash, but sacrifices one of the main reasons to use Pinsir over Talonflame: its Fighting Coverage. Double-Edge can't be used with feint, but a set of Double-Edge, Earthquake, and Stone Edge can be used to maximize damage and rely on bluffing feint before revealing Double-Edge
Checks and Counters
===================
**Typing Advantage**: Fires types threaten Pinsir easily, examples including Charizard Y and Heatran. Electric-Types resist Pinsir's Flying STAB, while either resisting or taking very little damage from Close Combat, such as in the case of Thundurus or Rotom-Wash. Opposing Rock-Type coverage, such as Mega Diancie or Landorus-Therian, heavily threatens to OHKO Pinsir, while Mega Diancie resists Flying STAB while taking CC neutrally. Steels that aren't weak to Fighting such as Jirachi and Aegislash easily wall Pinsir's coverage.
**Speed**: Pinsir is extremely frail and lacks a high enough speed to make up for it, making it susceptible to fast threats such as Keldeo and Latios while also being especially vulnerable to forms of priority such as Talonflame Brave Bird.
**Intimidates and Burns**: Intimidates and Burns--Landorus-Therian or Rotom-Wash, respectively--heavily cripple Mega Pinsir's damage. While it can play around opposing Intimidate, to a degree, thanks to pre-Mega Evolve Hyper Cutter, an opposing Intimidate that comes in after Mega Pinsir evolves will cut its damage severely.
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