Hi there. Seeing this thread got me really excited. :)
Please note that I just got into RU not that long ago, so I may not be super keen on how the new Megas might affect RU in particular, but I have some ideas to share based on what I do know so far. I know that some of these are likely to be banned from RU and therefore will not apply to the environment, but I'm going to speak on how they may interact with RU anyway, because this is a RU discussion.
I don't think that
Mega Sharpedo will be getting that big of an offensive boost as far as its stats go, if all of them are supposed to increase (the usual stat increase for Megas is 100 base stat points in total, which must be spread across 5 stats). It doesn't really need the Speed increase due to the fact that it can use Protect in its original form for a safe Speed Boost turn before Mega Evolving. What's scary about this thing is that its Crunch attack will effectively have 180 Base Power, factoring in STAB and Strong Jaw. Sharpedo already has 120 base Attack, so an increase to that combined with Strong Jaw is going to really make Crunch hurt!
To give a general idea of the damage output here:
252+ Atk Life Orb Strong Jaw Sharpedo Crunch vs. 212 HP / 0 Def Eviolite Doublade: 250-296 (80.1 - 94.8%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO after Stealth Rock
We don't know yet exactly how much its Attack will be boosted upon Mega Evolving, but it's going to wreck for sure.
Strong Jaw will also boost Ice Fang, so, assuming Sharpedo remains in RU after its Mega Stone is released, it will likely run that over Ice Beam for hitting Virizion on the switch-in. However, Mega Sharpedo may end up not running Ice coverage at all on some sets in favor of Zen Headbutt, which hits Virizion as well as Poliwrath, a Pokemon that would otherwise wall Mega Sharpedo entirely. I'm not sure if Destiny Bond would be ideal for Sharpedo after getting a Mega Evolution; it's kind of shitty to use your one Mega as a sacrifice (I know that's what Mega Banette does, but it doesn't have a whole lot of options lol). Hydro Pump might see use for hitting physically bulky Pokemon harder, but the Attack boost might be enough to 2HKO some of the important ones with Waterfall after hazard damage. We'll have to see, I guess.
A set I had in mind is as follows:
Sharpedo @ Sharpedonite
Ability: Speed Boost
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature /
Naughty Nature
- Protect
- Crunch
- Waterfall /
Hydro Pump
- Ice Fang / Zen Headbutt
The main thing I hated about
Mega Camerupt at first was that I knew Sheer Force meant it would never be able to burn anything with Fire-type attacks, particularly Lava Plume. With that said, I do feel that Fire/Ground is a severely underrated typing, both offensively and defensively, and Mega Camerupt may have promise with its higher stats and boost to all its moves that have (had lol) secondary effects. Additionally, the fact that its Speed will be lowered means that it will have added points to go into other more important base stats, like Mega Ampharos has, which is pretty cool for it. Pssssh, let's be real, though. There are way too many common Pokemon in RU this generation that easily destroy it without even having to change their movesets or even consider it in the teambuilding process. These include but are not limited to Rhyperior, Clawitzer, Sharpedo, and Omastar. Assault Vest Slowking, without altering anything on its standard set, can easily switch into Mega Camerupt with no fear and either defeat it or force it out next turn.
Mega Camerupt does make a good check to Registeel, Doublade, Delphox, Virizion, Cobalion, Abomasnow, Whimsicott, and Drapion, but so do a lot of other more viable things, and Mega Camerupt's abysmal Speed (even lower than its original form) and lack of recovery will cause it to be worn down fairly easily. Being a Fire-type that isn't weak to Stealth Rock is a plus, but it isn't enough to compensate. Its movepool is extremely shallow, which makes it very predictable and very limited in what it can do, and with that said, Mega Camerupt is likely going to be a waste of a Mega on any team in RU. It might be an okay Fire Blast nuke if used on bulky teams with dedicated Wish support, but it's still going to be Assault Vest Slowking's bitch no matter what.
Just warning you now I'm running toxic on my camerupt to annoy cress / slowking
It's not uncommon for teams that include these Pokemon to also carry a cleric. That said, Toxic is about all Camerupt can use outside of Stealth Rock / Fire Blast / Earth Power / Rock Slide, so I don't really fault you for suggesting it, though Will-O-Wisp might be more ideal simply because everything has access to Toxic.
Mega Camerupt is going to be pretty horrible, but here's a set I had in mind for it:
Camerupt @ Cameruptite
Ability: Solid Rock
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Atk / 252 SpA
Quiet Nature
- Stealth Rock
- Fire Blast
- Earth Power
- Rock Slide / Stone Edge / Will-O-Wisp
Go onto Pokemon Showdown and scroll through Camerupt's available moves. You will shake your head. :(
Mega Camerupt is a Mega I cannot see going lower than BL2 Honestly, It is probably going to get around 140-160 sp atk Along with about 100 in each defense along with a slight attack boost. A Flash Cannon will 2HKO on the standard Bold Florges set.
A neutral Fire Blast backed by STAB does more damage than a super effective non-STAB Flash Cannon, which makes that coverage kind of redundant, just saying. ♥
If
Mega Altaria will have anything, it's options. It will have Dragon Dance and nearly unresisted Fairy/Ground coverage in Pixilate Return and Earthquake, which could be cool with Roost or maybe Draco Meteor for hitting less specially defensive things hard. It also gets Hyper Voice to use with Pixilate a la Sylveon, but it doesn't get any specially based boosting moves, so I don't think that will be very good for it competitively despite its access to good special coverage in Ice Beam and Fire Blast. That said, though it will definitely have some cool new offensive sets to play around with, I think it will be much better off as a team supporter with Roost and Heal Bell. Altaria's loss of its weakness to Stealth Rock upon Mega Evolving will be very useful for it as it switches in and out to support its team and sponge hits. It should also make a great Knock Off shield, not only resisting the attack but also preventing it from getting the item boost courtesy of its Mega Stone. However, even with its great bulk, typing, and ability, it will still have a lot of problems with Amoonguss for the same reason Aromatisse does: Nobody likes their status cleric being weak to something that can put it to sleep and prevent it from doing its job. Doublade and Registeel can also give it problems even if it runs Earthquake. Aromatisse sort of outclasses it, to be honest, simply because it can heal its team of status conditions AND pass Wish recovery, whereas Mega Altaria cannot. This is going to be a fun addition, but I don't think it's going to be as good as some people seem to think it will be.
This is the bulky physically offensive set I had in mind; it just really needs to watch out for status, as well as Bronzong and Weezing, and the set can't really touch Moltres either:
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 4 HP / 252 Atk / 252 Spe
Adamant Nature /
Lonely Nature
- Dragon Dance
- Return
- Earthquake /
Fire Blast
- Roost
And here's the cleric set I had in mind:
Altaria @ Altarianite
Ability: Natural Cure
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Heal Bell
- Roost
- Body Slam
- Earthquake
I could be wrong, but I think maximizing its Special Defense instead of Defense is the way to go, or at least that's what I'm leaning toward right now.
I love the design of
Mega Sceptile and the originality of its traits, but I'm not sure about its competitive potential. The added Dragon typing doesn't really benefit it very much; not only does Sceptile not get Draco Meteor, but the new typing takes away Sceptile's Fire weakness but adds on weaknesses to Dragon and Fairy, while also amplifying its Ice weakness. Lightningrod is a very interesting ability for it, as it's the first Grass-type and the first Dragon-type to be given this trait, but it doesn't help very much because Grass/Dragon typing already 4x resists Electric-type moves in the first place; it might seem dumb for it because no one in their right mind would willingly use an Electric-type attack on Mega Sceptile whether it had Lightningrod or not, but being able to switch into Thunder Wave and Volt Switch for a free Special Attack boost is pretty awesome, and it also deters the opponent from attempting to use one of these moves to grab momentum or attempt to cripple one of Mega Sceptile's teammates, as long as it's on the team.
That sounds really cool, but unfortunately, the only Electric-types in RU that Mega Sceptile can safely switch into are Rotom-C and Helioptile, and maybe Eelektross... and Stunfisk if you want to count that. Mega Sceptile also makes a poor switch-in to Water-types despite its 4x resistance to their STAB, simply because of its simultaneous 4x weakness to Ice Beam, a common coverage move for such Pokemon. Additionally, Mega Sceptile is stopped cold by one of the most common and powerful Pokemon in RU: Doublade. It may not get Draco Meteor, but it may work somewhat well as a hit-and-run truck with Leaf Storm. Something I find hilarious about this thing is that it can't make any good use of either of its original abilities before Mega Evolving, because Overgrow requires low health to activate and Unburden requires item loss, which is impossible with a Mega Stone. Lol there will be no getting an Unburden boost and then going Mega to sweep.
As far as I know, there are no hints as far as what stats Sceptile will have increased when it Mega Evolves, but for now, I'm going to assume its special offense will be superior, so here's something:
Sceptile @ Sceptilite
Ability: Overgrow
EVs: 4 HP / 252 SpA / 252 Spe
Modest Nature / Timid Nature
- Giga Drain
- Dragon Pulse
- Focus Blast
- Substitute / Leaf Storm
Awesome thread. I'll probably post my thoughts on the others later. :)
