Mega Aerodactyl (B+) -> A- | As with Mega Alakazam, Mega Aerodactyl is incredibly threatening against offensive teams. On Sand Offense, it can even use its Rock-type to its advantage by having its Special Defense boosted, giving it some much-needed extra resilience. 135 Attack may not seem like too much, but due to its magnificent 150 Speed, it can afford to run Adamant and reach a good Attack stat. In most cases, it's able to beat a ton of stuff with its massive coverage. Stone Edge is a great STAB aside from its accuracy, Aerial Ace is surprisingly useful to snipe Keldeo, Mega Heracross, Mega Medicham and Mega Venusaur, all of which are notable OU threats at the moment; Ice Fang's value lies in being able to strike Gliscor, Landorus-I and Landorus-T for x4 damage (SDef Gliscor is always OHKOed, while physically defensive is OHKOed after Rocks; Landorus-I is always OHKOed; Scarf Landorus-T is OHKOed after SR damage, even at -1); Fire Fang strikes Mega Scizor and the now-omnipresent Ferrothorn for some really high damage; lastly, Aqua Tail hits the many Rock- and Ground-types that try to stop Mega Aerodactyl, notably Terrakion, Tyranitar and Mega Tyranitar. It even gets a boosting move in Hone Claws, which is honestly useful considering it raises Attack to a CB level and makes all of its moves perfectly accurate. Mega Aerodactyl can even use a support set with the choice between SR, Defog, Taunt and Roost; what makes it unique is that it's a Defogger that can set its own Rocks up.
Unfortunately, this prehistoric beast is hampered by its common weaknesses to Rock-, Ice-, Electric-, Water- and Steel-type moves. It may sometimes find itself lacking in power without Hone Claws and it has to choose between its coverage, giving it a case of 4MSS. Without Fire Fang, it loses to Ferrothorn; without Ice Fang, it loses to Gliscor and the Landorus more often (though Aqua Tail still 2HKOes most of the time if you
really can't afford to run Ice Fang); without Aerial Ace, it's stopped by most of the Fighting-types, notably Keldeo. While blindingly fast, it's susceptible to being revenge killed by Pokémon like Keldeo and Terrakion.
Nevertheless, Mega Aerodactyl's matchup against offense, paired with great power and fantastic coverage, as well as the ability to run a surprise support set make it a definite threat in the OU tier at the moment.
Mega Aerodactyl deserves to go to A-.
For all reasons stated in above posts, I also support
Chansey and Skarmory dropping to B+. They're still effective at what they do, but as has been stated, they're simply too passive for this offensively-oriented metagame.
Other moves I support:
Hawlucha from C+ to B
Omastar from C+ to B-
Doublade from C- to C
Haxorus from D to C
EDIT: I wanted to come back on this post.
Now that is true, teambuilding helps it a lot but it still needs fair share of support which I find unacceptable for a A- rank. I mean, is it really worth using Mega Alakazam when you can run Mega Venusaur instead of Amoonguss? The only real niche I see from Mega Zam is to trace a handsome ability and abuse it like against weather teams but that doesn't make it a A- rank material. And Thundy forces 50/50 against Zam since it can also just attack instead of risking being taunted. (I'm starting to think I am already gathering hundurus pro-ban arguments xD) Now, being able to outspeed dragon dancers at 1+ is really impressive, no denying that, sadly Focus Miss is a move who loves to be inaccurate at the most inappropriate moments and it is another annoying having to rely on poor accuracy for coverage so Mega Zam should not be the first choice when wanting to revenge kill them if it can't do it reliably.
So you're implying the necessity of support keeps a Pokémon out of even A-? This statement only holds true for
S-Rank Pokémon, not A-Rank ones. Talonflame and Mega Charizard Y are in A+ and both are heavily reliant on hazard control to do their job effectively. Talonflame can only get two attacks off if it takes SR damage (I know, GW Roost, but still), because its STABs both induce recoil. Hell, even Mega Charizard X and Thundurus-I, two S-Rank Pokémon, are reliant on hazard control, since Thundurus-I can be OHKOed by some
resisted hits after taking SR damage, such as CB Talonflame's Brave Bird. Yes, you
are right on Mega Zam being easier to RK than Thundurus-I, but the latter can easily be revenged just by taking SR damage. Keldeo and Azumarill both require support to get past Mega Venusaur, making Talonflame or Mega Aerodactyl good teammates; despite this necessity for support,
they're still S-Rank Pokémon. The Mega Wallbreakers are all susceptible to being revenged and need a revenger on their own team to function effectively, but Cham and Garde are still A and Hera is even
A+.
Stating a Pokémon doesn't deserve to be in the A-Ranks just because they need support is a completely flawed argument, as even S-Rank Pokémon require a degree of support. It's a minimal amount of support, yes, but it's nonetheless necessary to make them work properly. Mega Alakazam doesn't even
need much support; like Cham, Garde and Hera, it just needs to have priority users out of the field to function most effectively, but this is pretty easily solved.
Regarding your argument on using Mega Venusaur over Amoonguss and another Mega:
a Mega Evolution is chosen depending on what the team requires, not the other way around. I know successful teams can be built around a Mega Evolution, but most of the time they're just really good additions to cores and teams and provide a function that another Mega Evolution can't fulfill. One would use Mega Manectric because it's a great scout and late-game cleaner. One would use Mega Alakazam for its amazing late-game cleaning potential and its ability to dick the opposition around by Tracing some really damn useful Abilities that can potentially be game-changing. One would use Mega Heracross if they need a great physical wallbreaker that deals with the bulkiest of opponents and doesn't give a fuck about Substitutes. You see? Each Mega Evolution has at least one function it can fulfill effectively and
that is why they're chosen for a team.
I'm done talking about Mega Alakazam.
It belongs in A-.
