Other ORAS OU Viability Ranking Thread - Check post #2359

[Baharoth]

Mega Medicham: A ---> C+

I think thats a bit too harsh tbh. Yeah gallade is faster, bulkier and has SD but Adamant Medichams unboosted power rivals that of + 2 jolly Gallade (using jolly on Medicham is kinda pointless since he is slower than most things on offense anyway) saving you the trouble of boosting and because of that reducing the need for bulk somewhat. With both Sableeye and Slowbro walling the shit out of him he isnt as good against stall as he used to be but he is still a pain for Balance and Bulky Offense and can even be useful against offensive teams thanks to his priority and ability to ohko almost everything you find on offense.

I think he should remain somewhere in the B ranks. He is still good on what he used to, nukeing the shit out of things so even though he got heavy competition for his slot, he still has some perks that make him well worth using.

 

[FieryTyrant]

K, a couple of things to say here. On my mobile so I'll add more later.

A- --------> A
Self explanatory here. Mega Sceptile boats blazing fast speed and a decent offensive typing, and the Sub + 3 Attacks is absolutely devastating. However, it really shouldn't go any higher than A. Its bad defensive typing makes it very vulnerable to 2 common priority moves that really hinder it's use. Other than that, it's one of the more threatening Special sweepers.

A- --------> A+
S is a bit high to be honest, since it's awful offensive stats really hinder it unless it has a lot of boosts, and it's really hurt by Unaware Fable and Togekiss, but other than that it's a fantastic Calm Mind booster with a great typing and great defenses.

A -------> A+ or even S
Giant shrimp of murder has been talked about to death already. Works as a great stall breaker with Mold Breaker Taunt and Dragon Dance.

I promise I'll add more to this post later~

If we're weighing opportunity cost Mega Gyarados should not be S rank, that's much too high and A+ is a possibility but given Mega Charizard X performs similarly but faster and harder, I don't really think it's worthy of such a rank.

 

[theV8man]

A => A-

With Mega Sableye Mew gets completely shut down, and overall there's a whole new slew of Pokemon powerful enough to 2HKO it. I guess it's ok at checking certain attackers/annoying Sableye/Char X/Heatran less stall... yea it has too many stops these days imo to deserve A rank for sure.

 

[heritage]

If we're weighing opportunity cost Mega Gyarados should not be S rank, that's much too high and A+ is a possibility but given Mega Charizard X performs similarly but faster and harder, I don't really think it's worthy of such a rank.

A -------> A+ or even S

I didn't say it deserved S indefinatly. It's certainly worthy of talk however. A+ is a certain thing that absolutely should happen.
Gyarados has the advantage of having Intimidate before Mega Evolving, making its physical defense fantastic. SpD SubDD Gyarados also has the advantage or walling all Greninja sets after Intimidate, even Low Kick sets. Sure, Gyarados can get burned, but having two fantastic, unresisted STABs (with the exception of M-Altaria, which is dealt with by Ice Fang if needed. M-Altaria also walls Zard X. ) is just as good, if not better than Zard X. Gyarados is one of the best stall breakers with Mold Breaker Taunt that goes through M-Sableye's Magic Bounce. Not to mention, Gyarados has a better typing and doesn't fear SR.
S might be a little high, but A+ is absolutely needed now that it has Crunch.

 

[alexwolf]

I think thats a bit too harsh tbh. Yeah gallade is faster, bulkier and has SD but Adamant Medichams unboosted power rivals that of + 2 jolly Gallade (using jolly on Medicham is kinda pointless since he is slower than most things on offense anyway) saving you the trouble of boosting and because of that reducing the need for bulk somewhat. With both Sableeye and Slowbro walling the shit out of him he isnt as good against stall as he used to be but he is still a pain for Balance and Bulky Offense and can even be useful against offensive teams thanks to his priority and ability to ohko almost everything you find on offense.

I think he should remain somewhere in the B ranks. He is still good on what he used to, nukeing the shit out of things so even though he got heavy competition for his slot, he still has some perks that make him well worth using.

But Mega Gallade has SD, Knock Off, better bulk, more reliable STAB, and way better Speed, which mitigate any advantage Medicham might have had against any kind of team. Against stall, Mega Medicham is useless because of Mega Sableye and Mega Slowbro, while Mega Gallade 2HKOes Mega Slowbro at +2 and can even get past Mega Sableye with SubSD + Stone Edge or Skill Swap + SD, or even just beat Sableye with plain SD + SE, though Gallade will get burned in the process. Against offense, Gallade's higher Speed and better bulk give it way more favorable 1 v 1 situations that Mega Medicham, while CC >>> HJK because Pokemon such as Gengar, Protect Ferro, and Protect Heatran (and even some rarer MEvos that carry Protect, such as Swampert and Beedrill) can give Mega Medicham a hard time if it predicts wrong. Finally, against balance, Gallade is still better because he can just SD as whatever defensive switch-in comes in and then OHKO/2HKO, or just OHKO any faster Pokemon with the right move (CC for the faster MEvos, Zen Headbutt for Keldeo and Mega Beedrill, Knock Off for Scarf Lati@s, etc). I just don't see any situation where Mega Medicham is better than Mega Gallade which is why i said that even C+ is too generous for it. There may be some 1 v 1 scenarios where Mega Medicham OHKOes a slower Pokemon that Mega Medicham can't and the slower Pokemon can OHKO back, but those scenarios seem very rare. I can only really think of Azumarill atm, which i think Mega Medicham OHKOes with Adamant Zen Headbutt after SR, so if someone could mention some more 1 v 1 that Mega Medicham wins and Mega Gallade doesn't, this would be nice.

 

[Baharoth]

Well as mentioned, Medichams general advantage is that it doesnt have to boost to be that powerful. Gallade needs to SD on the switch and if he cant outspeed and ohko what ever comes in he will take damage/gets killed. Medicham can nuke the switch in when it comes which will kill almost every faster mon that trys to get in. And bulky mons that can live the hit will get outsped and have to take another hit before they can fight back.

Physical defensive Hippo for example can come in on Gallade while he SDs take the hit and ohko back after the defense drop from Close Combat. Medicham just proceeds to 2hko with a combination of HJK and Headbutt. Unaware Clef is another example. That set has gotten incredibly good with oras and Gallade is one of the reasons why. Medicham doesnt give a fuck about it. I guess there are more examples like that but those two pretty much show my point. Living 1 hit from +2 Gallade is something quite a few mons can boast, living 2 hits from Medicham is something only physical bulky psychic types can do. I.E. Mew, Celebi, Slowbro, Victini.

I am not saying its as good as Gallade overall, its not even close. But that massive power is an edge that it has and that makes it worth using over Gallade sometimes.

 

[alexwolf]

Well as mentioned, Medichams general advantage is that it doesnt have to boost to be that powerful. Gallade needs to SD on the switch and if he cant outspeed and ohko what ever comes in he will take damage/gets killed. Medicham can nuke the switch in when it comes which will kill almost every faster mon that trys to get in. And bulky mons that can live the hit will get outsped and have to take another hit before they can fight back.

Physical defensive Hippo for example can come in on Gallade while he SDs take the hit and ohko back after the defense drop from Close Combat. Medicham just proceeds to 2hko with a combination of HJK and Headbutt. Unaware Clef is another example. That set has gotten incredibly good with oras and Gallade is one of the reasons why. Medicham doesnt give a fuck about it. I guess there are more examples like that but those two pretty much show my point. Living 1 hit from +2 Gallade is something quite a few mons can boast, living 2 hits from Medicham is something only physical bulky psychic types can do. I.E. Mew, Celebi, Slowbro, Victini.

I am not saying its as good as Gallade overall, its not even close. But that massive power is an edge that it has and that makes it worth using over Gallade sometimes.

Gallade can just use SD again and OHKO at +4, or hit Hippowdon with +2 Zen Headbutt which also 2HKOes. Unaware Clefable is incredibly easy to wear down with Knock Off + SR, and it takes 70% minimum from two Zen Headbutt hits, so it's not that big of a problem (just hit it with Knock Off once, and then 2HKO with Zen Headbutt the next time if SR is up). If there are more examples i am all ears, but until i see them i remain unconvinced there is any reason to use Mega Medicham over Mega Gallade.

 

[Roylund]

Well as mentioned, Medichams general advantage is that it doesnt have to boost to be that powerful. Gallade needs to SD on the switch and if he cant outspeed and ohko what ever comes in he will take damage/gets killed. Medicham can nuke the switch in when it comes which will kill almost every faster mon that trys to get in. And bulky mons that can live the hit will get outsped and have to take another hit before they can fight back.

Physical defensive Hippo for example can come in on Gallade while he SDs take the hit and ohko back after the defense drop from Close Combat. Medicham just proceeds to 2hko with a combination of HJK and Headbutt. Unaware Clef is another example. That set has gotten incredibly good with oras and Gallade is one of the reasons why. Medicham doesnt give a fuck about it. I guess there are more examples like that but those two pretty much show my point. Living 1 hit from +2 Gallade is something quite a few mons can boast, living 2 hits from Medicham is something only physical bulky psychic types can do. I.E. Mew, Celebi, Slowbro, Victini.

I am not saying its as good as Gallade overall, its not even close. But that massive power is an edge that it has and that makes it worth using over Gallade sometimes.

What is all that power good for if you're going to die to something faster, anyway? It's easier to respond to a MegaCham than a MegaGall(ade(?)) due to the speed difference. I agree that MegaCham hits harder right off the bat (especially since MegaCham runs Adamant) but it's also way easier to bring an answer to since MegaCham is pretty straightforward. You can expect the same set from MegaCham every time. MegaGallade has a wider movepool and more sets to run (that Knock Off is delicious) which just makes it more versatile and unpredictable, something I don't see MegaCham being anytime soon.

 

[Baharoth]

Gallade can just use SD again and OHKO at +4, or hit Hippowdon with +2 Zen Headbutt which also 2HKOes. Unaware Clefable is incredibly easy to wear down with Knock Off + SR, and it takes 70% minimum from two Zen Headbutt hits, so it's not that big of a problem (just hit it with Knock Off once, and then 2HKO with Zen Headbutt the next time if SR is up). If there are more examples i am all ears, but until i see them i remain unconvinced there is any reason to use Mega Medicham over Mega Gallade.

Even if you go for +4 against Hippo, it will get a hit off doing ~70% bringing you into priority range. Yeah Clef can be worn down/played around but Medicham has a much easier time getting past it. If you want other examples, physical defensive Skarm can take a + 2 cc and ko back with BB/counter, so does Mandibuzz given that no SR is on the field, Azumarill is another case as you said yourself. Furthermore Gallade has to decide between Ice Punch and Zen Headbutt. If it goes for the latter its walled by Lando-T while Medicham can always use Ice Punch. There are other less relevant cases like Alomomola, Sylveon etc but i guess thats pretty much it in terms of bulky mons. We could go on with offensive checks like Scarf Keldeo who can come in on a predicted SD or CC and do massive damage, if he tries to switch into Medicham he gets ohkoed by everything bar Ice Punch.

What is all that power good for if you're going to die to something faster, anyway?

Well for starters, the meta doesnt consist of only 101+ base speed mons, there is quite alot of stuff thats slower than Medi. And second there are "only" 5 relevant mons in the tier that Gallade outspeeds and Medicham doesnt, Lando-I, Keldeo, Terrakion, Pinsir and Garchomp. And not one of them can switch into Medicham.

 

[Kurona]

There's now a Pokémon in S-rank that isn't blue. I find this to be absolutely deplorable from every logical, moral and philosophical standpoint.

Realtalk despite me being... me, there's a couple suggestions I'd like to make.
Mega Altaria for A+
I find it a little hard to explain, but I figure this thing to be a sort of alternate Charizard X and is at least so comparable with it that they should be ranked the same. IN addition, it's incredibly versatile and has a unique and very good defensive typing which gives it a niche shared by no other Pokémon in the entire game.

Mega Tyranitar for B
I feel this to be in the exact same boat as Mega Latios. It's not a... bad Pokémon per se, but it isn't really doing all that much different from base Tyranitar and is a more just a "Oh I built a Tyranitar team with no Mega, might as well slap on Tyranitarite" sort of situation, which is the same as Mega Latios, hence why I feel it should be ranked in the same place.

 

[alexwolf]

Even if you go for +4 against Hippo, it will get a hit off doing ~70% bringing you into priority range. Yeah Clef can be worn down/played around but Medicham has a much easier time getting past it. If you want other examples, physical defensive Skarm can take a + 2 cc and ko back with BB/counter, so does Mandibuzz given that no SR is on the field, Azumarill is another case as you said yourself. Furthermore Gallade has to decide between Ice Punch and Zen Headbutt. If it goes for the latter its walled by Lando-T while Medicham can always use Ice Punch. There are other less relevant cases like Alomomola, Sylveon etc but i guess thats pretty much it in terms of bulky mons. We could go on with offensive checks like Scarf Keldeo who can come in on a predicted SD or CC and do massive damage, if he tries to switch into Medicham he gets ohkoed by everything bar Ice Punch.



Well for starters, the meta doesnt consist of only 101+ base speed mons, there is quite alot of stuff thats slower than Medi. And second there are "only" 5 relevant mons in the tier that Gallade outspeeds and Medicham doesnt, Lando-I, Keldeo, Terrakion, Pinsir and Garchomp. And not one of them can switch into Medicham.

All five Pokemon you listed are really important Pokemon that Mega Gallade outspeeds. Also, while speed tying isn't the best thing, Mega Gallade can still get you out of clutch situations against base 110 Speed Pokemon. Oh and Mega Gallade outspeeds all the base 100 Speed Pokemon that Mega Medicham speed ties with, another big pro.

Also, you are missing the point when it comes to Mega Medicham vs stall. Even if Mega Medicham has a slight edge over Mega Gallade vs Hippo and Unaware Clefable, this is largely offset by Gallade's ability to get past Mega Slowbro and Mega Sableye if it desires, be way less prediction reliant thanks to SD, and not care about Protect, which stall teams often have multiple users of. Furthermore, it doesn't really matter that Hippo can do some damage back to Mega Gallade with EQ, what matters is that Mega Gallade can easily get past Hippo and open holes for its teammates to take advantage of. Btw, Hippo does ~48% on average with EQ against 4 HP Mega Gallade, so Mega Gallade has plenty of wiggle room until it gets into KO range. Mandibuzz loses 85% minimum from +2 CC and is SR weak, so it's barely a shaky check. So, when it comes to facing stall, you are choosing the ability to 2HKO Hippowdon without taking any damage back, 2HKO Unaware Clefable without first weakening it with Knock Off, and the ability to 2HKO Mandibuzz without SR, over being able to just click SD and fuck things up and not get walled by the two best defensive MEvos in OU? This niche sounds barely worthy enough of D rank, let alone the MEvo opportunity cost, and i am not exaggerating at all.

Again, the only case i would choose Mega Medicham atm is if my team was incredibly Azumarill weak and couldn't afford even one Pokemon to lose 1 v 1 to it (Gallade even has Leaf Blade to deal roughly the same damage as Adamant Mega Medi to Azumarill), or if for some reason i wanted dual priority with Fake Out + Bullet Punch, both incredibly small niche that are hardly worth using your MEvo on. C+ is already too generous for such an outclassed MEvo.

 

[pwnémon]

There's now a Pokémon in S-rank that isn't blue. I find this to be absolutely deplorable from every logical, moral and philosophical standpoint.

Realtalk despite me being... me, there's a couple suggestions I'd like to make.
Mega Altaria for A+
I find it a little hard to explain, but I figure this thing to be a sort of alternate Charizard X and is at least so comparable with it that they should be ranked the same. IN addition, it's incredibly versatile and has a unique and very good defensive typing which gives it a niche shared by no other Pokémon in the entire game.

Mega Tyranitar for B
I feel this to be in the exact same boat as Mega Latios. It's not a... bad Pokémon per se, but it isn't really doing all that much different from base Tyranitar and is a more just a "Oh I built a Tyranitar team with no Mega, might as well slap on Tyranitarite" sort of situation, which is the same as Mega Latios, hence why I feel it should be ranked in the same place.

I completely disagree with your reasons for mega ttar to drop. Npt once in high level ladder or tournament play have I seen a support mega ttar. Mega ttar is used for its dragon dance sets which set up on many common Pokemon such as lati@s and talonflame and uses its versatile movepool to surprise many Pokemon such as ice punch or fire punch to beat would be checks. It is also extreemly bulky allowing it to beat non superpower scarf lando t and scarfchomp when healthy.

 

[Kurona]

I completely disagree with your reasons for mega ttar to drop. Npt once in high level ladder or tournament play have I seen a support mega ttar. Mega ttar is used for its dragon dance sets which set up on many common Pokemon such as lati@s and talonflame and uses its versatile movepool to surprise many Pokemon such as ice punch or fire punch to beat would be checks. It is also extreemly bulky allowing it to beat non superpower scarf lando t and scarfchomp when healthy.

Perhaps it was slightly misworded. What I meant is that there's nothing Mega T-tar can do that Base T-tar can't also do. Yes, it's Dragon Dance set is far superior to the Base Form's set, but... at the end of the day, that doesn't really seem worth the use of a Mega Slot.

 

[pwnémon]

Perhaps it was slightly misworded. What I meant is that there's nothing Mega T-tar can do that Base T-tar can't also do. Yes, it's Dragon Dance set is far superior to the Base Form's set, but... at the end of the day, that doesn't really seem worth the use of a Mega Slot.

I think you're really overrating the 'mega slot', there a many strong Pokemon that aren't megas that prefer mega ttar as their mega as opposed to others, ie keldeo as mega ttar sets up all over lati@s and mega ttars upgraded bulk, power and +10 speed which helps,it outspeed ninja at +1 is certainly worth the mega slot in many cases.

 

[AM]

As far as Mega T-Tar goes why would I need to set up all over the Latis if I can just run an extremely efficient Choice Scarf T-Tar which handles the Latis, along with immediately checking Pokemon with Base 115 speed or below, AND have a set up sweeper such as Charizard-X or M-Altaria. It's not exactly overrating the mega slot if there's a pretty solid reason not a whole lot of people consider using it because of the choices between megas that can do a job more efficiently in the meta.

 

[pwnémon]

As far as Mega T-Tar goes why would I need to set up all over the Latis if I can just run an extremely efficient Choice Scarf T-Tar which handles the Latis, along with immediately checking Pokemon with Base 115 speed or below, AND have a set up sweeper such as Charizard-X or M-Altaria. It's not exactly overrating the mega slot if there's a pretty solid reason not a whole lot of people consider using it because of the choices between megas that can do a job more efficiently in the meta.

I agree with that about scarftar but they are not the same roles, mega ttar can use lati@s to help it setup a sweep and teams that rely on talonflame, non superpower lando-t to revenge kill common sweepers will be seriously disappointe as mega ttars power bulk and coverage allow to sweep many weakened balanced and offensive teams. Mega ttar is a sweeper not an offensive utility Mon like scarf tar and therefore the mega slot is often worth being used by mega tttar.

 

[Vengeance417]

If we're weighing opportunity cost Mega Gyarados should not be S rank, that's much too high and A+ is a possibility but given Mega Charizard X performs similarly but faster and harder, I don't really think it's worthy of such a rank.

Just because both Zard X and MegaGyara are DD sweepers does not mean they perform similarly. Gyarados has amazing abilities in both pre-mega and in its Mega form, unlike Zard's useless Blaze ability pre-mega. Gyarados can Intimidate on whatever physical attacker he switches in to and can even choose when to mega evolve based on the matchup he's up against. A fighting or grass type in your way? Stay as normal Gyara and proceed to DD in its face, and then murder it once you're ready to mega.

Gyarados also has Mold Breaker, which means Mega Sableye, the premier stallmon in ORAS right now, isn't safe from a Taunt, making Mega Gyarados one of the best stallbreakers in the game just because he can actually Taunt Magic Bounce users.

While Zard X is walled by Mega Slowbro and Heatran if not carrying Earthquake (most Zard X don't anymore in favor of dual STAB, DD and roost), Mega Gyarados gaining access to Crunch beats MegaBro and Water STAB beats Heatran. Gyarados also isn't as easily checked by Landorus-T, as all Lando can do is U-Turn or Superpower for SE damage, and even that doesn't work if Mega Gyara has set up two DDs, which Mega Gyarados can do a hell of a lot easier than Zard X, who is nowhere near as bulky, is weak to SR (4x in base form) and has more offensive checks.

I say A+ is perfect for Mega Gyarados, as it has gained tremendous amounts of utility this gen as a powerful stallbreaker and sweeper all in one package.

 

[astroboy]

nominating gliscor for a-
With the transition to ORAS, the meta has been nothing but unkind to Gliscor. With everyone and their grandmothers using greninja, the increased popularity of rain teams (cause with megapert and stuff), and mega sableye being yet another counter for it, i just cant really see a place for it in this meta. Like, all of its sets that once set it apart, most notably subtoxic and SD, have been far less effective. For those reasons, I don't really want it sticking around in a. Honestly, I think its probably like b+, but lets just start at a-.

 

[Kyuzeth]

Let's get this under way!

Mega Altaria (A) -> A+ | This is a no-brainer. Mega Altaria just has so many standout traits that make it perform excellently in OU that there's no reason why it shouldn't be A+. That Dragon/Fairy-type is just fantastic for both offensive AND defensive capabilities and Cloudburd makes wonderful use of it. Its 110/110/80 offenses initially don't seem much, but Mega Altaria gets Dragon Dance to bolster its Attack and Speed and it has Pixilate to create some monstrous STABs (Return on the physical, Hyper Voice on the special side), so the stats are good as they are. It can perform defensive roles as well with its 75/110/105 bulk; combined with its typing, Mega Altaria can wall a large variety of Pokémon and keep itself healthy thanks to its access to Roost. It may not have the same power as Mega Charizard X, but it's got more setup opportunities due to the aforementioned traits.
There's just so much Mega Altaria can do and it always pulls its weight, so I'd say Mega Altaria should soar to A+.

Mega Gyarados (A) -> A+ | There's no denying Mega Gyarados has gotten a ton better in ORAS thanks to its newly-acquired STAB Crunch. Water/Dark is excellent coverage as it is, only resisted by a few Pokémon in OU and even those have trouble taking boosted hits from this monster. Mega Gyarados has a great base 155 Attack stat and the Mold Breaker Ability, meaning it can hit hard without being stopped in its tracks. Its 81 Speed might not seem like much, but it's one point above Mega Altaria, so it's not all that bad, honestly. This serpent has great 95/109/130 bulk, which when combined with Intimidate gives it a lot of initial set-up bulk. Intimidate pre-Mega allows this Pokémon to force switches and create many free opportunities to set up at least one Dragon Dance. Mega Gyarados has a very customizable fourth moveslot due to the coverage Water/Dark has; Ice Fang for Mega Altaria, Earthquake for Rotom-W and Taunt to shut Stall down.
Its typing does give it five rather annoying weaknesses, limiting its switch-in opportunities once it has already Mega Evolved, but it does have that huge bulk to back it up. In short, Mega Gyarados is definitely a big threat in ORAS OU and should go up to A+.

Mega Manectric (A) -> A | I'd really like Mega Manectric to stay where it is. It's one of the best scouts in OU and still does its job as a cleaner excellently. Intimidate, a fast Volt Switch, good Special Attack and Fire-type coverage are all Mega Manectric needs to stand out among the other Electric-types and the other Mega Evolutions in OU. These are all traits unique to Manectric in the tier among its type (yes, I know Zapdos gets Heat Wave, but not Overheat or Flamethrower). It's a fantastic partner to Landorus-T to form a dual-Intimidate VoltTurn core that forces many switches and is a thorn in the side to every physical attacker in the tier. Before you tell me Mega Manectric lacks power; its Thunderbolt usually does just a bit less than Mega Lopunny's Return and considering that is considered powerful, then either both are weak or both are strong. You decide.
Mega Manectric does have some trouble with Dragon-types and is prone to being set-up bait for Mega Altaria and Mega Charizard X, but its ability to cripple and/or stop some top threats like Mega Metagross, Mega Pinsir and Talonflame just proves Mega Manectric still has a definite spot in OU, so it should remain in A.

Mega Sceptile (A-) -> A | Why isn't this guy ranked higher? Mega Sceptile has a ton of potential in OU; between its great 110/145 offensive stats (mainly that Special Attack) and fantastic 145 Speed, it's one of the fastest hard hitters in the tier. Its great mixed offensive stats make it so that players can perfectly adapt their Mega Sceptile to whatever their team needs, be it a mixed or special attacker with quite a few coverage options. Mega Sceptile has a nice diversity in Grass-type STABs, too: Giga Drain for longevity, Energy Ball as a reliable spamming move that can force switches with the SDef drop and Leaf Storm as a hit-and-run nuke. Lightning Rod is an excellent Ability that helps Mega Sceptile absorb Thunder Waves from Thundurus-I and stop Volt Switches from Rotom-W (whom Mega Sceptile hardcounters, for that matter), so it's the go-to paralysis absorber on faster teams.
Unfortunately, Grass/Dragon is a shitty defensive typing, giving it six nasty weaknesses, and it's kind of frail with its 70/75/85 defenses, meaning it'll have trouble switching in most of the time. Despite these flaws, Mega Sceptile is an excellent offensive Pokémon in OU and easily deserves to be in A.

Mega Sableye (A-) -> A+ | Mega Sableye singlehandedly buffed Stall into a much more viable playstyle. It's the very face of Stall; between its 50/125/115 defenses, Dark/Ghost-type, gigantic support capability granted by its movepool and plethora of ways to annoy its opposition, Mega Sableye stands as one of the best Pokémon on defensive teams. Magic Bounce perfectly complements its ability to stall and annoy, reflecting status moves and Taunts. That's probably one of the most standout traits of Mega Sableye's: its Taunt immunity as a supporting/stalling Pokémon. It can spread burns like the fucking plague, Taunt just about everything that tries to stand in its way and set up Calm Minds on many Pokémon in the tier, then take whole teams apart with Shadow Ball. Its regular Ability, Prankster, lets it get off a quick Will-O-Wisp or Calm Mind in advance on the turn it Mega Evolves, already giving it a leg up on turn 1.
It has some shortcomings, however. Mega Sableye can't take repeated onslaughts terribly well because of its low 50 HP and it's slow as molasses with only 20 Speed. The gem gremlin also can't stop Mega Gardevoir from completely taking Stall teams apart. This aside, though, Mega Sableye is an absolute force in the OU tier and the Pokémon responsible for keeping an entire playstyle stable. Definitely A+.

More to come later. Kyuzeth out.

 

[SAVideos]

A- => A
A lot of people are pointing out Mega Sceptile's 4x weakness to Ice, which is true, as a lot of things OHKO it if they attack first, that is. After some calculating, Mega Sceptile can live a Life Orb boosted Ice Shard coming from a 252-Attack Adamant Cloyster/Mamoswine/Weavile with 16 Defense investment, and retaliate with an OHKO Leaf Storm or Focus Blast. He also out-speeds most of the OU tier, save for a few Choice Scarf users. Dragon Pulse from behind a Substitute can easily 2KHO several Dragon-Types within the OU tier. Substitute in general is a very deadly tool in Mega-Sceptile's arsenal. Not to mention that a physical attacking version of Mega-Sceptile is very viable as well, as his physical move-pool is a lot more diverse than his special move-pool.

 

[heritage]

View attachment 31419 A- => A
A lot of people are pointing out Mega Sceptile's 4x weakness to Ice, which is true, as a lot of things OHKO it if they attack first, that is. After some calculating, Mega Sceptile can live a Life Orb boosted Ice Shard coming from a 252-Attack Adamant Cloyster/Mamoswine/Weavile with 16 Defense investment, and retaliate with an OHKO Leaf Storm or Focus Blast. He also out-speeds most of the OU tier, save for a few Choice Scarf users. Dragon Pulse from behind a Substitute can easily 2KHO several Dragon-Types within the OU tier. Substitute in general is a very deadly tool in Mega-Sceptile's arsenal. Not to mention that a physical attacking version of Mega-Sceptile is very viable as well, as his physical move-pool is a lot more diverse than his special move-pool.

You also don't have to Mega Evolve on the first turn if you predict the Ice Shard, and you live it guaranteed if you don't, and still OHKO back.
I agree with A, though, just pointing this out.

 

[Kurona]

View attachment 31419 A- => A
A lot of people are pointing out Mega Sceptile's 4x weakness to Ice, which is true, as a lot of things OHKO it if they attack first, that is. After some calculating, Mega Sceptile can live a Life Orb boosted Ice Shard coming from a 252-Attack Adamant Cloyster/Mamoswine/Weavile with 16 Defense investment, and retaliate with an OHKO Leaf Storm or Focus Blast. He also out-speeds most of the OU tier, save for a few Choice Scarf users. Dragon Pulse from behind a Substitute can easily 2KHO several Dragon-Types within the OU tier. Substitute in general is a very deadly tool in Mega-Sceptile's arsenal. Not to mention that a physical attacking version of Mega-Sceptile is very viable as well, as his physical move-pool is a lot more diverse than his special move-pool.

I'd just like to point out that Physical M-Sceptile generally isn't that great, as Swords Dance M-Sceptile is far inferior to Dragon Dance M-Charizard X. I do agree with the rest of your post however.

 

[alexwolf]

Just because both Zard X and MegaGyara are DD sweepers does not mean they perform similarly. Gyarados has amazing abilities in both pre-mega and in its Mega form, unlike Zard's useless Blaze ability pre-mega. Gyarados can Intimidate on whatever physical attacker he switches in to and can even choose when to mega evolve based on the matchup he's up against. A fighting or grass type in your way? Stay as normal Gyara and proceed to DD in its face, and then murder it once you're ready to mega.

Gyarados also has Mold Breaker, which means Mega Sableye, the premier stallmon in ORAS right now, isn't safe from a Taunt, making Mega Gyarados one of the best stallbreakers in the game just because he can actually Taunt Magic Bounce users.

While Zard X is walled by Mega Slowbro and Heatran if not carrying Earthquake (most Zard X don't anymore in favor of dual STAB, DD and roost), Mega Gyarados gaining access to Crunch beats MegaBro and Water STAB beats Heatran. Gyarados also isn't as easily checked by Landorus-T, as all Lando can do is U-Turn or Superpower for SE damage, and even that doesn't work if Mega Gyara has set up two DDs, which Mega Gyarados can do a hell of a lot easier than Zard X, who is nowhere near as bulky, is weak to SR (4x in base form) and has more offensive checks.

I say A+ is perfect for Mega Gyarados, as it has gained tremendous amounts of utility this gen as a powerful stallbreaker and sweeper all in one package.

I see this statement used a lot and it's just not true; SD + Roost bulky Mega Charizard X is a very viable set that combines the roles of utility check to tons of dangerous threats (think Mega Sableye, Thundurus, Bisharp, Clefable, Mega Scizor, etc), tank, and wallbreaker. SD + Dragon Claw Mega Charizard X can 2HKO Mega Slowbro at +4 if Slowbro is lacking Iron Defense, while it's not 2HKOed back by unboosted Scald. Kinda irrelevant comment to the discussion you guys had, but it needed to be said.

 

[Baharoth]

Also, you are missing the point when it comes to Mega Medicham vs stall.

I never even argued for Medi vs Stall, in fact i stated in my first post that his matchup vs stall is pretty bad thanks to Sableeye and Slowbro. He is best against BO and Balance. But well, you asked for examples where Medicham is better, i gave you a number of relevant cases and your just ignoring them as usual. Unfortunately there are no other advantages on Medis side so if the ones listed arent convincing i cant do anything about it so do what you want.

 

[Expert_Occultist]

View attachment 31432 nominating gliscor for a-
With the transition to ORAS, the meta has been nothing but unkind to Gliscor. With everyone and their grandmothers using greninja, the increased popularity of rain teams (cause with megapert and stuff), and mega sableye being yet another counter for it, i just cant really see a place for it in this meta. Like, all of its sets that once set it apart, most notably subtoxic and SD, have been far less effective. For those reasons, I don't really want it sticking around in a. Honestly, I think its probably like b+, but lets just start at a-.

I don't often post on here but spdef gliscor has been nothing but awesome for me. Once poison has activated gliscor becomes an amazing switch in and status/knock off absorber while also preforming mew's tasks. A list of pokemon it can switch into and threaten includes Landorus-T, Landorus-I, Lati@s, Heartan, Clefable, Gengar, Bisharp, Excadrill, Mew, Breloom, and pretty much every defensive threat. Yes, it has more counters now but the pokemon it threatens are still used a lot making gliscor a great utility counter.