Pre-Mega Stats:
HP: 65
Atk: 80
Def: 140
SpA: 40
SpD: 70
Spe: 70
Pre-Mega Abilities: Keen Eye / Sturdy / Weak Armor
Pre-Mega Type:
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Mega Stats:
HP: 65
Atk: 140
Def: 110
SpA: 40
SpD: 100
Spe: 110
Mega Ability: Stalwart
Mega Type:
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Notable STAB-boosted Moves:
- Brave Bird
- Dual Wingbeat
- Drill Peck
- Iron Head
Notable Coverage Moves:
- Body Press
- Drill Run
- Sand Tomb
- Rock Slide
Notable Utility:
- Stealth Rock
- Spikes
- Roost
- Taunt
- Whirlwind
Notable Setup:
- Swords Dance
- Iron Defense
- Curse
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Advantages & Disadvantages
+ Mega Skarmory's base form is utterly fantastic in its own right. Skarmory can easily run its Mega Stone and relinquish important items to other teammates, while still appreciating its newfound Knock Off resilience and immunity to Trick disruption.
+ Mega Skarmory's defensive profile both in and out of its base form are extremely premium. Steel/Flying is one of the best defensive typings in the game, and typically very hard to take advantage of. With its wide range of resistances, it can be an incredible asset and defensive anchor for most teams while providing an extremely reliable hazard setting option.
+ Mega Skarmory benefits from Item Clause. Due to the presence of Item Clause and the culling of major inter-generational items, the opportunity cost of running multiple Mega Evolutions on one team is lower than it's ever been. You can still run Skarmory by itself for its defensive merits, and in a pinch, its Mega Evolution grants a giant burst of Speed and Special Defense. Given its typing and reliance on its HP making a fast Roost a useful failsafe, this can be a major boon for cornered teams.
+ Mega Skarmory is incredibly strong offensively. STAB Brave Bird off of a base 140 Attack, even uninvested, stings extremely hard, and it has access to a very solid coverage move in Drill Run to supplement it into resistances. Base 110 Speed isn't insane, but very serviceable especially with Weak Armor. With only two moveslots, Mega Skarmory can maul unprepared teams.
+ Weak Armor is a really uniquely strong pre-Mega ability for a Pokemon with Mega Skarmory's overall offensive/defensive profile. Mega Skarmory has access to pre-Mega Weak Armor with a U-turn resistance and resilience into Knock Off to proc it without breaking a sweat, in addition to great setup options to let it be a long-term threat and a gross win condition. Weak Armor also leverages HP investment, which can let it also provide defensive utility for offensive teams more reliably.
+ Even while being a dedicated offensive threat, Mega Skarmory's defensive profile can let it play reactively on offense. Offensive checks are the crown jewel of a lot of hyper and bulky offense structures, and Mega Skarmory can serve in that role a thousand fold due to its similarly good bulk and resistance profile.
+ Mega Skarmory's utility profile is pretty great. Just like its base form, Mega Skarmory offers hazards, longevity, and disruption (via Taunt and Whirlwind), which are nice qualities in this metagame. However, with the added Special bulk its Mega Evolution grants, it can lean more into that side of the defensive spectrum more reliably.
- Stalwart is a useless ability in singles. There were originally rumors that Stalwart obtained Mold Breaker-esque qualities, which would've been great for it all across the board, but unfortunately this is not true. Stalwart is a useless ability for Mega Skarmory in this format, which limits some potential heights it may have otherwise had. The only use it arguably has is removing Weak Armor once you've acquired the initial +2 Speed, which literally any other ability could have done lol.
- Mega Skarmory sacrifices a good amount of its physical bulk for strength. It's not often that a Pokemon loses stats upon Mega Evolution, but unfortunately Mega Skarmory is one of those cases. Given that it loses a solid amount of physical bulk in particular, this can be problematic for finding reasons to Mega Evolve as in order to do so, you have to become worse at the very thing Skarmory is best known for.
- Weak Armor can be inconsistent to proc in some matchups and requires smart positioning. Weak Armor specifically requires a Physical move to activate, which isn't uniquely difficult, but if you do commit to bulk investment, this can be slightly annoying and limit sweeping opportunities if Skarmory is positioned poorly.
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Potential Sets
Swords Dance
Skarmory-Mega @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird / Dual Wingbeat / Drill Peck
- Drill Run
- Roost / Substitute
This, or some flavor of this, is most likely to be the bread and butter of dedicated Mega Skarmory sets. The strategy is simple: activate Weak Armor on an opportune switch-in, Mega Evolve as you Swords Dance (or don't, if you want to keep the extra Physical bulk for a moment), Mega Evolve if you haven't, and then go to town. With Brave Bird, Roost is most likely to be your most useful last move so you can stave off recoil damage. Otherwise, Substitute for blocking status moves and taking advantage of your resistance profile is a decent choice -- though, Roost could still work. Dual Wingbeat is a particularly decent slash IMO since Focus Sash is likely to be more common in an Item Claused format with less items, but Drill Peck works if you want full accuracy and to not take a million from Rough Skin. This Speed investment outspeeds Choice Scarf Meowscarada post-Mega Evolution.
Specially Defensive
Skarmory @ Skarmorite
Ability: Sturdy / Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind / Taunt
- Roost
Steel/Flying is a great typing for a specially defensive Pokemon, and Mega Skarmory uniquely supplements this with its giant boost to the stat -- if needed -- and a nice Speed tier. Over Corviknight, this set offers hazards and Whirlwind, but Taunt is also serviceable. Post-Mega Evolution Brave Bird will still hurt like hell uninvested, too.
This set can and should still work with physical investment too, if you plan to use base Skarmory more often than not, but I would probably recommend a resist berry or Leftovers at that point. Do NOT use Weak Armor if you do.
Stallbreaker
Skarmory @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor / Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Drill Run / Sand Tomb
- Taunt
- Roost
With its great Speed tier, access to a strong/spammable STAB, Taunt, and a great coverage option, Skarmory can be a useful Stallbreaker. Unlike dedicated setup sets, its access to Taunt makes it this set more useful into the likes of opposing Skarmory and Corviknight which can otherwise outlast it with Roost, while still having generally great damage output. Pre-Mega Weak Armor can also let it clean opposing offense with its disgusting Brave Bird. It also could unironically use Sand Tomb to trap and dispatch opponents along with Taunt.
Bulky Setup
Skarmory-Mega @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse / Iron Defense
- Drill Peck
- Drill Run / Body Press
- Roost
Great Physical Defense boosting options in addition to a great Special Defense stat and an even better typing let it serve more potently as a bulky win condition than Skarmory, even with pre-Mega Weak Armor and the Mega Evolution itself damaging its physical bulk some. This set has more winning power into the likes of Corviknight due to the defense boosts, while letting it serve a dedicated defensive role as needed.
Skarmory-Mega @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 160 HP / 252 Atk / 100 Spe
Adamant Nature
- Swords Dance
- Brave Bird / Dual Wingbeat / Drill Peck
- Drill Run
- Roost / Substitute
This, or some flavor of this, is most likely to be the bread and butter of dedicated Mega Skarmory sets. The strategy is simple: activate Weak Armor on an opportune switch-in, Mega Evolve as you Swords Dance (or don't, if you want to keep the extra Physical bulk for a moment), Mega Evolve if you haven't, and then go to town. With Brave Bird, Roost is most likely to be your most useful last move so you can stave off recoil damage. Otherwise, Substitute for blocking status moves and taking advantage of your resistance profile is a decent choice -- though, Roost could still work. Dual Wingbeat is a particularly decent slash IMO since Focus Sash is likely to be more common in an Item Claused format with less items, but Drill Peck works if you want full accuracy and to not take a million from Rough Skin. This Speed investment outspeeds Choice Scarf Meowscarada post-Mega Evolution.
Specially Defensive
Skarmory @ Skarmorite
Ability: Sturdy / Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 8 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Stealth Rock / Spikes
- Brave Bird
- Whirlwind / Taunt
- Roost
Steel/Flying is a great typing for a specially defensive Pokemon, and Mega Skarmory uniquely supplements this with its giant boost to the stat -- if needed -- and a nice Speed tier. Over Corviknight, this set offers hazards and Whirlwind, but Taunt is also serviceable. Post-Mega Evolution Brave Bird will still hurt like hell uninvested, too.
This set can and should still work with physical investment too, if you plan to use base Skarmory more often than not, but I would probably recommend a resist berry or Leftovers at that point. Do NOT use Weak Armor if you do.
Stallbreaker
Skarmory @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor / Sturdy
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 252 Atk / 8 SpD
Adamant Nature
- Brave Bird
- Drill Run / Sand Tomb
- Taunt
- Roost
With its great Speed tier, access to a strong/spammable STAB, Taunt, and a great coverage option, Skarmory can be a useful Stallbreaker. Unlike dedicated setup sets, its access to Taunt makes it this set more useful into the likes of opposing Skarmory and Corviknight which can otherwise outlast it with Roost, while still having generally great damage output. Pre-Mega Weak Armor can also let it clean opposing offense with its disgusting Brave Bird. It also could unironically use Sand Tomb to trap and dispatch opponents along with Taunt.
Bulky Setup
Skarmory-Mega @ Skarmorite
Ability: Weak Armor
Level: 50
EVs: 252 HP / 4 Def / 252 SpD
Careful Nature
- Curse / Iron Defense
- Drill Peck
- Drill Run / Body Press
- Roost
Great Physical Defense boosting options in addition to a great Special Defense stat and an even better typing let it serve more potently as a bulky win condition than Skarmory, even with pre-Mega Weak Armor and the Mega Evolution itself damaging its physical bulk some. This set has more winning power into the likes of Corviknight due to the defense boosts, while letting it serve a dedicated defensive role as needed.
Checks & Counters
These are the Pokemon of the metagame that wall its bread and butter move combination.
Funnily enough, Skarmory is its own worst enemy. Access to Whirlwind and walling its STAB + Drill Run is really rough. Corviknight can also be disruptive, but requires Iron Defense to do so if you have access to Roost. These two Pokemon alone are going to cause major problems for dedicated offensive Mega Skarmory sets, so you need to play around them cleverly.
Mega Chimecho is sort of weird and is something offensive sets can probably beat 1v1, but it may require a bit of work before you can do so reliably. Unlike the above, it has access to Psychic Noise (one that is relatively strong, too), so relying on Roost isn't an option.
The Rotom appliances you generally just hard lose to, unfortunately; they pressure you with super-effective damage and wall your STAB/Drill Run. They need to be chipped down and/or you need to be running bulky setup as to not be as overwhelmed by Volt Switch in the short-term.
I list these Pokemon primarily because of them having very powerful priority that can blow you up if Weak Armor has already been proced and you're not running bulky setup. If you're not boosted, either, Kingambit can even tank Drill Run. You generally should beat these Pokemon 1v1, but for offensive setup, they're ones to watch out and account for.
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Potential Teammates
Rotom-Wash provides a Fire-type resistance while providing pivoting support with Volt Switch to grant potential setup opportunities that aren't reliant on Weak Armor.
Choice Scarf Meowscarada is a prime U-turn target, which can be a good opportunity to switch in Mega Skarmory. Knock Off support and added pressure on the likes of Corviknight and opposing Skarmory are much appreciated, too.
Clefable can supplement Mega Skarmory by providing a good physically defensive partner with useful resistances and utility (including Stealth Rock) that can alleviate moveslot pressure.
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Overall, I think the anti-hype for Mega Skarmory is a bit overstated. It not only benefits from Item Clause, but even with a useless ability it can still do some very funky and scary things if you don't give it the respect it deserves. I don't foresee it to be meta-defining, but I do think it will be at least solid and worth consideration in a metagame without Zapdos to deter it.
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