This stat spread would be awful even for a non mega that's able to hold items.What ability could possibly redeem this shitmon?
>>58444418Having Contrary with access to Close Combat
>>58444427Isn't that just normal Malamar.
>>58444427It already has Contrary with access to Superpower, which is better because it raises attack.Still not good even on base Malamar.
>>58444418Keeping Contrary and recieving Psycho Boost is the only thing that might redeem it.
>>58444434All normal Malamar's stats are under 100. It gets a whole 45 in Sp Def with the Mega.
>>58444418>102 attackThe new >75
>>58444434>>58444444It didn't have Close Combat before which increases his defenses exponentially
>>58444459Ah yes the exponentially increased base 88 defense, that'll surel->u-turnOh
How is Omgon handling megas? Are they just gonna throw em in Gen9?
>>58444496They go by what's possible on cart so they won't be usable outside of custom formats until Champions/Gen 10 drops
>>58444487>U-turnAnon, it's so much worse than you realize.>252+ Atk Choice Band Caterpie Bug Bite vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Malamar: 324-384 (103.5 - 122.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO
>>58444418This is the ONE mon where they really needed to minmax the shit out of it and they fucked it up. Should've been>86/132/58/128/75/103Or something like thatThe design has everything going for it that it could justify both diminished defense (since it's thin as a noodle) and increased special attack (since it's all brains), but they decided what this piece of shit really needed was 120 special defense. It has the same problem hoopa unbound has, with none of the firepower or the ability to hold a scarf.
>>58444418They had to go out of their way to make it this bad, holy fuck.What does Malamar need 120 special defense for? Psychic/Dark is a fantastic offensive type that sucks dick defensively. ALL OF IT'S MEGA BOOST WENT INTO A WORTHLESS STAT.I love Malamar and I was so hyped for the Mega after how amazing the hype campaign for it was and.......it's stats are garbage, to the point I think even if it got an amazingly broken ability that isn't Contrary it would still be shit.
>>58444427It likely only has Close Combat due to Superpower being unavailable in ZA, don't presume it'll keep that, and definitely don't presume Close Combat is any good.For this Mega you have to take into account that regular Malamar has Contrary and can get Superpower off before Mega Evolving, and if it's ability changes it can no longer use Superpower without drawbacks. Based on design and flavor the existing abilities I could see it potentially changing to are:- Tinted Lens- Limber- Color Change- Own Tempo- Synchronize- Illuminate- Adaptability- Technician- Forewarn- Filter- Anticipation- Unnerve- Telepathy- Frisk- Magic Bounce- Infiltrator- Competitive- Dazzling- Psychic Surge- Mind's Eye- OpportunistVery few of these have any chance of saving it. Filter would tackle the U-Turn issue, Dazzling and Psychic Surge could maybe help it see some use, but at the end of the day it's an Assault Vest Malamar that steals your Mega Slot with the only benefit being it can use Protect now I suppose. Psycho Boost could help it, but it'd probably help a Choice Scarf Malamar more than it would Mega Malamar.
>>58444427It’s gonna be terrible even with Contrary. You’re unironically be better off with base Malamar since it can at least Tera so it can actually resist something and hold Chesto Berry.
>>58444418Prankster Topsy-Turvey
>>58444713>It likely only has Close Combat due to Superpower being unavailable in ZAReminder that this means it will only get Close Combat, because Pokemon from ZA or those that visit ZA cannot visit other Switch games. Once they're there, that's the only game they can go to anymore.
>>58444825Champions will have a wider variety of moves available.
>>58444418If it special defense and speed switched places and it got a move that boosted it's special attack like Overheat or Psychoboost it would still just be okay, but it would actually be able to do something. I mean it already learns Flamethrower, so why not go a step further? Why is every Contrary Pokemon (that isn't Enamorous, but Enamorous rarely if ever abuses Contrary) cucked so badly in one way or another?
>>58444418I can decide if this or Pyroar is the worse Mega stat wise
>>58444911Mega Pyroar is still a fast Fire type that hits just hard enough to not be completely useless, that and a Ghost immunity is never a bad thing these days, Mega Malamar is just unsalvageable
>>58444537>0 HP252 HP is more realistic since most sets run that, but even then:>252+ Atk Choice Band Caterpie Bug Bite vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Malamar: 324-384 (86.1 - 102.1%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKOand best case scenario after a superpower/CC:>252+ Atk Choice Band Caterpie Bug Bite vs. +1 252 HP / 0 Def Malamar: 216-256 (57.4 - 68%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recoverythis thing is probably the worst mega of all time
>>58444911Mega Pyroar at least has enough speed to outspeed Darkrai and Weavile.And while SpD is important, its arguably the least important stat.
Malamar would have unironically preferred the +20 across all 5 stats treatment
Reminder that Malamar doesn't even get Power Trip. Psycho Boost would help, but there's no saving this thing. I love Malamar, but there's almost nothing it can get that would salvage it.
>>58444911Pyroar's stats are Fine, and even a half decent ability like Intimidate can elevate it. Mega Manectric saw some use while being mostly similar, and Mega Pyroar has fairly higher physical defense than Manectric, which could be a big deal when combined with Intimidate.Of course if it gets a shit ability then all of this is moot.
