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Let's Go Pikachu and Let's Go Eevee came with several major mechanic changes, of which one was the removal of items. Thus, it became possible to Mega Evolve Pokémon without items. A notably interesting result is that running multiple Pokémon capable of Mega Evolving is now completely viable, as there's no item slot to be taken by the Mega Stone. Mega Evolutions play an important role in LGPE OU as some of the scariest threats in the metagame. We will cover some of these Mega Evolutions in this article.
Art by AmirAlexander.
Once considered to be a rather niche choice, Mega Gengar now stands as a top-tier Mega Pokémon in the format. This is due to its high Special Attack and Speed, solid movepool, and great typing allowing it to act as a good revenge killer, as well as possibly provide an offensive check to Psychic-types. It also benefits from the fact that the combination of Shadow Ball and Sludge Bomb is resisted only by Alolan Muk, making it harder to consistently switch in against Mega Gengar. With access to Thunderbolt, Mega Gengar can hit its normal checks like Mega Gyarados and Alolan Muk harder, while Substitute blocks out standard Mega Venusaur and Eevee-S sets and beats them without fearing Leech Seed or status.
Mega Gengar is a great revenge killer, so it should mostly be used to finish off threats (such as Mew after some chip) or as an end-game cleaner after its checks are taken down or weakened enough. It must be careful of switching directly into attacks, as its bulk is not really high, and it is vulnerable to being worn down. It is also worth mentioning that Mega Gengar can only set up Substitute a limited number of times due to its lack of reliable recovery.
Mega Gyarados is another fantastic Mega Evolution in the meta, due to both its offensive and defensive merits. As an offensive Pokémon, Mega Gyarados can pressure many Stealth Rock setters, such as Rhydon, Alolan Dugtrio, Nidoqueen, Nidoking, and sometimes Mew. Its defensive potential comes from the combination of its defensive stats and its defensive typing; its Dark typing allows it to be a solid check to Psychic-types and Mega Gengar. Furthermore, Mega Gyarados can soft check common Water-type threats like Cloyster and Starmie (if it is not weakened into the latter's Thunderbolt's KO range) and generally beats Melmetal as long as it is not running Thunder Punch.
With Waterfall and Crunch being its main STAB moves, Mega Gyarados often runs Earthquake in order to beat Melmetal and Alolan Muk more easily. Mega Gyarados appreciates Stealth Rock support, as its Crunch 2HKOes threats like Venusaur and Dragonite on the switch after Stealth Rock damage. An Adamant nature allows it to deal more damage, while a Jolly nature allows it to outspeed Timid Venusaur. Substitute, combined with its good bulk, gives more safe places for it to hide against weaker attacks that cannot break it and also allows it to avoid status, making checking Will-O-Wisp Mew much easier. However, just like in Mega Gengar's case, the number of times it can set up Substitute is limited, and thus Mega Gyarados is prone to being worn down, which is made worse due to its base forme being weak to Stealth Rock. Alternatively, it can run Facade, which makes it terrifying to face if statused and also lets it act as a burn absorber if needed. Thunder Wave helps it outspeed the Pokémon that are faster than it, allowing it to KO them or break them with Waterfall flinches and full paralysis while also aiding potentially another teammate later in the game.
Mega Beedrill was once thought to be a worthless Mega Evolution in the metagame, considering it doesn't have access to its valuable Adaptability. However, over time, it has proven to be a surprisingly good choice for a Mega Pokémon. Mega Beedrill is best known for its role as a cleaner that can function as a late-game sweeper. Thanks to its Bug typing, Mega Beedrill can provide one's team with a solid offensive check to Mew and Starmie as well as pivot out of unfavorable matchups with the use of its main move, U-turn. Mega Beedrill, in general, is a good choice to lead with, because it will likely outspeed the opponent's lead and can pivot out of the field with U-turn if required. Mega Beedrill also greatly threatens Clefable, which is one of the only Stealth Rock setters to not be weak to Water. Mega Beedrill uses Drill Run in order to finish off or weaken answers to its STAB attacks, such as Melmetal, Rhydon, and Nidoqueen, as otherwise they will always switch in for free. X-Scissor can be run as a stronger Bug-type STAB attack that does not force out Mega Beedrill, and Roost is an option to heal Mega Beedrill on expected switches. Mega Beedrill can also run Outrage to surprise and OHKO Dragonite after Stealth Rock damage, but it is useless outside of that.
Mega Beedrill retains its main problems from standard competitive: its horrendous bulk, coupled with its Stealth Rock weakness. Due to that, Mega Beedrill is often forced to either OHKO the threat or pivot out of the match and be worn down by Stealth Rock in the process. Although it can heal off some damage with Roost, its bulk doesn't allow it to last for long. With Stealth Rock on the field, Mega Beedrill will also only be able to switch in a limited number of times. Non-Mega Evolved Beedrill is useless as well, so you cannot run an additional Mega Pokémon to Mega Evolve if needed. These negatives, however, are offset by the relative ease of preparing the opposing team for Beedrill's cleanup and by the fact that Beedrill doesn't often have to come in more than four times to do its job more than well enough.
In the early stages of the meta, Mega Aerodactyl was commonly used as a Stealth Rock setter. However, it proved to be quite underwhelming in that role, and as such it transitioned into a cleaner. Mega Aerodactyl possesses the highest Speed stat in the metagame, along with Electrode and Mega Alakazam. Coupled with its high Attack and unresisted Rock / Ground coverage, Mega Aerodactyl proves very effective as a cleaner. In addition, it can pressure Mew and (Mega) Alakazam with Crunch and can heal itself with Roost on a predicted switch. While its defensive typing does give it some nasty weaknesses, it still has some merits, such as making Mega Aerodactyl a solid switch-in to Mega Beedrill.
As stated earlier, Mega Aerodactyl possesses a high Attack stat; just its Rock Slide is an OHKO on threats like Zapdos and Dragonite after Stealth Rock damage. Wing Attack is useful for improving its matchup against Poliwrath and Grass-types like Alolan Exeggutor and Venusaur and is a more accurate way to hit to Mega Beedrill, although without Crunch, it cannot pressure the more common Mew and Alakazam. Mega Aerodactyl can also run Taunt to prevent Stealth Rock setup and status, but if it mispredicts, it's likely going to take a hard hit.
Contrary to Mega Beedrill's situation, Mega Alakazam was initially thought to be the best Mega Evolution in the game to the point of being classified as an S rank Pokémon. However, due to the omnipresence of its checks, Melmetal, Alolan Muk, and Mega Gyarados, Mega Alakazam has fallen in terms of viability. However, it remains nonetheless a possible option for a Mega Evolution. Psychic is a scary offensive typing in LGPE OU due to the limited number of Pokémon resisting or being immune to it, enabling late-game rampaging. Mega Alakazam has some tools to deal with would-be checks, such as Shadow Ball for other Psychic-types and Melmetal and Dazzling Gleam for Mega Gyarados and (to a lesser extent) Alolan Muk, as long as they are weakened enough. Calm Mind is mandatory in order to increase its firepower. Additionally, it can run Recover instead of Dazzling Gleam, which allows Mega Alakazam to beat special attackers one-on-one, such as Nasty Plot Mew (as long as it lacks the rare Shadow Ball), by outspeeding them, increasing its Special Defense,and healing itself with Recover.
As stated before, Mega Alakazam is more underwhelming than before due to the constant presence of its checks, especially Melmetal, which is present on nearly every team. Furthermore, Mega Alakazam is not really strong unboosted and has a low Defense stat, meaning it cannot stay in on physical attackers unless it can OHKO them or otherwise finish them off.
Although Charizard has access to two Mega Evolutions, Mega Charizard Y is pretty much unviable. However, that is not true for Mega Charizard X. Mega Charizard X is one of the very few burn spreaders in the metagame. Furthermore, it has access to a rather interesting Dragon typing, which complements its power nicely. Running a special set might look really weird, especially if you normally play OU, but in this meta, it does not have access to Tough Claws, and Flare Blitz and Outrage come with some downsides to them. Its Fire Blast still mostly achieves OHKOs on super effective hits, most notably on Melmetal. Even if the opposing Pokémon resists Fire Blast, they will take at least neutral damage from Dragon Pulse. Finally, Mega Charizard X is blessed with reliable recovery in the form of Roost, which can be used to stall out burned physical attackers, provided they do not run Toxic in order to wear it down.
Mega Charizard X fears the Stealth Rock damage that it is likely to take. This is even worse if it has not Mega Evolved yet, as non-Mega Evolved Charizard is 4x weak to Rock. It is recommended to bring a teammate that can deal with majority of the Stealth Rock users, such as Starmie. Furthermore, Mega Charizard X is very vulnerable to Pokémon that outspeed it, such as Alolan Dugtrio, Aerodactyl, and Dragonite after Agility.
The LGPE OU metagame has drastically changed since the first stages; new Mega Evolutions have come to light and have proven themselves, while some have fallen from their top positions. Nonetheless, all of them play an important role for the current state of the metagame, so go out and try them out!
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