With its excellent Speed stat, Mega Absol is one of the fastest Dark-type Pokemon, and it has a great offensive movepool to make use of its impressive offensive stats; it has access to great STAB moves in Knock Off and Sucker Punch, is able to help take on Fighting-type teams with Play Rough, and can run other coverage options such as Superpower, Ice Beam, and Fire Blast. Magic Bounce also assists Mega Absol's offensive capabilities in being able to bounce back status moves like Will-O-Wisp and Thunder Wave along with entry hazards that could trouble the team. Due to its massive movepool, Mega Absol is often troubled by four-moveslot syndrome, limiting the amount of coverage it can run. Unfortunately, Mega Absol sees little to no usage as a result of its mediocre bulk, low Speed before Mega Evolving, and lack of immediate wallbreaking power. Mega Absol also faces competition for the Mega spot on the team, as both Mega Tyranitar and Mega Sharpedo outclass it. Lastly, Mega Absol does underwhelming damage overall if it hasn't boosted with Swords Dance, and opportunities to set up are rare due to its mediocre defensive stats.
[SET]
name: Swords Dance
move 1: Swords Dance
move 2: Knock Off
move 3: Sucker Punch
move 4: Play Rough
item: Absolite
ability: Justified
nature: Jolly
evs: 8 HP / 244 Atk / 4 SpD / 252 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
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Swords Dance boosts Mega Absol's Attack greatly, allowing it to punch holes in teams or flat-out sweep. Knock Off is Mega Absol's STAB move of choice and hits anything that doesn't resist it hard in addition to removing the Pokemon's item, aiding Mega Absol in getting past Pokemon that depend on their item. Sucker Punch picks off Pokemon that outspeed Mega Absol. Play Rough hits Dragon-, Fighting-, and Dark-types for super effective damage and hits Fairy-types for more damage than Knock Off, rounding off Mega Absol's coverage. Play Rough is especially useful for hitting Keldeo, Mandibuzz, Sableye, and Hydreigon. Superpower can also be run to hit Normal-, Steel-, Ice-, and Rock-types harder but drops Mega Absol's stats and makes it harder for it to sweep. Superpower also has a higher chance to OHKO Terrakion compared to Play Rough, which doesn't OHKO, and does more damage to Heatran, Porygon2, and Kyurem-B. Generally, Play Rough is better coverage since Knock Off hits Normal-, Steel-, Ice-, and Rock-types hard enough already.
Set Details
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8 HP EVs allow Mega Absol to survive one Mach Punch from Conkeldurr. Maximum Speed investment with a Jolly nature lets it outpace anything below base 115 Speed, notably Keldeo and other base 108s, as well as Speed tie with other base 115 Speed Pokemon such as Starmie, Azelf, and Mega Houndoom. Maximum Attack investment is used to give Mega Absol's attacks as much damage output as possible. 4 Special Defense EVs make Porygon2's Download always raise Attack and allow Absol to avoid the 2HKO from Ice Beam or Discharge. Justified can be used to take a rare weak Dark-type move and boost Mega Absol's Attack one stage.
Usage Tips
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Absol should Mega Evolve on a Pokemon that it can beat, as it isn't bulky and struggles to take even resisted attacks from opposing Pokemon. Swords Dance should only be used on a predicted switch or against Pokemon that can't touch Mega Absol, such as Cradily and Slowbro, though the latter has a chance to cripple Mega Absol through a Scald burn. Mega Absol should take advantage of its ability, Magic Bounce, in order to switch in on defensive Pokemon that can't harm it such as Chansey and Sableye. Knock Off should be used liberally early-game to weaken and cripple checks in order to make it easier to sweep late-game. Overall, Mega Absol is a late-game cleaner and shouldn't set up while Pokemon that can still take a boosted attack from it are alive and can OHKO back. Mega Absol can also function as a revenge killer because of its powerful priority in Sucker Punch. Revenge killing with Sucker Punch also gives it a way to Mega Evolve safely.
Team Options
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Mandibuzz is a great teammate for Mega Absol, as it's extremely bulky and excels at walling physical attackers. It also adds additional entry hazard control with Defog. Mandibuzz can also be used to bring Mega Absol in safely with U-turn. Tyranitar can set up Stealth Rock and is also a great special tank that can paralyze Pokemon with Thunder Wave to assist Mega Absol in pressuring the opposing team. Sableye can take Fighting-type moves aimed at Mega Absol and spread burns to whittle teams down for Mega Absol to clean later. Mega Absol appreciates Hydreigon and Hoopa-U as partners, as both are capable of wallbreaking and whittling teams down for it. Choice Scarf Hydreigon also is able to run U-turn effectively, allowing it to act as a pivot to bring Mega Absol in safely on forced switches. Bisharp and Crawdaunt are also capable partners that can punch plenty of holes in teams for Mega Absol to clean late-game, as they are very threatening after a Swords Dance boost. Bisharp, in particular, is a deadly threat to Fairy-types with its STAB Iron Head. Sharpedo is another great teammate that can apply plenty of offensive pressure through its access to Speed Boost and good offensive stats.
[STRATEGY OPTIONS]
Other Options
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Mega Absol has quite a large movepool and can run its choice of coverage depending on the role it's assigned on each team. Ice Beam can be run to 2HKO Gliscor and bulky Garchomp along with getting the OHKO on Landorus. Fire Blast, in conjunction with Superpower, can be used to ease the matchup versus Steel, as it's able to beat both Heatran and Skarmory. Iron Tail can be used to hit Fairy-type Pokemon, which Mega Absol does pretty mediocre damage to otherwise. However, most of these moves are inferior to the coverage and power offered by Superpower and Play Rough.
Checks and Counters
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**Priority**: Due to Mega Absol's lack of bulk, it has trouble taking moves like Choice Band Dragonite's Extreme Speed and Breloom's Mach Punch.
**Fairy-types**: Most Fairy-types shrug off Mega Absol's attacks with ease if it isn't running Iron Tail. Clefable takes any attack and can OHKO back with Moonblast, and Azumarill can OHKO with Play Rough or 2HKO with Aqua Jet.
**Faster Attackers**: If a Pokemon outspeeds Mega Absol and can take a Sucker Punch, it can usually KO Mega Absol with a STAB move or coverage. Notable examples are Mega Lopunny's High Jump Kick, Choice Scarf Landorus-T's Earthquake, and Choice Scarf Terrakion's Close Combat.
**Fighting-types**: Most Fighting-types can take an unboosted Play Rough and OHKO Mega Absol back with their own STAB move. Terrakion and Keldeo both survive one Play Rough and can retaliate with Close Combat or Secret Sword, respectively.
**Defensive Walls**: If a Pokemon can take a hit from Mega Absol, it can usually OHKO back. It's noteworthy that Mega Absol is OHKOed by Mandibuzz's Foul Play if it sets up and can't OHKO a healthy Mandibuzz with +2 Play Rough. Defensive Staraptor can use Intimidate lower Mega Absol's Attack and threaten it with Brave Bird. Mega Venusaur takes Knock Offs with ease due to its Mega Stone and can hit back with Sludge Bomb or Giga Drain.
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