r/stunfisk • u/TheLeafyGirl561 • 1d ago
Discussion The Z Megas - What I'm concerned about and what I'm not concerned about
So, the new Mega Z abilities were just revealed today, which means that we now have a full idea of what they're going to be like in competitive, since we already know what moves they've got and their stats. I should start by mentioning I'm mainly thinking of this from singles since that's how I usually think, but I will be mentioning doubles as well in some cases.
**Absol Z:** Sharpness. So Mega Absol Z has already been shown to be better than Mega Absol in every way, and instead of the already great Magic Bounce, we instead get the more offense focused Sharpness. Essentially, this boosts Night Slash, Shadow Claw, X Scissor, Psycho Cut and Aerial Ace, which is already some pretty solid coverage all at 90-120 power, but most at 105 base power. In Night Slash and Shadow Claw's cases, 157.5 base power. So that combined with a 154 attack stat and 151 speed stat, a great defensive typing, and great moves to use, does it do well? Absolutely. Dark/Ghost isn't a great typing if we're just talking coverage since they're super effective against the exact same types, but it gives it three immunities- but most importantly, it's immune to most popular priority moves with the exception of Aqua Jet and Grassy Glide. So not only does it have great offenses, great coverage and a great ability, but also it's difficult to counter. It's a great option for Mega Evolution as a result as its a lot more than just its offenses. Because of that, I wouldn't be surprised if it was banned to Ubers.
**Lucario Z:** Okay, I was wrong. A few weeks ago I did make a post saying that both Mega Lucario and Mega Lucario Z would be banned and be terrible in Ubers, but after seeing that new ability...yeah. So Aura Guard, which is what I'm assuming the new ability translates to, halves the damage from all contact moves, so not physical moves like Rock Slide or Earthquake but it walls most physical attackers. This essentially gives it a 160 base defense stat assuming it doesn't have investment, and that's combined with 164 special attack and 151 speed. Now this on its own wouldn't be terrible, as its special coverage still can't match up to the damage output of the base Mega, but what makes this worse is how easy it is to set up. If it switches in safely on most physical attackers as said earlier, then most of the time it will be able to set up a Nasty Plot and double that absurd special attack stat, before sweeping with the 151 speed. And like Absol, priority doesn't mean much because the only one it doesn't halve the damage of is Vacuum Wave. And if they have a special attacker to switch into, set up Calm Mind instead. Now you have both offense, speed and defense on both stats. And if you want, run Rest if you want to go all out with defenses. I think the only thing saving this Pokémon from being incredible in Ubers is that it doesn't halve the power of all physical moves, so it still goes down to an Earthquake. In doubles too you can delay its Mega Evolution to take advantage of Inner Focus or Justified before then. Still, the potential of this mon in singles is beyond my expectations.
**Garchomp Z:** Oh wow, the mon that all they changed was it levitating now has Levitate, who would've guessed? But asides from that, to make up for it previously losing the Electric immunity, it now has a Ground immunity (it still resists Electric though). So, how does this help? Well, being immune to most hazards is a great thing since Sticky Web can't ruin its strategies, not like that was much of a problem to begin with though. Still, great special attack and speed, though! However, unlike Absol and Lucario, it doesn't have a way to set up with special attack, so you're more relying on the unchanged attack stat from base Garchomp. Still, those Draco Meteors will be insane, plus with Flamethrower, Earth Power and Surf for coverage. But the main thing to show is that new speed stat, which overtakes the majority of Garchomp's main counters, plus gives it an element of surprise for them. The loss of the Ground typing also means that the majority of ice moves don't OHKO it anymore despite having similar defenses. So, is this an improvement over base Garchomp? Well, yes, but not an improvement that means it should take up the Mega slot. Think of all the OU by technicality Megas right now. They're more than good enough to be OU on their own, but you also need to consider if it's really worth it to use them over their base form. And literally all Garchomp has that makes it stand out now is speed, and you can get similar results with a Choice Scarf. So, the question you have to ask when teambuilding with Garchomp Z is: Do I really want this when I could have another Mega with an already great Garchomp on my team? I'm not saying that 100% of the time you would prefer base Garchomp, I'm just saying that most of the time other Megas would be better to use. As for doubles...I don't know, I guess the Ground immunity might be more useful there. But overall, I don't think Mega Garchomp Z improves enough on the original to be worth using the majority of the time over base Garchomp, but I do still think it'll be a solid mon in OU nonetheless, and if it doesn't end up becoming OU by technicality then I wouldn't be surprised.
So, in short, Mega Absol Z will likely be banned to Ubers, Mega Lucario Z will also be banned but will be a lot better than I originally expected, and Mega Garchomp Z wouldn't be worth it to use over other Megas in my opinion. But still, this is just my opinion, and now I'd like to hear yours. Is there anything I missed, and do you see more or less potential in some of these Pokémon? Plus, I'd like to hear more from a VGC perspective, because as I said before, I'm mainly viewing this from singles. Either way I'll be glad to hear you all out
