Mega Evolution; Helpful or Hurtful?

Feh I don't necessarily call it a cheap move but for me it's certainly unwanted, especially since it has now paved the way for stuff like z-moves to enter the fro. Who's to say they won't have a limit on their usage? Effectively giving each mon a 5th , likely powerful move! Gah!

 

Yeah I am not a fan of the Z-move concept either. However, I did like the concept of Megas. Some Pokémon that got them really didn't need it I feel, some did, but overall to me it was a good way to refreshen things without going too over the top. Gen 7 feels like it's going over the top with its new things (Alolan forms or new Megas would be plenty without these Z-move and "Ultra Beast" gimmicks) but megas fit in pretty well and made me reconsider using some Pokémon I never had before and would not otherwise.

However it can't be denied that it's a real mixed bag in terms of both use and design with some of them being overdesigned or overpowered..or both, like with Pinsir.

 

Nah, Mega Pinsir's balanced. Hits like a truck, no doubt, but balanced in quite a few ways. I think a better comparison here would be Mega Salamence.

I won't deny that Megas have both been useful, and harmful. I personally like Mega Evolution as a concept. It's given new life to a lot of Pokémon that were fairly often overlooked (at least competitively), like Mawile, Altaria, Steelix, Pinsir, Kangaskhan, Manectric, Lopunny, and more. I'd even say Diancie, even if it's new, since it's pretty much a slightly better Carbink. Of course, there were some Pokémon that just really didn't need one, which includes Lucario, Blaziken, many of the legendary megas, Salamence, and ESPECIALLY Rayquaza. And there are some in the neighborhood of ones that didn't need them, but aren't even all that useful, like Garchomp, Tyranitar, the Latis (Well, moreso Latios), and Slowbro.

Mega Evolution is a mixed bag, but it's insanely popular. It's been in a lot of this gen's spinoffs, in the anime/manga, plushies, etc., and I can't see them getting rid of it... to get a bit off topic, at least

 

I feel like this is somewhat of a confession by Gamefreak that Megas were unhealthy for the competitive scene. In VGC (where the changes that gamefreak implement truly matter since smogon actively updates their formats) you had the situation where you are shackling yourself by not running a Mega on your team just from how much a Mega can provide a team in just one slot, while the pool of usable Megas was particularly small due to how huge the differences between how good the Megas were (in VGC16 the list of usuable Megas were Mega Mence, Kang, Ray, Gengar and Mawile, with Manectric being a potential niche pick on certain teams). VGC16 had plenty of other issues stemming from the same problem that Megas caused, power creep. When stronger and stronger Pokémon are introduced in to the game it limits the viability of the relatively weak Pokémon and causes pooling around Pokémon that are equally strong or have a particularly good matchup against the stronger Pokémon (while not related to Megas, an example of this would be Mamoswine increasing in popularity in VGC15 to counter the hugely popular double genies lead). Having Pokémon like Kangaskhan which provide (scrappy) Fake Out support, breaks focus sashes, has set up potential with PuP, can Nuke a Pokémon with return/double-edge and priority , or Mega Mence that provides Intimidate support, powerful spread attacks, a nuke option, great speed and a decent offensive and defensive typing kind of just invalidates many other Mega options that may only provide a few, one or none of these traits.

I don't know I'm just looking forward to a more limited pool of Pokémon to choose from this VGC season to see what cool niche Pokémon it allows people to use effectively, and banning Megas a long with only allowing mons from the Alola dex seems like a great idea to get away from what we had this year with practically 99% of successful teams having one of the Primals or Mega Ray. Probably not relevant to the discussion, but yeah really looking forward to VGC17

 

I know nothing of full-on competitive battling, so most of my feelings are in reagards to design and what I guess might make them better in battling.

For the most part, I like Mega Evolution as a mechanic. It gave a lot of pretty forgettable Pokémon a new form that made a lot of people like them. As for the ones that were already popular, it helped to strengthen them further. But overall, most of the designs are actually pretty good, in my opinion. The only ones I really find forgettable are Pinsir, Lopunny, Audino, and Salamence. Mega Slowbro I like just because I think it's really funny. I just found it really cool seeing what they could come up with as what was basically an "upgraded design" of an already-existing Pokémon.

Unfortunatly, there are a few bad things about Mega Evolution, such as Mega Rayquaza being pretty broken in some cases. The four designs I mentioned earlier that were forgettable also just don't do much for the Pokémon, in my opinion. Pinsir grows wings. Salamace's wings just get bigger and change shape, and he suddenly has some sort of brace goind around each of his sides. Loppiny just gets darker fur and less furry ears. And Audino just becomes white, changes its eye color, and is now a Fairy.

While I do like the Alolan Forms, Z-Moves just seem to me like a Mega Evolution toned down to just one move, and made more widespread. Basically, a sort of half-assed Pseudo-Mega for Pokémon that can't Mega Evolve. I mean, I do like them, but they are in no way a replacement for Mega Evolution. But, that seems to be exactly what what Game Freak is doing, unfortunatly. Honestly, it's the one thing I'm disappointed about for Sun & Moon for now.

(Edit: Oh, I forgot to say; I am EXTREMELY pissed that Audino is the only Gen V Pokémon with a Mega. They can't just end it there. I mean, sure Gen VI only has one too, but at least Diance and Mega Diance actually have a good design. There are 156 Gen V Pokémon, and you chose literally the most forgettable one, and then DIDN'T even give it a memorable design to make it less forgettable? Seriously?)

 

I feel like Mega Evolutions did more hurt than harm. It devalues other Pokémon that don't end up with Mega Evolutions and it primarily strengthens Pokémon that were already good to begin with rather than strengthening Pokémon that needed a boost (why not give them another actual evolution rather than a temporary battle form?).

In gen 4 we received evolutions for Pokémon that were "okay" but needed a bit of a boost (Magmar, Electabuzz, Togetic, Tangela etc.). I would have rather preferred actual evolutions instead of megas to Pokémon like Mawile, Pinsir, Audino etc. to give their line a boost or at least make them gain access to eviolite's defensive boosts.

While I do think some mega evolutions are fun to use and have great designs, they really do throw the game out of balance and make players feel like they have to have at least one slot in their party with a mega in order to be complete.

 

I really disagree with your statement that Z moves are similar to Mega Evolution. Like in my opinion the only thing they share in common is that there are some that are Pokémon specific. That's about it. Z Moves are most like gems from previous generations, except while in previous generations (I believe) gems were kept if they launch in to a protect, Z moves aren't (as far as I'm aware). Gems and seemingly Z moves are a 1 turn advantage at the cost of an item slot, while Mega Evolution changed everything about that Pokémon for the entire match. The ability, the stats, the typing, it was huge. It turned Mawile from a PU mon to an Uber. I can't see any Z moves having anywhere near that kind of an effect on the metagame and so don't bare much relation to megas at all. Don't get me wrong, I do think GameFreak are trying to replace megas with Z-moves, I just don't think they are similar in the way that they'll affect the game.

 

I meant moreso in the way that they both can provide a possibly overwhelming temporary boost of power, can only be used once per battle, and require a specific item to be held by the Pokémon. Z-Moves won't have nearly the same affect as Megas.

 

Honestly, it depends on the Pokémon... Pokémon with not so much use like Mawile and Kangaskhan got bumped straight to Ubers with the power of their Mega Stones. Pokémon like Rayquaza, Mewtwo, Latias, Latios, Salamence and Blaziken really didn't need it and got high usage because of it. Then there are Pokémon like Audino and Steelix who I forget even get Megas.

 

I like the designs, and I like the general thought behind it. However, I do feel that Mega's were a bad move on Nintendo's part. Some of them were completely unnecessary like, indeed, the legendaries, Salamence, Metagross (I do like its design very much), and the starters. The better move would have been to raise the Pokémon that really see almost no usage at all to be boosted, like early-game Pokémon. It would have prolonged their usefulness in-game and maybe even a bit in the metagame.

 

I don't think there will be any new ones in Sun and Moon. If so, I think that would have leaked by now, or shown in one of the trailers. For some time I thought they had abandoned the whole idea. I am unsure if I even like them being back to be very honest. It feels forced. Like you have to have a Mega or you don't count anymore. The whole point of it being the driving force behind the story of X and Y is something that bothers me a bit. And that every trainer that is someone has one is very odd and feels elite.