[OVERVIEW]
Mega Pinsir is a powerful physical attacker that can force its way through foes such as Mega Gyarados and Mega Venusaur but has a hard time dealing with a lackluster defensive typing. Its Speed allows it to outspeed crucial base 100 Speed Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, Volcarona, and Mew, in addition to slightly faster Pokemon such as non-Choice Scarf Garchomp, and other important offensive threats such as non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Tapu Lele, and Landorus-T. It is adept at taking on slower Pokemon that are weak to its Aerilate-boosted STAB moves, such as Mega Venusaur and Kommo-o, as well as some frailer Pokemon that do not resist them, such as Hoopa-U and Tapu Lele. Its decent physical bulk allows it to take on Pokemon like Mega Gyarados and Mega Mawile., and setup moves in Swords Dance and Bulk Up let it boost past bulkier Pokemon that it cannot OHKO, like Type: Null, Magearna, Chansey, and Mega Mawile. However, its typing leaves it vulnerable to common Rock-, Electric-, and Fire-types types, such as Golem, Zeraora, and bulky Flame Charge Mega Charizard X. Many Pokemon also carry moves of these types as coverage moves; for example, Choice Scarf Genesect commonly run Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, or Flamethrower. Mega Pinsir has trouble with physically defensive Pokemon, especially with the abundance of Steel-types. For example, Mega Aggron, Mega Metagross, and Mega Slowbro all hard wall Mega Pinsir. Furthermore, despite Mega Pinsir being fast, its Speed is by no means stellar. Faster Pokemon like Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Choice Scarf Victini, and Jumpluff all reliably deal with it.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Giga Impact
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Swords Dance / Bulk Up
item: Pinsirite
ability: Hyper Cutter / Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 16 Def / 240 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Giga Impact is Mega Pinsir's strongest move and allows it to OHKO most frail Pokemon like non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Mega Gardevoir, and Tapu Lele. Substitute is used to evade status from Pokemon like Mew and Mega Swampert. It can also be used to waste the foe's Z-Move, such as against Magearna and Aegislash. Earthquake along with Mold Breaker helps Mega Pinsir OHKO Magnezone through Sturdy and beat other Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile. Swords Dance lets Mega Pinsir boost its power to unrivaled levels, especially when behind a Substitute, helping Mega Pinsir break through defensive Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Zygarde. Bulk Up can bolster Mega Pinsir's offense and defense simultaneously and is primarily used against other physical attackers like Mega Mawile, which unboosted Mega Pinsir cannot OHKO.
Set Details
========
The given Speed investment allows Mega Pinsir to outspeed base 100 Speed Pokemon as well as slightly faster Pokemon such as Garchomp and Nihilego. Maximum Attack investment allows Mega Pinsir to hit as hard and fast as possible, notably OHKOing uninvested Mega Charizard X. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense to improve Mega Pinsir's bulk, giving it better chances to survive Play Rough followed by Sucker Punch from Mega Mawile after Bulk Up. Mega Pinsir's pre-Mega abilities are both useful. Hyper Cutter allows Mega Pinsir to ignore the plethora of Intimidate users in the tier, notably Mega Mawile and Mega Gyarados, in addition to Attack-lowering moves like Charm from Chansey and Umbreon. Mold Breaker, on the other hand, lets Mega Pinsir ignore foes' abilities like Magnezone's Sturdy. Aerilate gives Mega Pinsir that extra bit of power, as well as giving it fantastic Flying-type STAB on Normal-type moves like Giga Impact.
Usage Tips
========
Send Mega Pinsir in on physically frail, slower Pokemon that it can OHKO, like non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Garchomp, Genesect, Tapu Lele, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Gardevoir. Immediately use Giga Impact against these foes. It can OHKO most Pokemon that are weak to Flying, such as Mega Venusaur, Volcarona, and Kommo-o, in one fell swoop with Aerilate-boosted Giga Impact. With decent physical bulk, Mega Pinsir can tank hits from Pokemon like boosted Mega Gyarados, Zygarde, and Mega Mawile, to buy itself time to set up and retaliate. Against Mega Mawile, Hyper Cutter and Bulk Up are required to be able to survive a Play Rough followed by Sucker Punch while having enough Attack to OHKO in return with +1 Earthquake. Against standard Magearna, use Substitute first. If it keeps attacking, use Substitute again until it is at -2 Special Attack, and then use Swords Dance instead of Substitute, as Mega Pinsir can survive a -2 Fleur Cannon and OHKO it with +2 Earthquake. Otherwise, if it starts setting up with Iron Defense, use Swords Dance while safely behind a free Substitute and then use Earthquake to 2HKO it when it stops setting up. Mega Pinsir can set up against passive Pokemon like Chansey and Pyukumuku by using Substitute to prevent being statused and boosting past their defenses with Swords Dance. Against Pokemon that cannot deal fatal damage to Mega Pinsir such as defensive Mew and Tapu Fini, use Swords Dance to OHKO them with Giga Impact the following turn. If Mew burns Mega Pinsir with Will-O-Wisp, simply use Swords Dance again. Mega Swampert, Mega Blastoise, and Aegislash are matchups that Mega Pinsir can force in its favor, provided the right plays are made. Use Substitute on the first turn. Against the first two, attempt to use Swords Dance without Mega Evolving to avoid taking fatal damage from Ice Beam. For Aegislash, try to attack it in its vulnerable Sword forme, which it will be in after it attacks Mega Pinsir's Substitute. Be wary about sending this into Pokemon that may seem susceptible to Mega Pinsir. Despite the typing advantage, Mega Pinsir may have trouble in matchups against Pokemon like Jumpluff, Serperior, and Whimsicott. For Donphan, use Substitute to bait out Head Smash so it takes recoil and loses Sturdy. Proceed to finish it off with Giga Impact.
Team Options
========
Mega Pinsir struggles with the majority of Fire-, Rock-, Ground-, Electric-, and Steel-types, so Mega Swampert and Quagsire can help in handling Pokemon like Crustle, Donphan, Zeraora, and Mega Aggron. They also sufficiently deal with the omnipresent Mega Charizard X and Dragonite. Mega Pinsir deals with some of the wallbreakers that threaten them like Normalium Z Porygon-Z, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Gyarados. Mega Pinsir has trouble with faster offensive threats like Greninja, Naganadel, and Mega Lopunny, so bulky Pokemon like Magearna, Donphan, and Pyukumuku are good partners. Mega Pinsir can handle the Pokemon that threaten them, like Taunt Tapu Fini, defensive Mew, and Mega Venusaur. As Mega Pinsir has difficulty dealing with physically defensive Pokemon like Mega Slowbro and Mega Metagross, it appreciates special attackers such as Greninja, Aegislash, and Mega Charizard Y. In return, Mega Pinsir can take out specially bulky Pokemon like Mega Gyarados and defensive Kommo-o.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Mega Pinsir does not have many other options outside of changing up its moveset. Flail is a decent move option over Earthquake that when used in conjunction with Substitute has the potential to reach 200 Base Power, allowing Mega Pinsir to outright OHKO most Pokemon, potentially even Pokemon that resist Flying. This is useful against slower bulkier foes that Giga Impact does not always OHKO, such as non-Flame Charge Mega Charizard X and Garchomp. However, this means that Mega Pinsir cannot reliably take on Magearna or Mega Mawile anymore. Rock Tomb allows Mega Pinsir to force a mind game versus bulky Mega Charizard X, as you can use Rock Tomb on its Flame Charge to finish it off with a Giga Impact the following turn. Against physical Dragonite, use Substitute first to scout for a Z-Move before using Rock Tomb to negate its Dragon Dance, and then finish it off with Giga Impact. Rock Tomb can also help against Choice Scarf Sawk, as Pinsir can survive a Stone Edge before Mega Evolving. Other options include X-Scissor for Mega Slowbro and Close Combat for Mega Tyranitar. These are suboptimal, however, as they force Mega Pinsir to replace Earthquake, which causes it to lose to Magearna, one of the best Pokemon in 1v1. Return can be used as a more reliable STAB move that does not force Mega Pinsir to recharge after, removing predictions against Pokemon like Whimsicott and Serperior, as well as giving Mega Pinsir a chance against Substitute users like Landorus-T. It can also help in matchups where Mega Pinsir cannot OHKO the foe with Giga Impact, such as against Type: Null. Quick Attack is also an option to finish off faster Pokemon, such as Jumpluff, as well as outspeed Whimsicott's Prankster-boosted moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Attackers**: Although Mega Pinsir has a decent Speed tier, many Pokemon such as Greninja, Mega Lopunny, and Zeraora still outspeed it and are able to OHKO it thanks to its middling defenses. Pokemon that typically run Choice Scarf such as Porygon-Z and Genesect can simply OHKO Mega Pinsir before it has a chance to attack.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon that can tank a hit from Mega Pinsir and retaliate will give it a hard time. Bulky Mega Charizard X can simply use Flame Charge and finish off Mega Pinsir on the following turn. Dragonite can use Dragon Dance or simply keep attacking without fear of getting OHKOed. In particular, Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan, Golem, and Crustle can fire back with super effective moves that cripple Mega Pinsir. Dragonite also beats Mega Pinsir with ease, as it can either OHKO Mega Pinsir upfront or outspeed it after a Dragon Dance before attacking, while Mega Pinsir has no way of OHKOing Dragonite back through Multiscale.
**Stall Pokemon**: While Mega Pinsir does have a way of setting up, it does not have a consistently powerful move to punish certain stall Pokemon. This means that Pokemon like Mega Slowbro, Mega Sableye, and Clefable can set up their defenses and whittle down Mega Pinsir over time.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Chickenpie2, 305552]]
- Quality checked by: [[Alakazam, 276708], [lost heros, 316445], [Osra, 239997]]
- Grammar checked by: [[deetah, 297659], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Mega Pinsir is a powerful physical attacker that can force its way through foes such as Mega Gyarados and Mega Venusaur but has a hard time dealing with a lackluster defensive typing. Its Speed allows it to outspeed crucial base 100 Speed Pokemon like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Gardevoir, Volcarona, and Mew, in addition to slightly faster Pokemon such as non-Choice Scarf Garchomp, and other important offensive threats such as non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Tapu Lele, and Landorus-T. It is adept at taking on slower Pokemon that are weak to its Aerilate-boosted STAB moves, such as Mega Venusaur and Kommo-o, as well as some frailer Pokemon that do not resist them, such as Hoopa-U and Tapu Lele. Its decent physical bulk allows it to take on Pokemon like Mega Gyarados and Mega Mawile., and setup moves in Swords Dance and Bulk Up let it boost past bulkier Pokemon that it cannot OHKO, like Type: Null, Magearna, Chansey, and Mega Mawile. However, its typing leaves it vulnerable to common Rock-, Electric-, and Fire-types types, such as Golem, Zeraora, and bulky Flame Charge Mega Charizard X. Many Pokemon also carry moves of these types as coverage moves; for example, Choice Scarf Genesect commonly run Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, or Flamethrower. Mega Pinsir has trouble with physically defensive Pokemon, especially with the abundance of Steel-types. For example, Mega Aggron, Mega Metagross, and Mega Slowbro all hard wall Mega Pinsir. Furthermore, despite Mega Pinsir being fast, its Speed is by no means stellar. Faster Pokemon like Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Choice Scarf Victini, and Jumpluff all reliably deal with it.
[SET]
name: Offensive
move 1: Giga Impact
move 2: Substitute
move 3: Earthquake
move 4: Swords Dance / Bulk Up
item: Pinsirite
ability: Hyper Cutter / Mold Breaker
nature: Jolly
evs: 252 Atk / 16 Def / 240 Spe
[SET COMMENTS]
Moves
========
Giga Impact is Mega Pinsir's strongest move and allows it to OHKO most frail Pokemon like non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Mega Gardevoir, and Tapu Lele. Substitute is used to evade status from Pokemon like Mew and Mega Swampert. It can also be used to waste the foe's Z-Move, such as against Magearna and Aegislash. Earthquake along with Mold Breaker helps Mega Pinsir OHKO Magnezone through Sturdy and beat other Steel-types like Magearna and Mega Mawile. Swords Dance lets Mega Pinsir boost its power to unrivaled levels, especially when behind a Substitute, helping Mega Pinsir break through defensive Pokemon such as Tapu Fini and Zygarde. Bulk Up can bolster Mega Pinsir's offense and defense simultaneously and is primarily used against other physical attackers like Mega Mawile, which unboosted Mega Pinsir cannot OHKO.
Set Details
========
The given Speed investment allows Mega Pinsir to outspeed base 100 Speed Pokemon as well as slightly faster Pokemon such as Garchomp and Nihilego. Maximum Attack investment allows Mega Pinsir to hit as hard and fast as possible, notably OHKOing uninvested Mega Charizard X. The rest of the EVs are put into Defense to improve Mega Pinsir's bulk, giving it better chances to survive Play Rough followed by Sucker Punch from Mega Mawile after Bulk Up. Mega Pinsir's pre-Mega abilities are both useful. Hyper Cutter allows Mega Pinsir to ignore the plethora of Intimidate users in the tier, notably Mega Mawile and Mega Gyarados, in addition to Attack-lowering moves like Charm from Chansey and Umbreon. Mold Breaker, on the other hand, lets Mega Pinsir ignore foes' abilities like Magnezone's Sturdy. Aerilate gives Mega Pinsir that extra bit of power, as well as giving it fantastic Flying-type STAB on Normal-type moves like Giga Impact.
Usage Tips
========
Send Mega Pinsir in on physically frail, slower Pokemon that it can OHKO, like non-Choice Scarf Porygon-Z, Garchomp, Genesect, Tapu Lele, Mega Charizard Y, and Mega Gardevoir. Immediately use Giga Impact against these foes. It can OHKO most Pokemon that are weak to Flying, such as Mega Venusaur, Volcarona, and Kommo-o, in one fell swoop with Aerilate-boosted Giga Impact. With decent physical bulk, Mega Pinsir can tank hits from Pokemon like boosted Mega Gyarados, Zygarde, and Mega Mawile, to buy itself time to set up and retaliate. Against Mega Mawile, Hyper Cutter and Bulk Up are required to be able to survive a Play Rough followed by Sucker Punch while having enough Attack to OHKO in return with +1 Earthquake. Against standard Magearna, use Substitute first. If it keeps attacking, use Substitute again until it is at -2 Special Attack, and then use Swords Dance instead of Substitute, as Mega Pinsir can survive a -2 Fleur Cannon and OHKO it with +2 Earthquake. Otherwise, if it starts setting up with Iron Defense, use Swords Dance while safely behind a free Substitute and then use Earthquake to 2HKO it when it stops setting up. Mega Pinsir can set up against passive Pokemon like Chansey and Pyukumuku by using Substitute to prevent being statused and boosting past their defenses with Swords Dance. Against Pokemon that cannot deal fatal damage to Mega Pinsir such as defensive Mew and Tapu Fini, use Swords Dance to OHKO them with Giga Impact the following turn. If Mew burns Mega Pinsir with Will-O-Wisp, simply use Swords Dance again. Mega Swampert, Mega Blastoise, and Aegislash are matchups that Mega Pinsir can force in its favor, provided the right plays are made. Use Substitute on the first turn. Against the first two, attempt to use Swords Dance without Mega Evolving to avoid taking fatal damage from Ice Beam. For Aegislash, try to attack it in its vulnerable Sword forme, which it will be in after it attacks Mega Pinsir's Substitute. Be wary about sending this into Pokemon that may seem susceptible to Mega Pinsir. Despite the typing advantage, Mega Pinsir may have trouble in matchups against Pokemon like Jumpluff, Serperior, and Whimsicott. For Donphan, use Substitute to bait out Head Smash so it takes recoil and loses Sturdy. Proceed to finish it off with Giga Impact.
Team Options
========
Mega Pinsir struggles with the majority of Fire-, Rock-, Ground-, Electric-, and Steel-types, so Mega Swampert and Quagsire can help in handling Pokemon like Crustle, Donphan, Zeraora, and Mega Aggron. They also sufficiently deal with the omnipresent Mega Charizard X and Dragonite. Mega Pinsir deals with some of the wallbreakers that threaten them like Normalium Z Porygon-Z, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Gyarados. Mega Pinsir has trouble with faster offensive threats like Greninja, Naganadel, and Mega Lopunny, so bulky Pokemon like Magearna, Donphan, and Pyukumuku are good partners. Mega Pinsir can handle the Pokemon that threaten them, like Taunt Tapu Fini, defensive Mew, and Mega Venusaur. As Mega Pinsir has difficulty dealing with physically defensive Pokemon like Mega Slowbro and Mega Metagross, it appreciates special attackers such as Greninja, Aegislash, and Mega Charizard Y. In return, Mega Pinsir can take out specially bulky Pokemon like Mega Gyarados and defensive Kommo-o.
[STRATEGY COMMENTS]
Other Options
=============
Mega Pinsir does not have many other options outside of changing up its moveset. Flail is a decent move option over Earthquake that when used in conjunction with Substitute has the potential to reach 200 Base Power, allowing Mega Pinsir to outright OHKO most Pokemon, potentially even Pokemon that resist Flying. This is useful against slower bulkier foes that Giga Impact does not always OHKO, such as non-Flame Charge Mega Charizard X and Garchomp. However, this means that Mega Pinsir cannot reliably take on Magearna or Mega Mawile anymore. Rock Tomb allows Mega Pinsir to force a mind game versus bulky Mega Charizard X, as you can use Rock Tomb on its Flame Charge to finish it off with a Giga Impact the following turn. Against physical Dragonite, use Substitute first to scout for a Z-Move before using Rock Tomb to negate its Dragon Dance, and then finish it off with Giga Impact. Rock Tomb can also help against Choice Scarf Sawk, as Pinsir can survive a Stone Edge before Mega Evolving. Other options include X-Scissor for Mega Slowbro and Close Combat for Mega Tyranitar. These are suboptimal, however, as they force Mega Pinsir to replace Earthquake, which causes it to lose to Magearna, one of the best Pokemon in 1v1. Return can be used as a more reliable STAB move that does not force Mega Pinsir to recharge after, removing predictions against Pokemon like Whimsicott and Serperior, as well as giving Mega Pinsir a chance against Substitute users like Landorus-T. It can also help in matchups where Mega Pinsir cannot OHKO the foe with Giga Impact, such as against Type: Null. Quick Attack is also an option to finish off faster Pokemon, such as Jumpluff, as well as outspeed Whimsicott's Prankster-boosted moves.
Checks and Counters
===================
**Faster Attackers**: Although Mega Pinsir has a decent Speed tier, many Pokemon such as Greninja, Mega Lopunny, and Zeraora still outspeed it and are able to OHKO it thanks to its middling defenses. Pokemon that typically run Choice Scarf such as Porygon-Z and Genesect can simply OHKO Mega Pinsir before it has a chance to attack.
**Physically Bulky Pokemon**: Pokemon that can tank a hit from Mega Pinsir and retaliate will give it a hard time. Bulky Mega Charizard X can simply use Flame Charge and finish off Mega Pinsir on the following turn. Dragonite can use Dragon Dance or simply keep attacking without fear of getting OHKOed. In particular, Sturdy Pokemon like Donphan, Golem, and Crustle can fire back with super effective moves that cripple Mega Pinsir. Dragonite also beats Mega Pinsir with ease, as it can either OHKO Mega Pinsir upfront or outspeed it after a Dragon Dance before attacking, while Mega Pinsir has no way of OHKOing Dragonite back through Multiscale.
**Stall Pokemon**: While Mega Pinsir does have a way of setting up, it does not have a consistently powerful move to punish certain stall Pokemon. This means that Pokemon like Mega Slowbro, Mega Sableye, and Clefable can set up their defenses and whittle down Mega Pinsir over time.
[CREDITS]
- Written by: [[Chickenpie2, 305552]]
- Quality checked by: [[Alakazam, 276708], [lost heros, 316445], [Osra, 239997]]
- Grammar checked by: [[deetah, 297659], [The Dutch Plumberjack, 232216]]
Last edited by a moderator:
