Colonel M
I COULD BE BORED!
As far as Omastar and Kabutops, I think Kabutops should definitely be removed, but Omastar can still stick around. Omastar has a small but nice niche for rain teams that isn't half bad. When your safest switch-in is Gastrodon (or Mantine if you lack Ancient Power but why go without that move?) you know something is quite fucked up. Kabutops is so heavily outclassed as a Swift Swimmer and setup sweeper it's kind of absurd. The only perk is Continental Crush and a little more Speed, but most teams would rather use other Z Move users such as Zapdos, Ash-Greninja, Tapu Koko, and said Omastar.
As for other Pokemon that aren't ranked yet:
Mega Latias - B or B+, leaning B+. Mega Latias is a pretty nice addition for SM since it gives a bulky yet agile Pokemon for teams to use. Calm Mind / Stored Power / Thunderbolt / Roost is a great set, and the defensive sets still do alright too. It takes advantage of Celepex and other bulkier trends, though it does admittidely run into issues with Toxic Heatran, Weavile / Tyranitar, and Clefable can be kind of annoying for it. Still really good overall I think, and I think it's got a defined niche in the meta.
Mega Altaria - C+. Honestly I am not convinced that this Pokemon is any good, though I can acknowledge it has some cool defensive niches while being somewhat offensive too. The Pixelate nerf really hurts for this thing's already meh offense potential and it basically demands having Magnezone alongside it. You could argue Mega Pinsir does the same and so does Zard Y with Dugtrio / Tyranitar, but these Pokemon also have far greater returns and benefits than Mega Altaria does in most circumstances. I still think I would rather use Mega Sharpedo in spite of the hate that mon gets.
Mega Diancie - A. Really good mon, just not quite up to A+ as of yet. Celesteela and Magearna are really hard stops for it, and even Mega Venusaur isn't the kindest thing to Mega Diancie either since Giga Drain is going to hit harder due to Naive nature. Lacking Earth Power leaves you extremely vulnerable to Magnezone too - no amount of trying to cheese with Nature Power will help, and Assault Vest can easily stomach a Hidden Power Fire. Outside of those circumstances, Mega Diancie is a really nice offensive Rocker (thank Christ because all we've had so far is Chomp and Lando-T) and can take advantage of Terrain with Nature Power too. Overall, solid Pokemon at the very least that's decent in general but does have some humps that are difficult for it to overcome right away. It has a really awkward time fitting in Earth Power too, but at least Nature Power in Electric Terrain can fry Celesteela. RP / Calm Mind Diancie are really good, and it also been seen with more cheeky sets such as Sub Endeavor - though not as effective as CM or Rock Polish IMO and definitely not as effective as AoA / SR + 3.
(It's been about a week since Diancie's release so this should be safe - if not delete it Gary).
And one more I'm more convinced on after some time:
Mega Scizor - A-. I'm more convinced that Mega Scizor is a lot better in this meta. I think Defog still is the winning set, but bulky Swords Dance is definitely making a comeback. It's still a set that's plagued by a lot of things (Celepex says lol), but it can just shove down hyper offensive's throat so badly that it's still somewhat a noteworthy threat. Even in the lategame it can be really annoying and Mega Venusaur lacking Hidden Power Fire have issues with this Pokemon too. Being a hard wall to Bulu and being a great soft check for Mega Lopunny and Mega Diancie are really hard to pass up on too (the last two are a bit softer, but Mega Scizor can somewhat check . Impish definitely rules the roost in this metagame, though. Mega Latias also isn't the biggest fan since U-turn is going to dent Mega Latias and Mega Latias would need +2 to 2HKO 0 SpD Mega Scizor. Specs Lele being a little rarer at least helps Mega Scizor too, though I always found Mega Scizor to be a so-so Lele check since switching into Hidden Power Fire means Mega Scizor takes a million.
As for other Pokemon that aren't ranked yet:
Mega Latias - B or B+, leaning B+. Mega Latias is a pretty nice addition for SM since it gives a bulky yet agile Pokemon for teams to use. Calm Mind / Stored Power / Thunderbolt / Roost is a great set, and the defensive sets still do alright too. It takes advantage of Celepex and other bulkier trends, though it does admittidely run into issues with Toxic Heatran, Weavile / Tyranitar, and Clefable can be kind of annoying for it. Still really good overall I think, and I think it's got a defined niche in the meta.
Mega Altaria - C+. Honestly I am not convinced that this Pokemon is any good, though I can acknowledge it has some cool defensive niches while being somewhat offensive too. The Pixelate nerf really hurts for this thing's already meh offense potential and it basically demands having Magnezone alongside it. You could argue Mega Pinsir does the same and so does Zard Y with Dugtrio / Tyranitar, but these Pokemon also have far greater returns and benefits than Mega Altaria does in most circumstances. I still think I would rather use Mega Sharpedo in spite of the hate that mon gets.
Mega Diancie - A. Really good mon, just not quite up to A+ as of yet. Celesteela and Magearna are really hard stops for it, and even Mega Venusaur isn't the kindest thing to Mega Diancie either since Giga Drain is going to hit harder due to Naive nature. Lacking Earth Power leaves you extremely vulnerable to Magnezone too - no amount of trying to cheese with Nature Power will help, and Assault Vest can easily stomach a Hidden Power Fire. Outside of those circumstances, Mega Diancie is a really nice offensive Rocker (thank Christ because all we've had so far is Chomp and Lando-T) and can take advantage of Terrain with Nature Power too. Overall, solid Pokemon at the very least that's decent in general but does have some humps that are difficult for it to overcome right away. It has a really awkward time fitting in Earth Power too, but at least Nature Power in Electric Terrain can fry Celesteela. RP / Calm Mind Diancie are really good, and it also been seen with more cheeky sets such as Sub Endeavor - though not as effective as CM or Rock Polish IMO and definitely not as effective as AoA / SR + 3.
(It's been about a week since Diancie's release so this should be safe - if not delete it Gary).
And one more I'm more convinced on after some time:
Mega Scizor - A-. I'm more convinced that Mega Scizor is a lot better in this meta. I think Defog still is the winning set, but bulky Swords Dance is definitely making a comeback. It's still a set that's plagued by a lot of things (Celepex says lol), but it can just shove down hyper offensive's throat so badly that it's still somewhat a noteworthy threat. Even in the lategame it can be really annoying and Mega Venusaur lacking Hidden Power Fire have issues with this Pokemon too. Being a hard wall to Bulu and being a great soft check for Mega Lopunny and Mega Diancie are really hard to pass up on too (the last two are a bit softer, but Mega Scizor can somewhat check . Impish definitely rules the roost in this metagame, though. Mega Latias also isn't the biggest fan since U-turn is going to dent Mega Latias and Mega Latias would need +2 to 2HKO 0 SpD Mega Scizor. Specs Lele being a little rarer at least helps Mega Scizor too, though I always found Mega Scizor to be a so-so Lele check since switching into Hidden Power Fire means Mega Scizor takes a million.
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