Saturday, July 12, 2014

Are you guys psychic or something?

Back when Mega Sableye was first revealed, and we didn't even know its ability, one among you suggested that it and Mega Diancie might get the same ability based on the fact that they were both based on gems.

Whoever you are, since I don't remember, you're a freaking PSYCHIC.

Magic Bounce Mega Diancie, huh? Holy shit this thing suddenly looks insane. Sick defenses so you can't touch it offensively, Magic Bounce so you can't touch it defensively. Even with Diancie's base stats this would be really solid, but with 100 extra stat points? Holy shit we might be seeing Shaymin-S all over again. Absolutely shitty base form, so Gamefreak tries to improve it drastically and ends up going well into overkill territory.

13 comments:

  1. Here's the thing: 50 base HP isn't that great, and looking at the design of Mega Diancie, I don't predict a boost in speed. I think it will get an even boost to both attacking stats and another even boost to both defensive stats (+30 to attack and special attack, +20 to defense and special defense, for example). Don't get me wrong, those defensive stats will make up for the low HP for the most part, but I don't think it's going to be a defensive powerhouse. It's got a decent typing, with an immunity and something like five resistances, but it's also got three weaknesses and a quad-weakness.

    Plus, as a mega evolution with Magic Bounce, we go into the same territory again of having to activate Magic Bounce before it can be used. The big advantage you get with Magic Bounce is being able to switch it in any time you predict a status or entry hazard move, and you can't do that with Mega Diancie before you've already had it on the field at least once. That's not a problem with Pokemon that get the ability naturally like Espeon.

    Lastly, we have to look at the movepool. The way I see it, M-Diancie can either do offense or support. On the offense side, we have moves like Diamond Storm (which largely outclasses Stone Edge), Moonblast, Calm Mind, Psychic... Gyro Ball? It doesn't really get much. I can only really see it going mixed, though. For support, it can do dual screens, Stealth Rock, Toxic, Trick Room, Substitute, Rest, etc. It can do a lot more with support. I can actually see it being a decent lead with Stealth Rock and the ability to scare away opponents that try to do the same.

    So yeah, Diancie has great defenses held back by low speed and HP, a great ability held back by the fact that it has to mega evolve first, and a movepool that has some great potential but is still very small and leaves it with few options. It's very hard to see how this will go when it is released. I suppose a lot rides on the new stat spread. For now, I predict that it will be low-middle OU.

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    1. There's a simple solution to the issue about having to Mega Evolve Diancie to get Magic Bounce and it's something I saw people do with Absol for a while, and that's to make Diancie your lead. Then you can Mega Evolve right away and set up with ease, and then you have a very sturdy Magic Bounce user.

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    2. In regards to the movepool, Shaymin-L had the exact same problem in D/P, then Platinum happened and gave it a crapton of moves through tutors, as well as the ubiquitous Air Slash. So I wouldn't go and make assumptions about that just yet.

      Also, it's important to note that mathematically speaking, it's easier to use EVs to compensate for low HP when you have huge defenses than the reverse.

      I'm not going to argue with Magic Bounce needing activation first though, however it's not stopping Absol, now is it?

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  2. There is something I have been thinking of for a while now and this is bringing that thought pattern back up, the power of entry hazards. Mega Diancie will be able to use Stealth Rock, and this will bring about something never seen before: an Entry Hazard user with Magic Bounce. This means that Taunt won't be able to stop it from setting up those Stealth Rocks. In fact, I doubt anything will, and it will even be able to reflect Entry Hazards aimed at you.

    It makes me think that Entry Hazards are getting a bit overpowered. The Defog buff does help a little bit, but I'm not sure its enough to make them balanced. I can see Mega Diancie running chaps with its Magic bounce Stealth Rock.

    I've often thought of a possible ability that would clear the field when the pokemon comes in, a sort of auto Rapid spin. That would be a strong ability which would help to balance out the Entry Hazards, or would it be TOO powerful? I'd like some thoughts on this.

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    1. I've been wanting such an ability for years, so you're not the only one.

      Either way, I think Mega Diancie would be more responsible for the cheesiness than Stealth Rock itself. I mean, 700 BST and an ability like Magic Bounce is already exceptional no matter how you look at it.

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  3. You know, re-watching NCS's Blind LP of Pokemon Sapphire has inspired me. I can now think of two more Hoenn Pokemon who really need the boost that could be granted by a Mega Evolution. They are Lunatone and Solrock.

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    1. Sucks that they'd lose an ability that turns a weakness into an immunity, but if Gengar proved anything it's that it can be worked around. Yeah, they definitely could use a boost. It'd be tempting to give Solrock Drought, but then what would Lunatone get?

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    2. They wouldn't necessarily lose their abilities. Some pokemon have kept their abilities through Mega Evolution. Examples include Latias, Latios, Tyranitar and Abomasnow.

      But for replacement abilities, Solrock would be a prime candidate to get Drought if it got a Mega. Maybe Lunatone could get Drizzle as an opposite?

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    3. Why would Lunatone get Drizzle? What sense does that make? That was kinda my point.

      Either way, their stats are so low giving them megas and not giving them a better ability would be the ultimate exercise in pointlessness, hence the assumption that they'd lose Levitate. At this point I wouldn't be surprised that in the event such megas were made, they'd get Magic Bounce too, just because.

      Which raises another question. Since Gamefreak has pretty much shown their hand in that they won't be making new abilities beyond what Primal Kyogre/Groudon will be getting (as well as maybe Zygarde down the line), should they hold off a bit on making some megas until gen 7, instead of every damn mega getting the same few abilities like Huge Power, Tough Claws, Magic Bounce and so on? That way they could give those Pokémon a variety of interesting abilities instead of the same ol' shit.

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    4. Think about it like this. The moon affects the world's tides and has some effect on the cycle of rain. when you think about it like that, Lunatone having Drizzle does make a bit more sense.

      I don't think they should hold off on making more megas. There are still some good abilities which are useable by megas. Examples include Guts, Levitate, Mold Breaker and maybe even Clear body?

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    5. ^That. The moon controls the tides and affects the water cycle because of it. Again, though, they would barely be usable even with Drought and Drizzle, considering the existence of Politoed and Ninetails. The stat boost would probably put them ahead in terms of stats, but the weather nerf largely killed that metagame. Plus, Lunatone and Solrock have a TON of weaknesses.

      Deleted my other comment because this is meant to be posted as a reply to this thread.

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    6. Looneyman: But those abilities wouldn't really help megas of trash Pokémon stand out. Heck, Magic Bounce is a damn fine ability, and yet we're all making fun of Mega Sableye. Oh, weren't we mocking Clear Body just the other day in terms of Metagross being pretty close to having no ability? It's immune to Intimidate, and that's really about it.

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    7. They'd become great in lower tiers.

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