POKEMON VGC’S TOP 5 MEGA POKEMON EVER!
Years have passed since the introduction of Mega Pokemon, 4,000 to be exact, and we’ve seen various new Pokemon game gimmicks ranging from Z-Moves, to Dynamax, and now Terastal transformations. Players over the years have pondered if the Pokemon company would ever bring back Mega Pokémon. They did so in 2019 after their introduction in 2014/2015/2016, and since then, it’s been a minute since any player has had a whiff of using a Mega stone. However, with the release of Pokémon Champions, and the release of Pokémon Legends ZA, September’s “Mega Evolution” Pokémon TCG set, and the 2026 Play Pokémon announcement video featuring various Mega Pokémon, Mega Pokemon are officially back in Competitive Play!
I think one thing has rang true since Mega Pokémon were first introduced, in comparison to Z-Crystals, Dynamax, and arguably, Terestal transformations, most players rank Mega’s as their favorite format/innovation when playing the competitive circuit. While some Mega Pokémon are better than others, the Megas wouldn’t change much of the standard type of board positioning and gameplay players favored in the early years of Pokémon. Z-Crystals, Dynamax, and Terestal transformations have ultimately changed the way games are played with massive 1-turn attacks, 3 turns of board-changing chaos, and offensive and defensive capabilities that some Pokémon lack without changing their Type.
One more note as we continue to explore these past Mega Pokemon, and maybe Pokemon Legends ZA can lend a hand in helping with this discussion, but part of the allure of Mega Pokemon in the past competitively was that the opposing players did not know if you had the Mega Stone on your Pokemon on not. It was not necessary to Mega Evolve, but to know whether or not your Salamence was holding a Salamencite or an Assault Vest/Life Orb/Dragon Gem, etc is a big difference compared to today’s Open team sheet format for Tera Types in the Pokemon Scarlet and Violet era. We now know with the current Mega format that Open Team Sheets are here to stay for now.
This is not a perfect list, nor is it in any type of specific hierarchical order. Rather, this is a reflection, and hopefully a helpful reminder for some of us who may have or have not been exposed to the use of these powerful Mega Evolutions. Enjoy recollecting the glorious early years of VGC, and challenge yourself to think if any of these Mega Pokémon or more not listed may make a serious impact in a new game like Pokémon Champions, with all-new Pokémon since 2019 in Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon on the Nintendo 3DS.
Mega-Charizard Y
2015 - German Nationals Markus S.
2015 - World’s Top 16 (11th) Arash Ommanti
2015 - World’s Top 16 (15th) Blake Hopper
2018 - Melbourne Open (2nd) James Katsaros
2018 - Nashville Open (3rd)
“Weather Wars” are a commonality throughout the history of Pokémon. Mega-Charizard Y is a pivotal piece to many Sun Teams with its key ability, Drought, gained upon Mega Evolving Charizard. I’ve placed this Pokémon as the first listing, not to notify it being the #1 Mega Pokémon, but rather, one of the first options players may lean towards when it comes to finding a synergistic team that can be cohesive around a particular strategy. Funny enough, the 2014 World’s Finals team featured Choice Scarf Sand Stream Tyranitar alongside Mega-Charizard Y for a different team concept outside of a standard Sun Team. Read more about this team here on NuggetBridge. What I appreciate about this older piece is the specific context around the relevance of Mega-Charizard Y in a metagame 11 years old. Mega-Charizard Y was a solid pick into Mega Mawhile and decent into Mega Lucario as well, but wasn’t a standard pick for the entire season. Double Mega Teams had historically had a tough time at US Nationals that year, and to see a team like that go all the way to the World’s Finals was a massive feat. The Power of the Sun in the palm of Charizard’s hand makes this Mega Pokémon one to keep an eye on for the future metagame on Pokémon Champions.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2018 Mega Charizard Y
Mega Charizard Y is a dangerous spread attacker, dealing massive damage with Sun-boosted Heat Waves. Unlike most Fire-types, Water-types have trouble with Mega Charizard Y because of Drought and Solar Beam. However, Mega Charizard Y heavily relies on the sun to deal damage, and it has an unfortunate weakness to Electric-type attacks, and a 4x weakness to the ever common Rock Slide.
Mega-Gengar
2014 - UK Nationals (16th) Claudio Serpa
2014 - US Nationals (4th) Jon Hu
2016 - World Championships (1st) Wolfe Glick
2016 - World Championships (2nd) Jonathan Evans
2016 - World Championships (3rd) Markus Stadter
2018 - Internats, Sao Paulo, Brazil (2nd) Alberto Lara
2018 - Salt Lake City Regionals (1st) Matthew Greaves
2018 - World Championships (2nd) Emlio Forbes
2019 - Internats, Columbus, USA (1st) Wolfe Glick
2019 - D.C. Open (2nd) Adrien Hurley
The notoriety of this Pokémon extends to the very introduction of Mega’s themselves. The Speed, Special Attack, and ability of this Mega Pokémon put this beast of a teammate above almost every other Mega for many years. Perhaps the most famous use of this Pokémon is in the hands of the Master of Perish Song, Wolfe Glick. The use of Shadow Tag in combination with Perish Song to trap users into a 3-turn KO timer is not an easy skill for just any player to master, and perhaps is one of the most challenging pivoting strategies and teams in the history of the game itself. Many new Pokémon over the years have joined new games with the move Perish Song that makes one wonder, if a format with Mega Gengar could return with more of the latest and strongest Perish Song users, could this Mega stand the test of time? Flutter Mane, the Paradox Pokémon, poses an interesting threat at 135 Base Speed versus Mega Gengar’s 130 Base Speed, while the idea of Scream Tail being a bulky and fast supportive Pokémon alongside Mega Gengar could be a conversation worth having.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2019 Mega Gengar
In a metagame like VGC 2019 where positioning is an essential aspect of the game, Mega Gengar is extremely powerful as its ability, Shadow Tag, gives its trainer superior control of the field by denying the opponent the ability to switch. Along with Shadow Tag, Mega Gengar boasts a huge base 170 Special Attack, which allows it to deal a huge chunk of damage on even neutral hits. Because of this, Mega Gengar can switch into Fairy-types and secure the KO regardless of how much health they have, since they are trapped by Shadow Tag. Despite its strengths, Mega Gengar is very weak defensively, which can easily lead to situations where it is threatened with an OHKO when the opponent has the Speed advantage. This can be played around with good use of Protect, Substitute, and Fake Out support from Pokemon like Incineroar. Mega Gengar also doesn't match up well against Primal Groudon as well as Tapu Lele, which often carries a Choice Scarf and can outspeed and OHKO it. Mega Gengar also doesn't like facing Dark-types like Incineroar, Yveltal, and Umbreon because of their access to Snarl, which hits through Substitute, as well as Ghost-types like Lunala, Mimikyu, and opposing Mega Gengar, which are all unaffected by Shadow Tag and can threaten Mega Gengar back.
Mega-Kangaskhan
2014 - German Nationals (1st) Markus Stadter
2014 - US Nationals (1st) Alex Ogloza
2015 - UK Nationals (1st) Markus Stadter
2015 - Italy Nationals (1st) Francesco Pardini
2015 - World Championships (1st) Shoma Honami
2016 - Regional Adelaide (1st) Sam Pandelis
2016 - South African Nationals (1st) Michael Riechert
2016 - UK Nationals (1st) Alex Gómez Berna
2016 - US Nationals (1st) Chase Lybbert
2016 - World Championships (4th) Eduardo Cunha
2018 - Madison Regionals (1st) Paul Chua
2019 - World Championships (2nd) Hirofumi Kimura
2019 - Atlantic City Regionals (1st) Paul Chua
2019 - Knoxville Regionals (1st) Kyle Livinghouse
2019 - San Diego Regionals (1st) Emilio Forbes
The Matriarch of Mega Pokemon, even after the massive ability nerf, Mega-Kangaskhan wreaked havoc on formats with its incredible base abilities, as well as its Mega Ability, “Parental Bond allows the ability-bearer to attack twice. The second attack hits with 25% of the power, so in effect it is equivalent to a 25% boost to all attacks.” In Generation 6 prior to the Parental Bond nerf, the second attack hit with 50% power of the first attack. In its Mega Form, Kangaskhan rocked a 100 or greater base stat on everything that matter, barring Special Attack at 60. This made Mega Kangaskhan bulky, faster than many other Pokémon under 100 Base Speed, and with 125 Base Attack, a formidable foe right out of the gate. Fake Out Pressure, Power-Up Punch stacking on each additional hit meant that this Pokémon could not only snowball into a massive offensive powerhouse, but it was also a supportive phenom that was king of Fake Out outside of the use of Incineroar and a couple of other Fake Out Users. This Pokémon could hit hard, stall out a turn, or raise its Attack Stat for a turn to really apply pressure. Normal-Type typing made its only weakness to Fighting-Types fairly easy to cover as well. Kangaskhan’s movepool, combined with a powerful Base Attack Stat, would make this a well-feared Pokémon and one of the most popular Pokémon in the 2015 World Championships on 7/8 teams in Top cut on a common archetype named “CHALK.” Learn more about Kangaskhan from 2015 in this NuggetBridge Early-Format article written by Scott Glaza, co-founder of NuggetBridge.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2019 Mega Kangaskhan
Thanks to its excellent respectable base 125 Attack combined with powerful moves like Double-Edge and Low Kick, Mega Kangaskhan establishes itself as a potent attacker in VGC 2019. Additionally, its access to the fastest viable Fake Out, as well as other utility moves like Roar and Sucker Punch, let it be a great supportive presence. Arguably, Mega Kangaskhan’s best tool comes in the form of Bite, which offers an absurd 51% flinch rate when combined with the second hit from Parental Bond. Additionally, Scrappy in its base forme, as well as Bite and Sucker Punch, allows it to put pressure on Ghost-types like Lunala and Mega Gengar. Mega Kangaskhan is commonly paired with Xerneas to assist in setting up with Geomancy, and Primal Groudon, which appreciates the support in order to freely use its full power Eruption, thanks to flinches from Fake Out and Bite. Mega Kangaskhan often prefers to lead into games with a supportive partner like Tornadus to grab early-game momentum with Fake Out and Tailwind. While powerful, Mega Kangaskhan still struggles with Steel-types like Mega Metagross, Stakataka, and Ferrothorn if lacking Low Kick. Other faster Pokemon such as Mega Salamence, Ultra Necrozma, and Mega Rayquaza can all outspeed and put instant pressure on it. Mega Kangaskhan is also quite weak to Intimidate, as it drastically reduces its damage output, often forcing the user to play for Bite flinches and rely on luck to keep an advantage.
Mega-Salamence
2015 - Perth Regionals (1st) Mustafaa Olomi
2015 - Nationals, UK (2nd) Arash Ommati
2015 - Nationals, Australia (1st) Matthew Roe
2016 - Adelaide Regional (1st) Sam Pandelis
2016 - Nationals, South Africa (1st) Michael Riechert
2016 - Nationals, UK (1st) Alex Gomez Berna
2016 - Nationals, Germany (1st) Arash Ommati
2016 - Nationals, US (1st) Chase Lybbert
2016 - Nationals, Australia (1st) Phil Nguyen
2016 - World Championships (5th) Aaron Traylor
2018 - World Championships (1st) Paul Ruiz
2019 - World Championships (1st) Naoto Mizobuchi
Perhaps one of the most famous pseudo-legendaries in any game, Mega Salamence provided players with a new form of Salamence never seen before! Mega Salamence’s “Aerilate”causes all Normal-type attacking moves used by the Pokémon to become Flying-type, and increase in power by 20%. Normal-Type moves like Double Edge, Hyper Voice, and even Giga Impact could turn into the games most powerful Flying-Type moves. Salamence has notably always been a fantastic Mixed Attacker, and in formats when given the opportunity to display such power, it has always lived up the the hype. Stat distribution on Mega Salamence takes its Defenses to the next level, with a small jump in Special Defense, and a Modest increase to Defense. Rock Slide from Landorus-Therian ain’t scaring this Pokemon as much anymore. Mega Salamence is a World Champion, in 2018 Paul Ruiz took Double Edge, Dragon Dance, Roost, Protect, Mega Mence all the way to the grandest stage of them all for a big win. In 2019, Mega Salamence went the distance again for Naoto Mizobuchi from Japan, with Double-Edge, Hyper Voice, Tailwind, and Protect. The Runner-up, Hirofumi Kimura, a fan favorite with Umbreon that year, also had a similar Mega Salamence. This Pokemon is no stranger to being amongst the best of the best in most formats it exists, with many new Pokemon introduced in Scarlet/Violet, including a paradox form of Salamence known as Roaring Moon, many are curious if Mega Salamence can live up to the hype. Being able to start the game with Intimidate as Salamence, and then converting to a beefed up version of Salamence with a superior Attacking ability gives this Pokemon the edge over something like Roaring Moon in my opinion. Booster Energy and Tera Types add a new edge to Pokemon like Roaring Moon that may just outclass Mega Salamence, but time will tell.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2018 Mega Salamence
High attacking stats and access to Double-Edge and Hyper Voice make Mega Salamence a great mixed attacker, which is a big advantage it has over common alternative Mega Evolutions. Draco Meteor is typical in the third slot to deal with Electric-types such as Zapdos and opposing Dragon-types, but Tailwind offers Salamence’s team speed control if this is unnecessary. The given EV spread OHKOes uninvested Tapu Lele with Double-Edge. Tyranitar is a good partner for this set, as it covers Aegislash and Cresselia, which Mega Salamence struggles to deal with. Aegislash is nice defensively given it can switch into all of Salamence’s weaknesses.
Mega-Rayquaza
2016 - World Championships (1st) Wolfe Glick
2016 - World Championships (3rd) Markus Hamann
2019 - Internats, Berlin (1st) Flavio Del Pidio
2019 - Internats, Columbus (1st) Wolfe Glick
2019 - Internats, Columbus (3rd) Jean Paul Lopez Buiza
2019 - Internats, Columbus (4th) Jonathan Evans
2019 - D.C. Open (1st) Jeremy Odena
How does one begin with a Mega Pokemon like Mega Rayquaza, a Legendary Pokemon that not only defined an entire generation alongside Groudon and Kyogre, but possibly has an even better form than its base form as Rayquaza. Mega Ray is a World Champ, Mega Ray was a sleeper pick that rose high above the rest of its metagame to become famous alongside it’s trainer, WolfeyGlick. Mega Ray boasts not only offensive stats to make any Sunflora faint, but it’s dominance in abusing the well-known weather setters, Primal Groudon and Primal Kyogre, cannot be understated. It’s Mega Ability, “Delta Stream, creates a "mysterious air current" (strong winds) that lasts while it is on the field, removing Flying-type weaknesses to Electric, Ice, and Rock moves, making them deal normal damage instead of super-effective. This weather condition also cancels out common weather effects like Rain and Sun.” A considerable buff for Flying-Type Pokemon as well as disrupting one of the most common field effects with Mega Pokemon, being weather. This hard hitting Attacker has even 180 Attack and 180 Special Attack totals that make it a physical and special attacking machine.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2019 Mega Rayquaza
Mega Rayquaza is a powerful Pokemon in the metagame thanks to its monstrous offensive stats, high Speed that lets it outrun the crowded base 90 Speed tier, and excellent movepool, which make it strong against a majority of the format. Unlike other Mega Evolutions, Mega Rayquaza has a lot of flexibility with its movesets, leaving opponents guessing about its set and item and making it well worth the Restricted slot. It has a good offensive typing, commonly utilizing Dragon Ascent to threaten a majority of the format for neutral or super effective damage, such as Primal Groudon, Amoonguss, and Incineroar, which are generally slow and cannot threaten -1 Mega Rayquaza back for much damage barring a Dragon Claw…
Mega-Mawhile
2014 - German Nationals (1st) Markus Hamann
2014 - UK Nationals (1st) Albert Banares
2014 - US Nationals (4th) Jon Hu
2014 - US Nationals (5th) Ray Rizzo
2014 - Australian Nationals (3rd) Tony Nguyen
2014 - World Championships (3rd) Collin Heier
2015 - Rome Regionals (2nd) Gilberto Goracci
2015 - UK Nationals (4th) Eugenio Discalzi
2016 - Sydney Regionals (2nd) Daniel Walker
2016 - US Nationals (3rd) Alan Schambers
2016 - Korean Autumn League 2017 (1st) Sejun Park
2018 - Korean Spring League 2018 (1st) Jihyun Ryu
One of the most powerful type combinations in the game began with Mega-Mawhile. From one of the best abilities in the game, Intimidate, to it’s even better Mega ability, Huge Power, this Pokemon can turn into a HUGE problem, quick. Use it to pivot in and out with Intimidate as you please, while taking the opportune moment to double your attack as Mega-Mawhile and overtake your opponent with sheer offensive power. With Fairy, Steel, and Dark coverage alike, this Pokemon had the power to do as it pleased with the right set up. With proper speed control, Mawhile would flourish; however, with 50 Base HP and 50 Base Speed, this Pokémon relied heavily on hitting first and hitting hard. While improved Defense and improved Attack would come with its Mega Form, it would still balance out this Pokémon from becoming an absolute monster. Mega Mawhile is best found with Rain Teams that could neuter powerful Fire-Type Attacks, and on teams that could handle powerful Ground-Type Pokemon like Landorus-T, and Garchomp.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2018 Mega Mawile
Mega Mawile's Huge Power grants it the highest Attack stat in the game, only not being used immediately when Intimidate will be useful later. Steel / Fairy typing is a boon defensively, as its two weaknesses can be mitigated by partners such as Drizzle Politoed or Pelipper and Tapu Bulu. Consequently, Mega Mawile is often found on semi-Trick Room teams with the aforementioned Pokemon alongside Swift Swim Kingdra or Ludicolo and Trick Room Cresselia or Gothitelle, which, respectively, take advantage of rain and compensate for Mawile's low Speed. Utilize Rock Slide over Play Rough if Fire-types like Charizard and Volcarona are problematic.
Mega-Metagross
2015 - ECC 2015 VG Regional (2nd) Kelly Mercier
2015 - German Nationals (2nd) Tobias Koschitzki
2018 - Special Event Singapore (2nd) Melvin Keh
2018 - Special Event PY (1st) Victor Vargas
2018 - Dreamhack Regional (1st) Flavio del Pidio
2018 - Dallas Regional (2nd) Chuppa Cross IV
2018 - OCIC, Sydney (1st) Alessio Yuri Boschetto
2018 - Special Event Prague (1st) David Koutesh
2018 - Special Event El Salvador (1st) David Rodriguez
2018 - Special Event Mexico (1st) Rene Alvarenga
2018 - Perth Regional (1st) Benjamin ONeill
2018 - Korean Nationals (1st) Suwoong Jung
2018 - NAIC, Columbus (1st) Jeremy Rodrigues
2019 - Portland Regional (1st) Joseph Ugarte
The Noble, Clear Body, Almost From Outer-Space-Like Pokemon, Metagross. Initially, gifted by Steven as a level 5 Beldum in Mossdeep City, this spectacle of a Pokemon has had its fair share of the spotlight over the years. Clear Body as its base ability protects itself from any stat drops, and Tough Claws as its Mega ability makes this formidable Pokemon hit 30% harder with any direct contact moves. The extra arms on Mega Metagross aren’t just for show. This Pokemon has a crazy good combination of abilities, with a consistent movepool that pairs well with its typing. Steel/Psychic-Type doesn’t provide all the weakness/resistances in the world, but it can do it enough offensively with many of the more powerful, physical Steel-Type moves alongside Zen Headbutt, a long standing physical Psychic-Type move on Metagross. Metagross does share a decently sized movepool with Ground-Type moves to help repel power Fire-Type Pokemon too. Overall, this menace will have to compete against Kingambit, one of the newest superior Steel-Type Pokemon introduced in the newer Pokemon games since generation 3.
An excerpt from the Smogon Strategy Dex talking about 2018 Mega Metagross
Mega Metagross's high overall base stats make it solid choice for a Mega Evolution. Its pre-Mega ability in Clear Body also stops Intimidate; you may even wish to delay Mega Evolving for a turn if you anticipate an Intimidate user switching in. Mega Metagross's traits are complemented by allies such as Drizzle Politoed and Pelipper, whose rain dampens Fire moves, and Tapu Lele, whose Psychic Terrain raises Zen Headbutt's damage further. Tapu Koko can also be an effective partner for boosting Thunder Punch and making Bullet Punch less likely to be blocked. Finally, Hydreigon is also a notable partner due to perfect defensive synergy.
Once again, this is just a shortlist of some of the most famous Mega Pokemon to hit the competitive Pokemon scene, in no specific order. What Pokemon should we have included? Are there any new Pokemon that you think will stand the test of time? Let us know in the comments below!
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