Like a lot of you, I’m sure, I’ve been following the Pokémon franchise since the early days of Pokémania. In the late 90s, I’d get out of my Pikachu bed, throw my Pikachu pencil case into my Pikachu rucksack, and head out the door for a long day of trading Pokémon cards with my friends.

Needless to say, we were just on the cusp of literally being too cool for school, but they let us in anyway.

Twenty years later, I’m still a big fan of the franchise. As with any long-running series, questionable decisions have been made over its lifetime, but that’s inevitable. Last year’s release of Pokémon Go demonstrated the raw power of this series, for new fans and old, and that really says it all.

One thing Game Freak is always criticised for is the lack of innovation in the series. Primarily, the plot. The whole preteen-rookie-singlehandedly-whups-the-entire-criminal-syndicate-in-a-way-that-the-studliest-GTA-protagonist-only-wishes-they-could routine is pretty well played out at this point. It’s true, too, let’s not kid ourselves here.

Despite all of that, in a mechanics sense, the series has been endlessly refined since the early days. Breeding, EVs, IVs, genders, the physical/special split and, of course, mega evolution.

Mega forms have been a mixed bag, whichever way you slice it. The initial idea seemed to have been breathing new life into erstwhile ignored Pokémon, but things went totally off the rails. They created some real monsters, and some real sucktastic failures. Buckle up for the 10 best and 10 worst megas.

20 BEST: Mega Rayquaza, The One That Doesn’t Even Need A Mega Stone To Shatter Your Soul

1- Mega Rayquaza
Via: pokemon.wikia.com

Now, when they had the big meeting at Game Freak HQ regarding which ‘mon should get mega forms, I feel like they missed a trick. Where was that one guy in the corner who speaks sense? The guy who’s usually thrown out of the window in the meme? If he’d been there, he could’ve said things like, “How about Dunsparce? Or Butterfree? Or anything that actually needs the extra power and recognition?”

You know what happens when we don’t listen to that guy? Mega Rayquaza happens, that’s what. Rayquaza was already an incredibly powerful force, banned from standard play, but then it was really dialed up to eleven. Sporting offensive stats as high as the Chrysler Building, the real kicker is that it doesn’t even need a mega stone. Why not slap on a Life Orb, for even greater levels of overkill?

19 WORST: Mega Houndoom, The Puppy Brought To Heel

2- Mega Houndoom
Via: alexiscooper.wikia.com

Now, don’t go running away with the false impression that I’m just talking smack here. After all, in terms of its design, Houndoom is one of my favorite Mega Evolutions. The whole heckhound thing that its standard form has going on is dialed up to eleven, and I can dig that.

Still, we’re not super shallow around here. We aren’t Kardashians. It’s important to remember that Houndoom is kind of booty. Its Mega form isn’t weak, per se, it’s just that Mega Charizard Y exists. If you’re in the market for a sun-based Fire-type special attacker, Charizard is superior in just about every possible way. You only get one Mega Evolution per battle, friends, and you’ve got to make them count.

Just ask the craptacular Mega Audino, who we’ll meet later.

18 BEST: Mega Gengar, The Tricksiest Ghost There Ever Freaking Was

3- Mega Gengar
Via: DeviantArt (EvilApple513)

There’s a curious thing about Mega Pokémon. They may have stats that tower above the rest like Godzilla’s engorged lizard-parts, but these don’t always tell the full story. The thing is, they’re constrained by their Mega Stone, which prevents the Pokémon from holding any other item. As a result, a standard form Pokémon holding a damage-boosting item will often be more powerful than the Mega.

There are other factors at play here too, though. The OG Ghost-type, Gengar, gains the excellent ability Shadow Tag on Mega Evolving. This allows it to trap whichever opponent it’s facing in with it, opening up all sorts of shenanigans. It’s deadly for revenge killing, but you can also bust out Perish Song, and stall turns until the opponent is knocked out.

With good play, this thing can pretty well guarantee a knockout, and in tandem with its straight-up power, this was enough to see it banned from standard play.

17 WORST: Mega Garchomp, The Land Shark That Let Itself Go

4- Mega Garchomp
Via: knowyourmeme.com

Another frontrunner for the why-in-the-name-of-Satan’s-soiled-undercrackers-did-thisguy-need-a-mega-form prize, we have Garchomp. Since this Pokémon was introduced with Diamond and Pearl, it has dominated competitive play, and is still super popular even with all of the Fairies lurking around.

Its combination of speed, power and an excellent typing (Dragon/Ground) makes it a perfect fit for all sorts of teams. The interesting thing is that you’re more likely to come across Jimmy Hoffa, a unicorn and the Loch Ness Monster having a tea party than you are to encounter Mega Garchomp. While it gains a modest boost in both defenses, it loses out on 10 base points of speed, and this alone kills most of its viability. It looks pretty darn cool, in my eyes, but it’s a tough one to use.

16 BEST: Mega Lucario, The Super Sweeper

5- Mega Lucario
Via: YouTube (siplick)

While playing through the game’s main story, Mega Lucario will be the first Mega form that the player will encounter. Before being trusted with your very own Mega Ring, you’ve got to be tested, and it’s Lucario that serves as that test.

Talk about having your plums thrown straight into the fire. Lucario has always been a tricky opponent, adept at best physical and special attacks, and its Mega form takes this concept and runs with it. Increased speed, a nice boost to both offenses, and Adaptability to boot (an ability that ups the STAB effect on the user’s moves).

All competitive Pokémon players will have felt this thing’s wrath at some time or another. It’s been Close Combat-ing foes into blubbering heaps of bloodied defeat for a couple of years now.

15 WORST: Mega Audino, The The Nurse As Unwelcome As The One Who Has Seen It All

6- Mega Audino
Via: pokemonrubysapphire.com

Don’t get me wrong here, either. I have no beef with Audino. It’s a super useful EXP source, and the first shiny Pokémon I ever hatched was an Audino. I can totally get behind this thing, is what I’m getting at here. That sort of White Mage-y vibe that the Mega has going on? That gets seven thumbs up from me.

When you dig a little deeper, though, you start to see how difficult it is to find a place for this thing. As I say, you can only Mega Evolve one Pokémon per battle, and you’ve got to make it count. Usually, you want said Mega to be a real threat, and Audino is as passive as a sleeping grandma. It functions nicely as a cleric, and can take all kinds of hits, but that’s not usually a job for your precious Mega slot.

14 BEST: Mega Salamence, The Croissant Of DEATH

7- Mega Salamence
via: sa-dui.deviantart.com

Ah, yes. Now we’re talking. You see this, Garchomp? This is how a real Dragon Mega Evolves. Read it and weep, sharky boy.

Salamence and its evolution line was added to the roster a generation before Garchomp’s, with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. It, too, immediately established itself as ballistic missile fuelled by furious vengeance, and has always been a threat to prepare for.

When it was gifted with a Mega form in X and Y, the crapola really hit the fan. This thing is a monster, unfortunate hilariously-shaped wings or no unfortunate hilariously-shaped wings. A mighty physical attacker, also comfortable hitting from the special side, its ability Aerilate gives it a STAB Double-Edge that hits with the force of a sumo wrestler falling from the top of the Empire State onto an ant.

13 WORST: Mega Glalie, The Exploding Snowball

8- Mega Glalie
Via: YouTube (6ftHax)

As the old saying goes, the most useful tip you can ever be given is don’t eat yellow snow. This is all well and good, but we’re forgetting the true threat of snow. Not snowballs with rocks or eggs in (both of which I’ve been on the receiving end of in the past), but an even more lethal threat: exploding snow.

Glalie is a curious Pokémon that you very rarely see in battle. This Ice-type’s niche basically amounts to trying to OHKO opponents with lucky Sheer Cold hits, while hoping that Moody gives it some useful boosts. Mega Glalie’s stats are a little better, but still nothing really worthy of a Mega slot.

Its Refrigerate ability does give it access to a super strong Ice-type Explosion, which is a kinda fun gimmick, but that’s about the best it can muster.

12 BEST: Mega Kangaskhan, The All-Round Schoolyard Bully

9- Mega Kangaskhan
Via: propokemon.com

It was pretty well inevitable that this damn thing was going to rear its head at some point. We might as well embrace it, make our peace with it, and take a look.

If you were playing Pokémon competitively back at the start of generation six, this thing probably still makes you break out in a cold sweat. If your family/partner has ever wondered why you occasionally wake up howling “Not Fake Out! Not again!”, you know who to blame it on.

Statistically, Mega Kangaskhan doesn’t look all that powerful. The worrying part is its ability, Parental Bond, giving it a second blow on each of its attacks. The baby’s hit was nerfed to only a quarter of the damage of the first with Sun and Moon, but when it was half, it was horrifying.

An easy +2 attack with Power-Up Punch, while dealing damage? Get that out of here.

11 WORST: Mega Abomasnow, The Hopeless Yeti

10- Mega Abomasnow
Via: DeviantArt (Pokemonsketchartist)

Much as I love Abomasnow, the poor guy’s had a super unfortunate lot in life since the off. Being a Grass/Ice type, it has just about the most weaknesses in the entire game (tied with Grass/Psychic, Dark/Fighting and a couple of other combinations). Abomasnow is as slow as a comatose one-legged kitten, and is weak to just about every damn thing. That’s a terrible combination.

To make matters worse, the auto-weather it sets, Hail, is horribly outclassed by the others. As a result of all of this, you very rarely see Abomasnow or its Mega Evolution. It’s a shame, as it can be deadly on a Trick Room team, and it also completely shuts down most bulky Water types (a crucial component of many teams). At best, it’s incredibly niche.

10 BEST: Mega Charizard Y, The One That’s Totally Lit (Lit-erally)

11- Mega Charizard Y
Via: Tumblr

As we saw earlier, Mega Houndoom is a Pokémon seemingly designed to be used on an offensive sun team. Its typing, speed, and Solar Power ability (which ups its special attack in the sun, in return for a little recoil damage each turn) looks to make for a perfect sweeper.

Sadly for the hound, Mega Charizard Y exists. This another Mega that utterly dominated the game when Megas were first introduced, and for good reason. Its sun-boosted Fire-types attacks, coming from special attack this high, will roast you to defeated charred hunks of failure from the next galaxy away. It also has Solar Beam (which doesn’t need to charge in the sun) to make quick work of its mortal enemies, Water and Rock Pokémon.

The latter really does tear it several new bodily orifices, being 4x weak and all, but nobody’s perfect.

9 WORST: Mega Aerodactyl, The One With The Awesome Rock Goatee

12- Mega Aerodactyl
Via: Amino Apps

Now, it might just be me. I can totally understand that being the case. I think it bears repeating, however, that this is a goatee made of rock we’re talking about here. That’s something you’ve just got to respect.

Design-wise, I’d say that they got Mega Aerodactyl pretty well spot on. What more could you have asked for from a Mega form of Aerodactyl? Nothing, that’s what. Super cool as this thing is, it’s a shame that it just doesn’t warrant use.

Again, it isn’t that it’s a bad Pokémon as such. It’s simply overshadowed. With Tough Claws boosting its physical contact moves, and blistering speed, it’s clearly intended as a speedy attacker. Its downfall is that it just doesn’t boast the raw power of other Megas, who can perform that role much better.

8 BEST: Mega Mawile, The One With The Huge Freaking Teeth

13- Mega Mawile
Via: Azurilland.com

Mega Mawile, I’d say, is one example of Mega Evolution done right. It took a Pokémon that was totally obscure and worthless, and basically tossed it a lifeline. When the concept was first revealed, this was exactly what I was hoping for from Megas.

On the other hand, I guess Mawile wasn’t thrown a lifeline so much as thrown a huge and deadly cache of weapons, like the one Arnold Schwarzenegger hops off his dinghy with on arriving on the island in Commando.

This thing is quite the beast. Its base form’s Intimidate is always useful, and the Mega’s Sheer Force ability doubles its attack stat for pure carnage. It has such a great typing in Steel/Fairy, too, and the raw strength to put it to great use.

7 WORST: Mega Absol, The My Chemical Romance Reject

14- Mega Absol
Via: pokemon.wikia.com

Come on now, relax. I’m kidding. Kidding.

Like a lot of people, I hopped straight on the Mega Absol fanwagon as soon as I saw it. Its fallen angel sort of design has instant, edgy appeal. People flocked to this thing for the same reason just about everyone using Link in Smash Bros. favors that Dark Link palette swap.

Whether you appreciate its design or not, there’s one thing you can’t deny: Mega Absol is darn difficult to use effectively. Much like its base form, it’s a real glass cannon, unable to come in on even resisted hits due to its paper-bag-in-a-hurricane defenses. It has its perks, with great speed, a deep movepool, and very powerful priority, but you’ve got to be so darn careful with it.

6 BEST: Mega Gardevoir, The One That The Internet Makes Super Questionable Fanart About

15- Mega Gardevoir
Via: YouTube (MetalZoldier36)

Gardevoir has been doing the rounds for four generations now, having been first released with Pokémon Ruby and Sapphire. It’s always been a really interesting pick, boasting quite a shonky stat distribution. It has high special attack and special defense, and a speed tier that’s just plain awkward. Not slow by any means, but certainly not truly fast either.

As such, Gardevoir just can’t quite decide what it wants to be. It seems to be a hybrid special attacker and supporter, and the Mega form reflects this too. It’s totally happy to spam Hyper Voice and crush its foes into spam, but it also loves throwing status around and disrupting the opponents’ own strategies with the likes of Taunt.

One of the more versatile Megas, Garedvoir can do a variety of things, and do them darn well too.

5 WORST: Mega Pidgeot, The One That’s A Freaking Pidgeot

16- Mega Pidgeot
Via: DeviantArt (PinkGermy)

Any seasoned Pokémon player will be familiar with the so-called Route One Birds. These are a sub-group of Flying-type Pokémon, generally among the first that the players encounter when they start the game. There’s one every generation, ranging from Red and Blue’s Pidgey to Sun and Moon’s Pikipek, and they’re generally crap.

Don’t tell Staraptor or Talonflame that, though, because they won’t stand for that sort of trash talk.

Anywho, the only one of said birds to get a Mega Evolution was the original, Pidgeot. Yet again, it’s not a bad Pokémon; in fact, it’s got a nice special attack and never-miss Hurricanes to abuse with it. This is really its only niche, though, and it can’t do all that much aside from that. Still, for a Pidgeot, this is kind of impressive.

4 BEST: Mega Diancie, The Fairy Princess That Will End You

17- Mega Diancie
Via: pokemon.wikia.com

Diancie, you might remember, was the first event Pokémon to be released in the X and Y era. At first sight, it really didn’t look like much at all, just a more feminine Carbink. This, needless to say, is hardly something that the world had been crying out for.

Nevertheless, it proved quite useful. It has some nice supportive utility in its base form, and is a great sweeper in standard play on Mega Evolving.

Mega Diancie is hugely powerful, and boasts a truly unique STAB combination of Rock and Fairy. From its appearance, you might think it spends its days waiting for Mario to come and rescue it from Bowser, but don’t be fooled. This fairy princess could whup your butt, my butt, your mama’s butt, its own butt… Mega Diancie just does not care.

3 WORST: Mega Sceptile, The One With The Christmas Tree Tail

18- Mega Sceptile
Via: DeviantArt (denovember)

Oh, that tail. I can see where they were going with this (after all, it’d be difficult to make this thing look any different to its regular form without an extravagant tail), but they may have gone just a shade too far.

Mega Sceptile is, I’d admit, my favorite Mega Form to use, and I’ve had some great success with it. It serves quite well as a revenge killer, being wicked fast and boasting powerful STAB In Leaf Storm. Its main issue is that there are much more consistent choices out there.

Grass and Dragon, as neat a combination as it is, isn’t the greatest dual STAB to rely on. Focus Blast can generally pick up the slack, when it doesn’t miss. Which it always will when you need it the most. Compounding this, Mega Sceptile’s special attack isn’t bad, but it’s often just a little lacking.

2 BEST: Mega Gallade, The Closet Yu-Gi-Oh! Fan

19- Mega Gallade
Via: DeviantArt (nganlamsong)

I guess it’s worth addressing this first. Yep, on first seeing Mega Gallade revealed, I thought exactly the same as the rest of you. That’s totally a Duel Disk on your arm there, guy. I’m no anime nut, but I’m damned if I don’t image this guy speaking in Kaiba’s gravellier-than-a-bag-of-gravel English voice.

With that out of the way, I can’t help but feel that Mega Gallade has been a little underappreciated. It’s kind of in competition with Mega Lucario, I guess you could say, as they both really have the same main objective: Close Combat everything right in the dome.

In achieving this goal, I’d say that Lucario comes out on top. It has access to priority, giving it an easier time finishing things off, and Steel’s generally more useful as a secondary type than Psychic is. Don’t count Gallade out, though, as it’s nothing to screw with.

1 WORST: Mega Beedrill, The One-Trick Bumblebee

20- Mega Beedrill
Via: pokemon.wikia.com

Of all entries on this list, this one probably pains me the most. I’m a huge fan of Mega Beedrill. The fact that it’s taken one of the most ridiculed and awful Pokémon of all time and made it usable –pretty darn frightening, in fact—is a beautiful thing.

It’s damn strong, after all, and it also has Adaptability to boost its power yet further. You haven’t experienced true Poké-terror until you’ve let this thing get a Fell Stinger KO and seen it get that +3 attack increase.

The issue, again, is that it’s so impractical to use. Not only does Stealth Rock point and laugh at all of its deepest insecurities, but it has slim to bupkus in the way of defenses. You have to tread carefully when this guy’s around, but so does your opponent.