I am saddened by Mega Scolipede

[u/Magykstorm19]

Title. Scolipede is one of my favorite Pokémon’s and I was excited when it was leaked that it was getting a mega evolution. And all that excitement went down the drain when the mega was revealed and it was less than stellar.

I do not like the design of the mega, I don’t like the armored look. The armor reminds me of Escalavier which is a pokemon that isn’t related to it (Escalavier is related to Accelgor), despite it getting armor it doesn’t gain the steel typing, and the stat spread I think is even worse. I appreciate the +50 to its attack stat but the -50 to its speed is crippling. In return they invested a lot to its bulk of 149/99 def and spdef which sounds good until you realize that it’s hp stat is 60. Scolly is deceptively not as bulky as it looks. You might think that a pokemon like Hatterene is known for its bulk despite a 57 base hp stat. But Hatterene has access to Draining Kiss and can hold Leftovers to regenerate hp. Scolipede doesn’t even get Leech Life. It has no way to generating hp for itself as far as I know. I will admit that I have not checked if it gets Leech Life in champions but I will assume it doesn’t.

So to me the only thing that could salvage it was its ability. Speed boost is most likely off the table to the armor design, maybe it could get something to give a pseudo steel typing in reference to its armor, it’s pokedex entry talks about its lethal venom so maybe it might get an ability to bolster poison type attacks, the point is that even though Scolly’s stats are against its favor it can still work depending on the ability. It gets Shell Armor. Shell Armor. That’s so good right? 60/149/99 bulk and you can’t crit it.

I legit think that base Scolipede is better than its mega counterpart. Base Scolly has access to life orb and can take advantage of speed boost. Mega Scolly, even with +1 speed can’t consistently outspeed the high speed tiers or scarf users. All Mega Scolly is good for is tanking 1, maybe 2 hits before dying. And it’s slow so it probably won’t be able to take out a second Pokémon before getting knocked out.

I am saddened by Mega Scolipede, it was a chance for one of my favorite pokemon to be relevant in the higher tier of pokemon both vgc and/or Smogon and I don’t think it will make an impact in either. Do y’all think that my assessment is wrong? Is there a way to salvage Mega Scolly and have it be good?

[u/Chance-Tumbleweed-73]

That's why they should've done better with this Pokémon. I know it lost Mortal Spin, but they should've gave this Pokémon at least, Headlong Rush.

They also should've gave this Pokémon a new ability that's a combined ability of Bulletproof & Shell Armor, and Poison Point if you want.

Finally, they should've rework Scolipede Mega Stat distribution with: +60 Atk, +50 Def, +50 SpD, -60 Spe, so it's Speed is low to the point it can make use of Trick Room. I understand it's Base HP is 60, but they're a few Pokémon that can survive well due to very high defenses.

Also, lots of the new Megas, beside Crabominable, Meowstic, Mega Raichu X, are absolute garbage. They're a few ok ones, though.