[PRP][Article] MECA #2: Mega Medicham - The Wallbreaker of Singles OU that achieved Enlightenment

[Guest SunTzu]

Author: @SunTzu

Meta: Singles OU

Introduction

While writing this article, I began to remember the times when I first began learning about the history of pokemon so that I could quickly catch up to my friends who were far ahead of me in the competitive scene. I clearly recall learning about how back in Gen III was when Meditite and its evolution Medicham were introduced as the first ever Fighting/Psychic pokemon. The typing intrigued me as they are pretty much polar opposites of each other. Now that I see how the typing aids in granting Psychic types some hope in dealing with their notorious nemesis the Dark type pokemon did I find that the pokemon is not to be underestimated.

However, Medicham didn't see much play in the competitive scene after Gen III which was a bit disappointing. Now, fast forward to Gen VI where it returns as a pokemon to fear for it makes a comeback after reaching enlightenment as one of the most intimidating powerhouses of the OU metagame. Indeed, rather recently, one of my friends who plays Singles OU asked me why Mega Medicham was put into the tier. Looking at its stat distribution and typing, it didn't seem to be a particularly strong mon. However, after deeply thinking about it, I found that I underestimated Mega Medicham's worth and truly made a mistake by judging a book by its cover.

In this article, I will be breaking down Mega Medicham and analyze it with the hopes of showing exactly why this pokemon was able to make such a drastic comeback in Singles OU along with its place in the current metagame. By the end of this article, I hope to show you why this pokemon deserves a spot in your next Singles OU team by telling you the secrets of the Saitama of pokemon.

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Note: [insert number] is a reference to the respective damage calc on the bottom of the article in "Referenced Damage Calcs". Sets used for calcs are the ones already input into the calculator.

Pokemon Profile

Type: Fighting/Psychic

Ability: Pure Power

Stat Distribution

• HP: 60
• Attack: 100
• Defense: 85
• Sp.Attack: 80
• Sp.Defense: 85
• Speed: 100

Weaknesses

• Flying (2x)
• Ghost (2x)
• Fairy (2x)

Resistances

• Fighting (2x)
• Rock (2x)

Strong Against (Naturally due to Typing)

• Dark
• Fighting
• Rock
• Ice
• Poison
• Steel

Notable Moves

• Fake Out
• Bullet Punch
• Ice Punch
• Thunder Punch
• Zen Headbutt
• High Jump Kick
• Low Kick
• Rock Slide

Analysis

Looking at the stat distribution, nothing looks particularly impressive. A bulk of 60/80/85 is decent at best, and 100 Attack with 100 Speed seems to be okay. But what we are forgetting is the ability Pure Power which doubles the Attack stat of Mega Medicham. Such an impressive Attack stat along with access to priority moves in Fake Out and Bullet Punch allow Mega Medicham to hit a plethora of pokemon in the tier hard even if they resist. But let's not forget that Mega Medicham has access to coverage moves such as Ice Punch and Thunder Punch to cover mainly for its Flying type weakness, but also hit the likes of Landorus-T, Zygarde, and others by mercilessly handing them OHKOs and 2HKOs. In addition, Mega Medicham's strongest STAB move, High Jump Kick, is particularly useful in this format which has Steel type pokemon such as Ferrothorn, Heatran, and Kartana dominating the meta along with Ttar variants that still running rampant

But that can't be all there is to him right? What exactly makes him worthy of the OU tier which we hail as the holy grail of competitive pokemon? Or more importantly, why should Mega Medicham be run in an OU team in the first place? The answer lies back in the combination of the statement I made before about how Mega Medicham hits even things that resist its attacks really hard and its speed of 100.

Note that, with a base speed of 100 with a Jolly nature, Mega Medicham can safely outspeed non-scarfed sets of everything except for Mega Alakazam, Mega Charizard X/Y (speed tie), Mega Diancie, Dugtrio, Garchomp, Gengar, Greninja, Hawlucha, Keldeo, Kartana, Latios, Mega Lopunny, Ninetales-Alola, Mega Pinsir, Manaphy (speed tie), Tapu Koko, Zapdos (speed tie) and Volcarona (speed tie). So we can safely assume that it can cleanly land a blow to everything else as long as they aren't scarfed.

Out of the things that don't outspeed, the only ones to really worry about are Clefable, Alolan Marowak, Mimkyu, and Mega Sableye. Clefable can OHKO Mega Medicham through Moonblast while Mega Medicham can't hit nearly as hard back [1][2]. Alolan Marowak is immune to or resists all of Mega Medicham's most commonly used moves except for Zen Headbutt and Rock Slide [3][4][5][6] the latter of which is rarely used meaning that generally speaking you'll have to hope for the flinch while Alolan Marowak can OHKO with Shadow Bone [7]. Mimikyu is also a notable opponent as Disguise grants him a free Play Rough or Shadow Claw to OHKO Mega Medicham. Mega Sableye walls Mega Medicham making it an unfavorable opponent.

Now let's look at the pokemon that do outspeed or are speed tied. For the sake of simplicity, let's just assume that both pokemon are in a 1v1 state and healthy with no stat boosts.

Out of the pokemon that are either tied with or outspeed Mega Medicham, the ones that it can safely OHKO are Mega Diancie [8], Manaphy [9], Ninetales-Alola [10], Mega Lopunny [11], Volcarona, [12], non-specs Greninja [13], Dugtrio [14], Garchomp [15], non-Power Herb Hawlucha [20][22], and Kartana [24]. This is a good number of commonly seen pokemon, most notably Volcarona, Greninja, Garchomp, Kartana, and Ninetales-Alola. Mega Medicham can also safely 2HKO Zapdos [16] as well. In total, that's 10/18 pokemon or 55.55% of the pokemon that Mega Medicham can reliably hit which outspeed it which is impressive.

As you can see, Mega Medicham can already do so much to these rather commonly seen pokemon in the OU metagame, but here is where my previous point about how things that resist get hit hard comes in. If we look at everything else that outspeeds, you'll find that none of these pokemon can expect to waltz into Mega Medicham's standard moveset. Gengar which is the most worrisome of the lot gets OHKO by a well-predicted Zen Headbutt [17]. Mega Pinsir which is a major threat due to its access to Aerilate Quick Attack and Return has to watch out for well-predicted Ice Punch/Thunder Punch [18]. Thunder punch also covers for an incoming Mega Charizard-Y [19] while High Jump Kick will destroy an incoming Mega Charizard X [21] and hit Latios very hard [23]. Long story short, the main selling point of Mega Medicham is that almost nothing can switch into it safely. Indeed, almost everything you throw at Mega Medicham can get hit ridiculously hard coming in to one of its attacks, especially if the switch is well predicted.

To sum things up there are a two really strong points in support of Mega Medicham's viability in OU. First is the ability of Mega Medicham to outspeed a good portion of the tier thus letting it OHKO or 2HKO safely a plethora of extremely common OU pokemon such as Heatran, Landorus-T, Magearna, Ferrothorn, Zygarde, Toxapex, Celesteela, and Tyranitar especially after a Fake Out. Second is being able to hit everything except 5 pokemon hard reliably, which makes it difficult to switch into with an incoming attack. These strengths make Mega Medicham a pokemon that is truly worthy of being in OU. Indeed, the strategic usage of Mega Medicham even when it is at a disadvantage in speed can be such that you force your opponent to sack a mon so that another pokemon can safely switch in instead of trying to pivot via U-Turn or Volt Switch which makes it just that much easier to win.

Sets

So here I'll post sample sets that have been successful along with a quick description of how they work.

1.) Full-Out Attacker

Medicham (M) @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 252 Atk / 4 Def/ 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt/Bullet Punch
- Thunder Punch/Ice Punch

Telepathy is so that Mega Alakazam or any other Trace user won't trace a useful ability (though it doesn't really matter granted that Mega Alakazam is a Special Sweeper). Fake Out is a necessary tool by increasing the chances of a OHKO with your STAB moves. High Jump Kick is a must-have STAB that does insane damage to almost everything. Zen Headbutt is also necessary STAB as well in my opinion as it hits pretty much everything that isn't Dark really hard. However, if you prefer to go for hitting things like Ninetales-Alola or Mega Diancie, then Bullet Punch is preferred. Ice/Thunder Punch is up to the user, and is heavily dependent on the rest of the team. This is the most often seen set. It completely maximizes on Attack in order to ensure you land those OHKOs. While it has found considerable success, I would personally suggest the next set.

2.) Enlightened Attacker

Medicham (M) @ Medichamite
Ability: Telepathy
Shiny: Yes
EVs: 156 Atk / 100 SpD / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
IVs: 0 SpA
- Fake Out
- High Jump Kick
- Zen Headbutt
- Thunder Punch/Ice Punch

This is the set I personally use. It's purposely designed so that it has enough Sp.Defense investment so that it can sponge a Tbolt from a Magnet and Electric Terrain boosted Tbolt from Koko [25], Moonblast from Fini [26], Shadow Ball from Mega Alakazam [27], Moonblast from Clefable, [28] and other pokemon that would otherwise OHKO Medicham though Medicham can't necessarily OHKO back. Therefore, this set lets you maximize Fake Out by letting you survive an incoming attack and finishing the opposing mon with one of Medicham's moves. If you want to hit Mega Diancie and or Ninetales Alola, then Bullet Punch is a possibility and there are enough Attack EVs invested into the set to OHKO. You could build a physical alternative, but I prefer the special version due to it being more relevant looking at what stops Mega Medicham in its tracks.

Threats/Checks

Up to now I showed you how amazing Mega Medicham was, but of course it has pokemon that threaten or check it.

• As I mentioned before, Clefable, Alolan Marowak, Mimkyu, and Mega Sableye all wall Mega Medicham effectively. Though with the Enlightened Attacker set, Clefable can be dealt with a bit better, it still can't kill it. Therefore, it's best you switch out when those mons come into play.
  • Especially be careful when using High Jump Kick against Ghost types as they are immune to it and so you run the risk of missing which leads to 50% HP drop on Mega Medicham.
• Mons that are faster than Mega Medicham such as Mega Pinsir can revenge kill it if switched in safely. Therefore, it is advised you switch out if the opponent decides to sack a mon to switch into something faster to revenge kill. Most notably, be careful of Gengar since Shadow Ball will OHKO Mega Medicham.

Teammates

Just like any other pokemon, Mega Beedrill has its own set of good buddies it likes to team up with.

• Tapu Koko, Lando-T, and Rotom-W are excellent teammates due to their ability to generate momentum and can break down opponents for Mega Medicham to finish or force a switch with Mega Medicham, causing for them to have to deal with an incoming attack from it.
  • Tapu Koko is also nice as Electric Terrain boosts Thunder Punch, making it more likely to pick up the OHKO on incoming Charizard-Y, Tapu Fini, Skarmory, etc.
• Tapu Lele boosts Zen Headbutt, though the drawback of being unable to use Fake Out or Bullet Punch exists.
• Pursuit trappers such as Ttar or Weavile are useful to help deal with the likes of Gengar.
• Celesteela is an effective partner as it resists Flying and Fairy type attacks while having great bulk.

Conclusion

Mega Medicham is a pokemon truly deserves a place in Singles OU. By pressuring the opponent to be careful in switching rashly and attempting to limit the amount of times that they pivot, Mega Medicham can break down an opponent's team as a whole by cracking at each of their pokemon. Albeit, to use it effectively you have to be careful and predict well but this can be mastered through experience and once done will make Mega Medicham into perhaps one of your most powerful assets. I hope that this article has been useful in showing why Mega Medicham should be on your next Singles OU team. Thanks for reading, make sure to upvote if you liked the article, comment below what you think about Mega Medicham, and what Mega Evolution you would like to see next!

Referenced Damage Calcs

Spoiler

[1]: 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Medicham-Mega: 224-266 (85.8 - 101.9%) -- 12.5% chance to OHKO

[2]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 248 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 155-183 (39.4 - 46.5%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

[3]: Medicham-Mega Fake Out vs. Marowak-Alola: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time

[4]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 201-237 (77 - 90.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[5]: Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. Marowak-Alola: 0-0 (0 - 0%) -- aim for the horn next time

[6]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Rock Slide vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Marowak-Alola: 252-298 (96.5 - 114.1%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO

[7]: 252+ Atk Thick Club Marowak-Alola Shadow Bone vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Medicham-Mega: 500-590 (191.5 - 226%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[8]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Diancie-Mega: 272-320 (112.8 - 132.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[9]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Manaphy: 354-417 (103.5 - 121.9%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[10]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Bullet Punch vs. 248 HP / 0 Def Ninetales-Alola: 372-440 (106.5 - 126%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[11]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Lopunny: 818-966 (301.8 - 356.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[12]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Volcarona: 310-366 (99.6 - 117.6%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

[13]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Greninja: 984-1158 (345.2 - 406.3%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[14]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Dugtrio: 609-717 (288.6 - 339.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[15]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Garchomp: 568-672 (158.6 - 187.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[16]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Ice Punch vs. 248 HP / 240+ Def Zapdos: 222-262 (57.9 - 68.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

[17]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Gengar: 660-776 (251.9 - 296.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[18]: 252 Atk Aerilate Pinsir-Mega Return vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Medicham-Mega: 518-612 (198.4 - 234.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[19]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Thunder Punch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-Y: 334-394 (112.4 - 132.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[20]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega Zen Headbutt vs. 104 HP / 0 Def Hawlucha: 554-654 (171.5 - 202.4%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[21]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Charizard-Mega-X: 322-381 (108.4 - 128.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[22]: 252+ Atk Hawlucha Acrobatics (55 BP) vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Medicham-Mega: 180-212 (68.9 - 81.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[23] 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Latios: 213-251 (70.7 - 83.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[24]: 252 Atk Pure Power Medicham-Mega High Jump Kick vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Kartana: 560-660 (216.2 - 254.8%) -- guaranteed OHKO

[25]: 252 SpA Magnet Tapu Koko Thunderbolt vs. 0 HP / 100 SpD Medicham-Mega in Electric Terrain: 219-258 (83.9 - 98.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[26]: 0 SpA Tapu Fini Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 100 SpD Medicham-Mega: 204-240 (78.1 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

[27]: 252 SpA Alakazam-Mega Shadow Ball vs. 0 HP / 100 SpD Medicham-Mega: 224-264 (85.8 - 101.1%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

[28]: 0 SpA Clefable Moonblast vs. 0 HP / 100 SpD Medicham-Mega: 204-240 (78.1 - 91.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Committee Approval: @13thShade, @Eastonn8, @nitrodog96

[13thShade 4,323/5000]

Seriously you're the best writer to roll through DI. Way better than me, and I'm one of the more decent ones.

Approved. Approved! APPROVED!

[Nitro 2,318/3200]

Approved by a mile, I have no words to describe how good at this you are.

[Guest SunTzu]

17 minutes ago, 13thShade said:

Seriously you're the best writer to roll through DI. Way better than me, and I'm one of the more decent ones.

Approved. Approved! APPROVED!

2 minutes ago, nitrodog96 said:

Approved by a mile, I have no words to describe how good at this you are.

Thanks so much to both of you! ^-^ I still have a ways to go and hope to improve over time!

[Guest Vergi1]

This looks really ice and was very well done, i use MMedi a lot I love the mon aha drafted him in a couple leagues. My only thing is pure power does double the atk stat not the base atk, so it's not equivalent to base 200 atk. Max atk MMedi is more equivalent to like base 250 atk (I'm not positive of the number) still really well don't though keep it up!

[Guest SunTzu]

2 minutes ago, Vergi1 said:

This looks really ice and was very well done, i use MMedi a lot I love the mon aha drafted him in a couple leagues. My only thing is pure power does double the atk stat not the base atk, so it's not equivalent to base 200 atk. Max atk MMedi is more equivalent to like base 250 atk (I'm not positive of the number) still really well don't though keep it up!

Ah yeah sorry, I'm really tired as I wrote this right after writing the one about Mega Beedrill and haven't gotten more than two hours of sleep in the past 144 hours. Fixed the mistake!

[Guest Vergi1]

2 minutes ago, SunTzu said:

Ah yeah sorry, I'm really tired as I wrote this right after writing the one about Mega Beedrill and haven't gotten more than two hours of sleep in the past 144 hours. Fixed the mistake!

Oh damn lol, should probably take a nap man! You always work better well rested!

[Guest SunTzu]

Just now, Vergi1 said:

Oh damn lol, should probably take a nap man! You always work better well rested!

Thanks for the concern! ^_^ will try to as I have school tomorrow!

[Guest Eastonn8]

Approved!

Side-note: I think your EV spread is super smart. You aren't sacrificing a lot to get a small advantage on some mons that ordinarily beat you. :)

[Guest SunTzu]

1 hour ago, Eastonn8 said:

Approved!

Side-note: I think your EV spread is super smart. You aren't sacrificing a lot to get a small advantage on some mons that ordinarily beat you. :)

^_^ thanks very much!!! Yeah, the set is something I thought of mostly since I was concerned about Magnet Koko, Unaware Clefable, and Support Fini which are extremely common nowadays.

[Guest KaikoaVGC]

Nice job! I've always found Medicham to be pretty underwhelming, but I've seen many use him to great success, so either he just doesn't jive with me or I'm not using him right haha. Love this!

[Guest SunTzu]

Just now, KaikoaVGC said:

Nice job! I've always found Medicham to be pretty underwhelming, but I've seen many use him to great success, so either he just doesn't jive with me or I'm not using him right haha. Love this!

I find that Mega Medicham is a Mega Evolution that requires an understanding of how to play it properly and hence a good amount of experience with it to be able to use well. I hope that the article has given insight on how to use him and that you find future success with him!