Mega Evolution; arguably the single biggest generational gimmick that the Pokemon series has ever had. Gamefreak has tried to move on from it, but they've finally given in for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, giving us a whole slew of new Mega Evolutions to look forward to. But, as with every new change in the main series, one question remains: how are they going to fare in Pokemon Go?

Well, to start with, we're only going to look at the PvE performance of the new Mega Evolutions. While they are available in the Go Battle League on very rare occasions, the lion's share of their utility is in Raids. On top of that, we're not going to look too deep into new movesets and other changes. While we will mention signature moves and may touch on some moveset updates, our focus will be primarily on looking at these Mega Evolutions if they were released in the current state of their base Pokemon.

Worth noting here is the fact that we made some predictions about some of the Mega Evolutions on this list back before the game dropped, so please check it out and see just how wrong we were on some of these predicitons!

With that out of the way, let's see what we can expect in the coming years.

The first of our new Mega Evolutions, Mega Clefable comes to us as one of the higher Attack-stat Fairy Type options right now, sitting just outside of the current top-10 for the type.... however, that is far, far from good enough to be worthy of consideration, especially when Mega Gardevoir exists. Yeah, this is sadly one of those Mega Evolutions that DESPERATELY wants the game to have a new mode that would work to its advantages, as what is essentially a beefed-up Togekiss could definitely see some utility, but the extreme restrictions put on Mega Evolutions means that Mega Clefable is destined to become an option that could be okay-ish in the early game, but ultimately falls off pretty hard.

But what about its potential as a Flying Type attacker, to make use of its new Flying sub-typing? Well, we have two small issues on that front:

1. It has no Flying Type moves
2. Mega Rayquaza exists.

The toxic water-balloon that is Mega Victreebel.... did not pan out. Honestly, this was going to be an uphill battle regardless, but it definitely didn't climb that hill very well. With offensive monsters like Mega Sceptile and Kartana ruling the Grass meta, and Poison's mediocre performance that's bolstered slightly by Mega Beedrill, Mega Victreebel just does not have the raw power needed to pull ahead, and it doesn't even gain enough Defense to be worthy of a tank Mega role... which itself is something that has little real value nowadays.

This is a really... really sad case. While Mega Salamence managed to evade the 9% tax when Mega Evolving, Mega Dragonite sadly fell short. In fact, Mega Dragonite is literally a worse Mega Salamence in practice, as it has the same typing, higher stats on all fronts, and the same moveset minus the fact that Mega Salamence can also utilize Fire Fang and Fly! When it comes right down to it, Mega Dragonite is not set to be a good Mega Evolution in Go.

Mega Meganium... was seriously done dirty. This thing just barely broke 4000 CP at Lv.40, meaning it hit the dreaded 9% nerf before it could get the stats needed to actually be good without the nerf. Sadly, its newly-added Fairy typing gives it virtually nothing of any real value, so Mega Meganium seriously fell off as anything aside from an early-game Mega.

Mega Ferligatr is... okay. As-is, it's going to sit a bit behind Mega Swampert in terms of raw Water Type power, and while its Dragon sub-typing gives it an outstanding defensive profile, it's not going to compete as a Dragon Type regardless of what moves it may get in the future. Unfortunately, this is another Mega hit by the 9% nerf, without which it would have actually gotten fairly close to Primal Kyogre.

Ah, Mega Skarmory... it gets a beautiful new golden sheen, it doesn't suffer from the 9% nerf, and it has a set of talons that really need a trim. Unfortunately, Mega Skarmory only has a middling 273 Attack (middling for a Mega that lacks a signature move, anyway), meaning it REALLY can't compete with Mega Metagross, much less the monster that is Mega Rayquaza.

It took this long, but we've finally reached a Mega that is clearly the best option in what it does! Mega Froslass is set to become the new top Ice Type Mega Evolution, out-classing Mega Abomasnow, and even its counterpart, Mega Glalie by a fair bit. This will make it arguably the strongest option for spreading around the Ice Type Mega Boost. It even managed to avoid the dreaded 9% nerf... but, sadly, that's not the end of the story. While Mega Frosslass is indeed set to be the top Ice Type Mega Evolution, it can't quite hold a candle to the top non-Mega Ice Types, like White Kyurem. Still, it's a strong option to throw out at the start of a fight in order to allow other players to bring about thermonuclear winter with the Ice boost on their own Kyurems.

But how about its Ghost performance? Well, Mega Gengar exists. And to be perfectly honest, Mega Froslass even falls behind Mega Banette, so its dual-type utility isn't great.

....oh, and we have Mega Baxcalubur already confirmed for the Mega Dimensions DLC. Oh well, it was a nice dream while it lasted!

Mega Emboar was given a nice glow-up to its design, becoming an outright warrior in its Mega forme... but that's about it. Its bulk is still negligible, and the 9% nerf hurt its potential viability pretty badly. Add to that the fact that its competition includes Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Lucario, and this burning boar's future is already cooked.

293 attack and a great Ground Type moveset.... Mega Excadrill is a genuinely strong Pokemon, but oh boy does this thing have competition. Despite everything seeming to line up for this Pokemon, it has to compete with some absolute monsters like Mega Garchomp and Primal Groudon. And it falls even farther down the list as a Steel Type. It has less Mega competition on that side, but Mega Metagross and Mega Lucario with its shiny new Meteor Mash pretty much dwarf it enough that it's little more than an early-game Mega option with some role compression.

One of the items on many wishlists for ZX was a new, meta-defining Bug or Poison Type Mega Evolution. And let me tell you; Mega Scolipede....... is not that. 257 Attack is middling by just about any standard nowadays, much less for a Mega Evolution, so Mega Scolipede isn't likely to make waves in Go. The fact that it's going to be directly competing with Mega Heracross and Mega Beedrill puts it in a bad position as well, basically ensuring that it's guaranteed to be just another mediocre Bug/Poison Type to throw on the pile.

Mega Scrafty.... avoided the 9% nerf? It got a nice new hoody? It looks good in white?

Yeah, there's basically nothing worthwhile to say about Mega Scrafty. This poor thing has an abysmal Attack stat that's among the lowest on this list, and its competition includes monsters like Mega Absol, Mega Tyranitar, and Mega Lucario. It's not going to be making any waves when it drops here.

Mega Eelektross is a Pokemon with potential. In terms of raw Attack, it out-classes its only direct competition; Mega Manectric. However, its moveset holds it back from taking the gold medal of Electric Type Mega Evolutions. It could very easily become the best in the future if it's just given Wild Charge, and hopefully we'll see that happen before this batch of Mega Evolutions drops. That said, it may never actually be able to take that gold medal, as we also have two versions of Mega Raichu on the horizon.

Mega Chandelure came so close to greatness, but it activated the blasted 9% nerf. While it couldn't have kept up with monsters like Mega Charizard Y, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Gengar without the nerf, it could have been a very high-performing Mega Evolution with dual-type role compression that at least sit near the top. However, as-is it's set to be a pretty mediocre option, and we don't have any real moveset options that could put it over the top. Honestly a shame for such a great Pokemon.

Mega Delphox actually isn't bad! While it can't quite keep up with Mega Blaziken or Mega Charizard Y, it's close enough that its Psychic sub-typing may make it worth considering in some raids despite falling behind the competition, so planning on raising one for the future if it's one of your personal favorites won't be the absolute worst thing... especially compared to most of what's on this list.

At long last, we come to a new Mega Evolution that is somewhat of a contender for the throne of its type: Mega Greninja. Despite having a substantially lower Attack stat, Mega Greninja can actually rival Primal Kyogre in terms of raw DPS thanks to Water Shuriken and Hydro Cannon. This means that it's actually a strong option in the absence of the flood-bringer. That said, it's still the silver medal here due to the fact that its TDO is substantially lower when its Dark typing doesn't give it an advantage in a given raid.

Would you take a look at that amazing mane? Mega Pyroar is here to sport that amazing hair... and not a lot else. Let's be honest; we've already covered stronger Fire Type Mega Evolutions falling behind the monsters of the type, and Normal adds nothing aside from a weakness to Fighting Type moves and a double-resistance to Ghost Type moves. This Pokemon is well on the path to becoming a dex filler when it drops in Go.

We have officially reached the first Mega Evolution on this list that could very well become the undisputed top of its type. How can we make this claim when its Attack stat is so much lower than the current lead of the type, Mega Gardevoir? Because Eternal Flower Floette has one very important advantage over all of the competition; a signature move... and a very important one at that. Light of Ruin is a move with an AMAZING name, and very important lore implications in the main series. For this reason, it's very reasonable to predict the rise of Mega Eternal Flower Floette as the top Fairy Type. In fact, it may get a move strong enough to rival many of the top dragons, depending on just how much they want to hype it up.... though something else on this list may be better suited for that....

And at long last we've come to the gold medal holder. No other Pokemon on this list has an Attack stat quite on a par with it. And it didn't even suffer the 9% nerf! That's right; among the new Z-A Mega Evolutions, Mega Malamar has the absolute lowest Attack stat of all. This translates into abysmal potential future performance in Pokemon Go, with no redeeming qualities to speak of. At the end of the day, Malamar is more useful as calamari than a Mega Evolution.

The holder of the second-highest Defense stat among the new Mega Evolutions, losing only to Mega Scrafty, Mega Dragalge... doesn't have much hope in Pokemon Go. While it has good movesets for both of its types, this is sadly not going to be the new apex Poison Type raider because of its low Attack stat. And we don't even talk about the Dragon meta when it's around, as it just makes poor Mega Dragalge sad....

One of only a small handful of Mega Evolutions from the new batch to actually change types, Mega Barbaracle drops its Water typing in favor of Fighting, giving new meaning to the phrase "he's got hands". Sadly, this change does Mega Barbaracle no favors, as this means that it's now going up against Mega Lucario for the top spot in its meta. Not that it matters, as Mega Barbaracle currently lacks any tools that could give it any sort of a fighting chance in any meta.

Mega Hawlucha is potentially pretty powerful. With access to the outstanding Flying Press, it could deal a lot of damage on the Fighting side, and it also has access to some good Flying Type moves in the main series. That said, its actual performance isn't outstanding as-is, and its competition comes in the form of Mega Lucario and Mega Rayquaza, so....

Here it is; a contender for the new ultimate Mega Evolution. Zygarde has dropped the defensive power of its Complete forme and gone all-in on raw offensive power! Even after the 9% nerf, this thing sits near the top of the list of Attack stats in Pokemon Go, only falling behind Deoxys - Attack Forme and Mega Mewtwo Y. But Attack can only go so far, as the aforementioned Deoxys exemplifies... so is Mega Zygarde nothing but a stat-sponge?
Absolutely Not.

Mega Zygarde has an absolute plethora of Signature Moves in the main series. In fact, it has more Signature Moves than any other Pokemon. To start with, it has Land's Wrath, Thousand Arrows, and Thousand Waves for Ground Type moves. And while it lacks a Ground Type Fast Move, and can't learn any existing Ground Type Fast Moves that we have right now, it's reasonable to assume that we may see at least one of these moves act as a Fast Move for Zygarde in the future. Given these factors, Mega Zygarde could very easily out-class Primal Groudon, or could at least become a very viable Ground Type Mega Evolution.

Ah, but that's far from the end of the story. While Mega Zygarde may become the best Ground Type attacker in the game, it's practically destined to become the new apex of the Dragons. This is because it already has Dragon Tail and Outrage, meaning if it were to drop right now, it would instantly be the bronze medal of the type. But that's still not it, because Mega Zygarde has a signature Dragon Type move as well; Core Enforcer! This is another huge Dragon Type move that could very well catapult Mega Zygarde to the top spot with ease.... or rather it would, if Mega Zygarde could use it! That's right, we're STILL not done! Zygarde can't actually make use of Core Enforcer in its Mega forme... because, much like the case with Zacian and Zamazenta undergoing a move update when hitting their final formes, Zygarde's Core Enforcer transforms into its newest Signature Move when Mega Evolved: Nihil Light. With all of these factors lining up, it's practically guaranteed that Mega Zygarde is destined to become one of the new monarchs of the Pokemon Go raid meta.

Mega Drampa.... is coming right after Mega Zygarde. And its only other type is Normal. And it doesn't have a signature move. And it has a sub-optimal Dragon Type Fast Move.

Yeah, this is an uphill battle, and Mega Drampa is glued to a toboggan. While it has a good Attack stat, it's competing hard with Mega Salamence, Mega Latios, and other silver to bronze medal Mega dragons. Don't go hunting down a perfect Drampa, as it's probably never going to really pay off.

Behold the best Mega Evolution to ever exist; the true apex of the archetype! This is an incredibly unique and outstanding Mega Evolution, and is beloved by a- ....
What? This is an article about viability and not design? Dang...
Well, Mega Falinks is... a thing? Yeah, this thing can't keep up with normal Fighting Types, much less titans like Mega Lucario or Mega Blaziken. it does have a signature move named No Retreat, which could become a move in Pokemon Go of kin to Geomancy for Xerneas, but it would have to be absolutely broken beyond broken to make this poor thing meta.

Right now, Mega Falinks' future performance is best summed up by the poor little guy that's holding up the leader in its design....

Closing

Honestly, most of these new Mega Evolutions aren't likely to be extremely impactful. However, some of the ones that are have the potential to be a bit game-breaking. We're expecting to probably begin seeing them drip-fed to us in the coming months, so hopefully we'll see some exciting Mega Evolutions soon.

Well, see you again in a few short weeks for Mega Dimension and its slew of even newer Mega Evolutions!