Mega Mastery: Breaking down the best Mega Evolutions in Pokemon Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire

Yesterday, Shacknews listed some of the more powerful Mega Evolutions to come out of Pokemon X & Y. Many more Megas have debuted since that time, thanks to the recent reboot of Pokemon Ruby & Sapphire. So with the Pokemon Winter Regionals' second weekend coming up at the end of this month, we're looking at some of the newer Megas that new players may want to consider for their roster of six.

Mega Steelix

Ability: Sand Force

Few Pokemon are bigger than Steelix, an imposing force in any battle. Steelix is already a defensive brute on its own, but its evolution to Mega Steelix put its Defense stat on par with other tanks like Shuckle or Forretress.

Players can shape many strategies to go along with Mega Steelix, whether they take advantage of the gargantuan defensive stats to wear down opponents with Toxic or Will-O-Wisp or use its modestly-bufed Attack to beat foes into submission. Mega Steelix, however, is best suited to Double or Triple battles with partners that utilize Sandstorm. With its Sand Force ability, many of Steelix's attacks will be amplified by the Sandstorm weather condition, making him an ideal partner for fellow bruisers Hippowdon and Tyranitar.

Mega Sceptile

Ability: Lightning Rod

Sceptile on its own is deceptively quick, quietly boasting a high Speed stat. Mega Sceptile ups that Speed further, while also boosting its Special Attack to competitive levels. But that's not the main reason to use Mega Sceptile in battle.

Mega Sceptile uses a powerful ability called Lightning Rod, which draws all Electric attacks towards it. Since Grass-types take less damage from electricity, Mega Sceptile becomes a major boost to Double and Triple teams. Go into battle alongside Gyarados or other Water-type Pokemon and Mega Sceptile will keep them safe. While it sounds like this Mega Evolution's primary function is as a decoy, don't sleep on Sceptile's Special Attack. It can more than hold its own, thanks to attacks like Giga Drain and Leaf Storm.

Mega Glalie

Ability: Refrigerate

Pokemon enthusiasts were given something of a gift with the Pokemon Omega Ruby & Alpha Sapphire demos, as they were given a chance to pick up a Glalie with the Glalitite required for its Mega Evolution. Mega Glalie takes a well-rounded Pokemon and turns it into more of an offensive powerhouse. On top of its spruced-up offensive stats, Mega Glalie operates with the rare Refrigerate ability that turns all of its Normal-type moves and turns them to Ice moves, while also boosting those moves by an extra 30 percent. This can make moves like Giga Impact or Facade extremely devastating and an absolute nightmare to Dragon-types.

It's hard to find pure Ice-types out in the wild and Glalie remains one of the best options for any team of six, especially those that are looking to subdue powerful Dragon-type Pokemon. It's a solid option with few drawbacks, made even better by its powerful Mega Evolution.

Mega Altaria

Ability: Pixilate

Speaking of potent anti-Dragon options, an unlikely challenger fills the role in Altaria. Since it was introduced, Altaria took a back seat to other more powerful Dragon-types, like Salamence or Dragonite. After all, why use a Dragon/Flying-type when more powerful options were available? But Mega Altaria has something going for it that other Dragon-types do not.

Mega Altaria may have mediocre stats compared to other Mega Evolutions, but the fact that it becomes a Dragon/Fairy-type gives trainers more than enough reason to give it a whirl. This is a type combination unlike any other in the Pokemon games to date, giving this Mega a distinct advantage against other Dragons and all-too-common Dark-types. On top of that, Mega Altaria's Fairy half gives it an immunity to Dragon-type attacks, negating an essential Dragon-type weakness. Removing the Flying-type from its banner also makes Mega Altaria more likely to withstand some of its few remaining weaknesses, like Ice and Electricity. In terms of playing type matchups, Mega Altaria has the potential to throw opponents for a loop, especially when it uses its Pixilate ability to turn Normal attacks into Fairy attacks.

Ozzie Mejia

Senior Editor

Ozzie has been playing video games since picking up his first NES controller at age 5. He has been into games ever since, only briefly stepping away during his college years. But he was pulled back in after spending years in QA circles for both THQ and Activision, mostly spending time helping to push forward the Guitar Hero series at its peak. Ozzie has become a big fan of platformers, puzzle games, shooters, and RPGs, just to name a few genres, but he’s also a huge sucker for anything with a good, compelling narrative behind it. Because what are video games if you can't enjoy a good story with a fresh Cherry Coke?