Malamar, the Overturning Pokémon. It wields the most compelling hypnotic powers of any Pokémon, and it forces others to do whatever it wants.
Overview
One of the most explicitly malicious Pokémon ever released, Malamar evokes this reputation with a dizzying array of disruption and the ability to boost while going on the offensive. For Malamar is the only non-Mega Evolution to get Contrary as a base ability instead of a hidden ability. Malamar puts this to great effect with Superpower, getting an effective Bulk Up every time it attacks, while dealing respectable damage with a move that covers a type that otherwise walls its two STABs. This is an insane amount of value in a single move, being able to buff and make progress at once. Malamar backs this up with the insane supportive and disruptive movepools emblematic of its two types, including Knock Off, Hypnosis, Taunt, Switcheroo, screens and Trick Room, enabling Malamar to leave any foe it encounters in a sorry state indeed.
It is unlikely that Malamar will ever get to the point of using these traits. Middling defenses are bad enough, but Malamar’s Dark-Psychic typing is horrid, leaving it with no resistances beyond a Psychic immunity. Without any resistances, a Pokémon must have ludicrous stats to reliably wall off threats, something Malamar just does not have. While Superpower can address Malamar’s Defense, it has no method of boosting its Special Defense with Contrary, having lost Close Combat from Legends Z-A. Add in a common weakness to Fairy and an extreme weakness to U-Turn, one of the most popular utility moves in the game on top of an inability to reliably heal itself leaves Malamar is a sorry state defensively. Opponents can easily exploit these flawed defenses too, as at base 73 Speed, even slower offensive staples like Gholdengo and Rillaboom reliably outrun and threaten Malamar. Offensively, Malamar’s situation is not much better, having a barely usable base 92 Attack before it gets any Superpower boosts and considering its boosting move is non-STAB, even super effective blows often miss knock outs, especially with the loss of Terastalization to make up the difference. Like any good supervillain, Malamar possesses unfair tools that are the envy of the peers, but like the same supervillains, Malamar’s innate traits prevent it from using them to their full potential.
Positives
Contrary is an insane ability allowing Malamar to setup while attacking and punish common stat dropping tactics.
Base 92 Attack is usable especially with the ease that Malamar can setup and apply pressure with Contrary.
Negatives
Psychic Dark is woeful defensively, with no resistances to speak of, and common weaknesses to Fairy and U-Turn.
86/88/75 defenses are unimpressive without boosting and Malamar lacks the reliable recovery to make the most of them.
73 Speed is awkward, leaving Malamar outran by most offensive attackers.
Power is unimpressive until Malamar accrues several boosts.
Movesets
Squid Storm
-Superpower
-Knock Off
-Zen Headbutt
-Poison Jab
Ability: Contrary
Item: Lum Berry
Stats and Nature:
2 HP / 32 Atk / 32 Spe
Jolly Nature
With Contrary, Malamar makes for a scarily efficient setup sweeper, chipping opponents down while it keeps escalating with Contrary Superpower and opposing Intimidates. Supower is mandatory for every Malamar being the only move it has that directly benefits from Contrary and offering an effective Bulk Up with each use. The effective Bulk Up allows Malamar to overwhelm opposing physical attackers that are not explicitly immune to Superpower, their attacks dealing less damage while Malamar’s keep getting stronger. STAB Knock Off ensures that Ghost types don’t want to switch in to block Superpower either, dealing impressive damage and offering potent disruption in item removal, while making Superpower resistant Psychic types think twice as well. Zen Headbutt and Poison Jab handle other Superpower resists in Poison and Fairy respectively, the former being STAB and the latter covering Fairies who do threaten Malamar offensively.
Stats and Items:
Max Attack is highly recommended for any offensive Malamar set. Base 92 Attack is rather underwhelming and Malamar needs all the help it can get. With 32 Attack, Malamar can 2HKO 32 HP Mega Baxcalibur and Cinderace with Superpower, and guarantee it with Pawmot, favored to OHKO 32 HP Primarina with Superpower into Poison Jab, be favored to OHKO Basculegion with Knock Off, and 2HKO Unaware Skeledirge with Knock Off after Stealth Rocks, all thresholds uninvested Malamar misses. Speed is a bit more contentious. While full Speed and Jolly does allow Malamar to outrun Pokémon in the base 80s that don’t fully invest in Speed like Rillaboom, Mega Meganium and Mamoswine as well as up to speed tying neutral natured base 85s like Archaludon, and Ceruledge, it still leaves Malamar outsped by a host of threats. Not to say some Speed investment doesn’t help either, with 6 Speed being invaluable in outrunning the U-Turn carrying 2 Speed Rillaboom. HP investment is strongly recommended on Malamar, given how it synergizes with the Defense Boost from Superpower, allowing Malamar to get the most out of its boosts. If going for a more supportive/disruptive Malamar, foregoing all Attack focus and investing in the Special Defense that Malamar cannot boost does markedly increase its bulk, allowing 32 HP / 32+ SDef Malamar avoid the OHKO from Primarina’s Moonblast, Archaludon’s and Mega Dragonite’s Draco Meteors, etc. Lum Berry is recommended as the item allowing Malamar to avoid being prematurely crippled by Will-O-Wisps from Rotom-Wash and Mega Banette. Max Speed sets can also take advantage of Choice Scarf as an odd Scarf setup sweeper that still packs plenty of utility. If Assault Vest returns, a max HP version of this set can work well as Malamar would be decently bulky on both sides of the spectrum then. Otherwise, Leftovers pairs nicely with the boosting from Superpower and works well with more supportive sets.
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Partners:
Grassy Terrain setters make for good partners for Malamar, providing it badly needed passive recovery and allowing it to make the most of the Defense boosts from Superpower. While Rillaboom is a great option for this, Arboliva can be a fantastic enabler for Malamar as well, with Leech Seed for added recovery, and Memento or Encore to turn any opponent into an easy Superpower target for Malamar.
Steel types make for great partners for Malamar, easily absorbing any Bug and Fairy moves looking to remove it quickly. Gholdengo stands out among Steel types for its ability to ignore any potential Will-O-Wisp or Toxics looking to cripple Malamar. While Malamar returns the favor in threatening opposing Dark and Ghost types with Superpower and Knock Off. Archaludon is also a solid partner, that can turn any U-Turn aimed Malamar’s way into a free Stamina boost while capable of setting up Stealth Rocks to facilitate Malamar’s own attacking attempts. Mega Golisopod also works well in this role, it’s phenomenal bulk pivoting into prospective Bug and Fairy attacks with ease while loving the support Malamar can provide, the least of which being item disruption.
Other Options:
With the ease that Malamar can setup with Superpower and potential Intimidate drops, Malamar is good at using Baton Pass to enabling a far more dangerous attacker.
Taunt can shutdown walls and disruptors from trying to outlast or cripple Malamar or use it to set up.
If not running Max Speed, Trick Room is a solid Speed control option for Malamar, turning a weakness into a strength and hamstringing faster Mega Evolutions like Mega Lucario Z and Mega Garchomp Z.
Liquidation is good coverage option for Malamar in helping check the Fire types its Steel typed and Grassy Terrain setting allies abhor.
Topsy Turvy is any setup sweeper’s worst nightmare, turning their hard earned boosts into a shackle that makes them setup fodder.
Countering Malamar
While Malamar’s assortment of tricks gives it an answer for every situation, its middling stats make it hard to use them.
The best way to check Malamar is with a good offense. Attackers with Bug type moves immediately come to mind, preying on Malamar’s horrid weakness to them for fast knock outs. Mega Golisopod easily stands out due to its fantastic bulk absorbing even +2 Superpowers with ease (36-43%) while shrugging off any damage with Leech Life. Volcarona is another excellent check, both offensively given its Bug Buzz eviscerates Malamar regardless of Superpower boosts and defensively with any of Malamar’s moves risk triggering Flame Body for a crippling Burn. Otherwise, fast U-Turn users like Meowscarada, Cinderace, and Greninja can all shut down Malamar on the spot. Fast Fairy attackers like Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Floette can also cleanly OHKO Malamar without recourse.
Special Attackers are generally preferred for answering Malamar due to Superpower boosting Defense, but a supportive Malamar maxed out on HP and Special Defense is near impossible to OHKO without exploiting a weakness. Even Mega Charizard Y’s Weather Ball only does 73-87% to 32 HP/32+ SDef Malamar (though it does cleanly OHKO 32 HP Malamar). Other Special Attackers that can 2HKO 32 HP/32+ SDef Malamar include Alolan Ninetails, and Mega Raichu Y though the list greatly expands the less Malamar invests in Special Bulk, to the point of there being too many to list for offensive Malamar.
Slower U-Turn users like Scizor and Corviknight may not be able to stop Malamar from acting, but can greatly limit the damage it can do, especially given their high physical bulk enabling them to tank even boosted Superpowers. Unsurprisingly given Malamar’s reliance on boosting, 32 HP/32+ Def Unaware walls Skeledirge and Clefable wall Malamar hard taking 31-36% from Knock Off and 31-37% from Poison Jab respectively. If lacking Psychic STAB, Poison types are also quite aggravating for Malamar given their resistance to Superpower, especially Toxapex that can outlast Malamar and Haze any boosts away, Mega Venusaur who isn’t even threatened by +2 Knock Off (40-47%) while dealing 36-43% with Sludge Bomb and boasting plenty of restorative options.
Ghost types deserve a small mention, as despite abhorring Knock Off, which does serious damage even unboosted, they deny Malamar from getting any buffs from Contrary Superpower, making it much easier to handle. The fact that many Ghosts like Mimikyu, Mega Gengar, and Sableye carry Will-O-Wisp can further hinder Malamar.
Mega Malamar, the Overturning Pokémon. It uses its colorful lights to overwrite the personalities and memories of others-and to control them.
Overview
Revealed in a scintillating campaign, our friend Mega Malamar has won hearts the world over. No longer can it be easily pushed aside by Special Attacks, having its Special Defense boosted up to a great base 120. This aligns wonderfully with Malamar’s favorite strategy of spamming Contrary Superpower, boosting its Attack and Defense with each use. This makes Mega Malamar miles harder to remove after a single Superpower, allowing it to grab more and escalate out of control. Something that is even easier now with its slightly improved base 102 Attack, giving its attacks the extra boost needed. A modest boost to base 88 Speed is quite the boon as well, pushing Mega Malamar from criminally slow to the middle the pack, making it that much easier to get vital Superpowers off before taking any hits. This is all in addition to the plentiful disruptive moves and Mega Malamar’s disposal that can turn a battle on its head. Furthermore, Mega Malamar even finds its options expanding with its Special Attack receiving an impressive 30 point boost, allowing it to make good use of its Special movepool, especially the Stored Power that synergizes nicely with the explosive boosting Contrary enables.
Yet it doesn’t long for the hypnotism to fail and find that Mega Malamar has not changed that much from its roots to its detriment. Even with the massive Base Special Defense increase and the ease of boosting Defense, Mega Malamar’s defensive profile is horrid. Dark-Psychic typing offers nothing save an immunity to Psychic and Prankster, while granting extremely common weaknesses to Fairy and U-Turn. Mega Malamar’s ability to boost its Defense is incredible but means little when it lacks the reliable recovery to keep doing so. This gets worse when realizing how easy it is to outspeed Mega Malamar, even with the bump to speed, with many offensive staples able to compromise if not remove Mega Malamar from the word go. Mega Malamar’s improved offenses are still just as flawed. Base 102 Attack and 98 Special Attack are underwhelming for a regular Pokémon, let alone an item locked Mega Evolution, all but marrying Mega Malamar to Contrary Superpower for some offensive presence and mandating multiple Superpowers to get to that point. It gets even worse when considering the presence of Mega Staraptor, a much faster and initially stronger Contrary user that can easily escalate to win condition. Or Serperior, whose fantastic speed, bulk and even more explosive boosting better make up for the lower initial power. While Mega Malamar does improve in areas that Malamar needed, it falls into the same tired schemes with little chance of rising further.
Positives
88/120 Special Bulk is quite solid, allowing Mega Malamar to soak a few special attacks.
Contrary is an insane ability allowing Mega Malamar to setup while attacking and punish common stat dropping tactics.
Base 102 Attack is usable especially with the ease that Malamar can setup and apply pressure with Contrary.
My friend Malamar
Negatives
Psychic Dark is woeful defensively, with no resistances to speak of, and common weaknesses to Fairy and U-Turn.
88 Speed is awkward, leaving Malamar outran by most offensive attackers.
Power is unimpressive until Malamar accrues several boosts.
Movesets
Mega Mala Maul
-Superpower
-Knock Off
-Psycho Cut
-Baton Pass
Ability: Contrary -> Contrary
Item: Malamarite
Stats and Nature:
32 HP / 16 Atk / 18 Spe
Jolly Nature
Despite the glow up, Mega Malamar favored strategies are the same as its base form; repeatedly use Contrary Superpower to compromise foes while gaining free Bulk Up boosts, ideally to the point of being unbreakable. The sheer value Contrary Superpower provides Mega Malamar cannot be denied, allowing it to gain boosts to both its Attack and Defense, while allowing Mega Malamar to break Focus Sash, Sturdy, Multiscale and directly address Dark types that wall off both STABs like Kingambit, and Hydreigon. Fighting’s fantastic coverage pays off in other ways as well, along Mega Malamar to 2HKO Archaludon through Stamina, 2HKO Mega Lucario Z, favored to OHKO Excadrill after 1 layer of Spikes and more. Knock Off is Mega Malamar’s STAB and just as difficult move to face, dealing respectable damage and depriving many Pokémon of their item, many of which are essential to fulfill their roles. Choice Scarf users struggle to outspeed losing their item, Sitrus Berry and Leftovers users being markedly less durable without their passive recovery. Knock Off being favored to remove key targets like one shotting 2 HP Gholdengo after Spikes and a 50% chance to OHKO Basculegion outright further adds to its value. Psycho Cut is secondary STAB, but is valuable, not only for subverting bulky Poison types like Mega Venusaur (+1 Psycho Cut dealing 62-73%), and 32 HP/32+ Def Toxapex (47-57% at +1) but also for being a non contact option when dealing with the likes of Rough Skin Garchomp, Flame Body Volcarona and various Rocky Helmet users, lessening the chip/risk that Mega Malamar faces. Baton Pass rounds out the set adding a bit of trickery to Mega Malamar and synergizing nicely with the way Contrary allows Mega Malamar to easily accrue boosts, not only from Superpower, but Intimidate, but errant Rock Tombs, Icy Winds, Defogs, and drops from the likes of Shadow Ball and Flash Cannon. Even without any boosts, Baton Pass can allow Mega Malamar to act as a pivot and gain a positioning advantage.
Stats and Items:
Given Mega Malamar’s incredible Special Defense, ability to boost Defense with Superpower and this set liking to Baton Pass, max Health investment is highly recommended for Mega Malamar to survive to get its Superpower and Baton Pass off, or just accrue multiple Superpowers. This set goes for some Speed investment to give Mega Malamar some offensive presence, outrunning up to neutral natured Base 85s like Archaludon, Rillaboom and Gholdengo, allowing Mega Malamar to pressure Archaludon and Gholdengo and outrun Rillaboom and get a Baton Pass off before it can U-Turn. The remainder goes into Attack to improve Mega Malamar’s offensive presence. Going full Attack investment is an option, turning Knock Off into a guaranteed OHKO on Basculegion, and a 37.5% chance to OHKO Gholdengo without Spikes and Superpower would have a 50% chance to OHKO Excadrill. With Adamant and 32 Attack, Mega Malamar is favored to 2HKO 32 HP/32+ Def Umbreon with Superpower, and a68% to OHKO Gholdengo with Knock Off. Going full defensive with full HP, full Special Defense and Careful nature is an option to facilitate as many Superpowers as possible or dip into Mega Malamar’s disruptive pool. With that much investment, Mega Malamar can sponge some brutal special attacks, taking only 39-46% from Archaludon and Hydreigon’s Modest Draco Meteor, 43-51% from Mega Garchomp Z, 37-45% from Modest Gholdengo’s Make It Rain, etc. Item is locked to the Malamarite.
Partners:
As this Mega Malamar set will be passing along Bulk Up boosts, it is best to consider allies that can make the most of these boosts. Rillaboom, despite the shared Bug weakness is an excellent example, as between the boosts, its already fantastic bulk and good offenses, becomes a veritable nightmare capable of tearing formations lacking Special Attackers asunder. Mega Malamar in turn loves the passive recovery from Grassy Terrain Rillaboom sets up, making its improved defenses that much harder to remove once it gets going. Scizor also makes for a stellar recipient, its incredible Defense and typing making it obscenely hard to remove, especially against opposing Fairy types and Bug attackers while its Bullet Punches take on a new dimension of pain. Baxcalibur and Garchomp, while sharing an unfortunate Fairy weakness become very unmanageable with the Attack and Defense boost..
Other Options:
Poison Jab is a strong coverage option handling the Fairy types and Rillaboom that otherwise threaten Mega Malamar.
Zen Headbutt is a slightly stronger Psychic STAB option, but at the cost of being less reliable and being yet another contact attack.
Trick Room is a powerful speed control option that can help Mega Malamar turn the tables on the many normally faster Mega Evoluti
Doubles and VGC Options
Mega Malamar’s schemes fare a little better in Doubles. Many of its support and disruptive tools like screens, Skill Swamp and Trick Room are far stronger in Doubles than in singles. Adding on to that, Intimidate is everywhere in Doubles with Incineroar, Mawile, Salamence and Staraptor being commonplace, making it easy for Mega Malamar to grab a free Attack boost, or discourage opponents from using these Pokémon in the first place. Furthermore, with how similarly Malamar and Mega Malamar work, it is quite viable to leave Malamar in its base form and bring another Mega Evolution. This does not address how underwhelming Mega Malamar is as a Mega Evolution. Its lack of resistances, unimpressive Defense and no means of reliable recovery ensure that a powerful opening attack can compromise if not outright remove Mega Malamar before it can get going. The fact that Mega Malamar cannot do this in turn, especially against Fighting resistant foes can leave it dead weight. Furthermore, despite Mega Malamar’s many positive traits, many other Pokémon do them better, with Kingambit and Milotic being strong anti-Intimidate Pokémon that don’t use the Mega Slot, Mega Staraptor being a far superior Contrary sweeper, and Indeedee, Farigiarf and Sinistcha being much better Trick Room setters all largely due to their typing.
Illithid's Scheme
-Trick Room
-Superpower
-Knock Off
-Protect
Ability: Contrary -> Contrary
Item: Malamarite
Stat Points and Nature:
30 HP / 28 Atk / 4 Def / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
This Mega Malamar excels on TailRoom teams, using its middle of the road speed to excel with both methods of speed control depending on the opposing team. Part of this is due to its own usage of Trick Room, crippling Tailwind team and reversing Trick Room on more dedicated Trick Room teams. Mega Malamar is decently reliable in setting Trick Room up as well, thanks to its good Special bulk making it hard to remove. Contrary Superpower is the best move Mega Malamar has and for good reason, making progress while making Mega Malamar more dangerous with every use. Contrary and Superpower allowing Mega Malamar to dominating format superstar Incineroar is another powerful incentive, along with the ability to match Archaludon boost for boost, while Archaludon cannot do good initial damage due to Mega Malamar’s high Special Defense. Knock Off is STAB, coverage and utility all in one, handling the many Fighting immune Ghost types that are prevalent in Doubles as well as many Psychic type super stars like Indeedee-F and Farigiraf and crippling every non Mega Evolution by removing their held item. Preventing Incineroar from healing with Sitrus Berry, weaken Kingambit’s Dark STABs by removing its Blackglasses, deprive Basculegion of its Choice Scarf, the item disruption from Knock Off cannot be understated. Protect is last but certainly not least as the Doubles staple, denying Fake Out, stalling for allied setup, stalling out opposing field conditions, punish focus fire attempts, the utility of Protect is extensive.
As a Trick Room setter and attacker, heavy bulk and Attack investment are recommended with the given spread balancing bulk and power. Adamant is preferred here over Brave to allow Mega Malamar to excel in Tailwind, outrunning the likes of Scarf Basculegion, Mega Lopunny, Mega Delphox, Mega Raichu Y, and Mega Gengar while being capable of outrunning uninvested Rillaboom, out of Tailwind. If going for a more Trick Room oriented team, Brave nature can be considered.
Preferred Partners & Other Options:
Allies that can address Mega Malamar’s lacking stats go a long way in enabling it. Incineroar is undeniably one of the best partners Mega Malamar can ask for, its Intimidate making it that much harder to remove Mega Malamar on its initially weaker physical Defense, side Parting Shot to help Mega Malamar escalate even faster, and Fake Out for easy Trick Room setup. Mega Malamar returns the favor in being an excellent deterrent to opposing Intimidate users, allowing Incineroar to be more offensive than normal. Whimsicott is another excellent partner, for many of the same reasons as Mega Staraptor, setting up Tailwind for another method for Mega Malamar to outspeed everything, and side Tickles, Charms and Fake Tears to rapidly escalate Mega Malamar’s threat level. Grapploct is a unique option with Octolock giving Mega Malamar an effective Cosmic Power each turn, but this pairing is very vulnerable to the common spread Fairy moves in Dazzling Gleam and Pixelate Hyper Voice.
Physical attackers in general like Mega Malamar for its ability to discourage Intimidate. Maushold is a very synergistic example, having massive physical prowess in Population Bomb, while loving Mega Malamar threatening the Rock, Steel and Ghost types that wall Population Bomb with Superpower and Knock Off. Maushold is also a fantastic redirector with Follow Me and can sacrifice itself to help Mega Malamar get Trick Room up safely.
Using Skill Swap to pass Contrary to an ally more capable of abusing it is another support option unique to Mega Malamar, especially given it can do so in its base form and then Mega Evolve to regain Contrary. This also has the added effect of triggering on enter field abilities. Close Combat Incineroar is an excellent recipient of Contrary while retriggering Close Combat. Hydrapple is also notable for having both Leaf Storm and Draco Meteor to sky rocket its already good Special Attack, excelling in Trick Room and being able to pass along and retrigger the otherwise once per battle Supersweet Syrup. Amarouge is another excellent Skill Swap partner thanks to Armor Shot boosting Armarouge’s Defenses with each use.
Stored Power deserves mention, especially at the rate Mega Malamar can accrue boosts in Doubles, allowing it to bypass more physically defensive targets like Mega Salamence.
Poison Jab is a strong option for threatening Fairy types.
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Countering Mega Malamar
While Mega Malamar’s efficient boosting, and good base special Defense can make it difficult to remove once it gets going, Mega Malamar’s typing has it struggle to get to that point. Bug moves are Mega Malamar’s anathema, caring not how many boosts it has accrued, resisting Superpower, allowing them to come in freely and removing Mega Malamar without issue. Mega Golisopod immediately stands out, absorbing any attack with ease and recovering the damage with Leech Life or just preemptively eliminating Mega Malamar with First Impression. Volcarona also does well, both offensively with a Bug Buzz that ignores any Superpower boosting and Flame Body and Will-O-Wisp stifling Mega Malamar’s offense. Kleavor with its Sharpness boosted X-Scissor is frankly overkill. Otherwise, fast U-Turn users like Meowscarada, Cinderace, and Greninja can all shut down Malamar on the spot. Meowscarada deserves some extra mention due to its always crit Flower Trick allowing it to bypass a heavily boosted Malamar’s defenses, though it takes until Malamar is at +4 for Flower Trick to outdamage U-Turn.
Fairy types are also very problematic for Mega Malamar, not only striking it for weakness, but resisting the Suuperpower Mega Malamar needs to escalate. Mega Gardevoir and Mega Floette immediately stand out as offensive checks though Mega Malamar’s good Special Defense means that a fully invested one (32 HP/32+ Special Defense) can survive their attacks. Mega Meganium, Primarina and Sylveon are also threatening Fairy attackers, but their low speed makes them vulnerable to Poison Jab, and the former two of them cannot get the OHKO on 32 HP Malamar, dealing 71-84% (Mega Meganium) and 78-93% (Primarina) respectively. 32 HP/32+Def Unaware Clefable is easily the best defensive check, completely disregarding any prior boosts, outlasting Poison Jab (dealing 44% at most) with Moonlight while dealing 46-55% back with Moonblast. Mimikyu does one better being part Ghost and immune to Superpower, while Disguise allows Mimikyu to safely set up or disrupt Mega Malamar with ease.
Given how reliant Mega Malamar is on Superpower to boost, resists to Superpower can trade positively with it, even if not to the same extent as Fairy types. Ghost types immediately come to mind, for their outright immunity to Superpower, but few if any like the prospect of eating a Knock Off without a Colbur Berry and remain shaky checks for the most part. Skeledirge is a notable exception thanks to Unaware dodging any prior Superpower boosts and its own titanic physical defense, though the initial Knock Off without Colbur will deal 54-63% Poison types are a bit more consistent given Psychic coverage is less of a guarantee as opposed to Knock Off and Superpower. Sneasler takes at most 36-43% from the initial Knock Off, and does 59-69% back with Close Combat. Toxapex is a hard wall without Psychic STAB and even then, at 32 HP/32+ Def takes only 39-47% from Psycho Cut, while able to place Mega Malamar on a timer and wipe its boosts with Haze.
Damage over time statuses like Toxic, Will-O-Wisp, and Leech Seed are also big issues for Mega Malamar given the amount of time it needs to get going and lack of reliable recovery. Mimikyu, Mega Scovillain, the Rotom appliances, Glimmora’s Toxic Spikes, can all put a timer on Mega Malamar that it struggles to outrace. This same lack of reliable recovery also means that Mega Malamar is prone to being worn down and will be removed sooner rather than later despite its escalating Defense.
Locations in Games
Red/Blue/Yellow:
Not in game
Gold/Silver/Crystal:
Not in game
Ruby/Sapphire/Emerald:
Not in game
FireRed/LeafGreen:
Not in game
Colosseum/XD:
Not in game
Diamond/Pearl/Platinum:
Not in game
HeartGold/SoulSilver:
Not in game
Black/White:
Not in game
Black 2/White 2:
Not in game
X/Y:
Evolve Inkay
Omega Ruby/Alpha Sapphire:
Trade from X / Y
Sun/Moon:
Trade from Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon
Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon:
Evolve Inkay
Let's Go, Pikachu!/Let's Go, Eevee!:
Not in game
Sword/Shield:
Fields of Honor, Soothing Wetlands, Challenge Beach, Loop Lagoon, Training Lowlands
Max Raid Battles: Soothing Wetlands, Challenge Road, Workout Sea, Honeycalm Sea
Dynamax Adventures
Brilliant Diamond/Shining Pearl:
Not in game
Legends: Arceus:
Not in game
Scarlet/Violet:
Evolve Inkay
Fixed: Canyon Biome, Coastal Biome
Tera Raid Battles: 5 Star Raid Battles, 6 Star Raid Battles
Legends: Z-A:
Wild Zone 20
Hyperspace Lumiose - Psychic (4 Star), Dark (4 Star)
Anime Appearences
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Malamar has made a few appearances in the anime. Most notably, Xerosic used one during the Kalos saga |
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