Welcome Trainers! We have new Megas in town! With the start of GO Tour Kalos: Tainan and GO Tour Kalos: Los Angeles, Mega Victreebel and Mega Malamar are going to make their debut in Pokémon GO. Let us put our focus on Mega Malamar for now and see does this Overturning Pokémon overturn the meta?
Mega Malamar: Stats, Profile and Typing
Mega Malamar
DarkPsychic
| Max CP | 3554 |
|---|---|
| ATK | 208 |
| DEF | 222 |
| HP | 200 |
| Weak to |   |
| Resists |  |
| Fast Attacks |
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| Charge Attacks |
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Mega Malamar is a dual Dark Psychic type Pokémon introduced with the release Pokémon Legends: Z-A. It has a pretty rounded stat spread with 208 Attack and a Max CP of 3554. Its dual typing lends it 2 weakness which also includes a double weakness to Bug and 1 resistance—a triple resistance to Psychic. While Malamar is Mega Evolved, players will have an increased chance of receiving XL Candy for catching Dark and Psychic type Pokémon.
Mega Malamar in Pokémon GO PvE
Raids
While Malamar has long been a staple in PvP, Mega Malamar fans will be hoping for a similar impact in the PvE meta. Unfortunately, it doesn’t seem to be the case. With just 208 Attack stat, a pretty average moveset and a bunch of already existing heavy hitters, Mega Malamar struggles to make an impact in both the Psychic and Dark type raid meta.
As a Psychic raid attacker, Mega Malamar has access to Psywave as its Fast Attack and Psybeam as its Charged Attack. It also doesn’t have a Dark type Fast Attack which further hampers its PvE performance. Comparing Mega Malamar performance with Top Psychic Attackers using our DPS Comparer Tool:
We can see how far behind Mega Malamar is when compared to top Psychic raid attackers. It is almost painful to see. The story is same when it comes to Top Dark Attackers as well.
A slight improvement but still very far behind in the Dark meta. As fun as Mega Malamar looks, it is destined to be a dex-filler only.
Shiny Malamar Family
Is Malamar Worth Building?
No! That in itself is a sentence and an answer. Mega Malamar struggles to make any impact in a meta that is already filled with a lot of heavyweights. However, you may still want to raid a few—Obviously to register in your dex, but also considering that Mega Malamar has a pretty unique Dark Psychic typing which can help in certain niche scenarios especially with the Candy XL boost it can provide. But if you are looking for any raid meta relevance, I am sorry, Mega Malamar is not the one you should be looking at!
Parting Words
Looks like Mega Malamar is not the chosen one! Of the two megas making their debut in GO Tour Kalos, Mega Victreebel will be the preferred choice for Mega Raids. But, not every Pokémon needs to be meta relevant. Mega Malamar certainly looks groovy and cool and I am sure AR Photographers are going to have a field day with Mega Malamar.
Best Counters for Mega Malamar Raids: Mega Malamar Raid Guide.
Let us know Trainers! Were you excited when Mega Malamar was first unveiled? Which unreleased Mega are you most looking forward to? Which Pokémon were you hoping would get a mega but didn’t? (Mega Flygon anyone?)
And as always, Stay Safe! Happy raiding! May everyone have a great Kalos GO Tour!
