Why is no one using Mega Sharpedo in VGC or OU

[rob_thijs]

It has been a while I did see a Mega Sharpedo in OU but I never saw one in VGC.
Sharpedo is an awesome pokémon that can deal with almost every overhyped pokémon.

Is it because he doesn't abuse Ebolald or uses Crunch instead of Knock Aids?

I know double target is a thing in doubles and Intimidate and burn is there in OU and doubles to but people still use Physical mons anyway so I'm just wondering why Sharpedo is seen as a weak pokemon. First turn Protect or bait Protect and you are faster than common Scarf users. It has 2 stab moves that give a lot of coverage and 2 boosted attacks that also have good coverage.

Sharpedo @ Sharpedoite
Nature - Adamant
Ability - Speed Boost
EV's - 252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
- Protect
- Ice Fang
- Crunch
- Waterfall

Here are some calcs:
252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Aegislash-Shield: 168-200 (100.5 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

-1 252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 188-224 (100.5 - 119.7%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Mega Gardevoir: 169-199 (117.3 - 138.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mega Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Bisharp: 79-94 (56 - 66.6%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (he can't do anything in return)

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Charizard Y: 145-172 (94.7 - 112.4%) -- 75% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 252 HP / 80 Def Cresselia: 192-228 (84.5 - 100.4%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 252 HP / 180 Def Amoonguss: 136-162 (61.5 - 73.3%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Black Sludge recovery
0 SpA Amoonguss Giga Drain vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sharpedo: 104-126 (71.7 - 86.8%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Garchomp: 268-316 (146.4 - 172.6%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Gengar: 354-416 (262.2 - 308.1%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mega Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 180 HP / 0 Def Heatran: 152-180 (80.4 - 95.2%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252+ SpA Heatran Heat Wave vs. 0 HP / 0 SpD Mega Sharpedo: 47-56 (32.4 - 38.6%) -- 98.5% chance to 3HKO

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 212 HP / 128 Def Thundurus: 146-172 (80.6 - 95%) -- guaranteed 2HKO (it doens't OKO but it severly weakenss it)

252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Crunch vs. 0 HP / 0 Def Mega Metagross: 168-200 (108.3 - 129%) -- guaranteed OHKO

252+ Atk Mega Sharpedo Waterfall vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Tyranitar: 150-176 (85.2 - 100%) -- 6.3% chance to OHKO

Give this pokémon some love cause it can do more than you expect.

 

[Nah]

idk, I suppose it's partly because that there's a lot of competition for that mega slot. When there's stuff like Mega Metagross, Mega Diance, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Charizard, Mega Alakazam, Mega Lopunny, Mega Sableye, etc and Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence, etc in doubles (amd Ubers), it's like, do ya wanna use one of those or Mega Sharpedo? It's certainly not a bad poke, but there's a lot of other very appealing megas to use.

 

[rob_thijs]

idk, I suppose it's partly because that there's a lot of competition for that mega slot. When there's stuff like Mega Metagross, Mega Diance, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Charizard, Mega Alakazam, Mega Lopunny, Mega Sableye, etc and Mega Kangaskhan, Mega Salamence, etc in doubles (amd Ubers), it's like, do ya wanna use one of those or Mega Sharpedo? It's certainly not a bad poke, but there's a lot of other very appealing megas to use.

Certainly but did you know Mega Shapredo does not spread HIV trough the meta game? No I'm just kidding, it's still a good pokémon and cause of all Intimidate and other bullshit status I normally only use Special Mega's cause you know Ebolald is common and no one likes to be burned. But it's fast and has good coverage and eats some of the Mega's alive.

 

[PlatinumDude]

Certainly but did you know Mega Shapredo does not spread HIV trough the meta game? No I'm just kidding, it's still a good pokémon and cause of all Intimidate and other bullmuk status I normally only use Special Mega's cause you know Ebolald is common and no one likes to be burned. But it's fast and has good coverage and eats some of the Mega's alive.

The other reason why Mega Sharpedo isn't a common sight in OU is because much like Unburden users, it's a one-shot Pokemon. See, when Sharpedo Mega Evolves, it loses Speed Boost in exchange for Strong Jaw. Sharpedo must spend a turn Protecting to gain a Speed boost, then Mega Evolve. While it's true that Mega Sharpedo is quite scary at +1 Speed, keep in mind that it's frail (but not as frail as its regular form; the extra bulk comes in handy sometimes) and if Mega Sharpedo switches out and back in, it will lose the Speed it gained from Speed Boost. Adamant/Naughty Mega Sharpedo is much easier to deal with at +0 Speed. You could use Jolly/Naive, but you lose out on power. Also remember that thanks to its frailty, Mega Sharpedo is prone to non-Bullet Punch/Aqua Jet priority. You could use Aqua Jet to bypass this, but this takes up a valuable moveslot for coverage.

 

[Sirfetch’d]

Why not just use Mega Gyara? It's can do Mega Sharpedo's job, just much better and isn't completely useless after switching out.

 

[Hikamaru]

As mentioned by Platinum, going Mega causes Sharpedo to lose its most precious ability (the hidden ability to be specific) and also having extremely bad defensive stats means it loses out against most priority users, and it also doesn't help there are other Mega Evolutions that perform their jobs much better and as a result are more worthy to take up the Mega slot.

 

[srinator]

its an inferior mega gyarados, frail as fuck and can come in just once to sweep :/

 

[Detox]

The majority of those calcs you posted seem pretty arbitrary considering that they are just blatantly obvious, so they don't really help prove your point. We know things like Gengar, Landorus and Garchomp are going to die to strong physical attacks or attacks they are hit for 4x damage by. For example, this is like trying to tell me that Hitmonchan should be used more because it takes out Chansey and Bisharp with its STABs, and nails Gliscor with Ice Punch.

Anyways, as others have already said, Sharpedo is outclassed by other Pokémon and it would be a bad option to waste your mega slot on. One and done setup sweepers need a lot of support to function properly, and if they are forced to switch then you're more than likely screwed over. Everything that looks good on paper isn't good in practice.

 

[Anti]

regardless of gyarados-mega, i just don't like megas that offer absolutely zero defensive utility. oras can be very difficult to build for, and having your mega double as a threatening offensive poke and a nice defensive mon (think metagross, scizor, altaria, venusaur, to an extent zard-x and gyarados, etc.) makes it easier to fill out the rest of the team. sharpedo isn't bad though. i just don't like building around pokes like that.

 

[KorpiklaaniVodka]

Not to mention it gets competition from Crawdaunt as a wallbreaker. If you wanna use Sharp, it's good for late-game cleaning.

 

[skyburial]

I'm in agreement with a lot of what has been said, that Sharpedo has a hard time standing alone, wastes turns, requires ample support and is not much of a team player as a result... but one thing in particular stood out to me in Rob's analysis that I don't think is getting the recognition it deserves.

The majority of those calcs you posted seem pretty arbitrary considering that they are just blatantly obvious, so they don't really help prove your point. We know things like Gengar, Landorus and Garchomp are going to die to strong physical attacks or attacks they are hit for 4x damage by.

:|

We're talking about a mon here that can take an Ice Punch from nearly anything, barring Iron Fist on Conkeldurr or Parental Bond. 44 is the common HP investment that I've seen on Lando-T, so I ran it is as such for the first series.

-1 252 Atk Mega Gallade Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 152-180 (89.4 - 105.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

-1 252 Atk Mega Lopunny Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 132-156 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252 Atk Iron Fist Infernape Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 132-156 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252+ Atk Mega Swampert Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 156-184 (91.7 - 108.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

-1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Ice Fang vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 136-164 (80 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And here are some things that accomplish, theoretically, the same thing as Sharpedo but are more well rounded.

-1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Aerodactyl Ice Fang vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 148-176 (79.1 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Ice Punch vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 180-216 (96.2 - 115.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO



... What I'm getting at here is this. A guaranteed OHKO at -1 on this thing with a 65 base power move is impressive, and nothing to scoff at.

 

[Detox]

I'm in agreement with a lot of what has been said, that Sharpedo has a hard time standing alone, wastes turns, requires ample support and is not much of a team player as a result... but one thing in particular stood out to me in Rob's analysis that I don't think is getting the recognition it deserves.



:|

We're talking about a mon here that can take an Ice Punch from nearly anything, barring Iron Fist on Conkeldurr or Parental Bond. 44 is the common HP investment that I've seen on Lando-T, so I ran it is as such for the first series.

-1 252 Atk Mega Gallade Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 152-180 (89.4 - 105.8%) -- 31.3% chance to OHKO

-1 252 Atk Mega Lopunny Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 132-156 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252 Atk Iron Fist Infernape Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 132-156 (77.6 - 91.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252+ Atk Mega Swampert Ice Punch vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 156-184 (91.7 - 108.2%) -- 43.8% chance to OHKO

-1 252+ Atk Mold Breaker Mega Gyarados Ice Fang vs. 44 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 136-164 (80 - 96.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

And here are some things that accomplish, theoretically, the same thing as Sharpedo but are more well rounded.

-1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Aerodactyl Ice Fang vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 148-176 (79.1 - 94.1%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

-1 252 Atk Tough Claws Mega Metagross Ice Punch vs. 184 HP / 0 Def Landorus-T: 180-216 (96.2 - 115.5%) -- 81.3% chance to OHKO



... What I'm getting at here is this. A guaranteed OHKO at -1 on this thing with a 65 base power move is impressive, and nothing to scoff at.

I was referring to Landorus-I (as are most people when they don't specify that it's in therian form), and it was just an example. Even Sharpedo does not OHKO the standard defensive Landorus-Therian:

-1 252+ Atk Strong Jaw Mega Sharpedo Ice Fang vs. 252 HP / 240+ Def Landorus-T: 256-304 (67 - 79.5%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Stealth Rock and Leftovers recovery

But the real question is why we are switching Landorus-T into Sharpdeo...this is a very high risk low reward play (I say this but it's actually just an outright awful move) and you end up with a dead Landorus-T because Ice Fang will just finish it off the next turn anyways.