A take on Mega Malamar's new ability
Alright, so... going by stats, Mega Malamar is probably the worst Mega Evolution ever released. With a grand total of 2 stats above 100 (102 Attack and 120 SpDef) this thing really has nothing going for it without an ability. I think it's realistic to say that to balance this, Malamar will have to get an insane ability to have viability. And with Mega Scovillain as reference, it's not unrealistic to say Gamefreak is willing to give the bottom barrel megas some strong custom abilities.
Since Malamar is tied so much to stat swapping, having Contrary and the signature move Topsy Turvy, I think it makes sense for it's Mega to expand on that. Mastermind enables Mega Malamar to have Topsy Turvy, Contrary, and provide Contrary to its allies all at the same time. In Singles, this ability is less valuable but can allow the breaking down of setup sweeper or especially setup walls. In Doubles, it serves a similar purpose but also allows allies to snowball with moves like Superpower, Draco Meteor, or Overheat (hi Chi-Yu).
Posted Apr 10, 2026, 12:42 AM UTC