Finally finished ZA and saw all new Megas so here’s my design ranking.
S Tier
Mega Frosslass: Probably my favourite. I love that they leaned heavily into the 雪女 (Yuki-onna or snow woman) yokai mythology. It’s just an incredibly elegant, femine design that emphasizes Frosslass’ most notable features
Mega Skarmory: Personally think this one is genius going from Silver > Gold (nothing says power up like a change in colour). It still looks like a Skarmory but the design makes it clear the mon has shed some of its defenses for a more offensive presence.
A Tier
Mega Emboar: The Zhang Fei Romance of the Three Kingdoms inspiration is made even more obvious here, down to the spear. Just a great natural evolution of Emboar’s original design without being too over the top.
Mega Scolipede: Scolipede’s base design was fantastic already and I like that this is just armored Scolipede. Reminds me of a war horse’s armor.
Mega Hawlucha: Again, taking the Pokemon’s core identity and just rolling with it without losing what made the original design great.
Mega Scrafty: With Pokemon designs that take a lot of real life inspiration from humanoid figures or fashion, it doesn’t hurt to make those aspects more obvious. Going full ghetto lizard is an improvement over the original.
Mega Chandelure: It’s a bigger chandelier with a 175 special attack stat. That’s really all I could ask for.
Mega Drampa: A really creative design where mega evolution causes Drampa to gain features from its younger self. Looks fantastic, only wish they had changed the typing to Dragon/Electric to emphasize the storm cloud motif.
B Tier
Mega Meganium: They could’ve done a lot more with this design, but at least it still looks like Meganium.
Mega Barbaracle: Definitely an improvement over one of the most forgettable Pokemon designs of all time. Looks more like a Shin Megami Tensei demon than a Pokemon, but that in and of itself makes it pretty cool.
Mega Excadrill: “My drill is the drill… that creates the heavens!!!”
Mega Elektross: The plus/minus symbols are a nice touch. Kind of took the Mega Metagross design inspiration where the mega combined with its pre-evolved forms.
Mega Dragonite: This design has grown on me quite a bit. It could have been much better executed but it ended up looking a lot better in game than I expected. Dragonite can be a total badass but it’s also cute and derpy.
Mega Dragalge: It’s a more elaborate Dragalge. Pretty solid all things considered.
Mega Zygarde: I can’t believe they actually gave fans POKEMON GUN
Mega Starmie: Ok, hear me out…I actually think Mega Starmie is kind of genius in a shitpost way. Its design inspiration comes from the Japanese tokusatsu series Ultraman, down to the flashing core on its chest, poses and even voice. The anime has always made this reference even more obvious, with Staryu’s Japanese name「ヒトデマン」Hitodeman (Starfish man) being as clear of a shout out as any.
For those of you who grew up watching Power Rangers, you can think of Mega Starmie as being akin to a guy wearing a life-sized starfish alien costume. It looks like a monster but has uncanny movements that are human-like.
C Tier
Mega Feraligatr: If this thing perpetually had the giant Totodile head on it would move up a couple tiers. Unfortunately it just looks like a regular Feraligatr with a huge fin most of the time.
Mega Clefable: I’m not sure what the design inspiration was supposed to be. Forest fairy perhaps? Either way, it takes a design that was fine and over-complicates it.
Mega Malamar: Reminds me too much of the “no bitches?” meme guy
Mega Falinks: It’s cute the first time you see the combination, but just looks dumb afterwards.
D Tier
Mega Pyroar: A lame base design that only got lamer with mega evolution. Who actually wanted Pyroar to get a mega? They gave up with this one.
Mega Victreebel: Still the stupidest looking mega. Why is it choking itself?
