Community POTW #034

[Serebii]

Time for the next Pokémon of the Week, and this week, it spat out a classic

It's Pinsir, the classic pure Bug-type Pokémon. It has high attack and can do some considerable damage

http://www.serebii.net/pokedex-xy/127.shtml



In addition to this, we have Mega Corner that deals with Mega Pinsir, who gets a new type and an ability that focuses solely upon that new type

Go nuts

 

[mj Ike]

You must include its egg move, Quick Attack. Abuse this with Aerilate.

 

[Pokeman Man]

Mega Pinsir is one of my favorite megas ever :O

Mega Pinsir's ability gives him so much more versatility now. Aerilate increases the power of Normal type moves by 30%, then it changes those to Flying type. Essentially, this means you're running off of a ~132 BP Flying-type Return (I'm not sure if STAB is calculated since Aerilate calcs the +30%), a 52 BP Flying-type Quick Attack, or a 156 Flying-type Thrash (Outrage equivalent)!

Viable moves:
X- Scissor
Thrash
Swords Dance
Bulk Up
Earthquake
Stone Edge
Rock Slide
Close Combat
Quick Attack
Knock Off (5th Gen Tutor Move)

Abilities:
Hyper Cutter: Prevents Attack from dropping. This could be useful with all the Intimidates running around, but you should mostly be Mega Evolving on the first turn anyway.
Mold Breaker: Pretty decent ability. Hits through abilities. This means you can hit Rotom-W with an Earthquake before you Mega, or if you feel you can OHKO a Sturdy Pokemon, it would work.
Moxie: Ultimately the best option. If you can score a couple of kills before you Mega Evolve, you'll get an Attack boost! Nothing to ignore here. Pick off a Sash with Quick Attack, take down that wall that's almost down, and you're free to Mega Evolve with a +1 or 2 in your pocket.

Mega Pinsir can go a couple ways, but I'll just name one and you guys can do the rest.

Set-up
- Swords Dance / Bulk Up
- Return / Thrash
- Close Combat
- X-Scissor / Stone Edge / Earthquake / Quick Attack
Item: Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter/Mold Breaker/Moxie (Aerilate @ Mega)
Evs/Nature:
252 Atk / 252 Spe / 4 Def
Adamant / Jolly nature

As simple as any other Pokemon. Setup some SDs or Bulk Ups and start to rip their team apart. Swords Dance gives you fantastic power, while Bulk Up keeps your... bulk up? Return is a very reliable move, while Thrash (albeit being strong) can be a bummer if you hit yourself in confusion. Close Combat hits everything that Return/Thrash can't (mostly). Flying/Fighting is a combo resisted by few, namely Aegislash, Dedenne, Zapdos (and other Electric/Flying), and maybe a few others that I can't remember. For your third moveslot, it's up to you and your team. X-Scissor is simply a reliable STAB move, in case Bug would hit harder than Fight/Flying in it's situation. Stone Edge takes care of Thundurus, Mandibuzz, Zapdos, Charizard, Dragonite, Thundurus, Gyarados, Talonflame, and any other Flying types. Earthquake deals with Aegislash and Mawile. Quick Attack is a fantastic move combined with Aerilate. Once again, it's now buffed and picks off easy targets, such as Medicham, Scolipede, Scizor, and Talonflame which could hit you with their priorities before you can. Max Attack and Speed is probably the best way to go. Mega Pinsir does actually have some bulk barring it's low HP stat. Whether you run Adamant or Jolly is up to you. With Adamant obviously you'll have more power, but with Jolly, you'll be able to outspeed some important Pokemon, such as Zapdos, Landorus, Garchomp, and Charizard.

 

[ExplodingChansey]

Using x-scissor is almost pointless, since it only has power equal to close combat and is resisted by anything that resist both fighting and flying. Its super-effective coverage is redundant as well, hitting only grass, dark, and psychic, 2 of which are weak to CC and Return.

 

[dragontamer44722]

Mega Pinsir is one of the megas I see CONSTANTLY, and for good reason. With Aerilate, all normal attacks become fying, and like mj above me said, Quick attack abuses it well. I can't make a set for one since I don't own one, but I can spit out basics.

Nature:Adamant or Jolly. Either works, but if you want to make sure you outspeed some things, Jolly is best in my opinion.
EVS: Max out Attack and Speed, self explanitory
Attacks: Any Mega Pinsir you see will have Quick Attack, thats a given. Others I've seen run Close Combat as well.
Weaknesses: Fire, Flying, Electric, Rock, Ice. If you've got a fast Pokemon that can survive a Quick Attack (lets face it, most can) One good strong stab move on their part that is super effective against the bug will kill it.

I know its not much, but this is what I know about Mega Pinsir. As for it's normal form....I never see one that isn't mega'd, so its a good indication that its not used much beyond it's mega evolution.

 

[Mestorn]

Pinsir one of the few non-evolving bug types in the game and the lone non-evolving mono-bug type. Nowadays, it is worth the pain of the Safari zone, Game Corner or Bug Catching Contest for the elusive bug.

Pinsir has no illusions on what it is: it is a physical attacker through and through. Above godly attack and decent (<.<) speed make a case for it. Unfortunately it is bit of a glass cannon, sporting weaknesses to Stealth Rock and several common attacking types, poor HP and below average SDEF. At least its DEF is good but it is still outsped by many threats, so I’m not sure why anyone would use Pinsir in O…

Oh hello Mega Evolution! Mega-Pinsir is a beast with Aerialate Quick Attack giving it one of the strongest priority moves in the game. Incredibly high attack, great speed for getting past many threats, and its defenses are slightly better (no getting past that shabby HP). The only flaw Mega-Pinsir has is that it’s a Bug-Flying type, one of the worse (and common) type combos in the game. Stealth Rock EATs Mega-Pinsir, and common weaknesses plus Talonflame make life difficult.

MEGASCARABRUTE
Pinsir (Hyper Cutter/Mold Breaker/Aerialate)
Item: Pinsirite
-Quick Attack
-Return
-X-Scissor/Earthquake/Swords Dance
-X-Scissor/Earthquake/Stone Edge/Superpower
Nature: Adamant (+ATK, -SATK) or Jolly (+SPD, -SATK)
EVs: 252 ATK/252 SPD/4 HP

The premise is simple: Mega Evolve and smash. The key moment is to know when to Mega Evolve; if you are forced out while Mega Evolved with Stealth Rocks on the field, the flying beetle is screwed. Aerialate Quick Attack and Return provide Mega-Pinsir the bulk of its power, hitting many things for massive damage. X-Scissor is another STAB that does hit things the Aerialate Return doesn’t but there is a lot of overlapping coverage. Earthquake provides great coverage and with Mold Breaker can hit levitators for a nasty surprise. Stone Edge and Superpower provide other coverage options with Swords Dance bolsters Mega-Pinsir’s attack to new heights.

 

[KillerDraco]

Pinsir used to suck. Well, maybe that's a bit harsh. It had some good points, such as a respectable base 125 attack and decent base 100 defense, but it always lived in the shadow of its cousins Scizor and Heracross, whose secondary typings not only granted them a neutrality to stealth rock but also gave them a potent STAB. Nowadays that's all still pretty much true, but Game Freak finally decided to stop pissing on Pinsir by giving it a Mega Evolution, which is arguably more potent than its bug type brethren. With more speed, more bulk, more power, and a kickass ability that gives it even more power, Mega Pinsir can be a huge threat.

There is a bog standard Mega Pinsir, and this is it:

Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter/Mold Breaker -> Aerilate
252 Atk / 4 Def / 252 Spe
Jolly Nature
-Swords Dance
-Quick Attack
-Return
-Earthquake

There it is, the one Mega Pinsir that you will see all the time. In general, Hyper Cutter rather than Mold Breaker tends to be better due to stopping Gyarados, Landorus-T, or Mega Manectric's intimidates from cutting your attack on the switch before you Mega Evolve. Mold Breaker has a minor niche of being able to nail Rotom-W and Gengar with Earthquake on the switch, but in general you'll be Mega Evolving ASAP so it's very much moot point.

Swords Dance is obvious and should require no explanation. Quick Attack lets you deal with faster threats such as Scolipede, Keldeo, and weakened threats, and with Aerilate on its side, it's a decently powerful priority move. Return, on the other hand, hits with an absolutely ridiculous amount of power after Aerilate is factored in that it's just ridiculous. To put it into perspective, an unboosted Aerilate return will 2HKO physically bulky Eviolite Chansey more often than not. And if it's set up SD? Goodbye, see ya.

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 328-387 (46.5 - 54.9%) -- 64.5% chance to 2HKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Eviolite Chansey: 655-772 (93 - 109.6%) -- 56.3% chance to OHKO

Not bad for a non-SE move. Earthquake is necessary to prevent Aegislash from walling it into oblivion. Mawile is nigh untouchable without Earthquake as well, and Earthquake can deal with Tyranitar as well. This is the absolutely standard set that you will see about 90% of the time.

That said the standard set has a few gaps in its coverage. Try as it might, it can't break through Skarmory, who can phase it out or simply KO it with Brave Bird.

+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 142-168 (42.5 - 50.2%) -- 0.4% chance to 2HKO

0 Atk Skarmory Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 186-218 (68.6 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Without Stone Edge, things like Thundurus, Thundurus-T, and Zapdos resist its STAB, but it should be noted that both of the frail Thundurus forms can be 1HKO'ed by a +2 Return due to the raw power that it wields. Pinsir is outsped by Thundurus-I however, and definitely doesn't want to eat a priority Thunder Wave.

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 165-195 (55 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 165-195 (55 - 65%) -- guaranteed 2HKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 99-117 (25.7 - 30.4%) -- 0.9% chance to 4HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 141-167 (36.7 - 43.4%) -- 99.1% chance to 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus: 331-390 (110.3 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Thundurus-T: 331-390 (110.3 - 130%) -- guaranteed OHKO
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Zapdos: 198-233 (51.5 - 60.6%) -- 91.8% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
+2 252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Zapdos: 283-333 (73.6 - 86.7%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Rotom-W can be a headache as well, resisting its flying STAB while being immune to Earthquake, and frying Mega Pinsir with Volt Switch if not just burning it with Will-o-Wisp. X-Scissor may seem like an option to hit Rotom-W decently hard but nobody really ever uses X-Scissor due to the lackluster coverage it offers.

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 0 Def Rotom-W: 117-138 (38.4 - 45.3%) -- guaranteed 3HKO after Leftovers recovery

Unaware users like Clefable and Quagsire may seem tempting choices to answer a Mega Pinsir who has set up SD, but both are 2HKO'ed by the raw power that Aerilate Return wields, even with max physical bulk, so they can't switch in.

252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Clefable: 217-256 (55 - 64.9%) -- guaranteed 2HKO after Leftovers recovery
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 252 HP / 252+ Def Quagsire: 198-234 (50.2 - 59.3%) -- 79.3% chance to 2HKO after Leftovers recovery

Talonflame DEFINITELY can't switch in due to its frailty, but as long as it's running at least 208 speed EVs, it'll outspeed Mega Pinsir's Quick Attack and obliterate it with Brave Bird, making it a great check.

252+ Atk Talonflame Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 270-318 (99.6 - 117.3%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

Of course, it goes without saying that Pinsir has a nasty stealth rock weakness which becomes even worse when it Mega Evolves. Keeping rocks up goes a long way towards getting rid of Mega Pinsir. Burns via Will-o-Wisp ruin its day as well. If all else fails, you can try hitting it with powerful special attacks such as Latios's Draco Meteor, but you have to be wary of Quick Attacks, especially SD boosted ones.

In general though, Pinsir, like Charizard, is sort of a rags-to-riches story of a forgotten Pokemon who was made HUGELY threatening due to its mega evolution... even if it aesthetically doesn't change all that much.

 

[Meowmeow]

When it comes to Pokemon that benefit from the Gen Six metagame, only Charizard and Khangeskhan got bigger upgrades. Pinsir is a fairly mediocre Pokemon. Until it Mega Evolves. That's when things really get fun. If you see Pinsir, get ready for Mega Evolution, and a very dangerous one.
When it comes to abilities, it's really a matter of which one will be more beneficial to you upon the switch-in. That means we can eliminate Mold Breaker. While Mold Breaker is great, it's pointless in helping the Mega cause. If you don't like Intimidate, Hyper Cutter is the ability of choice, but Moxie is the best choice. If you can finish something off before going Mega, you can get yourself an attack boost to carry over, which means less stress for stat boosting.
Mega Pinsir's ferocity comes from it's signature ability Aerilate. Not only does this provide Normal-type moves with a 30% power boost, but also turns said moves into Flying-type moves. With Mega Pinsir's new Bug/Flying type, that means STAB also gets calculated.

What Pinsir Does Best
Nature: Adamant/Jolly
Ability: Moxie (Pre-Mega)
EVs: 252 attack and HP, 4 speed OR 252 attack and speed, 4 HP
@: Pinsirite

Return
Quick Attack
Earthquake/Close Combat/X-Scissor
X-Scissor/Earthquake/Close Combat

Focus on trying to get yourself a boost with Moxie before unleashing Pinsir's inner beast. Or Stagbeetle. Whatever. Bug/Flying as a type combination is resisted by things that get smashed by either Earthquake or Close Combat. You can drop Bug STAB (which fails to STAB Return) for both coverage moves. Should you choose one or the other, keep these facts in mind:
1. If using Earthquake, you will be blocked by Skarmory and...Aerodactyle? Yeah, just stay sharp for Skarmory.
2. If using Close Combat, you will be stopped by Aegislash. In addition, you lose some bulk.

What Pinsir Also Does Best
Nature: Jolly
Ability: Hyper Cutter (Pre-Mega)
EVs: 252 attack and speed, 4 HP
@: Pinsirite

Return
Quick Attack
Swords Dance
Earthquake/Close Combat

Okay, so you want to stat boost after going Mega. That's just fine. Just don't bother using X-Scissor. You will get much more mileage with STAB Return.

Best teammates:
Mega Pinsir is commonly seen on teams that spam Flying-type moves. As such, Staraptor and Talonflame are common teammates for Mega Pinsir. Above all though, Mega Pinsir does have issues with Stealth Rock, so Rapid Spinners and Defoggers are helpful. Some good ones are Mandibuzz (if you are still going to spam Flying), Donphan, even Claydol. Mandibuzz and Claydol are the better choices because they also avoid Sticky Web, which Pinsir will be hindered by if it has not Mega Evolved.

Countering Mega Pinsir:
Sticky Web and Stealth Rock are two major steps in taking down Mega Pinsir. If you don't have that, Talonflame is a good check. As for counters, Skarmory and Aegislash are excellent choices.

 

[Kraleck]

I love Pinsir's design and usage. Something about the freaky look of Stag Beetle Pokémon just resonates with the awesomeness center of my brain. Mega Evolution cranked it up to 11 for me.

Stats:
-HP - Slightly-Below Average - A shoddy start, but not game-breaking. Base 65 will get a decent chunk of health without investment.
-Attack - Incredible - Base 125 is awesome. Base 155 is gravy.
-Defense - Great/Godly - Base 100 is nice for tanking the occasional Physical Move Pinsir is weak to. Base 120 isn't as great when you consider it just added Ice, Electric, and another serving of Rock to its Weaknesses.
-Sp.Atk - Mediocre - No. Just no. Move on.
-Sp.Def - Sp.Def - Below Average/Good - Base 70 only gets you so far, and Base 90 doesn't help much with the added Weaknesses.
-Speed - Slightly-Above Average (Non-Trick Room)/Great (Non-Trick Room) - Base 85 is barely enough to keep Pinsir in the running, so to speak. Base 105 helps Mega-Pinsir outrun more than it used to.

Abilities:
-Hyper Cutter - Having high Attack is great. Keeping it is better. Unfortunately, it doesn't affect Burns. Prioritize this if you choose to go with Mega-Pinsir because you want to block any and all Intimidates if you want to use it immediately.
-Mold Breaker - Access to Earthquake means Mold Breaker just got a huge check in the usefulness column.
-Moxie (Hidden, Available [Poké Transfer or Friend Safari]) - Cranking up Attack with each KO is fun, but Pinsir doesn't have the Speed or stamina to use it efficiently without a Baton Passed Speed Buff.
-Aerilate - A really fun Ability for Mega-Pinsir. Normal-Type Moves have their Power boosted by 30% and become Flying-Type Moves. Return is a wrecker with this.

Overall, Pinsir is short-handed with Move diversity, but compensates with a lot of Power. Aerilate makes Mega-Pinsir a beast with Normal-Type Moves, but there are huge Weaknesses to exploit in its Type - especially Stealth Rock. While X-Scissor is the STAB of choice for most people, I'd suggest Bug Bite for the purpose of the various Stat Buff Berries you may see, especially on something that may run Salac Berry.

 

[venom1950]

Pinsir...what a pokemon. From a NU to OU. Same as some other pokemon which got Mega evolution.
I have never trained one. Maybe I will since I'm in a need of training a flying type pokemon.
Let's analyze it.

Pros:
- great base attack both regular and mega
- decent speed
- ok defense
- awesome abilities

Cons:
- too many weaknesses and it gets even worse if you mega evolve
- movepool not to brag about. only fighting,normal and bug type moves (but at least those normal get stab and boost in mega form)
- sp defense not to brag about in normal,though in mega for is ok.

I'll only make a moveset for mega evolution.

I believe I can fly

- Quick attack
- X-Scissor
- Swords Dance
- Earthquake/Stone Edge/Close Combat
Item: Pinsirite
Ability: any
EVs: 252 Attack, 252 Speed, 4 HP/sp def
Nature: Jolly

Pretty much a standard set for Mega Pinsir. Swords Dance use only when predicting that the opponent will not attack.

Overall, It's a OK pokemon. Pinsir is a cool glass cannon to use.


And on the side note...
Please...please....PLEASE stop with that Delphox nonsense. I bag you. The joke is not funny at all and it is old and boring.

 

[dragon zero]

Awesome Mega. Used it for the first time during the Think Fast tournament and served me very well when I used him. For the regulars Ability your better off with Hyper Cutter as it prevents any attack drops prior to mega evolving. It helped several times during the Think Fast. second best is moxie for the attack boost and finally Mold Breaker as it maybe the least usable as Mega Evolution is commonly activated immeditately. But on to moves set and I have learned he can have a good move set for Singles and Doubles so here I go with them:

Singles

Return
Earthquake
Quick Attack
Swords Dance
Item: Pinsirite(duh)
Ability: Aerialate(duh again)

simple plan send in and Sweep with either Return or Quick Attack. Swords Dance is there to boost is great Atk stat but isnt always needed as Unboosted Return is really powerfull. With aerialate QA becomes a 78 power flying type move so a really good priority move when combined with his new found base 155 attack. His base 105 Speed lets him out run Charizard and can OHKO Charizard Y. Earthquake is there for good coverage and can hit Aegislash who can normally block him without it.

Other options:
Double Edge, stronger than return but the recoil on top of entry hazard damage and no recovey move heavily limits Mega Pinsirs Sweep.

Thrash, like Double Edge stronger than Return but for many the 2/3 lock in may be dicouraging but regardless a better alternate option to Double Edge if you want to change Return. Return is pretty much better though.

Close Combat, better than Earthquake for damage but will sadly leave him walled to Aegislash, who is pretty common making EQ the better option personally.

Feint, can replace Quick Attack but unlike the other 'other options' can have greater use. Though its weaker it does have a +2 priority making him out run Gale wings Talonflame and inflict about 1/3 off its HP without Swords Dance. Plus ignores any and all protect effects even bypassing Spiky Shield and Kings Shields side effects

X-Sissor, dont bother the high damage from Return and Quick Attack thanks to Aerialate make it a pretty poor option to consider replacing any of those moves

Doubles

Return
Earthquake
Feint
Protect
Obvious Item and Ability

In Doubles he is fairly similar to singles but with a move pool shake Up. The reason for Feint over Quick Attack is to get around the common use of protect. its power is 30 boosted to about 58, Has +2 Priority, making him able out run Gale Wings Talonflame, and ignores and removes protect effects. Spiky sheild and Kings shields side effects dont trigger either. apart from making note of Feints Superiority to QA in Doubles the rest is fairly straight forwards like in singles Return for good single target damage, EQ for good multi hitting damage and protect when needed.


Side note for Regular Pinsir. His Move pool is pretty similar to Heracross and what ever Pinsir can do Heracross generally does it better thanks to Guts ability and its Fighting type. So if you want to use pinsir without Mega evolving your better off using Heracross.

 

[l13000]

Pinsir (Singles)

The Finisher
- Swords Dance/Return
- Earthquake/Return
- Close Combat
- Quick Attack
Item Attached: Leftovers
Ability: Moxie -> Aerilate

EVs and Nature:
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 Spd / 4 SpDef
Jolly Nature

Pinsir is a pokémon that is really good as a late game sweeper. The best way to use him in that role, is to bring him against a pokémon with low life, after your last active pokémon got knocked out. That way, you can revenge kill and get that Moxie boost, so you're already +1 attack. Don't mega-evolve Pinsir unless you need the stats buff or the Aerilate, you wanna get as many Moxie boosts as you can get. Pinsir can take physical hits pretty well, so getting that Moxie aginst a physical attacker is pretty easy, even when you're slower. Now, for the moves: Quick Attack is a staple. With the aerilate and the STAB boosts, you're pratically using a neutral Extreme Speed. Return is a base 102 power attack, that gets buffed to 132 with aerilate. Put the STAB on that, and you have yourself a really destructive attack. Swords Dance can help you getting your attack sky high, and making those KOs way easier. Earthquake and Close Combat are your coverage moves. Earthquake is mainly used to KO Aegislashes, and Close Combat is there so Pinsir is not useless against Skarmory. Overall Pinsir is a great sweeper, and his Mega form can take hits pretty well if it needs to. Just beware of Stealth Rocks, as they will take away 1/4 of your HP if you are a regular Pinsir, and half of it if you've mega-evolved.

Pros:
- Really strong, really fast pokémon
- Strong movesets
- Moxie and Aerilate
- Can take physical hits well

Cons:
- Limited movepool, making it predictible
- Can't take special hits too well
- Weak to Rock
- Can't deal with Talonflame

Other Options:
Pinsir has a pretty limited movepool, so there's not a way to run from his standard set completly. He does have access to Thrash, witch is a good replacement if you don't wanna use Return. Stone Edge is also a option, if you want a rock-type move. And, if you want a bug-type attack for the STAB, X-Scisor is the best option, but it'll leave you open for Aegislash or Skarmory. If you don't wanna use his regular set, Knock Off is probably the best option, but keep in mind this is a tutor move from Black 2/White 2.

 

[Kitt Geekazaru]

I personally think that Pinsir's ability should be Hyper Cutter if you plan to Mega Evolve it on turn one. That way, if they start with Gyarados as an example, then it won't get the Intimidate lower. Its the only one of his abilities that will actually do something before he Mega Evolves on turn one. I would go with a set like this:
Pinsir @ Pinsirite
Ability: Hyper Cutter
EVs: 252 Atk / 252 HP / 4 SDef
Adamant Nature
- Close Combat/X-Scissor/Superpower
- Earthquake/Stone Edge
- Quick Attack/Knock Off
- Return
Pinsir has a lot of options. He can run Swords Dance or all-out offense, and can make up for a 4x Weakness with powerful fighting-type moves. All in all, he can be excellent addition to your team.

 

[oogaman]

Finally! A decent POTW! Ok here goes... Pinsir, from 5th gen and back, was pretty bad. Sure, it had base 125 attack, but it was frail, somewhat slow, and had a shallow movepool. It was also pretty outclassed by Her across. For over 10 years, Pinsir was forgotten about, until of course, when Game Freak gave him a Mega Evolution. Now, at first, people thought it would be terrible. I mean, it gains a useless flying type, which no STABs could be used, and compounds its SR weakness? Well, now, look who's laughing. Because now, Mega Pinsir is one of the most dominant Megas in the OU tier, and holy crap is it good. Base 155 Attack, coupled with a good 105 Speed, just outspeeding the many base 100's, but the real killer is it's ability Aeritate, which gives Pinsir one of the most powerful unboosted moves in a 199 base power Return! Along with a 78 power Quick Attack, not even faster threats can revenge kill. Well obviously, the Metagame shifts to handle big threats better, so Mega Pinsir has had a little trouble in the game with all the Rotom-W, Zapdos, Thunduruses, and Skarmorys flying around. Despite that, Pinsir still stands out as one of the dominant forces of the meta, and a monster that WILL wreck unprepared teams. Also, did I mention how it created the infamous Bird-Spam core to destroy everything? Yea, Pinsir's pretty damn awesome.

The generic set everyone will see

Pinsir with Pinsirite
Jolly Nature
EVs: 252 attack 4 HP 252 speed
Ability: Mold Breaker.

-Swords Dance
-Return/Frustration
-Quick Attack
-Earthquake

Go crazy. This is THE set that destroys worlds. Mega Pinsir poses such a huge threat that it'll force a LOT of switches. You can easily set up a swords dance and sweep. Return is insanely powerful. Like, nearly the same power as Mega Lucario's Close Combat! However, if you wanna troll all the Ditto's that try to revenge kill you, you can set your happiness to 0 and spam Frustration instead, but that really only works online. Quick Attack is scary strong for a priority move, and actually OHKO' a LOT of offensive Pokemon even before they can attack! Finally, Earthquake is used over Close Combat almost always. Trust me. Sadly, Thundurus, Rotom-W, Skarmory, and Zapdos all resist this, and they're very common in the meta, so make sure they're gone, and have fun wrecking everything. And #birdspam

 

[KillerDraco]

Not sure why so many people are suggesting Superpower on (Mega) Pinsir when it has access to the vastly superior Close Combat. There's no reason to run Superpower, since the attack drop means you'll have to switch more, which, for something that has a Stealth Rock weakness, is a very bad thing. The Special Defense drop of Close Combat is of less consequence than the Attack drop of Superpower. Don't use Superpower on Pinsir. Just don't.

While X-Scissor is the STAB of choice for most people, I'd suggest Bug Bite for the purpose of the various Stat Buff Berries you may see, especially on something that may run Salac Berry.

X-Scissor isn't as common as you might think it is, and Bug Bite is just plain useless. Very few berries are consistently used in OU, and Bug Bite's low power means that a 2x SE Bug Bite is actually outdamaged by a Neutral Aerilate Return.

252 Atk Mega Pinsir Bug Bite vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 270-320 (89.4 - 105.9%) -- 37.5% chance to OHKO
252 Atk Aerilate Mega Pinsir Return vs. 4 HP / 0 Def Latios: 298-352 (98.6 - 116.5%) -- 93.8% chance to OHKO

...So it's more of a gimmick than anything.

Earthquake and Close Combat are your coverage moves. Earthquake is mainly used to KO Aegislashes, and Close Combat is there so Pinsir is not useless against Skarmory.

I would point out that Mega Pinsir is still pretty useless against Skarmory, even with Close Combat.

252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 86-102 (25.7 - 30.5%) -- guaranteed 4HKO
+2 252 Atk Mega Pinsir Close Combat vs. 252 HP / 232+ Def Skarmory: 171-202 (51.1 - 60.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

Meanwhile, the defense drop from Close Combat turns this...

0 Atk Skarmory Brave Bird vs. 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 186-218 (68.6 - 80.4%) -- guaranteed 2HKO

...into this:

0 Atk Skarmory Brave Bird vs. -1 0 HP / 4 Def Mega Pinsir: 276-326 (101.8 - 120.2%) -- guaranteed OHKO

You're better off not trying to take on Skarmory with Mega Pinsir. Skarmory is a reliable counter against Mega Pinsir, so it really doesn't have any potential to end well. Plus, Aegislash has pretty consistently been sitting at the number 1 usage slot in the ladder; being able to deal with it, which Mega Pinsir can actually potentially beat, is more significant than any attempt to beat Skarmory that more often than not won't end well.

 

[Nightmare42]

In reading the comments, I see that we are talking a lot about using Talonflame as a counter. Would an ice type like any of Kyurem's forms or Articuno, also work as a good counter for Mega Pinsir, due to their access to moves like blizzard, or ice beam?

 

[Swoobat]

In reading the comments, I see that we are talking a lot about using Talonflame as a counter. Would an ice type like any of Kyurem's forms or Articuno, also work as a good counter for Mega Pinsir, due to their access to moves like blizzard, or ice beam?

Talonflame is more of a check than a counter, Talonflame cannot switch into a Return or Quick Attack at all, but once it is in, it OHKOes Pinsir with priority Brave Bird. And Articuno isn't a good counter. It has Ice attacks, sure, but Return will hurt it a lot, Pinsir outspeeds Articuno. And Kyurem, well, it's bulky and can take an unboosted hit, but it's also outsped and hit heavily by Aerilate Return.

 

[The Imposter]

I'd like to bring attention to the famous "flying spam" core that experienced a lot of use a while back and still is extremely potent nowadays. Basically, the core revolves around pairing Mega Pinsir with a Choice Banded Talonflame. Both have extremely spammable, high-powered STAB Flying attacks. Since most teams would run at most two counters to Pinsir and Talonflame, it was not hard to break through those and wreak havoc with either Pinsir or Talonflame's powerful Returns and Brave Birds. It's still a very scary core, but now people have figured out how to play around it and Thundurus has also experienced a massive spike in popularity.

 

[Mye]

I'd like to bring attention to the famous "flying spam" core that experienced a lot of use a while back and still is extremely potent nowadays. Basically, the core revolves around pairing Mega Pinsir with a Choice Banded Talonflame. Both have extremely spammable, high-powered STAB Flying attacks. Since most teams would run at most two counters to Pinsir and Talonflame, it was not hard to break through those and wreak havoc with either Pinsir or Talonflame's powerful Returns and Brave Birds. It's still a very scary core, but now people have figured out how to play around it and Thundurus has also experienced a massive spike in popularity.

Yeah, that's where pinsir's movepool let's it down quite a bit. Despite being a bug type with horns, it inexplicably lacks U-turn and megahorn (two tools that would make it a much better threat). In addition, it lacks no real way to boost its speed outside of a megastone making it an inefficient sweeper at times should you want to run regular pinsir instead.

Quick sidenote as well, storm throw should also be listed as an option instead of CC as while it is slightly weaker, it allows pinsir to get around things like intimidate and bulk-up users.

 

[7Bgamers]

Mega pinsir

Item: pinsirite
Nature: Jolly
EV's: 4 defense, 252 attack, 252 speed
ability: Mold Breaker / Aerilate

Focus energy
Return
Close combat
Rock Slide

Focus energy... critical hits are part of the game, deal with it!
Return Flying type return with a 30% power boost, what a wonderfull ability
Close Combat To deal with rock and steel types.
Earthquake to get rid of those poison types who want to damage your fairy type pokemon.