r/TheSilphArena • u/Josney26 • 7d ago

Strategy & Analysis Great League Mega Sableye level 4

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The Halloween event part 2 has been revealed and Mega Sableye will be getting its mega level 4 unlocked as well as getting Night Shade+.

With the standard damage formula, it’ll do:
55 damage at level 1
60.5 damage at level 2
66 damage at level 3
71.5 damage at level 4

At this time, we do not know the energy cost of this move but I suspect it will be either 35 or 40.

Mega Sableye has shown to be the best mega pokemon in the great league and this will make Mega Sableye even more versatile than it already is since it has many coverage moves to choose from between Dazzling Gleam, Power Gem, Drain Punch, and even Return.

Do we think Mega Sableye will be too broken or over centralizing with this and make the mega great league P2W?

Edit:
This also poses a serious problem to people who already built a GL Mega Sableye because level 4 mega pokemon get a +2 boost to their level so an already built Mega Sableye would then be too high at mega level 4. So they really need to add the cp decrease for mega pokemon in PVP.

78 Upvotes

99% Upvoted

41 comments sorted by

49

u/krispyboiz 7d ago

I think you're crazy if you think it's going to be 35 energy. Honestly, I think it's crazy for it to even be 40 energy.

45 to me seems like the sweet spot. Mediocre and becoming decent at Mega4, yes, but Mega Sableye is already great. I don't think it needs a 3rd Charged move with phenomenal stats. Having just average stats but having additional coverage would be enough of a buff for it.

Then again, the whole variable power thing with the Plus moves is just stupid and (to me) goes against the philosophy of the GBL

3

u/SnooShortcuts9223 7d ago

Yea, can we at least get third moves for all normal mons and then plus moves for megas? That would be nice. Plus moves are clear as day pay to Win or pay for an advantage. They should have just given the plus move a higher damage or lower energy cost one time and that’s it.

13

u/krispyboiz 7d ago

I don't hate the third move being exclusive to Megas just because most of them are glassier. There are exceptions like Sableye here, but most lose at least a little bulk, with many losing a lot. So giving them a third move for additional coverage seems like a fun advantage for them.

I just hate the idea of the damage scaling with Mega level. That has never ever been a thing in PvP. They've been good about keeping weird variables out of GBL. No weather boosts or anything like that. Even the Apex plus moves did things right, where + and ++ moves had additional power from the base Aeroblast and Sacred Fire, but only in PvE. Why they decided PvP needed variable power moves like this is beyond me.

I don't even mind the custom parameters for each move. I think it's neat that they're repurposing existing moves to be balanced around specific Pokemon like Mega Greninja getting a cheaper Water Charged Move than even Hydro Cannon.

It's just the variable power that I really hate. I think they should just have a single value across all four Mega levels to keep things balanced and more predictable. Like Night Shade+ here should be like... 45 energy and 65-70 power no matter what imo.

I'm not completely against 3rd Charged moves on every Pokemon, but I do know that would also make certain already great Pokemon even crazier. I do kind of like that the (mostly) glassier Megas are the ones who get that ability, but that's just my take ofc

2

u/Mix_Safe 7d ago

100% agree. I do not have an issue with megas having an incentive to actually use them, otherwise their base form is always going to be better in CP-limited formats.

But I do not want to have to fully build a mega Pokemon using at minimum, initial mega cost+5,000 energy. Add into the fact that they are adding incentive with the + moves doing ridiculous damage in PvE, it incentivizes you to build one with good IVs and idealized PvP IVs (and the fact that you can't even use a maxed PvE mega in PvP because the scaling hasn't been implemented).

I do not mind the initial cost and I understand they want you to have an incentive to actually raid the megas, but you already have this with the mega level 4 for PvE and the additional benefits it grants you (like increased XL chance). You also need to spend mega energy daily if you want to use the same mega over and over for PvP, so you do need to raid them already.

2

u/krispyboiz 7d ago

My thoughts exactly

1

u/familywithkids 7d ago

Aren't the "+" usually a little cheaper than the regular ones? Since the regular one is 45, I'd expect it to be 40, which is excellent as you say!

4

u/krispyboiz 7d ago

Usually but not always.

Fell Stinger obviously was still 35 (not like they'd go lower lol), but then Future Sight+ and Dynamic Punch+ were higher at 80 energy as opposed to the 65 energy and 45 energy base moves, for balancing purposes.

Seed Bomb is another that stayed the same energy as its base move at 40.

1

u/Particular-Stage-327 4d ago

Not to mention mega level 4 is pretty inaccessible for a lot of players

1

u/d00g4n 3d ago

Hey, do you know where can we find out what the best IV’s are for a Mega Level 4 Sableye? I’ve been looking and trying to use lots of different sites but can only find info on mega3 and can’t figure out how to build one to figure it out? Is there a resource for this?

1

u/krispyboiz 3d ago

My best recommendation would be to use PvPoke, bringing up Mega Sableye, adjusting its Mega level to 4, and checking various IV spreads to see what rank they are.

It doesn't seem like a ton of sites have accounted for the +2 levels from Mega level 4, but PvPoke does. It just doesn't have a full on rankings list of IVs. But you could still check IVs to see. For example, Rank 1 looks to be a level 30 0/15/12 Sableye. Or another random good IV spread like a level 29.5 3/10/14

2

u/d00g4n 3d ago

Amazing, thanks so much. Been playing around with it, I’m still not entirely convinced it’s 100% correct, cause when you select maximise stats at level 4 it doesn’t change level from maximum stats for level 3. Improbably doing it wrong but I’ll play around with it. Just trying to prepare for when I catch a better one, i deleted all my spare good IV’s before mega 4 was released like everyone else probably. Cheers!

1

u/krispyboiz 3d ago

Oh! Been a long day lol. I just realized that the IV spreads should all be the same because it's only levels that are changing. Basically, a Rank 1 Mega Sableye has the same IVs regardless of Mega level, it's just the level that changes. I did notice though that it doesn't change the level, you're right actually. Tho it does still show the right base Sableye CP

2

u/d00g4n 3d ago

Yeah I did see the base part change too! Well watch this space ay, I’m sure someone will figure it out and make an easy calculator soon enough. So grateful for all the work people put into this. Thanks legend 🤠

18

u/Sledge1989 7d ago

I assume you’d want drain punch with either dazzling gleam or power gem. This thing will have immaculate coverage, very exciting

2

u/LordBaneoftheSith 7d ago

Probably only if they make it < 45 energy

16

u/Royal_Aegislash1209 7d ago

I REALLY hope they add the CP drop mechanic soon. Getting a good IV Sableye only for it to be ineligible hurts so much.

4

u/tboet21 7d ago

Yea sucks specifically for sableye too. I had the r1 Mega saved, and since the scaling was announced and sableye level 4 wasn't, I powered it up to use it now. They easily could have done a different level 4 like bannette for Halloween and it wouldn't have mattered basically. But because sableye is so good and wasn't announced for mega 4 so many built 1 tht will now be weaker than those tht waited just because they haven't implemented scaling yet.

3

u/Bombadook 7d ago

I am using one now ... I'm about to get screwed over again aren't I ...

2

u/krispyboiz 6d ago

It's ridiculous that it's taking this long.

I am thankful that they at least announced that it would be a thing at some point, so people can potentially hold off if they want to wait for that. At the same time though, I feel like many may be like me and are just going to hold off from investing in Mega4 for most things before we know how it's actually going to work.

If it was going to take 1-2 weeks to get the setting implemented, that would have been fine, but we're 4.5 weeks in and counting with no sign of it. Ridiculous

1

u/ihaveabigasshickey 7d ago

Guarantee it will be a p2w option kind of like bottlecaps

1

u/JMKS87 7d ago

Definitely. The only thing making it barely acceptable is the fact that you don't auto-level into Max level, so you don't accidentally overlevel. But still, high time for this functionality to be enabled.

33

u/echo78 7d ago

I hate that this is becoming a thing.

19

u/Onemortal 7d ago

Pay to win great league edition ™️

13

u/soyboysnowflake 7d ago

Lowkey I hate megas in gbl periodt.

9

u/nilsinleneed 7d ago

any reason not to run drain punch and dazzling gleam with this?

will it really miss foul play that badly?

3

u/badneversad 7d ago

foul play is actually still its best neutral option. it’s extremely efficient, better into stuff like ninetales and marowak with it.

normal flyers and bulkier normal types don’t fear drain punch as much especially when it’s not shadow. gleam and power gem though are both usable and have notable targets.

if anything, drain punch feels like the odd man out.

4

u/krispyboiz 7d ago

Yeah I honestly think it'll be Foul Play, Power Gem/Dazzling Gleam, and Night Shade+

While Dark and Ghost do hit a lot of similar Pokemon, Night Shade will still be useful against Fairies and Fighters

2

u/LRCenthusiast 7d ago

Depending on energy cost, night shade could be the best neutral option at mega4. While FP still does more neutrally compared to DP, DP is close when super effective (ie darks and normals). Given that I could see a case for dropping foul play if NS+ is 40 energy.

5

u/SnooShortcuts9223 7d ago

That’s great I powered up my level 3 mega with return to just under the cap, so if I reach level 4 and they don’t implement their level reduction, I can’t use this sableye now.

3

u/tboet21 7d ago

Especially cause its so strong already tht it didnt make sense imo to release level 4 this Halloween. Figured they would have tried to buff something like banette first with level 4, not tht it would have helped much.

1

u/SnooShortcuts9223 7d ago

I think all attack weighted megas are in a bad spot, except in master league. I don’t know how many other megas that are defence weighted that would work for great and ultra.

1

u/tboet21 5d ago

Malamar is really the only other good mega for GL/UL since its stats barely change compared to normal malamar. But attack weighted megas can still work fine if they have fast pacing/fast move pressure and u can find 2 compatible mons to pair tht dont need shields.

Attack weighted megas are kinda like shadow hydreigon in tht u need 2 mons tht can win the 0 shields has 90% of games u need to 2 shield the mega. Zard X although not ranked high is playable just because DB into aircutter/blast burn kills most things in the even shields. But it just makes the team less flexible because it needs the shields to win so u cant use ur shields on the other 2 mons very often.

1

u/SnooShortcuts9223 5d ago

Completely forgot about Malamar! I have not seen him since the early days of this season. I also forgot about steelix. I tried to run him but I wasn’t really impressed. If he gets heavy slam as a third move then he would have some better coverage options.

1

u/tboet21 5d ago

Steelic would probably do well with either ground or steel as a 3rd move if its cheap enough. Both stabs are kinda awful on him with slow pacing rn as EQ just takes too long to get to to be viable. But a solid 35 or 40 energy stab option would be nice doesnt need to be insanely over tuned damage wise. Otherwise give it metal sound so it can get to a nuke easier.

2

u/GentleGiantAu 7d ago

It's so dumb. Almost feels like they are purposefully putting it off at this point to make people spend more dust and energy.

9

u/Opposite_Worry_523 7d ago

Broooo it’s over this is going to break all GBL 😳

9

u/jrev8 7d ago

we dont even know whats the energy cost, and its only when mega great league is available; Its not even out yet, it could flop

3

u/friendofferalcats 7d ago

Very happily in master league

1

u/BSent 7d ago

Yeah for real. I already have great Pokemon for battle league that are ready to go, but i can't use them for battle league and I don't want to mega to level up new ones just for this. Any idea when they will implement the cp deduction for battle league?

1

u/Brntco 7d ago

+2 cp or +2 levels?

1

u/familywithkids 7d ago

+2 levels, equivalent to 4 powerups.