Mega Slowbro is definitely one of the goofier Mega Evolutions we’ve seen. Mega Evolution was the fresh coat of paint it needed to steal the spotlight from its sibling Slowking for a while. It sports a mediocre but usable Attack stat paired with great bulk. But how does Mega Slowbro perform in Pokémon GO PVE?

Mega Slowbro is a dual Water/Psychic type, meaning it has one of the largest pools of competition in terms of Mega Evolutions that share a type with it. For Water type Mega Evolutions, it is competing with Mega Blastoise, Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, Mega Sharpedo, Primal Kyogre, and the future Mega Greninja. For Psychic types, it has to contend with Mega Alakazam, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Medicham, Mega Metagross, Mega Latios, Mega Latias, Mega Gallade, and the future Mega Mewtwo X/Y, Mega Delphox, and Mega Malamar. A whopping 12 currently released Mega Evolutions share a type with Mega Slowbro, with a staggering 17 total including unreleased forms. This is already an uphill battle for Mega Slowbro, but let’s see how it does in the meta.

Starting with the Water type Mega Evolutions, Mega Slowbro is facing off against Mega Blastoise, Mega Gyarados, Mega Swampert, Mega Sharpedo, and Primal Kyogre plus the unreleased Mega Greninja. Right off the bat, Primal Kyogre immediately washes away (haha) the rest of the competition. As a Legendary Pokémon, it naturally has higher stats. Mega Evolutions can usually compete with standard Legendary Pokémon, but one of these Legendaries getting a Mega Evolution bonus of their own almost doesn’t seem fair (it’s really not). In terms of Water type Mega Evolutions, Primal Kyogre is the clear winner.

However, even outside of Primal Kyogre, things aren’t looking too hot for Mega Slowbro. Out of the currently released Water Mega Evolutions, it currently sits in last place, outside of the top 30 Water attackers. Its closest competition is Mega Sharpedo, whose stats are geared almost entirely to Attack compared to Mega Slowbro’s substantial bulk. Unfortunately for Mega Slowbro, PVE favors offense over defense. Compared to the rest of the Water Mega Evolutions, there’s really no contest. Mega Slowbro’s best claim is its passive boost to other Water type attackers in the battle, as its bulk will help it stick around longer. However, this bonus is shared by all Water Mega Evolutions, and the top dogs of Primal Kyogre, Mega Swampert, Mega Blastoise, and Mega Gyarados have bulk that may be slightly lower than Mega Slowbro but can make up for it with substantially better offenses. It is even outclassed by numerous non-Mega Evolved Pokémon, including the likes of Primarina, Quaquaval, Kingler, Golisopod, and even non-Mega Gyarados. As a Water type attacker, you definitely have better options.

Unfortunately, things look even worse in the realm of Psychic types. Mega Slowbro has to contend with fellow Psychic Mega Evolutions in Mega Alakazam, Mega Gardevoir, Mega Medicham, Mega Metagross, Mega Latios, Mega Latias, Mega Gallade, and the future Mega Mewtwo X/Y, Mega Delphox, and Mega Malamar.

Well…uhhh…it at least outperforms Mega Medicham??

The pool of Psychic type Mega Evolutions is extremely powerful, with 2 Legendary Pokémon capable of Mega Evolution already available and two more in the future with Mewtwo’s two forms. Mega Metagross has stats on par with a Legendary Pokémon, and Mega Alakazam, Mega Gardevoir, and Mega Gallade have stats geared toward offense. Mega Delphox will likely have balanced stats thanks to being a starter, and Mega Malamar seems like it will be flimsy but offensively powerful. All of these factors result in Mega Slowbro being wildly outclassed. It currently sits at 25th on the Psychic attacker list. Not too bad, but it is also outclassed by non-Mega forms of some of the Pokémon on this list. While it will never be as bad as Mega Medicham, which is laughably bad in Pokémon GO and relies on main series mechanics to function, there are almost no cases where you wouldn’t want another Psychic Mega Evolutions.

A case could be made for Mega Slowbro’s defensive profile against certain opponents, but you would almost never want to pick it over blowing your opponent away with the likes of Mega Alakazam or Mega Latios. Again, you could make the case for its role as a passive offense booster, but Mega Latias fills this role better than Mega Slowbro ever could. Similarly to its performance as a Water type, Mega Slowbro gets outclassed by even non-Mega Evolved options as well, albeit less than with Water. Alakazam and Espeon are readily available options that perform better, alongside the numerous Psychic Legendary Pokémon available such as Mewtwo, Latios, and Lunala to name a few. Again, there are just much cheaper and better options.

Mega Slowbro matches up well against most everything you’d expect a Water/Psychic type to win against, such as Groudon/Primal Groudon, Nihilego, and Mega Camerupt. It also has strong matchups against powerful Pokémon from later installments such as Great Tusk, Koraidon, and Okidogi. However, for each role you would want Mega Slowbro for, another Mega Evolution would probably do the job better.

Overall, Mega Slowbro is a pretty lackluster Mega Evolution in Pokémon GO. Defensively oriented Mega Evolutions just can’t compete with offensive ones, resulting in Mega Slowbro being outclassed by almost every other Mega Evolution it shares a type with along with numerous non-Mega Evolved options. For what it's worth, the design is fun! However, outside of passive out-of-battle bonuses, Mega Slowbro will unfortunately sit toward the bottom of the Mega Evolution list in PVE.

Mega Evolutions are typically not allowed in the GO Battle League but in limited formats like the Mega Master League, Mega Slowbro doesn't amaze and can be skipped for better options, including non-Megas.