Boasting a high attack stat, Mega Pinsir easily sits among the top Bug type attackers in Pokémon GO. With Fury Cutter and X-Scissor, it has the highest DPS of all current Bug type attackers!

Mega Pinsir is one of the few cases of Pokémon gaining a new typing after Mega Evolving. Pinsir gains the Flying typing in addition to its Bug typing, making it a unique choice compared to every other current Mega Evolution. However, Mega Pinsir is an interesting case in that it actually cannot use its new Flying typing offensively. In the main series, Mega Pinsir’s Ability allowed it to turn all Normal moves into Flying type, but seeing as that isn’t the case in Pokémon GO, Mega Pinsir’s Normal type moves remain Normal. If Mega Pinsir ever gets a full Flying type moveset, then a comparison can be made in that category, although it almost certainly won’t outclass the likes of Mega Salamence or Mega Rayquaza. Its plethora of Fighting type moves do not gain the STAB bonus, meaning that offensively you want to stick with Bug moves to allow Mega Pinsir to shine.

While Mega Pinsir’s new Flying typing doesn’t help at all offensively, it does make a pretty big difference defensively. In exchange for a few more weaknesses, Mega Pinsir gains a couple new extremely valuable resistances. As a dual Bug/Flying type, Mega Pinsir gains a new resistance to other Bug types, bolsters its resistance to Grass to double, and gains a whopping triple resistance to Ground moves when combining Flying type’s immunity with the Bug type’s existing resistance. It does gain new weaknesses to Electric and Ice while retaining its weakness to Fire and Flying, and notably stacking its weakness to Rock moves to double. However, Pinsir and Mega Pinsir were never known for their bulk anyway, and a powerful move from any of these types may have taken it out regardless, so the new weaknesses end up impacting Mega Pinsir a lot less than it may seem.

As mentioned, Mega Pinsir is really only competing for the Bug type title thanks to the aforementioned reasons. For Bug types, Its Mega Evolved competition includes Mega Beedrill, Mega Heracross, and Mega Scizor, but it outclasses all non-Mega Evolved Bug attackers.

So how does Mega Pinsir measure up as a Bug type attacker even when compared to other Bug type Mega Evolutions? Bug type attacks are strong against Grass, Psychic, and Dark type Pokémon. All four Bug type Mega Evolutions have unique dual typings, being Bug/Flying, Bug/Poison, Bug/Steel, and Bug/Fighting, respectively. These are all major factors in the roles each of these attackers can play. Against Grass types, Mega Pinsir sports the double resistance to incoming Grass moves while dealing Super-Effective damage in return. While Mega Beedrill and Mega Scizor also 4x resist their moves, Mega Pinsir still sports the higher DPS and TDO, making it the best option in this matchup.

Against Psychic and Dark type Pokémon, Mega Pinsir still performs well offensively. Defensively, however, some of the other Bug type Mega Evolutions slightly surpass it in these matchups. Against Psychic types, Mega Scizor’s Steel typing allows it to resist Psychic moves, rising above the rest as a result. It’s a similar story against Dark types, as Mega Heracross’s Fighting type gives it a unique resistance to Dark type moves. However, Mega Pinsir shines against any opponents weak to Bug that also utilize Ground moves. Its rare triple resistance will allow Mega Pinsir to tank moves like Earthquake like no other Mega Evolution can. Even in cases where there may be a better choice defensively, Mega Pinsir is still a strong choice for Bug type damage!

Some of the Raid Bosses that Mega Pinsir matches up uniquely well against are the likes of Mega Sceptile offensively and Groudon defensively, with overall strong performances against Psychic or Dark types such as Mewtwo, Darkrai, Mega Alakazam, and Mega Absol. It has particularly strong matchups against powerful Pokémon from later installments such as Wo-Chien, Ting-Lu, Ogerpon, and Iron Leaves. It seems as though Mega Pinsir will continue to get stronger as time goes on!

Mega Pinsir is a powerful Bug type attacker to add to your roster. While the uses for Bug type attackers are slim, they have their niches. Mega Pinsir is able to distinguish itself from the other Bug type Mega Evolutions thanks to its high Attack stat and unique typing. It may not be flashy, but given the right opponent, Mega Pinsir can truly shine!

Mega Evolutions are typically banned from PvP, but in limited formats like the Mega Master League, Mega Pinsir is a rather underwhelming addition due to its pure Bug typing.

There are far better Mega Evolutions to use instead of wasting a slot on Mega Pinsir. 😅