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What a glow up. As one of the most exciting new megas introduced in Z-A, Staraptor has a bunch of shenanigans it can pull. Firstly, it gets access to ‘intimidate,’ making it one of only 2 Sinnoh lines blessed with the ability. Additionally, it has access to the third fastest tailwind in the format, only behind Shaymin Sky, and Arceus. With access to tailwind, sun, rain, and U-turn, Staraptor– even without mega– can function as a decent support. If you don’t care about sacrificing your own pokemon, you can also use it as a fast ‘Final Gambit’ user. With a decent 85 base HP, the move threatens a one-shot on threats like Darkrai, Lucario, Gallade, Bronzong, and notably Lopunny. Killing yourself has never been so effective. If you still have a zeal for life, Mega Staraptor can do its bread-and-butter: spam ‘close combat.’ Not only is Mega Staraptor fast at base 110, with ‘Contrary’ each use of ‘close combat’ will boost both defenses by 1 stage. If you’re feeling spicy, you can even use a stat lowering move into your own Mega Staraptor to give it additional boosts. ‘Scary Face’ now gives +2 speed, ‘Charm’ now acts like a free ‘Swords Dance.’ While it might be a bit fragile at first, once it gets going, it can be extremely difficult to stop. A great pick for round 2 onward.

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