GOODNIGHT SWEET PRINCESS (SUN/MOON and Kangaskhan)

[El Miguel VGC]

Parental Bond's 2nd hit has been virtually halved. Thoughts? Personally, this was a good thing. Still reasonably powerful, but irrelevant to VGC....until megas come back. You can let me know how much this effects other modes you like, like regular Doubles or Singles!

[Black117]

In terms of competitive field on both Singles/Doubles, it really depends whether or not Mega Kangaskhan gets the "same" secondary effect from Parental Bond. For those who don't know the mechanic of Parental Bond, basically Mega Kangaskhan can attack twice, and gets the same opportunity, or chance effect even from the first hit. This means like Rock Slide has a "second" chance to flinch the opponent's Pokemon, or an even more relevant scenario, Power-Up Punch to boost Mega Kangaskhan to +2 Attack. In terms of Smogon Singles, Mega Kangaskhan will get banned mainly "if" the Power-Up Punch set still remains the same as in Gen 6 where it acts as a pseudo Sword Dance boost. Note that in Singles, Mega Kangaskhan can use a Parental Bond Earthquake for coverage and some other Gen 3 Move Tutors like Seismic Toss, or Wish. However, if the effects of the second strike are not present, and Kang has the 25% nerf, it will be interesting to see how it fairs. While in the VGC scene Megas were banned anyways, Mega Kangaskhan can still see notable usage in Battle Spot Doubles and Doubles OU again depending on if the Power-Up Punch set works the same.

At the end of the day, people are going to use the Power-Up Punch Mega Kangaskhan as its the arguably the best set to run. The sweeping potential from Pup alone can win games and Mega Kangaskhan as we all know has the coverage, bulk, speed, and respectable strength to plow thru teams. While the nerf is appreciate on Game Freak's part, if it was just the power decrease Mega Kang will still be a strong Mega to use, but not ridiculous as in Gen 6.

[GiMYz]

Megas aren't allowed in VGC so i really don't care about a nerf they had to do 2 years ago

[MagnusHexem]

ABOUT TIME

They didn't let megas in, which already pleases a lot of competitive players I know of. However, I'm not sure if that power drop is enough. It's only losing 16.67% power, and the power wasn't the only thing that made Mega Kangaskhan broken. Hitting Twice lets it counter Focus Sashes and the occasional Sturdy, its move pool gives has invaluable moves in Fake Out and Sucker Punch, and Power-Up Punch is a Swords Dance that already nets way too good of damage on Tyranitar, KOs Weaville, and brings frail Pokemon that are weak to fighting down to their knees, likely to be flicked down by priority from another Pokemon...plus Kang's own Sucker Punch, which already has too much power when at plus 2.

Sure, we don't have to worry about in VGC for now. But elsewhere...I fear it will still be a problem. Removing the effects of a second hit doesn't really make a lot of sense to me, as that defeats the purpose of the ability. What I would prefer to see is a nerf in nearly all of its stats. It's too bulky, outspeeds a lot of Pokemon, and 125 plus another 25% is too much attack. If megas are legal in the other Battle Spot formats...I still fear for them. Hopefully, I'm wrong, and Kang will nothing more than a Top Tier Pokemon that is countered as easily as other Top Tier megas.

[RetroTyphlosion]

Dang it! My mega Kangy isn't powerful anymore!