NationalDex
pinsir
#127

Pinsir

Stag Beetle Pokémon

Bug

It grips prey with its pincers until the prey is torn in half. What it can’t tear, it tosses far.

Base Stats

HP 65
Attack 125
Defense 100
Sp. Atk 55
Sp. Def 70
Speed 85
Total 500

Type Effectiveness

Abilities

Forms

Evolution Chain

Moves

Locations

Details

Category Stag Beetle Pokémon
Height 1.5 m
Weight 55.0 kg
Base Exp 175
Growth Rate Slow
Capture Rate 45
Base Happiness 70
Gender 50% ♂ / 50% ♀
Habitat Forest
Egg Groups Bug

Sprites

pinsir Front Front
pinsir Back Back
pinsir Front Shiny Front Shiny
pinsir Back Shiny Back Shiny
pinsir Official Art Official Art
pinsir Official Art (Shiny) Official Art (Shiny)

Competitive

Swords Dance
Item
Pinsirite
Ability
Hyper Cutter / Mold Breaker
Nature
Jolly
EVs
Atk 252
Def 4
Spe 252

Strategy Overview

Mega Pinsir has an impressive base 155 Attack stat, which it can boost even further with Swords Dance, allowing it to shred past many walls after a boost and act as a fearsome late-game cleaner. Thanks to the switches Mega Pinsir can force and its surprisingly decent bulk, it can find opportunities to set up rather easily. Aerilate gives its Normal-type moves a power boost and makes them Flying-type, giving Mega Pinsir a ridiculously powerful, drawback-free move in Return to take advantage of. It also makes Quick Attack a viable option for picking off faster foes. Flying is a great offensive type in CAP, as it allows Mega Pinsir to break down many cores, including the Tomohawk + Chansey core and the Tomohawk + Cyclohm + Colossoil core. Mega Pinsir can take advantage of Pokemon that cannot do much back to it or passive Pokemon like Colossoil, Chansey, Mega Venusaur, Pyroak, specially defensive Gliscor, and Fidgit to set up a Swords Dance. Its decent coverage options in Earthquake and Close Combat complement its Flying-type STAB moves well, giving it the ability to sweep through plenty of common defensive cores in CAP.

However, Mega Pinsir has a rather crippling Stealth Rock weakness, which limits the number of times it can switch in. It is heavily threatened by paralysis, burn, faster Pokemon that can pick it off, and faster priority users, making an outright sweep rather difficult for Mega Pinsir.

Competitive data from Smogon University via data.pkmn.cc