NU Spotlight: Mesprit

By erisia. Art by FellFromtheSky.
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Art by FellFromtheSky

Mesprit's history

Mesprit first appeared in DPP as one of the lake trio and joined Uxie in UU, differentiating itself from its bulkier and faster partner with better offensive stats and a wider coverage movepool. Despite its lower Speed, it was still fast enough to pull off effective lead sets with either a Choice Scarf with Trick or Leftovers with a bulkier spread, using its greater offensive presence with a U-turn strong enough to break Substitutes, powerful STAB attacks in Zen Headbutt and Psychic, and good coverage moves such as Ice Beam and Thunderbolt. Offensive sets were also popular and highly diverse, with powerful Choice Band and Choice Specs sets, effective Calm Mind sets, and even a threatening Trick Room set. Mesprit's versatility was truly at its peak in its first generation.

In BW, the introduction of Team Preview removed Mesprit's niche as a dedicated lead, and it dropped to RU alongside its rival Uxie. Mesprit was still able to distinguish itself with a potent offensive Stealth Rock set, using Thunderbolt to hit targets like Sigilyph and Slowking or Hidden Power Fire to hit the likes of Escavalier and Ferroseed, alongside the semi-unique Healing Wish to restore teammates later in the game after Stealth Rock had been set. Offensive Calm Mind sets also continued to be popular, using the new move Psyshock to hit targets such as Cryogonal and Clefable on their weak Defense stats, and Choice Specs similarly proved to be a potent threat. However, the physical sets seen in DPP were generally less common due to the presence of hard walls such as Steelix.

Now in ORAS, Mesprit has left Uxie for good and ended up in NU, alongside many BW RU staples such as Steelix, Ferroseed, and Aggron, which have made physically based sets much rarer. Mesprit also has to deal with the presence of Skuntank as a good general check. However, without Uxie giving it competition, Mesprit is now the king of its own tier, and it's one of the most commonly seen Pokémon due to the vast number of offensive and defensive roles it can fill.

Mesprit's qualities

Many of Mesprit's good qualities in BW RU have translated well to ORAS NU. Mesprit's stat distribution is one of the best in the tier, boasting good defensive capability alongside strong offensive stats and a good Speed tier for a defensive Pokémon or wallbreaker. While its base 105 Attack stat is rarely used in the current metagame due to the many checks to Mesprit's physical sets, it still allows for a decently powerful U-turn, or a rare Zen Headbutt or Knock Off. Its equal Special Attack stat sees much more use and is high enough to 2HKO a lot of the tier alongside a boosting item and good coverage options such as Ice Beam and Signal Beam. Notably, it is one of the only Stealth Rock users in the tier to resist Fighting- and Ground-type moves, giving it a solid niche on teams that can't afford to stack weaknesses by using Steelix, Rhydon, or other candidates. Furthermore, it is the most reliable user of Healing Wish due to its good bulk and decent Speed, letting it give sweepers such as Samurott and Rhydon the second chance they need to win games. Levitate is also highly useful for providing opportunities to switch in and an immunity to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, making Mesprit significantly harder to wear down.

Playing with Mesprit

Offensive Stealth Rock

Mesprit

Mesprit's most common set is an offensive Stealth Rock set that can set up in the early-game and use Healing Wish in the late-game to support its teammates while boasting impressive power. Colbur Berry is a common item choice, as it lets Mesprit deal with Knock Off users such as Malamar and Gurdurr a lot more easily, and Psychic is powerful enough to threaten many offensive Pokémon even without a boosting item. Mesprit can use whatever coverage moves its team needs to cover weaknesses and surprise certain targets; Signal Beam does heavy damage to Malamar and other Dark-types, while Ice Beam hits Xatu particularly hard and Energy Ball deals with the likes of Rhydon and Gastrodon, with both of the latter moves dealing heavy damage to Steelix with a Life Orb. Meanwhile, Healing Wish lets Mesprit restore a teammate once it has fulfilled its other purposes, potentially letting a sweeper such as Rhydon have a second shot, or giving a wallbreaker like Samurott more opportunities to spam attacks. Alternatively, U-turn can be used to provide opportunities to switch in for teammates such as Aggron due to the switches Mesprit forces.

All-out attacker

Mesprit

For teams that already have a different Stealth Rock user, Mesprit has free rein to run more offensive sets that capitalize on its excellent power, strong STAB attack in Psychic, and numerous coverage options to surprise usual checks. With Choice Specs or Life Orb equipped, foes that would normally be able to switch into defensive or Colbur Berry offensive sets will quickly fall to repeated attacks. Signal Beam deals heavy damage to most opposing Psychic- and Dark-types, while Ice Beam provides a strong hit against many other targets, 2HKOing Steelix and Skuntank after Stealth Rock damage. Hidden Power Ground provides a stronger hit against them as well as Aggron, but it provides less useful neutral coverage in general. Energy Ball is also an excellent option that deals with bulky Ground-types such as Rhydon and Gastrodon while hitting Lanturn much harder than Grass Knot due to its low weight. Thunderbolt is also an option to hit Mantine hard, but it has few other relevant targets. Mesprit usually has all the coverage it needs in three moves, so it can also afford to run support moves such as Healing Wish and U-turn in the last slot to help its teammates stay healthy or to scout the opponent.

Defensive Stealth Rock

Mesprit

This set places more focus on Mesprit's excellent physical bulk and defensive typing to more solidly check Fighting-types such as Hariyama, Hitmonchan, and Gurdurr, as well as physical attackers in general. Thunder Wave is excellent for crippling offensive Pokémon that can't manage to break through Mesprit in time, letting wallbreaker teammates such as Magmortar and Aggron easily deal with them and preventing setup sweepers from taking advantage of Mesprit. U-turn is particularly useful on this set, as it lets Mesprit pivot out of faster attackers, giving frail teammates such as Jynx and Swellow safe switches in and letting you bring in a response to Xatu if it tries to block Stealth Rock or Thunder Wave, such as Skuntank. Colbur Berry should be used if Mesprit is your team's main Fighting-type response, but Leftovers provides useful passive recovery if you have other responses to relieve some of the pressure. This set can also be adapted to weather teams using a Damp Rock or Heat Rock alongside Rain Dance or Sunny Day in the last slot, using a slow U-turn to bring in weather sweepers safely to take advantage of the maximum number of weather turns.

Offensive Calm Mind

Mesprit

While Mesprit is most often used for support or wallbreaking roles, it can also make for an effective setup sweeper due to its access to Calm Mind alongside a decent Speed tier and good physical bulk. Mesprit is able to force switches quite easily due to its defensive and offensive presence, giving it plenty of opportunities to set up as the opponent sends in a response. Notably, Skuntank and Steelix are OHKOed by +1 Hidden Power Ground if a Life Orb is used, and Mesprit has the physical bulk to withstand a Sucker Punch from the former to get the hit off. This makes this set an excellent partner for other Psychic-types such as Stored Power Musharna that might need these checks removed before they can sweep properly. While most Calm Mind Mesprit sets use its excellent three-move coverage to pressure opponents, a Substitute variant with Leftovers is more useful against bulky teams that might try to force it out with status, such as Toxic from Mantine. Substitute also provides Mesprit with a good response to Sucker Punch users, making it easy to set up on them and hit them with a boosted Signal Beam later, depending on good prediction.

Other options

As one of the most versatile Pokémon in the tier, it is no surprise that Mesprit has other sets that are less common but can still be useful in certain situations. A specially based Choice Scarf set can be a decent revenge killer and get surprise KOs on the likes of Swellow and Archeops, while a variant using Zen Headbutt, U-turn, Trick, and Healing Wish can provide more support capability. Alternatively, a Choice Band set can be used in a similar manner to the DPP variant with Fire Punch and the new, more powerful Knock Off as coverage, but it is easily walled by Rock-types such as Regirock and Aggron, although it can U-turn out of them into a teammate. A defensive Calm Mind set with Rest and Sleep Talk has also seen use, playing similarly to Calm Mind + Heal Bell Musharna but trading PP issues and Toxic Spikes vulnerability for the randomness of Sleep Talk and better Speed. The Trick Room set of old is mostly outclassed by Musharna now, but Mesprit can still make use of a decent dual screens set due to its decent Speed and access to Stealth Rock and Thunder Wave or U-turn. Future Sight can also be extremely powerful if used properly, while Magic Coat lets Mesprit block entry hazards.

Playing against Mesprit

Mesprit can be quite difficult to check consistently due to the variety of sets it can run and its ability to escape from Pursuit trappers such as Skuntank with a slow U-turn when running a defensive set. Running a Psychic-resistant Pokémon is usually a good idea, as although Specs Mesprit can break through many of these with its coverage moves, it will not be as likely to spam its Psychic against your other Pokémon, giving you opportunities to outmaneuver it and get some good damage off. Dark-types such as Skuntank, Shiftry, and Liepard are usually good choices, since they can KO offensive Mesprit with their STAB attacks if they enter battle safely. While Steelix can fold to a powerful Ice Beam and Aggron gets 2HKOed by Choice Specs Psychic, Klinklang only fears Hidden Power Ground and can use Substitute to block Thunder Wave and set up safely on defensive Mesprit variants. Scyther can also come in on anything other than Thunder Wave or Ice Beam safely and force Mesprit out with a powerful U-turn, seizing momentum regardless of whether it switches or not. While there are many Pokémon that can check Mesprit, the most important thing is to figure out what set it's running before you make a risky move against it. If the team packs another Stealth Rock user such as Steelix, you can usually assume it's an offensive variant, while teams without a different Stealth Rock user will most likely be using Mesprit for that role. If you see a Mesprit in Team Preview, this is the first action you should take in a match to avoid being surprised by a strong coverage move or potential Calm Mind sweep.

Fitting Mesprit onto a team

Mesprit is often a Pokémon that people add to their team as a supporter that fills niches due to its typing and movepool, and generally it doesn't require much support of its own. Generally teams that use Fighting-weak Pokémon such as Aggron, Aurorus, and Shiftry appreciate Mesprit being a solid response that can also tank Knock Off with a Colbur Berry if required, especially if they need a Stealth Rock user. On the other hand, they might need a strong wallbreaker to clear the way for a sweeper such as Barbaracle or a cleaner such as Swellow, so they might choose an offensive variant instead. Mesprit also makes a good partner for other Psychic-types if it runs the Calm Mind set, as it can lure checks such as Skuntank and Steelix in and hit them hard with a boosted Hidden Power Ground or Ice Beam. Weather teams also highly appreciate Mesprit's defensive set as a bulky weather setter, being the premier choice for rain teams in particular, while setup sweepers and slow wallbreakers highly appreciate the support that Mesprit can provide with Healing Wish and U-turn. Other pivoting Pokémon such as Lanturn and Scyther can also make good partners, forming a pivot chain that can be difficult for opponents to deal with. Mesprit sets that lack Stealth Rock highly appreciate a different user of the move, such as Steelix or Rhydon, to provide the hazard support necessary to secure KOs.

Get out there!

Ultimately, Mesprit feels much more at home in a tier without its rival Uxie constantly competing with it, and it's one of the most common Pokémon in NU for good reason! Mesprit should almost always be considered regardless of your team structure, either as a valuable teammate or as a threat to be accounted for.

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