|
-
Levitate
- The wielder is immune to Ground-type moves.
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Level 5 Statistics (see level 5, 50, 100)
|
Min- |
Min |
Max |
Max+ |
| HP |
60
|
- |
22 |
25 |
- |
| Atk |
60
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| Def |
60
|
10 |
12 |
15 |
16 |
| SpA |
85
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
| SpD |
85
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
| Spe |
85
|
13 |
15 |
18 |
19 |
Overview
Misdreavus has been the best Ghost-type in Little Cup for as long as it has been LC legal, with 19 Speed, excellent Special Attack, great bulk, and very few flaws. By running Will-O-Wisp and Pain Split, Misdreavus can serve as a defensive backbone, countering most Fighting-types, burning physical attackers with Will-O-Wisp, and tanking special attacks easily with its 60 / 85 special bulk. If it instead chooses to run Nasty Plot, Misdreavus becomes a potent offensive threat with very few counters. Overall, Misdreavus can play a valuable role on almost any team, especially with the prevalence of Fighting-types for it to switch into in Little Cup.
This set forgoes investing heavily in defenses to instead threaten teams with Misdreavus's excellent Special Attack and high Speed. Shadow Ball is Misdreavus's consistent STAB, hitting Psychic- and Ghost-types super effectively. Hidden Power Fighting complements Shadow Ball well with perfect coverage; while Thunderbolt does not provide coverage as well as Hidden Power Fighting, it is more powerful and hits crucial threats like Murkrow and Staryu harder. Nasty Plot boosts Misdreavus's Special Attack to dangerous levels, allowing it to KO most Pokemon in Little Cup in one or two hits. However, Nasty Plot only receives the third moveslot because it is not completely necessary for Misdreavus to pose an offensive threat; it is perfectly viable to run another support or coverage move over Nasty Plot. Will-O-Wisp gives Misdreavus the ability to support its team by burning physical attackers. Weakening its opponents' Attack also helps Misdreavus find opportunities to set up Nasty Plot. Substitute, on the other hand, allows Misdreavus to block status and eases prediction against Sucker Punch users. Eviolite gives Misdreavus staying power, while Life Orb allows Misdreavus to hit hard off the bat. However, with the boost from Nasty Plot, Life Orb is unnecessary, and its recoil is undesirable when combined with Substitute.
Misdreavus can easily set up on a lot of weaker Pokemon, especially defensive special attackers such as Bronzor and Lileep; burned Pokemon such as Croagunk are also setup fodder for Misdreavus. However, this set is not as bulky as defensive Misdreavus, so while it can still provide useful synergy and good natural bulk, teams looking for a more durable pivot should be running the bulkier set instead.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
Similarly to the defensive set, offensive Misdreavus has a lot of other options. Pain Split gives Misdreavus recovery, which is especially helpful with Life Orb. Destiny Bond allows a weakened Misdreavus to take down an opponent with it, while Memento sacrifices Misdreavus for a setup opportunity for a teammate. Shadow Sneak is viable with Life Orb and a Hasty nature, giving Misdreavus priority to hit Abra, opposing Misdreavus, and weakened Choice Scarf wielders. This set is vulnerable to Murkrow, so Porygon is a good partner, checking Murkrow, walling and paralyzing most Choice Scarf users with Thunder Wave, and luring in Fighting-types for Misdreavus to set up on. In general, Misdreavus excels at setting up on weaker defensive Pokemon such as Bronzor and Tentacool, so Pokemon that lure in these weak attackers such as Drilbur and Croagunk make for good partners. Strong physical attackers with 19 Speed or higher such as Ponyta, Murkrow, and Choice Scarf Larvesta can heavily damage Misdreavus; Hippopotas, Chinchou, and Porygon fare well against many of these threats. Porygon itself checks Misdreavus that lack Substitute or Taunt well with Thunder Wave and Shadow Ball; Pokemon that can defeat Porygon, such as Mienfoo and Timburr, are good partners. Shell Smash Tirtouga and Omanyte are popular partners, as Nasty Plot Misdreavus tends to defeat their checks such as Ferroseed and Croagunk, while Tirtouga and Omanyte defeat Murkrow and Houndour.
This set takes advantage of Misdreavus's excellent special bulk and ability to wall physical attacks with the help of Will-O-Wisp. Misdreavus can easily wall many threats in the tier, including the multitude of Fighting-types bar Scraggy and Timburr running Payback. Will-O-Wisp allows Misdreavus to burn physical attackers, cutting their Attack in half to make it much easier to weather their assaults. Will-O-Wisp is also useful for Misdreavus to hit Pokemon such as Porygon that would otherwise wall it; the extra residual damage proves useful in wearing them down. Shadow Ball is reliable STAB, hitting Abra and other Psychic-types hard. Misdreavus can also take a hit from opposing unboosted Misdreavus and Shadow Ball back in a pinch. Hidden Power Fighting provides perfect coverage with Shadow Ball, heavily damaging Steel-types such as Ferroseed and Pawniard. It is recommended to burn Pawniard with Will-O-Wisp first to avoid and weaken Sucker Punch, however. The last moveslot depends on what support is available to Misdreavus from its teammates; Pain Split is useful to grant Misdreavus greater longevity, but is unnecessary with Wish support. Heal Bell, on the other hand, prevents status from crippling Misdreavus and its teammates. However, there are other Heal Bell users available in Little Cup, such as Chinchou, should you opt not to run Heal Bell on Misdreavus.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
This Misdreavus set is best used on teams that would appreciate a Pokemon that can provide defensive support while not being complete dead weight offensively. Teams that prefer an offensive Ghost-type can make better use of Nasty Plot Misdreavus.
Misdreavus has a wide enough movepool to afford it several other options for the fourth moveslot. Psychic allows Misdreavus to do significantly more damage to Timburr, a threat that it otherwise has difficulty checking. Similarly, Thunderbolt hits Staryu, helping Misdreavus to be a more consistent spinblocker. Thunderbolt also has the benefit of OHKOing Murkrow. Taunt allows Misdreavus to stop Pokemon such as Dragon Dance Scraggy from setting up on it. Memento, on the other hand, allows even a weakened Misdreavus to cripple the opponent's offenses, and afford a teammate the chance to set up. Even Shadow Sneak is a potential candidate for the fourth slot, helping Misdreavus beat Abra and offering priority in general; be aware, however, that Shadow Sneak coming from Timid uninvested Misdreavus is extremely weak.
Defensive Misdreavus's role on a lot of teams is spinblocking. Unfortunately, Mold Breaker Drilbur is difficult for Misdreavus to spinblock, as Earthquake 2HKOes; supporting Misdreavus with Flying-types that can force out Drilbur such as Murkrow and Wingull will help Misdreavus be much more effective as a spinblocker. A SubRoost Murkrow on the other team can also prove problematic for Misdreavus, using Substitute to block Will-O-Wisp and threatening a 2HKO with Brave Bird or OHKO with Sucker Punch. Porygon is a good partner for Misdreavus, countering Murkrow as well as other threats that can KO Misdreavus such as opposing Nasty Plot Misdreavus. Porygon also lures in Fighting-types for Misdreavus to counter. Lickitung is also a good partner, having similar synergy with Misdreavus as well as providing Wish support so that Misdreavus does not need to run Pain Split for recovery. Houndour switches in on most of Misdreavus's moves and threatens to KO with Dark Pulse, while Misdreavus cannot OHKO it with Hidden Power Fighting. Porygon, once again, is helpful here, being able to trace Flash Fire and take hits from even Early Bird Houndour. Bulky Water- and Fighting-types like Chinchou and Mienfoo are also effective ways to deal with Houndour. Mienfoo also has the benefit of defeating Scraggy, which can set up against Misdreavus.
When equipped with a Choice Scarf, Misdreavus becomes a powerful and extremely speedy revenge killer. Choice Scarf allows Misdreavus to outspeed even Sandshrew in sand, as well as +2 Tirtouga and Clamperl. Shadow Ball, Hidden Power Fighting, and Thunderbolt give Misdreavus the coverage to revenge such threats as Murkrow, Clamperl, Tirtouga, Gastly, and weakened Scraggy and Misdreavus. Trick allows Misdreavus to defensive Pokemon such as Porygon and Lileep that would otherwise wall it and lets Misdreavus function as an all out offensive attacker.
Team Options & Additional Comments >>>
This set functions chiefly as a revenge killer; it won't be able to break walls or switch into things to counter them as well as Misdreavus's other sets can. As this makes Misdreavus a free switch for a lot of Pokemon, powerful teammates that can take advantage of defensive Pokemon will work well with it. Porygon and Lileep can switch into Misdreavus for free on virtually anything but Trick; Fighting-types like Mienfoo, Timburr, and Scraggy can switch into them and set up. Misdreavus locked into Shadow Ball is easily set up on by opposing Scraggy, so checks to Scraggy such as Mienfoo, Timburr, and Shelmet are useful. Shelmet can also lay down Spikes for Misdreavus to clean up later in the game. Icy Wind can be run as an additional coverage move to slow down threats that Misdreavus cannot KO for its teammates to clean up. In a similar vein, Destiny Bond allows Misdreavus to take out a sweeper it cannot OHKO in a last ditch attempt to end its sweep; however, being locked into Destiny Bond risks allowing the opponent to set up. Choice Scarf Misdreavus is particularly vulnerable to being Pursuit trapped by Pawniard and Houndour, yet another reason that Fighting-types are good teammates.
Other Options
Misdreavus has a ton of support options, such as Taunt, Will-O-Wisp, Pain Split, Substitute, Heal Bell, and Memento, which can be mixed together to provide the support Misdreavus's team needs. A set of Calm Mind, Rest, Sleep Talk, and Shadow Ball is an option, but is not very good due to BW's sleep mechanics; just use Nasty Plot if you want to boost Misdreavus's Special Attack. RestTalk sets in general offer Misdreavus its only recovery outside of Pain Split, but even relying on Wish support is preferable. In using Misdreavus on your team, keep in mind that, thanks to its excellent stats and typing, it will probably do a good job regardless of the moves you put on it!
Checks and Counters
Misdreavus has very few counters. Stunky is one of the only Pokemon that can switch into Misdreavus without being 2HKOed and still be able to threaten it, but Stunky is crippled by Will-O-Wisp and is mediocre in the current metagame anyway. Porygon is probably the best check to Misdreavus; while it is 2HKOed by +2 Hidden Power Fighting, Porygon can Thunder Wave Misdreavus to cripple it and wear it down with Shadow Ball. Houndour can check Misdreavus with Sucker Punch and resists Shadow Ball, but fears Hidden Power Fighting. Murkrow can switch into anything but Will-O-Wisp and Thunderbolt and threaten a OHKO with Sucker Punch or a 2HKO with Brave Bird. Vullaby is bulkier than Murkrow and can Whirlwind Misdreavus away. Lileep is very specially defensive and can Toxic Misdreavus to wear it down; however, Lileep is too weak to do much damage in any other fashion. However, it is not always necessary to pack a dedicated counter to Misdreavus. Most teams that have Misdreavus rely on it to take attacks from common Fighting-types and other threats in the tier, but as Misdreavus lacks recovery, it can often be worn down by Stealth Rock, U-Turns, Hail, or Sandstorm until it eventually reaches low enough health to be picked off by Choice Scarf users or priority. Pokemon such as Knock Off Mienfoo can lure in Misdreavus and Knock Off its Eviolite to help wear it down; every bit of chip damage against Misdreavus will help to defeat it.
