The #1 special wall in the game has had to reinvent itself slightly to keep up with DPP's new special threats. The general idea is to switch in, use Wish and then Protect to mimic the effects of Softboiled. The advantages are that Protect allows you to waste more turns for PP stalling and Toxic damage, and Wish can be passed to other members of your team. Additionally, Wish can be used preemptively (with more than half of your HP intact, even at full health), allowing Blissey to attack on the next turn without having to worry about losing a large chunk of health. The Wish / Protect combination is all the more appealing on Blissey in DPP thanks to the popularity of Choice item users. The silver lining to this set resides in the fantastic safety net Protect casts over Blissey. At any point over around 50% HP, WishBliss will not be threatened by Choice-boosted Pursuit from Pokémon like Tyranitar, Scizor, and Heracross simply because of Protect. Blissey can use Protect to scout the foe's attack, and then either switch or stay in depending on what attack the opponent is locked into. If your opponent use Pursuit, Blissey will be Protected and can stay in and Wish the next turn while taking a 40 base power Pursuit assured to do less than 35% to her (assuming the threat stays in, which it may not), then follow up with Protect on the subsequent turn to guarantee the 50% HP recovery. If they attack straight up with one of their powerful STAB moves, you're more than free to switch out to the appropriate counter with which your team should be equipped anyway. This matchup becomes even more attractive when you factor in the possibility that the above Pursuit threats could likely have switched into a Wish in the first place. Remember though, this strategy, like most, can be used against you if you rely too heavily upon it. Consider a Tyranitar heads-up against a Blissey that used Wish on the switch. Tyranitar uses Crunch as Blissey Protects, and then switches out of the full health Blissey to which it no longer poses such a large threat. But later, when Tyranitar is heads-up against the same Blissey, it uses a dangerous Dragon Dance as Blissey, who assumes that Tyranitar is of the Choice Band variety, naively uses Protect. There are a number of Pokémon who can play similar tricks (e.g. Swords Dance Scizor, Mixed Salamence), so it is important to keep this in mind when using Protect. Although it may seem strange to use two healing moves on the same set, Softboiled has a number of advantages over Protect, not the least of which is PP stalling. Wish only has 16 PP, so if you are involved in a long, drawn-out stall battle, Wish can get worn down as you try to heal both Blissey and its teammates with only one move. If Blissey also has Softboiled, it can heal itself with that and rely on Wish to heal its teammates. Another disadvantage of Protect is that with Wish + Protect as Blissey's only method of healing, a special attacker could hit Blissey as it switches in, then go to a big threat like Tyranitar as Blissey uses Wish. If Blissey stays in to get healed, it risks letting Tyranitar use Dragon Dance. If Blissey switches out, then it hasn't gained any HP. This cycle can continue throughout the battle, thus preventing you from ever healing your Blissey and potentially opening you up to a special sweep. Softboiled has another minor benefit: if you are using Blissey in Hail or a Sandstorm, then Blissey will be KOed by the weather if it is knocked below 6.25% HP. If it uses Wish on that turn, Blissey will be knocked out by the foul weather before it gets a chance to heal itself. Toxic is a great move on this set regardless of whether you choose Protect or Softboiled: either way, you have two moves to use that aid in stalling. As you are sitting around healing yourself, you will not really be doing anything aside from PP stalling. If you hit your foe with Toxic first, then they will be losing HP while you stall with recovery moves. Toxic is a good move even if you have Toxic Spikes down, as Toxic is this Blissey's only chance to take down Togekiss. It also helps to hit threats like Gyarados on the switch. For the attack, Flamethrower is Blissey's best bet. You definitely want Blissey to have the ability to hit Gengar, so your choices are narrowed down to Flamethrower, Ice Beam, or Thunderbolt just from that. From there, Flamethrower is the primary choice since it hits nearly every Pokémon that is immune to Toxic for super effective damage. It also helps cover Heracross and Scizor, which both like to switch in on Blissey's Toxic. Even though Heatran is immune to both Flamethrower and Toxic, it usually holds Choice Scarf, and can easily be PP stalled or used to pass Wish to a teammate. Ice Beam helps Blissey deal with Mixed Salamence (the Choice Specs version isn't going to get through Blissey regardless) and keeps Dugtrio away, assuming Toxic is not an option; Thunderbolt stops Gyarados from setting up and still hits Skarmory and other Steels for moderate damage. If your team demands extra coverage from Blissey, you can drop Blissey's Toxic or Protect / Softboiled for Seismic Toss or another elemental attack.
The idea behind this set is fairly straightforward: switch in on a special attacker, relieve your team of any status ailments, and switch right back out in the face of the physical threat which will likely replace the harmless special attacker. The fast-paced nature of competitive DPP play makes the use of the Cleric Blissey a potential liability, so exercise extreme caution in its use. If one of your Pokémon is afflicted with status and you send out Blissey, it is somewhat predictable that you will use Aromatherapy, giving a physical sweeper a free switch-in, so Ice Beam or Thunder Wave is often a better move to use on the switch. The more you know about your opponent's team the better, as you would want to use Ice Beam if you expect Salamence or a Ground-type to be switching in, and Thunder Wave if you expect that Weavile, Metagross, or some other sweeper will switch in. If you use Thunder Wave, you could just rely on that to cripple Gengar and Rotom-A for another Pokémon to take them out, and use Seismic Toss as Blissey's sole attack. However, Gengar and Rotom-A frequently use Substitute and Rest, respectively, so if you are using Seismic Toss you should be sure that another Pokémon on your team can handle these threats. If you want, you could even drop your status for another attack, but status is by far the most generally useful choice.
This is the Blissey to use if you want to spread status around and not be limited in your attacking options. You can spread any one of three statuses and still have your attacking duo of choice. Any of Flamethrower, Thunderbolt, Ice Beam, Seismic Toss, Hidden Power Ground, and even Grass Knot can be used in the first two slots, depending on what you want your Blissey to threaten/counter. If you use Thunder Wave, you will almost certainly want to use Ice Beam with it. You hit all those Ground-types that think they can safely ignore your chosen status, such as Gliscor, Hippowdon, and friends. Sing makes it harder for many of the Pokémon that feel Blissey is mere "set-up fodder" to come in safely, making Blissey somewhat of a threat, which is always a good thing. If you use Sing, it would be useful to raise your Speed a bit to be faster than enemy Blissey so you can Sing before they heal themselves or their team.
This set utilizes the ever-popular "BoltBeam" combination in conjunction with Calm Mind and a recovery move to pose a considerable threat to anyone who isn't expecting it. Serene Grace works fantastically with this particular set, as a 20% chance of freezing isn't really "hax" at all when you think about it, but Natural Cure is still helpful to rid Blissey of status, Toxic poison in particular. You'll probably want to Calm Mind just once before launching an attack, though, since you may have the benefit of Serene Grace on your side and you won't be able to Calm Mind up as easily as something like Suicune and its fantastic initial defenses. Bold and Modest are both good choices. Modest gives you a chance to OHKO a Gyarados that doesn't invest in HP EVs. 252 Special Attack with Modest also gives you an 87% chance to break 4 HP Raikou's Substitutes, assuming you have the same number of Calm Minds. This prevents it from really setting up against you and trying to Pressure stall, as this means it will only be able to Substitute 5-6 times on average, wasting only 10-12 of your 16 Ice Beam PP. After you Calm Mind a few times, however, the increased Defense of Bold will pay off more, so the question of Bold vs. Modest is really a question of how many Calm Minds you think you'll be able to get in before you are forced to attack. In fact, you can even lower your Special Attack even more and invest in HP EVs if you want even more physical survivability. You can use a few other special attacks, such as Flamethrower, over either of those two. Serene Grace is a great option with Flamethrower, as the increased burn chance can save Blissey's hide sometimes.
With Charm, you're going to be forcing more switches than usual, so you may want to take advantage of Stealth Rock, Spikes, or both. Ideally, you may want to use Charm Blissey like this: switch into a special attacker, Charm the incoming physical attacker (hopefully not the Clear Body Metagross), and Light Screen as the probably physical attacker switches out, racking up potential Stealth Rock / Spikes Damage with every switch. Light Screen makes Blissey a real team player, and works very well with Charm.
Even with incredible walls such as Giratina and Lugia in the Uber tier, Blissey is still the number one special wall to use. Blissey is the only Pokémon in Ubers that can wall such a wide variety of special threats, such as Latias, Latios (as long as it lacks Refresh or Safeguard), Palkia, Dialga (provided they aren’t mixed), and Calm Mind Lugia. As far as attacking options go, Seismic Toss is generally the most reliable as it will do a decent amount of damage to Pokémon like Kyogre and Latias who would otherwise laugh at Ice Beam. Seismic Toss also allows Blissey to have a better chance of beating Mewtwo that have Calm Mind and Taunt, which Ice Beam can not accomplish. Ice Beam is still a good option though, as three common Blissey switch-ins (Groudon, Garchomp, and Rayquaza) are hit super effectively by it. With 84 SpA EVs, Garchomp takes a massive 76.19% - 90.76% from Ice Beam when it switches in, while a 0 HP / 4 SpD Rayquaza will be OHKOed after switching into Stealth Rock. In emergencies, you can leave Blissey in on Rayquaza, because the opponent may attempt to set up a Dragon Dance or Swords Dance. When using Seismic Toss, use the EV spread 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD, as there is no reason to invest in Special Attack when using it. Toxic complements this set well, as the combination of Protect and Wish can very easily stall Pokémon to death. Toxic is a good choice to use if you predict the opponent is going to switch, as several threats to Blissey (Kyogre, Darkrai, and Giratina-O) become much easier to handle when badly poisoned. Thunder Wave can be used over Toxic, but make sure you use it only with Seismic Toss. This is because without Seismic Toss or Toxic, Latias can set up Calm Minds with no problem and eventually KO Blissey. Although not recommend due to moveslot competition, Heal Bell can be used over Protect if your team needs both a status releaver and a user of Wish. Blissey is one of the few viable Wish passers in the Uber tier, thus many good teammates for Blissey are simply Pokémon that greatly appreciate Wish. A perfect example of this is Choice Specs Kyogre. While Choice Specs Kyogre is an insanely powerful wall breaker, Water Spout's power will unfortunately decrease as Kyogre's HP diminishes. With Blissey's Wish, Kyogre can have a chance to have an extremely powerful Water Spout again. In a similar manner, Choice Scarf Kyogre will also love Wish. Wobbuffet is another Pokémon that greatly benefits from Wish support. It, while being bulky, will usually only be able to revenge kill one Pokémon per match. With Blissey's Wish, Wobbuffet will be able to stay in battle for a much longer period of time, thus making it much more difficult for the opponent to handle. Another Pokemon that benefits from Blissey's Wish is Forretress. This will allow Forretress to take more powerful hits from the likes of Garchomp, allowing it to have more time to set up Spikes and Toxic Spikes. Finally, a defensive support Groudon will have a much easier time dealing with Lucario and Rayquaza thanks to Blissey's Wish support; as well as support Dialga having an easier time dealing with Palkia and Kyogre. While Blissey may still be the queen of special walling in Ubers, some of the special attackers of Ubers are so powerful that they can break through her. A good example of this is Kyogre, which has several sets that can make Blissey run for cover. Choice Specs Kyogre is so absurdly powerful that it can 2HKO Blissey with Water Spout, as long as it has at least 80% of its health. Kyogre can also use 252 HP EVs to make 101 HP Substitutes, which means that it can set up Calm Mind while Blissey is forced to use Seismic Toss twice to break the Substitutes. After three Calm Minds, a Modest Kyogre will always 2HKO Blissey with Surf, even when accounting for Leftovers recovery. Finally, Kyogre may carry the combination of Sleep Talk and Rest to either set up Calm Mind on Blissey or to outstall her. To solve the problems Blissey has with Kyogre, Latias should always be considered. Latias can switch into Choice Specs Kyogre's Water Spout, and use Thunder to weaken its power by reducing Kyogre's HP. Latias can use Calm Mind as the other Kyogre variants attempt to set up, and will usually beat it. The combination of Latias and Blissey will wall every single Kyogre set, making Latias an excellent teammate for Wish Blissey. Palkia is another good option if you only need a Pokémon to beat Choice Specs Kyogre. Something to note is that once Kyogre has switched into Stealth Rock twice, it will no longer be able to 2HKO Blissey with a Choice Specs Water Spout, thus Blissey will be able to wall it with ease as long as there are no critical hits. Manaphy can also cause serious issues for Blissey when it’s raining. It will be immune to status and can set up Tail Glow or Rest off the damage it has taken and wake up immediately afterwards, thanks to its ability, Hydration. After two Tail Glows and Life Orb, Manaphy will always 2HKO Blissey with Surf. To beat Manaphy, Latias once again makes an excellent teammate, as it OHKOes it with Thunder after Stealth Rock and will win a Calm Mind war if Manaphy attempts that. Nasty Plot Darkrai can cause some serious problems for Blissey. After one use of Nasty Plot, Darkrai will 2HKO Blissey with Focus Blast. To make matters even worse, Darkrai can carry Substitute to block Thunder Wave and Toxic. It can also put Blissey to sleep with Dark Void, not only giving it the opportunity to set up, but also dealing damage with its ability, Bad Dreams. Generally, the best way to deal with Darkrai is to predict a Dark Void and send in a sleep absorber (usually carrying Sleep Talk, but this is not required). Then, switch to a Pokémon that can revenge kill Darkrai (such as Life Orb Mewtwo, Choice Scarf Palkia, Choice Specs Shaymin-S, etc.). Something to note is if a Choice Scarf Darkrai switches into Blissey, it is likely that it is carrying Trick, thus it is best to switch to a Choice Scarf user of your own or a Pokémon that does not mind being Tricked with a Choice Scarf. Mewtwo can also pose a problem for Blissey, due to Taunt and Substitute. Mewtwo can make 101 HP Substitutes and use Calm Mind to beat Blissey in a similar way Kyogre can. It also has the option of using Taunt and Recover to PP stall Blissey, thanks to Pressure. In a similar manner, Mew can Taunt Blissey and use the time to set up and Baton Pass to a powerful Pokémon such as Groudon. To stop Substitute Mewtwo and Baton Pass Mew, Scizor makes an excellent choice. Mewtwo can be hit hard by Pursuit even if it stays in, while Mew will get its Reflect and Light Screen broken by Brick Break and be OHKOed by U-turn. Choice Specs Kyogre also works well, as it can switch into a defensive Mewtwo with ease and threaten to OHKO with Water Spout, while Mew will take massive damage. Another problem for Blissey is Giratina as it can easily outstall Blissey due to its Pressure ability and Ghost-typing. Giratina can also use a combination of Sleep Talk, Rest, and Calm Mind to set up on Blissey. Although it’s very rare, Latias and Latios can beat Blissey in a similar manner with Calm Mind, Recover, and either Refresh or Safeguard. Generally, the best answer to Giratina is Bulk Up Dialga. Dialga can easily set up Bulk Up as Giratina uses Will-O-Wisp and then use Rest to restore its health. After three uses of Bulk Up, Dialga will always OHKO Giratina with Outrage. For Calm Mind Giratina, Tyranitar can switch in and cause a serious amount of damage with a Choice Banded Crunch. For Latias and Latios, Tyranitar, Scizor, and Metagross can penetrate them with Pursuit or their powerful STAB attacks. If Giratina-O switches in on any move but Thunder Wave or Toxic, it can pose a serious threat to not only Blissey, but also to the rest of the team. Blissey will have a difficult time breaking Giratina-O's Substitutes with Ice Beam. If it uses Calm Mind, Blissey will no longer be able to break Giratina-O's Substitute, meaning that Giratina-O can continue to set up Calm Mind. After four uses of Calm Mind, Giratina-O is able to 2HKO Blissey with Dragon Pulse, and then threaten to sweep the rest of your team. To solve this issue, it is advisable to use a Careful Forretress with Light Screen and Payback. Forretress can switch into Giratina-O, use Light Screen to minimize the damage it takes, and then 4HKO Giratina-O with Payback. It is also a huge help to Blissey, due to Toxic Spikes. When Forretress sets up two layers of Toxic Spikes, several big threats to Blissey, such as Darkrai, Choice Specs Kyogre, and Substitute Mewtwo, will become much easier to handle due to the constant damage from poison. If Forretress does not fit on your team, it is best to use Tyranitar, whose combination of Crunch and Sand Stream will make Giratina-O's life short. If Shaymin-S is using a Modest nature and Choice Specs, it can 2HKO Blissey with Seed Flare if it gets a Special Defense drop. Choice Scarf Dialga, Choice Scarf Heatran, Choice Scarf Jirachi, and Choice Scarf Metagross are capable of switching into a Choice Specs Seed Flare, and can OHKO Shaymin-S with Draco Meteor (Dialga), Fire Blast (Dialga and Heatran), or Ice Punch (Jirachi and Metagross). Be warned, Choice Scarf Jirachi and Choice Scarf Metagross will still take a siginifcant amount of damage from repeated switch-ins to Seed Flare, despite their resistance. Skarmory can take a Seed Flare due to its 4x resistance, and Whirlwind Shaymin-S away. Choice Band Scizor can also switch into Seed Flare, and threaten to 2HKO it with Bullet Punch. Latias and Lugia can survive two Seed Flares (although it will do a severe amount of damage to both if it gets a Special Defense drop), and threaten to OHKO Shaymin-S with Dragon Pulse and Ice Beam respectively after taking Stealth Rock damage. While Leftovers is generally the preferred option, Shed Shell is a very viable alternative in Ubers because of Wobbuffet. Wobbuffet can switch into Blissey, trap it, and use a combination of Tickle and Encore several times. After Wobbuffet is done Tickling Blissey, the opponent can switch to Scizor or Tyranitar to eliminate Blissey with Pursuit. Due to Wobbuffet's ability, Shadow Tag, this is completely unavoidable without the use of Shed Shell. Blissey can also become set up bait for Wobbuffet, which is very undesirable with the powerful sweepers roaming around in the Uber tier.
This set is very similar to Wish Blissey, but it forgoes the supportive nature of Wish and Protect in exchange for Softboiled, which frees up an extra moveslot for Blissey. The best two moves for this moveslot are Ice Beam or Aromatherapy. With the EV spread above, Blissey's Ice Beam is able to OHKO Rayquaza with 4 Special Defense EVs 100% of the time after it takes Stealth Rock damage, thus making Blissey an effective Rayquaza lure. Aromatherapy can be especially useful in Ubers for a number of reasons. Thunder is one of the most common moves used in the Uber tier, and with it comes a 30% chance of paralysis which can ruin the many sweepers of the tier. Darkrai is also a huge threat in Ubers, and can often cripple a Pokémon for the entire match with Dark Void due to the fast paced nature of Ubers. With that being said, many of Aromatherapy Blissey's best teammates are powerful or game changing Pokémon that are very vulnerable to status effects. A good example of this is Wobbuffet. When Wobbuffet is using Encore to either destroy a wall with the Tickle + Pursuit user combination, or just trying to set up a sweeper, Wobbuffet will often get hit by Toxic or Will-O-Wisp, cutting down its survivability. Blissey's Aromatherapy can remove Wobbuffet's status affliction, allowing Wobbuffet to do its job of removing Choice Scarf Pokémon more easily. Another good teammate is a Quiet mixed Dialga. While mixed Dialga will easily destroy Giratina with Draco Meteor, Giratina can use Will-O-Wisp to destroy Dialga's chances of breaking through Latias and Blissey. With your own Blissey's Aromatherapy, Dialga can once again be a powerful wall breaker. Finally, Lugia works very well with this particular Blissey. This is because Lugia, when trying to beat Groudon, can often be hit by Thunder Wave and Toxic, meaning it will be unable to harm the team with the combination of Whirlwind and entry hazards for much longer. Thanks to Blissey's Aromatherapy, Lugia can once again wear down teams with Whirlwind. Generally, Aromatherapy Blissey does very well with sweepers that can be crippled by Paralysis and Burn. This set will generally have the same issues Wish Blissey has, so refer to Wish Blissey's team options for how to beat its special attacking enemies.
With a few adjustments, Calm Mind Blissey can work very well in Ubers. Once again, Blissey should use a Calm Nature with an EV spread of 252 Def / 84 SpA / 172 SpD to OHKO Rayquaza with Ice Beam after it switches into Stealth Rock. Thunder should also be used in place of Thunderbolt, mainly due to its use with the rain support Kyogre gives Blissey, making Thunder 100% accurate, and a powerful attack that has a 30% chance to induce paralysis. While Serene Grace is most certainly a worthy option (especially with a 60% chance of paralysis with Thunder), Natural Cure is usually preferred because without it, Blissey will be crippled by Toxic. One of the biggest selling points of Calm Mind Blissey in Ubers is the ability to beat certain threats that Wish Blissey and Aromatherapy Blissey would normally lose to. For example, Calm Mind Blissey can boost against Giratina-O and eventually destroy it with Ice Beam. Another good example is Choice Specs Kyogre. If Kyogre switches on Blissey as it uses Calm Mind, Kyogre will be 2HKOed by Thunder after Stealth Rock. Thus, Kyogre will no longer pose a threat to Blissey with its weakened Water Spout. It will also beat Calm Mind and Substitute Kyogre by Calm Minding along with it, while Blissey being able to easily recover its health and beat Kyogre with Thunder. Giratina that lack Calm Mind are also beaten by Calm Mind Blissey, because Giratina's Dragon Claw will only do 31% max to Blissey (even Outrage only does 46% maximum). However, Blissey requires three Calm Minds to 2HKO a 248 HP / 8 SpD Giratina. If Manaphy switches in on Blissey it will also lose. This is because Blissey can use Calm Mind as Manaphy sets up Tail Glow. Even a +6 Manaphy will be unable to 2HKO Blissey with Surf in the rain after Blissey has used Calm Mind three times. Meanwhile, a +3 Blissey will be able to OHKO Manaphy with Thunder. Substitute Mewtwo with Calm Mind and Latias or Latios with Calm Mind and Refresh or Safeguard will lose to Blissey in a way like Calm Mind Kyogre. Calm Mind Blissey will struggle with Calm Mind Kyogre and Calm Mind Giratina that have Rest and Sleep Talk, as they will be able to outstall Blissey unless it gets a critical hit. Additionally, any Pokémon that has Roar or Whirlwind along with Calm Mind can phaze Blissey away, and threaten to sweep. The best example of this is Calm Mind Lugia. To foil Kyogre's plans, once again Latias is easily the best answer, as Kyogre will do little damage to Latias with Surf, while Latias has no problems setting up Calm Mind on it. For Calm Mind Giratina, Bulk Up Dialga can switch in. While a +4 Dragon Pulse will do massive damage to Dialga, a +3 Outrage will always OHKO Giratina. Choice Band Dialga can also beat it with Outrage. Choice Band Tyranitar will also receive minimal damage thanks to the Special Defense boost Sandstream grants it, and can inflict large amounts of damage to Giratina with a Choice Banded Crunch. Tyranitar can also Taunt both Lugia and Giratina and threaten to set up a sweep with Dragon Dance. Support Dialga can also take care of Calm Mind Lugia by crippling it with Toxic. Finally, Mewtwo that have Taunt and Calm Mind can easily set up on Blissey. Metagross and Scizor can usually deal with this variant of Mewtwo, as they often lack Fire attacks. Psych Up can go over Calm Mind and has several pros and cons. With Psych Up, Blissey can copy stat boosts from Kyogre or Latias that have gotten a large amount of Calm Minds and stop their sweep. However, this comes at the cost of losing to Choice Specs Kyogre, Giratina, and Tail Glow Manaphy in the rain. To beat Kyogre and Manaphy, Latias is once again the best choice, while Bulk Up Dialga or Choice Specs Dialga will annihilate Giratina. As always, Shed Shell is a very viable option as it allows Blissey to escape death by Wobbuffet. Team OptionsUbersWhen using Blissey in Ubers, Forretress should always be considered for the purpose of laying down Toxic Spikes and Spikes. This is because Blissey will force a lot of switches on the opponent’s side due to many Uber Pokémon focusing on special attacks. Toxic Spikes in particular are a huge help to Blissey, as they will wear down Pokémon such as Choice Specs Kyogre, Mewtwo, Garchomp, and Groudon; all of which are problems for Blissey. Stealth Rock can also be useful for the same reasons. Although Blissey can use Stealth Rock herself, it is better to have other Pokemon do this for her. Dialga and Groudon are good examples of this. Deoxys-S and Deoxys-D can also use Spikes that Blissey can benefit from. This can be useful because once Spikes and Stealth Rock are layed, Choice Specs Kyogre can no longer break through Blissey. Many teams rely on revenge killing their opponents with powerful special attacks in order to deal with certain threats. For example, many teams count on Choice Scarf Palkia to OHKO Darkrai with Draco Meteor. Blissey can work very well with Darkrai in this case. She can easily switch into the incoming Draco Meteor and use the time to either status the next switch-in or switch to another Pokémon that takes advantage of an incoming physical attacker . In a similar manner, Blissey can also partner well with Garchomp, Rayquaza, and Groudon. Many teams use Lugia to stop all three, and Blissey has no problems with switching into Lugia’s Ice Beam. Blissey can then threaten to cripple it or the next switch-in with Toxic. Much like OU, Blissey’s biggest problem in Ubers are powerful physical attackers that can take advantage of Blissey’s meager base 10 Defense. Garchomp can switch into Blissey while it is using anything but Toxic and Ice Beam, and threaten to do a huge amount of damage with STAB Outrage. Groudon can also switch in and threaten to do huge amounts of damage with STAB Earthquake. Rayquaza, although loathing Thunder Wave and being KOed by Ice Beam, can threaten to either OHKO Blissey with Outrage or set up a sweep. Although most commonly seen as a special attacker, Dialga may use Bulk Up which causes some serious problems for Blissey. Finally, several threats in OU, such as Scizor, Tyranitar, Metagross, and Lucario, are still big issues for Blissey in Ubers. Lugia can make an excellent teammate because of these threats. It can handle Rayquaza, Bulk Up Dialga, Groudon, Metagross, Lucario, and Scizor thanks to its wonderful Defense stat and can OHKO Rayquaza with Ice Beam after it switches into Stealth Rock. Lugia can use Reflect and Whirlwind to keep the other physical attackers at bay. Reflect itself can aid Blissey in taking U-turn from Scizor and will let her survive Pursuit from Pokémon such as Metagross and Tyranitar as well. Be warned though, while Bold Lugia can handle Choice Scarf Garchomp, it will have trouble dealing with Swords Dance Garchomp. If Swords Dance Garchomp is particularly troubling for your team, make sure Lugia is Timid with an EV spread of 252 HP / 66 Def / 192 Spe. This allows Lugia to outspeed a Jolly Garchomp, and set up Reflect before Garchomp can destroy Lugia with a boosted Stone Edge. Groudon is another great teammate for Blissey. Groudon, with its massive Attack and Defense stats, will easily scare off Tyranitar and Metagross with STAB Earthquake. When using an Impish Groudon, Lucario will fail to OHKO it with a +2 Close Combat, while Groudon will easily OHKO back with Earthquake. Finally, Groudon can deal massive damage to Bulk Up Dialga with STAB, super effective Earthquake. Giratina is another good choice as a teammate for Blissey. Giratina can use Will-O-Wisp on Metagross, Scizor, Groudon and Lucario, ruining their ability to sweep. Much like OU, Skarmory is still an excellent partner for Blissey in Ubers. Skarmory can switch into Garchomp, Scizor, Metagross, and Groudon that lack Fire Punch, and set up Spikes. If any of these foes dare to set up, Skarmory can easily use Whirlwind to make their efforts futile. If one would prefer a more offensive way to deal with these threats, Choice Scarf Shaymin-S can outpace Groudon even after it uses Rock Polish and OHKO it with Seed Flare. Choice Scarf Dialga can revenge kill Swords Dance Rayquaza, Lucario, and Choice Band Garchomp, while Choice Scarf Palkia can revenge kill Dragon Dance Rayquaza. Choice Scarf Jirachi is able to destroy and outrun any Rayquaza due to its 100 base Speed, and can use its Steel-typing to switch in and OHKO Rayquaza with Ice Punch. Choice Scarf Jirachi can also cripple Wobbuffet switch-ins by Tricking them with a Choice Scarf. Blissey despises users of Leech Seed. The three main users of Leech Seed to watch out for in Ubers are Ludicolo, Jumpluff, and Shaymin-S. Ludicolo can use its Rain Dish ability to restore even more health, Jumpluff can use its Speed to Encore Blissey’s non-attacking moves, and Shaymin-S can threaten to flinch Blissey with Air Slash. The best way to deal with Jumpluff is to use Scizor. Scizor can use U-turn after Jumpluff uses Leech Seed, and then you can switch to Lugia to Ice Beam it. Ludicolo, if lacking Surf, can be set up on by Forretress. You can then use a phazer such as Lugia or Skarmory to force a switch, meaning Ludicolo will be crippled by Toxic Spikes on the next switch-in. Finally, Shaymin-S should be dealt with by Choice Scarf Dialga, who sports a 4x resistance to Seed Flare, and can OHKO Shaymin-S with Draco Meteor. Choice Scarf Jirachi is also capable of revenge killing Shaymin-S with Ice Punch. Lugia and Skarmory can also Whirlwind Shaymin-S away, forcing it to take more damage from Stealth Rock on the next switch-in. In the Uber tier, many special attackers such as Mewtwo, Darkrai, Palkia, Dialga, and Giratina-O will use mixed sets with the main purpose of beating Blissey. A good strategy against this is to use Protect while these Pokémon attempt to beat Blissey, which can reveal whether they are mixed or not. Mixed Darkrai will be effectively handled by Forretress and Scizor if it lacks Hidden Power Fire, while Darkrai that lack Thunder will be destroyed by Kyogre. Palkia can be much more difficult to handle, as it has no true counter. It not only has the capability of using normal mixed sets, but it can also use the combination of Substitute and Focus Punch to destroy Blissey. If Palkia attempts to use Aqua Tail on Blissey, you can switch Latias into it, and threaten to OHKO Palkia with Dragon Pulse. Be warned though, as Palkia may also carry Outrage with the purpose of destroying Latias switch-ins. Garchomp, although unable to switch into Palkia, is able to revenge kill it. A Choice Scarf Metagross can switch into Palkia’s physical assaults and then use Explosion on it. Mixed Dialga can also pose a threat for Blissey, because either Outrage or Brick Break can 2HKO it. Groudon can switch into Dialga’s Outrage or Brick Break, and threaten devastation with Earthquake. Mixed Giratina-O is generally beaten by Scizor if it's raining, as then Hidden Power Fire will not OHKO Scizor, while Scizor can wear down Giratina-O with Pursuit and Roost. Mewtwo can be particularly difficult to beat if it is running a mixed set, because Mewtwo can use Selfdestruct to destroy one of your Pokémon. Usually, the best option against Mewtwo beyond Toxic Spikes is to use a faster Pokémon (such as Choice Scarf Darkrai, Choice Scarf Palkia, etc.) to kill Mewtwo before it kills you. Other OptionsOUGrass Knot might seem like a great pairing with Flamethrower on the Calm Mind set until you realize that most of its targets are either beaten just as well (or better) by Thunderbolt or are too threatening to let you Calm Mind up against them (Tyranitar). In the case of Tyranitar, you are better off just spamming Serene Grace Flamethrower at it when it switches in and hoping for a burn. Focus Blast can do fatal damage to Weavile and surprise an incoming Lucario and Tyranitar, but the accuracy is not very reliable. Hidden Power Flying hurts Fighting-types trying to switch in, particularly Heracross and Infernape. As mentioned previously, Hidden Power Ground is another good attack when paired with Flamethrower, as it hits Infernape and Heatran, primarily, but also wears down guys like Tentacruel. It also does enough damage to break Jolteon's Substitute. Counter may work, especially against Pokémon like Weavile and Tyranitar who think you're switching and are using a Pursuit that will in actuality only have 40 base power, which will do a paltry 34% maximum from Tyranitar and 29% max from Weavile but will OHKO both. At the very least (min damage from Choice Band, 339 Attack Jolly Weavile), Blissey takes 169 HP damage, which will still OHKO Weavile (201 min damage will OHKO standard 405 max Attack Tyranitar). Blissey learns Stealth Rock, but she generally has much better things to do with her time and moveslots. Blissey makes good use of Charge Beam with Softboiled and two other special attacks as a more diverse version of the Calm Minder. You can use Snatch to counter enemy stat-up Pokémon. UbersBlissey has a bundle of other support moves for use in Ubers. She is one of the few usable Pokémon in Ubers that has access to Stealth Rock. While Blissey is often better off using other support moves besides Stealth Rock, it is a viable move if no other Pokemon on your team can set it up. Light Screen may seem like an odd choice on Blissey, but it can be helpful for not only support the rest of your team, but will also make sure that Choice Specs Kyogre will no longer be able to 2HKO Blissey while Light Screen lasts. Blissey can use Sing to put would be counters to sleep, but note that Sing only has a 55% chance of hitting the opponent. Snatch can be used to steal Reflects, Light Screens, stat ups, and other support moves, but many users of such moves such as Mewtwo can easily use Taunt to shut down that strategy, in addition to Blissey often being better off using Calm Mind herself rather then stealing Calm Minds. Rest is almost always an inferior option to Softboiled or Wish, but it can work well with Natural Cure, allowing Blissey to be relativity unharmed by Toxic Spikes, and will allow Blissey to outstall opposing Blissey. Blissey can use Block to trap Wobbuffet switch-ins, and then use Toxic to slowly stall Wobbuffet to death. Copy Cat may seem like a strange option on Blissey, but it can be useful in certain situations. For example, it can allow Blissey to use Spikes or Toxic Spikes on Forretress as it uses them. If Forretress attempts to Rapid Spin, you can either roast it with Flamethrower (provided that its sunny), or Copy Cat Rapid Spin to get rid of the opponents entry hazards. Copy Cat can also allow Blissey to defeat Calm Mind Giratina-O and Calm Mind Kyogre that lack Rest. Note, however, that Copy Cat is illegal with Seismic Toss and Wish. Charm can be used to soften physical attackers attempting to prey on Blissey after a switch-in. Due to Charm, mixed Palkia (barring a Focus Punch) and Dialga will no longer be able to get past Blissey beyond scoring a critical hit, while Groudon and Garchomp will only have a small chance to 2HKO Blissey with a Choice Banded Earthquake and Outrage respectively. Note that both Garchomp and Groudon have access to Swords Dance, thus it is best to still have Pokemon that can defeat both. While an Adamant Life Orb Rayquaza can still 2HKO Blissey with Outrage after being hit by Charm, you can OHKO Rayquaza with Ice Beam after it switches into Stealth Rock and Charm (provided you have 84 SpA EVs), allowing Blissey to defeat a Pokemon that she is normally greatly troubled by. Charm also has the potential to cause a large amount of switches, thus it is best to pair Charm Blissey with users of entry hazards. Note that both Wish and Seismic Toss are illegal to use with Charm. Blissey has access to Gravity. Gravity will allow both Groudon and Garchomp to freely use Earthquake and a 100% accurate Stone Edge, as Gravity eliminates the immunity Flying-type Pokemon and Pokemon with the Levitate ability for five turns. Gravity will also eliminate the immunity floating Pokemon have to Spikes and Toxic Spikes, meaning that Gravity Blissey will greatly benefit Forretress and Skarmory's Spikes (and Toxic Spikes in Forretress' case) laying abilities. Finally, Gravity will lower the evasion of all Pokemon by 2 stages, meaning that any move that has at least 60% accuracy will always hit. This is especially great for Darkrai, who must often use the 70% accurate Focus Blast and the 80% accurate Dark Void. Calm Mind Mewtwo with Life Orb will also enjoy the effects of Gravity, as it allows Life Orb Mewtwo to safely use Focus Blast, which will always 2HKO opposing Blissey after one use of Calm Mind. Garchomp not only benefits from an Earthquake that hits all Pokemon, it also enjoys the evasion cut as well. This is because the usually unreliable Dragon Rush becomes viable on Garchomp under Gravity, meaning that it will have access to a STAB 100 Base Power Dragon-type attack that has a 20% chance to flinch. Blissey's Sing will also hit 92% of the time under Gravity. There is one potentially fatal flaw with Gravity, and it is that the opponent can also take advantage of Gravity's effects. This will make Groudon and Garchomp particularly difficult to handle, thus it is best to either destroy them before using Gravity. Blissey has some alternate attacks at its disposal that can be useful in certain situations. When under the support of Groudon's everlasting sun, Flamethrower becomes a viable option to KO or cripple several common Steel-types that may switch into Blissey. Forretress is always OHKOed by Flamethrower after Stealth Rock, while only extremely specially defensive Scizor will survive Flamethrower after Stealth Rock damage. Blissey's Flamethrower will do a massive 76% - 90% to Lucario in the sun, while Metagross is always 2HKOed after Stealth Rock damage. Grass Knot may normally be an inferior option to Thunder on Calm Mind , but it has two main selling points. Grass Knot is always a 100% accurate attack, regardless of the weather, which is particularly useful considering the fact that many Ubers are heavy enough to be hit by a 120 Base Power Grass Knot. Secondly, Groudon is hit quite hard by it. Finally, Counter can be a good option on Blissey, even in Ubers. Several Pokemon, such as Palkia and Dialga, will use mixed sets just to defeat Blissey. If Blissey predicts a physical attack from either of them, and uses Counter, Palkia and Dialga are sure to be KOed. Also, note that defensive Groudon, Choice Scarf Garchomp, and Scizor that lack Superpower are also unable to OHKO Blissey, meaning that Blissey will be able to gain a surprise kill on them if she is healthy. EVsOUBlissey needs 252 Defense EVs, always. You may think "But Blissey is supposed to be taking special hits, not physical, so why all the Defense EVs?". The reason for this is that you get over double the ability to take physical hits by maxing your Defense EVs. This is a huge increase. In fact, 252 Defense Blissey takes neutral physical hits about as well as 252 HP Scizor or Spiritomb. It's nice to be able to take weaker physical hits and do what you need to do. Most sets will want a Calm nature. The Special Defense EVs given on the Wish Blissey set lets you survive even a critical hit Choice Specs Modest Lucario Aura Sphere, and you are 3HKOed by non-critical hit Aura Spheres. This is probably the Special Defense level most people will want. It still guarantees a 3HKO from Choice Specs Gengar Focus Blast. Modest Choice Specs Heatran with Flash Fire activated also has to roll absolute max damage twice (less than a .066% chance, so negligible compared to the chance to get a critical hit) to 2HKO Blissey, otherwise it's a 3HKO with Leftovers. Nasty Plot Adaptability Porygon-Z Hyper Beam with Life Orb does less than 80% max. The EVs given on the "Cleric" set adds more Special Defense at the cost of Special Attack. This is the most Special Defense most Blissey should use in OU. The Diverse Blissey's EVs are there mostly to show what a lot of people still use. This is primarily a hold-over from ADV, when Blissey didn't need any EVs to wall special attacks. You can use any of the EV spreads on any of the Pokémon. The Calm Mind set is unique—you should probably only use that spread on that set. You most likely will not need to focus on Special Defense as much for the Calm Mind Blissey because it boosts its Special Defense with Calm Mind. You also don't need to put as much Special Defense on the Charm Blissey thanks to Light Screen helping out there, which is why it's significantly less bulky. In all of ADV and in early DP, the instinct of most top players is to max Defense, and use a Bold nature, relying on Blissey's high base HP and Special Defense to take special hits. The level of special threats has risen in DP, however, to the point where this is not the best way to go. The following examples may seem extreme, but many people rely on Blissey to take nearly all of their special attacks, meaning it needs to be able to stand up to a massive beating. If Blissey invests in Special Defense, it is 3HKOed by Choice Specs Lucario Aura Sphere, instead of 2HKOed. Gengar can 2HKO a Blissey that doesn't invest in Special Defense with Focus Blast if Stealth Rock is down or if there is a Sandstorm going, both of which are incredibly easy to do. Choice Specs Flash Fire Heatran using Fire Blast will often 2HKO Blissey even without ancillary damage if it has no Special Defense EVs, while investing in them with Calm means it never will. In extreme cases, Calm Blissey can stall out certain bulky attackers that Calm Mind up and abuse Rest, running them out of attacks in place of directly fainting them. The primary danger of this is that Blissey is vulnerable to be 2HKOed by Choice Band Adamant Dugtrio. However, Blissey can stall it out of PP with Wish + Protect or Toxic + recovery, or it can stop Dugtrio with Counter or a powerful Ice Beam. When you consider that many Dugtrio run Life Orb so they can't be a victim of a powerful Pursuit as easily, and nearly all Dugtrio are Jolly to be faster than Infernape, this reason begins to hold even less water. UbersIn the Uber tier, Blissey should use 4 HP / 252 Def / 252 SpD with a Calm nature on all sets without Ice Beam, as Blissey needs to be extra durable to take the powerful assaults of Ubers. If using Ice Beam, use the EV spread of 252 Def / 84 SpA / 172 SpD, because this will allow Blissey to OHKO a 0 HP / 4 SpD Rayquaza 100% of the time after it switches into Stealth Rock. OpinionOUShe's still the absolute best special wall in the game, hands down. In a metagame where special threats loom at every corner, there is only one Pokémon that can be relied upon to consistently wall special attacks. Snorlax has to deal with the lack of an instant recovery move and Rest if it wants to stay alive, opening the door for threats both physical and special to switch in. Cresselia is the next best general wall, but the weakness to Gengar's Shadow Ball instead of an immunity paired with lower stats and having to choose between Rest or Moonlight for healing means Cresselia isn't nearly as good at pure walling. Blissey is a Pokémon that will always, always be a welcome addition to any team, and is basically the only option that covers so many special threats at once. Neither of the other aforementioned Pokémon come even close to Blissey's ability to take hits. If you "hate Blissey" that's one thing, but please do not pretend there are many viable, one-Pokémon options that can replace her. She's that good. UbersEven in the Ubers tier, there is no Pokémon that can do Blissey’s job better. Although there are several Pokémon that can break through Blissey’s Special Defenses in Ubers, don’t let that discourage you from using Blissey, as it is still the best general special wall in the Ubera metagame. Almost any team will appreciate Blissey’s ability to sponge special assaults, especially stall teams. CountersOUMachamp can switch into any Blissey with impunity, as Guts variants welcome a boost Attack boost by way of Thunder Wave and Machamp with Rest / Sleep Talk do not care either way even if they are No Guard variants. Heracross is in a similar boat as Machamp, except it doesn't like paralysis nearly as much. On the flip side, Electivire can switch into Blissey very easily, hoping for a Thunder Wave to activate Motor Drive. It can then hit Blissey with Cross Chop for high damage. Scizor can take advantage of Blissey without Flamethrower and use her as set-up bait. Lucario can also take advantage of Blissey, but in addition to Flamethrower, Lucario also minds Thunder Wave a lot more than Scizor. If Lucario is a special version, it has a shot at 2HKOing those Blissey that don't invest in Special Defense. Snorlax also doesn't care about being paralyzed, nor does Metagross really, and both can hit Blissey hard with either STAB attacks or Pursuit. Some variants of Tyranitar do care about status, but otherwise can switch into Blissey very easily and scare the hell out of her with the notion of "will I Crunch or will I Pursuit?" or, alternately, it can Taunt if it's a Dragon Dance variant. Rhyperior is immune to Thunder Wave, and with the Sandstorm Special Defense boost paired with its high HP and Solid Rock, it doesn't take much damage from Ice Beam, either. Dugtrio's going to have a harder time switching into her in DP thanks to the strong slant towards Ice Beam, and if it is using Life Orb and not Choice Band, it will only do 40-47% to Blissey with Earthquake. Nevertheless, it can trap and destroy her if she's weakened. Life Orb Salamence 2HKOes Blissey with Brick Break or Outrage, which can be a deadly surprise for a Blissey thinking it's switching into Choice Specs Salamence. Togekiss can Nasty Plot up and doesn't take enough damage from anything Blissey does. The only hope Blissey has is to use Toxic and try to just stall it until it dies or use Thunder Wave and bring in a powerful physical attacker like Tyranitar. Toxic fails to the rare Baton Pass Togekiss, who can Nasty Plot up and then go to something like Lucario, Life Orb Gengar, or Infernape and put the hurt on Blissey and then sweep the rest of your team. Celebi can use Leech Seed to let just about anything you can't OHKO stall you indefinitely thanks to the massive HP drain. Alternately, it can Calm Mind up and then Baton Pass out to another threat, much like Togekiss. Dusknoir and Spiritomb don't really care about Thunder Wave or any of Blissey's attacks. They can Pain Split to heal off any damage while severely hurting Blissey. Both have access to powerful physical attacks. If Blissey uses Toxic, they still aren't lost, as many Dusknoir and Spiritomb have Rest. Mismagius doesn't want to be statused, but it can use Substitute and Calm Mind to nullify the threat of status and your special attacks. Similarly, Rotom-A can protect itself from status with Substitute, and Charge Beam up to +6 Special Attack to 2HKO Blissey with Thunderbolt or Hidden Power Fighting. In fact, most Pokémon without a 4x weakness and average Special Defense can beat Blissey just by using Rest and stalling out the PP of her moves. In a similar manner, Skarmory can come in on any Blissey without Thunderbolt or Flamethrower, set up Spikes, Roost off the damage, and then use Whirlwind to shuffle around your team. Using Pain Split on anything will heal them massive amounts of HP and seriously cut Blissey's HP. The multitude of Pokémon that can learn Trick, including prominent special attackers such as Gengar, the Rotom formes, and Togekiss, among others, can use Blissey as a target. Being a slow wall, Blissey really does not like being Tricked on items like Choice Scarf, Choice Specs, Choice Band, or even Black Sludge. UbersIn the Uber tier, Bulk Up Dialga is, without a doubt, the best Blissey counter. It is immune to Toxic and can easily set up on Blissey. Powerful physical attackers such as Garchomp, Groudon, and Rayquaza can make Blissey’s life a living hell. However, Ice Beam will do massive damage to Garchomp and Rayquaza and none of them will like being hit by Toxic. Many Pokémon in the Uber tier can surprise Blissey with mixed attacking sets, such as Mewtwo, Darkrai, Dialga, Palkia and Giratina-O. Dialga in particular can be a problem, as it is immune to Toxic. If Blissey lacks Calm Mind or Psych Up, Kyogre and Giratina can use a combination of Sleep Talk, Rest, and Calm Mind to easily set up on Blissey. Kyogre, Mewtwo, and Giratina-O can also use Substitute and Calm Mind to beat her. In the rain, Manaphy can easily set up Tail Glow on non-Calm Mind Blissey and 2HKO it with a +2 Surf. Choice Specs Kyogre also has the capability of 2HKOing Blissey with Water Spout. Wobbuffet can switch into Blissey and use Tickle several times to lower its Defense. After this, Blissey will be KOed by Pursuit from Scizor or Tyranitar. Wobbuffet can also use Encore on Blissey and switch in a sweeper such as Lucario or Giratina-O to take advantage of the free set up time. |
||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||