As the set name suggests, this boasts great type coverage, scoring super effective hits on 13 of the 17 types. Life Orb gives you some extra power against those neutral to Electivire's attacks. However, possible Stealth Rock, Spikes and Sandstorm / Hail can rack up the residual damage, making Life Orb recoil somewhat unappealing. Expert Belt doesn't suffer from constant recoil and still gives Electivire's attacks some extra bite. Thunderbolt is an option for your STAB move to hit the likes of Forretress and Weezing for more damage. However, it requires that you split your EVs in order to make it worthwhile, which is not recommended. Try the next set if you want to make use of Electivire's special attacking options.
This set is a minor twist on the previous one that introduces Thunderbolt in ThunderPunch's slot. Thunderbolt's net damage is less than that of ThunderPunch on Electivire because of the 28 base offense difference and massive EV differences, but is often more useful. Many Pokemon that Electivire might come upon have greater Defense than Special Defense, such as Skarmory. ThunderPunch is only a 2HKO on it, whereas Thunderbolt is an OHKO. This increased damage also follows for other physically defensive Pokemon like Weezing and Slowbro. However, Thunderbolt tends to be less powerful on Vaporeon, Suicune (because it can use Calm Mind), Milotic and other Water Pokémon. Some EVs have been allocated in Special Attack to give Thunderbolt a bit of extra kick by taking out of Speed, retaining 270 to beat out Heracross without a Speed boosting nature or a Choice Scarf. Expert Belt and Life Orb are still the favored items.
This set can surprise several common counters to the previous set while still retaining excellent type coverage. Thunderbolt has a slightly higher damage output than ThunderPunch when both stats are maxed out, although it is only a difference of 7%. Flamethrower destroys Forretress and hits Bronzong hard, and also does a lot of damage to most Celebi, who generally focus on physical Defense rather than Special Defense. Hidden Power Ice does far more damage than Ice Punch to bulky Ground-types such as Donphan and Hippowdon, who are both 2HKOed with a Life Orb, although Hippowdon has a chance of surviving against two Expert Belt hits (Donphan is 2HKOed regardless of your item choice). Cross Chop stops Blissey and Snorlax shutting Electivire down and also brings down Tyranitar. Passing Nasty Plot boosts from Togekiss is a very effective strategy to employ alongside this version of Electivire. Togekiss also has the tendency to attract Electric attacks, which can potentially give Electivire a Motor Drive boost. Other OptionsLow Kick is a worthy option over Cross Chop for its superior accuracy and more PP. It also has a base power of 120 against the likes of Tyranitar, Snorlax, Regirock, Rhyperior and Mamoswine, although only a paltry 60 base power against Blissey (failing to 2HKO, even with Expert Belt against a max HP / Defense Blissey) and Porygon-Z (although it still 2HKOs). Electivire doesn't have Swords Dance, so it has to use the slower Meditate. However, that one stage Attack boost might be enough to bring a team into OHKO range. Hidden Power Grass can take down Swampert and Rhyperior. Thunder offers a more powerful special based STAB attack than Thunderbolt, but its accuracy is off-putting. Use only with Rain Dance support. Screech can help rack up some more damage if you have Spikes and Stealth Rock support, but there are better Pokémon for this role than Electivire. Choice Band and Choice Scarf are obvious options, but Electivire is more effective when he has the freedom to switch attacks. EVsFor the first set, Adamant with max Attack and Speed works well. If you don't want to rely entirely on a Motor Drive boost for Speed, then you can use a Jolly nature. This allows Electivire to reach Speeds in excess of 300 so that it outspeeds Pokémon with base 100 Speed who generally don't use a Speed boosting nature; Salamence and Staraptor are good examples. For the Mixed Attacker, max out Special Attack and use a Mild or Rash nature. 180 Speed EVs hits 270 (accounting for the 30 Speed IV for obtaining Hidden Power Ice), allowing Electivire to outrun most Choice Band Heracross, and the Scarf versions if Motor Drive activates. You can bump his Speed up to 280 (220 EVs) to outrun Modest Porygon-Z and Lucario. The remaining EVs should be placed in Attack. If you're using Hidden Power Grass, you'll need Mild with 304 Special Attack (204 EVs) for a possible OHKO against max HP / minimum Special Defense Swampert if using Expert Belt. Life Orb requires an initial Special Attack stat of 280 (216 EVs, neutral nature) for a possible OHKO on the same Swampert. You cannot get a guaranteed OHKO even with max Special Attack and a Life Orb. OpinionElectivire works best alongside Pokémon with Electric weaknesses that he can switch in on—Gyarados is a very good choice—in order to grab Motor Drive boosts. The ever common Thunder Wave gives it another opportunity to come in for a boost. While Electivire's type coverage is mightily impressive, it has problems against the few Pokémon it is unable to score super effective hits on. Although the lack of a good boosting move (like Swords Dance) prevents him from being as threatening as the likes of Garchomp and Infernape, Electivire is still a good sweeper capable of dealing out damage from either side of the attacking spectrum. CountersSwampert is one of the best all around counters for Electivire, his only fear being the occasional Hidden Power Grass. Cresselia and Dusknoir are also very effective, since neither is weak to any of Electivire's attacks and both possess good defensive stats. Forretress, Bronzong, Weezing, Hippowdon, Donphan and Rhyperior do well against physical sets, but will struggle against the special versions. Defensive Grass-types work in much the same way as Grounds. Tangrowth, Venusaur and Meganium are good examples and all three have the option of carrying Earthquake. Watch out for Flamethrower on the special set though. Dugtrio can revenge kill any Electivire that doesn't have a Motor Drive boost. Although base 95 Speed is by no means slow, Electivire without a Motor Drive boost can still be outrun by many Pokémon. As such, predicting attacks and sending in a faster Earthquake user brings Electivire down with ease. |
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