Gardevoir stands out as a support Pokémon, with a large movepool and the ability to attack if the need arises. You mainly want to switch this in to a relatively passive Pokémon, or unSTABed special attacks, as even though it has 115 base Special Defense, its 68 base HP means it can't take very many powerful hits. Support the team with Will-O-Wisp, burning any Physical attackers that attempt to switch in (such as Snorlax, Metagross and Tyranitar, who are all common switches to Gardevoir). Thunderbolt covers Gyarados and Skarmory; Focus Blast is a more proactive solution for taking care of Weavile and Tyranitar, and it dents Heatran pretty badly; Shadow Ball helps against Azelf and other Psychics. Trace gives Gardevoir much more of a chance to switch in or to help the team than Synchronize does. Electivire is an excellent Pokémon to switch Gardevoir into, as it can't 2HKO you, and you can burn it to stop a sweep. Volt Absorb/Water Absorb Pokémon are your friends, you can "wall" Flash Fire Pokémon such as Heatran, and if you really want to take a risk, you can auto-Intimidate things like Salamence and Gyarados; just be careful to not switch into Choice Banded attacks.
Like many of its fellow Psychic-types, Gardevoir has access to both Reflect and Light Screen. What sets Gardevoir apart as a dual screener, however, is its Trace ability and respectable Special Defense, which give it many opportunities to switch into battle, and its wide supporting movepool beyond the two screens. In addition to Reflect and Light Screen, Gardevoir can use a myriad of other useful supporting moves. Healing Wish is extremely helpful in the later stages of the battle, when sweepers have taken hits and are generally quite low on health. It is the ultimate sweeper rejuvenator, healing all HP and status at the cost of Gardevoir fainting itself. This also has the advantage of not wasting any additional turns of the screens, and gets a sweeper in straightaway to make the most of them. Memento works similarly, but instead of healing another team member, it sharply reduces both of the opponent's attacking stats. This is perfect in giving a set up sweeper a free turn, as your opponent will be loathe to keep in their weakened Pokemon. Memento is not constricted to use later on in the game, but it doesn't have as significant an effect as Healing Wish does. On the other hand, Destiny Bond is an option if you are looking for Gardevoir to contribute more to the team's offense, as it can be used to take an opposing Pokemon down with it. Even without any investment, Gardevoir sits on a respectable 286 Special Attack. This makes a STAB Psychic a good choice as the last move, being able to deal with weakened Pokemon such as Infernape if need be. Will-O-Wisp is useful as an additional buffer against physical attackers, and helps to make up for Gardevoir's weak Defense. It is also useful as it is a permanent solution to the likes of Scizor and Tyranitar, meaning they fail to be a threat to both Gardevoir and the rest of the team once burnt. Alternatively, Wish grants Gardevoir a way of keeping its own health high to set up screens repeatedly, and can be passed on to other Pokemon on your team to heal them without having to sacrifice Gardevoir. Gardevoir has a massive movepool and a lot of different options can go into this last slot. Taunt is another really helpful move to have on a dual screener - it stops threatening sweepers from abusing Gardevoir's lack of offense and setting up on it, as well as preventing other Pokemon with weak offenses from accomplishing anything significant against Gardevoir. Used in conjunction with Destiny Bond, it can force opponents to attack, allowing you to take down an opposing Pokemon with a lot more reliability. If you plan on going direct to a sweeper after setting up the screens, Taunt will also prevent crippling status moves from being used against them. As far as Gardevoir's own status options go, Hypnosis can be used to temporarily remove any opposing Pokemon from the battle if the accuracy doesn't let you down, and Thunder Wave slows the opponent down so Gardevoir can screen up before they attack, as well as potentially giving Gardevoir free turns to go about its job. Trace provides plenty of opportunities to switch in in OU, since many Pokemon can have their abilities used against themselves. Jolteon, Heatran, Vaporeon, and Electivire will not be able to hit Gardevoir with their primary STAB attacks, meaning they will more than likely switch. By Tracing Natural Cure, Gardevoir fears very little from setting up on Celebi or Blissey. If Scarf Magnezone is locked into an attacking move, Gardevoir can come in and trap it with a Traced Magnet Pull, forcing the opponent to helplessly stay in as you go about giving your team all the support it needs. Since the majority of these Pokemon are special based, and Gardevoir itself leans more towards sponging these special attacks, the EVs of the set are designed to let it do so. The Speed EVs allow Gardevoir to outspeed Adamant Scizor, allowing it to set up a Reflect before Scizor hits, easing the damage against the metal bug's Choice Band U-turn so that it no longer OHKOes. Alternatively, a faster spread with 200 Speed EVs allows Gardevoir to get the jump on Jolly Tyranitar and many of the Pokemon that EV to specifically outspeed it, and being able to go first against common Pokemon such as Celebi is very helpful when running Taunt. To get this faster Speed, EVs should be taken from Special Defense, as Gardevoir's low HP needs all the bolstering it can get. For the item choice, Light Clay is definitely the way to go, as it greatly extends the duration of the screens.
The idea's been around since Red/Blue/Yellow, but it still works in Diamond/Pearl! Sleep something, then immediately use Will-O-Wisp or Thunder Wave as they (hopefully) switch to something else. It's very basic prediction, but you can cripple a third of the opponent's team immediately if you can pull it off. Always helpful. You can use Wide Lens or Zoom Lens to boost the accuracy of Hypnosis, Will-O-Wisp and Focus Blast, although Leftovers is usually a better choice.
Gardevoir makes a nice Calm Minder, as it can take a few hits while it sets up. Raising Special Defense and burning physical attackers can put your opponent in a very bad spot. Wish helps to heal while setting up.
This set takes advantage of Gardevoir's excellent Special Attack stat, and good movepool. Psychic is a good reliable STAB move than will OHKO Heracross and Lucario, both of whom are also outsped, provided they aren't running a Speed boosting nature. Focus Blast provides good coverage, and smashes most Tyranitar for a clean OHKO, while providing a 2HKO on Snorlax most of the time. Even standard Blissey takes 38% damage on average, which isn't a bad prospect, especially when paired with the possibility of Special Defense drops. Shadow Ball hits Cresselia, Slowking, Celebi, and an assortment of other Psychic-types for super effective damage. However, Thunderbolt may be used, but is generally inferior; Gyarados is 2HKOed by Psychic anyway, but Thunderbolt does more damage to Milotic, Vaporeon, and the aforementioned Slowking. Trick is also key to this set. It allows Gardevoir to cripple Pokémon like Blissey and Cresselia, common switch-ins to Gardevoir. Trick also somewhat handicaps opposing Weavile and Tyranitar; their Pursuits will no longer OHKO if Gardevoir stays in, allowing it to do huge damage with Focus Blast, provided that it does not miss. However, Gardevoir needs to be wary of gaining a Choice Band. Trace helps make this set work well. If Gardevoir can get in on any Choiced Heatran's Fire Blast, Jolteon's Thunderbolt or even Flygon's Earthquake, it then has an opportunity to get a powerful hit on a switch-in with no set up. Trace also helps against Rain Dance Kingdra and Ludicolo, who are both outsped in the rain courtesy of Trace. If Gardevoir can come in on an Electivire's ThunderPunch, it can also then outspeed and OHKO with Psychic 53% of the time. It can also come in on most Celebi without fearing Thunder Wave, and deal upwards of 69% with Shadow Ball, while Celebi will only manage 24% damage maximum back with Grass Knot. Other OptionsDestiny Bond works well on Gardevoir, since you can trick Blissey into trying to kill you with Seismic Toss. Taunt allows Gardevoir to do some damage to stall based teams and combos well with Destiny Bond. Trick Room is another way to play with Speed, and it helps with Gardevoir's general theme of team support. Just give it Quiet instead of Modest, and set its Speed IV to 0. If you find that you're able to get Gardevoir into many passive Pokémon who are using support moves, consider Snatch to take them for yourself. Mean Look can trap unsuspecting Pokémon, netting you an easy switch. Really, Gardevoir has a ton of options, and that's what makes it a decent Pokémon. EVsMax HP and give it a good serving of Defense and Special Defense, using a Modest nature for Special Attack. Outspeeding Tyranitar means you won't instantly lose a Pokémon if it manages to switch in to a Psychic or Wish. You can give Gardevoir 104 Speed EVs to get 222, outspeeding a max Speed Adamant Tyranitar by 1 point, or 192 EVs to outspeed Jolly Tyranitar by 1 point. Unless you're running Salac Berry or Choice Scarf, more Speed isn't really going to help much, as all the things Gardevoir would like to outspeed are much too fast for it to catch anyway. You may want to skimp on the Defense and rely on Will-O-Wisp to protect you, but being able to pull off a few tricks like stopping Electivire or Intimidating Gyarados is always nice, and because it has low Defense, EVs there reduce damage by more than they would in Special Defense. OpinionDon't make the mistake of trying to play Gardevoir like you would Alakazam or Azelf. Gardevoir's allure is its ability to take a few hits and support the team with status and healing moves. Of all of the pure Psychic-types, Gardevoir has the least to fear from Pursuit thanks to her ability to fire off Will-O-Wisp to cripple most physical attackers and batter Heracross with a powerful STAB Psychic. Although it is often overlooked in favor of Cresselia for a defensive/supporting role, or Azelf and Alakazam in the offensive department, Gardevoir is a fine Pokémon with many useful move options. Having the rare and incredibly useful Trace ability is also a great advantage. CountersWeavile and Tyranitar are the two biggest counters, but neither can switch into a Will-O-Wisp, which Gardevoir will almost always have. Still, if Gardevoir kills something, you can revenge kill it. Houndoom is boosted by Will-O-Wisp and can Pursuit Gardevoir as well, but Thunderbolt will do a lot of damage if you mispredict. Heatran is a great offensive threat to bring in on Gardevoir, as it, too, absorbs Will-O-Wisp with Flash Fire, resists Psychic and Grass Knot, and has the Special Defense to shrug off Thunderbolt. If you don't want to take damage from it, special walls such as Blissey and Cresselia work, but Gardevoir will just Wish and switch out anyway. Your best bet isn't to bother switching to a "counter", since it's just going to use a support move. Instead, take advantage of its low Speed and HP. |
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