It comes as no surprise that a standard set for an “Eeveelution” would include Baton Pass. However, do not be fooled into thinking this set pedestrian simply because of its obviousness. Leafeon pulls off Swords Dance passing in a fashion entirely different from his predecessors with access to both Roar and a sleep inducing move. Most Baton Passers are easily foiled by Roar/Whirlwind users—Skarmory and Steelix being the most popular in OU and UU, respectively. Leafeon overcomes that difficulty with his excellent Speed (216 EV’s gives him 308-which is the minimum recommended) which allows him to Roar away any fellow phazers that come in to ruin his fun before they get the chance to erase your stat boosts. Grasswhistle is the other option that attempts to do the same with the benefit of incapacitating your opponent’s Leafeon counter with sleep. The obvious downside is that Grasswhistle only works 55% of the time. On top of his support abilities, Leafeon can utilize his already excellent base Attack score in concert with Swords Dance to take full advantage of STAB Leaf Blade.
This isn't really viable in OU, as too many Pokemon resist Leafeon's attacks. However, the only Pokemon in UU that resist Grass + Bug + Normal are Mawile (which is rarely used, and potentially 2HKOed by Leaf Blade), Wormadam-S (honestly more deserving of NU status than UU status) and Drifblim (which is is also risking a 2HKO from Leaf Blade). This Leafeon reaches 317 Speed to, worst case scenario, Speed tie with Sharpedo, Drapion, Jynx and Primeape, and also always outspeed Toxicroak and Rotom. It's 319 Attack boosted by Swords Dance and Life Orb will deal massive damage to all UU Pokemon, besides Steelix, who is only 3HKOed by a Swords Dance Leaf Blade.
The first three moves are pretty set for the standard sweeper, as Leafeon really only requires those three to at least 2HKO the majority of the UU metagame. The last slot is where the real decision has to be made. Quick Attack is there because priority in UU is much more effective due to a lack of a large number of physical walls, and it allows Leafeon to deal up to 75%+ damage to various frail, often Scarfed threats, such as Primeape, Jynx and Hitmonlee. X-Scissor is for potentially OHKOing Meganium, other Leafeon switching in, and having a higher chance for a OHKO on defensive Hypno. Finally, Synthesis is an option simply to recover off Life Orb residual damage. Running Adamant is an option over Jolly, as this will occasionally make Steelix a 2HKO instead of a 3HKO. Beware, however, than now Sharpedo will outspeed and Ice Beam, Primeape will outspeed and Close Combat or Ice Punch, Jynx will outspeed and Ice Beam, and Toxicroak / Rotom will be faster than Leafeon.
This set is generally inferior to the others, though it makes greater use of Leafeon's defensive abilities. With the above EV spread, this guy takes physical hits like a champ. Bring him in on random Earthquakes, Surfs/Waterfalls, or Thunderbolts/punches- Wish or Yawn, and then react according to how your opponent handles it. When Leafeon gets low on health, use Protect to take advantage of your own Wish. This set will force a lot of switching, so it would be best with Spikes or Stealth Rock on the field. Other OptionsLeafeon suffers from the same shallow movepool syndrome shared by all of his Eevee cousins. His stat distribution makes a Choice Band set seem appealing, but the options are few. He has access to Aerial Ace which is useful for Heracross, Toxicroak and Breloom, but offers little else in the way of coverage, due to its low base power. Other options for Baton Passing include the ever popular Substitute, Curse for people who want to boost Defense along with Attack and do not mind the loss of Speed. Charm and Tickle soften up physical attackers, but are difficult to justify a moveslot for. EVsA minimum of 308 Speed is absolutely essential on the first set for outrunning the base 90 crowd, especially Porygon-Z. After that you'll want to allocate EVs to HP so switching in repeatedly is made easier. Max Attack and Speed are recommended for sweeping sets. OpinionKeeping in mind the limitations placed on Leafeon's base stats by virtue of being an evolution of Eevee, they really could not be arranged much better. He can take a hit, dish one out, and is a great team player. He can perform well against OU teams with a Baton Pass set, and can go toe to toe with the big dogs like Tyranitar or Rhyperior, come out on top, and then pass his boosts to a team mate when he gets in trouble. However, in UU Leafeon is not only a good Baton Passer, but is also a real force as a physical sweeper. The only real criticism you can level at Leafeon (besides a rather shallow movepool), is that he clearly should have been called Vineon! CountersOU: Weezing. Leafeon has no hope of damaging it and the poison blob can Haze away your Swords Dances before you can Roar it out. Crobat can use its high Speed to Taunt or Whirlwind Leafeon, and with STAB Flying attacks and a 4x Grass resist, it easily beats Leafeon one on one. Salamence can switch in with ease and ruin all of Leafeon’s plans as well. Pokémon like Choice Scarf Heracross, Infernape, Heatran, Staraptor and Gengar that outspeed Leafeon, can switch into Leaf Blade without concern, and can hit Leafeon for major damage should be avoided as well. Leafeon cannot do any sort of damage to Skarmory, Bronzong, Metagross, Jirachi or any other Steel-type for that matter, but they are all easily bypassed with a quick Swords Dance pass. UU: Drapion can come in easily on any of his attacks and hit him with STAB Poison attacks and can also Whirlwind away any Swords Dance boosts. Muk can work in a similar manner using Haze. Altaria can also Haze away Swords Dance boosts and 4x resists Leaf Blade. Steelix and Aggron can Roar Leafeon away, but repeated hits from Leaf Blade will take their toll. Most Fire and Flying-types can stop Leafeon with relative ease, but Leafeon will often just Baton Pass to another Pokemon, though faster Pokemon and Will-o-Wisp can often negate this strategy. In general it's better to target Leafeon with special attacks, as his Special Defense is much lower than his Defense. |
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