Good defenses and instant recovery make Milotic a great sleep inducer. It is tough to take down in a single hit, so simply fire off Hypnosis until it hits, recovering off damage on the way. Milotic can be a decent lead against the slower, bulkier Pokemon like Bronzong, Hippowdon and Swampert. Although you will run into problems against faster leads, especially as they often carry their own sleep moves (Gengar, Roserade), or Taunt (Azelf, Weavile). For type coverage, you've got Ice Beam or Hidden Power Electric. The decision is actually quite a tough one. Many Salamence and Dragonite carry a Yache Berry, so Milotic will be unable to OHKO, and those that don't have a type resist Berry may have a Life Orb or Choice Band, both of which can beat Milotic. Dragonite will also defeat Milotic if it has Yache Berry and Dragon Dance, and with Choice Specs or Choice Band, Salamence can 2HKO with its STAB moves. HP Electric does make Milotic a good counter for Gyarados. Even after a Dragon Dance, a Life Orb Stone Edge or Earthquake will very rarely 2HKO Milotic. It won't really hurt most other Water-types, like Suicune and Vaporeon, and even Starmie only has a slim chance of being 2HKOed if Sandstorm is up.
Not much of a change from the last set, but this provides a bit more team support at the expense of type coverage. Set up Light Screen to help your team absorb hits from the inevitable Thunderbolts and Grass Knots that are aimed at Milotic. Toxic can go over Hypnosis if you want to wear down enemy Water-types, and it means Milotic's ability to induce status isn't limited by Sleep Clause.
Sleep Talk Milotic is a very sturdy tank. With Rest activating Marvel Scale, its Defense gets boosted to allow Milotic to take most physical hits with relative ease, Toxic is worth considering to wear down the likes of Vaporeon, Gyarados, (you'll have to catch it on the switch to avoid Taunt) and non-Resting Suicune. As Marvel Scale is doubling Defense, EVs are focused in HP first. Modest and 16 EVs in Special Attack provides a bit of kick to Milotic's attacks, and provides an extra bonus point stat. If you ditch Ice Beam in favor of Toxic, switch to Bold or Calm and put the leftover EVs into one of the defensive stats.
This set takes a more offensive approach with Milotic by focusing on its awesome type coverage and solid base 100 Special Attack. Hydro Pump is the main attack here, as Water is a potent attack type and will score a surprising amount of OHKOs with Choice Specs. Ice Beam smacks around Celebi and Zapdos for 2HKOs, and Hidden Power Electric will do good damage to most Water Pokemon while OHKOing Gyarados. The final slot has several decent options: Dragon Pulse for Kingdra and more neutrality, Surf for more reliability, or Hypnosis to incapacitate a possible counter. If you are using Choice Scarf, Timid nature is preferred for surprise factor, and to outspeed Dragon Dancing Gyarados, Kingdra, and some Salamence while you finish them off with the appropriate move. Hypnosis has more merit on the Scarfer, as a quick sleep can secure a potential threat. Although Milotic is losing a significant amount of its defensive capabilities, it gains a surprising boost with the additional Speed. With a Timid nature, Milotic will outspeed Adamant Lucario, Mamoswine, Dragonite, and the large amount of Zapdos and Celebi that do not invest many EVs into Speed. Though its physical durability is limited, Milotic still can take hits from most special attackers even with no investment. Other OptionsMirror Coat can be effective to score a surprise KO against special attackers. Dragon Pulse is only of use for Kingdra, who can be worn down with Ice Beams anyway. You can absorb status with Milotic to activate Marvel Scale, then use Safeguard to protect the rest of your team from it. Confuse Ray can cause switches or buy Milotic some time to use Hypnosis or Recover. Aqua Ring gives Milotic a little more healing, but usually isn't worth a moveslot. Haze isn't much use outside of getting rid of Calm Mind on Suicune, but you're not going to do any kind of damage to it in return. A note about Flame Orb: While it may be tempting to give Milotic a Flame Orb to activate Marvel Scale, it's really not a good idea. You're not only losing Leftovers recovery, but you're sapping Milotic's HP each turn. With potential Sandstorms to worry about and switch-in damage from Spikes and Stealth Rock, Milotic will have trouble staying alive, even with Recover. EVs148 HP / 252 Def / 108 SpA allows Milotic to have a slight chance to survive a Dragon Danced Outrage from Life Orb Salamence and can OHKO back with Ice Beam, unless Salamence is carrying a large amount of Special Defense EVs. Generally, you want plenty of HP and Defense, with some Special Attack if you're trying to kill off Dragons with Ice Beam. As an alternative, you can use max HP, max Special Defense and a Calm nature. This allows Milotic to function as an effective counter to Choice Specs Salamence and Choice Specs Heatran with HP Grass/Electric. With this spread, Milotic will always survive a Life Orb Grass Knot from Infernape, even after a Nasty Plot. Unfortunately, this comes at a price - Close Combat will now 2HKO, and an unboosted Grass Knot followed by a Close Combat may also finish off Milotic. Don't expect Milotic to function as a real special wall, its movepool doesn't support this role well and she loses to the majority of strong special attackers. Bear in mind that Milotic will also take significantly more damage from physical attacks without any EVs invested in Defense. OpinionMilotic's claim to the title "Bulky Water" is now looking a bit suspect. Lack of weakness and good defenses are not always enough to weather the powerful physical assaults in DP. It could handle the threat of Salamence, Tyranitar, and Metagross quite well back in ADV, but all three of them are now capable of 2HKOing Milotic easily. Milotic can't take on the new threats like Lucario with consistent success, and trying to beat many of the special sweepers is also a tough prospect, despite an impressive Special Defense stat. New and more powerful Grass attacks, such as Grass Knot (which hits Milotic with 100 BP) also dents Milotic's staying power, particularly as they are not limited to Grass-types. Milotic didn't make any significant gains in DP. While it got little in the way of improvements, Milotic remains a very sturdy and reliable Pokémon. Hypnosis and Recover are its biggest assets over the fellow "Bulky Waters", Suicune, Vaporeon, and Swampert. CountersPowerful Electric types like Zapdos, Electivire and Raikou can beat Milotic down with their STAB attacks although they can be worn down with Surf and Zapdos doesn't enjoy Ice Beams. Sleep Talking Zapdos makes an excellent switch-in to absorb Hypnosis. Ludicolo just shrugs off Surf and is neutral to Ice Beam. Milotic won't like being hit with Leech Seed and will hate STAB Grass Knot. Abomasnow works in a similar fashion to Ludicolo, but also cancels out Milotic's Leftovers with Snow Warning. Celebi won't take much from Ice Beam and can Recover off damage and drain Milotic with Leech Seed. Starmie and Empoleon resist Surf/Ice Beam and hit back with Grass Knot. Starmie can also use Thunderbolt, but Grass Knot does a little more damage (95 vs. 100). Tentacruel can throw Swords Danced Poison Jabs at Milotic, while sponging its Surfs and Ice Beams easily. You'll be in somewhat of a stalemate against Blissey and Cresselia, but if they have Calm Mind or Charge Beam they can bring Milotic down without much trouble. Like any sleep inducer, potential counters have to beware of being incapacitated when they switch in. |
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