With the ability to switch into many walls and tanks, especially Grass-types, and its general bulkiness on the special side, this Togekiss can become an immediate threat to any team without Zapdos. The EVs given provide you with enough speed to outrun Adamant Tyranitar so that it does not spoil your fun. Blissey or Snorlax won't be stopping you either, since after two Nasty Plots Togekiss can 2HKO Blissey with ease by using Air Slash, hopefully flinching, and then finishing it off with an Aura Sphere. Togekiss' ability to take hits is what makes this set useful; it takes a powerful, STABed super effective attack to shoot down this paper plane. It can survive a Choice Banded Ice Shard from a max Attack Mamoswine even after Stealth Rock is down and OHKO back with a Nasty Plotted Aura Sphere. Furthermore, every Pokemon that runs 266 Special Attack to counter Garchomp only manages to 3HKO Togekiss with Ice Beam or Thunderbolt which provides Togekiss the opportunity to set up and sweep. Leftovers keeps Togekiss healthier in the long run, but Lum Berry can stop the Paralysis or Toxic that could end your sweep.
Serene Grace is definitely not wasted on a Pokémon such as Togekiss. Air Slash's already high 30% flinch rate doubles, and combined with Thunder Wave this set can be hell for an opponent to take out as they will have a mere 30% chance of attacking. Thunder Wave guarantees paralysis, but invites Ground-types and Pokémon with Volt Absorb or Motor Drive to switch in. Giving a free switch-in to Garchomp or even a boost to Pokemon such as Jolteon or Electivire cannot be a good idea, and many of the aforementioned Pokemon that would benefit from Thunder Wave won't enjoy paralysis at all, so Body Slam with its 60% paralysis is an acceptable replacement. Aura Sphere can help against Rock and Steel-types, or you can use Nasty Plot to increase your chances of sweeping. Substitute is also a good option to scout for full paralysis and provide protection against status. Note that it's impossible for Body Slam and Nasty Plot to be used on the same set, as Body Slam must be obtained from a third generation move tutor, while Nasty Plot is a fourth generation egg move.
Togekiss is usually beaten by one of two methods - the opponent either switches in a Pokémon that doesn't mind taking attacks from Togekiss in the slightest to wear it down, or sends in something faster, either predicting and avoiding the paralysis or using something immune. This set is quite effective at dealing with the latter, as most of the speedy Pokémon opponents might send in (like Electivire, Jolteon, or Garchomp) will be worn down quickly by repeated attacks and certainly won't be expecting to be flinched. Air Slash is an obvious move choice for its secondary effect of flinching. Aura Sphere provides excellent secondary coverage and hits both Rock and Steel-types super effectively, while Flamethrower helps against many Steel-types that are neutral to Fighting. Tri Attack does the most damage to several Electric-types, 2HKOing Jolteon and Electivire if you're using a Modest nature with a small chance otherwise. It also benefits from Serene Grace, carrying a 40% chance of inflicting freeze, burn, or paralysis. On the other hand, Hidden Power Ice is your strongest option against both Zapdos (who is 2HKO'd with Stealth Rock up on the field) and the ever-common Dragons, some of whom you may be able to catch even after one Dragon Dance depending on their Speed investment.
Togekiss is a member of a very small group of Pokémon, in that it is not only able to learn the rare Nasty Plot, but is also able to Baton Pass it. The use of this set should be clear: boost with Nasty Plot and Air Slash your enemies, Roosting as required. If a threat appears, pass the boosts to an appropriate sweeper. Wish can be used to make Togekiss even more of a team player, but he will be worn down more quickly without the instant recovery provided by Roost. Agility PorygonZ and Lucario are fine choices to pass the Special Attack boosts to. Special based Electivire can work very effectively, especially if you pass when your opponent throws a Thunder Wave or other Electric attack at Togekiss.
Air Slash is still your main form of offense here and while he may not be that swift, he has enough Speed to beat a lot of defensive Pokémon, so you can still get some use out of that 60% flinch rate. Aura Sphere and Flamethrower provide coverage against Rock and Steel-types. Tri Attack hits most Electric-types harder than anything else on the set and has a 40% chance of burning, freezing or paralyzing your opponent. Shadow Ball helps to wear down Cresselia and Dusknoir and takes down Rotom in one hit. Hyper Beam has plenty of power, but use it wisely or you may give your opponent the opportunity to set up.
Choice Band on a Pokémon with 50 base Attack? This may seem crazy, but Togekiss can actually surprise and cripple a lot of key Pokémon with this set. Here are some damage calculations for a Max Attack Togekiss' ExtremeSpeed vs. popular minimum HP/Defense Pokémon: Salamence: 65%–77%, Azelf: 82% to 97%, Weavile: 90% to 106%, Infernape: 79% to 94%, Alakazam: 126% to 149%, Heracross: 75%–89%, Garchomp: 52%–61%. Add to this the sheer unexpectedness of what is normally regarded as a slow Special Attacker launching a speedy physical attack. Aerial Ace is unaffected by Hustle's accuracy drop and can be used to hit weak Ghosts like Gengar and Mismagius. Focus Punch hits Tyranitar and other Rock-types. Flamethrower is listed to hit Steel-types like Skarmory and Metagross. This set is a lesser option compared to the previous three, but is a reasonable consideration, if only for Extremespeed. EVsFor the Baton Pass set, you can invest in Speed to get off a pass before taking a hit, or leave his Speed untouched if you'd prefer to have Togekiss take a hit, rather than the recipient of the boosts. 244 Speed outruns Jolly Tyranitar and beats Magnezones max Speed by four points. 270 allows Togekiss to outrun Adamant Heracross, while 280 will beat Modest/Adamant Lucario. Max out HP, with any remaining EVs in either of the defensive stats. The Flinch abusing set should have maxed out HP first. After which you can either pour everything else into defenses or Special Attack. Special Attack EVs aren't as necessary if you're also using Nasty Plot. The Choice Specs set also benefits from Speed investment, after setting that, max out Special Attack with the leftover EVs in HP. Max out Attack and HP for the Choice Band set, ExtremeSpeed will be your main weapon, thus negating the need for Speed EVs at all. Max Speed and Special Attack is generally the best option on the Scarf set. Modest nature nets you several 2HKOs that you wouldn't get otherwise, including Jolteon, Electivire, and Bronzong, while Timid ensures you outspeed +nature base 130 Pokemon like Aerodactyl and Jolteon in addition to Scarf Heracross. Other OptionsTogekiss has a gigantic movepool, so you've got a myriad of options to choose from here. Encore can screw over slower Pokémon and give Togekiss an opportunity to set up, or give a team member a free switch in. Yawn can sleep a counter, or force a switch. Charm cripples physical attackers, although Reflect is arguably a better choice. Speaking of screens, Togekiss can also set up Light Screen. Safeguard prevents Blissey and Cresselia hitting him with Thunder Wave. It should be noted, however, that 44 Speed EVs is required to outspeed minimum Speed Cresselia if you decide to use Safeguard. Grass Knot destroys most Water and Ground-types, although it's hard to find a moveslot for it. Ancientpower hits Zapdos, although you'll only come out on top if the stat boost kicks in as Zapdos switches in. Baton Pass is an option on Choice sets (especially on the Scarf set) for scouting. Metronome (item) can be used on the flinch set to benefit Air Slash, but Sandstorm will wear you down much faster as you are losing Leftovers, forcing you to Roost more often and lose the accumulated boosts. Counter is always good for a surprise against physical attackers, especially since two of the types Togekiss is weak to (Ice and Electric) tend to lack high-power physical attacks; Weavile's Ice Punch will almost always fail to OHKO a 252 HP Togekiss if Weavile is without a Choice Band. Be wary of using Counter on a set that relies on paralysis, though, as an opponent failing to act at the wrong time could ruin the surprise. OpinionTogetic evolved from total obscurity to complete celebrity in the transition to Diamond and Pearl. Whether he is providing support from passing Special Attack boosts or Wish, paralyzing everything in sight or sweeping through teams, Togekiss is a solid choice on any team. CountersBoth Thunder Wave and Toxic mess up the standard flincher set badly. Blissey and Cresselia are two of the best choices for this job, as both of them take rather insignificant damage from Togekiss's attacks and can recover off damage with ease. Despite being a UU Pokemon, a specially defensive Lanturn makes a great choice thanks to it's Flying resistance and Volt Absorb. Zapdos resists both of Togekiss's central attacks and can smack it around with STAB Electric attacks or just ruin it with Thunder Wave. A Rest-Talk Zapdos would be ideal for this job; Zapdos has a higher base Speed than Togekiss and variants that rely on flinching rarely invest in Speed thanks to the presence of Thunder Wave, so Zapdos will outspeed Togekiss while asleep and doesn't need to worry about being flinched or Togekiss Roosting before Zapdos can use Thunderbolt. Rotom is in the same boat as Zapdos resistance-wise, but the little ghost's lack of durability means it won't be able to switch in too many times, and it usually won't possess a way of recovering health either. Bronzong takes a pittance of damage from Air Slash and taking a Thunder Wave means that Gyro Ball's power will increase dramatically. Dragonite's Inner Focus ability prevents flinching and it can take several Air Slashes, but paralysis is crippling to Dragonite. One other method of countering Togekiss is switching in Pokemon that are faster than Togekiss and immune to Thunder Wave, such as Electivire, Jolteon, and Garchomp (or by using other fast Pokemon and simply predicting an attack other than Thunder Wave). This generally works well, though it's somewhat of a temporary solution as most of them can be worn down over time. The Choice Specs and Scarf sets are countered in much the same way as the standard set - Pokemon with enough durability to laugh off Togekiss's offense work well, provided they aren't weak to any of Togekiss's attacks (Blissey is, of course, an exception to the rule as even a Specs Aura Sphere fails to 2HKO). Countering the Choice Band set is just a matter of finding a physically durable Pokemon that isn't weak to Flamethrower or Focus Punch, as compared to heavier physical attackers like Garchomp or Metagross, Togekiss is rather underpowered even with boosts from Hustle and Choice Band. Gliscor, Hippowdon, Cresselia, and Suicune are all good examples. |
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